Georg thought of Camilla’s face and voice whenever he was pushed back. He drove the monsters back with his shield and struck at their heads with his morning star, smashing and crushing them. Their blood and fur dried on the spikes of his weapon.
The monster’s assault neither increased nor decreased. It only piled up damage like a river rushing against a blocked bank.
“Transporters, don’t slow down!”
Quivers clattered to the ground. Someone’s misloaded cannonball rolled down the slope of the wall. The attackers were in no hurry, but the defenders were. Monsters deserved to die if they were wounded, but men did not. Georg gritted his teeth and shook off the wolf on him. The wounds piled up. His flesh was torn, and claws and teeth pierced his body.
“Time to switch.”
“Save yourself the energy to ask for a shift and swing your sword.”
The deputy stepped forward, sword drawn, but Georg did not back down. The need to protect, to live and die without regret, drove him to action. The deputy bit his lip as he looked at Georg’s bloodied body to move forward.
“Hold your line.”
Georg’s eyes widened at the voice behind him. There stood a weary-looking Iris with a bitter smile on her face. Her once pristine attire was now tattered with blood, ash, and dust from her many trips around the city. She immediately spread her healing magic. The festering wounds disappeared, and the wounded on the ground regained consciousness.
“You don’t have to heal me.”
“Using up my magic only makes me feel dizzy for a moment. Your life will burn out before I return.
At Iris’ words, Georg looked away apologetically.
“You were the last one with Elroy, right?”
Georg said and then fell silent. He felt embarrassed because he sounded like a child who had lost his parents.
“He’ll come when the time is right. I’m sure he’s fighting a battle we can’t even imagine. I don’t know what he’s facing, but he looked distressed when I left him.”
“He’s always had a burden he carried alone.”
Georg said as he dropped one of the creatures down the ramparts. He used his shield to block one that flew toward Iris.
“I wish I could tell him he doesn’t have to come. He always takes on much more than he can handle.”
“Elroy is willing to lay down his life for us. He would come even if you told him not to.”
Georg let out a small breath.
“Brings back memories.”
“Not a very happy memory for you or me.”
Iris let her gaze drift to the distant city walls. Even now, people are wounded and dying. How many more could she heal? She deliberately avoided checking her mana reserves. She just had to believe she had enough to heal the next person.
“Just hold on a little longer. Elroy will surely come.”
“Go, more people need your help.”
“…Don’t die.”
Georg snorted at Iris’ worry. Not something you would expect when that person’s armor was riddled with holes and scratches.
Then, before Iris could walk away, every monster in the area looked up at the sky simultaneously. The time for humans was nearing its end.
“…Do you see that?”
“…Yes, though I wish I couldn’t.”
The time of all things was coming to an end. The world was a giant gong, and the object flying across the sky was the mallet. The sound it will create will spell the death of the planet. Death, in its most terrible and beautiful form.
“It comes in all its splendor.”
All battles ceased. Not just the tiny skirmishes, but all movement had ceased. The world fell silent.
“We aren’t worthy of your presence.”
The sound of muttering broke the silence. It was the primordial half-man half-monster Quenor had been fighting. He had been fighting with his battered body for a long time. This kept the ancient beast from rampaging unhindered, but it could only last for so long.
“You are finished. Even if you were to kill us all now, your defeat and destruction are already sealed.”
The Lion’s mane shook as it spoke.
“We do not desire our victory. All we desire is your defeat. Your destruction is our victory, and your end is our glory.”
“You talk too much.”
“Have you ever loved someone and truly worshipped them instead of praying to your little crosses and books?”
Quenor grimaced, and the monster shook its head. To the sky, which was as tense as the dawn before an unnamed day, the creature opened its mouth and took a deep breath.
It let out a guttural roar, waking the monsters on the battlefield from their slumber. A fitting welcome to the apocalypse. The monsters joined in, watching the heavens and making ferocious cries. It was the prelude to a new beginning.
“It is the end! We will live forever, and you will die!”
The onslaught began again. This time, the momentum was different. Whereas before, it had been like a river slowly building up on its banks, now it was like a tidal wave blocked by a breakwater. Already overwhelmed by the Meteor’s appearance, the soldiers and knights couldn’t withstand the intensified assault.
“You say you’re ready for death, but how do you feel now that it’s here?”
The Lion laughed. Quenor gritted his teeth and drew on his mana. A booming voice burst from his mouth.
“Raise your swords! Face the enemy!”
You have to push through the fear. You have to give them faith that they can overcome. But the soldiers, already terrified, had fallen before they could offer any resistance. Only Quenor and Agnes remained willing to fight, wielding their swords. The monsters’ corpses continued to pile around them, but they could only do so much.
Agnes scattered her aura. Her mana was dwindling, but their power was rising in inverse proportion. Sword filled the void of magic and aura. A knight beside her lost grip of his sword, and Agnes grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him backward. The knight scrambled to the ground, only to see his sword land by his feet.
“If that’s how you’re going to throw away your life, then die with one more monster in your arms.”
Agnes clicked her tongue and blocked another attack. Her blade then flashed and decapitated another monster. It was the sound of death, both demonic and human. Amid it all, Agnes could make out the sound of the knight she had just saved mauled.
But she couldn’t look back. She must not fall. She must endure and overcome.
“Quenor, can you be the wall?”
A giant monster collapsed at Quenor’s feet. With unsteady steps, he moved to Agnes’ side.
“Do you think you can stop the Meteor, Your Majesty?”
Agnes stopped looking at the sky and looked Quenor straight in the eye. That was her answer, her will, her faith. Quenor could only nod, his eyes unwavering. Still, she looked ahead, not allowing the Meteor to shatter her will.
“I’ll ask again.”
Quenor aura unfurled once more. The approaching creatures disintegrated and fell to pieces. For that moment, Quenor was no longer the Lord of Evernode but the Queen’s most loyal servant.
“Will you be the wall?”
“At your command.”
Quenor glanced toward a smiling halfling. Their horsemen and knights can’t help them now. Agnes and Quenor exchanged unspoken words and readied their swords.
***
“Damn it.”
Cora was in bad shape. The rushing medics couldn’t help much. The situation on the battlefield was even worse. Eugene’s gaze wandered between the battlefield and Cora.
“…Focus…on the battle.”
Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth as she struggled to speak. Eugene squeezed his magic to seal the wound and stop the bleeding. The wound was deep. He needed to move her, but there was no one to help. Eugene will have to carry her.
“Stop it…just throw me off…”
“Shut up, I’m saving you.”
He tied the cloth around her wound. Eugene staggered to his feet, carrying Cora. The weight of her armor weighed down on his legs and waist.
“You’re heavy.”
“…Shut the fuck up…”
Blood was sticky. It was lukewarm. It got all over his back. He assured Cora to believe in him, but even he knew it was for himself.
“The line is falling!”
The sound of monsters occupied the ramparts. Soldiers died, and knights fell. Eugene turned his head involuntarily.
“….”
A monster stood in their path. Eugene stumbled backward. Monsters slowly surrounded them.
“Put me down…Run…”
Cora’s words were ignored. Eugene fired crude spells, trying to knock them down. But it wasn’t enough. Eugene’s eyes widened, unable to accept the impending death in front of him.
A claw reached out to his face, and he closed his eyes. Then he felt the wind flow from his side.
“Go.”
The monster, or rather, Natalie, waved her tentacles and looked at Eugene. There was little evidence left that she was human anymore. Her body was covered in different monster parts, the black hair on a vaguely humanoid shape indicating her identity. Turning to Eugene, who stared at her in disbelief, Natalie screamed at him.
“Leave!”
Eugene broke into a run. Monsters lunged for their prey, but Natalie pierced them with her tentacles. The creatures on the ramparts were being cleared, but below, the creatures Natalie had been holding at bay swarmed en masse, scratching at the walls. Natalie stretched out her tentacles to clear a path for Eugene. He gave her one last glance, then ran down.
Why?
Natalie fought the creature until they were out of sight. At that moment, she felt like something inside her had changed. She didn’t know how to describe the relief that filled her being.
“…I’m done.”
But it wasn’t enough. Her body could not last forever. The longer it is maintained, the more she crumbles and the more monster-like it becomes. The tentacle swung down. Natalie shook it vigorously, shaking off the monster on it. Her regeneration was getting slower. One more cut, and it would stop regenerating altogether.
“But…”
Natalie bit her lip, trying to stop herself from moving.
She finally found a reason to move and live. But the monsters around her disagreed with her goals.
“…I want to live.”
Natalie murmured as she fell to her knees. For the first time, a will formed in her mind. She forced her tentacles out. She moved her hands and feet to pull herself up.
Live. Fight.
Her instincts overpowered the commands in her head. She bared her teeth, raised her claws, and resisted the oncoming death. Like a child’s cry, Natalie screamed at the creature.
In the distance, a light rose, dispelling the darkness of twilight.
