◈ 704. [Side Story] Funeral (7)
Time passed.
People who had fled returned, and people from all over the world mobilized and flocked to Crossroads.
The kings who fought here literally felt in their bones that this was the land of a decisive battle that would decide the fate of the world.
An endless stream of carts filled with aid supplies came from all over the world.
The northern part suffered terrible damage from the heavy snow, but it seems that the sky cleared and the snow stopped just before it was truly breathtaking.
The people of the Aryan Kingdom, who had been passive, are now at the forefront of helping the city recover.
In particular, King Miller Arian went to the recovery site carrying a shovel and pickaxe, even though he lost one arm, so much so that I wanted to stop him.
It’s a bit embarrassing when the character changes 180 degrees like this… I understand how you feel about not wanting to look hateful.
“….”
I was lost in thought as I watched the city gradually being restored.
Now the whole world is cooperating with our front. This is fortunate.
But the deaths of 30,000 people were not fortunate.
It was the death of 30,000 elite troops gathered from all over the world. Not only that, the air force fleet was destroyed, and many heroes and soldiers under my command died.
Manpower and materials could be expanded easily, but expanding troops was a long way off.
‘Night Bringer was actually a final boss-level monster.’
Compared to the ‘Sleepless Lake Princess’, it is on the same level, but in terms of destructive power, it is probably even better.
It was such a powerful and difficult enemy that perhaps it was inevitable that this much damage would be inflicted.
But the problem was that he was a strong final boss, not the final boss.
The monster invasion will continue in the future. And we suffered devastating damage to our defense facilities and troop situation.
‘The next defensive battle begins in a month.’
The start date of Stage 41 is approximately one month from now.
After that, I went from Stage 41 to Stage 50 without stopping for three months. The final 10-game defense game continues.
Will Crossroads and the world be able to withstand this harsh wave of monsters…?
***
A week after the end of the battle.
A funeral was held west of Crossroads.
We urgently dispatched personnel to the south to retrieve the bodies, but it was impossible to retrieve all 30,000 bodies within a week.
Moreover, because the battle with the black dragon was so intense, the damage to the body was also serious.
However, since it would be disrespectful to the dead to keep delaying the funeral, it was decided to hold the funeral first.
“….”
I looked up at the huge newly erected monument.
It was a newly erected mass gravestone next to the mass gravestone erected for the dead in the tutorial stage.
A blue sacred fire flickered in front of the tombstone covered with white flowers placed by mourners.
A cenotaph for all the warriors whose bodies were not found.
I clenched my fists in front of him.
I don’t regret it.
Without their sacrifice, the Night Bringer would not have been defeated.
This is an enemy that everyone on the front line was able to defeat only after pouring everything out, right down to the bottom of their souls.
Because we know that they died for a noble cause, to protect the world…
“….”
But no matter what reason you give, even if you give some rationality to their deaths.
The pain they felt at the moment of death and the sadness felt by their bereaved families will not disappear.
After gritting my teeth and trying to calm down in front of him, I looked away. Beyond the mass gravestones, people were crying in front of the many new graves.
I approached the grave closest to them… and where I was the chief mourner.
Dusk Bringer’s tomb.
Around the grave, the people of the Principality of Bringer were gathered together like a cloud, bowing their heads.
As I stood in front of the grave and waited for a while, the Dragon Knights themselves appeared carrying Dusk Bringer’s coffin. Behind them, soldiers of the Principality Army were marching, waving their flags.
I, along with the brave knights, lifted the coffin, placed it under the ground, and sprinkled dirt on the coffin.
I tried to act calm among people who were all covered in tears, but my eyes kept getting hot.
After the holy water was sprinkled and the lion’s afterlife was blessed…
the soldiers of the principality stood together and sang a military song.
It was a song honoring a dead comrade. Dusk Bringer was the commander-in-chief of the military and a dragon lady who fought at the forefront, so she was a soldier and their comrade.
“….”
Even the sad song of the soldiers ended.
I quietly stared at Dusk Bringer’s grave, which was covered with white flowers.
As with other kings buried here before, it was decided to first hold a simple funeral here… and then move the funeral after all wars were over.
The state funeral of the Principality of Bringer will be held at that time.
‘After all wars have ended…’
The final winter of the third year.
Originally, it should still be late fall now. Winter arrived much faster than usual as the night brought by the Night Bringer covered the world with snow.
Now that this winter is over, the war against monsters will come to an end. And it will then be decided whether those buried here first will be able to return to their hometowns.
Will the world end or will it continue? Whether or not we will be able to reach the true ending.
In this final season, everything comes to a close.
‘Until your real funeral is held in your own country.’
I bowed deeply towards Dusk Bringer’s grave.
‘Until then, I will hold back my tears, Grand Duke.’
***
After Dusk Bringer’s funeral was over.
I assigned the role of resident to the dragon knights and decided to tour other tombs. Since he was a lord and commander, it was his natural duty to look after other bereaved families.
While moving around looking at various graves and offering consolation to the bereaved families… I stopped.
I saw the warlock chain sitting in a wheelchair. He was silently lost in thought in front of the tombs of the blacklist heroes.
“chain.”
“…Ah, Your Highness.”
Chain’s entire body, which turned around, was wrapped in bandages instead of the usual chains.
His injuries were extreme. It is said that during the ‘Night Closing’ operation, he took all the attacks coming from the airship La Mancha with his body.
Although he was injured a lot, he tried too hard to absorb the darkness, and the magic furnace was completely polluted and burned.
He could never go into battle again, so his retirement was virtually confirmed.
“It feels strange to say this, but… I feel relieved.”
He was no longer able to use black magic and looked like an ordinary middle-aged man. It wasn’t his usual very young face, nor was it the old face he had when his vitality ran out.
Somewhere in the middle, Chain took a close look at the graves of his dead comrades.
“I fought without regrets.”
“….”
“It will be the same for these guys. “To save the newborn, the city, and the world…”
I also looked at the grave together.
A defense magician who died to save Sid, a golem magician who sacrificed his life to protect the Demon Musketeer city, and a blind swordsman who risked his life to cut down the darkness with his sword… all of them were buried side by side here
.
“How could we have known that gambling-addicted bastards like us could die fighting for something so… valuable?”
“….”
I couldn’t say anything.
Chain took something out of his pocket and flicked it with his fingers, sending it flying forward.
Ting-
It was a casino chip.
Chain deftly flipped them and placed them one by one in front of the graves of his comrades. The last chip spun around in front of Nobody’s grave and fell to the side.
I asked him carefully as he clenched and opened his empty hand.
“Are you going to stop gambling?”
“…Yes, I intend to. “I don’t have the friends I used to play with, and it’s no longer fun.”
“What are you going to do next?”
“I’m going to think about it while I recuperate.”
Chain muttered bitterly.
“I’m not sure what a warlock who can’t fight and a gambler who’s tired of gambling can do in the future.”
After chatting a few more words, I patted Chain’s back carefully and left.
As I was walking, I suddenly looked back and saw Chain covering his face with both hands, gritting his teeth and lowering his head.
“….”
Instead of offering any kind of comfort to the sobbing man, I silently walked forward again.
Subparty blacklist.
The five high-level heroes I wanted to recruit while planning a casino construction from the first year.
Their last moments were so lonely and sad.
***
Among the graves erected this time, there were those belonging to non-humans.
Capture monster.
Although Skeyrian and Parekhian were monsters, they made great contributions in this battle.
Therefore, we held a respectful funeral, cremated him, and buried him here at the grave site.
“…sniff.”
Violet squatted in front of the graves of the two dragons and swallowed her snot.
I don’t know where they came from, but a piece of scale was placed in front of Skeyrian’s tomb, and a piece of claw was placed in front of Parekhian’s tomb.
Violet was sniffling and tapping the pieces with her fingertips while other gambling club members were comforting her.
“It feels like I was dreaming.”
Scarlett blew Violet’s nose as she let out a long sigh. joy! Violet blew her nose loudly and made a noise.
“Spending time with these dragons and fighting such great battles together… it all feels like a dream.”
The rest of the gambling club members tried to comfort Violet by massaging her shoulders and giving her warm tea.
I smiled bitterly and watched this from behind.
It was then.
Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry-
Suddenly there is the sound of a snake flicking its tongue and then immediately afterwards.
A long, thin tongue wrapped around Violet’s chin and licked it.
“Heeeeeeeek?!”
A frightened Violet jumped up from her spot, turned around, and let out a scream.
“Kaaaa! “Here we go again!”
Before I knew it, I saw a huge silver-gray snake approaching Violet and clinging to her as if it were friendly.
Shrrrrrrrrrrrr!
This guy who was making a somewhat happy breathing sound was none other than Jormungand…
“Ah, he was here.”
I said calmly as I looked at Jormungand, who was now climbing up with Violet’s body wrapped around him.
This ‘Snake of the World’ had his body split in two and even received a direct hit from the Night Bringer’s breath at the end.
I thought I was going to die without moving, but I wasn’t. Perhaps in order to escape from his injuries, he shed his skin endlessly and changed his appearance significantly, but his life was saved anyway.
‘Even if it gets smaller, it’s still the size of a giant snake…’
About the size of an anaconda on Earth? Or is it bigger than that?
He lost his previous enormous physique and his divinity. It seems like he can no longer speak… but his life was saved and he secretly remained on our front lines. Now he is my captured monster.
And what stuck with Violet was his current form.
“Strangely enough, aren’t I only popular with monsters?! Especially reptiles?! “Why on earth are they like this?!”
Violet, who was in tears as she was repeatedly attacked by Jormungand’s tongue, screamed. I laughed out loud.
“I guess that’s your constitution.”
“I don’t like it anymore! Kwaaaa!”
The rest of the gambling club members were excitedly stroking Jormungand’s smooth scales around Violet, who began to whimper in a different way than before.
After watching this for a while, I turned my gaze to the south towards the black lake.
“….”
Crown, the Pied Piper who helped us with Jormungand.
Crown, who eventually died during the battle, turned into black smoke and disappeared.
When the eternal beings originally from the Lake Kingdom die, they disappear into black smoke and are then resurrected in a designated location.
The Crown seemed to be revived at its home base within the Lake Kingdom.
So, it was a situation where an agreement was reached with the Crown in advance. If Crown dies during battle, he will come back to me after being resurrected.
I need to discuss how to save the promise I shared with him.
But even after a week, the crown did not appear again.
One time, I tried to enter the Lake Kingdom to find him… and Nameless, but for some reason, all the teleport gates were blocked, so I couldn’t enter the Lake Kingdom.
This situation continues to this day.
“….”
What else is happening down there?
In my eyes, feeling a vague sense of ominousness, I suddenly saw the main party members waving their hands from the other side.
“Senior!Speech speech!”
“ah. Is it already its turn?”
Since we can’t enter the Lake Kingdom right now, there’s nothing else we can do.
Let’s do what we can here.
I took a deep breath and walked to where the main party members were.
Many people were waiting for me under the podium.
