The battle against the Grade-1 Named Insectoid, Hailac of the Thornclaws, ended there.
[BEEP! BEEP!]
[BZZZT──!]
With their leader fallen, the Winged Mantises flailed and scattered in disarray, but not for long.
One by one, they were hunted down by me, the Turncoat Knight, and Horus.
SHLK──!
SHLKT!
Wings were incinerated. Heads were crushed.
Bodies split in half. Skewered without mercy.
[Beeee....]
SLASH───!
The ether-infused Spear of Ankelenth swept through, and the last remaining Winged Mantis was beheaded.
["Well done, Master!"]
But unfortunately, the battle was not yet over.
We had eliminated Hailac's entire swarm, but the skies were still swarming with flying-type magical beasts and monsters.
'They're regrouping already, huh.'
The Death Spores had wiped out a portion of the local flying threats, but that was only a fragment of the full beast legion.
After enough time had passed, it was inevitable—they were closing in again.
'What's happening at the Ark?'
Naturally, my attention turned to the Ark.
It had been quite a while since I first entered combat. There was no doubt that the main battle had already begun over there.
'…Hmm.'
And then I saw it.
The sky above the Ark ablaze.
'So, it begins.'
It wasn't just the sky.
Explosions roared across the ground near the Ark, mushroom clouds and fires rising continuously.
BOOM────!
KRA-KOOOOM────!
While I fought this battle here, it seemed another legion had arrived at the Ark's perimeter.
'…There's no time to waste.'
The war had begun.
What remained was to hold this ground and reduce the number of monsters headed toward the Ark as much as possible.
Even so, I knew the damage to the Ark would be far beyond anything we'd endured before.
'Tch.'
But I believed in them.
The soldiers of the Ark whom I'd fought beside, and those we trained on this campaign.
If they fought as they should, maybe—just maybe—the expected losses could be reduced.
'For now, I have to leave it to them.'
As I glanced toward the Ark, another horde of flying beasts closed the distance.
At least Grade-3 and above.
Not as formidable as the Grade-1 Insectoids I had faced earlier, but still dangerous.
["Master! Incoming!"]
'I see them.'
Esther's ever-familiar warning rang in my ears as I gripped the Spear of Ankelenth with both hands.
'Let's do this.'
I shifted my stance, readying for a javelin throw, and began concentrating ether.
[Kill. Them. All.]
[Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.]
[No… one… left…]
Ether thick with murderous intent gathered into the spear.
The Spear of Ankelenth left my hands.
['Bone Javelin' has been activated.]
KRAAAAAASH!──────
This brutish javelin had no supersonic velocity. No graceful finesse.
But it didn't need those things—what it had was overwhelming, unrelenting power.
KRKRKRKRKR───!
It didn't just pierce the air. It shattered it.
There was no other way to describe the force it unleashed—like a death sentence hurled into the sky.
Drip—
Drip drip—!
Rain began to fall.
No, not rain. Bits of what used to be magical beasts—blood, shredded flesh—rained from above.
Its power was undeniable, but so was the backlash.
'Definitely… not a skill I can use repeatedly.'
It required ether infusion, Janus's support, and every last ounce of muscle in my body.
It had a hefty cost—but its destructive power exceeded expectations.
Unfortunately, in my current state, I could probably only manage one or two more throws at best.
'Doesn't matter.'
If I couldn't throw another javelin, I'd fight another way.
I gripped the remaining Spear of Ankelenth in my hand.
It was time to hunt again.
* * *
The sky burned.
No—everything in sight seemed to be engulfed in flame.
Surprisingly, this catastrophe wasn't caused by monsters or magical beasts.
It was the Ark—humanity—that had ignited it.
And even amidst such self-inflicted devastation, the Ark still faced endless enemies.
"Huff… huff…"
Hildegard exhaled the scorching air that had invaded her lungs.
It felt like her chest might combust any moment, but there was no time to cough.
[KRAAAK! KRAAAAH──!]
From overhead, an incoming Grade-8 flyer appeared, and Hildegard took aim with the Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle.
BANG!───
The first shot was stopped by its thick hide.
Despite the imminent threat, Hildegard stayed composed and activated her Insight Eye.
'Weak points: wings and eyes.'
Her Insight Eye flared, and she aimed precisely at the flyer's vulnerabilities.
Bang!
Bang-bang-bang──!
In a flash, its wings were shredded, and the beast lost control, plummeting.
There was one problem—the beast was falling toward where Ark soldiers were stationed.
'…Damn it!'
As the flyer crashed down, Hildegard immediately left her position.
It was a breach of conduct for a soldier, but she refused to let a comrade die due to her mistake.
'No. No…'
She rushed toward the crash site.
[KREEEK, KREEEEK…]
The flyer was still alive, twitching.
Hildegard pulled out her military-issue Smel Workshop combat knife and finished the beast with a clean stab.
[KRAK!]
With trembling hands, Hildegard pushed aside the corpse of the fallen flyer.
And then she saw it.
"…Huh?"
What lay before her was truly strange.
Contrary to what she expected—that someone had been crushed beneath—it turned out the soldier below had been lying in a makeshift cavity beneath a stack of ammunition boxes, protected by the narrow space they formed.
As if she had known that was the safest place to be.
"Are you alright?"
"Ah, yes…"
"I'm so sorry. I thought I'd gotten you…"
"No, no! It's alright. I was there on purpose. It's a safe spot."
"…What?"
On purpose? She had deliberately been in that spot?
Hildegard couldn't quite comprehend the meaning behind her words, but she chose not to press the matter.
"Well then, I'll be going—"
Just as Hildegard turned to return to her position, Belle grabbed her hand.
"Wait… just a moment."
"Yes?"
"Don't go. It's dangerous over there."
"There's no such thing as a safe spot around here…"
As Hildegard pulled her hand free to move—
KRAAAAAASH!
A massive boulder crashed down on the very spot she had been heading toward.
"Wha…"
Hildegard's mouth opened wordlessly.
Had she taken just a few more steps, she would've been obliterated beneath that rock.
"How did you…?"
The question surfaced unbidden.
How had Bell known to stop her?
Hildegard's Insight Eye scanned her.
At first glance, she appeared to be just an ordinary soldier. Plain to the point of forgettable. But still… something felt off.
'No injuries?'
The battlefield was utter chaos.
Yet not a single scratch marred Belle's body.
That simply shouldn't be possible.
'What exactly is—'
As Hildegard puzzled over her, Belle suddenly pulled her again.
"Look out!"
A panicked voice, and then a sharp tug pulled Hildegard out of harm's way.
A flyer swooped down onto where she had just stood.
"Damn—!"
She swiftly raised her Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle.
BANG!
BANG BANG BANG!
Belle raised her own rifle and fired as well, unleashing a storm of rounds.
Before long, the flyer collapsed, riddled with bullets.
"Phew…"
"You okay?"
"Yes…"
As Hildegard watched Belle calmly deliver a final shot to ensure the flyer was dead, one thing became perfectly clear to her.
'She can see something others can't.'
Belle spoke.
"Well then, I'll be on my way—"
"W-Wait!"
"Yes?"
"Just for a moment, please."
"Yes?"
This ability…
An idea took root in Hildegard's mind.
This might be the key to reducing casualties on the battlefield.
* * *
How many swings had it been?
A hundred? A thousand? More?
He didn't know. Only that his hands trembled uncontrollably from gripping the Spear of Ankelenth.
["Master!"]
Esther's voice echoed urgently.
Rather than answer, he swung the spear again.
SLAASH────!
The Turncoat Knight, his bone wings spread wide, stood at his back.
But he was far from unscathed.
["Kin…"]
Shattered fragments of bone scattered around him. Cracks ran through his skeletal mask, threatening to break apart at any moment.
Though he had been absorbing blood and flesh from monsters between attacks, even that wasn't enough to sustain him under this endless assault.
The same could be said for me.
Janus and Horus fought valiantly, but even they were nearing their limit. Cracks had begun forming on the thick bone armor I wore.
Fending off an overwhelmingly vast beast legion was no simple feat.
["There's way too damn many of them!"]
Esther roared, unleashing a burst of etheric shockwaves around us.
[Go away.]
[Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away…]
[Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. Disappear.]
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE───!
'By now… my weapons should be usable again.'
Enough time had passed for the weapons to cool down.
But I couldn't take them out just yet.
Showing even the slightest gap in front of this monstrous horde would invite a swift and bloody end.
'Janus, Horus!'
I gave the command, and both Janus and Horus opened their maws wide in unison.
['Ankelenth's Roar' has been activated!]
With a thunderous bellow, the surrounding beast legion froze momentarily.
An opening.
'Now…'
I reached inside my coat and retrieved the BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and ICE-54 Plasma Cooler.
Two of my most powerful weapons were now in my hands—radiating crimson heat and piercing blue frost in all directions.
* * *
The sky above the Ark burned.
No… everything burned.
Eyes full of flame stared calmly beyond the perimeter of the Ark.
"Sart."
At the woman's soft call, Sart emerged from the shadows where he had remained hidden.
"Gather everyone. The time has come."
"At last, then."
"Yes."
"As you command, Commander."
Sart vanished once more into the darkness.
In the reflection of the woman's eyes, the inferno danced.
A fire like the eternal flames of hell—relentless and unending—glimmered in her gaze.