“What on earth, what…?”
The eastern part of the garrison area.
As the battle there subsided into a lull, Ga-ram climbed a nearby hill to grasp the situation and looked down at the place that had been the garrison.
The Red Knight, who led her forces towards the White Knight as if to support him right after the dragon appeared.
Her sudden action turned the fierce fight into a lull in an instant, and the corpses that had been endlessly reviving and overwhelming them vanished in the flas.
In such a situation, all she could do was create a barrier and resist the waves of heat coming from afar.
“What is that?”
But following that, an absurd event was unfolding in the place swept by the breath.
An ominous power seeping into the ash-filled land solidified into human form.
The sight of them all screaming in madness.
-Kiiiyaaaahhhhh!!!
The reason she watched that scene—even covering her own mouth—was not just because the screams were chilling.
The situation where the force spreading around was being trampled and crushed, repeatedly scattering blood and flesh on the ground.
From the crushed flesh, people grew again, and the cycle of being crushed and regenerated continued, making the ground visibly soaked with blood from afar.
Since the phenonon originated from sothing in human form, it made a significant impression on her mind as a fellow human.
“…If hell exists, would it feel like this?”
Ja-seong, watching the land turning red from this, soon let out a hollow laugh and slung the shovel handle over his shoulder.
“Ah, mister. Are you going? To there?”
“I have to go. After all, I have nowhere else to retreat to here.”
Even though he boldly killed those in power for committing acts that betrayed humanity, he was not so unreasonable as to ignore the responsibilities that followed.
If he left this place without laying down his bones and returning to the human forces, he would lose his qualification as a hero and be treated as an uncontrollable, dangerous person, either imprisoned or living his life on the run.
There would inevitably be significant harm to the people of the Order who trust in him alone.
“So, kid, go back to the Empire now while you can. The journey might be tough, but if you have the strength of a hero, returning should be manageable.”
“D-don’t talk nonsense! Going in there would be suicide… Huh?”
Soone passed by next to her just as she tried to dissuade her with such self-talk.
Realizing that her hand was being held, she blankly stared at the man facing her.
“What’s the matter, friend? Why all of a sudden…?”
“Two thousand tis.”
Hero Im Tae-yang.
The undefeated and strongest hero who had never lost a one-on-one battle against any formidable foe.
And the mont he, who was always reticent, first opened his mouth to stop him…
“Even before that, I rushed in, but there was almost no way to strategize.”
“What?”
“You can’t win.”
Therefore, his words carried that much weight.
If he indeed declared ‘impossible.’
“That is not sothing you can win against.”
That in itself would an, from humanity’s standpoint, there was absolutely no way to counter it.
Yes, that was the future that every human who witnessed what was unfolding before them envisioned.
Even at this mont, their numbers increased, and despite being crushed, they kept regenerating, a sight that filled even the battle-hardened soldiers with fear.
‘Why…?’
But only Marcus could grasp it within the bounds of human understanding.
After all, he was the only veteran here who had experienced the era of war where humans were hostile to each other.
In his holand, even the lives of others, always regarded as noble, would be crushed and disappear without a trace once they stepped onto the battlefield.
The only way to forget fear and pain in such a place was to succumb to madness, sothing Marcus rembered while watching the scene before him.
“Why are you there, Tacchia?”
And the one who had given aning to it was none other than the hero who had led him.
When his knight order was evacuating humanity from dangerous areas, it was the hope of the old era, who had fought the dragon alone.
“Why, you… you, the hero, why…?”
He understood it in his mind.
No matter how noble the belief, it was also a result stemming from suppressing one’s true feelings through patience.
What could be called folly in life taking such an ugly form could only be more pronounced because it was borne by soone burdened with heavy responsibility.
Being the hero who had traveled the most battlefields and grown stronger, it was inevitable that she would inherit even more of humanity’s madness and loathing…
“The worst disaster targeting humanity is, without a doubt, one created by humanity itself.”
This threat, and the malice it embodied, surpassed any disaster they had faced before.
But even now, their numbers were increasing, and the troops around him showed no signs of leaving his side.
As they were still gaining strength, this might be the only chance to stop them.
“We have to stop that, right now…”
“It’s impossible.”
Despite the obviousness, the defiance ca naturally.
Yet, Marcus couldn’t urge him on.
He just looked around the scene, trying to ignore the truth, and looked back at his subordinate with empty eyes.
“It’s impossible. How could we exactly…?”
“Even if it’s impossible, we must. Didn’t we agree to risk our lives for humanity?”
Even if it ant dying, they must never yield.
At the very least, they had to protect the ssenger who would inform others about this threat, delaying its advance towards humanity even by a little.
“What cos next after we stop that?”
But even such courage could only be mustered if they found aning in their sacrifice.
The soldiers here had been broken so many tis, shattered beyond repair.
“What’s waiting for us next?”
“…What?”
“Commander, I…
The smiles on the faces of those who confronted him were born of madness, ant to forget such despair.
“The demon army turned my holand into ruins, so I fled to the empire. Soldiers who fled were annihilated by the Furry Tribe, and in the place we barely escaped to, we lost our families and properties to traitors. And yet, following you here, we could only suffer helplessly.”
“You, what on earth…?”
“There’s no end. No matter how hard we fight!”
No one contradicted his words.
So turned their gaze away, while others clenched their fists in helplessness.
“Legion Commander. In this world, does hope even exist?”
Faced with such despair, or perhaps what could be called enlightennt, Marcus could no longer deny anything.
“…I am a hero.”
Hero Woo Hyo-sung.
He joined the war to defend humanity’s dignity.
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