Chapter 508: When Corpses Touched the Sky (2)
"Ah... this means I get to kill plenty today as well."
It was a brutal battle.
I deliberately went for their strongest, leaving the weak to my companions.
That way, Ghost and Uriel wouldn’t be in real danger .. they were strong enough to handle the rest.
As for Sansa, she was a monster in the same league as myself, so I had no reason to worry about her at all.
With the battlefield set, I could fight freely—ignoring the other soldiers on purpose.
Whatever emotions threatened to surface because of them, I drowned them in bloodshed.
My sword was too fast, my strikes too heavy and devastating for the enemy to handle.
No matter how they tried to surround me, they couldn’t stop me.
At times, their blades and spears did find me.
I’m not invincible. Taking some damage is inevitable, even if my opponents were much weaker.
But the wounds they inflicted...after all their desperate efforts...healed almost instantly.
Their struggle was meaningless.
I saw despair wash over their faces because of that.
But I forgot their expressions just as quickly as I stepped over their corpses.
Drenched in blood, I would often feel nauseous.
As if I were about to lose consciousness...
Sometimes, it felt like I was dreaming.
And when I finally woke from that dream, the battle would already be over.
Wiping the filth and blood off my face, I’d turn to check on my companions .. only to find the sun had already set on the horizon, and behind me lay nothing but corpses and severed limbs.
Today too... we had lost many.
Burials had become a hassle. Our numbers had dwindled so much that we no longer needed to bury many.
Death had already claimed most of us.
"Rest tonight. But don’t lower your guard... the next battle could begin at any moment."
After giving that hollow order, I would leave, abandoning the rest behind.
Then, just like the nights before, my body would begin absorbing that strange power crawling beneath my skin.
Sansa often came to me. She had noticed what I was going through.
But she never said a word.
Sometimes, she would hug me from behind, holding me for hours.
Other times, she would just sit beside me, waiting for my suffering to pass...
I still couldn’t kill my emotions completely, and that made it harder to find the will to continue.
But it was never about what I loved or hated.
It was about what I had to do.
The hours passed swiftly, ushering in a new day.
...
...
...
— Day Seventeen —
Once again, the Ultras attacked.
According to the reports we had received so far, numerous skirmishes had broken out between the two sides across the front.
That made me wonder .. how had the Ultras managed to gather all these forces and focus them here, specifically on my location?
The campaign they launched today was the largest yet.
Standing at the front, I watched that overwhelming tide of enemies approach—enemies whose war cry shook the heavens...
In front of their endless legions, I drew my swords and took the first step .. just like always.
"Stay close to me."
I gave the order as I pulled out that black mask from inside my clothes.
Wearing it, hiding my face behind its cold surface...
I stomped the ground, shattering it beneath my feet, launching myself into the enemy ranks.
Once again, I found myself drowning in that endless cycle of death and blood.
Through the eyeholes of the Nameless mask, it felt as if I was seeing the world from a different perspective...
Behind that piece of black metal, I felt a strange peace of mind. All unnecessary thoughts vanished the moment I put it on.
That’s why I came to prefer fighting with it on.
It comforted me ..and terrified my enemies, who died at the hands of a monster whose face they never even saw.
The battle dragged on for hours, and as expected... it was brutal.
When I finally killed the last soldier, I raised my head toward the sky ..only to find it completely swallowed by darkness.
Night had fallen.
I felt an unbearable heat radiating from every muscle in my body... the fire and fatigue born from endless combat, from cutting and slashing without pause.
Removing the mask from my face, a hot cloud of steam escaped my lips as I exhaled, then turned around to assess what remained behind me.
The number of corpses was greater than ever before.
As for the survivors... they were fewer than I had hoped.
Sansa’s voice brought me back to reality.
"Frey... all the soldiers are dead. Only eight remain... along with you, me, Ghost, and Uriel."
Ah... so they all died after all.
"Let’s bury the dead and prepare for the next battle."
I gave the order again, then helped with the burials of our fallen comrades...
The unlucky ones who were dragged into this path of death I had chosen.
When the exhausting task of burying them was finally over... after being forced to look at the hollow expressions of dead soldiers..
Some had lost their heads. Others had their limbs torn off.
Some were burned alive by stray fire attacks...
They all died with fear and despair etched into their faces.
They must have tried to follow me into the battlefield, hoping I would save them.
But my focus had been locked on the enemies ahead, leaving me completely unaware of anything behind.
After all, the Ultras had sent many of their strongest warriors. Dealing with those monsters had been my priority.
As a result, I had no time to save anyone.
Those men died because of me.
That’s a fact I cannot deny.
Standing before their graves... there wasn’t much I could say.
So I simply walked away.
On my way out, I noticed the bizarre walls and mountains being constructed from enemy corpses...
Morval and Grim were the ones gathering the bodies and building all sorts of things with them.
Somehow, they had become close friends without me realizing.
Thanks to them, our encampment had become a place that struck fear into the heart of anyone who dared approach it.
Walls built from severed limbs. Mountains of corpses numbering in the thousands.
It was certainly not a pleasant sight.
But I didn’t mind. In fact, I welcomed it.
Maybe now... the Ultras would start sending their true elites.
And then, the real war would begin.