740. [STAGE 45] Flying Dead (2)
Cracking, crackling…
The lights in the broken hallway blink.
A faint scream echoes from a distance in a hallway polluted with blood and vomit.
The cries of the infected, the desperate screams of someone who has not yet been infected…
‘Oh, horror games are rat poison.’
I wiped away the goosebumps on the back of my neck with my hand.
It would be the worst if we ran recklessly and got bitten by the infected, and we were also infected and wiped out.
We are moving forward cautiously and at a not very fast pace.
As I took the stairs downstairs, I asked Macmillan behind me.
“Where is the engine room?”
“It’s at the very bottom and rear of the ship.”
For reference, the bridge we departed from is located in the very center of the top of the airship.
You have to go down and back a long way to the engine room. Since the size of the secret ship, La Mancha, is quite large, the distance is a bit farther than expected.
“Hurry up. “Time is running out.”
Maybe it’s my mood, but I feel like the altitude of the void is gradually lowering.
And you’re probably not mistaken. Since the output of the main horsepower is decreasing, you will need to slowly lower your altitude and prepare for emergencies such as an emergency landing.
We moved toward the engine room as quickly as possible, while remaining alert to our surroundings.
And at the end of the hallway leading to the stairs on this floor.
Wow!
bang!
Uddangtang-!
The doors on both sides of the hallway opened simultaneously and the infected people came by surprise.
“…!”
Mikhail, who was walking nervously in the lead, quickly stretched out his fist and hit the chin of the infected person on the left, shouting,
“I hate it!”
With a faint scream that I was now slowly becoming accustomed to, Diarmudin released a magical shockwave and blew away the infected person on the right.
Pow! Craddangtang!
The suppression was completed in no time. Mikhail broke into a cold sweat and looked at the infected person he had beaten.
“…I was so surprised that I hit it hard. “This guy’s molar came out?”
“It’s better than dying. “I can’t help it.”
Diarmyuddin, who was holding his heart and gasping for breath, complained.
“Huh! Huh! This is not good for the cardiovascular health of old people…! I was so surprised…”
“Think of your blood circulating for the first time in a long time…”
He continued moving forward, suppressing the infected people he encountered several times.
“….”
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
The current situation is that we are returning to humanity’s final resistance line with a ship full of infected people.
‘Is this really the right decision?’
What if the infection spreads to Crossroads because of this decision?
As Macmillan said, wouldn’t it have been right to make an emergency landing of the ship far away from the Crossroads and deal with the infected slowly?
For the sake of all humanity, wouldn’t it have been a more efficient decision to give up all of these infected people?
Now there is not enough time to defeat the zombie monsters.
Aren’t we wasting time trying to save infected patients?…
“If it were me as usual.”
At that time, Diarmudin, who was at the end of the group, suddenly spoke. As if he knew what I was thinking.
“I guess they said let’s eliminate all the infected people. “Isn’t that right?”
“….”
I smiled bitterly and glanced back.
“So what you’re saying is that you are no longer the ‘usual Diarmuddin’?”
“Can I be honest with you?”
“Please feel free to do whatever you want.”
“Prince Ash. “I want to believe in the convenient magic called you.”
Diarmudin was staring at me with eyes filled with deep trust.
“Your wit, which always brings a miraculous twist in an absurd situation… and comes up with an amazing solution that I had never thought of.”
“….”
“I want to look forward to it again.”
I closed my mouth.
Suddenly, a famous problem called the trolley dilemma came to mind.
There are two paths in front of the tram moving along the tracks. Five people are tied to one street and one person is tied to one street.
If this continues, the cart will head towards the five people and crush them to death. However, when I pull the track switch, the tram turns onto the opposite track and kills one person.
What judgment would you make in this situation?
Should I pull the switch or leave it alone? Such a problem.
“….”
The battle here on the monster front was always a battle with a dilemma.
Who will you save? Who will you abandon?
Each time, my choices were actually always consistent. I always made the same choice over and over again.
Save everyone who can be saved.
Sometimes it succeeded and sometimes it failed. Some people lived and some people died.
I toasted with those who survived and shed tears at the graves of the dead. I was by no means a flawless commander, and my battle record was littered with losses as many as wins.
But yeah. Because I went through this difficult process, paradoxically, there is one thing I have kept and did not lose.
My belief is, ‘Save everyone you can save.’
I think of the road I’ve taken.
The journey so far has been filled with flukes and miracles. If I hadn’t been lucky, my judgment would have destroyed this world many times over.
But I also know.
All those flukes, all those miracles.
You can’t say it was all luck.
The business I have accumulated, the fate, and the will of the people I work with…
right up until today. This wire has been used to support this world and our hearts.
‘I seek it.’
Everyone I can save.
People who bravely marched towards enemy lines were infected. People tremble in fear of monsters coming from behind the front lines.
I’ll have to do my best to save them all.
The delusion disappeared as I walked with determination. Diarmudin, who was following at the back of the group, seemed to have noticed this and let out a laugh.
***
After moving forward without hesitation for a while, we reached the stairs leading to the lowest floor.
And because of the commotion we caused on the way here, we were already being chased by the infected. Before we knew it, the crowd of infected people rushing towards us had grown enormously.
“They keep coming from behind!”
“Suppress him gently, Diarmudin! “Take it easy!”
“Gently… gently…”
Diarmudin, who had been preparing the spell over and over again, gritted his teeth immediately afterward.
“Holy shit! “My firepower is so great that it is impossible to subdue them gently!”
“Then just enough… enough to break just one bone!”
“Just one bone?! good! “That much is possible!”
Diarmudin continued to pour out shock waves, and the infected people who were running towards him were thrown back and rolled around helplessly, like fallen leaves in the fall.
But as if the blow wasn’t enough, he got up again and ran screaming. Diarmudin gritted his teeth and shouted.
“I will stop you here, so go quickly!”
“Lord Diarmudin…!”
“Don’t worry about me! “Now hurry!”
Diarmudin is not good at situations like this.
This old wizard is an extreme firepower type wizard. Will he be able to endure for a long time, deliberately looking after the hands of infected people who have lost their senses and are trying to bite him?
But there was no time to give such consideration.
Time is running out. The flight time had already reached its limit, and ominous bursting sounds were coming from all over the airship.
“Then let’s go first! Take care, Diarmuddin!”
We decided to trust Diarmudin and give him the role of blocking the stairs, so we ran down to the bottom floor.
“The engine room is close!”
Macmillan pointed ahead.
“Now all we have to do is get past here!”
And the large space that opened in front of us was… a hangar.
The engine room is behind the hangar. So we have to go through the hangar…
Kyaaa!
Kyaaaaa!
As soon as we entered the hangar, the sharp screams of the excited griffons rang out as if it were ear-piercing.
“for a moment.”
I looked over there in a cold sweat.
“Could it be that there are griffons too…?”
“Even the monsters are all infected.”
Macmillan also spoke, pouring out cold sweat like rain.
“Are you sure it’s okay to be a griffon…?”
Clap! Clang, clank, clank!
The infected griffons twisted their bodies, glaring at us with red eyes.
Quad deuk!
…No, it wasn’t just a twist.
The iron fence of the hangar, which was used as a stable, was broken like a piece of corn. And infected griffons flew in all directions.
“…Gryffindor oh my.”
The Sky Knights who came to support La Mancha were 50 people.
In other words, there are 50 griffons.
Fortunately, not all of them are infected, and about half are in a calm state, hiding in the corners of the hangar and shivering… No, even just 25 of them are under enormous pressure!
Awesome!
Griffons soared all the way to the ceiling of the hangar, which was not very high, and all descended towards us.
I urgently took out a low-level magic core from the water and threw it.
“Summons!”
It was a long time since the defense tower was summoned. I called his name.
“Shield turret-!”
Churrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The broken fence and exterior walls came together in the air and landed in the middle of the hangar.
It is a defense tower shield turret with a simple rectangular shape and a shield attached to it.
It is a tank object with no attack performance at all, but its defense is outstanding in its own way. In addition, it has a wide-area provocation function!
puck! Whoa!
The aggro griffons began pounding on the shield turret all at once. The shield turret quickly became a mess, but it still took its time!
“I’ll calm you down!”
At that time, Mikhail rushed forward like a beam of light.
No wait. Soothing? How do you calm down an infected griffon?…
“Hmm!”
Mikhail climbed onto the Griffon’s back with a smooth movement, crossed his forearms… and began to strangle the Griffon.
Kyaak… keek.
The griffon, choking and gurgling, eventually stuck out its tongue and fell to the floor.
“It’s basically a way to subdue an overly excited griffon. “It was something I did like eating a meal.”
Mikhail shouted as he ran towards the next griffon.
“I will clean up this place, Prince Ash!” “You quickly go to the engine room!”
“But Mikhail!”
Even so, dozens of infected griffons are too dangerous…!
“go! There’s no time! hurry!”
“Tsk…!”
Gritting my teeth, I nodded and ran toward the door at the back of the hangar.
“You can’t die, Michail!”
“Are you going to die?”
Mikhail shouted as he suppressed the second griffon.
“It would be so unfair if I died like this on my honeymoon!”
You pretended like this guy, but in fact, you were also looking forward to the honeymoon…?!
‘Someday, I will make Crossroads an amazing tourist city! ‘I’ll make it bustling with honeymooners!’
Thinking of the grand plan for a tourist city that I have not yet given up on, I made a new determination.
For that dream, and for Mikhail’s honeymoon, we need to normalize the secret main magic furnace…!
“If you open that door, you’ll come out into the final hallway, and that’s the engine room!”
“good!”
I nodded at Macmillan’s guidance, kicked open the door, and entered the final hallway. Now we’re really there!
and.
Grrrrr….
Grrrrrrr.
In the last hallway, familiar infected people were gathered.
Silver armor and scarlet cloak.
There were about 50 members of the Sky Knights.
“…ah.”
I couldn’t see you all the way here, but everyone was gathered here…
They were all hero-level strong, and they all turned their bloodshot, infected eyes to look at me.
Fifty infected people, all of whom had the martial discipline of a knight, turned to look at me at the same time. The feeling of those fierce, trained gazes being fixed on me at the same time… was not pleasant, even as a joke.
“….”
No, Diarmudin and Mikhail stayed behind, doing everything they could to stop a dangerous enemy for us.
‘Actually, isn’t this the most dangerous?!’
Macmillan looked at the side of my face as I trembled inwardly and asked cautiously.
“…Should I just tell the bridge to make an emergency landing?”
“no.”
I sighed softly and took a step forward, deploying my armor.
“Why don’t you go a little rough?”
Churrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Black chain armor made from Beelzebub’s magic core.
[Owner of the High Tower] wrapped my body tightly.
