◈ 267. [STAGE 10] Humans and Monsters (2)
Dawn breaks in the distance.
However, the square in the center of the city here was brighter than the eastern sun.
A tightly lit torch.
And citizens gathered with weapons.
Citizens set up barricades on the main streets of the central square, though sloppy, and held their weapons in a sloppy posture, vigilantly.
Seeing that, I was speechless.
They are not soldiers.
They are just ordinary people living here.
“If you don’t defend yourself when necessary. Unless you step out and take your own life.”
As I stared blankly at it, I heard an old, thick voice in my ears.
“No one will protect me unless I show the strength and will to do so.”
Looking back, it was a familiar Dwarf blacksmith.
“I said something like that, and everyone followed me.”
“… Kelly Bay.”
“We handed out the remaining weapons from the forge to the citizens. We lit the lights as loudly as possible, and everyone huddled together to protect their backs.”
Kelly Bay, a large war hammer in her hand, grinned, raising her beard.
“A few werewolves that came this way were safely repulsed. Citizens are safe.”
“… .”
“Hey, why do you have such a gloomy face? I’m sorry I can’t praise you.”
I dropped my gaze.
If only I had done it a little better.
If that were the case, there wouldn’t have been a need for even the citizens to fight.
“This is a city on the front line against monsters. On a fictional day, soldiers are losing their lives fighting monsters.”
Perhaps reading my thoughts, Kelly Bay slowly opened her mouth.
“If you just wanted to enjoy peace while living in a city like this, that citizen would be a thief.”
“… .”
“If someone else’s life protects me, I must be prepared to give up my life too. That was my country’s way.”
The way of the Dwarven Kingdom might be like that.
but… .
“Your lord has been living in this fortified city for decades!”
An old woman clutching a pickaxe laughed.
“Even during the time of the previous lord, there were several times when they came inside and caused a stir! Even then, the citizens joined forces and beat up the monsters!”
“… .”
“I’ve beaten even worse monsters! Are we afraid of wolves?”
“… Thank you.”
I smiled softly at the pretentious old woman.
“Thank you for surviving.”
Citizens holding their torches high, keeping their backs.
People, regardless of gender and age, grabbed weapons to protect their own lives.
His appearance was grand, grateful, and even sublime.
As the commander-in-chief of this frontline… … It was also true that it was something I never wanted to see.
“I’m sorry.”
As I clenched my fists, my nails dug into my flesh.
“I will do my best to make sure this never happens again.”
Small children clutching pokers in their little hands were running across the square laughing.
Does this situation feel like play to children?
At the head of the children was Kelly Bay’s assistant, Hannibal. The young N-rank hero disappeared across the alley with the children.
Children’s laughter resounded in the square where the sun was shining.
I watched it from afar and sighed.
“I will do everything in my power to bring about a world where you do not have to hold weapons.”
okay.
To create such a world, I… … .
***
The time when the morning sun is bright blue.
in front of the northern wall.
Lunared was dead.
The werewolf with a silver-red mane had died cleanly, leaving a large fist mark in the center of his chest.
I stared at the monster’s corpse.
The end of the monster who boasted that he would destroy the world was so quiet and futile.
Kureha had also passed away.
All the curses were removed, but he was still a wolf monster. Kureha calmly closed her eyes while remaining small and dwarfed.
And in front of him stood five members of the penal unit, including Quylan.
“… .”
The curse Kureha had been harboring returned to each of the punishment units.
All five of them grew taller, had more muscles, and had red hair growing all over their bodies.
It didn’t look like a werewolf. Rather, it was more human.
It is probably because the blood of wolves has been diluted by interacting with humans through generations.
However, it was clearly a mixture of that of the beast.
prisoner.
It was the form of the wearbeast race I had seen in the game.
“This is the true face of our tribe.”
Quylan slowly opened his mouth. His voice grew thicker.
“Wolf Beast. The original form of the Danpullang tribe.”
“… .”
“When the full moon is bright, it turns into a wolf, and when the old moon is waning, it becomes a half-man, half-beast… .”
Looking down at his hairy knuckles, Quylan muttered bitterly.
“Now, Your Highness, we can’t be here on the front line.”
“Why?”
“Look at us. You’re half a wolf.”
Quylan shook his head.
“I don’t think I can be called human anymore.”
“It is not your birth or racial features that determine what you are.”
I did the same to them as I had just said to the monsters.
“You decide what… It is what you think and what you do.”
“… .”
“You are human.”
I nodded.
“If you want to be human, you are definitely human.”
What makes a man a man and
what makes a monster a monster.
The standard will be different for everyone. But here on the front lines, the definition is me.
To me, the 5 members of the penal unit are the ‘people’ to be protected.
if they want to
“… If so, Your Highness. I have one request.”
Quylan slowly took Kureha’s corpse lying on the floor into his arms.
“My older brother… May I bury Kureha in the graveyard of this city?”
“… .”
“I’ll bury you there once I get my homeland back someday. until then… … I want to bury you here. This grave site is an honorable place.”
“of course.”
I looked down at the corpse of the diminutive wolf monster in Quylan’s arms.
I can’t find a trace of his human form, but why? Still he seemed to be smiling softly and peacefully.
“Because he is a warrior who gave his life to protect this front line. Let the funeral be held with the highest courtesy.”
“… Thank you.”
Quilan bowed his head to me and slowly moved to the grave site west of the city.
“Then I’ll bury my brother.”
With Kureha in his arms, Quylan led the way, and the rest of the punishment squad slowly followed.
With their backs bathed in the pale morning sunlight rising from the east, the red-haired beastmen quietly moved away.
It was the back of ordinary people who lost their brother and were immersed in grief.
At least that’s how it seemed to me.
***
Crossroads. back street.
This is where the morning sun slowly dispels the darkness that casts over the city.
“… .”
“… .”
Junior, Raina, and Camus were still nervous while protecting the citizens.
The number of citizens who had originally been four had swelled to dozens.
The number of citizens who fled under their protection quickly increased as they tried to block all the werewolves’ attacks that lasted all night as much as possible.
The soldiers who joined in between also gulped dry saliva and looked around.
Everyone was nervous, wondering if there would be an additional attack.
and as the sun rises.
Deng-! Deng-! Deng-!
A slow bell rang in the middle of the city.
It was the sound of a bell announcing an emergency release. All the monsters have been exterminated. Cheers erupted from the crowd at once.
“hurray!”
“We live!”
“Thank you, mercenaries! Thank you very much!”
“Thanks to you, I saved my life!”
Citizens scrambled to greet the heroes and soldiers.
Junior accepted the greeting with a bitter smile. He couldn’t shake the thought that he was the cause of the fall of the West Gate.
‘But fortunately, there seems to be no more damage in this area.’
All citizens were safe thanks to the desperate protection of Junior and the trio of Rayna and Camus.
Under the leadership of the soldiers, citizens returned to their homes one by one.
Looking at their bright faces with the relief that they had survived, Junior bit his lip.
It was then.
seureung… … .
The sound of a knife cutting through the air.
Wheein –
The sound of the dried wind blowing in response to magical energy.
And the killing spirit that descends like frost… … .
Sensing these things, Junior looked back in surprise.
“?!”
And found.
An alley where all citizens have left. In this place where the morning sun is bright but still dark shadows create darkness.
Camus and Raina, facing each other, were quietly aiming their swords and magic at each other.
Embarrassed Junior hurriedly intervened.
“What are you doing?!”
“… .”
“… .”
“The fight is over! All monsters have been eliminated! There is no need to fight anymore!”
But it seemed like he couldn’t hear what Junior was saying. Camus and Raina only glared at each other, coldly polishing their murderous intentions.
Junior couldn’t understand.
“We are human! You’re the same human with a monster as your common enemy!”
Just a little while ago, we fought shoulder to shoulder against the monster.
“I mean we are on the same side! They are beings that can understand each other!”
In order to protect people, we put aside the favors of the past and protected each other’s backs.
“We are all human beings! But why are they fighting each other?! why!”
But to kill each other again as if nothing had happened.
Junior couldn’t understand. so i tried to stop it. but.
“Don’t ask me about the obvious, kid.”
The two had no intention of backing down.
Camus gripped the handle of his sword. A pair of vengeful eyes twinkled terrifyingly through the disheveled hair.
“Why are you trying to kill each other?”
After loading the magic at the tip of her finger aiming at Camus, Reina grimly spat out.
“… Because we are human.”
Taat-!
Camus, who had hit the ground, rushed in in an instant. Reina calmly fired the magic bullets of wind with her fingertips.
Camus grabbed Junior, who was trying to block it with his body, and pushed him aside. At the same time, Camus moved forward, splitting the flying magic bullet with his sword.
Tuhak! Tuhak-!
Slashing all the wind magic bullets with the tip of his sword, Camus reached Reina right in front of her.
But now, his sword was not the spell drinker he was originally using. It was an ordinary sword that could not absorb magic.
Chaeng and… … !
When it reached right in front of Reina, the longsword that blocked the last wind bullet shattered and scattered metal fragments in all directions.
Camus smiled bitterly, holding his empty hand forward.
“… You always fail to take the last step.”
Fuck!
A bullet of wind fired from Rayna’s fingertips pierced Camus’ chest.
Reina mercilessly drove three more magic bullets into Camus’ body as he collapsed vomiting blood.
Camus fell backwards without even screaming.
“Mr. Camus!”
Junior hurriedly came running.
Camus, who was staring blankly at the sky with holes in his chest and stomach, muttered softly to Junior.
“Don’t forget.”
“… .”
“Do not forget me.”
Camus, who held Junior’s hand with his bloodied hand, spat out the last.
“Don’t forget Camilla Kingdom.”
With his dazed eyes raised, Camus stopped breathing.
Junior was devastated in the sea of blood from the people of the east.
“… .”
Reina, who had been watching him, slowly turned around.
He took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it in his mouth. But I couldn’t get my hands on where I spilled the match.
“hot.”
Blood oozes from the bandage wrapped around his stomach. It seems that the wound he was stabbed by Camus last time is still not getting better.
“It hurts, damn it… .”
Laughing dejectedly and chewing on an unlit cigarette, Reina staggered away into the darkness of a back alley.
***
[STAGE 10 – CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP – Lucas(SSR)]
[Level Up Character]
> Main Party
– Ash(EX) Lv.48 (↑1)
– Lucas(SSR) Lv.51 (↑1) )
– Evangeline (SSR) Lv.51 (↑1)
– Jupiter Junior (SSR) Lv.57 (↑1)
– Damian (EX) Lv.51 (↑1)
> Sub Party 1
– Quylan (SR) Lv. 50 (↑1) (3rd job advancement is possible!)
– Tuesday (R) Lv.43 (↑1)
– Wednesday (R) Lv.43 (↑1)
– Backy (R) Lv.43 (↑2) )
– On the Rock (R) Lv.41 (↑2)
> Sub Party 2
– God Hand (SR) Lv.45 (↑1)
– Body Bag (R) Lv.40 (↑1)
– Burnout (SR) Lv.39 (↑1)
>Others
– Lily (R) Lv.32 (↑2)
– Marherita (R) Lv.36 (↑1)
[Death and Injury Characters]
– Camus (SR): Death
– Evangeline (SSR): Serious Injury
– Damian (EX): Light Injury
[Dead and Injured Captured Monsters]
– Kureha (SSR) < Captured Monsters >: Dead
– Three Color Slime (R) < Captured Monsters >: Dead
[Acquired Items]
– Werewolf Legion Manastone: 274
– White Werewolf Magic Core (SR): 4
– Werewolf Corps Commander Magic Core (SSR): 1
[The stage clear reward has been paid. Please check your inventory]
– SR grade reward box: 2
– SSR Grade Reward Box: 1
> > Get Ready For The Next STAGE
> > [STAGE 11: Enemy of Enemy]
