The brief flash released from the tip of Baek Hwi-young's spear was undeniably crude.
A simple, straight thrust that advanced relentlessly forward—an attack so honest it bordered on archaic, utterly devoid of technique.
Yet to Jin Crow and the others who had reached a certain level, the flash he displayed was far more than a simple attack.
‘Comet.’
The flash eventually split into two streams of light.
It eliminated every obstacle in its path at a single point before finally shattering into countless fragments, illuminating the entire area.
The beasts bathed in that light suffered burns and melted away where they stood.
Whether it was because it was night, or because every ray of light had been greedily devoured by the Void Fissure, no one could tell. But the flash that brilliantly illuminated the land swallowed by darkness was not a technique an ordinary cadet should have been capable of displaying.
Jin Crow, Satra, and Volk merely watched with astonishment.
The cadets, however, were different.
“……Wow.”
“……W-What was that?”
They had been together for quite some time now.
They had even fought alongside one another.
Perhaps because of that, Beatus, Hino Kanae, Dokgo Ran, and even Miel stared at Baek Hwi-young's back with unconcealed amazement at the overwhelming disparity in his strength.
Only Famille seemed to have expected it to some extent and managed to maintain her composure.
Even so, she couldn't stop her eyes from trembling.
“Quit standing around in a daze.”
The atmosphere had become strange.
The instant Jin Crow sensed it, he deliberately mixed irritation into his voice, snapping both the cadets and everyone else back to reality.
After taking a slow, deep breath, he spoke in a low voice.
“Don't tell me you're planning to stand here until another wave reaches us.”
There was a clear barb in his words.
Yet precisely because of that, they possessed the power to force everyone to face reality.
A kind instructor would undoubtedly have acted differently.
Burdened by guilt over how things had turned out, and driven by the responsibility to save them somehow, such a person would have avoided dragging them into certain death.
Perhaps they would've sacrificed themselves to buy everyone else time.
Of course, it wasn't as though Jin Crow had never considered doing the same.
Even if he hadn't intended to throw away his life, he had wanted the cadets to escape.
But the moment escape became impossible, he found himself facing a dilemma.
「Q. Prevent the Destruction of the Galaxy!」
■Objectives
□Exterminate the Space Monsters
□Ensure the survival of the protagonist 'Baek Hwi-young'
□Ensure the survival of the Possessor 'Jin Crow'
■Description
□Were you dissatisfied with the ending of Galaxy Chronicle? Become one of its characters and change the future yourself!
□P.S. The character you possessed was randomly selected from among the characters mentioned by the reader.
The very first quest window he had seen after falling into this world resurfaced in his mind.
‘If only Baek Hwi-young and I survive.’
As Jin Crow's personality gradually blended with his own, he no longer feared death as much as he once had.
Even so, no human could remain indifferent to dying.
Moreover, he had more than enough justification.
Depending on how one interpreted that quest, it almost seemed to say that as long as Baek Hwi-young—the Regressor—and he himself—the Possessor—survived to exterminate the Creatures, nothing else mattered.
But he simply couldn't choose that option.
Partly because of his responsibility as an instructor.
Partly because, despite himself, he'd grown attached to the cadets.
More importantly...
If they all died, then there was no point in saving Baek Hwi-young alone.
‘If I hadn't known anything, I might have abandoned those kids for the sake of the greater good.’
He knew because he had been a devoted reader of Galaxy Chronicle for ten years.
The knowledge and future Baek Hwi-young had gained through regression might help the war and steer events in a more favorable direction.
But the course of a war that an individual could influence was ultimately limited.
There was no need to look far for an example.
Professor Risu-jong, described in the novel as humanity's foremost authority on Creatures, had once said this during a hearing.
—As the foremost authority on Creature research, if you knew things would escalate this far, why did you just sit back and do nothing?
—……I warned everyone. It was the media, the government, the Ministry of Defense... all of them who ignored me. If you're going to blame me now, then I have nothing left to say.
Wearing an expression of utter disgust, he openly lit a cigarette.
Despite how insolent the gesture seemed, none of the reporters could find the words to criticize him.
Just as he had said, Risu-jong had always emphasized the threat posed by Creatures.
The problem was that humanity had required far too many sacrifices before finally understanding his warnings.
At length, he distorted his deeply wrinkled eyes with irritation, crushed his cigarette into the ashtray, and continued.
—The only thing I can tell you is this. Gather every ounce of humanity's strength and place it in the hands of the Knights of the Stars. Those six generals.
—Th-Then... can humanity win?
—Win?
Risu-jong had merely smirked.
If he remembered correctly, the hearing ended at that very moment.
Afterward, Risu-jong never once appeared in public again, and in the novel he simply vanished without another mention.
Naturally, countless readers had debated what became of him.
But that wasn't what mattered right now.
“Don't fall behind.”
Therefore, falling behind now was tantamount to suicide.
Shing—
Jin Crow drew his sword and stepped forward.
Realizing there was no other choice, the cadets, Volk, Satra, and even the remnants of the Rermal Planetary Defense Force all followed after him.
Step.
Chunks of asphalt rolled across the slightly tilted road beneath their feet.
Soon, beyond the trail of Creature corpses carved open by Baek Hwi-young, they saw something enormous.
—Grrrrrk!
—KYAAAAAA!
Baek Hwi-young's flash had undoubtedly possessed overwhelming destructive power and slaughtered a great number of Creatures.
But it hadn't killed every Creature blocking the path.
Their regenerative abilities surpassed those of ordinary lifeforms.
Those whose wounds were still capable of healing quickly transformed their pain into rage and once again blocked the group's advance.
—KUOOOOOOO!
Spitting their signature revolting green saliva, they charged all at once.
From the sparrow watching high above, the scene resembled nothing more than humanity's futile struggle against the demons of hell.
The tilted earth.
The land split apart in every direction.
The stench of blood filled the air.
Scattered throughout the streets lay chunks of flesh and bones, impossible to tell whether they belonged to humans or Creatures.
Spinal cords flowed like rivers.
Entrails hung like fruit.
Simply looking at it drained one's strength.
Fear naturally welled up.
Nor was it only the cadets.
Even Volk, unlike when facing Bishops or Rooks, looked utterly sickened as he stared at them.
Satra and the remnants of the Rermal Planetary Defense Force were no different.
“Remember this.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
Yet at that moment, only Jin Crow and Baek Hwi-young spoke as though the horrific sight before them were perfectly ordinary.
“You'll have to get used to scenes like this from now on.”
“I'll remember that.”
Soon, the sea of Creatures surged toward them once again with ravenous hunger.
At that very moment—
Chirp.
The sparrow flying overhead busily turned its head and flapped its wings before blinking its eyes, as though it had completed its mission.
“The drone has successfully confirmed Instructor Jin Crow's and the cadets' location.”
“Understood.”
Thanks to the admiral's consideration, Ideale had been seated in a chair.
Finally releasing the lip she had anxiously been biting, she looked toward the Military Police of the academy, the instructors standing in formation, and the Special-duty company of the 4th Fleet before speaking.
“Board the assault ship.”
At that moment, every Special-duty officer unconsciously shuddered.
“I'll go personally.”
Ideale Kukenhauzen.
A Penta Gear Special-duty officer.
The Hero of Rocha Colony.
At last...
The giant had begun to move.
In less than an hour, they arrived at Mer Corporation Headquarters, which was unmistakably serving as the Queen's nest.
Most of the Creatures were unnamed mass-produced lower-grade variants.
Although Pawns and Knights were mixed among them, Satra and the remnants of the Rermal Planetary Defense Force had already become seasoned Creature hunters.
With Baek Hwi-young and Jin Crow joining them, it never became a truly dangerous battle.
“Huff... Ptoo!”
“……Haa... Cough.”
That didn't mean they avoided exhaustion.
Upon reaching the headquarters, however, they had no time to recover.
Instead, they could only gasp in revulsion.
Naturally.
The streets had already been horrifying enough.
But this...
This was different.
Whether it was Creature corpses or human bodies, it looked as though they had all been forcibly embedded into the walls and glued together so seamlessly that no joints remained.
Rotting strips of human skin fluttered everywhere.
It was enough to provoke something beyond mere disgust.
“……”
Perhaps they had become too exhausted to feel either surprise or revulsion anymore.
They simply stared with distorted expressions at the masses of flesh crawling across the half-collapsed exterior walls of the headquarters.
‘Thrown together in a hurry.’
Jin Crow, however, carefully observed the exterior wall.
To say it wasn't disgusting would have been a lie.
But that wasn't what mattered.
A Queen's nest fundamentally took one of two forms.
The first was one painstakingly created to transform the entire planet into an incubation ground.
In that case, rather than flesh, the exterior became covered in the same purple material as the Creatures themselves, surrounding the area like a fortress.
But if it had simply been stitched together from nearby lifeforms and corpses...
‘A feeding planet. A supply planet.’
Like eating only the sweet coating while spitting out the shell, it was a form focused solely on expanding its forces.
Which meant...
If things continued this way, the planet was doomed.
“We're going in.”
“Ugh... Hic!”
At his words, Miel—who had clearly hoped they would turn back—immediately looked on the verge of tears.
Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to indulge her.
Nor could they leave her behind.
Miel knew that as well.
Standing between Beatus and Dokgo Ran, she desperately fought down her fear and followed after them.
“Damn... This place is brutal.”
“……I agree.”
The moment they stepped into the lobby, everyone found themselves agreeing with Dokgo Ran's and Hino Kanae's quiet murmurs.
No.
Could one really describe this with nothing more than the word brutal?
If anything, the interior was even crueler than the exterior.
Although the building's framework remained intact, the upper floors had been completely hollowed out.
Suspended in that vast empty space was a single being with enormous wings fully spread, gazing down upon them.
—Die.
He looked down at those who had entered the lobby with an arrogant, lofty gaze.
Then his purple eyes flared.
At that very instant—
“It's coming!”
The moment Jin Crow saw the creature's wings twitch, he immediately pulled out a Pentacle and stabbed it into his neck before drawing his sword in a long arc that covered everyone behind him.
KAGAGAGAGAGAGANG!
In the next instant, thousands of feathers from the half-melted wings descended upon them like blades.
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