Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Final Charge
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The faint light of dawn touched Dever's face, making it look even more somber. His deeply sunken eyes and irritable temperament had sharpened his features even more in just a few days, and even dressed in a common infantryman's uniform, he exuded an extraordinary aura.
The engines of the tanks and military vehicles, all precisely revved up in unison, stirred a strange tension among the gathered troops.
Arthur approached Dever, who was checking the magazine of the rifle strapped to his body. Arthur was dressed in the same lowly uniform, without rank insignia or brooch.
"Do you really have to do it this way?"
Arthur couldn't hide his anxiety. Even in his hushed voice, lowered as if afraid someone might overhear, a faint tremor carried through.
"Let's at least change that part now."
"Is that an order from the Emperor?"
"You think that's funny right now?"
"We won't last long. We've only got one day."
Dever lightly raised an eyebrow. His humorless gaze was already fixed on the battle ahead. It was a gaze ruthlessly focused solely on the objective.
He usually despised playing the gambler, but there was no choice now.
I have to do it, and only I can.
"For a poor soldier, your hair's too fine."
Arthur let out a dry, mirthless chuckle at the gruff joke. It left a bitter aftertaste.
The vast army awaited its commander. Tension rippled over the upturned faces as Dever strode forward to lead them.
At the forefront of the ranks, Dever unhesitatingly climbed onto the hood of a revved-up military truck and surveyed the soldiers below.
They admired his resolute figure—and feared it.
"This is the final battle."
He was the only one who could break the silence.
Soldiers specially positioned outside the main body relayed Dever's words like interpreters. His command spread instantly across the ant-like masses of the entire army.
"Nexus does not turn back. It claims only victory."
A deeper blue light crept further into their midst.
"Everyone will return home by Founding Day."
Founding Day was Nexus's grandest holiday, a symbol of prosperity at year's end. The soldiers' faces brightened briefly at the words, shining brighter than the rising morning sun.
"Survive to see it. Dismissed."
With those final words, Dever boarded a military truck first. Taking that as their cue, all the soldiers moved with disciplined precision to their positions.
Right on schedule, the fighter squadron led by Gail roared overhead.
"Move out."
Everything for the finale had begun.
The Kovah forces, expecting the Nexus army to bypass them, were thrown into a defensive scramble in an instant.
They knew the enemy's combat units were nearly depleted—only a madman would strike the center directly. Dever was exploiting that exact gap, pulling off what could only be called insanity.
He had seized the Bottom forces, desperate to flee to Britain, by the scruff of the neck and thrown every ounce of their armored strength into this battle. He hadn't forgotten to casually mention that "His Majesty the Emperor desires it."
With communication lines cut, Dever had nothing left to hesitate over.
'Kovah's crown prince has joined the final battle.'
Dever had staked everything on that intelligence.
Kovah's crown prince—the bastard whose illegitimacy rumors had spread even to Nexus. For him to rush into the war's endgame meant he craved the glory of the closing act.
Heirs seeking legitimacy all thought alike.
Dever was now en route to capture that crown prince alive. No army commander would pass up an enemy that had crawled right into their grasp.
The elite unit led by Arthur and Dever had reached the edge of the Kovah central forces. The enemy was visible less than a hundred meters away.
"Eleven o'clock."
Arthur whispered.
"The crown prince is risking his life."
He looked frantic, tumbling behind a tank. Desperate for recognition, the fool had charged into battle for that alone.
The sight felt familiar. In the crown prince's pathetic flailing, Arthur saw a reflection of himself.
Dever, positioned behind a tank, raised his hand.
At that single gesture, every tank surged forward at full throttle.
The chilling screech of bullets grazing metal assaulted their ears.
Artillery shells slammed into each other, horrifically shaking the ground.
Some tanks erupted in flames under the enemy's counterfire, but Dever kept his hand raised.
Tanks lived or died by their range, yet Nexus barreled in regardless, forcing the crown prince's unit into retreat.
Dever leaped from his tank and lobbed a smoke grenade.
There was only one target.
The crown prince.
"Arghhh!"
The crown prince screamed as a shadow tackled him from behind.
He was shorter than Dever, but thick with fat and muscle. When he thrashed violently, Dever clung to his back and shook with him.
The man drew a dagger from his bosom and wildly swung the knifed hand upward.
"Ugh."
Dever, stabbed in the right shoulder, fell from the man's torso. Fury and terror driving him, the man charged Dever without a second thought.
"Die! Dieee!"
The tangled pair tumbled into a trench.
Dever seized the man's throat with one hand while pinning the knifed wrist with the other.
"Urk!"
"Gah!"
As the man's throat turned purple, the blade slowly turned back toward him. The limit was near.
Killing intent surged in Dever's eyes, crushed beneath the bulk.
"Gurk!"
The reversed blade missed the throat slightly, slicing toward the face. Blood—not Dever's—splattered across his features.
Fueled by excruciating pain, the blade swung back at Dever. It plunged into the already wounded shoulder once more.
"Damn it."
No matter how many times the blade gouged the same spot, it didn't matter. Ignoring the frantic stabs, Dever clamped both hands around the man's throat with brute force.
Veins bulged taut as if to burst, and white-knuckled fingers crushed with vise-like power.
For a moment, the man shuddered violently, then lolled his tongue and collapsed.
"Dever!"
Arthur hauled the crown prince's limp body up from the trench.
Dragging the cumbersome bulk slowed them down. Kovah bullets rained like a storm on the dirt, impossible to miss.
"Ngh."
Just before climbing into the military truck, something hot grazed Dever's side. The familiar burn, like fire searing flesh, made his teeth grind involuntarily.
"We're good! Dever, get in now!"
With every jolt in the speeding vehicle, pain spread through his body like venom from a viper. As gunfire faded, his vision flickered.
"We did it! We succeeded! Good work, Dever? Dever!"
The Nexus evacuation banner came into view.
He had told Beth the same—focus only on that banner and run. That she could survive.
In his blurring vision, her face flickered briefly. That pale face, weeping tears of joy upon learning he had lived.
Finally, it was over.
Dever lost consciousness, as if in relief.
Silence hung over the hospital awaiting the wounded.
Madam Molly's expression was profoundly grim. The night before, Dever had come to her.
She couldn't be told everything due to security, but the later his return, the closer it meant defeat—so if he wasn't back by sunset, abandon everything and flee.
But how could she?
Red sunset light stretched through the broken windowpanes. Her heart burned scarlet, like the bloodied sky.
Please, just come back—even if wounded.
Even that horrific conditional wish was born of utter despair.
Everyone waited anxiously. Especially those who had sent loved ones into battle—their anguish was beyond measure.
"Hey? I hear vehicles!"
Dixie jumped up and rushed out.
"They're coming!"
Engine roars and murmurs grew nearer.
"Everyone, get ready!"
Beth and Aines bolted outside together.
Wounded poured from the arriving evacuation trucks like a flood. Bodies of soldiers who had died en route piled in one corner of the hospital yard.
Beth pushed through the crowd. Her palm stung from gripping her brooch too tightly.
Screams from all sides evoked the horrors of the field hospital.
"Out of the way!"
A soldier carrying a stretcher shoved painfully past Beth's shoulder.
At the edge of Beth's half-turned gaze, a blood-soaked figure appeared.
"Move! That's Commander Dever!"
That was him.
As Beth tried to get closer, larger soldiers shoved her back. She craned her neck, watching the receding stretcher.
Familiar ash-gray hair caught her eye—caked in mud and blood, unmistakable.
Beth shoved wildly through the throng. She had to confirm. That he was alive. That he had kept his promise to return. She needed to hear his voice say it.
Madam Molly blocked Beth as she chased frantically into the hospital.
"Beth, I'll see to Dever. You handle the walking wounded outside."
Her pitch-black eyes, brimming with tears, wept silently.
"Emotion clouds your sight. Trust in Dever. Do your duty. This is a place where everyone must do theirs."
"Gail!"
A heartrending sob drowned the madam. Turning, Beth saw Aines collapse upon seeing her unconscious fiancé brought in.
Beth roughly wiped her eyes and steadied her breath. It came in ragged gasps. She forced back the rising tears deep into her chest.
Time to do my duty.
Just as you said—now it's my turn.
Chanting it like a prayer, Beth turned away.
The air filled with screams and sobs of agony.