Ch.279Verdant Archipelago. Belka (3)

“My soldiers are already prepared. They’ve boarded the shuttles, constructed artillery and mortar positions, and dug tank trenches to complete preparations for the armored units as well.”

“As expected of the Luminator. Thorough preparations indeed.”

The Chairman. And Seriya.

Before these two, I explained the deployment of my soldiers.

The banquet was still ongoing, but at least not in this location.

“Our familiars have detected the enemies. In twenty-eight hours, we’ll be able to observe them from here, and the same goes for them. The issue is their numbers.”

“Wasn’t it 30,000?”

“That’s what we thought, but it’s more than we anticipated. Roughly 100,000, I’d estimate.”

At the mention of 100,000, my brow furrowed slightly.

What are they trying to do? Even with those numbers, they can’t defeat the Sun’s army. They’ll only increase their casualties.

“So. Are you suggesting I might lose?”

When I said this, Chairman Crimsil rolled his eyes briefly before extending his hand to me.

“Actually, there’s something I’d like to show you.”

“Something you want to show me?”

“Perhaps ‘share’ is a better word… Druids have the ability to share their familiars’ senses with others. Once you experience the familiars’ senses, you’ll understand what I’m trying to convey.”

I looked at Seriya.

She nodded at me, and I removed my gloves before taking the Chairman’s hand.

“!”

In that moment, I felt my consciousness being pulled deeply by something, and then I experienced a sensation I had never felt before.

“…What…is this?”

“The sensation of flying through the sky. You’ll get used to it soon. And shortly, you’ll be able to sense what we’re trying to tell you about.”

I see. So this is what flying feels like.

For a moment, I savored the feeling of flying, the sensation of wingbeats, and the wind brushing against my beak.

Birds, it seemed, were far more sensitive than I had imagined.

“Hmm… that fleet over there.”

“Yes.”

And gradually, an image began to form in the bird’s eyes.

The massive fleet visible in the distance possessed enough might to wipe out a small coastal town overnight.

But… this sensation.

Even though this was clearly the sense of a familiar that should know no fear of humans, why was I feeling this tingling terror?

“You’re starting to feel it now.”

“Yes… what is this? Are all familiars like this?”

“Of course not. Even I am experiencing this sensation for the first time.”

I share the senses a bit longer. There’s a sense of déjà vu. I’ve felt this sensation somewhere before.

As the fleet draws closer, an instinctive revulsion that still remains in my memory begins to surface.

Why? I know the reason.

“Barnacles…”

Yes.

Barnacles.

I saw ‘them’ in Aparcart.

The excessive barnacles clinging to what should be pirate ships, and those black forms undulating beneath the foam were evidence that these were not normal ‘vessels.’

“Dark Gods…”

Besides the Four Great Gods and the Sun and Moon. The only divine entities still remaining in this world, whom both the Four Great Gods and the Yang-Moon Order are determined to exterminate—beings with the attributes of evil divinity.

“Indeed… where there is light, there must be shadow… But they won’t have it so easy.”

After saying this, I withdrew my hand.

I returned from being a bird flying in the sky to a human flying in the sky, and now I could see my true enemy.

“Begin civilian evacuation. The apostles of the Dark Gods will soon land on this archipelago.”

*

“Everyone to battle positions! Follow your training! Show these dark monsters why light has always triumphed!”

“””Long live the Sun!”””

The soldiers’ shouts echo around me.

The Dark Gods.

They were the oldest survivors of the Dark Age, and the most wicked beings.

I drew my Purifier blade and watched as the inscriptions on the sword glowed blue.

How long has it been since this sword was forged?

I can’t even remember anymore.

But only now have I found the true meaning of this sword—is this a good omen or a bad one?

“I’ll leave the command to you, Chief of Staff.”

“Understood, my lord. I wish you good fortune in battle.”

Leaving the flagship Sky Warden in the hands of the Chief of Staff, I remained on the ground.

Aboard the Sky Warden were the Chief of Staff and his staff officers, along with division and brigade commanders.

Explosions are light and heat, the arrowheads of human civilization that drive away darkness. Although we cannot use nuclear weapons due to the proximity of civilian residential areas, one thing was certain about enemies who were incarnations of darkness.

They would leave no civilians alive.

Even if there were civilians remaining on those ‘ships,’ it was clear that killing them now would be a mercy.

Because their power was not meant for humans.

“Nervous?”

“No. I’ve defeated them before. And that was alone. Now we have the firepower of the Sky Warden, 50,000 soldiers, and all of you. So I’m not afraid.”

“That’s our captain. I’ll forgive you for breaking my head countless times.”

“Hehehe. If you had drunk only half as much, your head wouldn’t have been broken.”

We joked around to shake off the tension.

Even at this moment, I was focusing my mind, aligning the positions of combat satellites and initiating the preheating of bombardment satellites.

How glorious yet tragic it is to awaken the ancient weapons of war!

With the authority of the one closest to the Sun in this world, I was reawakening these ancient weapons that had been atoning through the negation of their existence, buried in bloody civil wars and insane massacres.

“Once… I almost broke.”

“Huh?”

“When I was still Victor of Parcival. I grew increasingly weary of endless battles and slaughter. No matter how many I killed, no matter how many died, nothing changed at the harbor and docks. I was filled with hatred for adults who verbally and physically abused children reeking of blood, and for peers who wouldn’t accept me.”

“…”

“I don’t know how many I killed. The minimum is 50,000, so including indirect deaths, it must be over 100,000. In that small world, I looked down on people like a god. From the top of cliffs, from tower cranes. I was a day laborer carrying water bottles to the top even on weekends, but at least by thinking that way, I could protect my small world.”

“A small world…?”

“Yes, a small world. I almost died at the hands of three thieves who were stealing cheese. Can you believe it?”

“No?”

The group laughed incredulously.

I laughed too. It was something I couldn’t imagine happening to my current self.

“It was a tremendous shock, like learning for the first time how vast the world is. My story almost ended in a cheese workshop in the city center, not even outside the city. When I think about it that way, everything I’m experiencing now is just a fleeting moment in time.”

I cut my palm on the blade, then turned my bleeding palm downward, letting blood drip onto the ground.

When the blood touched the ground, the soil blackened as if soaked with acid, and when I looked at my hand again, the wound had already healed.

Further proof that I was no longer an ordinary human.

[My lord. The enemies are in sight.]

[Location?]

[3.5km from the east. Approaching rapidly… Wait! Carrier aircraft launch confirmed! 20 aircraft!]

[Begin interception. Issue combat orders to all units.]

[Yes, sir!]

And now. The enemies are coming.

The ancient evil ones who rejected light and hid in the abyss are coming to Belka to seek followers, slaves, and sacrifices.

“Haaah…..”

I took a deep breath and soared into the sky.

It no longer mattered when I had gained the ability to fly.

Under the sun, being anywhere was ultimately little different from crawling on the ground.

And even a god of the abyss is nothing more than a giant seaweed hiding in the ocean, afraid of the sun’s light.

“Let those who are near hear and rejoice! Let those who are far feel and tremble!”

I shouted as I struck thunder down upon the sea.

Thunder from the storm clouds flowed through the sea foam, and lightning struck the masts of the barnacle-covered ships, setting them ablaze.

Tentacles that had been undulating beneath the sea began to emerge and wrap around the hulls, and gradually, unholy songs of darkness and screams began to pervade the archipelago.

“My name is Victor Walker! I am he who walks toward victory and the apostle of the Sun! I am the master of fervor and the earthly representative of Lord Nariakira Saburo! I am the one who banishes darkness and establishes light in the world in the name of my master who drives away darkness!”

“””Long live the Sun! Long live the Sun! Long live the Sun!”””

The soldiers’ battle cries. Thunder and lightning spreading gradually…

“I shall convey His name to you! You with countless ears, listen carefully!”

I pointed my sword and split the sky, allowing the sun’s light to fill the blade.

As the beautiful Purifier blade, glowing with the golden light of the sun, plunged down, a massive heat ray descended from the sky and began to boil the sea.

“The patron deity of humanity rejects you!”