Black Badger

Rose covered her own nose and mouth with both hands and muttered something.

With her words blocked by her palms, I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

I let out a dry laugh.

“Glad you look fine.”

My heart nearly dropped out of my chest.

Good thing I caught you in time.

If I’d been even a little later, you would’ve been seriously injured. Letting out a breath of relief, I set Rose—whom I’d been holding—down on the ground.

She didn’t seem to have any major injuries.

I’d thought she’d be fine, given how exceptional her skills were. Wasn’t she a criminal who once shook the Empire to its core?

Rose looked up at me with eyes shimmering with tears.

“Captain....”

“Get a grip.”

I lightly thumped my subordinate’s back.

“Go inside the trench and support the Badgers. I’ll clear the outside once.”

If the seniors were in perfect condition, that would be one thing.

But hadn’t they all been sick and barely holding it together? We’d stocked weapons in preparation for situations like this, sure—but none of us had imagined it turning into a full-scale defense battle.

I’d run here shaking with fear, afraid I’d be too late.

The terror I felt in the library, the moment I sensed the Creatures surging in as a horde, was still lodged deep inside me.

I crushed the urge to rush to the trench and check on the seniors’ condition.

Ricardo, Yun, Jonathan—they’d all been in rough shape....

That could wait.

First, we had to push back the endless wave of Creatures.

Thuk!

A dagger flew in and embedded itself in the Creature that had been charging for my throat.

I turned my head to look at the one who’d thrown it.

“Yoow. Thanks.”

KRRRRAAASH!

A truck plowed through Creatures as it barreled toward the trench.

Yoow, riding in the passenger seat of the massive truck, twisted his expression.

Igor was driving.

They’d brought it in to force their way through the Creature-infested grounds.

Creatures were crushed beneath the enormous military truck’s wheels.

Pointing along the path the truck had carved, I turned back to Rose.

“Follow behind.”

“Palde!!”

Ro shouted thunderously from the trench.

“Aren’t you sick too?!”

“Senior.”

I smiled at Ro.

“I’m fine.”

“Hilde.”

Yehyeon walked toward me.

“The bomb to close the spatial gate—”

[Core generation complete.] 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

A clear voice rang across the headquarters grounds.

The Badgers lifted their heads.

The sky had turned semi-transparent.

It was the notification that the Core surrounding the headquarters had finished forming.

[Core generation complete.]

“Commander.”

Good timing.

When I lowered my head and called out to him, Yehyeon blinked.

After carefully checking my condition, I reported,

“I’ll clear the surroundings once.”

My superior stared straight at me.

Pale as he was, it was obvious he was gripping his sanity with everything he had.

Standing behind the trench Core that had formed up to an adult man’s waist, Yehyeon nodded.

“Alright.”

“I’m pushing the Creatures back, so get inside.”

I shifted my gaze toward the military truck.

“Into the trench! And Del! Don’t look at the ground!”

“I said I’m fine!”

The truck, stopped beside a mound of corpses, burst open.

Igor and Yoow jumped down. Dispatching the Creatures the truck hadn’t quite crushed, they advanced toward the trench.

From the cargo bed, Kairos jumped down carrying Deltei in his arms.

The handler, holding the red-haired woman, leapt across the corpses with a faint smile.

“I’ve seen enough monster corpses in my life! Put me down! Put me down! I can run on my own!”

“I’m absolutely not putting you down.”

Deltei was the kind of person who could sprain her ankle walking on an empty road.

A miraculous level of clumsiness. Letting her walk through a place covered in ammunition, corpses, and debris would be inviting disaster.

Kairos laughed softly.

“Sure.”

With a few bounding steps, he reached the trench.

He handed the sulking Deltei over to Jason Trevain.

“Thank you.”

After bowing, the handler vaulted over the forming trench Core himself and went inside.

“Everyone’s in.”

“Good.”

I shook the Creature corpse off my sword.

After neatly severing the necks of the Creatures I’d been engaging, I lowered my upper body and set my stance.

Then, sharpening every sense in my body, I entered a combat-ready state.

A familiar hunting ground.

“I’m pushing.”

Both sides.

Like softly bending feathers.

KABOOOOM!

I unleashed a sword strike.

Maintaining my center, I swung my blade and sent slashes flying in all directions.

Clean, efficient attacks were sent east and south—over piles of corpses, crawling Creatures, burning wreckage, and military trucks.

Tracing natural arcs.

Loaded with just enough power not to be stopped by anything in their path.

KRRRRAAASH!

Corpses, ruins, approaching monsters—everything was swept away.

Let’s clean it up first. It’s filthy.

Only after clearing the ground would I move to the next phase.

I entered a state of total immersion, focused solely on the sword.

As the surrounding sounds faded away, I released a massive sword strike.

***

“What is that?”

A journalist unlucky enough to fail to escape.

Liam, a tabloid reporter who’d come to cover the epidemic, been trampled by other reporters, and finally decided he’d change jobs this time for sure, muttered to himself.

“What is that?”

The scene unfolding before his eyes.

Even watching it with his own eyes, Liam muttered in disbelief.

“...Is that even human?”

Even if he was a Black Badger.

There was no way a single human could possess that kind of combat power.

He couldn’t even begin to grasp what was happening. To his untrained eyes, it just looked like a white-haired Badger stirring up a white gale.

Though he’d been filming desperately even while gripped by fear, he’d now completely forgotten he was supposed to be recording at all.

Liam stood transfixed by the wind sweeping beyond the trench.

“You can do that... with a sword?”

It almost seemed like it wasn’t even a sword.

“How is that even possible....”

“Are you getting good shots?”

He sensed someone behind him.

“Captain, when did you even get filmed?”

“AAAAAAAH!”

Liam screamed.

Nearby Black Badgers turned their heads.

But Liam didn’t register their reactions at all.

Too shocked, he collapsed onto the ground with a thud, reflexively clutching his violently pounding chest.

The one who’d scared him half to death, however, didn’t blink an eye.

The red-eyed woman grabbed the camera without even glancing at the reporter.

“Nice camera.”

With practiced ease, she handled the equipment.

She treated the expensive camera as if it were her own.

“As expected! You even caught the Captain’s entrance!”

“No, wait—”

“Ah, but he came too fast. His face didn’t really get captured.”

Rose muttered as she reviewed the footage.

“The focus wasn’t on the Captain either.... That’s a shame....”

“E-excuse me?”

Liam finally regained his senses.

He reached a hand toward the woman.

“Uh—th-that’s my camera.”

“I’ll film it for you.”

The woman said gently.

She was so confidently assertive that he couldn’t even bring himself to protest.

All he could do was stare, dumbfounded, as she naturally stood up holding the camera.

“I’m really good at filming things like this.”

“Uh....”

This was clearly his exclusive scoop.

As a reporter, there was no way he could let this go. If he just survived this, he’d become the most famous journalist in Center Core.

But Liam couldn’t bring himself to say any of that.

He’d seen her shoot down Creatures with absurd skill just minutes ago.

And because she was looking down at him with those vivid red eyes.

That eerie smile....

“Y-yes.”

Liam muttered hoarsely.

“Yes... do whatever you like... p-please film it well, I’d really appreciate it....”

“You’re welcome.”

“It’s over.”

Jonathan Kudo muttered.

The moment he spoke, Rose’s smiling head snapped around.

The surroundings had grown quiet.

People stared, speechless, at Hildebert slowly straightening up.

The piled debris on the ground had been pushed all the way to the base of the Core encircling the headquarters.

The threatening flames had been subdued.

And there, on the strangely cleared grounds, stood the white-haired man.

The first being to push the Creature horde all the way back to the spatial gate since it opened.

“Alright, come out to the road now.”

The golden-eyed man ordered his subordinates.

“Let’s close the gate.”

Those called sprinted out of the trench.

***

“Del. Del.”

I urgently called to the red-haired woman walking toward the trench line.

“You should stay inside.”

Deltei shot me a glare.

“It’s way more effective to squeeze them with divine power up close!”

“You’ve got enough divine power that singing hymns through a phone is plenty. Stay there. That’s enough—no. Senior Trevain, please cover her.”

Jason Trevain looked startled at being suddenly called.

But the senior, who still didn’t look to be in great condition, snorted and replied,

“Of course. You think I’d let a civilian woman get hurt?”

“Thank you. She’s the type who trips and injures herself just breathing.”

“I’m not that bad!”

Deltei snapped, her face reddening.

“I’ve been exercising lately! And can’t you see what’s coming over there? That thing won’t go down with ordinary divine power!”

They’re sending out troublesome ones.

After checking the massive pill-bug-like Creature crawling in from the south, I sighed.

An ash-gray # Nоvеlight # insect with dozens of short legs.

That anemone-like thing on its front made it a Creature that required a cleric to counter. Once it curled up like a pill bug, most attacks became useless.

To what extent?

At Sword Expert level, attacks didn’t work at all.

You had to reach Swordmaster level to fight it without a cleric.

Fortunately, Deltei was here now.

“How about the two of you sing hymns together and lock them in place, forming a wall?”

Yoow suggested, pulling out saliva tinged with poison.

“With the height they have, freezing them with divine power would make a pretty solid barrier.”

That’s true.

There was nothing I couldn’t push back with sword strikes, but as Yoow said, a barrier would make the fight much easier. It would definitely help while the subordinates approached with the bomb to close the gate.

I nodded while cutting down the ones coming from the east.

Deltei smiled slightly.

“Then let’s call forth the Golden Branch.”

The Saint urged in a bewitching voice.

“You start.”

...Huh.

My mind went blank.

...Oh.

...What was the first line again?

It’d been so long since I’d sung it that my memory was fuzzy.

I swung my sword, slicing through the necks of Creatures infused with Reversed Gods.

“Hey!”

An angry shout came from behind.

“Don’t tell me you forgot?!”

“No... it’s just been a while....”

I offered an awkward excuse.

To hide my embarrassment, I cut down the approaching Creatures even faster.

“Just tell me the first line. I think I’ll remember after that....”

“You don’t remember the first line of Golden Branch? Of all hymns?”

“...I remember the middle, at least.”

“You grew up in a temple!”

The Saint, whose divine power had ranked among the Empire’s highest, snapped.

“You were in the choir! Hildebert Taleb!”

“Holy branch of grace.”

Kairos spoke quietly nearby.

Thanks to his hint, the following lines came back to me.

I flicked him a glance in thanks.

Then I opened my mouth to begin the song.

The Empire’s most famous hymn.

I began singing its first line.