Shk-shk-shk!
From around Janus and me, thousands of bone tendrils began sprouting all at once. As if staking out an entire domain, the tendrils filled the area in an instant, stretching toward everything nearby.
Rrrmmmbll!
Shssk-shssk!
Thousands of bone tendrils, each moving as if possessed by their own will, lashed out to hunt the surrounding flying beasts. Despite their typical erratic evasive maneuvers, most couldn't avoid the onslaught and were promptly skewered.
[Kyaaaaahk...!]
[Kkireek, kkiririk!]
Esther shouted.
["They keep coming!"]
There was no need to be surprised. That's what we'd come here for.
"Let them."
At my gesture, Janus's bone tendrils began forming an enormous shape.
[Summoning 'Judgement of Ankelenth'.]
The pitch-black spear that pronounced doom upon all living beings revealed itself to the world.
There was no need to hesitate.
Everything touched by the sweeping spearhead turned to dust and scattered.
Fssssh!──
Judgement of Ankelenth commenced its verdict upon all living things.
A sentence of death.
[Ghak...!]
[Gyek!]
Not even a prolonged scream echoed—every beast and creature touched by the Judgment of Ankelenth was obliterated without trace.
Nothing dared approach me.
For the place I stood was a throne reserved only for the true king.
["So, this… this is what the world looks like from the throne above all."]
With the eerie laughter of the Turncoat King, the surrounding flying beasts all turned toward me at once.
As if sensing some massive threat.
[Kyaooooooo───!]
[Kyaaaaahk!]
[Krukh, krurururukh!]
Janus and the Turncoat King did not remain idle—they sent out bone tendrils in all directions.
Though they had yet to form complete shapes, even in their raw form they were more than enough to handle the oncoming horde.
["Know your place. You dare bare your fangs?"]
[Gigigit!]
Every time the thousands of bone tendrils moved, meat fragments that once belonged to beasts rained down from above.
Thud!
Thudthudthud!───
Grade-2 Aerial Beasts, Grade-3 Crag Beasts, Grade-1 Aberrations—all wiped out without so much as token resistance.
It wasn't that they were weak.
Janus was just far too powerful.
'This is… truly beyond comparison.'
Even before the Bone Lord hunt, Janus had never been weak. If anything, he was already strong.
He'd devoured stage bosses like Opacum the Rotting Body and Ouroboros of the Snake Cave, as well as countless named beasts and monsters.
'But even so…'
Compared to what he is now, that Janus felt like night and day. The power he now held was far beyond ordinary.
Janus was proving, with certainty, what it meant to stand at the apex of all bone-parasite monsters.
[Kkiieee....]
[Kak, kak, kak!]
Amidst a cacophony of screams and roars, death was scattered everywhere.
Blood and flesh. Chunks of meat.
A red rain fell from the sky.
An endless, unknown rain.
["A feast, after so long."]
[Giggit!]
Janus and the Turncoat King swung their tendrils with such ferocity, even the falling blood droplets were devoured whole.
The grotesque scene only grew more surreal—so much so that it felt paradoxically ordinary.
["They're seriously swarming in like filth!"]
Esther raised her voice as ether surged, conjuring an ether storm over the battlefield.
While I had emphasized Janus's power, Esther too had gained no small amount from the Bone Lord hunt.
The sheer divine essence carried by the Bone Lord had been massive.
[Block, ahh…]
[Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.]
[Kiiiiiill──!]
[Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block. Block.]
Even amid the chaos, Rook and the other Turncoats slaughtered flying beasts with relentless roars.
"You're not half-bad!"
"…Refrain from such rude language toward His Majesty."
Rook's remark was, as usual, countered by Bishop.
"Talk for yourself."
"One day you'll pay for your insolence."
"Oh? You gonna be the one to make me pay? Wanna go?"
["You two… not kin. Fools."]
Knight's dry voice made Bishop blink in surprise.
"…You could talk?"
["No duty to answer. Fool."]
"..."
Perhaps due to the ruckus, the situation shifted.
Until just moments ago, we had been pressing our assault. But now, swarms of beasts from elsewhere had completely surrounded us.
It was likely a portion of the horde meant for the Wave had diverted to us instead.
["…Master, this might be turning ugly."]
"We'll see."
Beasts closed in from all sides.
There was once a time when Waves had terrified me.
Who wouldn't tremble at the sight of endless hordes pouring in from beyond the horizon?
Every time I faced a Wave, I questioned myself.
Could I survive amid that sea of monsters?
Could I truly kill them all and defend Ark?
Fear, doubt, uncertainty.
But no more.
I no longer feared those beasts.
I no longer questioned anything.
I no longer doubted myself.
And so, I move forward.
Toward them.
And toward the end of this world.
[Activating 'Rift Space'.]
Within the [Rift Space], I retrieved the BLT-47 Plasma Launcher and ICE-54 Plasma Cooler.
Weapons I'd handled like extensions of my own body before I acquired the Zeus-444 Railgun.
Though they lacked the Railgun's piercing power, in a situation like this—surrounded on all sides—they were perfect.
Click─
As the triggers were pulled, flashes and frost burst out from the plasma weapons' vents.
KRKRKRKRKRRRM!───
The twin streams of ruin from the BLT-47 and ICE-54 swept across the field.
Janus's tendrils moved in sync, swatting down and tearing apart wave after wave of charging flyers.
["I knew it would come to this!"]
Even as she shouted, Esther didn't halt the ether storm.
Red flashes, blue frost, and Janus's bone tendrils merged into a single catastrophic storm.
[You have slain Grade-2 Aberration: Mutated Quetzalcoatl.]
[Damage to Mutated Quetzalcoatl increases by 0.05%.]
[You have slain Grade-1 Insectoid: Winged Mantis.]
[Damage to Winged Mantis increases by 0.05%.]
[You have slain Grade-2 Aerial Beast: Red-Winged Wyvern.]
[Damage to Red-Winged Wyvern increases by 0.05%.]
.
.
.
[You have slain Grade-3 Aerial Beast: Sky Whale.]
[Damage to Sky Whale increases by 0.05%.]
When the grips of my BLT-47 and ICE-54—normally heat-resistant—began to feel hot even to me, I slipped them back into [Rift Space] and pulled out the Zeus-444 Railgun.
Now my main weapon.
And the most powerful and efficient of them all.
Clack─
Loaded: 120mm NA-44 High-Capacity Napalm Rounds.
Ideal for large-area devastation and especially effective against flyers with vulnerable wings.
[Lv.2]
Power output set near minimum.
Precisely what made it perfect for rapid napalm dispersal.
"Let's keep it going."
Tssht, tssht-tssht!───
Sparks burst from the muzzle of the Zeus-444, flaring in every direction.
KRRRRBOOM!
Explosions rippled out in rapid succession.
Infernos blazed across the battlefield, like hell itself erupting onto the mortal realm.
Within those flames, flyers ignited and died flailing.
[Kkigegegegek...!]
[Krurukh!]
Young beasts wailed.
Cries that sounded like they were calling for their mothers—but I had no intention of stopping.
'More. More. More.'
Kill. And then kill some more.
That was my purpose.
* * *
Kill, devour, repeat.
This couldn't be called as a war anymore.
It was just hunting.
A Massacre.
'Casualties... minimal.'
Despite the length of the engagement, Janus, Horus, and the rest of the Turncoat Legion were virtually unharmed.
They had been surrounded a few times, but I had intervened before things got out of hand.
"Hoo..."
I let out a soft breath.
Even for me, keeping pace with Janus and the Betrayer King's tempo was exhausting.
Meanwhile, the others looked fresh as ever.
"Our mighty king looks a bit worn out, huh? Meanwhile your loyal vassals are still raring to go. What a king."
"Mind your tongue in front of His Majesty, Rook."
"Let's clarify. When you say 'His Majesty,' do you mean Carl Marcus himself, or the armor he's wearing?"
"...That distinction is meaningless."
Rook squinted.
He looked like he had found a new toy.
"Oh? Can't answer that easily, can you? Seems like someone's a little... insincere?"
"...Silence."
"Come on, say it. Is your King Carl Marcus, or that armor on his back?"
"..."
As Look and Bishop exchanged barbs, I glanced out over the horizon.
'Hmph...'
What had once been a storm of black clouds was now calm.
That infernal Wave—
Was nearing its end.
===BREAK===
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