Black Badger

I nodded and stepped outside.

I joined the seniors who had finished all their preparations and were waiting. The people just nodded at me without saying a word. I returned the greeting with a bow of my head.

The cold dawn breeze carried the scent of metal.

I climbed up to the wall, inhaling the sharp air.

As Ye-hyeon walked along the wall, he suddenly stopped at an unremarkable spot.

"I'll drive."

He leaped down below.

The others followed him. I jumped off the wall after him as well. There, a single black military vehicle was parked.

Without a word, we boarded, and the vehicle smoothly started moving. The seniors gripped their weapons and maintained silence.

I also kept my mouth shut and sharpened my senses.

It would still take a few hours to face him.

Even so, the distance was closing, and I could vividly feel the presence of my kin.

My fingertips tingled.

"Kal."

After a long stretch of silence while driving, Ye-hyeon's voice came.

"Once we reach a suitable spot, set up and report in."

"Yes."

The military vehicle slowed down.

As soon as I got out, I surveyed the surroundings. Summer hadn't fully ended yet, so even in the early morning, it was fairly bright. The pale dawn light bathed the desolate ruins, which showed no signs of human life.

A few steps ahead, the slope began. Corroded high-rise buildings stood beside the main road.

It was a good place to meet the enemy.

We prepared to receive the enemy.

"Drones."

Ami muttered as she pulled out countless unmanned aerial vehicles from the vehicle.

Ye-hyeon smiled faintly.

"If we get pushed back, we'll retreat through the portal in that orange building."

Once the drone setup was complete, Ye-hyeon pointed to the building behind him.

The seniors turned to look at the nondescript building.

It was low and worn, easy to overlook.

Those preparing for the reclamation battle must have installed the portal there in advance.

"The portal inside connects to the one behind the fortress. When the retreat order comes, head straight for the portal without hesitation."

"Yes."

"Let's eat breakfast."

The sergeant said casually, gazing at the city spread out below the slope.

His black ponytail fluttered in the wind.

"It'll take about an hour for the core to open. And about an hour and a half until they arrive."

That was impressively accurate.

I was surprised by Ye-hyeon's words as I gauged the distance to Kyle. If they kept approaching at this speed, I'd face my kin in an hour and a half. Of course, the front line made up of creatures was advancing here even faster than them.

We let the front line pass.

In fact, Ye-hyeon said while eating the bland combat rations.

"Don't engage the creature herds."

The seniors replied in unison, "Yes."

"Hilde takes the front, the rest provide support. If Hilde gets pushed by Kyle, I'll join in."

Even though you said you'd stay back.

But I couldn't voice my small grievance. I couldn't question his command in front of everyone.

After obediently responding, I stuffed the rations into my mouth. Kal, who had finished eating first, had already vanished.

Now came the tedious waiting.

That was how battles usually were.

"I've sharpened the sword."

As Ye-hyeon stood up after finishing his meal, he looked at me.

The nearly transparent morning sunlight poured over the drones and badgers neatly arranged on the road.

I nodded, feeling the stagnant, pale air with barely any movement.

"Thank you."

The sword that had returned to me after a long time.

The sword that had pierced Ray's body.

I sat slumped on the road for a while, holding that sword.

*

At some point, the air grew noisy.

The ground began to tremble subtly. The people who had been lounging lazily stood up nimbly. They had all keenly sensed the creatures' approach.

Ye-hyeon walked toward a nearby building and ordered.

"Hide your presence."

The seniors quickly concealed themselves inside the building.

I walked to the building on the opposite side from Ye-hyeon and slipped under the ceiling. My senses were in turmoil.

The onrushing sensations.

The ground shook, and the air roiled.

My view was covered in creatures.

"Wow."

Ami, standing next to me, muttered softly.

"So many."

Yeah.

I couldn't see the ground.

It was blanketed by flying creatures casting shadows across the sky and ground-type creatures charging over the asphalt.

The drones placed on the asphalt took off all at once. As they scattered like insects, the creatures trampled the asphalt mercilessly.

It felt like watching a herd of buffalo migrate.

But much more chaotic.

A wind carrying dust whipped against my cheek.

"I wonder if they'll hold up."

Ami muttered to herself.

Feeling the massive presence rapidly receding, I replied.

"If we block them well, it should be fine."

At that moment, an enormous sound rang out.

It was a very strange noise. One I'd never heard in my life. No, I had heard something similar at a moderate volume before. But this time, the sound was incomparably louder and more eerie than then.

The sound of the core opening. That bizarre noise I'd heard at the safe point that day.

It reverberated through the ground and air.

I stepped out of the building with Ami.

As my view opened up, the sight immediately seized my attention. Raising my head under the sunlight, I was entranced by the scene unfolding before me.

The translucent membrane covering the core was vanishing.

The lid that had covered the sky was slowly opening.

Flocks of flying creatures headed toward it.

As if to greet them, fighter jets took off simultaneously.

"Ugh!"

With my senses sharpened, I covered my ears against the deafening roar that struck the air.

I thought my ears had gone deaf.

My eardrums were already hurting from the core opening sound, and now the engine noise battered them mercilessly.

The fighter jets soared up together, drawing gray lines in the sky. Lines that bisected the blue sky above the wall.

I watched as those lines shattered and scattered in all directions.

The deafening engine noise.

The air raid began.

Boom, kwang, kwaaang!

"It's starting."

Ricardo muttered as he walked out of the building.

"Let's hold out well...."

The missile noise from the fighter jets drowned out his words.

The smell of blood and fish assaulted my nose. The once peaceful space was soon engulfed in eye-piercing light. Blood, flesh, and bomb fragments flew. Though there was some distance from where we were, the atmosphere of the battlefield pressed in here.

Kyle's presence was also drawing closer.

Now, I could feel the reach of his gaze.

"Commander."

I turned away from the wall.

"Please fall back."

The seniors' gazes flew toward me.

I offered no further explanation. Instead, with my sword ready to draw at any moment, I walked to the point where the slope began. Once I reached the desired spot, I shoved Ye-hyeon, who was standing nearby, with my forearm.

Ye-hyeon obediently stepped back behind me.

Ami, Sophia, and Ricardo stepped forward in front of Ye-hyeon.

Feeling the approaching presences of the seniors, I kept my eyes forward.

"He's coming."

I muttered, looking at the steep slope and the road stretching out below it.

"Watch out for sword slashes."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the asphalt cracked.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

A sword slash carved through the old road and approached.

A white sword slash climbed the slope, targeting me.

The moment Sophia chambered her gun, I drew my sword.

Kwaaang!

I canceled it out.

A shockwave struck my body and passed. Feeling the numbing vibration throughout, I looked down.

At the origin of the sword slash, the heavy presence waited at the end of the road.

The boiling gaze emanated from there.

He hadn't changed at all.

The pale skin, the golden eyes that shone like a lion's, the flowing black hair—they were familiar. He always evoked the image of a black lion. The elegance and arrogance, as if innate and never lost. The unique charisma that captivated people. The irises that held boiling emotions.

Kyle looked at me with burning hatred.

Our gazes met in the air.

I knew my eyes were cooling to ice.

"Kyle."

It was always like that.

You burned with fiery anger, and I cooled with icy rage.

We expressed anger differently. We often made opposing judgments, viewed the world differently, and dealt with it in contrasting ways.

Was that why we had ended up divided like this?

Ah.

I was surprised by the massive resentment coiled inside me, as great as the guilt. I thought it would just be pure agony, like when I thought of Ray.

I couldn't tear my eyes from Kyle.

Not even sparing a glance for Hecate, Sequoia, or Sion.

"Hilde."

My heightened hearing caught Kyle's voice.

"Hildebert Talev."

Why do I resent you so much?

I was the one who betrayed. Why did my stomach churn the moment I saw those golden eyes?

I narrowed my eyes at the tip of the sword Kyle raised. Sharp sunlight gleamed dazzlingly at its point.

The well-honed tip of the sword.

It aimed at me just like back then.

Its owner approached without averting his gaze from me.

"If you hadn't joined the battle back then, we would have won."

The opponent's voice, laden with suppressed anger, rode the wind to me.

Now, even human ears could hear his voice.

We were close enough to catch it....

"If you hadn't sided with these things...."

The taut air.

"If you'd just lowered your sword and watched."

No.

A voice popped out from deep in my chest.

That's not it.

As my inner turmoil swirled, Kyle continued.

A cry mixed with resentment.

"If you hadn't stood on that side!"

"I begged you like that! Please, let's not start this...."

"Don't act noble, Hildebert! You think I believe you sided with humans out of compassion!?"

"You coward!"

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

A more powerful sword slash came rushing, and I swung my right arm.

Kwaaang!

Canceled.

Kwang!

Silver Thorns canceled the following sword slash.

I whipped my head around to see the owner of the thorns.

The human who had inherited my sword.

Ye-hyeon was already standing silently beside me.

"I'll join you."

The supreme commander declared, his gaze fixed on Hecate.

"Let's push them back."

Ye-hyeon entered combat readiness.

Silver Thorns sprouted from his feet, and silver butterflies emerged from their tips.

It was the first time I'd seen Ye-hyeon fully enter battle mode.

The Shape-Shifting Weapon that had silently struck the back of my head. Those silver butterflies carrying the sword covered my view and slid down the slope.

As Ami leaped into the air, the battle began.

The sharp voices of Hecate and Sequoia.

The sound of the seniors' gun barrels firing.

Kyle's sword.

Ricardo's spear.

I drew my sword and charged forward.

I poured inexplicable resentment, grief, and guilt into the blade.

I pushed the fragments of the past that threatened to surface to a corner of my mind.

On the day the heavens opened.

I faced Kyle.