How to Live as a Knight After the Ending-Chapter 545

The cannon spat fire. The sound of gunfire and the acrid smell of gunpowder. Flickering flames and the rushing heat. What was felt after it subsided was a terrible stench and an eerie energy that stung the skin. A distorted landscape that chilled to the bone was everywhere.

Flames ceaselessly covered it all to somehow erase this terrible scene.

The resistance of the eroded land was not easy either. Just when it seemed to fade away in the flames, it stubbornly rose again like weeds. Void soldiers poured in endlessly. Though they couldn't move an inch before the firepower, there was a sense of crisis that it would be breached the moment there was even a slight gap.

"Shoot! Keep shooting without stopping!"

"If there are bastards resting, I'll personally send them to hell! Got it!"

It wasn't only soldiers fighting. The gangs from District 45 who had received help from Osian also stepped forward. They brought the chemical substances they were proud of and sprayed them indiscriminately at the void soldiers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With explosions, purple, green, and yellow smoke rose colorfully. The movements of void soldiers caught in it became sluggish, or their skin melted away, emitting smoke.

"Wahaha! It's working!"

"Die! You filthy bastards!"

Those with foul mouths let out curses refreshingly. However, the organization bosses giving commands didn't have good expressions.

"Damn it. Are you seeing this?"

"Yes. I see it."

While their subordinates were just enjoying using weapons they'd stored up until now, they couldn't do the same because they could see it, even if faintly.

"They're adapting."

There was a difference in the time it took for void soldiers to fall between the first attack and the current attack. The time it took to melt or the cases of falling into hallucinations had definitely decreased.

That meant the opponents were gradually getting stronger.

"What about raising the concentration to maximum?"

"If we do that, we don't know what problems the compound might cause by exploding. This is the maximum firepower we can produce. I also don't want to accidentally cause friendly fire where our allies are."

"For now, we have no choice but to try our best. Though, if there's any silver lining."

Muttering so, he stared at the battlefield.

A giant void beast and a giant were fighting. In the sky beyond, celestial pterosaurs and winged beasts were entangled, and airships were firing bombardments or crashing wrapped in flames.

The mages of the Magic Tower activated large-scale magic as a massive explosion occurred and enemies were swept away refreshingly but more void soldiers filled those empty spaces.

It was a massive battle that would never exist again in the world. It made one wonder if this much power had ever been gathered before. In mythology, there's a passage about heaven and earth fighting while creating the world.

Was it scripture? It was something the priests of the Petra Order said. Though his education was short, he had ears to listen so he remembered.

Could the scene written in that passage really compare to this one? He could assert that it could not.

A battle between heaven and earth. Even if one of the two fought and lost, one of them—heaven or earth—would remain.

But this wasn't like that. This was something where everything would disappear the moment of defeat. Disappearing into an endless void like a bottomless pit.

So how could it be called a mythological battle? Rather, future generations would look back at this very moment and call it the age of mythology. If they survived, that is.

Still, they wouldn't go down lonely. There were the guards and soldiers of the arrogant city government. The lackeys of corporations also dragged out what they had and were fighting.

Normally, corporations would have pretended not to know for profit, or backed away. The fact that they didn't meant this situation was as serious as could be.

To think they'd be fighting together with, not against, those bastards. Life was truly unpredictable.

Everything had changed after meeting that man.

Right. If they lost here, the world would end. Everyone would die equally. All the bastards they hated would die too.

That didn't mean they wanted the world to end. They didn't care whether those bastards died or not. It was because they didn't want to die themselves.

"Everyone! Fight for your lives!"

Osian stared at Solenon. The creature seemed not to have expected them to come.

However, he didn't ask about the situation. That was because of Solenon's eyes.

His pupils were split into hundreds like those of a dragonfly. They were honeycomb-shaped compound eyes. Solenon quickly grasped the battle situation with those compound eyes. He seemed to receive battlefield information from specific filth or void soldiers.

"I see. So that's how it was."

Solenon realized that all nations of the continent had united.

"They're always divided and fighting each other, but still join hands in moments of crisis."

A hollow laugh escaped. He had watched foolish human history longer than anyone. Those fools would fight to protect their own rice bowls even while humanity was perishing. That was Solenon's assumption. Though he called it an assumption, if he—the highest intelligence—thought so, it should have practically come to pass.

But it didn't because of Osian.

That guy had changed many things. Those who should have split and fought joined hands. Tirna should have been divided. However, they became one and even bowed their heads to other nations to request help.

Why was that?

It was because the flames knights produced were based on the power of the heart. Those flames maximized humans' positive thoughts.

Inner flames. Usually invisible, but after becoming a body that followed the void, he could see them.

The light of stars existing throughout the world was objectively beautiful, but Solenon felt disgust. Perhaps this was what it felt like to visually perceive fine dust that couldn't usually be seen. Realizing that the air he breathed was this dirty was agonizing.

That which was opposite to the power of the void was unbearable for Solenon. And Osian, who could be called the source of that light, stood before him.

Solenon looked at Osian, but more than that, he saw the blazing pure white flames. He wanted to extinguish it, but if he carelessly reached out, he would be the one burned.

Solenon waved his hand. The surrounding filth squirmed and rose. All the filth that had turned into Black Star Knights rushed at Osian.

It was to somehow eliminate Osian.

However

Thwang! Thwang!

Pure white flashes pierced through the Black Star Knights. Magic of pure mana crushed them. Red lines overlapped countless times, slicing the Black Star Knights to pieces, or mist rose and swallowed them whole.

"You brought quite a bunch."

Solenon glared with an annoyed gaze at those lined up behind Osian. The fixers of Violet Fox. That wasn't all. There were knights that Osian had personally raised, and automata that had received support.

[You look terrible.]

One automaton spoke to Solenon.

"Deliphiros. Did you borrow it from the Puppeteer?"

[Yes, well. As you can see, I'm also the mayor, so I need to know how the situation is flowing. That's not what's important. Did you do such things until now to reign over this pile of filth?]

Solenon's brow furrowed at the words "pile of filth."

"It only looks that way to those who know nothing. Like how uncivilized natives don't properly know the precious value of gold even when they see it. To your eyes it may look like filth, but to me now it's different. This world itself is pollution to me."

[That's how it looks because you arbitrarily joined hands with invaders. It means you abandoned being human and ultimately became a hideous monster.]

"I don't care what you say. What I must do won't change."

There was no regret. If he'd had even a sliver of emotion to feel such things, he wouldn't have dared to join hands with the void.

[Yes. I know too. That's why I'm just saying it. You've failed. Your actions to divide the world, those vile plans to plunge it into chaos. It's all over.]

"No. It's not over yet."

Black Star Knights continued to rise from the filth. The number of filth didn't decrease. It overflowed from the ground like an endless spring. It looked like black magma flowing.

However, it wasn't enough to stop the knights' advance.

"Go!"

Loraine shouted. She aimed at the Black Star Knights blocking the path ahead so Osian could advance easily.

Osian riding the Sacred Mark Warhorse charged and Solenon's expression became urgent.

"Block him! Block him even if you have to give your lives!"

Black Star Knights rose from the filth and aimed at Osian. However, it wasn't easy.

[Did you think we'd let you?]

The automaton controlled by the Puppeteer simultaneously projected the firepower they had prepared. Tremendous firepower of bullets, capsules, and magic bombs covered the filth and caused grand explosions.

It wasn't enough to make the Black Star Knights fall with this, but it was enough to make them flinch so they couldn't move immediately.

"O Void! O Legion! I need support!"

Solenon urgently shouted. This was different from his expectations. Originally, no one should have made it this far even if the ritual ended smoothly. It was all because of a critical variable—Osian.

That guy didn't fit into his calculations. He always showed actions and results beyond common sense. This time was the same.

Black Star Knights couldn't stop him. Neither could the Black Star Knight Captain. He needed support from a being of higher rank.

Solenon urgently requested help toward the rift that had opened.

Osian approached Solenon to almost point-blank range. It was the moment his sword was about to cut Solenon's neck.

[Legion. Star existence. Devour.]

A meteor fell from the sky. Its speed was different from those that had fallen until now. It was truly like a flash. Not a fall due to gravity, but a charge toward a target.

Osian corrected the trajectory of his sword and swung it at the falling meteor.

A voice was coming from that thing, which meant it wasn't an ordinary meteor, so it was right to eliminate it quickly.

Just before the blade of Sun Moon Star touched the meteor, the meteor exploded in mid-air by itself.

Black dust spread in all directions and the blade passed through the black dust. Osian's eyebrows twitched.

'The sensation is different. This isn't ordinary dust.'

Osian's superhuman eyesight turned toward the black smoke. What squirmed and moved were actually very small insects. Insects the size of millet grains that looked like a mix of stag beetles, bees, and centipedes were so numerous they appeared like smoke.

The insects spread in all directions. They instantly hatched eggs, and new insects hatched from the eggs, multiplying their numbers.

"Wh-what is that!"

Loraine was shocked. Even she, who had great courage, had her voice tremble involuntarily.

[Get back. I'll handle it.]

The Puppeteer stepped forward. The automatons he'd brought for support all flew up, spraying steam at once. Flames spewed from the backs of the automata's hands.

Fwooooosh!

The flames swallowed the swarm of insects like a black cloud.

Burned insects fell in droves. Acrid smoke irritated the nose. Buzzzzz. The sound of wing-flapping didn't stop. There were too many insects. The insects clung densely to the automata controlled by the Puppeteer. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

[What is this! I can't control!]

The Puppeteer's panicked voice was brief. The automaton stopped functioning and crashed to the ground.

Splat!

The body of the automaton that fell on the filth trembled intermittently. The automaton's sturdy metal armor decomposed and insects squirmed out from inside. Their numbers kept increasing.

It was a disgusting sight. More surprising was the insects' absurd vitality.

"H-how? It's metal, yet insects..."

Edgar muttered as if he couldn't understand. The sight of insects multiplying inside automata made of inorganic matter, not organic matter, was beyond common sense.

That was possible because those insects were also beings from outside. One of the Void Legion members of much higher rank than the Black Star Knight Captain.

"This thing it's like the gray fungus."

Osian recalled the gray fungus. It survived even in a baptism of fire with absurd vitality, and the moment it opened its eyes, it eroded and devoured even the surrounding metal.

He felt the same thing from these insects. However, there was also a clear difference from the gray fungus.

'It can speak. That means it has some intelligence.'

It was even a member of the Void Legion. That meant it had entered under the Primordial Void by itself.

The swarm of insects began to multiply in an instant.

[Kin. Food. Multiply.]

The swarm also rushed at the Black Star Knights. Black insects covered the struggling Black Star Knights. The appearance of the Black Star Knights crumbled in an instant and the swarm grew. Those born by feeding on Black Star Knights were faster and harder.

"Everyone fall back."

Osian said so and greatly raised the energy of Sun Moon Star.

Before his eyes, hundreds of millions of insects rushed at him. Though small in size, the moment even one was allowed to penetrate, it would be dangerous. The moment even one burrowed into his flesh, it would lay eggs inside and multiply until the host died.

Whiiiiing!

The sound of wing-flapping was quite threatening. With so many, the sound alone made it feel like the world was decomposing. Osian raised his empty hand not holding the sword. With light, a large flagpole was created.

A solar flame flickered like a flag above the flagpole and when he planted the flagpole, an invisible wave of heat spread around.

Crackle!

Insects that crossed the boundary instantly turned to ash and disappeared. No matter how many there were, it didn't matter.

"W-we're saved."

Loraine sighed in relief and patted her chest.

"But how do we deal with this?"

They were creatures that hadn't fallen even to flamethrowers. The numbers increasing were greater than those decreasing.

Osian stared at the swarm. It was one yet the entire swarm. The existence itself was a collective.

"Then, I'll just have to burn them all at once."

The pattern that appeared behind Osian's back shone intensely.

[Star. Existence. Danger.]

The swarm also knew Osian was dangerous. They mercilessly rushed to somehow cross the domain Osian had declared. An uncountable mass blazed as they crossed the domain. However, there were more weaving through those gaps and getting closer than those burning. Osian found it laughable.

"How dare."

Would mere insects dare to covet his space that even Red Eternity hadn't dared?

Radiance exploded from behind Osian's back.

────!!

Soundless light spread. Like throwing a stone into calm water, pure white waves spread like concentric circles. As the waves swept past, the swarm instantly oxidized and the filth filling the plaza also burned at a tremendous speed.

"Kuaaaak!"

Even Solenon wasn't safe. His eyeballs dried up and his skin cracked. That was despite sensing the crisis and protecting his body as much as possible.

The waves didn't stop at once. They spread two, three more times, completely sweeping the plaza clean. The swarm, 90 percent of which disappeared in the first wave, felt a life crisis and tried to flee far away. They shouldn't have done that. Rather, they should have gathered in one place to endure.

The scattered swarm was swept away by the successive waves and completely disappeared. Those watching that scene from behind had to let out soundless shock.

However, Osian's expression wasn't bright.

"Kuk. Kukukuk! Kuhahaha!"

Solenon laughed. With burned eyeballs and skin cracked like an old tree, he laughed madly. His head turned toward the sky, more precisely, toward the rift beyond.

"He's coming. He is coming!"

Because his role had finally been fulfilled.