Chapter 123 – Sekigahara

Chapter 123 – Sekigahara

The Nagoya Survivor Group was sensitive to information like rumors. This was especially so because the Men’s inherent nature was that of the Merchant Guild.

Information was money, after all.

But even for the Men, the rumors circulating these days were far too different from the usual.

“They’re building a cooperative relationship with the Korean Forces?”

“They’re even introducing a new currency, I heard…”

“It’s not just the Men. They say the Men also got rid of the Water Mass in Tokyo.”

Every single piece of information was so different from what the Men considered normal.

Therefore, it was natural that some of the Men were skeptical about the truth of the rumors.

“That’s impossible. How could they cross the sea?”

“Currency in a world like this… Who guarantees the value of the currency? The government?”

Especially with even more unsettling rumors circulating recently, many people were wary of these bizarre tales.

And the unsettling rumors were…

“They say Osaka is coming to wage an all-out war with us?”

“They’ve already passed Kyoto, they say.”

“Yes, I heard that too. They say almost all of their forces are coming.”

It was a rumor that Osaka was attacking.

And all these rumors had spread rapidly in the past few days. It was perhaps natural that many people found it hard to believe even this.

“It’s been quiet lately, so why again?”

“Didn’t a similar rumor circulate once before?”

As Nagoya was located in the center of Japan, the Men had experienced countless false rumors throughout the Apocalypse.

Therefore, it was right to be cautious.

However, the difference between then and now was…

All those rumors were now true. And they were about to have the truth of those rumors confirmed.

***

Sekigahara Station, located in a relatively inland region connecting Nagoya City and Osaka City, was also the site of one of the most important battles in Japan’s history.

In fact, in Japanese culture, “Sekigahara” even means “the land of decisive battle.”

Sekigahara was still a significant transportation hub. National Route 1, which runs from Osaka, through Nagoya, and all the way to Tokyo, flows through Sekigahara.

In addition to that, it was one of Japan’s important lifelines, with the Tokaido Main Line, Japan’s first railway line, and in modern times, the Shinkansen high-speed rail passing through it.

The Nagoya Merchant Guild had long ago recognized the strategic importance of this area and, while keeping the Osaka Forces in check, had concentrated a considerable number of troops in Sekigahara to protect it.

Ironically, as history repeated itself today, a decisive battle was about to unfold on this very land once again.

Meanwhile, the Sentries of the Nagoya Merchant Guild, unaware of this fact…

“Yaaaaawn-!”

They simply let out a long yawn.

Then, a Sentry spoke as if something had just occurred to him.

“I want to go to Tokyo!”

“Senior Officer, are you complaining about Tokyo again?”

His junior laughed and accepted his lament.

“Have you ever been to Tokyo?”

“My older male cousin lives in Tokyo, so I used to hang out there all the time.”

“Wow, you! I didn’t see you that way. You’re a traitor, aren’t you?”

“Senior Officer, why do you like Tokyo so much?”

“Well, it’s definitely better than boring Nagoya with nothing to see… huh?”

The Senior Soldier, who had been lamenting, raised his eyebrows.

“Hey. Didn’t something move over there?”

“Is it a monster?”

“Gasp!”

With a scream, the Senior Soldier crouched down and ducked his head inside the guard post. He, of course, also forcibly pulled down the bewildered Junior Soldier’s head to hide him.

“Senior Officer, what in the world is going on…?”

“Hey, you, radio in right now. It’s the Osaka Guys. There are so many. The rumors were true!”

The Senior Soldier whispered with a serious expression.

“Senior Officer, are you joking…?”

The junior soldier, who was about to laugh and retort to the man’s words, realized that the man wasn’t joking from the senior’s sharp gaze.

Screech-click-

“Uh… this is Post 24. I, the man, I mean…”

But the man was hesitating and couldn’t make a proper report. The Senior Soldier snatched the walkie-talkie from the man-.

“Post 24. Multiple armed forces to the west. At least several hundred. It seems to be the Osaka Guys. Requesting urgent support. I repeat. This is Post 24. To the west…”

It was just as the man began to report.

Whoosh- CRASH!

With a powerful impact sound, the observation post vibrated.

And at the same time…

“Khaaaak!”

The Senior Soldier screamed. A large iron pillar was embedded in his chest, shot by some ability.

“H-huh! Senior Officer! Senior Officer!”

The startled Junior Soldier violently shook his senior, but feeling the man’s lifeless, limp body, the Junior Soldier immediately realized he was dead. Soon, fear dominated him.

“I-I don’t want to die…”

Soon after, the man also deployed his ability.

Whoosh-

The man’s ability was a Defensive Ability. As he channeled his mana, a dense, honeycomb-shaped Mana Barrier was soon cast in front.

Bwaaahaaang-!

The man briefly felt guilty, wondering if he could have saved his senior if he had deployed his shield a little earlier, but he quickly shook it off.

‘I’ll hold out until support arrives!’

Fortunately, as it was a defense-specialized ability, its mana efficiency was quite high when it came to defending. Thanks to the man, he was able to withstand the enemy’s concentrated fire for a short while.

Bang! Clang! Boom!

However, the dull thudding of various abilities was enough to further shake the man’s heart, which was already clouded by the death of his senior.

“Pl-please, someone help me quickly!”

It was when the man, trembling with fear, began to plead for his life, reciting all the gods he knew.

Ziiiiiiiiiing-

A vibration began to reverberate.

“What is it this time?”

It was when the man looked up, searching for the source of the vibration.

In the sky, two colossal objects stood side by side, displaying their majestic presence as if reigning over the battlefield.

But perhaps because of the dark night, he found it difficult to properly identify what the objects were.

‘A n-new type of monster?’

In this day and age, it couldn’t be artificial, so he just assumed it was a monster. That’s when the anomaly occurred.

Boom!

With a powerful explosion, a pillar of light engulfed the Osaka Expeditionary Force.

“What?!”

All the men stared dumbfounded at the bombarded area.

There was only a deep crater, barely revealing the ground at its center. The creatures that were originally in that spot had vanished without a trace.

“Impossible!”

“What kind of ability is this…?”

But that was only the beginning.

Ziiiiiiiiiing-

The vibration echoed once more. Then, the command staff of the Osaka Expeditionary Force, gripped by fear, urgently shouted,

“Retreat! Damn it! We can’t fight an enemy like that!”

However, it took some time for The Man’s order to be carried out.

“What is it?”

“It seems like they’re telling us to retreat?”

“Are they telling us to run away now?”

“But what kind of ability was The Man’s light just now?”

This was especially true for those who hadn’t properly witnessed the devastation of the Artillery Barrage. The time between The Man’s light and the Photon Destroyer’s firing was only about 8 seconds.

Kwa-kwang!

Once again, the Artillery Barrage fell.

“Damn it! Scatter, you rookies!”

“Scatter! Scatter!”

Only then did the Expedition realize the seriousness of the situation, but…

Wheeeeeeeeng- Chwae-e-e-eng!

It was too late to scatter now; they would only become good prey for the Interceptors. And so, the Expedition began to be annihilated.

***

“What in the world is this…?”

The Junior Soldier, who had been certain he was going to die, couldn’t close his mouth at the sight of The Man. Meanwhile, a scene came to mind.

“Ah, now that I think about it, the thunderstorm in Tokyo last night…”

His comrade had made such a fuss that he had vaguely seen the Tokyo thunderstorm in his sleep. Aside from the fact that the light spread and shone through a mass of water, this scene was eerily similar to that time.

‘Indeed, with this light… it might even be possible to remove the mass of water in Tokyo with fire manipulation.’

Only then did The Man ponder the rumors circulating in Nagoya.

‘No, wait… then could it be?’

The all-out attack by the Osaka Forces, which he had thought was just a rumor. Furthermore, this unidentified force that was helping them. And even that they had removed the mass of water in Tokyo.

It was the moment when all the rumors, which had been hard for them to believe based on their common sense, turned out to be true.

Meanwhile, there were other unconfirmed facts besides that.

‘The Man said that a new currency would be introduced…’

The Man was, strictly speaking, closer to a skeptic who denied the recent rumors. But now it was different.

Because he had just seen it with his own eyes.

‘What on earth is going to happen to the world…?’

The Man sensed the immense ripple of change.

***

‘My goodness…’

Meanwhile, Ryohei, who was observing The Man’s scene, flinched every time the Pillar of Light struck the ground.

‘No way, this can’t be… ‘

He was well aware of the majestic appearance of the Fleet, but he had never imagined that The Man’s combat power would be so strong. The Man’s face was losing color more and more.

‘I can’t fight these things.’

The Man quickly came to a conclusion.

This wasn’t a battle.

It was just a one-sided massacre.

The problem was that he would be the next victim.

‘This absolutely won’t do. I have to escape.’

The Man quickly made up his mind.

The title ‘Man Who Swallowed Osaka’ bestowed upon him was useless now that he had lost his troops.

The Man quickly pondered his next course of action.

‘Join the Monsters.’

It was the optimal way for The Man, a Villain, to survive.

And Ryohei, ever cunningly looking out for his own survival…

The Man was by no means a weakling.

‘…And I’ll take my sword.’

First of all, The Man is a Sword Skill Ability user.

The Man had always only argued online, so he found it difficult to deal with other people in reality. But he boasted that he was the best in the Japanese Archipelago when it came to one-on-one combat.

Due to The Man Castle’s personality, which made him flustered when dealing with people, he entrusted the command system, which he couldn’t handle properly, to others. However, it wasn’t for nothing that The Man was in charge, despite often being swayed.

‘First, I’ll hide. If I fight while hiding, I have a chance.’

The Man, if nothing else, was confident in his own survival…

‘Because I’m strong.’

He firmly believed that there wouldn’t be any major problems.

***

Meanwhile, Osaka Airspace.

Buzz-

Making a mechanical sound, the Observation Ship, which was focusing the Mana Lens, was concentrating on Mana of a different color than the surrounding people.

[Fine-tuning Mana frequency…]

And the moment the Mana Lens was focused.

[Unusual individual detected.]

I immediately received a notification.

“What? A Villain candidate?”

I switched to the screen that the Observation Ship was viewing.

In the depths of Osaka City, a single figure seemed to be busily packing, as if in a hurry to go somewhere.

The Mana reaction was that of a Villain.

I observed the figure for a moment and then-.

“What, are they trying to escape?”

I scoffed.

My Observation Probes and Observation Ships were already spread throughout Japan without a Capital City. No matter how much The Man tried to escape, there was nowhere he could go to get away from my information assets.

It was like how Sun Wukong, no matter how great he was, couldn’t escape the Buddha’s grasp.

I decided to weigh the pros and cons, observing his movements to see what would benefit me more.

And I soon came to a conclusion—.

“Well, even so, I want to secure the city completely… So for now, should I leave it as is?”

I decided to let him escape.

He probably couldn’t even imagine it, but whether he escaped or not was, in fact, only possible with my permission.

“Well, try your best to run away.”

I grinned.