Unit 49 took the full brunt of an axe swung by the Barbarian.
Just as the axe swung with the full might of the Barbarian reached the book, a formless Magic Formation manifested itself and nullified the swing of the axe.
“Stand back, you moths of the realm.” said Unit 49.
She was not all talk and no bite like Bertelgia.
Black spheres appeared around the book, floating up for a moment before smashing into and knocking the nearby Barbarians away.
“…This way.” said Unit 49.
Bertelgia struggled to get up and fly towards Unit 49.
“And him?”
She was more worried about Sungchul than her own safety.
Unit 49 shook lightly before responding coldly.
“Calm down, you immitation. I’ll help you bring him. To a safe place.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a spherical magic formation large enough to envelop Sungchul and both living books appeared around them.
The Barbarians that were temporarily stunned into inaction at Unit 49’s sudden appearance now snapped awake at the sight of the magic formation and swarmed at them like an angry swarm of bees.
But the defensive magic formation put up by Unit 49 was impervious to the Barbarian attacks.
Within the impenetrable defense she put up, Unit 49 was calmly preparing to teleport the beings contained within the sphere to a previously designated safe-zone.
Once the teleportation magic was just about finished, Unit 49 took a look around.
Herself, Bertelgia, and the fallen body of Sungchul.
There were three beings in here. But for some inexplicable reason, it felt to Unit 49 that there was yet another being in the sphere with them.
It was standing hesitantly before Sungchul who lay on the ground.
But it soon concealed its presence and could no longer be detected by Unit 49.
‘What was it? Could it be someone with abilities on par with me?’
It was concerning.
But there was no time to think.
The defensive magic formation was beginning to form cracks under the ferocious attacks by the Barbarians.
The inner sphere of the magic formation around Unit 49 briefly glowed blue.
By the time the lights were gone, nothing remained in its place.
The Barbarians rushed into the resulting empty space with looks of despair before bellowing incomprehensible words.
The battle of La Grange which would decide the fate of mankind ended just like that.
The total loss suffered by the coalition of humanity’s forces were miraculously small, but the relationships they worked so hard to forge and an irreplaceable hero was lost this day.
The history would record today’s battle as a defeat for humanity. But no one would bat an eye at such trivial truth.
Because it was obvious to everyone in the world.
That there wasn’t much history left that was permitted for them to live through.
*
Thud. Thud.
From a distance, the dull sound of siege engines pounding the city walls could be heard since twilight.
However, that noise faded away when another deeper, resonant sound echoed from beneath the city—the heartbeat of an Ancient God.
The Capital City of La Grange of the Human Empire.
Surrounding the entire city was a defensive barrier powered by the heart of the Ancient God.
Nothing was permitted to cross the boundaries of this barrier.
Only authorized airships could make use of a small window during the darkness to escape beyond the city boundaries.
There were a great number of people gathered at the harbors.
“······.”
The high-born nobles of prestigious families as well as their followers who once pushed others out to rule over the upper districts of La Grange were now were sitting out in the rain, in line for the airships leaving the city.
They were watching on at the lucky few who managed to get onto airships with eyes full of envy and seething jealousy.
“Me too, please bring me too!”
One man clung onto the rails of the ship that was taking off, shouting desperately.
The crewman spat on the ground before picking up the axe. He raised the axe up high and brought it down upon the hand of the man clinging on the rails of the ship.
“Ahhhh!”
The man who had put everything on the line to try and stowaway fell to the ground.
Clarice stood on the deck, watching the falling man, then the Capital City that was growing distant.
The old man, left all alone in the mansion, waved contentedly as he watched the airship depart from the Capital City.
“Have a good life, Clarice. Make this worthless old man proud.”
A month had passed since the warrior, who was once called the Enemy of the World but now hailed as the defender of mankind, was defeated by the God of Order.
The situation was hopeless.
The Coalition forces had long since abandoned the city and retreated far away, leaving La Grange surrounded by sixty thousand strong Barbarian Horde.
If it weren’t for the Heart of the Ancient God, the city would have already fallen to the Barbarians and been sacked.
However, even La Grange was reaching its limits.
The city was running out of food to support hundreds of thousands of citizens and refugees, and the soldiers defending the city were increasingly being depleted in battle.
Meanwhile, in the east, the rumored Miasma of Death had finally made landfall. Though only a part of it was visible, the citizens of La Grange could see a terrifying sight of the entire eastern horizon turning blood red in the morning with the rising sun.
While all the forces of destruction were pushing the world closer and closer to annihilation, there was a place where a day was going on as normal as if mere calamities or things like the end of the world was irrelevant.
It was one of the abandoned homes in the upper districts of La Grange.
It had been uninhabited long since before even the war and was rumored to be haunted, so no one dared approach it.
But this house definitely had a master.
It was a book.
This book commanded a few small golems which were guarding the vicinity of the house.
Meanwhile, inside the house, there was another book.
It was Bertelgia.
“Stay put. I’ll check the situation outside. Don’t do anything.”
Unit 49 coldly said to Bertelgia.
Bertelgia remained leaning against the wall, not responding.
“Answer!”
It was only after Unit 49 shouted angrily that Bertelgia shivered and answered.
“I understand. Uuhohhnuuii.”
“Un… what? Speak clearly!”
Unit 49 shouted sharply once again.
Bertelgia sagged to the ground as she answered.
“I understand. Un… unnie!”
Bertelgia seemed upset having to say the word unnie, judging by how she trembled upon finishing her response.
“Alright. Watch the house. I might be gone for a while this time, you knock off.”
Unit 49 disappeared after leaving those words.
Likely it wouldn’t be back for about a week. And no one but Unit 49 would know to where.
Bertelgia stared at the direction Unit 49 had disappeared to for a long while before muttering to herself.
“Who are you calling a knock off! You’re the knock off! Just because you know how to fight a bit…!”
In the hallway outside the room were the creaking sounds made by the miniature golems going by.
Bertelgia let out a sigh before turning around.
A man was laying in bed with his eyes closed.
The man was nonother than Sungchul Kim.
It has been a month since he had received critical damage from the God and Order and unable to wake up.
“Iyup!”
Bertelgia struggled to lift up and tilt a jar of water.
The water in the jug wet the cotton swab prepared below.
Bertelgia delicately lifted a cotton swab with the covers of her book and moved towards Sungchul, who was lying on the bed.
“…”
Bertelgia carefully brought the moistened tip of the cotton swab to the area around Sungchul’s lips, letting water trickle into his mouth.
A droplet of water slid from the edge of his lips, down his cheek, soaking the pillow. Seeing this, Bertelgia sighed and said,
“Why can’t you wake up? You’re breathing, your body is warm, and there are no wounds! Hurry up and wake up to scold that knock off who is calling me a knock off!”
Bertelgia lightly slapped Sungchul’s cheek with her covers. He showed no response.
Shaking him and even poking with the corner of the book cover did nothing. He remained utterly still.
“Wake up already! How long are you going to sleep?”
Bertelgia gave up, shrank and slipped back into the pocket she always stayed in.
The reason she specifically chose that spot was because it was warm and it was the only space that could prove to her that he was still alive.
The strong, familiar beat of the his heartbeat reached her.
But today, the heartbeat was different from usual.
“Ugh… ugh….”
Sungchul grimaced, letting out a faint moan. Was he having a nightmare again? He had been having them frequently lately. Each time, Bertelgia felt utterly powerless, unable to do anything.
But today’s nightmare seemed far more terrible than usual. The heartbeat changed, shifting back to the one Bertelgia recognized.
“This is bad. Unit 49 unnie! Where are you? If you’re there, please reveal yourself!”
Bertelgia cried out in a pitiful voice as she leapt out of the pocket, searching for Unit 49. However, her calls went unanswered.
“It’s really dangerous this time! Please just show up already and do something! Unit 49 Unnie! You knock off!!!!”
No matter how much she screamed, Unit 49 did not appear.
‘We’re in trouble. We have to do something!’
At that moment.
Sungchul was at the crossroads of fate.
*
Loneliness is a desert.
Prolonged solitude desiccates the heart.
Only the strong could survive the desert-like desolation called isolation.
However, Sungchul was not strong.
He was not as great or as admirable as he thought.
Those who he considered his closest friends mocked him and even those who he never met cursed his name.
In the barren lands of ice and fire, in the middle of the demon realm, Sungchul began to wither away.
Though Sungchul had experienced a small amount of achievement and satisfaction when he managed to obtain several powerful Soul Contracts thanks to the letters Ryze Himerr had left behind, it could not serve as the cure that was eating away and drying out his heart in earnest.
Years passed, one after another.
In the unchanging barren landscape, Sungchul found himself wondering when was the last time he had spoken to another human being.
After a while, the he began to talk to himself more and more frequently. Especially while cooking, he became verbose. But as his monologue increased, he felt an increasingly powerful urge growing within him.
The desire to just give up and leave.
Sungchul had always insisted again and again.
That he was no hero.
It was not a statement born of frivolous lip service humility.
After painful soul wrecking experiences, Sungchul came to realize that he was just another ordinary person in the end.
His miserable daily life, his appearance, his intentional effort to build walls to push people out of his heart merely created an image of a lone wolf. But more than anyone else in the world, he craved interactions with others.
But there was no where for his lonliness to be relieved. And that ended up forcing his hand and brought him to that place.
In the steep cliff like mountains in the west, at the hidden stairway to God.
As he rose the steps, Sungchul saw great many things.
He had thought many of them mere hallucinations. Then he thought them to be ghosts.
Especially once he reached the halfway point up the stairs, he saw his former comrade from the arena as well as the man who had stolen his lover, Kreigfreid, Sungchul wondered if this was a place where the souls of the dead comes to linger.
“Oy, friend. Have you come to die too?”
Sungchul was glad to be spoken to by even the dead. Sungchul tried to speak back to him, but Kreigfreid seemed unable to hear. After staring at Sungchul for a while, Kreigfreid returned back into the void from whence he came.
Sungchul resumed his climb.
As Sungchul climbed the stairs, he saw countless figures greeting him and then vanishing before his eyes.
Among them were the faces of his parents who had passed away long ago from Sungchul’s home world. Though Sungchul had missed them unbearably so, the memory of their faces were so faded in his memory that it was difficult to even recall what they looked like.
Sungchul moved past these visions and finally reached the top of the staircase.
Beyond the stairways at the top, Sungchul was met with a vast, endless field of stars and galaxies.
In the endless expanse that seems to suck him in, Sungchul felt strongly that his meaningless worthless life was fine to give up and just die.
That was when he heard the soft and pleasant, but somehow savage and malicious voice echo from his side.
[How desolate your heart, you poor pitiful human with nothing left. For what have you come seeking this place?]
That was when Sungchul finally saw some overwhelming presence next to him in the infinite space.
Sungchul shivered and trembled.
But it was only after that he noticed something next to this figure, this strange figure that can only be seen if intentionally trying to see, that Sungchul knew.
That this was God.
After this, there was a brief conversation between Sungchul and the being standing next to God. The content was of no big consequence. What was important was what came after.
[Mortal facing Adversity. You have chosen a fate unbefitting your vessel and are suffering, crushed by its suffocating weight. I can see it all. The future in which you are betrayed isolated and abandoned by all, fated to wander alone with no hope of rescue or salvtion.]
The being next to God mocked Sungchul as it showed Sungchul a vision of the terrible future that awaited him.
Sungchul grasped his head as he fell to his knees and bawled his eyes out. The overwhelming wailing and sorrow filled the place of God for a long while.
[You are not capable of carrying the weight of your destiny alone as a human. And even if you were to somehow obtain the power to do so, you will still be crushed by the weight of the world and come to bring harm upon yourself. But Sungchul Kim, there is yet but a way still.]
The one next to god had told him.
Sungchul’s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted out desperate.
“What is it, that way you speak of?”
And that was when the one next to Sungchul smiled – or at least it seemed to Sungchul – as it answered.
[A tool need not to think or decide for oneself. It exists solely to carry out a purpose. Like the clothes you wear or the weapon you wield. Likewise, there exists tools for god’s use.]
The one next to god turned to look at the majestic body of god that has fallen into deep slumber.
[The God and your objectives cannot be the same. But what if they were to share the smallest of likeness? What say you, the unfortunate wanderer from another world. Is it not worth the gamble?]
There was no reason to refuse.
Sungchul nodded.
And immediately, Sungchul felt something escaping from within him.
[Luck and Charisma. Status that are meaningless for a tool. In return, you shall obtain enough strength to single handedly conquer the mortal plane. Is that not fair?]
Sungchul felt it. Incredible power flowing through his body that he had never felt before.
Something worthy of being described as god-like.
But that strength soon vanished.
The one next to god spoke.
[There is nothing free in the world. If you would like to receive the unlimited power you just experienced, you must accept one condition.]
It offered Sungchul a Cross of the Covenant.
[Yes, you are to accept this. You are to accept this into your heart regardless of whatever the content of the vow.]
Sungchul accepted the cross as if possessed by another will.
Several messages appeared before his eyes but he didn’t so much as glance at them.
Instead, he was about to pierce his own heart without hesitation.
But before the cross could, his body stopped on its own.
“?!”
Something lingered before Sungchul’s eyes.
It was a rotating steel wheel floating midair.
It was an unexpected symbol that popped out of nowhere without any prompt.
But the moment Sungchul saw the wheel, he was able to realize that he was looking at an illusion.
Somewhere far away in his consciousness, he heard a sinister vice echo.
[Soul of Steel. What an annoying toy you’ve found. But Soul of Steel will not be enough to escape from the fate you are given. As the brand seared into your heart proves, you have chosen by your own hands to become a tool. All that’s left to do with a broken tool is to fix it once more.]
Sungchul’s consciousness faded away.
Once he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the desolate wasteland all by himself.
The same dream was about to repeat itself.
But enduring any more of this was impossible.
His endurance and will was reaching its limit in the endlessly repeating nightmares.
In the midst of agony and pain, Sungchul could feel the black giant slowly open its eyes.
‘I don’t care who. Please help me. I’ll do anything, so get me out of this hell…!’
But he already knew that there was no help coming.
He was all alone as always, abandoned by all.
But even he couldn’t help but cling to hope.
Whether that hope can be substantiated, only time will tell.
1 more chapter is out!
Thank you!