Ch.174174. Hero of Humanity

I’ll speak coldly.

Even if she were to suddenly awaken psychic abilities of the highest caliber in humanity—as impossible as that sounds—there would be no way for her to defeat the ‘Knight.’

It’s said that the Knight has killed over hundreds of top-tier psychic users, the kind that might appear once per planet, if at all. The number of living beings it has slaughtered is rumored to be at least tens of billions.

Moreover, now that the ‘Knight’ had disposed of the Old Hero—who had appeared so powerful in Ray’s eyes—without anyone noticing, she could, whether she liked it or not, faintly grasp the difference between herself and the Knight.

To make a comparison, it was like an amoeba versus a blue whale, or a compsognathus versus a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Such was the extreme gap that existed between Ray and the ‘Knight,’ and yet…

“…I’m such a fool. I can’t possibly win.”

For some reason, despite understanding better than anyone that she had absolutely no chance of victory, Ray Chang still maintained her fighting spirit—her will to fight.

In her mind, her survival instinct was telling her:

While there was absolutely no chance of winning in combat, if she turned and fled right now without looking back, she might survive, even if the probability was extremely low.

In this chaotic situation, the enemy probably wouldn’t prioritize targeting a mere sergeant.

Her instinct kept commanding her to survive at all costs, to never fight but to run away.

Yet despite this, she didn’t flee.

*Click!*

“Come at me, ‘Knight’!”

She aimed her weapon, loaded with an energy magazine for laser weapons, and boldly shouted those words.

Ray knew full well this was a pointless death.

Even if she fought valiantly before being killed, no one would acknowledge it, and any resistance would cause absolutely no damage to the Knight.

She wasn’t buying time to protect someone, nor was there any chance that the monster would remember her even if she died gloriously.

Because of this, it might seem like she was simply throwing herself at the enemy in desperation, but that wasn’t the case.

Ray wasn’t moving with a sense of resignation or a desire for a heroic death.

She was fighting purely of her own will, to uphold her belief that one must never give up, even when everything seems meaningless.

‘…Here it comes!’

The ‘Knight,’ who had been quietly observing her, swung its sword once to shake off golden dust, then began approaching again.

“Take this!”

Even knowing it would have no effect, she began firing laser bullets at the ‘Knight,’ shouting to maintain her dignity in her own eyes.

*PIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBI—!!!!*

Hundreds of beams of light carrying intense heat struck the ‘Knight’ each minute, but it continued advancing toward her, effortlessly absorbing the streams of light.

“Ugh…”

She was momentarily intimidated by the overwhelming gap between herself and the Knight becoming so apparent, but still, she stood her ground without taking a single step back.

And finally, the moment arrived.

*Swoosh.*

The ‘Knight’ approached right in front of Ray and, despite being able to tear her apart with just air pressure, for some reason raised its sword to finish her directly. But Ray had no luxury to wonder about this.

“TAKE THIIIIIS!!!”

Now that the enemy was close, Ray abandoned her machine gun and, in a state of ultimate focus brought on by the extreme situation, drew her backup sword and swung it at the ‘Knight.’

With vision as clear as if filmed with high-end equipment, her firmly gripped sword struck precisely between the Knight’s helmet and breastplate—

—*Slash!*

Immediately after, Ray was confused by the sudden change in her field of vision.

Why, why was she seeing the sky?

Unable to comprehend the situation, it was only when she saw her headless body slowly falling that she realized her own death.

And so, Ray Chang’s consciousness began to fade.

And just before her consciousness completely severed.

Ray took her final breath with the strange sensation of someone pulling at her.

※ ※ ※

She now stood at a crossroads, and that choice appeared before her eyes in this form.

One was a soft, fluffy pillow, representing the choice to simply fall asleep.

The other was her plasma rifle, signifying the decision to rise again.

Feeling that this would determine her future, she began to contemplate… but not for long.

The answer was already decided.

It wasn’t fighting spirit or a desire for more glory, nor was it revenge against the monster that had killed her.

Duty? Responsibility? She had already fulfilled all of that by fighting without retreat until her death, working far beyond what was expected of her.

Moreover, if she chose to rest now, no one would blame her or force her to choose differently, so her choice was completely free.

And through that freedom, she made her decision.

No matter what happened, even if she ceased to be human, she resolved by her own will to fight to protect humanity and her family.

Therefore, she reached for the plasma rifle, symbolizing her eternal struggle—

‘…Wait, did I have hands?’

With that strange thought, she finally noticed the peculiarity of her current situation.

At that moment, the darkness suppressing her mind and consciousness lifted, and she could finally understand the situation clearly and accurately.

‘…Right, I died.’

As her memories suddenly returned, including the scene right after her death, she realized she was somewhere that seemed to be the afterlife.

‘Wait, then…’

And at that very moment, recalling a documentary about divine beings she had once seen on TV, which mentioned that after death, one would likely be guided to humanity’s god, she—

‘…?!!!!!!!!’

As the darkness surrounding her completely disappeared, she could finally perceive the being that had been right in front of her from the beginning.

Human. Person. Man. Woman. Baby. Boy. Girl. Elder. Life. Death. And then human again, then not human, repeating endlessly.

Countless humans gathered to form hands, arms, legs, and a torso, ultimately creating a small universe in human form—’it.’

Inside this being that was also a universe, infinite people lived, breathed, dreamed, ate, worked, studied, taught, created things, used them, destroyed them, and created them again, all overlapping.

Hundreds? Thousands? Such trivial numbers couldn’t begin to count them.

Infinite, containing all possibilities and past forms of humanity, an absolute being existed right before her.

Her cognition twisted, her perception shattered and collapsed.

The common sense about the world she had maintained until now crumbled.

This being, no, this… something she couldn’t even find words to express, something so vague yet intense that one might question whether it truly existed in this world—「 」.

Humanity yet not humanity, made of humans, composed of souls, with no distinction between individual and whole, where one exists for all and all exist only for one—「 」.

With Ray’s limited vocabulary, she could only express it as “god,” a word utterly inadequate to contain that 「 」.

Such a 「 」now stood before her, gazing at her.

She couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.

If her soul was a candle flame, 「 」was like the sun, revealing an intense yet incomprehensible presence.

Thus, after watching 「 」for what seemed like an eternity in the completely distorted concept of time, suddenly 「 」began to move, and Ray’s soul, whose reason had completely collapsed from seeing the movement of all humanity in that action, remained still.

The touch of 「 」gently enveloped her soul, softly reconstructing it—

[—?!!!]

“”””WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!””””

“The Old Hero! Humanity’s hero has arrived!”

“Lord, your angel has come to save us…!”

When consciousness returned, ■■ found herself standing in the middle of the frontline of a battlefield, with frenzied cheers erupting all around.

In this bewildering situation for ■■, who didn’t even know who she was, she suddenly noticed some being charging at her with a terrible shriek.

KIRYASHAAAAAA!!!

As the thing, shaped like a thick mantis, lunged at her, ■■ instinctively pulled the trigger of the object in her hand, killing the being… no, the monster.

And immediately after.

‘I am… I am… Ray Chang. Protector of humanity.’

Having remembered her identity and realized why she had returned here, she charged toward the monsters ahead, her body glowing with golden light.

“I will protect humanity!”

*TUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!!!!*

Recalling the mission she must fulfill, for the sake of her beliefs.