Do Your Own Revolution
Chapter 147

#147

“Target confirmed. Look at this, Peter.”

Westraine, the birthplace and final line of defense of the Republic, was burning.

The defensive barrier surrounding the city was annihilated by Ambrosia thermal cannons.

The subsequent bombardment from the airship fleet and armored trains was reducing the now barrier-less city to dust.

The city was flattened without a trace.

Republic soldiers struggled to their feet amidst agonized screams.

What greeted them was the second wave of incendiary and white phosphorus shells.

“Well, if this isn’t hell on earth, I don’t know what is.”

“……”

Private Peter, observer of the Kalhyram Army’s 1st Airship Fleet, peered through the bombardment sight.

He stared at the red-hot city of Westraine with a heavy heart.

The city had become no different from his colleague’s description – a pit of hell.

And those making their way into such a city were the mages of the Special Magical Power Unit, protected by gas masks and defensive barriers.

“Is this… really right?”

“What?”

Perhaps his tension had eased thinking it was all over now.

Looking at the cityscape, Peter spoke to his colleague in a low voice.

“Even if they’re the enemy, I never thought we’d carry out such a merciless operation. The soldiers who participated in the war are one thing, but the civilians in the city are innocent…”

“You heard His Excellency’s speech, didn’t you? They would have died anyway at the hands of that Secretary General or whatever he’s called.”

The reality of the Republic revealed by Keiren and the Imperial Intelligence Department was horrific beyond measure.

Human experimentation on their own citizens and prisoners of war.

The Imperial citizens watching the war were outraged, and the Kalhyram Army gained justification to completely erase this city.

This war was righteous and just, almost perfectly so.

However…

“No matter how right the fight is, can this sight ever be justified?”

“Well, well, someone’s showing their college education.”

What nonsense in this situation.

His colleague Raph sighed and spoke without a hint of concern.

“We just followed orders. They said destroy it, so we destroyed it.”

“……”

“Whether it’s civilian massacre or whatever, the ones responsible for the results aren’t us but the higher-ups. Right?”

Responsibility.

As Peter mulled over that word, he looked at the burning city and thought.

This enormous slaughter.

Could there truly be a human capable of taking responsibility for this violence?

Millions dead from starvation, monster claws, and their own country’s bullets.

Walking over those corpses to the enemy’s heart, only to kill hundreds of thousands more with those same hands.

Taking on such massive responsibility?

Is such a thing even possible?

‘If it were possible, then that would be…’

Just as Peter’s thoughts deepened as he sat at the airship’s observation window.

BOOM–!

The airship shook violently with an explosion.

“Anti-aircraft guns?!”

“Impossible. There’s no way anti-aircraft guns could survive that bombardment…!”

If something was happening, this was no time for philosophical debates.

As they steadied their shaking vision, the identity of what had pierced the airship gradually became clear.

Rumble……!

A giant hand gripping the airship’s hull.

And the monster’s corruption seeping from that hand.

The faces of both men instantly turned pale at the sight.

“…!”

“What… is that?”

Peter turned his gaze downward to look at the city echoing with cannon fire.

A black hole forming in the center of the city.

What had grabbed the airship was an entity that had emerged from that hole.

“Grrrrrr……”

Skin melting as if not fully formed.

Hundreds of teeth repeatedly forming and decaying.

And eyes that ceaselessly stared at them through it all.

A giant.

A giant made of monster slime was looking up at them floating in the sky.

Crack! Crackle!

“Ah, aagh?!”

“Escape! Hurry!”

“Damn, the corruption…!”

The airship’s gas envelope crumpling in the giant’s grip.

In the midst of the sudden chaos, Peter tried to turn and flee but collapsed where he stood.

The giant’s eyes staring at him.

The moment he met that gaze, strength left his legs.

“Peter! What are you doing?! Hurry and run…!”

Due to the ringing in his ears from the explosion and the confusion, he could barely hear his colleague’s voice.

“Am I going to die here? Just like this?”

As he stood there unable to adapt to the surreal scene, not knowing what to do.

Swoosh—!

Golden chains shot up, binding the giant’s hands and fingers and starting to pull them down.

“Kruk?!”

As its actions were interrupted, the giant’s gaze turned to its feet.

“That’s right. Keep looking this way.”

Boom—!

With a massive explosion, the giant’s head was engulfed in flames.

“Kuuuk?!”

Flames made of magical power and the heat they emanated.

When Peter, suddenly coming to his senses, opened his tightly shut eyes, a man in a black uniform stood before him.

“The engine section is completely destroyed, and the pilot is dead. Are these all the survivors?”

The man spoke while looking at Peter and his colleague.

The flames and magical power burning around him were completely incinerating the monster’s corruption that had been creeping into the airship.

“Can you stand, soldier?”

“Y-Yes sir!”

Recognizing the brigadier general insignia and black uniform, Peter immediately stood up and raised his voice.

Eugene Lorentz, division commander of the Special Magical Power Unit.

The Empire’s hero who should have been down below had arrived here to save them.

“Any injuries?”

“Ah, no sir! Thank you so much for sav-“

Thump!

Before he could finish speaking, something flew toward him.

Two emergency parachutes.

Things they hadn’t managed to prepare in the chaos.

“Then jump immediately. If piloting airships is your specialty, you must have parachute training.”

With those words, Eugene turned and jumped from the burning airship.

Peter couldn’t comprehend how he had climbed up here with bare hands or how he could jump from this height without any safety equipment.

“Attacks on the lower body have minimal effect. Then let’s try targeting the head next.”

Muttering incomprehensible words, Eugene launched himself from the airship and aimed his muzzle at the giant’s head.

Bang–!

As magic exploded, the giant’s body began to thrash violently.

“What are you doing?! Hurry up and jump!”

His colleague shouted after opening the escape hatch, but the soldier with the parachute on his back couldn’t take his eyes off Eugene.

‘The Empire’s hero.’

Every soldier on the front lines called him that, but seeing Eugene in person, Peter thought differently.

Standing proudly in the midst of raging flames, crushing all resistance.

‘Not a hero. This is more like…’

This wasn’t a hero, but something closer to a king.

***

Step- Step-

The city of Westraine shook from the bombardment.

Though the Republic’s final stronghold was shrouded in flames and smoke, Republic Secretary General Vladimir Medvedev walked through the underground corridor without losing his composure.

The Secretary General’s underground world, boasting a scale almost identical to the city formed above ground.

Walking toward its core, the Secretary General looked at the chair placed before him.

“I pay my respects, Dr. Lavrenti. Your creation guards my back until the very end.”

The giant that should be rampaging above ground by now.

Recalling it, the Secretary General thanked his faithful servant and sat on the prepared throne.

“Soon, Eugene Lorentz will come here.”

The Secretary General, seated on the throne like a monarch, slowly opened his mouth.

“The flame that will change history. The possibility that will change the world’s fate… He will come to end my life.”

Speaking thus, the Secretary General looked at the being prostrated before him.

“Alexander.”

Smooth exoskeleton covering the body like armor.

Red eyes gleaming through gaps in the face.

What bowed its head at the Secretary General’s feet was a monster.

“You will guard this place until the plan proceeds. Stop Eugene Lorentz and bring me his arm.”

“……”

The one slowly nodding to the Secretary General’s words was Alexander, a pure-breed monster.

Those prostrated behind him were also pure-breed monsters who had received orders from the monster queen Arachne.

Fortune coming at the most critical moment.

Looking at the monsters who obeyed him, the Secretary General sat on his throne with a satisfied expression and closed his eyes.

“They must think it’s all over.”

Just need to destroy this place.

If that happens, the war will end – they must be optimistic like that.

“However, Empire. This is merely the beginning.”

If Wings of Crimson approached this place, all the pieces were as good as gathered.

All that remained was to welcome him and overturn the approaching fate of destruction.

And I will be the hero who prevents the continent’s destruction.

“Don’t you think so too?”

Muttering thus, the Secretary General spoke toward his back.

“My companion, my queen.”

Kung-!

As the mana core installed beneath the city activated, light gradually began to fill the dark underground world.

The Secretary General’s mechanically constructed throne.

Behind that throne that looked no different from a sacred altar sat a gray figure.

“Kkeuk, kkek, kkeouk……”

A female body convulsing with dozens of needles pierced into her exposed brain.

Looking at his acquired trophy, the Secretary General smiled with satisfaction.

What lay beyond the Secretary General was the being worshiped by monsters.

The Queen Monster, Arachne.

“Go.”

Click, click.

In sync with the Secretary General’s command, the connection needles stuck in the queen’s head sent electrical signals to her brain.

The queen’s command imprinted in their minds was a single line: obey the Secretary General.

The monsters connected to her mind immediately began walking to their positions according to that order.

Step-

However, in the midst of this.

Alexander, who had momentarily stopped, turned his head to look at his queen.

“Kkeuk, eok, kreuk……”

A wretched sight – limbs severed, bound in restraints, turned into a receiver transmitting command signals.

Though it was the end result of retreat and flight, it was too tragic a sight to accept.

“……”

His red eyes hidden beneath the carapace trembled.

However, he couldn’t stay still any longer.

The moment his disobedience was discovered, that human would immediately try to dispose of him.

If that happened, his queen would forever remain as that man’s tool.

Swish-

He turned and walked toward the position the Secretary General had commanded.

Eugene Lorentz.

The Secretary General’s enemy he must face.

And the companion of the false queen whom his queen so despised and cursed.

But at some point, he realized.

To save his queen who had been reduced to a tool, he needed that man’s power.

That man was the only way to give the queen a dignified death.

Crunch–!

A grotesque sound came from the monster’s clenched fist.

What dwelled in the emotionless monster’s eyes was rage that even the queen’s commands couldn’t control.

And hidden beneath that, vengeance aimed at the Secretary General.

Author's Thoughts

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