Chapter 220
Chapter 220
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: Meanwhile, on the Empire's Front Lines...
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The same day.
—The Western Front.
Having returned to the front lines a few days prior, Anastasia had no intention of resting.
Normally, she would have been given a few days to readjust, but she had no interest in such considerations.
“Major Anastasia. Are you heading to the battlefield again?”
Medelfen, who had returned to the front before her, fell into step beside her. Anastasia gave a placid nod.
"Yes."
Lightly draping her uniform's cape over her shoulders, she was already prepared to head to another battle.
“...I will assist you.”
Medelfen let out a faint sigh, his lips hesitating for a moment before he steeled his resolve to accompany her.
Anastasia glanced at him and gave another calm nod.
She knew he must be exhausted.
Following her across the front lines was a different dimension of fatigue, but Anastasia believed it was something he had to endure.
If he was truly resolved to be her aide, this was the least he should be able to handle.
*Clank.*
As she left her quarters, the heavy, viscous air unique to the front lines washed over her once more.
A thick, gloomy atmosphere that clung only to the battlefield. It was a world away from the comfortable, peaceful days she had spent in the imperial capital just a few days ago.
This atmosphere sometimes felt like a reflection of the deep-seated resentment of the officers and soldiers, and at other times, it felt as if the remnants of countless monsters and apostles had stained the very earth of the front lines.
‘Whatever it is... it doesn't matter.’
Most of them were dead, their lingering thoughts left behind in force. And the dead have no voice.
Death comes for everyone equally, so attaching any reason to it was truly meaningless. She briefly checked the situation on the front.
“Medelfen, are there any anomalies or apostle sightings?”
“We've received a report that a strange apostle has appeared at coordinate B5 on the western front.”
“...B5? We're going immediately.”
As she spoke, she slowly drew her sword and leaped toward the raging battle. She could feel Medelfen following her with practiced ease.
—!
—!
She unleashed her power as she cut across the front, casually sweeping away the monsters that surged toward them like a wave.
She felt the gazes of several officers and soldiers on her, drawn by the sudden display of power, but she simply continued on her way toward her destination, B5.
How long had they been moving?
*Thud!*
The moment she arrived at coordinate B5, her brow furrowed instinctively.
The battlefield before her was dyed entirely red.
A peculiar stench vibrated in the air, rising from the soldiers' corpses scattered across the battlefield. Chunks of flesh burst as if crushed, and eyes stared blankly into the void. It was a scene of a gruesome massacre.
“How gruesome...”
She nodded at the voice beside her, a question forming in her mind.
“Medelfen, was this a battlefield where no officer was deployed?”
An area where an apostle appeared should have been held by a squad that included officers.
It was standard procedure. The soldiers were to face the endless flood of monsters, while the officer’s primary role was to command them and confront the apostle.
But now, all she could see were the bodies of what looked like slaughtered soldiers.
*Slice!*
With a light swing of her sword, she cut down a horde of monsters rushing toward her. Her gaze fell upon Medelfen, whose eyes were downcast and somber.
He carefully examined the soldiers’ bodies before his eyes shot wide open.
“Judging by the insignia on the squad dispatched to area B5, this appears to be the squad led by Lieutenant Grasell, but…”
She understood the rest of his words without him needing to say them.
That even the officer, Lieutenant Grasell, had been taken down. Which would explain how they had been massacred like this.
‘Something’s wrong.’
But even that felt strange.
The rank of officer was not given out lightly. It was granted only to those strong enough to face an apostle, or at the very least, those with the power to protect themselves.
Yet here was a scene where the soldiers of the squad were brutally slaughtered, with no trace of their commanding officer, Lieutenant Grasell.
That meant... even the officer had been unable to counter the apostle.
“Lieutenant Medelfen. Focus on protecting yourself. We must assume this is a special high-risk class of apostle.”
“Yes, understood.”
Keeping a wide distance from Medelfen, who replied with a grim expression, I pushed deeper into the front.
It was a strange sensation.
She could clearly feel the alien presence of an apostle.
But amid the lingering resentment of the monsters roiling in the air and the endless hordes, she couldn't sense any specific being she could identify as the apostle.
‘Is it hiding among the monsters?’
She remained on high alert as the thought crossed her mind.
She was always tense on the front lines, but the tension of facing an apostle was different. Apostles could sometimes manifest in completely unexpected forms or with unforeseen powers, leaving no room for carelessness.
*Ssshk!*
With each step she took, a rapidly spreading frost forged a path for her, clearing the front lines with speed.
“Kikikik!”
“Kyaaak!”
The monsters that swarmed her from all sides froze and died instantly upon touching the ice walls that surrounded her. Within minutes, she reached the source of the alien presence.
“……”
The countless monsters all kept a wide berth, and at their center stood a strange being.
Her eyes narrowed as she ‘unleashed’ her power.
*Ch-ch-ch-ch-chik!!*
As countless ice shards began to dominate the space around her, she found herself speaking before she even realized it.
“Did it... steal his body?”
Apostles were creatures to be executed without question.
They were the ancient enemy of humanity, the source of all evil. That was a given. But the sight before her was intensely alien and surreal.
The being identified as the apostle had a face she recognized.
It was Lieutenant Grasell, the leader of the squad that had just been annihilated. She remembered his distinctive short blond hair and strong features.
But he looked far too normal.
His officer's uniform was pristine, and the two eyes that stared directly at her held an eerie red gleam. If not for that red light, even she would have had trouble perceiving him as an apostle; his presence felt that strange.
“...Major Anastasia?”
When a clear voice emerged from his parted lips, she calmly composed her expression.
‘This is a type of power I've never seen before.’
It seemed the apostle had not only stolen the officer’s body but was using it exactly as it was.
The fact that it could even express itself and recognize her were all grave signs.
It must possess the stolen officer's memories. That fact alone was enough to make her raise her sword and calm her heart.
*Ssshhhk!!*
With a light swing of her blade, a myriad of ice shards surged toward Lieutenant Grasell.
*Shing!*
Grasell immediately drew his sword and swept away the ice shards, causing her heart to sink even further.
That was…
It was undoubtedly Lieutenant Grasell’s power.
Not the power of an apostle, but clearly the officer’s own Trait.
‘Matter Interference Ability…’
“Why are you suddenly attacking me? I was in the middle of pursuing the apostle that killed my squad members!”
As he shouted urgently, his eyes wide... she continued to steel her heart.
Manifesting a Trait was proof of one’s own power. It was a privilege granted only to humans by the world; there was no way an apostle could use it.
Furthermore, Lieutenant Grasell claimed he was hunting the apostle that killed his squad, but from what she could see, that was not the case at all.
Even her initial thought that his body had been stolen was a mistake.
That was the incomprehensible ‘contradiction.’
He stood amidst countless monsters, completely unharmed. When she arrived, the surrounding monsters showed no signs of attacking or even being wary of him.
It was as if they were looking at an ally. The way they kept their distance, yielding space to him, was identical to how monsters behaved when facing an apostle leading them.
She didn't lower her sword, an unsettling feeling rising within her.
‘This is an extremely dangerous power.’
I must assume he’s been subjected to mental interference…
Only a fleeting moment passed as she thought this.
“That damned apostle dared... dared to kill my squad members!”
Lieutenant Grasell suddenly raised his sword and charged at her. She hastily swung her own blade to meet him.
His demeanor had changed completely from before... and as he unleashed his Trait, she responded with her full power and cut him down.
*Sh—lick!*
Space distorted as the charging Lieutenant Grasell was instantly frozen solid on the spot.
…And then. It was just for an instant.
■■■■■!!
The ice imprisoning Lieutenant Grasell groaned, buckled, and twisted.
It was a sight as if it were creaking, unable to withstand the swelling mass within.
Lieutenant Grasell’s face, his arms, his legs, all began to bloat abnormally, his form twisting beyond that of a human.
“……!”
Her eyes shot wide as she thrust her hand forward.
*KABOOOM!!*
With a violent roar like the collapse of space itself, Lieutenant Grasell’s body exploded from within the ice, sending the frozen prison shattering in all directions.
*Thwack-thwack-thwack!!*
From behind the dozens of layers of ice walls that completely shielded her front, she simply watched as chunks of flesh, blood, and ice shards embedded themselves menacingly into the barrier.
“……”
With only a thin wall of ice separating her from the death of an officer she had spoken to just moments before, she had to remain calm and focus.
‘There will be a moment when the apostle retrieves its power.’
She had to seize that brief moment when the apostle would withdraw its interference and its presence would retreat to its main body.
—!
And when she felt the faint trace of that presence in her senses, she shot off the ground in an instant.
*Grit.*
She bit her lip, her heart turning to ice.
‘I must.’
She absolutely had to execute the apostle that possessed this power.
It felt more menacing than any other apostle she had ever faced.
The horrific scene she had witnessed upon arriving in area B5.
The carnage of the red-stained soldiers' corpses... looking back now, it was all a catastrophe created by Lieutenant Grasell.
But it was clearly not of his own will. For an apostle to interfere with the mind of an officer, one of their own, and make him kill his comrades…
“How dare you...”
It was simply an unforgivable act.
*Sssshhhk!*
An extreme cold, enough to freeze her surroundings, spread out as she raced toward the space where the apostle's energy had retreated.