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[You have slain Grade-1 Petrified Dread-Type: Geogranite Dread.]
[Damage against Grade-1 Petrified Dread-Type, Geogranite Dread increases by 0.05%.]
At last, all the Geogranite Dread that had appeared on the Rose Line Front were defeated.
For now, the most urgent crisis that had crashed into the Ark was taken care of.
["Master!"]
Esther's urgent cry.
Along with it, the Geogranite Dreads that had lost their cores began to slowly collapse.
KWAANG!
KUUUUUNG!─────
As all six of the Geogranite Dreads, having lost their cores, began to collapse simultaneously, it soon turned into a massive catastrophe crashing right into the center of the beast horde.
The beasts couldn't even scream—either crushed under the enormous bodies of the six boulders or swept away by the resulting earthquake.
If the Geogranite Dread had collapsed after reaching the center of Ankelenth's Domain, the damage might have been reduced. But I wasn't about to waste the opportunity that rolled in. As a result, the beast horde suffered tremendous damage.
Naturally, that was the plan all along.
["…That was immense."]
Esther commented as if watching a fire from across the river.
Well, strictly speaking, that attitude wasn't exactly wrong either.
'This is no time for watching.'
["I know. You're the one watching too—so don't be so unfair."]
Esther pouted.
Regardless, I looked out at yet another horde of beasts filling the gap left by the vanished ones due to the earthquake.
The Wave is a massive aggregation of forces, but from above, it looks almost like a single living organism.
An unkillable, endlessly regenerating, monstrous creature.
'No time to sit back and watch.'
The Wave always has something about it that makes one sick of even just looking, but that didn't mean I could sit on my hands and do nothing.
Just because I was sick and tired of it didn't mean I could give up.
Still mounted on Horus, I turned my mount around.
Rather than stay near the Rose Line any longer, I decided to head back into the heart of the Wave, where I could put Janus and Horus to proper use.
["…You're seriously going back? After finally returning near the Ark?"]
'That's why I came here in the first place.'
["Let's just go back inside the Ark. Isn't it better to fight inside than suffer out here?"]
'I didn't come for my own comfort. It's better to take down even one more beast.'
["Ehh..."]
Esther shook her head.
Surviving in this damn world was certainly one of my goals, but ironically, that meant I couldn't afford to play it safe.
If I tried to survive alone, half-heartedly, that would be the end of me.
I knew that better than anyone.
'If we mess up handling the Wave now, we'll pay the price for it later.'
The Ark's forces are finite.
Even if resources within the Ark are relatively abundant, in the end, we have to stop the endless incoming Wave with limited manpower and supplies.
'Of course, that issue is more or less resolved now.'
This time, I had nearly completed the Silk Road episode centered around the Sandstorm Merchant Guild.
Once this Wave is over, the Silk Road should start operating in earnest.
'That's all the more reason to fight now.'
By now, I had moved far enough to be out of the Ark's line of sight and steadied the Zeus-444 Railgun.
[Lv.1]
From the muzzle of the Zeus-444 Railgun clutched in my hands, a burst of Grade-1 output flashes fired in all directions.
There was no need for precise aiming or elaborate setup.
All it took was pulling the trigger.
SHREEEEEEEK────!
The blasts streaked toward the beast horde on both land and sky.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA───!
The giant beasts and monsters capable of directly striking the Ark's walls were all taken down for now.
Of course, since the Ark's front lines are vast, there could still be other giant beasts or monsters I haven't spotted, but for now, there were none left on the Rose Line Front.
'It'd be great if it ended here… but that's not likely.'
The most dangerous part of the Wave isn't the giant beasts or monsters.
It's the overwhelming numbers of beasts that keep pouring in relentlessly.
And just to prove that point, countless beasts and monsters continued to surge toward the Ark on the front lines.
["Ugh… No matter how many times I see it, it's disgusting."]
Though Esther, being a ghost-type, could technically be seen as one of them, she still shook her head.
How should I put it… in many ways, she was a very human monster.
Even if it was all just an act of deception, by now it seemed almost like it might be real.
'Well, that aside....'
I gazed at the front.
The most dangerous moment had passed, but that didn't mean the danger was over.
In fact, it was safe to say that the real fight was just beginning now.
Click─
I replaced the magazine of the Zeus-444 Railgun with the 120mm NA-44 high-capacity napalm rounds.
Until now, I had been using 120mm large-caliber special alloy rounds to pierce the Geogranite Dread' armor and destroy their cores, but from here on, what I needed wasn't penetration—it was devastating range.
"Let's do this."
With the trigger pulled, a 120mm NA-44 high-capacity napalm shell was fired.
Even at just Level-1 output, it was more than enough to turn the front lines into a sea of fire.
[KAAGH! KAAARGH!]
[KIEEEEEK!]
The front line was ablaze.
No, it was an overwhelming sight—as if the entire world were burning.
KWAKAKANG!
TATATANG!──
I didn't stop pulling the trigger.
As if I were going to burn the whole world down, I kept pulling it.
KWAHAAANG!───
[KAAGH, KAAARGH!]
[GRRRRR...!]
Amid the echoing explosions and monstrous screams, the war continued.
A war that felt endless, but certainly had an end.
* * *
"Hey, Ark fellow. Still alive?"
"I am."
To Pavel's question, Staff Sergeant Alex Hope replied with a dry voice.
"Well, that's a relief! Would've hated to drink alone after finding a good drinking buddy."
"Don't worry about that."
Not long ago, they were struggling just to survive, let alone exchange words.
But now that the front line had eased a little, there was room for conversations like this.
"They really do charge in like maniacs. Is this really everyday life in the Ark?"
"There are people who live out there, where things like those roam."
He was referring to the world outside the Ark.
"Haha, but they don't usually go all in like that. What grudge do those things have against the Ark to come swarming in like that?"
"The Ark is now the last remaining human city."
The literal last city of mankind.
Of course, humans still lived outside the Ark, but nowhere matched its scale.
Even if the Kronos Union tried to present itself as a united front, they had yet to recover the glorious civilization of the past.
"But still, doesn't it seem strange? No matter how much they hate humans, a swarm of monsters attacking in those numbers doesn't make sense."
"Cities like Kronos and Heshbon have been attacked too. The beasts are enemies of humanity."
"That's what I mean. As you know, some of those beasts and monsters have intelligence. Yet they charge in like this knowing they'll die… Doesn't seem like any natural ecosystem I've ever seen."
As Pavel pointed out, there were those who questioned why the monsters and beasts were so obsessively targeting the Ark.
In fact, many people wondered the same.
The Ark had, in the past, dispatched countless investigation teams to figure it out.
But with the survival situation being so dire, it was tough even for the Ark to keep sending their elite teams outside, and the investigations were soon suspended.
"…I do think it's a question that must be answered one day."
Staff Sergeant Alex Hope said no more than that.
No matter how unfair the world, the immediate threats took priority over discovering the world's truths.
Which is why the Ark still hasn't resumed those investigations.
"Fair enough."
Pavel just nodded.
Like Staff Sergeant Alex Hope said, the ecosystem of the beasts was strange, but there were still far more unknowns than knowns.
And unraveling the mysteries of the unknown is never easy.
Both the Ark and the Kronos Union knew that—hence, the truth had yet to be uncovered.
"For now, let's pick this up again over drinks."
"Yes. Let's."
Where do the beasts come from, and where are they going?
Discussions on the origin of the beasts always made for good barroom talk in the Ark.
At the same time, it was a question that never found an answer.
In other words, it was an excuse to get very drunk.
And so...
The war continued.
The warriors of the Kronos Union were valiant, but in the face of the unprecedented "Fivefold Wave," they suffered no small number of casualties.
"Guhhh!"
"Girr!"
The soldiers of the Kronos Union bled for the Ark.
Strictly speaking, they were bleeding for themselves too, but that didn't change the fact that they were fighting alongside the Ark.
"..."
Staff Sergeant Alex Hope's eyes settled on the warriors of Kronos Union who fell on the front line.
He no longer suspected that those people might be hiding some deeper intentions.
That wouldn't be fair to the ones who had died.
'The front line… is holding off the beasts better and better.'
The Wave that had been so overwhelming at first was becoming more manageable.
The soldiers of the Ark and the warriors of Kronos Union alike knew what that meant.
This war, which once seemed eternal, was finally beginning to end.
"Just a bit more, everyone! It's almost over!"
"UOOOOHH!"
The commanders of the Ark and Kronos Union rallied their troops.
Whether such encouragement would help the already-exhausted troops was uncertain, but just having hope was helpful to some degree.
Of course, the commanders had to manage this carefully.
Sometimes, soldiers would get careless thinking the war was over and die with their guards down.
Naturally, the commanders of Kronos Union weren't unaware of that.
"Don't get cocky! If you die, the only ones happy will be those Ark bastards! You want to make them smile? Survive and taste the booze they offer!"
"Of course, boss!"
"Then don't die, dammit!"
The war, which had dragged on endlessly, was finally approaching its conclusion.
The Wave—especially the Quintuple Wave—had led an unending army of beasts to invade the Ark, but now, they had barely made it to this point.
Now, it was time to see the end of this war.