Information flood.
This is a story I heard from my teacher during computer classes at the school I attended as a child.
In the past, shortly after the internet first emerged, people hoped that through a borderless internet, they could exchange countless pieces of information and share knowledge, believing that everyone would eventually possess equal levels of knowledge and information.
And over time, this came to pass. However, there was an unexpected consequence: misinformation and misconceptions, which were utterly useless for building actual knowledge, spread widely alongside true information.
Ultimately, among the countless pieces of information pouring out of the internet, unless one carefully classified what was right and what was wrong, a substantial portion of the gathered information would turn out to be worthless junk. Some of that misinformation might even be laughable, while in serious cases, malicious information could pose a significant threat to personal safety.
For this reason, the teacher conducting the class back then described the internet not as a sea of information but as a flood of information. The task of sifting through the countless pieces of information that brush past us in life to extract only the truth is far too challenging.
The reason I’m sharing this story now is—
“So, you’re telling me that all of this information was gathered in less than 30 minutes, right?”
Looking at the multitude of photos cluttering the wide table in the command room, I couldn’t help but think that the gnomes must have been in quite a hurry. The sheer volume of photos is one thing, but they printed them all out on paper and brought them to me.
“But… you’re saying there were no attacked helicopters or drones?”
That fact felt quite suspicious.
All the photos on the table shared a common trait. Typically, reconnaissance photos are taken to capture enemy forces or the area above their bases. They should show how many magic points exist, which are significant, and the types of demons or beasts emerging. It’s all about summarizing the battlefield’s overall situation and planning military maneuvers accordingly.
However, these photos were a bit different. To put it bluntly, they looked more like photos taken for an assassination operation rather than military reconnaissance.
The entities captured in the photos were clearly human figures.
One belonged to a grotesque-looking man who, despite standing next to an immensely large beast—so large that comparing it to a human seemed embarrassing—didn’t appear disproportionately small, possibly due to an imposing presence or height.
One was a woman with snow-white skin, equally white hair, and red eyes.
And finally, there was an elf.
The beasts and demons, unless specifically designed to resemble humans, typically have very alien forms. They are mostly distorted human shapes with one or two additional limbs, or they may be missing a few entirely, often resembling devils from ancient religious texts with red skin and horns, looking unmistakably non-human.
In the middle of that chaos, the human-shaped figure stood out significantly.
“Yes, all helicopters have returned safely. In fact, not a single unmanned drone has been lost either. Of course, that’s partly because the beasts, demons, and what seems to be this ‘witch’ did not attack.”
Is it confidence that they can wipe them out later?
…Well, if we assume these three are indeed witches, there’s no baseless confidence in that. They merely got picked off because they are so self-absorbed that they hardly cooperate with each other. In fact, the moment these three gathered, an unprecedented military force was formed.
If there had been seven instead of three, I’d likely doubt whether I could have stopped them even if I had stepped in.
And it seemed like these presumed ‘witches’ were aware of that too.
Captured from various angles, yet all three were looking at the camera, appearing entirely relaxed even amid the beasts and demons.
No, that’s not quite right.
At least two of them were like that.
The large man was looking toward the camera with an expression that said ‘I could drop you any second, but I’m letting you be for now.’ He might have actually felt that way. The magic they received from the demon was not weak in the slightest.
The white-haired woman had a look as if she were looking at an annoying bug. She seemed like she wanted to clear it out immediately but had some pressing task that forced her to let it be for now.
These two didn’t seem at all afraid of the camera’s presence. They wore the laid-back villain’s expression I despised, as if they were only allowing it because they had to for now.
However, the last one among them.
The elf didn’t look as cheerful.
While she, like the other witches, was facing the camera, there was a visible tension in her expression. It looked stiff, as if she were nervous. Depending on the angle of the photo, she appeared both angry and fearful. Maybe she had both feelings, causing her to have subtle variations in expression with each shot.
I know this elf.
It was just once that I met her, but the memories of that day are still vivid. Perhaps it’s because my consciousness faced her consciousness directly, not just observed and heard.
Of course, she looked somewhat different from that day.
There were no holes in her hands. The image of her hand nearly swallowed by a vast gaping hole, with just a few fingers left dangling, was still clear in my mind, but the elf’s hand shown in the photo didn’t have that extent. While there were two fingers missing on each hand, where the hole had been there was only a large scar left.
It looked like a trace of something that had burst and healed rapidly.
Of course, it was a much larger wound compared to when my hand was blown off; in reality, she was missing several fingers, and unlike me, who had healed so that the other side wasn’t visible, one side of her palm bore a large scar that looked like it had been severely gnawed at.
“Was there anything else peculiar about these beings not interfering with the helicopters taking their photos?”
“Something unusual…”
As the nameless soldier officer momentarily searched his memories, he discovered that peculiar detail and spoke to me.
“Well, I’m not sure if this is helpful, but all the pilots who took photos of the witches were shaking uncontrollably.”
“They were shaking, you say?”
“Yes, they weren’t attacked, but they felt like the helicopter could crash at any moment, or that those beings might rush at them and stab their hearts right then and there.”
Indeed.
That is the instinctive fear one experiences upon encountering a witch for the first time. While I have essentially built an immunity to it, even Andrea trembled in fear the first time she saw a witch.
…Huh? Wait a minute.
No, right. I can somewhat understand why the people around me have become immune. Jian was the strongest in this worldview, bolstered by the demon, and Andrea had already faced witches several times. Rina was, after all, a being created by a witch and had also encountered witches multiple times inadvertently while trailing behind me.
However, Uncle Paul, who came to rescue me from within the massive beast, had confronted the witch without any sign of fear. Jian, Andrea, and Rina, as mentioned earlier, might be somewhat immune, but wasn’t this Uncle Paul encountering a witch like that for the first time?
I can understand why those who met the lust witch afterward didn’t feel anything. At that point, the witch was completely powerless and in a state no different from a human.
Is there something different between Uncle Paul and ordinary humans?
…Let’s ask him when we meet later.
Alright, for now, I need to focus on the task at hand.
In any case, judging by the reactions of those who took these photos, it’s definitive that all three of them are witches. They must be here to capture me.
If I try to move one by one, I’ll just be picked off.
If Jian were here, I might not have worried much. No matter how many witches were present, Jian could probably slice them all up himself.
But I was the only one capable of facing a witch one-on-one here. Facing all three witches simultaneously—
It’s clear I’d have no choice but to use new-type bombs.
“……Representative.”
“Yes!”
The regional representative, looking somewhat tense, approached my call as I was deep in thought. His face was stiff with worry.
Of course, this tension wasn’t about the impending battle.
It was about whether they would be granted permission to use their newfound toy (bomb).
Seeing Roni, who wore the same expression right next to him, makes that evident. There’s no reason for the regional representative or the bomb designer to come this far for a battle beyond the wall.
“You said this large man is at the center of the forces, and the white-haired woman is at the edge of the right wing, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s in the form of a wedge. They seem to intend to quickly return and surround the Saintess if she takes any action.”
Well, I understand the thought process. Even if I dash toward the edge where the Witch of Resentment is, the big witch in the center will likely move. It’s too large of a force to attack with ‘me’ at the center.
“When using that new warhead, the left edge absolutely mustn’t get caught up in the blast.”
“Yes, of course. The explosion range is very wide. To prevent damage to the wall, we need to launch it from afar. We can adjust the landing point to include only 70% of the enemy force.”
…That means with a simple thought, I could include the entire enemy force in that blast.
What kind of crazy bomb did they make? I think I now understand why gnomes are so fond of the new-type bomb crazily obsessed with nuclear bombs.
“…The range can be adjusted accurately, right?”
“Yes. Of course!”
“….”
I momentarily shut my mouth and looked out the window occupying one whole wall. In the distance, I could see the utterly devastated forest filled with an unthinkably large number of magic points, constantly ooze with beasts and demons. The pouring military force spread out haphazardly, occupying a wider and wider area.
“Then, we’ll have to proceed then.”
“Yes?”
The regional representative asked back, as though he hadn’t heard me correctly.
“I think we need to use the missile. What do you think, Representative?”
The representative’s face lit up instantly. With a smile that seemed to radiate light, he nodded vigorously.
“I think so too.”
Looking beside me, I saw Roni smiling widely.
…Is it really that good?
*
Even though I made a point to reveal myself, the Saintess still didn’t react. Even after dozens of helicopters flew overhead, and smaller craft came and went, the wall’s door remained firmly shut. Typically, the moment one suspects the presence of a witch, or even verging on that suspicion, the Saintess would emerge fully armed.
Something felt off.
Yet only the Witch of Resentment, who had spoken with the Saintess directly, sensed this strangeness.
“…Something’s wrong.”
“….”
Worried that the reconnaissance troops might be confused, a high-ranking demon hidden in a magic point turned to the Witch of Resentment. He remained silent until the witch spoke, perhaps due to her command to hold his tongue.
“The aggressive Saintess shouldn’t be hiding in here like this. If we had revealed ourselves, she would have surely charged in one direction.”
The witch cast a sidelong glance at the high-ranking demon. Realizing he was permitted to speak, he opened his mouth slowly and replied respectfully.
“Surely she is frightened by our military force?”
“The Saintess?”
Ha, the witch scoffed.
“That fool would charge forward recklessly even when her life hangs by a thread. It wouldn’t make sense for her to think, ‘They aren’t over there.’ We confirmed that the Saintess officially moved toward this way.”
At this point, the Saintess had become so famous in human society that it would be strange not to know her. If she had moved secretly without informing anyone, that might have been overlooked, but that wasn’t the case. Her visit to the gnome area was publicly announced as part of the central church’s official visit. Wasn’t there even a photo published in the newspaper when she visited the gnome area dressed in her dazzling ceremonial attire?
And there was no reason for such a visit to be a bait. Up until now, the Saintess hadn’t used such tactics.
Why the Saintess visited the gnome area is unknown. Given the nature of the ethnicity that lives in that area, it was extremely difficult to plant spies. The differences in physique between humans and gnomes were too great. Not to mention that even attempting to sway gnomes was quite challenging. To assimilate with them, one would need to infiltrate their lands, yet the gnomes have incredible firepower, even if their wall was smaller.
Even during times when their forces did not invade, gnomes regularly fired shells and missiles over the wall. Behind the gnome barrier lay a vast wasteland completely devoid of anything. Furthermore, unless one hid in the forest beyond that wasteland, it was practically impossible to cross that vacant area without being detected.
In addition, the demons the Witch of Resentment had previously infiltrated in the 21st District were already exposed and wiped out. The Witch of Hate was repelled by the Saintess when she attempted to infiltrate the beastman area. Naturally, any attempts to infiltrate the gnome region would have been impossible.
“….”
The high-ranking demon seemed at a loss for words and chose to become silent again. The Witch of Resentment didn’t reprimand him for not providing a concrete response, as that was not her intention.
“What in the world….”
Before one could say “try,” something soared from beyond the wall.
From a few kilometers away, the sound was impossible to discern here, but it left a white trail behind as it rose into the sky, suggesting it was a missile.
Just a single missile.
Is it another attempt at flattening? Are they thinking something remains hidden within the still remaining forest judging by the spread of magic points?
However, even so, one missile was far too little to be considered firepower. Thinking of the many shells and missiles that fell overhead just an hour ago, it hardly qualifies as artillery.
But the Witch of Resentment felt a chill upon seeing the missile soar.
Of course, she couldn’t tell why that sensation arose. It just felt ominous.
And that missile flew right between the forces of ‘lust’ and ‘hatred.’ Far away in the sky, the missile, which looked no larger than a fingernail, vanished as it soared past the military.
“…What is that?”
Is it a malfunction or something?
As the thought flickered in the Witch of Resentment’s mind—something that would never normally happen—far off, where the missile had vanished, light suddenly appeared.
Yes. There was light there.
That light burning bright in an instant, like the sun.
No, “like the sun” is an inaccurate description. The light of the sun didn’t have that tint of black mixed in. Even if the moon passed in front of the sun, creating a perfect eclipse, the sunlight would remain as mere light; it couldn’t generate unnatural black shadows as seen in this situation.
However, what can we call that massive glowing orb if not the sun?
And—
After that light faded, upon witnessing the empty space, everything scorched away and melted from the explosion, anyone would undoubtedly agree that there had indeed been a sun there.
Nothing remained.
No trees, animals.
No demons, beasts.
Not even the high-ranking demons born between the devils and witches leading the forces of demons and beasts.
No magic points.
The witches, who had been commanding the armies of demons and beasts in that location, also.
Everyone went equally to the side of the gods.
The Witch of Resentment could understand a very limited amount regarding the sight before her.
She could not grasp what that was or how it was created, but she knew the magic points were no longer a safe refuge.
And now they were sitting safely far away, capable of utterly exterminating the garb of demons at the simple push of a button.
These two realizations were what the Witch of Resentment could comprehend.
Like it was ‘calculated,’ that crater had already encroached close to where she stood.
That place was as if it always was—empty. Not even a trace of rising dirt or dust.
That location itself was a denial of existence.
All desires and hatreds wiped out in one fell swoop. No way the resentment could escape such a fate.
The witch again felt fear upon facing the Saintess.
That fear was enough to sap the strength from the witch’s legs.
*
Um…
Erm…
Uh…
What should I say?
Somehow, if I say congratulations here, it feels like I’d become the utmost scumbag.
After confirming the exact location where the missile would drop, everyone in the gnome region’s command gathered inside the command room, all sticking closely to the windows, peering outside.
It wouldn’t be surprising at all if those people were crying.
Of course, that crying would likely be out of overwhelming emotion.
“Saintess, Saintess.”
Someone called out as they tugged on my sleeve, causing me to look down.
It was Roni. With moisture in her eyes but a broad smile, she handed me a note.
“Could you read this out loud?”
Taking the folded note, I unfolded it.
[I have now become death, the destroyer of worlds.]
“…….”
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
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