Dawn.
I was abruptly awakened from sleep by Deorimuidin’s urgent call. He had returned from the ruined cathedral, and I quickly went down to the reception room.
“The ruined cathedral has fallen.”
Deorimuidin was covered in blood, but thankfully, it wasn’t his own. It seemed he had been splattered with the blood of others during the battle.
“And, Cromwell… it seems she has regained some level of intelligence.”
“……!”
Deorimuidin, seeing my surprise, told me in detail about what had happened at the ruined cathedral.
After hearing the full story, I rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought.
‘Let’s organize the situation.’
The forward base, which was prepared inside the dungeon as a buffer, has been captured.
All the monsters that filled the entire 10th district have turned into zombies and are pouring out all at once for this defense battle.
The legion commander leading those zombies, Cromwell, seems to have gone a bit crazy, but she has regained her reason.
It seems she can control her zombie monsters like her own limbs.
‘This has become troublesome….’
If it were just a horde of zombies with a large number, I could have guided them around and dealt with them without much damage, though it would have been tiring.
But now that Cromwell, who has the power to control them, has regained her intelligence, it was clear that she would become a variable in some form.
‘I would have preferred it if she were her usual self.’
I can’t guess Cromwell’s current thought patterns. From Deorimuidin’s report, it seems she has gone completely mad.
‘Currently, the tactics for dealing with a basic zombie-state monster legion are prepared, but….’
How exactly will the zombie legion led by Cromwell move?
I have no information, and I can’t even guess. This is where it gets complicated.
It was then.
“Your Majesty, I have a report!”
A soldier burst into the reception room, panting. Everyone is having a hard time from dawn.
“What is it?”
“A legion of monsters has emerged, breaking through the surface of the Black Lake!”
Everyone in the room flinched, and Deorimuidin quietly bit his lip.
I raised one side of my mouth and clenched my teeth.
“They came out right away, huh…?”
“They are literally crawling out endlessly! Moreover, they are all monsters in a state like corpses, just as Your Majesty predicted… but strangely, they are aligned and moving together!”
After hearing the rest of the soldier’s report, I shouted.
“Prepare the airship La Mancha!”
What is the safest and most powerful military force when dealing with zombies?
Without a doubt, it’s the air force.
Air forces that can crush them with overwhelming firepower from the safe skies, where the jaws or arms of zombies can’t reach!
“I will break their vanguard.”
And at the same time, I’ll check their current state…!
***
As Stage 45 approached, the airship La Mancha was always on standby, having completed its maintenance.
It was a natural procedure since it was practically the only air force that our World Guardian Front possessed.
‘I’m newly realizing the consumption from the previous battles.’
The wide hangar, which once housed more than ten airships, was empty, and I felt strange watching La Mancha slowly emerge from it alone.
Fighting against the Lord of Flies and the Black Dragon, dozens of airships, which could be called the strongest weapons of mankind, were destroyed.
The city walls collapsed twice. Countless pieces of equipment and artifacts were broken.
And tens of thousands of people….
Many lives that tried to protect the front lines were lost.
‘It’s fortunate that the collection of the war dead was completed on time.’
The bodies of the 30,000 troops annihilated by the Night Bringer have all been recovered.
I’m so relieved that we were able to collect them before the zombies came. They are all now buried in the cemetery.
Getting back to the point, the main thing is… the damage from the last two boss stages was so great that recovery is still far off.
The city walls, equipment, artifacts, and troops are all broken.
This is the difficulty of this battle.
Cromwell and the Demon Guardian Corps are, in terms of objective power, inferior to the Lord of Flies or the Night Bringer.
However, the situation of our World Guardian Front is clearly worse than it was then.
In a state where damage has accumulated from repeated fierce battles, how can we endure the remaining stages with minimal damage and preserve our strength until the final stage….
This is the key, but suddenly, all the monsters have turned into zombies and come out mixed together, and I have no idea what state Cromwell is in after being resurrected from the dead.
‘This is difficult….’
The Lord of Flies and the Night Bringer were unexpected enemies that crushed the experience from the game.
The current zombie-Cromwell is similar in some ways. I can’t gauge her exact combat power.
“The departure preparations are complete, Your Majesty!”
Air Fleet Commander Macmillan shouted. I nodded and boarded La Mancha.
It was dawn, and I didn’t plan to engage in a full-scale battle, so I didn’t summon the other heroes.
However, I left the heroes who somehow found out and insisted on following me from dawn in the city.
“Kellybay, you need to quickly finish the equipment you are making. Where are you going? Lucas, Evangeline, finish the maintenance of your respective units. Junior, you need to lead the mage unit. Damian, is the sniper training finished?”
There’s no reason to take busy people when we’re not going to have a melee battle anyway.
When I pointed out each one, they all pouted but obediently walked out of the airship.
So, after leaving them all in the city, I launched La Mancha with only Deorimuidin.
Thud-!
The magic engine started, and the airship floated into the air, and soon it was shot south.
The heroes left in the hangar were looking up at the departing airship with worried eyes.
I clicked my tongue. I’ll be back soon, so you guys do your jobs well!
***
Inside La Mancha, flying towards the Black Lake.
“This is just a reconnaissance operation. Since we came with a full load of gunpowder, we’ll drop some bombs.”
“…….”
Deorimuidin, who was in the seat in front of me, kept silent with a heavy look on his face while looking out the window.
I became worried and asked.
“Are you alright, Deorimuidin? You must be tired from the previous operation. I should have let you rest more….”
“No, I’m fine.”
Deorimuidin smiled, stroking his beard, and let out a hollow sigh.
“It’s just that people’s hearts are so fickle.”
“Fickle?”
“I’m talking about the demon race survivors who were annihilated in the ruined cathedral. Originally, they were all going to become enemies anyway, right?”
I nodded. Deorimuidin took a long breath.
“They are members of the invading army anyway. We just formed a brief joint front because our interests aligned for a moment. I know that well. But….”
“You felt bad.”
“……Yes.”
Deorimuidin was still looking at the bloodstains on his robe.
“Just because we spent a few days together, I feel pity for their deaths… and I’m in pain for not being able to save them. They are just monsters.”
“…….”
After a moment of silence, I shrugged and said.
“Isn’t that just human nature?”
“Human nature… haha. Is it human nature?”
I also fell into thought in front of Deorimuidin, who was clicking his tongue and lost in thought. It was a problem I had always been pondering.
What is the standard for dividing people and monsters?
What is the line that distinguishes people as people and monsters as monsters?
‘We are on the same front now, but humans have originally been at war with other races.’
Fairies, dwarves, beastmen, merfolk… and many other races besides the four major races.
At that time, the other races would have been monsters to humans. They only spoke the same language, but they killed each other and hated each other like crazy.
And humans have also been at war with each other.
Not far back, there was the war between the Everblack Empire and the Bringer Principality, and a little further back, there was the war between the Everblack Empire and the Camilla Kingdom.
At that time, even if they were of the same species, could they have considered the opponent across the border as the same person?
No.
They would have been monsters to be stabbed and killed.
‘The ending I want to reach is….’
I stared at Deorimuidin, who was deep in thought, and repeated to myself.
‘The conclusion I want to draw at the end of this three-year journey is….’
It was then.
“Your Majesty, the Black Lake is visible!”
Macmillan shouted from near the cockpit.
“And… the line of monsters below is also visible! It’s an enormous number!”
“……!”
I stood up from my seat, and Deorimuidin and I went to Macmillan. Macmillan gestured towards the magic panel deployed around the cockpit.
“Look!”
In the center of the wide view from the sky was a huge black lake.
And from the entrance of that lake, an endless line of zombie monsters was continuously emerging.
The observation team first reported their emergence a few hours ago, and they have been coming out continuously since then.
‘How many monsters were stationed in the 10th district?’
The number was much larger than I had estimated, which was absurd.
I wondered if the exact number would appear in the stage information window, so I turned it on, but there was no proper display. It was just a festival of question marks.
Eider has started preparing for the final stage. I shouldn’t expect much help from the system anymore.
“But these monsters are slow.”
“That’s certainly true.”
As Macmillan said, they were slow.
The monsters that emerged one by one from the lake entrance were all slow and sluggish.
This slow speed must have contributed to the fact that it took them several hours to march out of the lake.
We slowly circled in the sky and were able to observe them in detail.
I checked the faces of the zombified monsters.
‘What, a fire giant? It’s a monster legion as strong as the frost giants. Are they also zombified?’
‘Those are hellhounds… a legion of hellhounds. I can see Cerberus, the legion commander, and his direct subordinate Orthrus. I didn’t expect these guys to become zombies.’
‘Crazy, the tentacle snail legion is also there. Where did they get bitten to become zombies? Is it possible to zombify anything with even a little bit of flesh to bite?’
In addition, all sorts of named monster legions were zombified and formed a long line, slowly marching north.
It was truly an unprecedented and unparalleled coalition of monsters.
Even though they are all zombies.
‘The Lord of Flies and the Night Bringer were all out of the ordinary, but….’
I broke out in a cold sweat.
‘These guys are also quite out of the ordinary…?’
Thump… Thump… Thump….
Rotten and crushed, but never stopping, the zombie monster army marched north.
In this defense game that had already gone crazy, another insane crisis had arrived.
‘If these guys had come before fighting the Lord of Flies or the Night Bringer, it would have been quite manageable….’
As I said repeatedly, the World Guardian Front is currently extremely depleted due to the previous battles.
It is dangerous just to have such a huge horde of zombies pushing in.
“Let’s take a closer look. Lower the altitude.”
I ordered Macmillan.
“While we’re getting closer, let’s leave them some gifts… we brought enough gunpowder, right?”
Macmillan grinned and nodded.
“Of course, Your Majesty!”
Whirr-!
La Mancha lowered its altitude and approached the zombie horde.
At the same time, the bottom of the airship unfolded, revealing dozens of machine guns, and the fully loaded bombs were ready to be dropped for bombing.
“We will conduct the first bombing, followed by the second bombing, and then approach with machine gun fire. Hold on tight!”
La Mancha, approaching the ground in an instant from the distant sky, began carpet bombing.
The zombies marching in a line were easy targets to aim at. La Mancha followed them faithfully, pouring bombs over them.
Boom! Ku-ku-ku-boom…!
The bombs that fell from the gift box landed on the zombies’ heads, creating huge explosions, flames, and smoke.
“Whew!”
I whistled without realizing it.
It felt refreshing. Long live the air force!
“We will continue with the second bombing and switch to machine gun fire, lowering the altitude!”
I nodded, listening to Macmillan’s report, and looked at the ground.
“……?”
And, I found something strange.
Not only the zombies caught in the blast zone, but all the zombies far away from the explosion.
The eyes of the zombies, which had been looking ahead blankly until just now….
They were all turned to the sky, staring directly at us.
The feeling of thousands and tens of thousands of gazes, emitting an ominous green aura, all looking at ‘me’ at once was not a pleasant experience, even as a joke.
“……This doesn’t feel good.”
And, based on my experience over the past three years.
Bad premonitions always come true.
I shouted urgently.
“Cancel the second bombing! Raise the altitude!”
“Yes?!”
“No more questions, up! Immediately-!”