‘……This is awful.’
Jin Crow's impression as he watched Baek Hui-young's memories flow past like a panorama from one step behind was simple.
How should he put it?
It felt as though he had experienced Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream.
One thing was certain.
It felt unbelievably unpleasant.
Watching another version of himself rampage like an uncontrollable brat from someone else's perspective was by no means an enjoyable experience.
Of course, that was true even if that other self was now separate from his current ego.
Moreover, that wasn't the only thing bothering him.
‘This is different from the death of Jin Crow that I knew. Why?’
Instructor Jin Crow.
The reason he had dismissed this body as merely a ‘broken, delusional villain’ after possessing it was simple.
That was how he had been portrayed in the original novel, 「Galaxy Chronicle」, and his death hadn't been particularly remarkable either.
The death of a typical villain.
It had only carried about that much impact, and the readers' reaction had been no more than, ‘A pretty compelling villain died.’
‘How did he die?’
He furrowed his brows as he tried to remember.
He couldn't recall clearly, but he thought Jin Crow had gone mad. The descriptions of him having had something happen in his past and being addicted to drugs were similar enough.
But he didn't remember anything about him killing thirty-two generals, invading Earth, the Human Composite State's capital planet, and slaughtering a million civilians.
If anything, he remembered it being buried rather quietly.
As he reached that thought, a headache struck him, making him frown.
Then he realized something.
‘It's silent all around.’
Before that...
How had he been able to frown in the first place?
Even when he lowered his gaze, he could see nothing.
Even when he searched for his body, he could grasp nothing.
The moment he realized that subtle contradiction, instinctively covering his mouth as nausea surged through him, his consciousness twisted under the overwhelming pressure of something overlapping with it and pulling him in.
‘……!’
How should he describe it?
It felt as though his brain had been placed into a waffle iron and baked before being slowly crushed inside a hydraulic press.
The agony was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
His scream lodged in his throat, unable to escape, and even when he reached up with the desperate urge to tear his own head apart, there was nothing to grasp.
How much time passed like that?
Just as he was beginning to understand what utter nonsense it was to say people grew accustomed to pain with time...
A sudden calm arrived.
Jin Crow slowly lowered his gaze toward the unfamiliar yet strangely familiar sensation of liquid beneath his feet.
‘This place.’
Though he still couldn't produce a voice, he instinctively knew.
This was...
That place he had encountered before.
Squelch.
The same viscous liquid seeped around his military boots as before.
Beyond the dark crimson sea of blood, an even greater ocean of corpses welcomed him.
...He had felt this the last time he came here as well, but facing this place was torture in its own right.
He slowly raised his gaze.
Having already seen this place once, he remembered exactly who sat atop the mountain formed by that swamp of corpses.
‘Me.’
At last, his eyes landed upon a man with the same face as his own, still kneeling there.
Previously, he had only appeared as a vague silhouette.
But now, it was as though the faint haze surrounding him had cleared, revealing him with startling clarity.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
Pale skin and heavy dark circles beneath his eyes.
Long curly hair reaching the corners of his eyes.
The same white shirt and black uniform that he himself always wore.
It was unmistakably him.
He stared at the figure kneeling atop the mountain of corpses for a long time.
Yet strangely enough, he felt no discomfort.
Surely, seeing someone with his exact face burdened by an excessive number of chains should have filled him with some sense of dissonance.
‘That's probably... the real Jin Crow.’
Before, it had only been an uncertain guess.
Now, he was certain.
This wasn't the first time he had sensed the existence of that man, bound, imprisoned, confined atop countless corpses.
‘Just who are you?’
That was why he wanted to ask.
He wanted to hear the answer directly from the one who had been chained down and silenced.
Then, at that very moment—
Clank.
Within the silent world thick with the metallic scent of blood, the cold, heavy sound of chains echoed.
And that wasn't all.
The smell of blood brushing past his nose was replaced by a freezing chill that seemed capable of chilling even the soul itself.
An unbearable thirst and hunger engulfed him.
“……Has it... begun.”
At last...
Cracks slowly spread across the chains that had bound him all this time.
Before long, the chains restraining him from all four directions began collapsing all at once.
Clank. Boom!
Creeeak!
Amid the screech of grinding metal, hands stretched out from the mountain of corpses and dragged the kneeling Jin Crow downward.
Yet he regarded them with utter contempt.
Staring at the other version of himself through half-lidded eyes, he quietly added,
“……The... Winter of Calamity.”
The Winter of Calamity.
Fimbulvetr.
Words he couldn't comprehend flashed through his mind.
Then, as though something blocking both his body and mind had burst apart, overwhelming pressure surged through him.
“Hah!”
When Jin Crow opened his eyes again, what filled his vision was neither the swamp of blood...
Nor the mountain of corpses towering so high he had needed to tilt his head back to see its peak...
Nor the other version of himself whose chains had broken.
Instead...
Standing amid the ruins like a shimmering mirage...
Was a golden-haired girl.
Still confused, Jin Crow stared at her with furrowed brows.
Just as he was about to ask something—
〔It has been a long wait, Irregular.〕
Though they were clearly meeting for the first time, the golden-haired girl greeted him with an inexplicably warm smile.
Then, before he even realized it himself, as though recalling something forgotten, he quietly murmured her name.
“……Nectar?”
He was certain.
He himself had never known of Nectar's existence.
Yet at his whisper, the girl answered with a faint smile of affirmation before picking up the jet-black sword lying upon the ground and offering it back to him once more.
〔Questions can wait.〕
Jin Crow looked at his sword resting in the girl's small hand with slightly confused eyes.
Then, as though entranced, he took hold of it.
Slowly rising to his feet, he planted them firmly upon the ground just as she had instructed before taking a short, deep breath.
“……Right. Questions can wait.”
The Gear spinning within him, gleaming ominously...
Was unmistakably a Quad.
The fact that Ideale Kukenhauzen had personally set foot in the Free Planet Alliance was undoubtedly something that would stir tremendous political and military controversy.
Naturally.
Given the circumstances, the Free Planet Alliance had little room to object.
But the Empire now had every justification it needed to claim that the Human Composite State had effectively opened a new front in neutral territory.
That was what a Penta Gear represented.
An asymmetric military force whose every step required careful consideration, and whose mere presence on a battlefield forced the enemy to commit far more military power than necessary.
“……Urgh!”
The Special-duty Company, the Military Police, and even the instructors understood that better than anyone.
Which was why the sight before them was nothing short of shocking.
—KRRRRAAAAAAA!
“T-This can't be real! A mere Creature can actually contend with a Penta Gear–class Special-duty Officer?”
“……Good heavens.”
The headquarters of Mer Corporation, once the shining symbol of the Free Planet Alliance's prosperity, had become such complete ruins that the word tattered suited it perfectly.
Broken concrete, twisted steel beams, construction materials, and corpses were strewn together everywhere in a nauseating mess.
Even the towering building itself had already lost more than half its height and stood on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Yet even the threat of that collapse was less shocking than the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.
Naturally.
If you asked any soldier in the galaxy whether a mere Creature could rival a Penta Gear–class Special-duty Officer...
They wouldn't just laugh.
They would sincerely recommend you check into a psychiatric hospital.
The problem...
Was that this unbelievable sight was unfolding right in front of them.
—KRAAAAAAAAH!
With a deafening roar, the King swung a steel beam it had torn free, driving it toward Ideale's body with enough force to crush her.
Naturally, Ideale froze it solid, used it as a foothold to leap into the air, and extended frost-forged blades from her fingertips toward the monster.
KWA-GOOOOOOM!
Even after its entire body was shredded by razor-sharp icicles and slammed into the wall...
The King's momentum never diminished.
‘What kind of regeneration is this...!’
She didn't know it, but there was a reason Brigadier General Kim Cheol had taken so long just to deal with a mere Knight in the past.
Their firepower was overwhelming.
Every strike from a Penta Gear Special-duty Officer was powerful enough to tear those monsters limb from limb.
But their regenerative ability and vitality were equally monstrous.
Moreover, every opponent they had faced until now had been human.
Naturally, all of their attacks had been aimed at human vital points.
That discrepancy was what caused her brows to tighten.
“How insolent...!”
Yet because it was obvious that she held the advantage in firepower, Ideale pressed forward rather than retreating, unleashing ever colder, harsher flashes as she relentlessly overwhelmed the King.
Crunch!
She tore off one of its wings.
She burst its head apart.
Gripping frost-shimmering blades, she pierced its knees.
And whenever it rolled across the ground, Baek Hui-young, Dokgo Ran, and the 4th Fleet's Special-duty Company desperately clung to it without letting go.
—GRAAAAAAAAH!
Though it had become a monster...
Could it still feel pain?
At times, it severed the parts they had restrained itself.
Flying throughout the dome at unbelievable speed, it regenerated its body before confronting them once again.
That didn't mean the Special-duty Officers had it easy.
No.
As time passed, they became increasingly anxious.
Because just as they weren't fighting alone...
Neither was the King.
—Come... my... slaves...!
Wounded, it screamed beneath the writhing Void Rift.
Its monstrous howl shook the entire planet.
Moments later, the eyes of the Void Turtle scattering Corrosive spikes from the sky flashed brightly.
Then...
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Hundreds of thousands of Creatures charged toward them at once, crimson eyes blazing.
“……W-What do we do, Battalion Commander?”
“Th-This is...”
The sight was so overwhelming...
So violent...
That even Obia Timist, who had just escorted the cadets and wounded outside the dome, found herself momentarily stunned.
Just imagine it.
A tide of black beasts charging across the twisted earth beneath a sky stained crimson and violet.
Yet her surprise lasted only a moment.
Casting aside the goofy smile she had worn before the Military Police, Obia's crimson eyes gleamed ominously.
Then, wearing a grin that looked ready to descend into madness at any second, she quietly murmured,
“……Goodness. Isn't this exhilarating?”
“Pardon?”
One of the Military Police officers reflexively questioned her.
But Obia no longer saw anyone else.
Inside...
Ideale was keeping the monster occupied.
And the order she had received was simple.
Protect the cadets.
It was unbelievably troublesome.
But if that was the condition for being allowed to rampage as much as she pleased...
There was no reason not to carry it out.
Thud.
She casually shrugged off her white uniform jacket.
Then, waving playfully toward the bewildered Military Police who had no idea what to do, she whispered,
“I'll be back~.”
“B-Battalion Commander!”
Naturally, the Military Police could only stare blankly after her, all wearing expressions that seemed to ask,
Has she finally snapped?
Tens of thousands...
Hundreds of thousands of Creatures surged toward them.
For an ordinary person, simply standing before such a horde would probably be enough to make them put a bullet through their own temple to compensate for an iron deficiency.
But at that moment...
There was one thing they had forgotten.
“Ahem. Ahem.”
Her crimson eyes gleaming, Obia stepped beyond the reach of Ideale Kukenhauzen's Absolute Zero.
The Quad Gear within her spun violently.
Then she softly whispered,
「Muspelheim」
The ground beneath her immediately warped.
The earth twisted together.
Flames erupted.
Molten lava flowed.
As though savoring the rising heat, she unbuttoned her shirt and brushed back her crimson hair.
Though its range was smaller than Ideale's Absolute Zero...
It was unmistakably her own domain.
“So that's... a Special-duty Officer of the Human Composite State.”
Watching the scene, Satra and the surviving remnants of the Rermal Planetary Defense Force, who had just escorted the wounded outside, finally understood reality.
“……Were we really nothing more than frogs in a well?”
There had been times when they had marveled at the strength displayed by Jin Crow and the cadets.
But that admiration had stemmed from their individual talent.
Deep down, they had never believed it represented the difference between the Planetary Defense Force's Special-duty Officers and those of the Human Composite State.
Now...
They finally understood.
Whether the Superhumans they had encountered until now had been Triple Gears or Quad Gears...
‘They're fundamentally different.’
The Special-duty Officers of the Human Composite State existed on an entirely different level.
Meanwhile, Obia Timist looked upon the beasts that had foolishly, pitifully stepped into her domain.
Wearing her signature mischievous...
Mad...
Smile.
“Kyaahahaha!”
Major Obia Timist.
She too...
Was a Quad Gear of the Human Composite State.
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