Chapter 409 - 398: Speedrun
The dense fog dissipated.
On the coastline of Defense Sector 8, a single, dark-red steel colossus stood silently.
In the deep crater crushed into the earth by Hundredfold Gravity at its feet, the once-invincible King of Heart-eaters could no longer even be called a "corpse."
It was more like an oil painting violently erased, leaving only a stain of mingled ice crystals and flesh, deeply imprinted into the scars of the earth.
The King was dead.
Both Kings were dead.
The moment the life force of the second king was completely annihilated, all surviving Heart Eaters along the entire seven-hundred-kilometer coastline—whether elite individuals or low-level grunts—froze in unison.
The bloodline imprint from their kings within them, the psychic link that drove them to assemble, to charge, to fight without fear of death—it was severed.
Chaos began.
Tens of thousands of Heart Eaters lost their command and descended into their most primitive, bestial instincts.
Some stopped in a daze, letting out confused roars. Others began frantically attacking their own kind, tearing at and devouring one another. Most, however, were dominated by terror and turned to flee back into the sea.
The relentless tide that had lasted for over six hours instantly crumbled, scattering like loose sand.
"Targets have lost unified operational capability. Commencing cleanup."
The order was issued from the Cybertron command center.
Spider Slayers extended their articulated legs and, in small squads, precisely hunted down and eliminated the elite Heart Eaters attempting to escape.
The Peacekeepers raised their arms, using scorching beams of light to purify swaths of the low-level grunts that were slaughtering each other on the beach.
High above, formations of Storm Falcons descended, their autocannons tearing curtains of death across the sea’s surface, gunning down every last fish that slipped through the net and tried to dive into the deep.
It was a hunt with a foregone conclusion.
On the kingdom’s second line of defense, all the Spirit Mages stared blankly at the scene.
They hadn’t even received the order to attack.
Because it wasn’t necessary.
That Steel Legion, like a group of the strictest janitors, methodically cleaned up every inch of "trash" on the battlefield.
No roars, no battle cries, only the cold clang of metal and the sound of firing beams.
Their efficiency was chilling.
...
「Inside Cybertron.」
On the twelve screens, the red dots representing the Heart Eaters were being eliminated one by one at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Allen leaned back in the large Commander’s chair, resting with his eyes closed.
Around him, only Jarvis’s voice droned on with continuous reports.
[All targets in Defense Sector 1 neutralized...]
[All targets in Defense Sector 10 neutralized...]
[Full map scan complete. No hostile units with life signs above the threshold remain.]
After an unknown amount of time, when the last red dot vanished from the map, Jarvis’s voice sounded again. This time, it was the post-battle summary.
[Commander, combat has concluded.]
[Data statistics for this defensive operation are as follows:]
[Total Beast Tide scale assessment: Approximately three hundred and thirty thousand. Confirmed kills: 327,329.]
[Kings of Heart-eaters: Two. Target status: Terminated.]
[Friendly unit losses: Spider Slayer-II, three hundred and forty-four units, of which eighty-seven are recoverable for repairs. Peacekeeper-PX1B, nine units, all repairable. Mad Bee Drones, three thousand and thirteen units destroyed. Two Cyclops units lightly damaged.]
[Ammunition and energy expenditure: Red Lotus-II guided missiles and assorted aerial bombs, total of six thousand two hundred units expended. All Legion beam weapons fired a total of one million, two hundred and seventy thousand times.]
[Total equivalent cost: One million, four hundred and thirty thousand Low-Level Magic Stones.]
[Allied "Aiselan Kingdom" forces: Military casualties, one thousand two hundred and sixty-four. Civilian casualties: Zero.]
Allen opened his eyes and gazed at the impressive figures on the screen.
He recalled the words of King Alexander and Duke Dorne.
In past years, the summer Beast Tide would typically last for seven to ten days.
The Royal Army’s average casualties were between seventy thousand and one hundred thousand.
Every year, Golden Stone City had to prepare tens of thousands of coffins.
And this year...
Jarvis’s voice continued, delivering the final and most shocking figure.
[From the landing of the first wave of the Beast Tide to the neutralization of the final Heart Eater, total time elapsed...]
[Fourteen hours and thirty-seven minutes.]
Fourteen hours.
The three-hundred-year-old nightmare that had loomed over the Aiselan Kingdom vanished into thin air in fourteen hours.
Allen leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
’An expense of over one point four million Magic Stones for a victory of this scale isn’t too costly.’
’After all, for a thirty-year mission that pays three hundred Credit Points annually, fighting a battle like this once a year is quite profitable, a nice little bonus even.’
’Credit Points are the key.’
"Jarvis."
[Present.]
"Initiate post-battle maintenance procedures. All damaged units are to be transported back to Cybertron in batches through the Space Gate for overhaul."
"Also, deploy the Factory Servants to clean the battlefield. Collect all the Heart Eater corpses. This quantity of biological material should sell for a good price."
[Commands confirmed.]
After giving his orders, Allen paid it no further mind.
For him, a routine mission with an expected outcome was over.
For the people of this world, however, everything was just beginning.
...
「Defense Sector 8.」
When the last Heart Eater was blown to pieces by a Storm Falcon in the shallow sea, when the overwhelming Steel Legion slowly ceased operations and re-formed into silent phalanxes, a dead silence fell over the second line of defense.
Tens of thousands of the kingdom’s soldiers stood motionless on the walls and behind the fortifications, weapons in hand.
They had prepared their entire lives for a death-defying charge. They had written their last wills. They were ready to fill the gaps in the defensive line with their own flesh and blood.
But... it was over?
A grizzled veteran’s longsword fell to the ground with a CLANG, but he didn’t even notice. He just stared blankly at the beach, now piled with wreckage but devoid of any living creature, as something slowly welled up in his cloudy eyes.
"We won...?"
a young soldier next to him asked, his voice like someone talking in their sleep.
"We... survived?"
No one answered.
The next second, someone—it was impossible to tell who—let out the first irrepressible sob.
That sob was like a spark that instantly ignited the entire barracks’ powder keg.
"We won!!! We won!!!!"
A Knight suddenly ripped off his helmet, hurled it into the sky, and let out a hoarse roar with all his might!
"UWOOOOOHHH—!!!"
"We’re still alive!!"
"Mother! I survived!!"
Three hundred years of suppressed fear, generations of bone-deep despair—all of it erupted in this single moment!
Soldiers threw down their weapons and wept in each other’s arms. Officers stopped trying to maintain order, leaning against the crenellations and letting tears stream down their weathered faces.
Along the entire defensive line, cries, roars, and wild laughter merged into a colossal wave of sound that pierced the clouds.
They weren’t celebrating victory.
They were celebrating... survival.
「Golden Stone City, on the highest terrace of the royal palace.」
The old King Alexander clutched a battle report just delivered by a Sky Knight, the thin sheet of papyrus feeling as heavy as a mountain in his withered hands.
Casualties: One thousand two hundred and sixty-four.
Civilian casualties: Zero.
The old King’s body began to tremble violently. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out.
Finally, the old man who had ruled the kingdom for fifty years felt his legs give way, and he slowly sank to the ground.
"Aiselan... is saved..."
The news swept through the entire Royal Capital like a storm.
As the battle report was posted at every street corner, as messengers flew over the city repeatedly shouting, "The Beast Tide has been purged," an eerie silence fell over all of Golden Stone City.
Citizens emerged from their homes, from their cellars, looking at each other in a daze, unable to believe their own ears.
Until the first person came to their senses, fell to their knees, and kowtowed heavily toward the faint silhouette of the mighty steel city to the north.
One, ten, a hundred...
A moment later, all one million citizens of Golden Stone City, noble and commoner alike, were prostrate on the ground.
They faced the direction of Cybertron, bowing in worship toward the steel miracle that had risen overnight and ended a three-hundred-year nightmare in fourteen hours.
Fervent shouts rose from every corner of the city, merging into a world-shaking torrent.
"Praise the Wizard!"
"Long live Lord Weisren!!"
"A miracle! This is a miracle!!!"
On this day, the sky over the Aiselan Kingdom changed.