Clearing the Game at the End of the World - Chapter 178: Lead and Silver Coins (32)

****

Click

=========

[Screen 9453]

“The sniping… The sniping has stopped!”

“Remove all covers! Call out the numbers on this channel for any positions with live chargers and batteries!”

“Gun 27! Operational!”

“Gun 9 is half destroyed!”

“Gun 3 is operational!”

“Gun 42! It has the capacity for 2…3 more rounds!”

“No need to aim, just shoot as much as you can! Clear the space!”

=========

Click

=========

[Screen 4271]

“‘Eye’ of ours, the preparation of the box is complete.”

“The boundless abyss we couldn’t see the end of, it’s finally before us…. What about the ‘sheep’s’ evacuation?”

“It’s done. The cave we prepared for this moment will be safe.”

“And the battle situation?”

“As they said. After many sacrifices, Dome’s flock has gained the upper hand.”

“Good. Then, is the martyr ready to open the box?”

“….Gloriously so.”

“….You’ve been through a lot, Shepherd Bernard.”

“Don’t mention it. To be the fertilizer of the new world is indeed an enriching task.”

“I had hoped you would remain as a shepherd to the sheep.”

“….Please take good care of my children. Eye that lights the way.”

=========

Click

=========

Screen [8223]

“Mikhail Pletnev.”

“Ashfield. As always, I end up meeting you in front of my men’s corpses.”

Click-

“Ugh, huff! The Chief of District 38 Enforcement Department running in the field. Isn’t that a bit too much?”

“I’m short-handed facing the Raptor’s Swarm Alpha, calling it too much is hardly fitting.”

Thud- Roll….

Boom!

.

.

.

.

Ratatat-

“….Damn it! Why are you doing this! Out of all the crazies here, you’re the only one who should be caring for Dome! If we leave it to those mad zealots, do you know what might happen…?”

Tatatang!

“Yes. That’s why I must kill you quickly… and then handle them as well!”

“Damn, really haven’t changed a bit-!”

“….As the head of the Executioners, I will commence the execution of the criminal who burned 2,400 citizens in District 52 Dome four years ago.”

-Tatang!

=========

Click-

=========

[Screen 64]

“I have watched you! At the brink of crisis, shedding layers of human frailty to emerge as a true adversary! Come here, wolf! I shall refine you into my ultimate end!”

“Damn it! It’s unfair to survive an anti-tank mine! What the hell does it take to kill that rotten furball!”

“Didn’t I tell you! Cut my breath with your sharpest claws! So, put aside your tricks and let’s face each other once more!”

Crackling!

Tatang!

=========

Click. Click. Click. Click….

In a vast, dark ruin.

In that place illuminated by endless screens, a man in a white suit and a little girl stood facing each other.

“….Thus, as seen on screen 2359, despite losing most of their high-powered equipment, Dome’s reinforcements are pulling the tide to their side….”

“Could there be a situation more fitting for the term watershed?”

“….Happy Blind will soon perform its duty, and the box is finishing its final preparations to move to its place.”

“Yes. Everything is flowing according to your plan, W. No one dominates, a tense stand-off where everyone devours each other, where the most lives are lost in the battlefield. The people you collected while touring the 30s District, the residents of Dome in District 38, and the numerous mutants and people who vanished in this battle. The ‘Her’ inside the box will face a sorrow as profound as Orpheus’s voice ringing high and beautiful.”

The girl, Collector, gave a wistful smile at the always businesslike W. Poor people. If there is a God, for what reason did He create us, beings with consciousness, to linger in someone’s nightmare?

“….With all the main actors placed on stage, my involvement is extremely limited. If you listen to the conversation of the survivors on screen 1493-”

“W. You know, don’t you? Such radical actions are against Father’s will, and I do not welcome them either.”

“….Visiting several small groups of survivors, to plant a small wedge in public opinion is sufficient….”

“I resent you, W. Our contract was not meant for moments like this.”

“……”

Suddenly, after arriving here, W’s continuous reporting halted for the first time.

“The method prepared for you, who cannot stay in the same place of your own will and can only remain still when doing others’ deeds. Do you want to stay by my side by performing tasks I detest? If I break this contract for Father’s sake-”

“If that happens, I will simply find another way.”

As his body started to blur from the moment the conversation turned non-official, W reached towards one of the numerous screens of the Collector. [Screen 29]. The screen displayed a man in a white suit and a mask.

He was unwavering. Almost there, at the end of a lifetime of wandering, the end was flickering before his eyes.

“….Even that hatred and loathing. They are emotions I can only receive by being by your side. I am willing to endure them-”

Swoosh-

Before he could finish two sentences, the man in the white suit disappeared. W was probably trying to stay a bit longer at this spot by meticulously detailing the activities happening in District 30. Even knowing how much she detested his work.

“Father. Is there still a chance left in this broken world?”

Everywhere on the screen was filled with blood, death, and pain. She remembered her father’s face, who spoke of hope even in this hellish world.

‘God… well? I thought I was one at first, but after being thoroughly beaten down, my thoughts changed. There must be someone better than me. If someone is better than this Andrei Gedroitz, wouldn’t that be God? If such a person created this mess, surely they must have planted a solution somewhere. —-Hey, I am determined to find it now, to reverse my arrogant past and mistakes.’

Hope, as per her father’s wishes, pursued. The many screens that illuminated them were gradually turning off for various reasons.

Even now, like the man being chased by his past desires.

“Please, be the way.”

The girl with numerous cables trailing behind her clasped her hands together.

In front of her, the screen she knelt before showed a man holding a box that seemed ready to burst out.

Orpheus. A biotechnological nightmare, the worst mass destruction weapon spawned by the era.

The man’s hands, opening it, showed not a hint of hesitation,

-Creeeek!!!!

As the man’s head exploded, a sharp melody began to resonate across the battlefield.

****

Pwhoosh! Pwhack!

Puff, bang! Pababang!

Before the sound itself, a bloodbath burst like fireworks in the distance.

A bloodbath spreading like an invisible tsunami, indistinct between human or mutant.

It was fortunate in a way. Because I was so intently watching this chasing zombie tiger, I saw the rapidly approaching bloodbath in time.

As heads exploded around, and I saw a relatively intact Type 2.5 mutant fall, I immediately maxed out the output of my bubble shield.

-Creeeek!!!!!

“Grrrrrrr!!!”

A bizarre noise piercing the lungs. And the ensuing indescribable pain.

It felt like splitting open the back and scraping the spine with a knife. No, like embedding blades under all fingernails and digging the earth barehanded, or flaying the skin and plucking each nerve to grind in a mortar, dragging me towards death, to death, to death….

Crrrick!

[Get a hold of yourself!]

“Coughhh! Huff, huff!”

I almost got caught—breathing out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

The sharp sensation of biting the flesh inside my mouth brought back consciousness. The pain of reality and the pain of illusion alternately pulling at my awareness, and the thick scent of blood made my head spin.

“In the end, you use it. Orpheus… A kind of device that cannot differentiate enemies. I was somewhat relieved knowing that… but it seems you don’t care about such things.”

Whatever preparations had been made, what I heard far from within Dome 38 was completely different from experiencing it. The hallucinations that burrowed into my head mocked the name of the bubble shield, which was supposed to completely block external influences.

The battlefield, once filled with screams and explosions, had now turned into a bizarre scene filled with strange melodies, the sound of exploding heads, and the sound of falling beings.

“Grrrrrr…. Grrrung!”

Sssssh!

Bulu, pursuing from behind, was also profoundly affected. Exposed to the effects of Orpheus without the shield’s filter like me, he appeared to have lost his mind severely, though he hadn’t died.

“Get out of my way… Remove that face immediately! I have overcome you! I am no longer the wretched one clinging to life in the past! You cannot mock me with that face! I am not you! I am Bulu, the Tiger, not just some residue of memories spawned from regret!!!!”

Sssssh! Sssssh!

As he tore off the human-like skin with his own hands, the rotted flesh of a fierce beast was exposed. Bulu was fiercely scratching at the illusions unfolding before his eyes.

‘Whatever it is…. This is an opportunity. The very opportunity I’ve longed for.’

While normal mutants had become headless corpses, the Type 2.5 ones had only fallen and were showing minor movements. Some were already beginning to rise, clearly indicating a forthcoming offensive.

On the other hand, the situation in our own encampment was grave. In the ongoing fierce battle, either all shield batteries had been depleted, or remaining personal batteries had been connected to the equipment, leaving soldiers to fight unprotected. Most of the soldiers in the formation had died, and some of them were rising as Type 2.5 or even Type 3 mutants.

Only the soldiers near the maximally powered equipment shield, intended to protect the remaining gear, had survived.

A single operation had reduced a large-scale war to a minor skirmish.

‘This is…. an ancient strategic weapon….!’

It was not merely killing. It was as if transferring immense pain… a sensation indescribable, but I couldn’t shake the feeling in my head that this sensation originated from someone else’s experiences.

‘The original purpose of Orpheus’s development. And, the technology of the GG development team…. This is an item filled with more malice than imaginable.’

Suddenly, it dawned on me that I might be the only one who could stop this on the vast battlefield.

Our allies had suffered nearly total annihilation.

Friends whose life or death was uncertain.

In contrast, I was very accustomed to the crushing pain, had a secondary personality like Hyde trying tirelessly to normalize consciousness in my head, possessed individual combat power equivalent to a squad or a company, and had the strength to shatter alloy equipment.

I never believed in fate, but I had to be thankful for this moment’s fortune.

If such a thing were wielded by the wrong hands, it could truly bring about the world’s end.

As I approached, pain that seemed to chill to the bone surged, and each time, memories of people I had encountered flashed by like a zoetrope. People from Dome 38 and 47. Faces unknown but those I had spent years with in chat rooms of District 47. President Young. The Investigation Bureau people. Ezel. Vex. Ian. Dana.

“….The one in good shape should carry the burden.”

There was no profound meaning. I simply disliked the thought of surviving alone.

Crack!

A sensation of twisting joints. It was refreshing in a while, but not as intense as during my ‘Hero Professor’ days.

Throb!

The fresh sensation of teeth being pulled out and gums being ground down. It briefly made my vision blur, but I gritted my teeth, substituting groans.

Dragging my tattered body and legs heavy as lead, I continued toward the altar.

-Boom.

Piercing the silence, an explosion like a salute resounded from a distant rock hill.

****