Chapter 298: Continental War for the Fate of the World

Translator: Pai_

There was no one in the desert covered with fine sand.

There were no troops fiercely fighting in front of the Gate, nor was there any polluted land.

-A desert, huh...

Baal looked at the desert as if gazing upon a nostalgic landscape.

But unfortunately, no life forms could be felt.

Even in a desert, there should be life that survives there, yet in this place, there was none of that.

-Yes. There were places like this too.

Baal looked back.

As if to prove that the demons, including himself, had lost, the remains of the massive Gate lay in ruins.

As if there had been an explosion, fragments that had formed the Gate were buried in various places in the golden-glowing sand, and there were no traces of the demons' corpses, as if they had all turned to dust.

It was the result of the powerful force of the system that restricted his power and the primeval demons, exacting the price of defeat.

-You don’t need to worry about your subordinates.

"...What?"

At Baal’s words, Iron pretended not to care and asked back.

However, contrary to his response, he was spreading his senses as far as possible to search for his subordinates.

Because there were traces of an explosion at the Gate, he was worried whether they had been annihilated or severely injured.

-The system is cruel. But to the victor, it grants sweeter rewards than anyone else.

Baal said this as he looked at his own hand.

Seeing his body turning to dust and disappearing, he gave a bitter smile.

The demons had been defeated, and the price was the annihilation of all the demons who had crossed over here, including himself.

In return, the humans would receive rewards.

Any human who was dying would recover immediately, and even those who had died would be resurrected as long as their soul had not been swept away by the great flow.

It was truly an awe-inspiring power, but the system made it possible.

Because the ‘system’ was a being greater than any god he had ever seen.

"...Have you ever encountered the existence called Destruction?"

At Iron’s question, Baal silently looked up at the sky.

-Sometimes, when confronting Destruction, it is better not to know its true identity.

At Baal’s words, Iron fell silent.

Because it meant that once you knew its identity, it could be so overwhelming that you would lose even the will to fight.

-It’s troubling to see that expression on your face after you've defeated us.

At Baal’s words, Iron quietly looked at him.

Then Baal gave a faint smile and offered his congratulations.

-Congratulations. It is your and humanity's victory.

With those words, Baal quietly looked out over the desert.

Then he looked at Iron.

His face was full of regret.

‘Is it because he lost to me?’

While Iron was thinking that, Baal spoke with a bitter expression.

-I hope you do not become a ‘loser’ like me.

As if he had said all he had to say, Baal let go of the things he had barely been holding on to.

Then the body he had been desperately clinging to began to collapse completely.

Baal, turning into dust and disappearing.

-Is this the landscape that the Lord God once saw?

The Lord God, who once faced ‘death’ in the past.

‘Was this the scene he saw in his final moments?’ With that thought, Baal's body completely turned to dust and began to scatter.

[The Demon King has been annihilated. Thus, the threat within the Auzria Continent has been completely eliminated!]

-As a common reward, the system grants a buff to humanity, who now dominates the continent.

-The Lord God additionally bestows a blessing.

-Using the Demon King's body as a sacrifice, the power that once belonged to the God of Abundance now resides in the desolate desert.

As soon as the system’s voice ended, the remnants of Baal that had scattered as dust seeped into various parts of the desert.

And at the same time, an unbelievable miracle followed.

"This is..."

Grass began to grow in the desert turning golden.

Trees grew, flowers bloomed, and animals appeared.

At first, Iron wondered if it was an illusion, but the moment he saw the grass growing beneath his feet, he realized it was all real.

-Do not doubt it. This is the power of me, ‘Baal’, who was once the God of Abundance...

Baal’s voice suddenly echoed.

-Please, protect this landscape.

As soon as Baal’s final words ended, his presence vanished completely from the Auzria Continent.

“The God of Abundance...”

It was unknown how Baal, who was once a god, became a demon.

However, it was clear just how immense the power of Destruction was, if even a being who had once been a ‘god’ ended up becoming part of its force.

It made one wonder if perhaps these ‘demons’ had once been believers who followed gods.

“It’s not the time to think about others.”

Muttering to himself, Iron looked out over the land that had once been desert.

He saw the land now dyed in green.

On the ruins of the collapsed Gate, vines had begun to grow.

“...I’ll have to protect it.”

With those words, Iron floated into the air.

The moment he spread his senses, he felt the imperial army forces, who had been far away, approaching him.

Iron went out to meet them.

“Commander-in-Chief!”

Ariel was the first to fly toward Iron on her drake.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

As Ariel spoke in a trembling voice, the other commanders who followed her also looked on the verge of tears.

After Iron had gone alone to face the primeval demons, everyone else had put their lives on the line fighting the demons.

In facing the Archdemons and upper-ranked demons, they had felt despair.

Because if even those demons were this powerful, they hadn’t believed Iron could survive fighting the primeval demons alone.

But contrary to their fears, Iron had defeated them by himself.

“You’ve grown strong.”

At Lioner’s words, who had approached at some point, Iron gave a slight smile.

Though he had neither unleashed his presence nor displayed his power, Lioner could feel it.

That Iron had already grown one step further and was pioneering a realm that even he could not reach.

“More importantly, we have something to celebrate.”

As Iron said this, he looked at Ariel and Aiden.

Though they had only recently become Masters, the two had shown faster growth than anyone.

Had Iron not been there, they would have been praised as the geniuses destined to lead the future of the continent, and now, they were reaching toward another wall.

The others, while not as remarkable as Ariel and Aiden, had also achieved tremendous growth.

The existing Masters had stabilized their previously incomplete Master realms, setting the stage for further growth, and those who had been stuck at a wall had created cracks and were carving their own paths forward.

The battle with the demons had once again made the imperial army grow stronger.

“Now the only thing left is the war with the Eastern Continent?”

At Iron’s words, Ariel looked at him with concern.

“Shouldn’t you rest a bit?”

At her words, the two Family Heads and others nodded.

Though he had received the system buff and the Lord God’s blessing, Iron’s body had not fully recovered.

The aftermath of using part of the Lord God's level was severe.

On top of that, the side effects of forcibly extending the fusion time with the Divine Beasts had accumulated in his body.

As a result, even Master-level warriors could sense that Iron’s balance between body and power was broken.

“I’ll recover along the way.”

With those words, Iron faced the imperial army staring at him.

“Only the final battle remains. Let’s hold on just a little longer.”

A quiet voice.

But upon hearing Iron’s voice, everyone raised their heads and saluted.

Watching them, Iron smiled gently and said,

“Let’s go. To help our comrades.”

At the order of the Commander-in-Chief, all forces moved at once toward the eastern region of the Auzria Continent.

Thus, the greatest army of the Auzria Continent and the most powerful families began their movement for the battle against the Eastern Continent.

And some time later...

“Desert Disappeared?”

A video appeared in the Imperial Plaza with a title displayed in huge letters.

News spread that the desert, once devastated by polluted energy, had been covered in waves of green, and that the continent’s most dreadful Gate of 666 days had been cleared, causing everyone to erupt in cheers.

The fact that a Gate that could have swallowed the continent had been cleared brought hope to all, and even the military, which had suffered due to the divided frontlines, wore expressions of relief.

However, it was a different story on the eastern front of the continent, where they were still engaged in battle with the Eastern Continent.

“Just a little longer, we can hold out...”

“Grr... there are too many Hell Ghosts!”

“We fought so hard to hold this line... We can’t be pushed back now!”

Everyone held on desperately, but as god-level beings began crossing over from the Eastern Continent, the situation worsened.

Invaders with such overwhelming power began attacking Auzria that not even the Empire’s divine weapons or elite military forces could handle them.

Requests for reinforcements came in from all parts of the eastern front, but the Empire had already committed nearly every unit it could.

As a result, cracks began to form in various places, and the eastern front gradually fell into a worst-case scenario.

Even the southeastern front, seeing neighboring sectors collapse, began to decide on a retreat under the pressure from the Hell Ghosts.

“Everyone, fall back!”

“But the wounded...”

At the officer’s order, a soldier pointed to an injured comrade and protested.

“Leave them behind.”

A command that might seem heartless.

But the pressure from the Hell Ghosts was so severe that they could not afford to carry the wounded.

They had to abandon the injured as bait and use only the able-bodied to regroup and form a new line.

At the officer’s decision, the soldier choked up with emotion.

He knew.

He knew this decision was unavoidable...

Even so, it was possible that many soldiers would still die.

But guilt overwhelmed him at the thought of surviving by sacrificing a comrade he had fought beside for so long.

“...Let’s move.”

“...Yes.”

The officer reluctantly gave the order, and the soldier tearfully obeyed.

Just as another southeastern front was preparing to retreat.

A beam of light fell from the sky, scorching the entire coastline.

“...Huh?”

As the soldier blankly watched the scene, the officer quickly looked up at the sky.

On a massive airship, the emblem of the Mobile Field Army, praised as the Empire’s strongest force, was boldly emblazoned.

“We... we’re saved.”

At the officer’s words, the soldier, too, shouted in joy at the thought of surviving.

With the survival of a southeastern front line thanks to the Mobile Field Army’s intervention, the rest of the eastern front gradually began to stabilize with the help of reinforcements.

And it was the same for the forward base holding back the Eastern Continent’s invasion at the very frontlines.

-Zzt! Sorry for the delay. From here on, the sky is under the control of the Mobile Field Army.

-You’d be missing something if you left out the Western Army, wouldn’t you?

The reinforcements they had so desperately waited for.

And not just any troops, but two of the most trusted forces, both possessing the Empire’s strongest aerial units, had arrived.

But they weren’t the only reinforcements.

-Leave the ground to us.

The elite troops of the Special Defense Force, led by Caeden Wall and known as the Empire’s strongest defensive unit, warped in.

Simultaneously, the two Family Heads and elite troops from the Empire’s noble families began slaughtering the god-level beings that had been tormenting the frontlines.

With the arrival of the Empire’s most elite troops who had been guarding the desert, the dire situation at the forward base was reversed in an instant.

Seeing this, the Eastern Commander stared at the operations board with an excited expression and turned toward the comms device to ask,

“By the way, where is the Commander-in-Chief right now...?”

The one who responded wasn’t any of the commanders now stationed at the forward base, but Faulden in the capital.

-…He’s rampaging at the very front.

Just as the Eastern Commander tilted his head in confusion at Faulden’s words, a brilliant light descended from the sky and wiped out the massive number of corrupted beings blanketing the battlefield.

***

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