Ch 145
Out of the night that covers me Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
by William Ernest Henley ----Invictus
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"──Oeeeeee!"
"──More!!"
"──Oeeeeeee!!"
"──... I'm sorry for putting you in charge of these guys."
"──Don't worry about it, Laplace. Need water?"
About an hour had passed since they started moving towards the designated coordinates.
Suddenly, Laplace complained of feeling unwell. She mentioned severe nausea and feeling a shaky ground.
In response to her discomfort, Drake suggested that she might have eaten too much Wakuwaku, and Laplace, agreeing, vomited as a result.
─Nikké vomits too, huh.
While Moore rubbed Laplace's back, he took out a water bottle she hadn't touched yet and offered it to the now-settled Laplace.
"Thanks, Captain! But that's unnecessary! A hero shouldn't receive charity from civilians!"
"...No, I'm really sorry."
"...If you don't need it, that's fine too. Just be careful."
After putting the water bottle back in its place, he looked back at the path they had taken—though it was a pavement road full of cracks in the collapsed urban area.
With his dark brown eyes, not obscured by sunglasses, squinting, he focused and recognized three moving figures in the distance. He sighed with a small sense of relief.
"Even so, ── the surface is still good! It feels like I'm living as Nikké!"
Perhaps recovering a bit from the nausea and discomfort, or maybe just enduring it, Laplace laughed, and after that, she proudly puffed out her chest.
"Once this is over, it will be the usual daily life again. I can live as a hero openly. No need to hide like a criminal anymore! I can live as Nikké, true to my essence, as a hero!"
"...I see. That's right..."
"What's with that indifferent response, Captain!? Aren't you happy!?"
"...If you ask whether I'm happy or not, it's the former, but..."
Looking up at him due to the height difference, Laplace questioned him with a weak voice, but Moore just shrugged lightly and continued. He lit a cigarette using an oil lighter.
"Everyone, let's hurry! The destination is right in front of us!"
Thrusting her fist into the air, she urged them forward with a cheerful smile, embodying her lively personality.
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"──Is that the destination?"
Annis, who followed the Metis squad and the members of the Counters trailing behind Moore, saw a building constructed of reinforced concrete emerging on the rough terrain. She asked Rapi, who walked beside her.
"Yes, it seems so."
"What is it, though?"
"It looks quite old..."
Even from a distance, the walls of the building, which appeared to be hastily constructed with a sharp impression, had holes pierced through them. The soot suggested evidence of bullet marks.
"...Is this from the first invasion?"
Neon voiced her speculation while blinking her leaf-green eyes.
It became apparent, as they approached the building, that the increasing red rust covering the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles was likely from that time. The uniformly positioned rear ends of the vehicles facing the building suggested they were destroyed during a retreat.
The soldiers' graves said nothing. A lonely gust of wind passed through, lifting a swirl of dust as it moved on.
"...It feels kind of eerie."
"What are you afraid of? This is everywhere—"
Just as Annis was about to continue, an audible, dry sound echoed beneath her feet.
When she looked down, there it was—a skeletal corpse still wearing combat gear and body armor.
Beside the skeletal corpse lay a rusted, large assault rifle. Perhaps it fell there while the person was still engaging in combat. The evidence suggested that the fallen skeleton faced towards the building, lying prostrate.
"...I wonder how this person died."
Anis involuntarily murmured sentimentally. After a moment, she gently moved her legs away from the skeletal corpse, which she had unknowingly stepped on along with the body armor.
"...Remnants of Rapture..."
Rapi turned her crimson eyes towards the old models—remnants of Rapture from the time when solid bullets were still predominant. Dozens of them displayed a gruesome scene.
Was this skeletal corpse shot down by the soldiers?
"...Amazing, this person... alone..."
Anis thought of someone capable of achieving such feats, but even so, the number was staggering. Just at a glance, she could see the remains of several Lord-class ones.
Parting ways with the skeleton of an unknown soldier, they resumed their advance. However, just as they moved forward—
"──Gunshots!"
"──Did we encounter enemies?"
Familiar gunshots, including the sound of Moore's assault rifle, and two different types of gunfire reached their ears, prompting everyone to start running.
The varying heights of the three figures were bid farewell by eye sockets pierced through dry, chalk-white skulls like withered trees.
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Tentacles torn to shreds, death, the ground splitting, squelching, tentacles dying, body pierced, Rapture crumbling, eroded, killed, death.
Die.
Die, die.
Die, die, die, die, die.
"──Ah... Ahh...!"
The girl's lips let out a thin breath, almost indistinguishable from a scream.
Fear, terror—overwhelmed by these, her legs gave way, and she couldn't resist the approaching swarm of Rapture.
Her hands trembled, and her legs felt like they were about to collapse.
Her vision distorted, and the world shook.
In that disarray, only the sparkling malevolent crimson single eye emitted points of light, vividly covering her field of view.
"──Laplace! Get back!"
Suddenly, a large back appeared in front of her.
A figure with a backpack sharply urged the girl to step back and fired an assault rifle.
Brass casings scattered, and the Rapture hit by the gunfire fell to the chaotic ground, like a puppet with cut strings. Even this scene seemed distant to her.
"──Laplace! Pull yourself together!"
"──Maxwell! Take her quickly! Drake, come to my side!"
"──Don't order me!"
"──I'm the commander for now!"
"──Oh. True... Encounter!"
Another figure jumped into the girl's sight. Black and red clothes, hair almost silver-white. It took her a moment to realize that it was a villain., a member of the same squad.
Amidst the mixed sounds of shotgun and assault rifle fire, the immobilized girl began to be dragged away.
"──Laplace, hold on!"
Die, die, die, die.
Rapture chasing, tentacles, the ground splitting, killed──
"──Haa haa...! Haa haa haa!"
Her chaotic breath resembled hyperventilation. As the girl's condition worsened, three individuals rushed towards them from behind, led by the leader who sensed the abnormality.
"──What's happening!?"
"──Trauma from the previous mission!"
Having understood the situation from the brief response, the leader with light brown hair furrowed his brow, then, rallying his companions to support those engaged in the battle, he dashed forward.
Whether even their retreating figures were reflected in the girl's eyes or not.
"──Commander! I'll provide cover!"
"──Understood! Drake, fall back first──get down!!"
Standing next to her, he, who reluctantly took on the role of commander, pushed her aside with his left arm.
At that moment, a beam of light passed between him and her at an unimaginable speed.
Fortunately, it didn't hit directly.
However, the combat suit sleeve covering his mechanical left arm was burned by the passing beam, leaving Goddesium's skin charred black.
"──Y-you...!"
"──Commander-sama!?"
"──Don't mind me! I won't die! Squad, concentrate firepower on the enemies in front! Keep shooting!!"
It was fortunate that the internal frame wasn't distorted, but with Goddesium's skin charred, the vivid contours of artificial muscles were exposed in broad daylight. He readied his assault rifle again, pulling the trigger.
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Author: Here, I apologize for the recent decrease in update frequency and the short length of the story. And, Mr. You78, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for introducing my work, albeit belatedly.
As an anecdote, I have always liked the poem "Invictus," and I had the idea of embodying a character based on this poem. This eventually led to the creation of my character, Show Moore, in this work.