Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: The Zero-Grade Agents' Last Stands
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The fierce battles of the Zero-grade agents played out on the screens.
They burned their own lives to stand against the hive lord.
On one screen, a middle-aged nun shackled the hive lord with tens of thousands of chains before exhausting her lifespan.
She was the Zero-grade agent known as Black Sheep.
Thanks to her, the Zero-grade agent White Swallow was able to sever the hive lord's neck.
On another screen, a man whose entire body had turned purple leaped straight into the hive lord's mouth.
He was the Zero-grade agent called Purple Gecko.
Because of him, the Zero-grade agent Sky Rat was able to deliver the finishing blow.
On yet another screen, a man clad in heavy armor known as Red Dog charged headlong at the hive lord.
Mobilizing every piece of equipment he had, he blasted the hive lord away along with himself in a massive explosion.
True to his reputation as the one with the strongest firepower.
And the next screen showed Steel.
Though battered and broken, he pried open the hive lord's mouth all by himself.
Then, together with the flames from Fire Fox—who had targeted him—he incinerated the hive lord from the inside.
He met his end there, but true to his steel nature, his scorching-hot body continued to burn within the hive lord until the very last.
Another screen featured Pyod, Baria, and Elasia.
These three had synced their breaths countless times before.
Cornering the hive lord relentlessly, the trio finally succeeded in slaying it.
Finally, Abraksas, Kaal, and the Zero-grade agents Yellow Dragon and Blue Tiger appeared.
"Abraksas."
Blue Tiger called out Kaal's name and raised the weapons in both hands.
"You mustn't use your power."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Kaal reacted with confusion.
They had come here to fight, yet he wasn't allowed to use his power?
What on earth did that mean?
"Blue Tiger's right. You can't use your power."
But Yellow Dragon seemed to share the same view as Blue Tiger.
"Freddie said something. The dimensional gate that the hive lord came through is still open."
The moment he heard that, Kaal's face hardened.
He hadn't failed to consider it himself.
"You're the one who has to close it."
The final mission assigned to Kaal.
For that reason alone, his power couldn't be wasted here.
"Then what am I supposed to do here?"
Kaal asked what he could do in this place.
The two men exchanged glances and grinned.
"Closing the dimensional gate has always been Abraksas's role, hasn't it?"
"Just do what you've always done."
The agents would defeat the dimensional beasts.
And Abraksas would close the dimensional gate.
Just like always.
Hearing that, Kaal bit his lip.
Even after coming this far, he couldn't stand against the hive lord himself.
It was regrettable, but now was the time to trust the agents.
"...I'll leave it to you."
So Kaal bowed his head to them.
It felt like a roundabout way of earnestly begging them to die in his place.
But Yellow Dragon and Blue Tiger raised their swords with bright smiles.
"Blue Tiger, you bastard, doesn't it feel like the two of us always end up like this at the end?"
The two were known as inseparable sworn brothers.
Perhaps because of that, Yellow Dragon spoke to him coarsely.
"Yeah, maybe it's fate."
Unlike the rough Yellow Dragon, Blue Tiger smiled with restraint.
The two had completely opposite personalities, but they were headed in the same direction.
"If it feels like you're gonna die, say so. I'll kick you awake by force."
"Don't you die first. It'll be boring walking the road to the afterlife alone."
Yellow Dragon and Blue Tiger pierced their own hearts simultaneously.
With the savage power that poured forth, the two charged at the hive lord.
Yellow Dragon and Blue Tiger fought the hive lord with everything they had.
Their weapons sank into the hive lord's neck at the same time.
And with that, the two ended their lives.
Through the sacrifices of countless Zero-grade agents, they had slain all six hive lords.
Kaal was one of those who survived thanks to their sacrifices.
He lifted his head toward the sky.
—Havel.
And Havel was watching that scene from beyond the screen as well.
—We took them all down.
His face was streaked with emotions like sorrow.
Kaal had never even spoken to the Zero-grade agents once.
But perhaps because he had been entangled with them, knowingly or not, while closing countless dimensional gates.
Faced with their deaths, Kaal could not remain detached.
That was why.
—Please.
Their deaths must not be in vain.
—Defeat the hive lord.
With that, Havel drew his sword.
The hive lord's regeneration had clearly slowed.
Probably thanks to the other hive lords all being slain.
To finish it off, Havel began to infuse Dawn into his sword.
"I was planning to anyway."
He had intended to do so from the start.
Havel thrust Dawn toward the hive lord.
Banpellyon-style Dawn Swordsmanship True · Dawn Sky
⟨ Dawn Sky ⟩
The extended Dawn engulfed the entire inner space of the moon.
The heat of Dawn erased everything except the moon itself.
The nest the hive lord had created held no power against Dawn.
The black tendrils encircling the moon were all burned away and vanished.
The moon returned to its original form.
And the city did the same.
The tentacles that had filled the city streets all ceased moving.
The people who had been screaming and fleeing began to cautiously look around, one by one.
Above the night sky that had seemed eternally dark.
Today, the moon blazed with a ferocity like the sun.
Havel stood alone atop that brilliant moon.
Havel gazed at the floating text.
Unlike other hierarchies, the 8th Hierarchy seemed divided into distinct layers.
This meant the hive lord had been completely eliminated.
That was when it happened.
"Havel."
Kaal appeared at his side.
He surveyed the moon, now free of all tendrils.
Then he let out a weary smile.
"It's over."
"Yeah."
Kaal could feel the hive lord was gone.
The parasite lingering in his body no longer exerted any power.
"It was a long road."
He had always thought he fought alone.
But looking back now.
Countless others had been fighting to protect the world, not just him.
To realize that only now.
Kaal felt a bitter pang.
He realized anew that he was still too young to be considered an adult.
No matter how much his brain had matured.
His age was that of a mere 11-year-old boy.
A child who had to rely on countless people.
"People always lean on others to live."
Havel enlightened him.
"Whether adults or children, everyone is the same."
"...You too, Havel?"
Hearing the next question, Havel slowly smiled.
"Of course."
Even Havel had reached this point with the help of countless others.
That support still upheld him even now.
"The reason I can help someone is because I've received help myself."
Hearing that, Kaal looked back at the planet with the city.
The blue planet.
No trace of the red tendrils remained here.
Little by little, lights began flickering on in buildings here and there.
Even though the city had been ravaged by the hive lord.
Someone was kindling the flame of life once more.
"Havel."
Havel turned to regard Kaal.
"I'm an ability user. A mutant human infected by a dimensional parasite."
Kaal did not consider himself the same as other humans.
Like all those infected by dimensional parasites.
He believed he, too, would one day harm humanity.
But the Zero-grade agents, whom he had thought would threaten humanity.
Had all willingly sacrificed themselves for humanity.
Could he dismiss such people as mutants, as less than human?
Kaal shook his head.
They were human.
That was why they had fought so desperately to protect the world they lived in.
He didn't want to call those who sacrificed themselves anything less than human.
Then what about him?
With all the Zero-grade agents dead, and him surviving.
The ability users infected by dimensional parasites, toyed with by the hive lord without knowing why.
Weren't they human too?
"You tried to die."
At Havel's next words, Kaal's body flinched.
As Havel said, Kaal had intended to die.
Because he wasn't human, so he had to vanish from the world where humans lived.
That was why Kaal had sought death.
After eliminating all ability users from this world, that is.
But now, that thought had changed.
The Zero-grade agents had accepted their deaths.
Yet they had told Kaal to live.
Carrying the deaths of countless agents on his back, he lived now.
There was the mission to close the dimensional gate the hive lord had entered through.
But even after that was done, he couldn't die.
He didn't want to render their sacrifices meaningless.
"Live."
Havel said simply to the confused Kaal.
"Live as long as you can, carrying their lifespans too, and keep on living."
Havel had already reverted to his adult form before he knew it.
Havel could return to his original appearance on his own.
Kaal's power couldn't restrain him.
He had simply stayed in that form.
Because he judged it necessary for clearing the layer.
And it had proven quite useful.
Being in child form had allowed him to show his grown form to Kaal.
The adult Havel patted Kaal's head.
"That's your job."
These were words Havel spoke to himself as well.
He had survived in the Demonic Palace because of the lives of countless comrades.
And even now, he lived carrying them on his back.
Even now, as one of the owners of the Calamity that was no longer human.
Havel lived to protect his world.
Kaal's life might have been a reflection of Havel's own in some ways.
'Is this what the Tower wanted to show me?'
Havel looked up.
The space around them was gradually shattering.
Proof that the 8th Hierarchy low layer was coming to an end.
The low layer would vanish forever from now on.
This was merely a world created by the Tower, after all.
Kaal was nothing more than a disposable creation of the Tower.
Yet Havel asked him.
"You can do it, right?"
Can you keep living from here on?
Hearing that question, Kaal soon wore a smile on his lips.
"...Yeah."
Tears welled up in his eyes; he too had sensed the parting.
"That's good enough."
Before he knew it, Havel's hand was touching the empty air.
Just like the 8th Hierarchy's initial sight.
A pastel-toned cosmic space with fields stretching out was displayed.
The city was no longer visible.
Havel raised his head and slowly withdrew his hand.
In the distance, Elasia and the other two were approaching belatedly.
"Everyone's late."
Havel turned and began walking.
Next up: the 8th Hierarchy mid-layer.
Today, too, Havel endlessly climbs the Tower.