「Muspelheim」
A land where none could survive except the fire giants and their king, Surtr.
That place, hostile to all living things, voraciously devoured the Creatures.
As though savage nature itself possessed a will, the lava and flames stretched forth to punish the uninvited guests who had dared trespass into humanity’s domain.
—Kii, KIIIIIIIII!
Their bodies burned alive.
Then flesh and bone alike melted away.
Their charge was halted by the fractured earth, and even those that leaped over the corpses of the ones ahead could do nothing but collapse beneath the suffocating heat.
Like melted chewing gum, masses of flesh stuck fast to the scorched ground, creating a scene that was both revolting and strangely exhilarating.
“M-Maybe!”
“……We can survive!”
It was hardly strange that those witnessing the overwhelming spectacle began to feel hope.
Though her influence covered a far smaller area than Ideale’s, the force displayed by Obia Timist was undoubtedly slaughtering the incoming Creatures.
What she had created was a front line.
And the advancing beasts could not cross it.
But they soon had no choice but to face reality.
—KYAAAAAAAH!
—KIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
The number of Creatures continued to increase with every passing moment.
And Obia Timist, being human, had her limits.
“Kyahahahaha! More! Bring me more!”
Despite the madness and delight still overflowing from her laughter, the Creatures had already reached her position.
Shimmering heat rippled across her body as she personally tore them apart with her own hands.
Which also meant that more and more Creatures were beginning to slip past her.
Naturally, dealing with those became the responsibility of the Special-duty Officers stationed in the rear.
“Hold them back!”
“Urgh!”
In the end, a defensive line was established to stop the Creatures surging toward the dome.
Ability-types lifted and reconstructed the surrounding debris with their powers to erect barricades, while Martial artists stepped forward as one, ripping apart, crushing, and cleaving through the approaching Creatures.
“UAAAAAAAH!”
A massive greatsword split a Creature cleanly in half.
Scattered bullets burst open brains and pierced hearts.
—Grrrrrrr!
A newly promoted Triple Gear Special-duty Officer had a razor-sharp tentacle driven straight through his abdomen.
His body was torn cleanly in half.
Blood flowed across the uneven streets and into the city's sewers.
The ground became littered with the corpses of both humans and Creatures, resembling nothing less than a depiction of hell itself.
“N-No...”
“Get a hold of yourself!”
One rookie Military Police officer collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably before the hellish sight.
Above them, grotesquely writhing violet rifts continued spewing out Void Turtles as though driven mad.
Behind them, the King of the Creatures rampaged freely.
And beyond the horizon, a tidal wave of beasts advanced without end.
‘The... end.’
It was not only him.
Everyone standing upon that battlefield found themselves unconsciously dwelling upon the same word.
Overwhelming despair.
And the horrifying thrill of an apocalypse they had never before experienced.
“Ghah!”
“GAAAAAH!”
The 4th Fleet's Special-duty Company managed to endure thanks to their considerable combat experience.
The real problem lay with the Military Police.
More than half of them had never experienced war.
And even those who had certainly were not accustomed to open battlefield combat.
“KYAAAH! S-Save—!”
A Military Police officer who had already cut down dozens of Creatures suddenly had her ankle ensnared by a Bishop’s tentacle.
CRUNCH!
Dragged away in an instant, her waist bent backward until her body collapsed into nothing more than a sack of blood.
Elsewhere, a member of the 4th Fleet's Special-duty Company was trampled beneath a Creature, every internal organ bursting as he died.
Even Obia finally bit down on her lip, wearing an awkward smile.
‘Th-There are a bit too many...’
The indiscriminate violence, something she had not experienced in a long time, was still just as enjoyable.
But there were simply far too many.
So many that even she found herself instinctively overwhelmed.
“Hup!”
Meanwhile, Satra was likewise forcing her battered body to move as she desperately held back the incoming enemies.
She threw a punch, knocking aside the blade-like foreleg of an approaching Creature.
Twisting at the waist, she used its leg as a pivot before smashing its head apart.
“Urgh!”
Even when a comrade fell beside her, there was nothing she could do.
Simply turning her eyes elsewhere would place her own life in danger.
They were already struggling merely to maintain the front line.
‘At this rate...’
‘……It's over.’
The same sense of crisis and helplessness spread across every face.
How could a mere handful of Special-duty Officers possibly stop hundreds of thousands of beasts?
Even if they capitalized on every hard-fought opening created by their comrades, it was physically impossible.
But at that moment—
〔This is Squadron BMF-21. We are providing support.〕
The last remaining combat air squadron of the virtually annihilated Black Mer gritted their teeth and ascended into the skies.
BOOOOOOM!
Without hesitation, they unleashed a relentless bombardment upon the advancing Creatures.
Whenever the massive Void Turtles attempted to target them, they swiftly evaded before raining bullets down upon the ground instead.
And thus began the long-awaited counterattack of the Free Planet Alliance.
Hummmmmm—
As Black Mer’s squadron tore open gaps in the cloud cover, a formation of white ships emerged from between them.
“Those are...?”
They were not particularly numerous.
Rather than a military fleet, the white vessels resembled PMC transport ships.
Yet emblazoned across their hulls were two unmistakable characters.
Geum Young.
Nor was that all.
Immediately beside them flew transport ships painted in an even deeper black than Black Mer itself—the vessels of the Genorua Family.
As though they had coordinated beforehand, they first unleashed artillery fire upon the ground before descending rapidly and disgorging groups of people.
“Geum Young Security, Security Team One. We've arrived at the front.”
“Geum Young Security, Security Team Two. Same here.”
“Geum Young Security, Security Team Four. Nothing unusual on duty.”
The towering men, clad in white suits and reinforced white exoskeletons, reported into the in-ear communicators they wore before charging straight toward the Creatures as though it had all been rehearsed.
One unusual detail stood out.
Nearly all of their weapons consisted of tonfas, knuckle weapons, and expandable batons.
“Haaah!”
BAAAAM!
A Creature’s head exploded after being struck by a spinning tonfa.
Another's eyeballs and brain burst outward after taking a blow from a pair of knuckles.
At times, disgusting green fluid splattered across their white suits.
But they paid it no mind, silently continuing to drive their fists into the monsters.
Then the Genorua Family's transports disgorged a force that contrasted sharply with Geum Young Group's.
Mafia members dressed in black suits.
And, like Volk, a group clad in techwear with black masks and military caps concealing their faces.
“Wipe them out!”
“Let's show them Mercato's typewriters!”
The Mafia, cigarettes hanging from their mouths, unleashed streams of railgun fire descended from submachine guns.
A dense web of gunfire formed almost instantly.
Behind them, Volk's teammates, who had only just regained consciousness, rose with groans and silently lined up before the still-unsteady Volk, awaiting his orders.
“Tch. This leaves a bad taste.”
Finally climbing to his feet, Volk ignored the pain wracking his battered body.
With half-lidded eyes resembling those of a wounded wolf, he quietly gave his followers their command.
“Tear them all apart. Hunting time.”
The moment the order was given, each of them casually twirled the weapon in their hand before eagerly throwing themselves into the battle.
“……Kill them!”
“Fuck! Now this changes things!”
Then the civilians who had been hiding until now emerged carrying shotguns.
Even the mercenaries joined the fight with weapons in hand.
The front line stabilized far more quickly than expected.
It truly resembled a war.
Satra clenched her teeth after quenching the hunger, cold, and thirst gnawing at her with the blood of the approaching Creatures, then unconsciously muttered,
“At least this much...”
Perhaps they actually had a chance.
It was not only her.
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
But at that very moment, their hope shattered like broken glass, crashing into the ground.
BOOOOOOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted directly behind them.
The collapsing remains of a building buried several Mafia members beneath them before they could even scream.
Blood pooled beneath the rubble.
Yet no one had time to mourn their deaths.
Naturally.
Because it was not only debris that had come crashing down.
Ideale herself had plummeted diagonally into the earth.
“Ghah!”
A small crater formed where she landed.
Moments later, Ideale, covered in dust, slowly pushed herself back to her feet with a dry cough.
Her military uniform had been torn apart.
A wound briefly appeared upon her once-flawless arm before regenerating almost instantly.
Dirt tangled throughout her white hair.
“M-Major General!”
Naturally, the instructors from the Human Composite State, Ginatio, and the others immediately rushed toward her.
But at that very instant, Ideale had no choice but to grit her teeth and thrust out a hand.
—Grrrrrrr!
As though determined not to let this opportunity escape, King—who had been mercilessly beaten down by Ideale until now—launched a full-powered attack directly at her.
‘Damn it!’
Feathers as sharp as blades surged forward with the sole purpose of tearing her to pieces.
This was on an entirely different level from the feathers he had scattered earlier.
Each individual feather carried force approaching that of an ordinary Triple Gear’s full-power strike.
And if there were hundreds—
Thousands—
Not even a Penta Gear could endure them head-on.
Biting her crimson lips, Ideale tightly clenched the earth with her white hand as she gauged the Psionic energy she still possessed.
I still need more time.
‘It can't be helped. I'll endure this, then crush him completely.’
There was no other choice.
King was reflected within her white pupils.
His regenerative ability was truly astonishing.
Even after his exoskeleton had been torn away and shattered, it simply regenerated.
That was why she had lost the advantage.
As the blade-like feathers reached her, she slowly drew in a deep breath.
Preparing herself to endure the pain that was about to come, she looked toward Baek Hwi-young, Ginatio, and the others rushing desperately toward her.
‘Jin Crow.’
Without realizing it, she silently repeated the name of the man who was not here.
Then she tightly shut her eyes.
But at that very moment—
KAGAGAGAGAGANG!
She felt an icy blade brush terrifyingly close to her body.
When Ideale opened her eyes once more, all she saw before her were countless shattered feathers scattering like flower petals.
“Instructor of the Central Special Service Academy, Major Jin Crow.”
Disheveled black hair brushed past crimson-tinted eyes.
His tattered shirt was so ruined that he had not even managed to fasten its buttons.
The scars covering his body and his split muscles stood out prominently, while thick veins bulged along the forearms exposed by his rolled-up sleeves.
Shhk—
At last, he bit down on his tattered leather glove and tore it from his hand before speaking over his shoulder to Ideale.
“I... am a little late.”
At those words, Ideale, who had been bracing herself for the pain to come, could not help letting out a quiet laugh.
Then, wearing the brightest smile she had shown anyone until now, she spoke to him.
“If you cannot explain why you are here, know that this will not end with merely docking your pay.”
“……”
For some reason, she found it rather pleasing that he could not meet her eyes.
Yes...
He looked just like a black cat guiltily avoiding its owner after causing trouble.
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