1. A slightly serious story (1)
#One
It was the evening of the third day when the battle ended.
The rain still showed no sign of stopping. The rain hitting my skin felt more like a whip than water.
“Keoheouk…heeook….”
Ronan, who had barely caught his breath, raised his head. She became quiet, and her battlefield was filled with only the sound of her rain.
As my vision, which had been focused on one place, widened, a landscape that seemed like a part of hell unfolded before my eyes.
The wasteland extending to the horizon took on a reddish color overall. It was the color of mud mixed with blood.
The fragments that once made up humans were scattered across the muddy ground. Bloated corpses were floating in puddles here and there.
Apart from him, no one was seen moving. While he was scrubbing his blade with his collar, a voice came from behind him.
【 strong. How can humans be this strong?】
It was clearly audible even in heavy rain. The voice was deep, like a cave with flowing lava. Ronan turned to her with a look of disgust on his face.
“Are you dead yet?”
【This is Ahayute’s clear disregard.】
About five steps in front, a huge human was sprawled out. He was the culprit that created this tragedy. The giant called himself Ahayute.
The giant, who appeared to be at least 4 meters tall, had two pairs of wings on his back. It had a similar appearance to the angels that frequently appear in religious paintings.
His hair was as bare as an egg, and his facial features were distinct. Dozens of long, deep stab wounds were carved into its white, muscular body.
Blue blood flowing from the wound formed a puddle around the giant.
【Yes. Not yet.】
Ronan’s hand holding the sword hilt gained strength. I wanted to tear it into ten thousand pieces, but I didn’t have the strength left to do so.
That one bastard vaporized ten legions of the empire.
Every time the four wings flapped, a storm broke out, and every time the spear made of light was swung, hundreds of people lost their lives. The number of innocent lives lost before the decisive battle was countless.
【But it won’t be long. Ahayute has been defeated and will soon return to His embrace.】
“I’m glad. Step on dog poop on the way. “It’s so fucking squishy.”
Sigh! Ronan picked up a broken dagger and plunged it into the giant’s chest. Still, seeing as he didn’t wake up, it seemed like he was definitely mortally wounded.
Ronan sat on the giant’s shoulder. While rummaging through his inner pocket, he cursed.
“에이, 개새끼.”
The cigarette pipe I paid a lot of money for was completely shattered. He threw the broken pipe at the giant’s face and stood up.
“By the way, do you know that your friends were also killed?”
【friend?】
“Yes, the bastards who came down with you.”
【Are you talking about Nirvana and Duaru?】
“I don’t know the name… but anyway, it’s gone.”
Twenty days ago, three giants descended on earth. The reason was unknown.
They crisscrossed the continent and committed acts of destruction that required redrawing the map. Ahayute was the last remaining giant.
“One was burned by an ill-tempered dragon, and the other was sealed forever by an old enchanter named Lorhorn. “I don’t know what you guys are doing, but it’s over now.”
Ronan wanted to see the giant’s face twist in despair.
Therefore, I did not bother to mention minor information, such as the fact that the Red Dragon Navardose and her clan suffered damage equivalent to a co-destruction, or that Archmage Lorhorn used his soul as a medium for the sealing technique.
However, the answer that came back did not meet Ronan’s expectations.
【Thank goodness.】
“what?”
【The fact is that there are no longer strong people like you. You can’t stop us now.】
Ronan slowly drew his sword. The flashing tip of the sword was aimed at the giant’s uvula.
“···Did you know?”
【Children of stars share each other’s senses.】
“Really… he’s a bastard I don’t like until the very end. “What do you mean there are no strong people?”
I still have it.
Ronan did not bother to add that comment. He was confident that if he actually fought this lump again, he would settle it in one day. But Ahayute knew everything.
【I know that you don’t have much time left.】
“her.”
【You are strong. Do not cover the truth with shallow deception.】
The sword shook slightly, but Ronan did not show it. He thrust the tip of his sword into the giant’s throat.
The tough leather was torn and blue blood gushed out. Aha Yute continued her words as if nothing had happened.
【It is truly fortunate for us. You have rotted your talents in the mud. If you had refined yourself, you would have become a huge obstacle to our long-cherished wish.】
“Let’s stop chatting. boring.”
【You are a great human being. It’s okay to be proud. The story of the man who kicked up the sky and cut down the stars truly deserves to be told beyond tomorrow’s horizon. However】
He spat out as if driving a wedge.
【Your world will eventually disappear, buried in the starlight.】
Suddenly!
Ronan’s sword drew an arc.
****
“If you’re alive, answer me! “Is there anyone?”
Ronan shouted, putting his hand to his mouth. No answer came back.
Ahayute died without even moaning. The blue blood did not seep into the soil but flowed like a river. Ronan urinated on the giant’s corpse and left.
He began wandering the battlefield. He was trying to find any possible survivors. Death was everywhere you looked. Walking while avoiding the crushed corpses was not an easy task.
Wow.
Ronan, who was looking at the pale faces, gritted his teeth. Most of them were familiar faces. Comrades in the punishment unit who shared life, death and ups and downs. Ronan muttered bitterly.
“You foolish bastards.”
The punitive unit was a special unit made up of criminals. The bottom of the military that considers martyrdom a duty. The height of a ragtag group with no proper discipline.
He knew why the guys who usually just ran away after making a fuss rushed at such a monster for dear life.
“Did you think that just because I was a little strong, you would also be strong? ok?”
Ahayute was strong. Even the barrage of arrows that covered the sky, the auror spears of the mighty knights, and even the secret weapon of the sword saint Schlieffen, known as the best sword of the Empire, could not inflict the final blow.
Only Ronan’s sword could cut through the giant’s flesh and draw out its blood. No one, not even Ronan himself, could figure out why the Punisher’s sword, which could not even feel mana, let alone use auras, was used by a giant.
However, in a battle where the fate of the empire depended, status was meaningless. The general destroyed all of his existing plans and re-established a strategy centered on Ronan.
Suddenly, the punitive force became the most important force, protected by 10 corps. These fools with their lungs full of wind did not hesitate to make their colleagues into heroes.
They tore and shattered, paving the way for Ronan, ultimately proving that the High Warlord’s judgment was right.
“You idiots…”
Ronan opened his eyes brightly and closed the eyes of his dead colleagues one by one. The frozen eyelids were as tough and hard as the skin of an old tree. How many times did that happen again?
“uh?”
Ronan suddenly felt a faint feeling of dizziness rising to his temples.
Clap and flutter.
The ground suddenly stood up and hit my cheek. Her eyes were spinning as if she had been drinking. Ronan fell down and grumbled.
“Hey.”
My body didn’t move. Even though the whip-like rain hit the face of the side that wasn’t stuck in the mud, I couldn’t feel anything.
Ahayute’s words about the remaining time lingered in my mind. He knew it too. After a fierce battle, the body had long since reached its limit.
This phenomenon was a kind of declaration made by the body. I will no longer play along with the bravado of a bastard like you.
“Wow!”
A cough came out of nowhere. It was a cough full of dark red blood. Ronan felt her senses, which had been stagnant under her extreme tension, slowly returning. Her lead jockey was in pain.
“You…mi…”
If I were to die, I wanted to die looking at the sky. Ronan turned his body over with all his might. A sky as coppery as a poopy diaper appeared. The sun, moon, and stars were not visible. Only a light blue thunder flashed through the roaring dark clouds.
“Until the end… this is shit.”
Ronan closed his eyes, feeling like it was only making him feel worse. Now I just wanted to die quickly. As he thought about dying, the days he had lived seemed to flash back to him in the dark.
[This is truly fortunate for us. You rotted your talents in the mud.]
The bald man’s words flashed through my mind again. It was frustrating, but it was true.
The memories that flowed like a flash were mostly composed of scenes of doing stupid things or wasting time like an idiot. It was no one else but Ronan himself who ruined his brilliant talent.
“Maybe I should have gone to the academy…”
The talent itself was quickly recognized. Because extraordinaryness is not something that can be hidden like poverty or a cough.
His sister, his only family, repeatedly urged him to get a proper education. You raised him with love and sincerity, saying that he could definitely become a great person.
Ronan didn’t like it so he left home. She was troublesome and burdensome.
After that, I wandered the continent like a wild dog for three years. As with most of his crimes, Ronan was also taken to the punishment unit for his inability to control his anger. To be precise, he embroidered it himself.
The military was surprisingly bearable. Ronan sat in his unit for seven years, being discharged if he survived three years.
They fed me and put me to sleep as long as I cut them, so there was no reason for me to go out. I received job offers from all over, but I turned them all down.
The result was like this.
The invasion of giants took everything. The idiots I had spent seven years with, my sweet sister, and the country and village I had depended on during my wanderings all returned to ashes.
If I had learned the sword properly and devoted myself to training, would the results have been different? Could you have protected it?
I don’t know.
It’s a meaningless worry.
Ronan closed his eyes and relaxed his body. I felt my soul slowly leaving my body. Who said that death is nothing but a deep sleep…
My mind…
I feel dizzy…
It was a car…
[Is there no one?]
A human voice was heard.
“we are here!”
Ronan jumped up from his seat. Mud dripped down from my back and the back of my head. He focused all his attention on hearing and listened. A voice was heard once again.
[···I am injured and cannot move. Is there anyone?]
“Holy shit, it’s here! “I am here!!”
A woman’s voice. Judging by the sound echoing right in her head and not in her ears, she was using electromagnetic magic.
“Keep talking! I am going right now!”
Ronan, who had vaguely figured out the direction, ran out. His legs gave out and he fell face down into the mud several times, but he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that there were still survivors.
[···here is···.]
The voice became increasingly faint. Whatever the reason, it was clear that he was dying. Ronan increased his speed even further. Any thoughts stained with regret have long since flown away.
He soon arrived in front of a rock. It was a structure where two slanted rocks faced each other like a roof, providing shelter from the rain below.
“Heo-eok…heo-eok…!”
Every time I exhaled, the regurgitated blood dripped down. Ronan wiped his mouth with her sleeve and entered the crevice in the rock. The owner of the voice was lying inside.
“you are···.”
And the moment he saw her face, Ronan had to swallow a sigh that rose up to his chin.
“General.”
It was a familiar face.
“······Your Majesty.”
The woman lifted her head with difficulty and opened her mouth. Her voice was dry and cracked, but her previous dignity did not diminish in the slightest.
He was taller than most men, and had gray hair caked with blood and mud. In contrast, the skin was so pale it was white.
Ronan repeated the words as if he were possessed by something.
“General Adeshan.”
Despite seeing all the imperial idols, Ronan did not salute. She had no arms to receive her salute.
