Perhaps the thing that lingers most in memory during war—aside from blood, fire, steel, and ruin—is sound.
The sound of screams.
Of pain.
The savage howls of war that escape a person without their awareness.
Sound is a fundamental element of war.
It reflects the morale of an entire army ...
and at times, it alone is enough to turn the tide.
Between the Ultras and the Empire ...
it was painfully clear who held the advantage in that regard.
The howls of monsters and demons,
the shrill grinding of iron puppets—
completely drowned out the voices of the Empire’s warriors.
At first, the humans shouted with fervor,
fighting with the resolve to stand until their final breath.
But at some point that fervor began to fade.
Gradually ...
it turned into despair.
The difference in strength was overwhelming.
Ordinary soldiers—those of lower ranks like A and B—
stood no chance against creatures that surpassed SS.
And so ...with the exception of the strong—
they died.
Fast.
Terrifyingly fast.
So fast that their numbers had already dropped to less than half of what they were at the beginning of the battle ...
despite not much time having passed.
One could say it was inevitable.
And in truth—
few cared about the lives of those ordinary soldiers.
Somewhere within the human ranks—
the elite students gathered together, fighting side by side for survival.
They performed well—
far better than the average soldier, thanks to their exceptional talent and abilities.
At their center stood Dawn Polaris, bearer of absolute luck ..
a man who escaped every crisis.
They fought well.
But their faces were rigid.
Dark.
And growing darker with each passing second.
Because of the blood.
The severed limbs.
The spilled guts.
The heads rolling across the ground without their bodies.
Imperial soldiers were dying ...
faster than anyone had anticipated.
Their heroes did not protect them.
They were fully occupied—
with battles of their own.
The founders of great families.
The champions of the Shadow Sect.
Even the powerful figures above—
including Frey Starlight, in whom many had placed their faith.
He knew they would die like this.
And yet ... he did not look back.
Because, to him—
their deaths were necessary.
He did not care.
But someone else of his own blood did.
At the forefront of the battlefield ..
after his blades of light had already torn through vast numbers of demons and Ultras alike ...
Abraham Starlight was the only one who turned back.
And what he saw—
was his own kind dying.
Falling at an alarming rate.
He drew in a breath .. air thick with the scent of blood and death.
His grip tightened around his sword.
His eyes narrowed.
One of the mutated Ultras attempted to ambush him—
but Abraham’s blade moved at the speed of light, tearing it apart before it could even dream of touching him.
"This war..." he said, his voice deep.
"...is different. Completely different from any I’ve fought before."
He was far removed from the Empire’s soldiers—
having pushed forward alone into the enemy ranks.
He had believed that doing so would ease the pressure on the army .
even if only slightly.
But what he faced...
was merely a drop in an endless ocean.
The enemy’s numbers were overwhelming.
And the reinforcements from Hellmond—
were no joke.
Abraham understood the plan.
He knew it well.
But seeing reality unfold before him ..
he began to doubt.
Raising his sword before his face,
the glow of his aura reflected in his eyes along its blade.
"Frey... this is not a normal war."
"This is a war that could lead to the extinction of an entire race... the human race."
"Only a few thousand of us remain... and most of them are here, fighting this battle."
He moved through the monsters, tearing them apart with ease—
yet his thoughts remained fixed on the path the war had taken.
There were not many humans left on this planet.
Most of them were here—
fighting.
Those who remained in the Shadow Sect—
were children, the elderly, and ordinary women—
people who could not survive on their own.
The strongest fighters had all come to the battlefield.
And that led Abraham to a question ...
one that echoed within him.
"Is it right... to sacrifice all of these people—"
"just to preserve strength for what comes next?"
"Should I hold back... when I know I can save them?"
"I understand that victory comes with a price... and perhaps that price today is all these lives being lost with every passing second..."
"I understand..."
His teeth clenched.
His swords began to fade.
"I understand... but I refuse this path."
Abraham closed his eyes.
And released his guard completely.
He stood in the middle of the battlefield—
completely defenseless.
Regret evident on his face.
The monsters lunged at him instantly—
piling onto him in a frenzy, eager to tear apart this ferocious human warrior.
Within seconds—
dozens leapt upon him, stacking over his body ..
until Abraham disappeared beneath them entirely.
This sudden shift drew the attention of those watching.
They could not understand what he was doing.
"...Father," Frey muttered, frowning.
"What are you doing?"
The same question echoed in the minds of those above—
and those watching from below.
The monsters continued to swarm him.
And in less than a minute ..
Abraham lay buried beneath a mountain of demons and beasts.
Nothing of him remained visible.
Only darkness.
And filth.
But it did not last.
Light burst forth from within the writhing mass.
A brilliant light—
like a star on the verge of explosion.
"I’m not finished yet."
Abraham’s voice roared from beneath tons of monsters.
In that instant ... the demons and the mindless mutated Ultras trembled.
They were supposed to be creatures devoid of fear.
And yet—
a single man... had changed that entirely.
A strange surge of aura began to boil—
and an overwhelming pressure spread across the battlefield where Abraham stood.
Slowly, the eyes of Frey and the others widened as they felt that abnormal flow of power.
Without warning—
light erupted.
Every creature that had dared to touch Abraham was blown away instantly.
From beneath the pile ...
he rose again.
Not a single scratch marked his body.
He was still the same man—
yet completely different.
His long black hair ignited with a resonant white glow tinged with silver ..
as if it were woven from strands of starlight.
His aura had changed entirely.
It resembled a blazing silver flame... one that bordered on gold.
It was calm.
Still.
Yet the immense pressure it radiated made one thing clear—
this was no ordinary transformation.
"If no one else cares... I do."
Abraham’s voice carried a commanding weight.
A new sword formed in his hand.
A different sword .. massive, over two meters in length .
shining with the same radiant power.
"In the end... I am human."
"And it is my duty to fight for humanity."
"If this power can become the reason this race survives—then it is worth unleashing!"
He shifted into a completely different stance.
His teeth clenched.
Then—
he roared.
A thunderous cry that shook the battlefield itself.
"Stacked Ignition: Supernova!!"
From the first ignition ...
another ignited.
A star exploded and became something else entirely.
Abraham had achieved something beyond comprehension.
He did not stop at a single ignition.
After witnessing his own shortcomings—his weakness compared to his enemies...
and even compared to his own son ...
he broke past his limits once more.
Reminding everyone—
why he had been called a miracle in the first place.
A colossal pillar of light erupted from his body rising higher and higher ...
until it reached the very bounds of the heavens.
Even in space—
Snow’s eyes widened as the pillar reached him,
driven by the sheer scale of the aura.
But it was not a pillar.
It was Abraham’s sword—
raised high into the sky.
And then he brought it down.
Without mercy.
Before the horrified eyes of all who watched.
The blade descended slowly ...
its sheer size turning it into a drawn-out death sentence for all beneath it.
SLAAAAAAAAAASH!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The war... stopped.
Every fighter froze.
Time itself seemed to halt.
All eyes turned toward a catastrophe—
one beyond anything they had witnessed.