Chapter 166 – The Meaning of Strength (6)
“The mission is to eradicate the evil that threatens the world and guide the people onto the right path.”
The priest of the church who taught Shia had always said this since her days as a candidate for the saint. Since she was just a regular child, she was taught that exterminating evil and making everyone follow the sacred laws of the heavens was her natural duty and mission.
So she always tried her best to live that way. After becoming a saint, her determination only grew stronger, thinking she should repay the grace of the angels who chose her.
Of course, this mindset continued even after she arrived on Earth. She kept on fighting and judging as she always had.
“Have your thoughts changed? Hard to believe!”
That’s why Takilas was genuinely taken aback when he heard Shia’s words. The saint he knew was a person who didn’t associate with change or compromise. For a being whose very faith was the law of the celestial realm, to change that faith was to deny it. It was, quite literally, blasphemy.
“To be precise, it’s not that I’ve changed; rather, it’s that I’ve become a bit different. I wasn’t sure if this was right either, but seeing that nothing happened after thinking that way, perhaps… it might be okay.”
Shia’s eyes wavered. When you think about it, this moment, arriving on Earth by Asmael’s command, was her first opportunity for freedom. Born in the church, raised as a priest, and eventually becoming a saint, she had always been forced to live the same life. She thought that was the truth of the world and all there was.
Though she was the same age as Aria and Rene, she might have had far less experience in the world than them, especially compared to a mere high school student like Aria.
It felt akin to a child stepping out of their neighborhood for the first time to experience a new world and broaden their own.
Realizing that she couldn’t deal with every situation using the concepts and thoughts instilled in her by the church, she had tried to find answers on her own, and this was the outcome.
“I don’t know what thoughts you’ve had or how you’ve changed, but thank you anyway. There are still idiots out there who think I’m a crazy psycho killer.”
“Nothing’s happened over there?!”
Just as Takilas replied with a smirk, Aria rushed in with an urgent voice.
Aria, who had been moving non-stop, was also quite exhausted and messy.
“I’m almost done cleaning up. It seems not many of those guys crossed over into this city. There were supposed to be a lot of them when viewed from the heavens…”
“It’s because those remaining scattered about are not cooperating. Even if they’ve been pulverized, there’s no way communication just stopped.”
Taking a breath, Takilas scoffed at Aria’s words. Local military forces and police were scrambling to respond against Razak’s legion soldiers who were spreading chaotically everywhere, yet central control had evaporated in an instant, making proper response impossible.
Moreover, with most experienced magical girls used as experiment subjects, there were no magical girls to step up as vigilantes, and the situation was pure chaos.
“I told you to share the information?! So we can get to the areas in need more quickly!”
“I-I want to do that too, but if the commanders in other areas refuse, there’s nothing we can do. From the start, they think you’re the villains!”
Aria approached a middle-aged man stepping out of a military vehicle and challenged him. The commander, who was forced to lead the local military forces, waved his hands in embarrassment.
“Think about it logically. They shot a nuke and whatnot during the war, but most of our military has no idea what’s happening. The last order they received was simply to classify you as enemies and attack.”
“Does that even make sense in this day and age? You could send us the footage of us saving people or something!”
Aria pounded her chest in exasperation, but there was no way to easily cooperate with an army that had been classified as enemies until just moments ago. The man, having seen the situation firsthand, was supportive, but the military units in other regions, gripped by panic due to this unprecedented situation, were unable to make sound judgments.
“Calm down, hero. These people have lost their king and are now directionless. It’ll be hard for them to think rationally.”
“What do we do now? The best thing would be to hear directly from these people, but if that’s tough…”
Biting her lip at Shia’s words, Aria muttered darkly.
“Then we can hear it from elsewhere. Other places surely haven’t been sitting idle until now.”
At that moment, Takilas, who had been silently listening, looked up at the sky. An unnoticed reconnaissance plane crossed through the high-altitude skies.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t dare enter another nation’s airspace, but now it was boldly traversing the sky.
“Are they joining the fray? Our military?”
“No. The allied forces agreed upon by the UN. And… the voluntarily participating magical girls.”
Upon hearing Takilas’s words, Aria borrowed a phone and called Korea right there. The person who inadvertently picked up the call was Lee Min-hyung. However, he quickly grasped the situation and briefly informed her of the outside circumstances.
“If you don’t step up, everyone gets hurt. So you must take action.”
“That’s true, but the magical girls coming in…”
“They weren’t forced. In fact, there are too many volunteers worldwide. Apparently, every time you catch one of those guys, your achievements stack up.”
“In this situation, achievements aren’t what’s important.”
Aria sighed at his words which conveyed how other magical girls were perceived. She knew very well how hellish this place had become through firsthand experience.
“Anyway, supporting troops will be dispatched as soon as possible. And your videos are continuously being uploaded to the internet. I’m glad you’re safe, but don’t push yourself and stick close to Takilas…”
“What?”
At that moment, Lee Min-hyung’s words were abruptly cut off. A startled Aria pulled the phone away from her ear. The screen clearly displayed ‘No Signal.’ All communications, which had been functioning well in the middle of the metropolis, had abruptly ceased as she held her phone, her eyes trembling.
“This can’t be. Communication…”
“Communication has been cut off!”
“Commander! They’re reporting that power and water have also been cut!”
Almost simultaneously, urgent news flooded in from all directions. The complete paralysis of societal infrastructure startled everyone present.
*
“Our goal is not mere chaos. We intend to conquer and dominate this land.”
[…]
“This is war. They seem not to know it yet, but we will do whatever it takes to win this war, not just a mere battle.”
In a newly moved nest, Razak smiled satisfactorily as his well-planned strike paid off.
Pretending to cooperate, he had been steadily gathering information about Earth during that time and understood precisely where modern humans were vulnerable.
The strategy of sending elite squads composed of a small military force to strike and destroy basic societal facilities like electricity and communication was possible thanks to this knowledge.
From the outset, what Razak wanted was human life itself, not societal facilities, so he felt no hesitation in destroying things that he wouldn’t use.
He intended to wipe out power plants and military bases and then build his nest right on top.
This was a strong blow to Earthlings, who had never fought in such a war against non-human tribes.
“Pouring nutrients! From dozens of nests that are being created daily, thousands of soldiers are produced every day, and those forces continue to evolve based on daily battle data. Our tide will soon completely… engulf this world. Takilas? If he can’t protect the whole world alone, he’ll just be swept away by the power of the collective.”
[However, Earth is vast. Though my homeland is powerful, it still hasn’t devoured the whole of it, and if the world’s allied forces invade… ]
“Heh, I also know how you primitive beings have formed your own powers to live.”
O Insun, who had become an unwilling brain supporting Razak after being turned against him, challenged him, but Razak merely sneered.
Having established a hive mind that could control his entire legion of soldiers, Razak could survey all places from this spot.
One of those gazes fell upon the new arrangements he had implanted.
“A bomb using nuclear fission. The strength of it, despite not using any magic, is an attractive power.”
Razak had already obtained parts of the nuclear warheads held by the Chinese government. He acknowledged their power himself. He aimed them indiscriminately at foreign nations.
“You have too much. You’ve grasped the entire world, so it’s no wonder. But knowing that, you pigs don’t even wish to lose a handful of land, right? Is it possible for such swines to properly unite in the face of a grand cause?”
[… You’ve seen it correctly.]
O Insun, who had somewhat understood the habits of Earth and its inhabitants, was at a loss for words in response to Razak’s statement.
It didn’t seem wrong. Those who had argued until the last moment, could they truly respond adequately to nuclear missiles flying in every direction?
And even if they barely managed to stave it off, could they truly unite and fight against Razak? Doubts began to surface.
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