The Beginning of the End
The night when darkness descended. The beacon tower located in Sagunto Castle. Johnson, guarding the spot that overlooked the entire city, leaned against the wall with a blank expression.
“Haam…”
“Hey, don’t doze off. Stand straight.”
“Ah, what’s the big deal? It’s not like anyone’s going to attack anyway.”
With those words, Johnson plopped down on the spot. His colleague looked at him in disbelief, but Johnson spoke in a confident voice.
“Don’t just stand there, you should rest too. The adventurers will wipe out all the demons in the area anyway, so why worry?”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
“It’s better to rest when you can. No need to get worked up over something that won’t even get you a scrap.”
“…Sigh.”
Convinced by Johnson’s blunt words, his colleague sat down as well. The two of them began staring blankly at the sky.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Got any special plans after duty today?”
“Well… same as always. Drink some booze and go home to sleep.”
“Don’t do that. Let’s go have some fun with the girls tonight. I heard a really well-made demon slave came in this time.”
“Ugh…”
His colleague made a disgusted face at Johnson’s words. Then he spoke in a voice filled with displeasure.
“Sorry, but I’m not into demon hunting as a hobby. Even if they look similar to humans, they’re monsters that must be exterminated according to God’s will.”
“Come on… You’re nitpicking over everything. Whether it’s chicken or alligator meat, as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters, right? Even if they have horns on their heads, if you can enjoy it, that’s fine.”
“It’s because of people like you that demons are still around. We need to get rid of those disgusting bugs as soon as possible…”
“Anyone would think you have a grudge against demons. If you don’t want to, fine. I’m going to go blow off some steam after a long time.”
Johnson grumbled as he spoke. The two fell silent again and looked up at the sky.
A sky twinkling with stars. In his childhood, he thought it was quite beautiful, but now it held no particular charm. It only added to the boredom.
“…Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Are there any orcs there? Even if not slaves, just someone selling their body…”
“…You crazy bastard. Was that your taste?”
“Ah… no, orcs are nice. Muscular bodies full of health, and those distinctive fangs…”
“You were going on about demon hunting, but you’re into orcs?”
“So, are there any? Or not? Just tell me that.”
“No, there aren’t! In the first place, with demon slaves overflowing, who would pay a fortune for something like that…?”
At that moment, Johnson suddenly stopped speaking. His colleague beside him also stood up with a serious expression.
“What… what is it?”
“Why did the lights suddenly…”
In the windless night, the city’s lights began to go out one by one. It couldn’t be simply because people were going to bed. Even the lights on the castle walls and roads, which were usually kept on for security, were all extinguishing.
Seeing this, Johnson felt that something serious had happened and spoke urgently.
“Has something happened?”
“I don’t know either. But it’s clear that it’s some kind of emergency.”
“Uh… what should we do? Lighting the beacon like this is…”
“Kh…”
Due to the deep darkness, they couldn’t see the exact situation. However, their instincts were telling them. Something was coming. They needed to light the beacon as soon as possible or take some action to relay the news.
“I… I’ll go report first. You prepare to light the beacon!”
“Got it. Then…!”
The two, having lost their previous leisure, were about to take action. At that moment.
“…Huh?”
“What… what is this? Th… this is… ugh!”
A sudden, immense chill. Overwhelmed by an ominous and eerie sensation rising from their chests, the two collapsed to the floor as if crumbling.
Then, the entity that appeared before their eyes.
It was… something wearing a black robe, holding a massive scythe, standing before them.
They couldn’t tell exactly what it was. But one thing was certain: from the moment that monster appeared, the overwhelming sense of terror made it impossible for the two to even stand.
“Ah… aaah…”
“Uwaaaah!!!”
The monster raised its scythe toward the two men gripped by fear. Unable to even think of swinging their weapons, all they could do was scream.
-Thwack!!!
With that, the two men’s heads were cleanly severed. Their bodies, spewing blood as they fell to the ground, seemed as though they would never rise again…
But a moment later, they staggered to their feet, picked up their weapons, and assumed crooked stances.
-“Guard this place. Kill all approaching humans.”
*
“Kyaaaaah!!!”
“Kyaaaaah!!!”
“Sa… save… me… Please! Please save… kuhack!!!”
Screams of agony echoed from all directions. The city was collapsing in an instant under the surprise attack of thousands of undead.
Plutos swung their scythes here and there, increasing the number of undead, and the lower undead born from them attacked their former families and comrades.
The sight of the city crumbling and disappearing in an instant.
At the center of it all, Hela, Fenrir, and I were following Crassus’s guidance, striding forward.
“Damn it! Stop them! We have to keep them from getting in somehow!”
“These filthy undead! Do you know where this is? How dare you!”
Most facilities had fallen and were collapsing, but the only place still holding out. The Kerks branch where hunters were always stationed.
There, hunters were swinging their weapons relentlessly at the undead pouring in like a flood.
Even in this desperate situation, they were fighting with a sense of duty. However, that sight didn’t evoke any particular emotion in me.
Like cockroaches flailing their legs when flipped over. Watching them, I felt more disgust than nobility or respect.
I suddenly realized how much I had changed compared to the past.
‘Still, in the past, I could at least empathize with humans… Now, even that has completely disappeared.’
It was a situation that made me understand what it meant when people say a person changes after going through something big.
Feeling a slight bitterness, I reached out toward the hunters who were swinging their weapons frantically.
Then…
“Kh!… Krrgh!!!”
“Th… this is… what… kuh!… Kuaaaagh!!!”
The hunters, who had been swinging their weapons, stopped and collapsed to the ground in agony.
Honestly, I wanted to watch them struggle and die in pain, but unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of time right now.
Above all, if I left them to cause unnecessary trouble, the plan could go awry, so clean handling was the priority now.
After sorting out the situation, we immediately stormed into the branch building.
“Uwaaah!”
“De… demons here too?”
The staff screamed in terror. When I gave a light chin gesture toward them, the waiting undead immediately began turning them into comrades.
“Kuh!”
“Kek!”
“Now then… shall we see how well they handled things?”
-“This way. Right here, my lord.”: The place Crassus guided us to was a massive warehouse located underground.
A place too large for a single branch to use. According to Crassus, it was built so large because it stored not only military supplies but also various smuggled goods.
“Really… the more I dig into this Kerks organization, the more strange things keep coming out.”
-“They were people who traded in noble demons from the start. There’s no way they’d be clean.”
“You were one of them too.”
-“Ahaha…”
Crassus laughed awkwardly at Fenrir’s words. Immediately after, he skillfully unlocked the firmly closed door.
Then.
“Oh…”
“This is… honestly impressive.”
The scene that appeared before our eyes.
It was an enormous amount of military supplies filling a warehouse the size of a basketball court.
From basic food supplies to weapons, medicinal herbs, and even various magical tools.
Seeing this, my subordinates and I—especially Fenrir—began to shine with the brightest eyes.
“With this much… we won’t have to worry about supplies for a while.”
It was only natural that the person who had been most troubled by this matter until now would feel particularly moved.
Smiling at Fenrir’s delighted appearance, I gave orders to the undead waiting in the back.
“Move all of this. Be careful not to damage anything.”
-“As you command, my lord.”
*
“What? Contact with Sagunto has been cut off?”
“Yes, Master. I don’t know the exact details, but the regular reports from there have stopped.”
Caesar spoke with a serious expression. The Master pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head and gave an order.
“…Ignore it for now.”
“What? B… but…”
“Right now, this matter is more urgent than the affairs of that branch. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Ah… Yes, I understand…”
With those words, Caesar left the room. Watching his retreating figure, the Master spoke in a cold voice.
“Tomorrow… Starting tomorrow, the full-scale… battle with that filthy traitor emperor…”