How to Live as a Knight After the Ending-Chapter 524

In the distant past, myths and legends lived and breathed. Not science, but mystery formed the foundation of the world. Ancient monsters. Primordial native gods. Giants of the age of gods. Even the dragon species that ruled the sky, land, and sea.

Before countless transcendent monsters, humans were nothing but the weak. Bowing down, prostrating, being plundered. All they could do was kneel and pray that the tyranny of powerful beings would not reach them.

Humans are weak. Even if they learn skills to resist, master magic, and covet the power of mystery, they are still the weak.

Yet humans are tenacious. As if that is all they have been given. Humans united and combined their strength. Those who could do nothing alone began to create a great flow when they gathered.

Yet humans are weak. No matter how many ants gather, they cannot do anything to an elephant. Yet humans never stopped. Their numbers swelled, and from somewhere, they began to tenaciously chase from behind.

'Perhaps what became the decisive catalyst.'

The Great Witch Mother Goose ruminated on the past.

'Was because all the monsters, divine beings, and monsters of that time were killed by a certain knight.'

That was the only catalyst for humanity's population to explosively increase. The beings that killed and oppressed humans the most met their deaths one after another.

And finally, even the rules that had been suppressing the entire world fell beneath the starlight.

The moment their natural enemies disappeared the age of humanity opened.

'What a disgusting thing this is.'

She hates humans. No matter how much you step on them, if the roots remain, they rise tenaciously like weeds. That sight is so nauseating to watch that she couldn't stand it without leaving it alone.

However, she had to acknowledge the danger of humans. Ants cannot topple an elephant? Let me correct that. They cannot topple it because the number of ants is small.

Catastrophically countless ants can topple even an elephant.

'That's why we had to change our methods too.'

One cannot survive as an individual with transcendent power. When you kill one human they swell to ten or a hundred and retaliate. Their madness and tenacity can be confidently said to be the greatest among all races.

'Humans learned and acquired things from other races to supplement their lacking parts.'

They subjugated demi-human races and acquired their skills and culture. They made airships to become like birds that fly in the sky, and made automobiles to become like horses that run on the ground.

Everything humans made is the result of imitating things humans cannot do. That's how they became strong and enormous.

'Then, there's no guarantee we shouldn't do the same.'

If humans unite they can unite too.

At the forefront of the mystical beings that were conversely oppressed and suppressed by humans were witches. An era when their numbers dwindled due to witch hunts, and newly made comrades died due to the atrocities of the Papacy.

Though many witches survive in the stronghold called Tirna. Mother Goose did not consider that survival. How is it survival to go under humans, who are inferior to witches, and receive their protection?

That was breeding, having thrown away both pride and self-respect. Receiving and eating the feed they give and being raised. Wearing a leash like that and becoming worthless beings who only follow what they tell them to do.

Mother Goose hated that. That's why she joined forces.

She increased the number of familiars with her witchcraft. Ordinary witches don't raise familiars. Even when they occasionally make familiars, it's only one or two at most because familiars with strong egos can conversely rebel against the witch.

There's no need to look far, a representative example is the Hansel and Gretel siblings.

The two are familiars. They are creatures made by the original owner of the moving candy castle, the Candy Witch. However, the two familiars threw the Candy Witch who created them into the furnace and burned her to death.

And after taking over her candy castle, they remodeled it in their own way. It's a clear example that familiars don't necessarily help witches.

But Mother Goose was different. She continued to make familiars. She increased their numbers as much as possible. Even though her position might be endangered by the increased familiars, she didn't give up.

Not stopping there, Mother Goose also joined hands with other witches and familiars.

That's how Mother Goose was finally able to build her own force: Wilde Jagd (Wild Hunt).

The force built that way invaded Tirna.

This time is different. She didn't half-heartedly send only the candy castle.

Even the candy castle was only an extremely small part of Wilde Jagd's military strength.

"For the return of the old age."

Today, Tirna will disappear.

GROOOOOAR!

A giant, vastly more enormous than the surrounding buildings, let out a roar. The giant appeared in the center of Tirna, tearing through the sky.

THOOM!

The ground where the giant's feet touched caved in deeply. The impact flowed through the ground and spread like waves. The surrounding buildings shook with a rumbling sound and collapsed.

KYAAAAAAH! Save me!

Citizens screamed. The unlucky people were swept away by the shockwave that spread as the giant appeared. It was an impact powerful enough to collapse Tirna massive buildings. Those swept away couldn't maintain their forms properly.

The giant raised its body that had been lowered from landing. Though it wore no clothes, its muscles were bizarrely developed in places all over its body, making it look like pseudo-armor. Looking closely, the skin maintained a rock-like texture. The surviving giant underwent changes as the era progressed. Especially since it was now the only remaining, last giant.

The giant became even more vicious with survival and witchcraft. Stronger, harder, more enormous. WHOOSH! The giant swung its arm toward a nearby building.

PANG!

Along with the shockwave, the building was cleanly blown away from the middle. Countless debris scattered in all directions, spreading like buckshot. Dusty clouds rose up everywhere. However, the giant's expression was not satisfactory because there were no people inside the building.

Come to think of it, the number of humans killed while landing on the ground wasn't that many either.

"Damn it. An attack really came."

A soldier who saw the giant's appearance from a distant street lowered his binoculars. Soon a huge shadow fell over the soldier's head. It was an airship that had been waiting in advance.

To prepare for Mother Goose's attack, Tirna was currently maintaining a state of war. If it were a surprise attack exploiting gaps, it would be one thing, but if they knew about it, they could respond.

Of course, it wasn't perfect. Many people who couldn't evacuate to air-raid shelters died. However, they weren't saddened by that. Originally, at least 30 times more people should have died than those who died now. They had done their best.

"Begin the bombardment."

The giant seemed to have belatedly realized that a shadow had fallen over its head. What reason would a being that had only looked down on everything until now have to suddenly look up at something?

Over the face of the flustered giant, pitch-black aerial bombs began to pour down.

KWAAAAABOOM!

A fire large and massive enough to engulf the giant's entire body erupted. The flames had enough firepower to melt not only the giant but all the surrounding buildings as well. Even the forces watching the scene from afar had to lower their bodies momentarily due to the flash and shockwave.

PWHAAAA!

The giant's hand burst out, cutting through the rising flames. The giant came out, tearing through the flames like ripping apart a curtain. Even in such firepower, the giant didn't die.

"It's alive even after taking that. Damn it."

Still, the giant wasn't completely unscathed. Its body was charred black in places and acrid smoke was flowing out. But how many more times would they have to pour it on to kill that thing? And there was no guarantee the giant would stay still in the meantime.

Just like right now.

GROOOOOAR!

The giant roared and dug up the ground with its hands. It threw the ground it scooped up with all its might toward the airship.

[Deploy defensive barrier!]

The escort ships around the bomber formed a formation. The outputs of the escort ships resonated with each other, generating a shield. The pile of debris thrown by the giant collided with the shield. The enormous physical force pounded the escort ships beyond the shield.

[Defensive barrier 30% damaged!]

[Escort ship 2 half-destroyed!]

[Escort ship 5, engine malfunction!]

[Damn it! What kind of power is that!]

The giant was indeed a natural disaster in its very existence. Just by shouting, it shakes the atmosphere and spreads shockwaves. When it stomps its feet, the ground shakes, and when it swings its hands, a pseudo-typhoon rages.

Moreover, the problem was that beings like this giant appeared all over the city. But they couldn't escape. They had to do their best in their assigned positions. Even if they died fighting that giant. That was their job and duty.

"For the city."

The lined-up soldiers steeled their resolve and prepared their weapons.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The howitzers prepared in advance spat fire while aiming at the giant.

"Keep shooting! Don't stop!"

The shells crossing through the air mercilessly pounded the giant's body. Huge explosions occurred ceaselessly, visible even from afar. It was a spectacular fireworks display bright enough to drive away the daylight.

The continuous bombardment stopped but it wasn't because a ceasefire order came down.

"Why did you suddenly stop attacking...!"

The soldier who turned around froze. The soldiers who should have been ceaselessly moving shells were collapsed, bleeding. At the center of that scene stood a fox-human wearing a tuxedo and holding a thin, long sword-stick in one hand.

"Truly disgusting. Adults are too disgusting."

The fox's voice was gentle.

"It would have been nice if you had remained children for life. Then humans too would have been a bit cute. This appearance that has cast off that cuteness is hard to bear watching."

The fox moved. It disappeared like a mirage in the desert, then the sword-stick thrust toward the soldier's forehead. The soldier couldn't move.

'I'm dying...'

CLANG!

Sparks flew right before his eyes.

The fox retreated back for a moment. The hand holding the sword-stick tingled. The fox stared at the person who blocked its sword with narrowed eyes.

It wasn't a person. It was a brown-skinned elf dressed in simple clothing.

"Mowen unnie begged and pleaded for help so I came out, but where did this half-baked thing pop out from?"

Eldin rested the hammer in her hand on her shoulder. Flames rose around her and a fire spirit appeared on her opposite shoulder.

KYAAAAAAH!

Blood-red dress, snow-white skin and hair, a chillingly beautiful appearance, but it was horribly contorted.

People who heard the scream of Mother Goose's familiar, the banshee, twisted their bodies. They bled from their eyes, nose, and ears. Some couldn't withstand the severe noise and their heads even burst open. The building glass around the banshee shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.

THUD!

The people who were trying to escape all collapsed. The banshee's sound had the effect of paralyzing the bodies of those who heard it due to infrasound. They could only sit down in place and face the banshee's approaching announcement of death. The path the banshee had already taken was full of corpses.

The guards protecting the district also met a terrible end.

"S-save me..."

His tongue was stiff and words didn't come out properly. The banshee's ghastly gaze turned toward the person who opened his mouth.

Only she should make sounds in this place. She couldn't tolerate anyone who dared to open their mouth. The banshee moved eerily while floating in the air. Finally, the banshee arrived right in front of the person who had spoken. Her hair billowed like a heat haze, like flames.

The citizens' complexions paled at that bizarreness.

The banshee opened its mouth. Contrary to its beautiful appearance, its red lips were torn down to below the ears.

The moment that mouth was about to let out a death scream.

ZIIING!

A beautiful guitar melody spread, encompassing the ears. The banshee flinched in surprise and retreated.

Before they knew it, musical notes sparkling with all kinds of beautiful colors were floating around.

"Huh, huuuh?"

"My body, it's moving."

People were surprised and stood up when their bodies moved perfectly fine.

JIGI-JING.

The sound of an electric guitar spread. The banshee's gaze turned toward the source of the sound. There stood Rose, holding an electric guitar and staring at the banshee.

"Ro, it's Rose."

"Rose Melody!"

Rose said to the citizens who were cheering at the sight of her.

"Everyone, run away. While I draw its attention here."

"Ro, Rose!"

"Hurry!"

Power filled Rose's voice. At the same time, the light around her grew stronger. The citizens blankly nodded and moved away from the banshee following Rose's guidance.

The banshee opened its mouth wide toward the fleeing citizens.

KEEEEEYAAAA!

A bizarre scream that scratched glass and beyond that, left a wound somewhere in the soul, spread in concentric circles. As if waiting, Rose struck the guitar. At the same time, her voice amplified with beautiful humming.

Sound and sound collided in the air. The death scream the banshee let out was blocked by Rose's voice praising life.

"If you want to sing, sing on stage."

Rose said with a smile toward the banshee glaring at her.

"Well, with that kind of voice, you'd be immediately booed by the audience though."

The banshee's face contorted terribly.