Until now, the Turncoat Knight had always been something of an enigma to me—both a secret weapon and a potential liability.
The biggest reason? He was classified as a high-threat monster by the Ark itself.
No matter how useful a weapon might be, if you can't use it when it matters, what's the point?
But right now… was different.
The Turncoat Knight stood at my side not as a threat, but as a trusted comrade.
Even in a place like the Ark, filled with capable soldiers, finding someone you could truly trust to watch your back wasn't easy.
And yet, the Turncoat Knight was proving himself more than worthy of that role.
"Let's go."
[Keek!]
Janus answered, and soon the Turncoat Knight stepped up beside us.
["Let… us… go."]
The two of us mounted Horus.
Though it was the first time Horus had carried the Turncoat Knight, he didn't show a hint of resistance.
It seemed the nutrient exchange had forged a certain bond among Janus, Horus, and the Turncoat Knight.
'Well… works for me.'
After all, the Turncoat Knight was now a full-fledged vassal of Janus.
Mounted atop Horus, I looked out across the sky, where the swarm of flying beasts and monsters approached.
Tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands—maybe even more.
The sky itself was blackened by the sheer number of them, all heading straight for the Ark.
'The worst part is… this is just the beginning.'
The monster legions didn't just fill the sky.
They were on the ground, underground—everywhere.
Clack—
Still on Horus's back, I pulled out the Ark-34 Auto-Conversion Rifle and shifted it into Railgun mode.
There was no better weapon to announce the start of war.
'Flying beasts first.'
Even though monsters with ranged attacks started appearing in the Orange Line stage, flying beasts still ranked higher in terms of raw threat.
Bzzzzt—!
Sparks jumped from the Ark-34's barrel as power charged up.
I didn't even need Esther's help for this—it was just a declaration of war.
SHHHHHRAAAAKKK!
A supersonic beam of light screamed toward the darkness in the sky.
It pierced through the monster clouds like a holy lance, tearing apart the veil of darkness.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
[You have slain Grade-4 Insect-Type, Venom Stinger Wasp.]
[Damage bonus against Venom Stinger Wasp increases by 0.05%.]
[You have slain Grade-10 Insect-Type, Square-Jawed Honeybee.]
[You have slain Grade-10 Insect-Type, Giant Fly.]
.
.
.
[You have slain Grade-6 Insect-Type, Red-Eyed Giant Dragonfly.]
[Damage bonus against Red-Eyed Giant Dragonfly increases by 0.05%.]
Even with just a single Railgun shot, hundreds of flying beasts plummeted from the sky.
And when they hit the ground, they crashed into ground-bound monsters—causing a domino effect of secondary casualties.
WHUUUUUM—!
[Keh-heh-hehhh!]
[KAH! KAH!]
The Turncoat Knight wasn't idle either.
He anchored himself to Horus using his bone tendrils, then drew a spear and took aim.
Creak, crack…
It wasn't as dramatic as the Ark-34's Railgun, of course.
From this distance, his bone spear only managed to skewer about ten monsters.
But that wasn't a flaw in his technique—it was just that the Railgun's firepower was borderline absurd.
'The Turncoat Knight was never meant for long-range aerial combat anyway.'
While I reconfigured the Ark-34 back into auto-rifle mode, the Turncoat Knight conjured a new batch of ten bone spears, readying his next volley.
SHRAAAAK—!
With his second throw, the beasts in the sky finally started diving toward us.
It was overwhelming—like the heavens themselves were falling.
I was momentarily speechless.
["Master! What are you doing?!"]
'I know.'
Gripping the Ark-34 tightly, I slotted in the A-985 explosive rounds.
Before I could even think about pulling out my heavy ordnance from the [Rift Space], I had to thin the incoming swarm.
Click—
I pulled the trigger. Explosive rounds detonated against the swarming enemies, tearing through their ranks.
BOOM!
BOOM-BOOM!
Through the haze of smoke and fire, more winged monsters kept coming.
The Ark-34 alone wasn't going to be enough.
'In that case…'
I drew out the BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and the ICE-54 Plasma Cooler—two of my most powerful weapons next to the Railgun.
ZHHHHNN—!
A red streak of plasma from the BLT-47 ripped through the swarm, carving a clean line through the sky.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
For a moment, it was as if a giant blade had sliced a gap into the heavens.
But I wasn't done.
In my left hand, I raised the ICE-54 and swept it outward.
Shhhhhh—
Where the pale blue chill passed, monsters froze midair and dropped like shards of ice.
I kept swinging the ICE-54.
Shhhh—!
CRACK! CRUNCH!
I didn't even know how many times I swung it anymore.
My left hand ached, the icy burn numbing it.
Despite the ICE-54's state-of-the-art heat-resistance, I could still feel the cold biting into me.
That alone said enough about the weapon's insane output.
'More… more…'
I kept swinging the BLT-47 and the ICE-54 in tandem—maximum coverage, maximum carnage.
It was all about efficiency.
Fssst, fsssst!
Eventually, the BLT-47 began to emit a thin trail of smoke.
I had reached my limit.
No matter how much energy could be discharged, there was no surpassing the physical limits of the weapons themselves.
'Guess this is it.'
I holstered the BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and the ICE-54 Plasma Cooler, tucking them back into my coat. Then, I drew the Ark-34 Automatic Conversion Rifle once again.
'The Ark-34 alone won't be enough to hold back this many flying monsters.'
That meant allowing some of them to get close.
'It's fine.'
I had Janus. I had Horus. And now, I had the Turncoat Knight.
'Time to go.'
[Keek!]
Janus shrieked, launching his bone tendrils in every direction.
Horus and the Turncoat Knight followed suit, extending their own tendrils like a living wall of spears.
Flying monsters swarmed in from all sides.
Together, the four of us—myself, Janus, Horus, and the Turncoat Knight—stood tall, tendrils raised like a barricade against the sky.
"Let's do this."
[Kiieeek—!]
[Kihehek!]
["Let… us… go."]
The real fight was about to begin.
* * *
Lights began to flash across the Ark.
The distinct, silent sirens of the Ark—bright, but without sound.
Their meaning was unmistakable.
A Wave.
It had begun.
Within the blinking sirens, Hildegard checked over the new equipment she'd received upon her transfer to the Orange Line.
Everything was in order.
It was time for her to begin her first mission at this new front.
The mission: defend the Ark.
It was the same task she had always done in the Red Line.
And yet, completely different.
"..."
Hildegard stood atop the Ark's walls, watching the storm clouds gather on the horizon.
A massive swarm.
Even without her Insight Vision, it was obvious this was no ordinary Wave.
'…Will we be okay?'
As she stared at the monstrous skies, she glanced beyond the horizon.
Even after all this time, Carl Marcus had not returned to the Ark.
She didn't know whether something had happened to him, or if he was simply hiding out to avoid the Wave.
But one thing was clear—Carl's status was unknown.
Hildegard knew Carl wasn't the kind of man to die easily.
But she also couldn't shake the image of that unidentified presence… the one even Carl had taken seriously.
'That wasn't a normal person… no, it wasn't even human.'
That fear lingered in her mind, and with it, a hint of guilt.
She hadn't gone back for him.
That day, she'd made a decision not to return to Carl's side—and now, she regretted it.
But Hildegard also understood something else.
Regret always came too late.
So rather than dwell in the past, she focused on the task before her.
Defend the Ark. More specifically—the front lines of the Orange Line.
That was her duty now.
'…He'll be fine.'
Carl Marcus would come back.
He always did.
No—maybe he was out there right now, fighting monsters for the Ark's sake.
Because that's just who he was.
With that, Hildegard tightened her grip on her Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle.
She switched it into its anti-material sniper mode and aimed toward the horizon, where the swarm was gathering.
The sky was still distant from the Ark—but no need to worry about missing.
The air was thick with monsters.
Click—
Her finger squeezed the trigger.
And the barrel of the Ark-15 roared with flame.