Chapter 73

Even after Worm woke up, nothing in reality had changed. If anything had changed, it was probably the sudden increase in the number of monsters below.

"Ha, a, reality, huh."

Worm acknowledged that there were no living humans in Dandueg Castle.

He struggled to rotate his dulled thoughts. What to do next. The military organization that gave orders had collapsed, and everything had to be decided by Worm.

He feigned his mental exhaustion and decided to return home. He gathered scattered equipment and stuffed his mouth with preserved food seized from supplies.

Wheat, dried grapes, and compressed oil preserved food took away saliva and moisture from Worm. He washed it down with water, but this time his stomach screamed.

"Guh, cough, ugh."

He struggled to suppress the reflux of gastric acid. The sour taste that spread in his mouth was the worst. Worm, who resisted the urge to drink alcohol, left the room.

The sight of Worm searching the remains for halberds, daggers, some armor, and coins was not much different from a monster scavenging for flesh, he mocked himself. After gathering the supplies, Worm stored them in a magic bag and climbed to the roof of the keep.

A huge path had been carved out, cutting through mountains, collapsing valleys, and even rivers. It was undoubtedly the work of the Flame Emperor Dragon. At the same time, following that path would lead to his homeland.

He encountered a large number of monsters on the way. Normally, it would be a choice to hesitate, but for the current Worm, it was a minor matter. Time spent doing nothing was painful, and engaging in slaughter allowed him to think of nothing.

Even if he met an unfortunate end in battle, it would only mean that the lonely Haiselk soldier would die without anyone to witness it. It was a fitting end for a defeated soldier like Worm. He looked back as he descended from the makeshift walls he could not defend.

The ancient castle was stained with blood and was decaying due to repeated fierce attacks. It seemed to symbolize the fate of Haiselk.

Unlike inside the castle, there were not many monsters. The monsters that had been lured to densely populated areas were sparse, and after cutting down dozens every one to two hours, he no longer encountered them.

Ironically, the path created by the Flame Emperor Dragon during its advance shortened Worm's travel time. The mountains and trees that should have been bypassed were equally trampled, and even valleys and rivers were burned and collapsed. It was a walking disaster that could even alter the terrain.

After half a day of walking, he reached a small village, but the village, which had been swallowed by the rampage, only faintly conveyed the remnants of human activity.

All the houses had collapsed, and only the foundations remained. There were no bodies or bloodstains left, only countless monster footprints that testified to the devastation.

The next city he reached, which was of a larger scale, had buildings left, but the bodies of monsters and humans were visible even from a distance. It seemed that the city had resisted with the defense forces and volunteers, but ultimately fell.

"Kanoe, is it no good too?"

Avoiding the collapsed city, which was not his destination, Worm continued his journey home.

The border checkpoint of his homeland, which was off the path of the Flame Emperor Dragon, had seen intense resistance, and the walls and moats were filled with the bodies of monsters.

Soldiers who had fought to a standstill with Orthros were entangled in a death embrace. The two-headed monster had bitten the soldier's arm and throat, while the soldier had pierced the chest of the two-headed wolf with a longsword.

The side defense tower, which had collapsed, was buried with the body of a cyclops, and the limbs of humans and monsters protruded sadly. Worm could have ended up like this. He crossed the border from the collapsed defense wall.

The barracks and command post had been ravaged. Soldiers had fallen, integrated with the collapsed walls of the barracks, and in the command post, a general with a greatsword had died with his body torn apart amidst a large number of monster corpses.

Worm continued to search the checkpoint. There were monsters that preferred corpse flesh, but it only ended up with more monster corpses.

After clearing the surrounding monsters, Worm made a bed on the half-destroyed watchtower. He tied his cloak to the tower's arrow shield and pillars to block the outside air and prevent light from leaking.

Worm had borrowed several cloaks from Dandueg Castle. Some were slightly stained with blood, but they were appropriate for the current Worm.

Even though his appetite had diminished, he needed to put food in his stomach to maintain his physical and magical strength. Taking out a small pot, Worm filled it with water, used magic to boil it, and added beans, shredded dried fish, and salt.

He drank the soup without tasting it, and the pain from his stomach increased. Worm chewed and crushed the soaked black bread mindlessly.

With his stomach full, Worm suppressed his nausea and tried to let go of his consciousness. As he repeated sleep and wakefulness, the twin moons began to fall from the sky and were finally chased away by the sun. After tidying up his bed, Worm left the checkpoint.

He ran at a speed that could be called a forced march. He killed all the monsters that came like insects, but his heart did not clear.

The bodies of refugees increased on the road. Exhausted soldiers were pecked by countless birds, and the eyeballs of children who stared into the void were gouged out.

He had no energy left to drive them away, and not enough hands to mourn. Worm continued to walk in silence.

Worm, who even spared the time to maintain, picked up abandoned weapons and discarded them. When a spear broke, he used a sword, and when a sword broke, he wielded a warhammer. As the sun set, Worm climbed a large tree and spent the third night since leaving Dandueg Castle.

The journey home was almost over. Worm ran, panting, on the road that was vividly imprinted in his memory. Childhood memories resurfaced in his mind.

The forest where he played with neighborhood troublemakers and his brother until sunset, the well-trodden rural road, the rocks and trees he used as landmarks, and the village he left, which felt both short and long. The sour taste of wild strawberries he ate with his brother came to mind.

He ran through the entrance to the village. The fence, which had not been repaired, was just as it was when Worm left the village.

He ducked under the familiar gate of his home and opened his mouth.

"…I'm home."

His family welcomed him. Tears flowed uncontrollably from Worm's eyes.

"Sorry for being late."

Worm did not claim that his family was the best in the world. Still, they were the family he had spent time with until he was conscripted.

Despite not being a wealthy family, on the day he was conscripted, the table was overflowing with delicacies that Worm had never eaten in his life.

He stuffed himself until his stomach was about to burst and drank with his father and brother until he lost his memory. Reflecting now, they had never spoken so honestly. The distance Worm had kept due to his inherited memories from his past life had also influenced this. Worm regretted it. He should have prioritized more time with his parents as his brother had advised.

His parents, with their hollow eyes, stretched out their hands as if yearning for an embrace. With their mouths half-open and their torn bodies, they approached Worm.

"I've become stronger. I can defeat any soldier or monster. I even repelled the three heroes of the Dragon and Clayst. Yet, I couldn't protect my comrades, my family, or anything I didn't want to lose."

Worm accepted the embrace. The skin was terribly cold. The mouth, caked with blood, filled his vision.

"Sorry, sorry, I love you, Mom, Dad."

He thrust a longsword through his lower jaw, giving his family their second death. Worm crawled out of the house and vomited the contents of his stomach.

"Ugh, gah, a, a, a, ahh."

Good-natured neighbors, strong childhood friends, and a neurotic village chief welcomed Worm's return.

Even his good-natured uncle, who had taught him the ways of the battlefield and shared his experiences when Worm was overwhelmed with anxiety, was among them.

The entire village had turned into a nest of the undead.

Panting and unable to stop sobbing, he clenched his hand on the ground. Sand overflowed from between his fingers. His eyes were wet with tears, and his vision was distorted. He looked up at the sky, which was clear and cloudless, as if the heavens were not going to overlook the ugly spectacle of foolish humans.

"Guh, tsuu, Ah, ahh, ahh!"

Worm wept and gathered his magic, spreading a blue flame over the village. His relatives, neighbors, and everyone was equally consumed by the blue flame. The fire spread to the houses, and the entire village burned blue.

"What kind of knight am I, what kind of will-o'-the-wisp user am I, a useless fool who can't save anyone!!"

Worm, sobbing, continued to spew will-o'-the-wisps. It was the last offering to those he could not protect. He continued to burn the blue flame so that everyone would not wander in the limbo of the underworld.

◆

Worm did not know how he walked or how many days he walked. When he realized it, he was there.

The hill overlooking the capital of the Haiselk Empire, which boasted the largest population.

On the hill, which had been loved by the emperors and the military god Gerald, a few Haiselk soldiers who had lost their place to go had gathered. Worm joined them without saying a word to anyone. His tears had long since dried up.

There was no need for words among those gathered on the hill. They all gazed at the capital with the same mindset. They were defeated soldiers who had lost their place to die.

Unable to abandon their country, yet unable to protect it, and unable to die. The capital was being devoured by monsters, and the great buildings that Haiselk had built throughout history were burning down. The impregnable walls, thought to be unbreakable, had collapsed due to attacks beyond human reason. His transplanted eye was hot, and a sharp pain shot through him.

People were gone, the fields were overrun by monsters, and the country was collapsing.

Sacrifice for the ideal. Peace achieved by oppressing other countries. History that repeats itself.

Good and evil change depending on one's position, but Worm no longer knew what he had been fighting for. If the world could mature through the lessons of blood and vomit, Worm wished, with his clouded eyes, that today's tragedy would not be in vain.

Chapter 1 - End