Chapter 219 : Protagonist (2)
Chapter 219: Protagonist (2)
The first ones to change were not Charlotte herself, but the executives surrounding her.
“KRAAAAAAAAGH!”
“Ggh… Gghhhh…!”
The reactions of the leaders of each subordinate organization were especially alarming.
Every one of them collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests in agony.
The dense Mana and malice erupting from them were so overwhelming that even we could feel them from where we stood.
“…Why are they suddenly acting like that?”
“It looked like the Chairwoman did something… but then why would she do that to her own subordinates?!”
“Don't tell me that's… that so-called ‘baptism’?”
Dale Wedmeyer, who had somehow made his way over to our side, spoke up.
“Baptism?”
“It was an ability the Chairwoman personally bestowed only upon the followers she favored the most. People simply called it the Baptism. Those who received it were freed from the restraints of the Code, so everyone wanted to receive it. But in reality, fewer than ten people in the Platinum Dawn Society ever did. I wasn't one of them, either. Though, to be fair, I also refused it.”
“…I get what you're saying now. That's one twisted hobby. Damn it.”
“What exactly… is happening?”
Keeping my guard up, I answered Rubia's question.
“That's not a baptism.”
“Then…?”
“If I had to describe it, I'd call it a curse.”
“A horrifying curse planted by the King of Beasts.”
Before I had even finished speaking, the bodies of those who had been chosen rapidly transformed into those of Beasts.
The subordinates supporting them immediately turned pale and hurriedly backed away.
Seeing that, Karen raised her halberd and glanced at me.
“…Shouldn't we finish them off before they transform completely?”
“No. If we rush in recklessly, we'll only increase the casualties. We need to find out what kind of Beasts they're becoming first.”
After answering her, I began sorting through every piece of information in my head.
This, too, was fundamentally a form of Beastification.
Ordinary Beastification, regardless of whether it was induced by drugs or not, couldn't be controlled by one's own will.
But these enemies had transformed all of them at once, as though they had been waiting for this exact moment.
As if someone had simply flipped a switch.
Those who had transformed would never become human again.
Still, what mattered was that they had been able to control it through their own will, even if only once.
Because...
Among all Beasts, there was only one capable of planting a “seed” inside a creature that wasn't a Beast and causing it to “bloom” at the desired moment.
Mastema.
'I was already certain ever since it did something similar to Crown Prince Abel...'
Had they known the truth, they would have resisted.
Desperately.
There was no way Charlotte had ever intended to honestly tell her subordinates the truth.
Instead, she must have constantly appealed to them by using her own past.
Asking them to stand with her.
To destroy this Empire together.
Whether they hated the Empire...
Whether they simply resented the world...
Or whether they sympathized deeply with Charlotte...
I didn't know.
But they had willingly offered their lives for this operation.
The fact that she discarded even followers that loyal without a second thought...
That was exactly like her.
Even so, I couldn't help but ask.
“…Do you hate humanity that much?”
At that moment.
As though answering my muttered question, the true catastrophe finally revealed itself across the battlefield.
.
.
.
“T-there! Look over there!”
“Don't tell me that's...!”
“…So it finally appeared.”
Screams and cries of despair erupted from every direction.
By now, enough information had spread that there were no longer any fools trying to flee the battlefield in blind panic.
Even so, it was obvious that the fighting spirit filling the battlefield had diminished considerably.
The sight before them was so horrifying that even the Empire's greatest warriors hesitated to step forward.
Pitch-black clouds gathered together, forming bottomless pits of darkness.
Merely looking upon those ominous passages filled one with dread.
They had given them a name.
The great calamity that appeared only during Apocalypse Mode.
The Gate.
The very reason Dellowell and the Executors, who had once been so wary of us, had ultimately been forced to join hands with us.
The only difference was—
Back in Mallet, only a single Gate had appeared.
Here...
There were more than ten.
'And that's only the number visible to the naked eye.'
A top-tier Beast could roughly influence where Gates appeared.
Even so, there was no way every Gate had gathered here.
At most, perhaps half of them.
Which meant...
Across the entire Empire, there had to be...
At least twenty Gates.
“We barely managed to stop a single Gate back in Mallet... and now there are ten of them...”
“Don't panic, Miss Francia. They're still relying on sheer numbers. We only have to hold out until the regular army arrives.”
“…Let's just hope the same Gates haven't appeared where the regular army is stationed.”
“Your Highness, should we activate the Barriers and defense towers now...?”
“Not yet, Georg. Our opponent is Mastema of Hatred. It's one of the most cunning Beasts there is. On top of that, it has devoured the personality of the Chairwoman of the Platinum Dawn Society. It's better to seal away anything that could become a weakness.”
While Edel gave brief instructions to everyone behind us, I called Gustav over and made a request.
“We need to raise everyone's morale before the battle begins.”
“Loud enough for the entire capital to hear.”
“…Then I'll have to recalibrate the Amplification Orb. Give me ten minutes. Chief Steward, could you help me?”
“…Let's go together.”
After Gustav left with Chief Steward Georg, Edel quietly walked over to my side.
“……”
“……”
We exchanged silent glances.
Having experienced countless defeats and endless despair, she had probably already realized it instinctively.
This battle...
Was the final gateway leading to the last chapter.
Together, we advanced toward Charlotte Platina, whose transformation was now more than ninety percent complete.
Aside from her crazed eyes and the sinister smile lingering on her lips, she was already indistinguishable from a true Beast.
Bloody tears streamed from her eyes as she quietly spoke.
“…I'm finally returning to your side, Brother.”
They were both her final words...
And the first words of her rebirth.
KWAAAAAAAAAAANG!
“Urgh!”
“Catch her, Edel!”
The overwhelming shockwave erupting from her entire body blasted countless combatants away in every direction.
Even though we managed to brace ourselves with our swords, we were still forced back well over ten meters.
The moment the smoke and dust cleared, I fixed my eyes on the enemy before me.
Charlotte—
No.
Mastema of Hatred spread both arms wide, celebrating its own birth.
“Rejoice, people of Ribenia.”
Its enormous body, towering well over two meters, was entirely wrapped in reddish-brown Aura.
Its elongated arms, along with an even longer and thicker tail, were covered in countless razor-sharp spikes.
“The great Alu desires your deaths.”
I'd heard those words once before.
From Davios of Slaughter.
“Now...”
“This has become your reality.”
The instant those words ended, all eleven Gates suspended throughout the sky began spewing out Beasts.
SKREEEEEEEE!
KIIIIIIEK!
KIIIIIIEEK!
BWOOOOOOO!
With every core executive having transformed into high-ranking Beasts, and tens of thousands of Gate Beasts surrounding the Imperial Palace, even the ordinary members had no choice but to reconsider their loyalties.
In the end, most members of the Platinum Dawn Society either fled the battlefield, fully prepared to die—
Or openly surrendered and joined our side.
It couldn't be helped.
They, too, were ultimately human.
Just as Dellowell had done before them, they had no reason to continue opposing us while facing the Beasts.
No matter how much they hated the Empire and its ruling class...
That hatred could never surpass their hatred of the Beasts.
The enemies bared their claws and fangs as though they would charge at us at any moment.
Yet the true battle had not begun.
“……”
They were merely waiting.
Waiting for the signal.
Waiting for their commander—
Mastema of Hatred—
To personally order the extermination of every human standing before them.
Which was why we, too, rose after weathering the shockwave and advanced toward their leader.
“…You know, don't you, Eugene?”
“Yes.”
I quietly answered Edel while continuing forward.
Mastema, whose very nature was driven by hatred, wasn't attacking immediately.
Instead, it was waiting.
This was Eugene Carter's first encounter with it.
But in the game, I had fought it many times.
It never appeared in battles it couldn't win.
And if even the slightest possibility of defeat existed, it would identify that possibility beforehand and eliminate it completely.
So the fact that it was calmly giving us enough time to reorganize our forces meant only one thing.
No matter what preparations we made...
No matter how much strength we gathered...
It already believed the Beasts' victory had been decided.
Still...
Even Mastema shouldn't have possessed that level of absolute confidence amidst such chaos.
Which meant...
Someone had given it that certainty.
A being capable of granting confidence even to Mastema, one of the strongest SS-Rank Beasts.
There was only one such existence in this world.
The Forgotten God.
The God of Gods.
One of the Two Creator Gods.
The First God.
The One God—
Alu.
“Wasn't it that God's creed to never interfere in the affairs of His creations? So what message did He leave you?”
“…Whatever it was, there is no path left for any of you to survive.”
Instead of mocking or dismissing my question, Mastema answered with a sorrowful smile.
“The protagonist of this world was decided from the very beginning.”
“You who were chosen by Abrel could never have been anything more than supporting characters.”
“That was your fate.”
“……”
“But after leaving your mark upon this land for over three thousand years, haven't you already played a greater role than almost any other living creature?”
“You should be proud.”
“There has never been supporting characters as significant as you throughout history.”
“But...”
“That story ends here.”
“Surely no one understands this better than you.”
“The extinction of humanity in this world was inevitable from the very beginning.”
“…Perhaps.”
I nodded without denying it.
Edel, who normally would have demanded an explanation, wore the same expression I did.
The world was cruel.
Just as it had been cruel to them...
It had also been cruel to me.
Amid endless despair, each of us had clung to a single principle in order to keep living.
Francia Brida clung to revenge.
Rubia Magnus clung to admiration.
Michel Bernhardt clung to family.
Edel Ribenia clung to saving the nation.
Karen Rosefield clung to faith.
And I...
Eugene Carter...
Clung to this world.
The countless deaths and failures they had witnessed...
The thousands of bad endings I had personally experienced...
All of them proved just how merciless this world truly was.
If Alu truly was the Creator God of this world...
And if He genuinely desired humanity's destruction...
Then perhaps that cruelty was understandable.
If the one who created us wished for our extinction...
Then naturally, the world itself would be shaped that way.
“Even so.”
Even so...
We had no choice but to fight.
Just because they didn't wish for us to live...
Didn't mean we were wise enough to quietly accept death.
Humans were foolish creatures.
Creatures who spent their entire lives envying one another, resenting one another, killing, and being killed.
But if that truly was humanity's nature...
Then we would honor that very existence.
By fighting until the very end.
“Because that's what it means to live.”
“……”
Hearing the conviction in my voice, Edel gave me a faint smile.
Mastema simply shook its head in silence.
The time had come.
I looked behind me.
Having finished his preparations, Gustav handed me the Amplification Orb.
Bringing it to my mouth, I shouted.
It was the moment for a speech that might very well become my last.