Chapter 359: O-Rank ■■ (Access Denied)
Chapter 359: O-Rank ■■ (Access Denied)
“The mention of Lee Ha-ram’s 99% wasn't wrong. A little over five months after the outbreak, the number of infected and neutralized individuals had already surpassed 99%.”
“And at the point in the story we just discussed, fewer than two million people in the entire world were still capable of functioning normally. For all intents and purposes, that was the moment human extinction became a certainty.”
“According to the census conducted when the Management Bureau was first established, the global population was 3.1 billion. There might be some margin of error, but at this point, having far exceeded the 99% mark, humanity should have admitted defeat.”
“Now, everything up to this point is information accessible to those with special authority who have retained their memories. What follows is the classified truth—accessible only to those among the final survivors after the ten-month mark who have not undergone Memory Erasure. At this stage, the records don't even show how many of them are left.”
“It is a truth unknown even to the United Nations, the Bureau’s nominal superior, or The Council at Bureau Headquarters.”
“No one on this Earth knows everything, for there is no one in this world capable of shouldering it all. Even so, do you wish to know? Despite lacking the qualification?”
“…Very well. A survivor of the final hour. One who nevertheless chose to erase their own memories. You possess at least the minimum qualification, so I shall tell you. This is your choice; see that you do not regret it.”
“Yes, for the sake of consistency in the narrative, let us use the same individual. This is the final story.”
* * *
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
No matter how many times I spit them out, the curses won't stop pouring.
An endless march of suffering.
People call this path the Route of the Holy War.
I don't remember clearly who coined the term anymore, but I do recall they were someone truly fanatical about religion.
Many found the nuance of the word 'Holy War' unsettling.
Perhaps it’s because one needs something to believe in to walk this path.
The term slowly spread among the people.
No matter the religious undertones, 'Holy War' is a word open to interpretation.
For some, it was for the god they believed in.
For some, it was for themselves.
For some, it was for those who had died.
They needed the belief that their actions were sacred and significant.
As the fear of death loomed and the whispers of the flames grew louder, they needed faith to avert their eyes.
A faith to turn their backs on the reality of the world's end.
Now, there is no more support, no more information.
The final branch of the Management Bureau fell to the followers of the Phoenix. To ensure the Heart of the Bureau was never taken, the entire command staff, including Macbeth and the Lord of Infinite Castles, sealed the location.
The last communication, which ended with a wish for good luck, was cut off weeks ago.
It wasn't just communication. Ever since the Phoenix devoured the world, even the Stories of the Awakened have ceased.
It was as if the Phoenix had overwritten every single Story.
Usually, a Story progresses even when a Public Enemy Designation is issued, but roughly two to three months after the Phoenix incident began, the Stories of all Heroes ground to a halt.
By the five-month mark, the enemies who didn't belong to any Story—the targets of Free Subjugation—had vanished.
By the seven-month mark, all Otherworldly beings began to disappear.
The speed varied, but eventually, even my partner, Un-ho, was gone.
What on earth is happening?
The Regressionists called this the Blessing of Fire.
It didn't take long to realize how wrong they were.
The prevailing theory within the Bureau was that the Phoenix was so powerful that it had banished other Otherworldly entities simply because they interfered with its actions.
We no longer have the luxury to verify such things, so the truth of that theory remains unknown.
Regardless, we move forward.
To defeat the Phoenix and reclaim the world.
There is no guarantee that everything will return to normal if we kill it.
We don't know if the mental states or bodies of the followers will be restored.
So many have already vanished; I don't truly believe that killing one Phoenix will suddenly save humanity at this late stage.
Nevertheless, we move forward.
For what we believe in.
To strike down the source of all this.
Even if humanity goes extinct by our choice.
Shouldn't we at least land one punch on the bastard responsible?
And so, we move forward.
For the Holy War.
Though I don't agree with the name.
Because this is a march of suffering.
Our current location is Yellowstone National Park.
A place thick with scalding water, sulfurous gas, and smoke.
We simply press on through it.
Together with the madmen.
* * *
It was a grueling journey.
A desperate march, leading a multitude forward.
There were massive casualties.
Those who eventually succumbed to death.
Those burned by the followers' ambushes.
Those who, lacking supplies, chose to fade away rather than covet what belonged to their comrades.
Those whose strength failed and were left behind.
At the end of it all, we faced the source of everything.
Slit white eyes, sharp fire.
Other than that, it was an enemy that could only be described as the commonly depicted Phoenix.
The creature of legend slowly raised its head and looked at us.
Behind it, the Yellowstone supervolcano spewed massive amounts of smoke, lava, and rock.
The Phoenix intends to end all living things with this.
Information obtained by restoring the minds of followers using Oxymoron’s drugs, Macbeth’s magic, and every other means available.
The Phoenix increases its followers to grow its own power, while simultaneously ensuring it isn't hindered by the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
That is why we gathered everyone who still had the strength to fight.
And finally, we came face-to-face with the Phoenix as it triggered the volcano.
“….”
It watched us silently, then its gaze sharpened.
Overwhelming pressure surrounded us along with searing heat.
Perhaps it was because of the apocalyptic volcanic eruption occurring simultaneously.
“…No… I can’t…. I can’t… die.”
Whoosh.
Many who had endured until now began to be consumed by the red flames.
And then, everyone began to move.
Click. Bang.
The movements were practiced and familiar.
Immediately drawing a pistol and pulling the trigger on the person beside them.
An action so ingrained it had become routine.
For those who had made it this far, it was a gesture performed more times than they could count.
With that, the processing was finished.
More than half of the final warriors fell on the spot.
And at that same moment.
“Skreeeeeeee!”
With a piercing avian shriek.
Whoosh.
The Phoenix took flight.
Scattering countless embers and heat.
Against the backdrop of black smoke, the multitude of red flames wove together to draw bold lines. For a brief moment, even I found the sight beautiful.
But the catastrophe it wrought upon reality was nothing short of horrific.
The Phoenix’s wingbeat was a natural disaster in itself.
As the terrible heat swirled with the black volcanic smoke.
The warriors collapsed.
Some closed their eyes peacefully.
Others fell while scattering the final red sparks from their burning blood.
No one looked away.
A sniper, whose spotter had just burned to death beside him.
Ignoring the countless blisters rising on his skin from the heat, he calmly curled his finger.
As the bullet flew toward the Phoenix, a falling rock crushed him from above.
But his corpse remained still, as if satisfied to have fired a single shot at the source of all this.
Such scenes played out everywhere.
An impossible existence.
An impossible situation.
There was no support.
There weren't enough Awakened or Heroes on this battlefield to act as shields.
Even on that chaotic Siberian Front, soldiers had maintained the line with heavy weaponry support from the rear, while the Awakened handled the high-grade Otherworldly lifeforms.
But here, even those principles were abandoned.
Everyone simply did what they could, regardless of who they were.
Awakened or non-Awakened.
While a being made of lightning struck the Phoenix hundreds of times, ordinary people perished without even getting a shot off.
A dog's death.
Normally, I would have told them to stop this madness and leave.
But this time, I kept my mouth shut and swung my hammer.
They weren't the type to leave even if told.
If they were those kinds of people, they wouldn't have made it here in the first place.
They came here because they were satisfied with this.
We are madmen possessed by the Phoenix.
They aren't its followers, but they are all enchanted by the flame.
Like moths.
We all came to this place to burn.
A heat that transcends life and death tickles my skin.
To land a single hammer blow, I too must be prepared to die.
I leap through those flames.
I continue to attack.
I can't yet feel the Phoenix weakening.
It is an energy entity made of fire.
This isn't the first time I've seen such an enemy.
With this type, power is the body itself, so one must simply keep attacking.
Until the energy is truly depleted.
Believing that eventually, the energy composing its body will be spent and it will weaken.
And so, I continue the assault.
Ignoring the mountain of corpses.
* * *
How much time had passed?
The lightless sky was stained black.
Few remained standing on the glowing earth.
It was surprising that there were still non-Awakened survivors among them.
But that wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was The Hole that had formed in part of the Phoenix’s body.
The Phoenix was weakening.
At that thought, I opened my mouth.
“I guess even a crazy O-Rank can die…. Since it hasn't used Otherworld Erosion in this situation, I suppose it’s already active.”
Perhaps this situation itself was the Otherworld Erosion. Was this incident not bizarre enough? A distortion of phenomena that went beyond the distortion of physical laws.
There was no one to hear my voice, but it could be a peculiar kind of Otherworld Erosion that had spread without anyone noticing.
Thinking thus, I was about to spit on my parched, blood-stained palms to continue the attack when—
「This is not what you, the continuers of life, call Otherworld Erosion.」
A warm voice echoed.
A benevolent, warm voice.
A voice filled with heat.
「We are not a defiled entity of the Otherworld. We are the pure will of the flame.」
What the hell does that mean?
Confusion swirled in my head.
「Though the seed is the power of the cursed outer world, Our existence was born entirely within your embrace.」
The Phoenix began to cry mournfully.
Red tears, like flames, fell to the ground.
「Countless deaths. Truly, countless deaths. Together with the world, they have awakened Us.」
Drip.
Droplets of fire fell to the earth, burning and staining the surroundings red.
「Life gave birth to Us. The belief that one does not want to die, the desire of the continuers.」
People began to burn up.
The more the Phoenix’s voice spread.
Those who had endured through madness, through faith, through belief, through pride, through nobility, through dignity, through malice, through conviction, through reason.
They collapsed rapidly.
The Phoenix’s fire birthed new fire, and those who embraced the fire spread it anew. And so, it propagated.
The whole world was burning.
Pillars of red flame soared.
A Red Sphere rising from within the volcano grew larger, receiving red embers gathering from all over the world.
「We are the Guardian and Purifier of the world, born entirely from you.」
The sphere grew so quickly that even looking up at the sky, not a single sliver of the black firmament could be seen.
「Our actions are the consensus of life that shall harvest you through a death of fire.」
Vrrr.
The world began to tremble in red.
Everywhere the eye could reach burned red, nothing but red.
A memory surfaced.
A memory of having seen such a place before.
The overlapping world, the world where everything burns.
「When every continuer severs their life and returns within Us, The Cycle shall be complete.」
This being was not an Otherworldly entity, not an invader.
It was an entity of Earth, created by fifteen years of the world’s death.
A maddened guide to The Afterlife.
The World of Fire was the overlapping world where this entity resided.
「We shall reach a pure paradise.」
Drip.
From the eyes of the sharp, violent, perforated bird of fire.
Once again, droplets of fire fell.
And at that same moment.
The photosphere of fire began to descend toward the ground.
An attack that would erase all life in the world, severing the realms of life and death.
An attack containing the lives of all humanity.
…As if I’d just submit.
I don't know what kind of paradise that Earth-grown fried chicken bastard made.
But if it’s a paradise made by a prick who leaves people in rotting bodies.
I’m exercising my right to veto.
I don't give a damn about the consensus hidden in the abyss of humanity, you crazy chicken.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Immediately, I release all my power.
Did that stupid furball foresee this would happen right before he disappeared?
Before Un-ho vanished, he had handed me The Key to release my limiters while saying something incomprehensible.
‘Thanks, Un-ho.’
Muttering that, I focus every nerve on The Hammer I hold.
The Hammer, having sucked up all my mana, rapidly turns crimson.
Though it’s unstable without my partner, my greatest power is quickly unleashed.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The Hammer begins to transform.
Whirrrrrrrrr.
Accompanied by a maddening motor sound.
Hiss!
Hot steam gas erupts from The Hammer.
Yet, the burden on my body is far less than usual.
Because something even hotter and more violent is already falling right in front of us.
Ten seconds.
I surpass the limit.
During the ten-second charging time, the photosphere of fire began to blanket the world.
Now, wherever I look, I see only red.
Even my hammer is red.
No, there are still things that aren't red.
Those who refuse to bend even in this situation, determined to fulfill their roles.
Beside me, they look toward the beyond, unafraid of death.
Toward the Phoenix, now hidden by the red photosphere.
Everyone extended their weapons.
To erase the red photosphere and overcome this crisis.
A strike that would destroy the world.
A massive celestial body, equivalent to the sky falling, poured down over our heads.
Does the fact that it’s targeting us mean the Phoenix acknowledges us?
It certainly doesn't feel good.
A blinding radiance dug into our eyes.
But no one closed them.
No one looked away.
“For God!”
A powerless man.
Fires a barrage of bullets that seem utterly meaningless.
“Death is but a new beginning; I call upon the Ancestors who shall watch over us, coming from the land of the dead across the bridge of bone!”
Boom.
Massive mana shook the earth, and a giant skeleton rose.
A skeleton larger than anything I had ever seen reached out its arms, emitting a pale white light.
Every bone was composed of smaller skeletons.
With the sound of chattering teeth, white light flowed from the skeleton’s mouth.
The moment the souls touched the ground.
Translucent figures rose from the earth, each holding their own weapon.
The bodies glimpsed between their clothes were skeletal.
But their faces were hidden by masks reflecting their respective cultures, and they all took their stances, looking up at the sky.
Their weapons ranged from simple broken stones to slings, swords made of various metals, guns of countless designs, modern metallic vehicles, and finally, projectiles the size of buildings.
Each handled their weapon in their own way, firing them into the air.
Those who couldn't attack from a distance with blades or stones climbed the body of the giant skeleton and hurled themselves into the void.
As if they did not fear death.
Before throwing themselves into the red photosphere, they glanced at us and vanished.
We couldn't know what meaning lay behind that action.
But they simply did it.
“We haven't even been able to supply electricity lately!”
In the midst of it all, a sharp voice rang across the battlefield.
A small, frail female form, completely transformed into yellow electricity.
Though time had passed and her lower body had become somewhat more fitting for her gender, her upper body showed no signs of growing at all.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Holding a massive spear, she took her stance atop the giant skeleton.
The Spear of Lightning, boasting a total energy amount said to be more than a country uses in a single quarter.
More power than I had ever seen began to gather in her hands.
Zap.
Sparks flew around her body.
As if she couldn't control the load.
Splurt.
Droplets of blood, turned to lightning, sprayed through her ruptured skin.
She, too, was risking her life.
But this was her limit.
If she could receive support from the Heart of the Bureau and be supplied with infinite energy, it might be different, but for her now….
And at that moment.
“Keep going. Thunder God.”
A voice, slightly stiff with tension, echoed widely across the battlefield.
Thump.
All the surrounding flames were extinguished.
A wide white circle that rejected the red fire and painted the world in white.
Standing within that zone, the woman who had opened it spoke.
“This is my Operating Room. Within here, I do not permit anyone to die.”
“Yeah! That’s the spirit!”
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
The lightning in her hands grew even larger and more massive.
Her body was tearing apart in places, but she didn't stop.
I, too, gathered more strength.
The ten seconds I thought were my limit passed.
My body was breaking down, and my senses were fading, but I didn't feel death.
Because the one who rejected death itself stood at our center.
Everyone surpassed the limit of death, squeezing out every ounce of power they possessed.
Whether they had power or not didn't matter.
Those who remained here even after hearing the Phoenix’s words understood what rested on their shoulders.
Perhaps what they possessed wasn't negative emotions like madness or fanaticism, but a thought that prioritized others over their own deaths.
But whether it was sacrifice or negative emotion, it was an undeniable fact that they had gathered here to contribute even a tiny bit of strength.
And so, everyone unleashed their power.
Just as the arms of the skeleton calling the ancestors collapsed and the momentarily halted red photosphere began to pour down again.
“Gooooooo!”
Boom!
A yellow flash cutting through the red fire was fired along with a massive thunderclap.
Following it, countless attacks ensued.
Each attack contained all the power the individual could muster.
Led by the lightning spear, they collided with the Phoenix’s photosphere.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Since they had already fired attacks with all their might, such roars were meaningless.
But everyone joined in.
Even me.
It was simply a battle cry filled with the belief that this attack would overcome the worst monster our world had ever birthed.
And did it work?
A single streak of light containing countless colors.
—–.
It pierced through the center of the massive red photosphere.
The photosphere, its center pierced, could no longer control its energy. It collapsed, spewing energy and flames in all directions.
Massive energy poured toward us.
Rattle.
The giant skeleton, its bones vanishing and half its head evaporated, hunched its body, embracing us to protect us from the aftermath of the flames.
The red flames containing life and death spread in all directions, becoming a storm of heat that enveloped us.
The giant skeleton had absorbed most of the energy, but the remaining heat seeped through the gaps.
Everyone tried to block that energy with whatever little strength they had left.
Perhaps because the Phoenix’s strike had been so powerful, even the remnants of the failed attack hammered at us with more force than ever before.
The radius of the Operating Room also shrank with extreme speed.
The space that rejected death tried to push back against the ruler of life and death.
But it was rapidly encroached upon by the red fire, narrowing its scale.
After that moment, which felt like an eternity, passed.
Around the time the skeleton vanished.
I felt a faint heat brush past my cheek and raised my head.
The photosphere was no longer visible.
What existed in my sight was the completely scorched environment and—
Dark, dust-laden clouds—the aftermath of a volcanic eruption.
...We endured it. The death blow the Phoenix had been so certain of.
With that thought, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. The joy of knowing we hadn't yet surrendered our lives to another's whim. The relief of having survived the worst of it.
"...Dammit."
The curse escaped my lips. Slowly, I turned toward the heat radiating from behind me.
There stood a massive, crimson flame. The Phoenix’s Main Body had driven its colossal talons straight through me.
...I shouldn't have let my guard down. To think that even I would forget the Main Body in the fleeting joy of destroying that sphere of light.
My body gives way.
The mad Phoenix begins to tear into the Heroes who had dared to relax. One by one, they fall.
With that sight as my last, my eyes flutter shut, and darkness consumes my vision.
"No... No... Red... blood... Red... flames..."
I hear a voice. A familiar, youthful voice.
It seems my death has shattered her. To her, my death was apparently more terrifying than her own.
What a fool. What a complete idiot. I’m not the kind of person who should be anyone’s source of comfort.
But there’s nothing I can do now. My body won't move; I can't feel a thing. While everyone else is falling, I can't even stand. Pitch-black darkness—death—creeps toward me.
How much time passed in that void where I could feel nothing and do nothing? Gradually, the world before me begins to brighten. A red flame whispers to me.
「.... .... .... ....」
The flames do not speak in words, yet I understand their meaning. A paradise beyond death. A place where everyone is together. A place where life goes on forever, without the fear of parting.
It whispers for me to embrace it if that is what I desire. It warms my body with its heat within the freezing void. It illuminates my vision with its brilliant light within the dark abyss. It whispers for me to take it in.
And to that, I gave my answer.
"Eat shit."
I closed my eyes and turned back toward the pitch-black darkness, ignoring the red flames that continued to whisper in my ear.