Episode 120. What does death leave behind?
-Tiriring~
I can hear music.
A performer with a very beautiful melody that I never thought would flow in the current situation.
-Kyaaah!!
But even that is only a faint degree.
The enemy army was still seething at the bottom of the mountain the army had climbed, and they were increasing in number and gradually blocking the retreat route one by one.
If we break through and resist the pursuit, even if it is difficult, we may be able to convey the situation to some of humanity, but what does that mean now?
It is obvious that after enduring that, further despair will appear.
Even those who were born with the destiny of a warrior turned into enemies by denying humanity, so how can they move forward believing that there is hope in this world?
‘… Then why?’
So, they think it might be the right choice for them to not drag on and throw themselves here like the first soldier did.
Despite her realization, the reason she could not follow the soldier who had gone ahead of her was because even at this moment, there was someone who stormed into her scene and wanted to fight her.
‘Then why is that man fighting?’
He was a memorable person.
He was taken as a disciple by his former comrade. He is a person they wanted to raise as the successor to the hero they admired.
The power and skills she uses at this moment are hers, and the reason she appears here and competes with her even if she is alone is because she also inherited her aspect as a hero.
‘Jean Cleo, you… ….’
But at the end of such efforts, he reached the end of the path he was destined to take.
Nevertheless, why does he not give up like them and fights against the resentment of a warrior who is disappointed in the world?
He would have known her as well as he did, and he would have understood her pain even more than he did.
‘Are you still holding out hope? ‘Did you raise that man to be a hero because you thought there was hope even in a world like this?’
Trying to think about such questions alone, Marcus soon lowered his head and chose to erase the thoughts from his head.
‘… I don’t know.’
There was no way I could have known by thinking alone.
There were always no clear answers in the life he lived, and his expectations for his efforts were always followed by betrayal.
‘Now, I want to rest…….’
Marcus, tired of living in such a world, soon stopped asking himself questions and placed his hand on the sword at his waist.
Okay, right now I just want to be faithful to my feelings.
-Tiriring, tiring~♬
I just want to listen to the sound of the music gradually becoming stronger and be faithful to what I feel.
“General, what… ….”
“Those who will fight, follow me.”
What was uttered at the end was not even an order, but merely a complaint that was faithful to a feeling of desperation.
Nevertheless, he wanted to decorate his final days in the form of a corps commander, at least in form.
“… Yes?”
“Those who will fight with me, go down and attract the attention of the enemy. “If we reduce our numbers even just a little, even a few of us will be able to escape from here.”
There was no honor or cause.
For now, I just want to be faithful to my own feelings, and just act out those feelings in the way that I am most familiar with.
“Even if we fight, even if we leave… I will not hold either side responsible. “What to do next will be left to each person’s discretion.”
“General, wait…… !”
By the time the soldier tried to dissuade him, it was already too late.
He had already gone down the hill, drew his sword, and was rushing towards the enemies with his bare body.
The auror in that sword is the result of devoting himself to training without missing a single day since the death of the person he admired.
Although he became less active in wielding his sword as he ascended to the position of commander, he did not neglect training to embody that sense even in his aging body.
-Wow!!
It only takes a moment for a sword filled with such a lifetime to cut down the enemies in front of me.
However, no matter how sharp the blade is, there is a limit to the enemies it can fight alone.
-Puuk, swoosh!
Soldiers coming from all directions had the same strength and tried to cut his body down with a stronger will.
The reason their momentum is unusual is because they are not ordinary dead people, but the result of embodying the craziest era.
My aging body, unable to respond to their onslaught, was collapsing at a rapid pace with each step I took.
‘The sword I have devoted my entire life to is being broken without any use.’
Armor is torn by countless attacks.
Even the slightest disruption in posture can interfere with the use of force, and even if you manage to successfully defend yourself, the bones that withstood the strong force will crack.
‘The body that has been running all along is breaking down miserably.’
I am out of breath, and it is difficult to exhale, so I can clearly feel my consciousness fading away.
He felt unfair at the helplessness he felt due to such limitations, but despite this, he tenaciously moved his body and tried to move forward.
‘Was my life so meaningless?’
Now even his fingers holding the sword were shaking, but despite this, he did not fall down and tried to aim the sword at the enemies around him.
‘Is it just because we have been ignoring the truth of this world that we have struggled so desperately?’
The moment when even the sword lost its blade due to the enemy’s attack, the tip broke, and even the aura was shaken.
-Euzjeok, Jejeok.
The ghosts of the old era rushed through the cracks in the armor, repeatedly tearing the flesh and bleeding.
The blood that bursts out from it becomes a good drink to quench the thirst of war-crazed ghosts.
As the blood drained, the cold took over, and the pain subsided, I could clearly feel my heart stopping.
‘But what if…? ….’
Yes, is this death?
The old man, feeling that final sensation, moved his hand, which was still holding his sword, and moved his mouth.
‘If the world continues even after I disappear…….’
What comes out of that open mouth can be called lingering regret that even one is not aware of.
But you will never hear it yourself.
Death means not feeling anything anymore.
With that corpse, it means that he is leaving behind everything he has worked for in his life…….
****
“General, sir.”
Nevertheless, he did not fall, but still stood rooted to the spot, holding his sword.
The attacks of enemies that had gathered around him had long since subsided.
Afterwards, more troops would come rushing in, but even so, he was still standing there, raising his broken sword.
-Pud-deuk-deuk-deuk-deuk-deuk-deuk-deuk.
Even the skin and organs are all ripped off.
Even the white bones covered in blood moved and tried to maintain their position.
“General, you are alive! Rescue me now…… !!”
“Are you crazy!? “The enemies will come again!!”
“But General…… !!”
“Look carefully! “It’s already too late!!”
All of the skin on the face was peeled off, exposing the bones, and what was inside had long since poured out through holes, including the mouth, in the midst of a fierce battle.
All that remains is an old, cracked skull that shows his hard work, with not even his form left.
-Rammer, that play.
From Noble mtl dot com
Nevertheless, the reason he moves is because the impure power residing in his body is trying to move him based on the records left in his body.
The general they had been following all along had already become undead.
That was the miserable end faced by the man who had spent his entire life strengthening the army to protect humanity.
“Ah, ah. General… ….”
Why did he fight at the end?
If you were just desperate, you could just throw yourself away without the need for a long line of life.
Why did he fight so badly that he destroyed his body so badly?
-Jiiiiing!!
A red air current begins to wash over the mourning soldiers.
The red light rising from the corpse immediately caused the body to bend in a deformed manner and turn towards them.
It is due to the power of the Red Knight.
The power to revive all lions in its territory and join its army.
A corpse infatuated with that power, no matter its life, becomes the limbs of the person with the power and turns into an enemy of humanity.
-Boom!!
The declaration of despair begins to end in the clash between the red knight and the hero confronting him.
Immediately after that, his head stopped in place as he tried to look at them, and the tip of the sword was also taken away from them.
The moment when control of the upper entity is lost.
As a result, the undead, who has regained his initiative, is guided by the power remaining in his body and seeks to be faithful to his instincts.
“Do… ….”
If only the desire to live remains, he pursues the living and seeks to take their warmth and life.
On the contrary, it goes beyond even that.
If there are clear regrets that were left unfulfilled in life even after death.
“Tao, charge… ….”
Yes, he had regrets.
Going beyond obsession with living beings, he is trying to move his tattered body through the ego that has been enlightened, albeit faintly, through his enlightened ego.
“Charge, warrior… ….”
The direction in which they move is not the direction of the soldiers they once led, but the direction of the enemies that are coming towards them.
And even at this moment, I am staring at the hero who is competing with the red knight.
“A hero… …. Protect it.”
The voice that came out at the end began to echo faintly among the soldiers behind him.
“General, what… ….”
“Protect the hero. A hero… ….”
It started with a yearning for a hero.
The death of the person he longed for at the end came to him as an epiphany and a calling.
The reason she died was not because she was helpless, but because she carried so much on her own.
“Army, charge… ….”
That’s why he always thought.
If people called heroes appear in front of me once again.
If the being who can truly be called the hope of humanity appears again, I will no longer just sit back and watch, but will build an army to fight together.
“Protect the hero…….”
Such lingering feelings are moving the corpse at this moment.
I want to convey to everyone that even in the midst of a desperate end that comes equally to everyone, there is meaning in the life leading up to it.
“So that the hope of humanity does not collapse… ….”
If this world continues even after you die.
With the belief that what is left behind after he leaves will bring about some change in this world.
“Let us protect the hope of humanity with our own hands…” … !!!”
The body with the remnants of that faith was still moving toward the battlefield.
To protect the hero.
To protect those who can overcome this hopeless situation that even they are not aware of.
“…General, sir.”
I know.
Those who have competed with corpses know best that the undead are merely copies of the most intense moments of the living.
-Tiriring~♬
But in the midst of such grief, they felt hope.
I understood that his will to protect the hero even in death was directed towards that man.
-Tiri-ring, ti-ring~♪
And what resonates between them at this moment is a performance that stimulates emotions.
The emotions brought up from the depths of one’s unconsciousness, which one was not even aware of, were invigorated by the performance.
“… Charge.”
The soldier, drunk with such emotions, drew his sword.
Just on a whim.
Intoxicated with feelings that can be called arrogance and not even courage.
“Charge.”
Nevertheless, I am faithful to my feelings for this moment, and I hope to use even that as a painkiller for the cruel future that awaits ahead.
The only difference is whether it is early or late.
Even though a desperate end awaits everyone, he realized that it was his choice how to continue the process.
“Charge!! “Soldiers!”
“Follow the general!!”
Emotions that had remained unconscious eventually became reality.
The scream that bursts out at the end turns into a shout, and they want to throw themselves into the disaster caused by humanity’s original sin.
No matter how brilliant and cruel that life was, even if in the end they are all reduced to nothing more than mere flesh.
“Charge, do it…… !”
“Protect our hope!”
Nevertheless, they firmly believe that they too will be able to stand up, just like those who went before them, and want to burn their bodies.
“The general’s sacrifice… …. “Do not let the sacrifices of those who went before be in vain!!”
“This world will remember my end!!”
A battlefield where the living are gradually disappearing and the dead are overflowing.
Nevertheless, their direction was consistent.
The battlefield created by the entanglement of those who advance and those who follow may itself symbolize the madness of humanity.
“Let us protect the hope of humanity with our own hands!!!!”
A madman who longs for hope even in a hopeless world.
The madness that comes from believing that what you find at the end is hope.
*****
-Chuck!!
At the end of a war in which such madness swirled, the moment finally came when the tide of battle was turning.
Not only the living, but even the dead who are beyond one’s control join the battlefield…….
By something absurd that has never existed before happening.
“Why on earth…?” ….”
Of course, if I exerted more power, I could control them as well, but the person in front of me was sabotaging everything.
If you fight properly, you can trample and destroy the warrior at any time.
At best, he was a kid who could only imitate his own skills and barely match the strength of his opponent in his prime.
“Why on earth are you being pushed out…… ?”
But why is it that now that we are fighting 1:1, I am being slightly outclassed by his power?
No matter how much the oncoming troops and his interference left him with no time to exercise coercive orders, he would still have to overwhelm him with his own strength even without the help of the troops.
“The power I have could have surpassed even a dragon, so why on earth would I let someone like you…” … !!”
-Quang!!
An explosion of magical power that occurs through the balance disturbed by such impatience.
The red knight’s eyes widened as he felt his body being tilted for the first time after being hit by a javelin, and he began to smile faintly as he raised his spear and took a breath.
“I guess I’m running out of space. “Suddenly they throw away their honor.”
“What…” ….”
“No matter what, you are now more influenced by the memories of your enemies when you were a mercenary rather than a hero. “Maybe it’s natural for this to happen.”
Yes, the reason the opponent became a disaster beyond the dragon in the first place was due to the production of infinite troops.
Because she is still in the early stages of awakening her power, the human forces here can barely deal with it, and excluding those forces, all that remains is her own strength.
And the time when her regret was strongest was when she was a ‘mercenary’ who experienced the era of war.
Although he was also the strongest among mankind, compared to when he faced the dragon, he cannot be considered to have reached the peak of his personal power.
“If we push back with the sheer number of people, we might be able to overcome even the dragon… ….”
On the other hand, this is the entire life that Tacia Firoy has gone through.
A person who has faced the dragon since the age of war, and at the end of it, has accepted into his body the will that was left after facing death.
” If you are alone, there is no enemy that even I can’t defeat now.”
The moment he realized that difference, hope arose in his heart.
I have hope that I can win this hopeless fight.