45. Operation Report: Rat Hunt
-Urghhh!!!
Like candy melting in the summer heat, like ashes swept away by the wind. The vampires and corpses that had been rampaging through the night sea, the harbor, and the alleys of the port were finally subdued.
The vampires, who had arrived like a nightmare on a summer night, were disappearing like a forgotten dream at dawn.
The era when the celestial gods descended upon the Material World, and ancient demons rose to oppose them. The light from the time when the continent was still the land of elves and dwarves had once again descended upon the Material World.
“This can’t be happening. This can’t be!!!”
Richter, his skin melting, screamed toward Guimerin’s Flagship. A vampire who had lived for a thousand years. The depth of his sins was what sustained him.
Blood is the currency of life. The power of vampires is directly proportional to the amount of blood they consume. Richter, one of the oldest vampires born after the Celestial War, was a being who could walk under the sun.
But his fleet was not so fortunate. The naval forces of Franzrit were scattering across the sea in an instant. As the bonds of his bloodline shattered, Richter finally felt that all his plans had gone awry.
“Zigismund! Felix! Hayden!! Anyone! Come back! No! This can’t be. You trash!!”
Blood flowed from Richter’s eyes. His snow-white curly hair bristled with rage. He clenched his gauntlet as if to crush it, watching his sons disappear.
The light that reached even the seabed was shattering his legion lurking beneath the waves. The chains of his bloodline were breaking strand by strand, and a tremendous sense of loss washed over him.
[No one can escape death.]
Richter bit his swollen lips and repeated the words. Even for vampires, death came fairly.
-Screech…
-Crackle…
The fleet heading to Infermur twisted and sank, swept away by the light. Like cheap coffins being buried at sea, his fleet was heading into the depths.
They would never rise again. Richter touched his sinking flagship and thought. Never, never again would they rise. All of Franzrit’s forces were now, in this moment, disappearing in a shockingly absurd way…
This ending is unacceptable!
Richter’s cloak fluttered. The plan was perfect. Guimerin would never have noticed his scheme. If only Iolande’s secret letter hadn’t arrived!
‘The secret letter… The hounds failed.’
It was right after that his contact with the Runraven group was cut off. Until then, the regular reports had always painted a positive picture.
There was an unexpected dragon resurrection. Slightly earlier than planned. But it was still a manageable variable. If there was something he hadn’t anticipated… If there was something he couldn’t have anticipated…
‘…Humans.’
The humans behind the dragon, destroying Guimerin’s Flagship! Richter’s suspicion turned to certainty at that moment. From Iolande’s secret letter to the current situation.
He couldn’t accept the resurrection of a god, the absurd fairy tale of the fleet’s annihilation. [Long ago, a port where wicked vampires were punished by the gods and disappeared.] He hadn’t worked so hard to create such a ridiculous legend.
The light was fading. Slowly, like a curtain being drawn. Richter, feeling the seawater rising to his feet, realized that he was the only one left alive.
His eyes reached far away, to Guimerin’s Flagship. He saw the giant dragon and the human figure sleeping in its embrace. Even the beastwoman running toward him.
The presence of the gods was fading, and the oppressive, damn divinity was dimly disappearing. Only then could Richter open his mouth.
“No one can escape death.”
Even the celestial gods were torn apart and killed by our hands. The destruction of Guimerin’s Flagship meant that the Eternal King Guimerin was also dead. Even that noble dragon couldn’t escape death.
Let alone a human! Richter sank into the sea, glaring at the human on the deck until the very end.
“You can’t escape me.”
In the darkness, a pair of red eyes floated in the air, staring at Fernandez. Once again, this dream.
As always, he stiffened under the terrible pressure, barely managing to meet the gaze. Looking away was not allowed this time either.
“Fernandez. You’ve finally set foot in hell.”
“Yeah. I have.”
The difference this time was that Fernandez admitted he had set foot in hell. Yeah, he had stepped into hell.
“Now I am an Inquisition Officer of the Temple of the Gods. Walking through hell has become my duty.”
Fernandez found it amusing that he was saying such things. It was a kind of joke. The being with the red eyes knew it too.
Heh, the thing laughed. Along with Fernandez. After a long bout of laughter, its eyes flashed in the darkness.
“You used hellish magic. You tasted the omnipotence of that moment. A part of your soul is already trembling with nostalgia for that time.”
“It was fun.”
Fernandez nodded.
“I’m glad I once had that kind of power. It’s because of me that it’s a good thing.”
If he had been an ordinary Diemonica? He would never have made it this far. Even if coincidences and miracles had overlapped, he wouldn’t have reached this conclusion.
His own salvation was still far away, faint. But at least he could lend a hand to others. For now, that was enough. His plans were never going to end in one move.
“Sentimental, Fernandez. You’ve grown weak.”
The darkness lifted, revealing a burning world. A familiar illusion. Fernandez looked at the scene, feeling a familiar comfort.
-Ahhh!!
-Kill!
-Oh God!!!
The Hundred Years’ War between the Leviathan Empire and the Kirazat Sultanate was the signal for the collapse of civilized society. The Eastern Kingdom Alliance was withering, unable to sustain the troops and resources poured into this war.
In this chaotic time, the great beast tribes fought on different sides, the sea elves hunted gods, and the vampires devoured human civilization. Undead appeared, swallowing cities, and monsters hunted humans on remote mountain paths and rugged terrain.
Far away in the world, beyond the North Sea, raiders appeared. Erik the Black. The great warlord who united the northern barbarians. They started in the north and plundered and destroyed indiscriminately in the east and west. The civilized society, exhausted by the Hundred Years’ War, could not stop their advance.
Meanwhile, what about the flames that started beyond the Great Wilderness in the west? The world map unfolding before Fernandez was burning, consumed by the flames raging beyond the wilderness.
The Demon Horse King Karadskar. The Khan of the Five Thousand Great Gers, the leader of Lewiweingar. From the tribal nations of the Great Western Wilderness to the Kirazat Sultanate. Even reaching the High Council of Aseas. Every city and kingdom in their path burned to ashes.
The map was torn in the middle, and five hands appeared.
Empress Sadarkelisa, Nightmarish Mumto, Insect King Urkasia, Yekaset of the Seven Crowns. And up to Duke of Crimson Tyban. Five great demons and the hundreds and thousands of heretical sects that followed them were lurking behind all these events.
Until humanity finally exhausted its strength to rise. They were just quietly waiting. The great human civilization collapsed on its own.
It is the era of the Great War. The fall of humanity began and ended with a blade turned against itself. [The Crimson Spire]. In the fortress built by Faijashi in his later years, the last ‘pure human’ died.
“Your destruction is already predetermined. It’s not something you can stop with your power alone. Even if you were given several times the time you have now. The outcome wouldn’t change.”
“Thank you.”
Fernandez nodded cheerfully. He clenched the map burning and scattering ashes. The heat pulsed in his grip.
“Thanks for summarizing my plan. Faijashi.”
He would no longer be swayed by nightmares. In a world engulfed in flames, the red eyes looked at him and smiled back.
Leia sat on the deck, anxiously watching the ropes draped into the sea. Now that the vampires were completely annihilated, there were no threats to the elves beneath the waves, at least near Infermur.
-Splash!
Soon, the sea parted, and an elf in a diving suit climbed onto the deck, spitting out water. He shook his head wearily, clearing his ears.
“How is it? Did you find anything? Anything at all?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The elf coughed repeatedly, pulling out a small piece of wood from his waist bag. It was a wooden model with a black sheen. Leia held the model of Guimerin King’s Flagship and prayed.
‘Goddess, your people will follow.’
The goddess…
