Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Monster Wave (3)
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As I climbed the rope and got over the wall amidst the downpour of attacks, Krain Rzhev strode over and threw his arms around me.
“Phew. That was tough. Thanks.”
“You—! What in the world—!”
Ahem, I know he’s happy to see me, but this is a bit much.
“This is insane! Did you come all the way from the Demonic Realm like this? Fighting monsters? All day long?”
“Uh, well. I guess so? I just picked out the big ones and cracked their skulls. There are a lot of them.”
“To do all that for Rzhev!”
It wasn’t just Krain Rzhev. Everyone around us was murmuring, staring at me with looks of awe.
Well, I did do something pretty amazing. There aren’t many people like me, after all.
Though I did it all just to screw over those bastards from the Empire.
“Has there been any particular reaction from the Empire?”
“Not yet.”
“There will be. Definitely before this wave is over.”
If I was right, there would be a rather shocking announcement. Conflict with the Holy Kingdom had become unavoidable.
They wouldn’t have created this monster wave without a purpose.
“Ha. Anyway, is there anything to eat? I’m starving like crazy.”
I could almost hear my stomach rumbling. It was no wonder, having fought all day without a single bite.
“Something to eat… you say?”
“Yes. A lot, please. Ugh. I’m so hungry I barely have any strength left.”
At my sudden, out-of-the-blue request for food, Rzhev ordered a soldier to bring something from the mess hall.
It clearly wasn’t a joke, as my stomach was growling quite loudly.
“Sir Kratos—!”
Niceta rushed over mid-conversation, and the divine power she emitted seeped into my body, purifying the demonic energy.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, thanks. Of course, I am. They’re not even a handful.”
This divine power really is effective. It feels like my body is brimming with vitality.
“Alright! Break’s over! Let’s get back to fighting. We need to take down at least half of them here at Adma.”
They say there’s no winning against sheer numbers, but if I have enough time, I can make a meal out of those numbers.
And the more those numbers stack up, the stronger I’ll become.
“Reinhardt, to the wall. Seamus, on the bows! Niceta, move around and tend to the soldiers.”
“Yes, sir—!”
“Don’t let a single one die! Not one! Make sure everyone returns to Rzhev alive! No, we *will* return! Unconditionally!”
My shout drew the soldiers’ gazes.
“Don’t you dare die! It’s better to roll in shit in this life than be dead! If you survive this mess, I’ll buy every one of you a beer back in Rzhev—!”
“Beer! Beer! Free beer!”
“Let’s make it out alive and drain his wallet!”
I’ve got more than enough money for that, I’ll have you know!
“You have quite a talent for speeches. The way you captured the soldiers’ hearts in an instant.”
“It’s all thanks to learning from a good teacher.”
“Excellent. Mages, take a break! Bring the boiling oil! We must not be breached! Pour it on the ones below the wall!”
A wide smile never leaving his face, Rzhev continued to issue commands. It was likely because my actions had significantly boosted the soldiers’ morale.
When I first came up to this wall, the soldiers’ faces were filled with the fear and terror of facing death. The number of monsters was just that overwhelming.
In a battle like this, morale was more important than anything. Fear was an emotion that spread quickly among people. If morale dropped, the chances of the wall being breached would rise accordingly.
Well, it’s fine. It’s all fine. I’ll take care of them all.
“Here you are—!”
A soldier held out a basket full of food, and I chewed and swallowed it down with some water. My hunger subsided, at least a little.
Now that I’ve filled my stomach, it’s time to fight again, isn’t it?
“My sword. Where’s my sword?”
I looked over at a young soldier frantically searching for the sword that had fallen to the ground among the men who were panting for breath after hauling me up.
He was a young soldier, his face still boyish. The very one whose face I’d seen was filled with terror.
Maybe he was conscripted because of the war, or maybe he volunteered.
Whatever the case, the battlefield is a place that drives even children like this, who look like they’ve just started high school, into the jaws of death.
It’s bitterly sad, but that’s what war is. I picked up the sword at my feet, handed it to him, and asked the young soldier.
“This rope is sturdy, right?”
Looking at this rope, as thick as my forearm, that I had used to climb up, a certain movie came to mind.
“Sir? The rope? Yes! It’s quite sturdy!”
“There’s this movie where a guy ties himself to a rope and jumps off a wall to fight monsters. It’s called *The Great Wall*. But I don’t know if it’ll actually work. I’d be screwed if it snaps halfway. Ah, maybe not?”
Wouldn’t this be more effective than just pecking away at them by throwing my hammer from the top of the wall?
It would be a way to kill more of them in one go. One swing of the hammer should, what? Wipe out a hundred of them at once. Who has time to pick them off one or two at a time?
“Okay—the length is sufficient.”
As I tied the rope tightly around my waist and secured the other end to the wall, the young soldier approached, his face pale.
“Don’t worry. No one’s dying here. Not you, not me. Got it? Oh, and keep an eye on the rope. You have to pull me up when I signal, alright?”
“Sir?”
I placed a hand on the soldier’s head, then gripped the handle of my hammer tightly.
“I’ll take care of the ones below the wall, so you all focus on the ones farther away!”
I grabbed a nearby knight, spat out my instructions, and leaped off the wall.
“Aaaah—! Sir Kratos!”
From far away, the young soldier’s scream echoed.
So this is what bungee jumping feels like. I’d never once tried it back on Earth.
“Heads up—!”
The weighted hammer came crashing down on the head of a large monster that had been battering the wall with its body.
It then unleashed its spiritual power like lightning, sweeping through the surrounding monsters.
“Woooah—!”
Cheers erupted from above.
“Heads up—! Heads up—!”
Whether on Earth or here, there’s a 90% chance that a living creature’s weak spot is its head.
Meaning, this strategy of aiming for the head was the most effective and efficient.
Of course, there are all sorts of strange creatures here, so it might not apply to all of them.
With every swing of the hammer, their heads burst open. When a smaller one charged, I dealt with it by picking up a headless monster and throwing it.
It would be a pain if their bodies piled up in front of the wall, allowing others to climb over them.
Hot blood mixed with demonic energy splattered all over me, then met the cold outside air and billowed up as steam.
Countless motes of light embroidered the sky and were absorbed into me. Beyond those motes, magic, arrows, and ballista bolts rained down, tearing the monsters apart.
This was a wave. These weren’t the kind of creatures to scatter in fear once you took down their leader. If it were that simple, I would’ve done it already.
*Thwump—*
A weapon thrown by a monster from behind was blocked by a shimmering barrier and fell harmlessly.
“That would’ve stung my head a bit if it hit.”
It wouldn’t have killed me, though. In any case, long live the auto-defense system.
“Kra—to—s—!”
A long shout came from the top of the wall.
*BOOM—!*
Then, suddenly, as if a bomb had gone off, the wall shook violently, and stone dust rained down.
I pulled hard on the rope tied to my waist, and as it went taut, I climbed back onto the wall to survey the situation.
“You’ve got to be kidding me—!”
A short distance from where I was, monsters glowing crimson all over were breaking through the horde and charging toward the wall.
“Shoot those things—! Snipe them! Pour magic on them!”
A desperate voice cried out pitifully from atop the wall. I slackened the rope again, went down the wall, and threw my hammer at them.
*KRA-KABOOM—*
Two or three of them exploded at once, creating a massive blast that swept up the surrounding creatures, setting off a chain reaction of explosions.
“Aargh—!”
As soon as I retrieved my hammer, I sent it flying down again.
Their procession was endless. Giving them even a slight opening would mean the wall would be shattered in an instant.
Besides, large monsters were already ramming the main gate with their bodies like madmen.
The wood was splintered and gouged, but thankfully, the gate held. It was a good thing we had stacked thick logs and stones against it, as it wasn’t a gate meant to be opened in the first place. Otherwise, it surely would have been breached by now.
*Viiiibe—*
The communication device in my pocket vibrated. But I had no time to take it out. I was too busy dealing with the enemies right in front of me.
If I missed even one, the wall would crumble in an instant, and soldiers would start dying left and right.
***
“Have you figured out what’s going on?”
“It’s impossible to confirm. It seems no one knows unless they’re a high-ranking noble. Even the event staff say they haven’t been told anything….”
Hattie Shaw tried to connect her communication device to the capital, where strange events were unfolding, but it just rang with no response.
It was a sudden event. One that had appeared out of nowhere, without any prior indication.
“Damn it. Push them harder! I need more information! What about Eil?”
“No answer from that end either. They’re just saying there’s chaos within the intelligence bureau.”
It had to be because of the monster wave.
From the Shadow Mountains in the south to the Ashar Desert, Rzhev in the north, and the eastern coastal regions.
She had heard with her own two ears the desperate reports that monsters were pouring out from everywhere.
“What in the world is happening? That damn Emperor.”
She once again furiously activated the communication device connected to Kratos.
Kratos’s words, spoken with such conviction despite the murky circumstances, were coming true.
From the monster wave to the Empire plotting something.
“How on earth did he figure it out? There wasn’t even any evidence.”
Making such a deduction based on mere circumstantial evidence was no easy feat.
She knew how difficult it was to find the links between countless events that seemed unrelated.
In the heart of the Empire, at the very center of the capital, a massive altar had been erected in the middle of the imperial palace, as if for a religious ceremony, and nobles were steadily taking their seats around it.
“Two hours. It looks like it will begin in two hours! The cameras are all set up!”
Something was about to begin. Something big.
***
*Crackle—*
The mana frequency of the communication devices distributed by the Empire to each territory began to automatically adjust.
No, it wasn’t just the territories. The communication devices between nations, and even all the devices for radio broadcasts in each city. The same phenomenon was occurring all over the continent.
[I, the Emperor of the Empire, Shiv Grewele, speak to all. To all who believe in false gods. I tell you that your gods are false and do not exist. Do the gods you believe in truly exist?]
Without warning, a monotone voice began to flow out slowly. A voice devoid of any emotion, utterly dispassionate.
[Your gods are false. They do not exist. If they did, how could they ignore the countless tragedies befalling the world and the endless suffering of the people?]
[Rather, it is the gods you believe in that have brought disaster upon this world. All the calamities that plague this continent today stem from false beliefs and false gods.]
[I, Shiv Grewele, hereby declare. I shall purge the false gods from this continent.]
A moment of silence followed. It wasn’t just silence on the broadcast. It was the silence of the entire continent, of every person listening to this broadcast.
[O, you who believe in false gods. Repent. For I am your god. I shall bring you peace. Together with the Raelian Church, which believes in me.]
They couldn’t even properly process half of what was being said.
[I declare. I am a god. Not a false, unseen god in name only, but a god who breathes with you and gathers you.]