I am not a returner Episode 411:
War of the Stars (2)
A city full of gray.
Amid the flying ash, dust, and smoke, a man stood tall.
A man looking up at the dark cloudy sky with an expression deep in thought.
In a city covered in dark ash, the man was strangely shining white.
“Are you almost ready?”
Who is this question asking?
The white man looked up at the sky covered with dark clouds and raised the corners of his mouth.
It was a long wait.
Who on earth said that the wounds of the past will heal over time is nonsense?
After that day his fate changed completely.
I have never forgotten the nightmare of that day, not even for a single day.
The memories engraved in my mind like a stigma festered, rotted, and oozed juice.
“ha.”
Letting out a low breath, the man took out a necklace from his pocket.
* * *
A necklace shaped like a crude apple.
The leash was made of plastic instead of hard metal, and the red dye applied to the apple model had faded and some parts were falling off.
The man smiled slightly as he held in his hand a crude necklace that looked like it would have been attached to a child’s play house set.
“Please wait a little longer, Eve.”
The day to end the long wait is not far away.
“Soon… the war will start again.”
Second interest.
The war of stars that will be the last.
The day of the decisive battle dawned.
The Allied forces who woke up early in the morning and completed maintenance were lined up.
Alina Vladimir, standing on the podium, looked down at the lined up Allied forces and opened her mouth.
“Rome is entered through a total of seven routes.”
It is clear that the enemy is preparing in advance.
It was too risky to enter Rome with only one entry route.
“Two each by sea and two by land. Two from the air… and finally, one unit enters through the ‘entrance to the sanctuary’ in Rome.”
As Alina continued, my excitement grew.
Aside from land, sea, and air, how can you enter Rome through the entrance of the sanctuary?
“…Now, isn’t that suicidal?”
“At the entrance to the sanctuary, enemies will definitely be encamped.”
Like every other country except the ‘Land Where the Stars Abandoned’, there were several entrances to the sanctuary in Italy.
Although there was an entrance to a large sanctuary in Rome, the destination of this operation.
The problem is that the entrance to the sanctuary is located right in the middle of enemy territory.
Unless Mobius was a fool, there was no way he would have left the entrance, which was a direct hotline from the sanctuary to Rome, idly.
“quiet.”
The noisy atmosphere became quiet as if cold water had been poured on Alina’s short words.
“The role of the unit entering the sanctuary entrance will be to create chaos inside and help other units enter.”
In other words, the unit entering the sanctuary entrance acts as a decoy.
There was a lot of tension among the Allied awakeners lined up.
The awakened people swallow their dry saliva while looking at each other.
Everyone here knew that this war was so dangerous that they had to risk their lives, but that did not mean they wanted to play the role of bait in the middle of enemy territory.
Because losing your life while fighting fiercely on the battlefield is different from being killed as a bait.
“There is no need to be so agitated.”
Alina continued, looking around at the Allied Forces.
“The unit entering the sanctuary entrance is a special unit made up of Pagunseong, Mugokseong, Cheonwonseong, Nokjonseong, and a few high-ranking awakened people. “Ordinary soldiers are not organized, so don’t worry.”
As Alina continued, sighs of relief flowed from here and there.
After the suffocating tension was relieved, a question came to mind.
Is it really worth sending in as many as four of the Seven Stars as bait?
Of course, excluding Chilseong, the Allied Forces’ strength was considerable, but the most important thing was ‘Chilseong’, who was praised as a hero of humanity.
It was a clear overinvestment to put in four of those Chilseongs as bait.
“Do you have any other questions?”
“doesn’t exist!”
Of course, there was no awakened person who actually asked such a question out loud.
Just as when you ask students if they have any questions right before the end of class, very few people actually raise their hands, individuals who blend in with the crowd tend to have an instinct not to stand out.
“Then, before we begin the operation, I would like to say something to you.”
He opened his mouth quietly as he looked down at the allied forces, which were comprised of numerous nationalities and races.
“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know about the Star Wars?”
“….”
“Yes, no one has forgotten that terrible war.”
Alina nodded and continued speaking.
“that day. “Humanity took up arms to protect itself and won.”
Although it left many scars.
Although there was immeasurable despair and tragedy.
at last.
It was humans who drove out the demonic beasts and won.
“Because some belong to the military, some will be here to win a huge reward, while others will be here to achieve justice and save those who have been captured.”
The strong charisma contained in the calm tone of voice overwhelmed the atmosphere of the audience.
“Even though the reasons are different, no one can deny the fact that you are standing here and not running away.”
Just that.
“I don’t think it’s enough to call you ‘heroes.’”
Who said words contain power?
A hot fire began to ignite in the hearts of the awakened people who were lined up as they listened to the charismatic Alina’s speech.
It’s called heroism.
If you think about it, it’s the hardest fire to burn.
“Look around for a moment.”
The awakened people turned their gaze to each other.
“The total number of people gathered here is 32,782. Have you ever seen so many awakened people gathered in your life?”
“….”
“Yeah, I guess you’ve never seen it before. “I never imagined that this many people would gather.”
Alina raised her arms.
“one week.”
He spread his index finger as if pointing to the sky.
“Only a week has passed since war was decided.”
There is not enough time to prepare for war.
“What do you think is the reason why so many people were able to gather? Because the allies have moved? Because there was a huge reward at stake? “Is it because the gathering place is a sanctuary?”
“….”
“no.”
He shook his head quietly and spoke in a powerful voice.
“The reason so many people were able to gather here is because each and every one of you is a hero who is not afraid of death.”
In fact, it was something close to sophistry.
Most of these people were forced to participate in the military because they were in the military or were awakened people who participated in the war with the goal of receiving huge prize money, which was no different from winning the lottery.
As she said, there were only a few ‘heroes who were not afraid of death.’
but.
“….”
“….”
The fire of heroism that was kindled in my heart burned even more fiercely as it absorbed the fuel of crowd psychology.
Rough breathing and adrenaline rushing like crazy.
A passion burned in the eyes of the awakened people gathered here, as if they were dancing as a group to club music.
‘Is this enough?’
Alina, thinking that it was time to end this, opened her mouth to the awakened people who were looking at her passionately.
“Where we are headed from now on, a group of terrible demonic beasts and an evil constellation are waiting.”
“Maybe half of the awakened people gathered here… no, all of them could die.”
Alina’s stigmata burned with the bright rays of light.
“but.”
As she glanced back and looked, the Seven Stars standing behind the podium all spewed out magical power.
Wooooow!
The magical power of the stigmata emitted by the Seven Stars at the same time suddenly rose up into a gigantic pillar of light.
Looking up at the pillar of magical power surging through the awakened people, I unconsciously opened my mouth.
“We will be with you on your path ahead.”
“If we fight, we will fight first, and if we die, we will die first.”
“Even if countless corpses pile up, I will carry them forward and move forward.”
and.
“I will remember. “The 32,782 heroes gathered here.”
Waaaaaa!
An explosive roar rang out as if it would shake the temple of the sanctuary.
Alina waited until the shouting subsided and took out a fist-sized orb from her pocket.
“Then, we will inform you of the entry route for each unit through the communication relic, so move quickly according to the commander’s orders.”
“Loyalty!”
“yes!”
“All right!”
Even in the Allied Forces, the answers varied as to whether more than half of them were non-soldiers.
But in this current atmosphere, what is the importance of learning something?
The awakened people waited for instructions to come from the communication relic with hot eyes as if they were spouting fire.
“Whoa.”
After finishing her speech, Alina let out a tired sigh from between her lips.
Giving morale-boosting speeches before preparing for war was one of her specialties, but given the circumstances, even as a veteran, she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“Thank you for your effort. “You’re good at public speaking, aren’t you?”
Ojin clapped his hands and approached her.
In fact, if you look at the content of the speech, there was nothing particularly special about it, but thanks to Alina’s unique sense of intimidation and charisma that overwhelms the audience, it was more effective than expected.
“It’s something I’ve always done. And I didn’t force myself to say something I didn’t mean to say.”
“Well, whatever the reason, the people gathered here are people who have made up their own minds.”
“…Not as bad as Mr. Ojin.”
Alina continued speaking with worried eyes.
“Anyway, are you sure you’re okay?”
“You mean acting as bait?”
“yes. “I know you have a plan, but… it’s too risky.”
“The return is that big.”
Alina let out a deep sigh as if she couldn’t stop it.
“…Please take care of yourself.”
“of course.”
Ohjin nodded and walked slowly.
The awakened people belonging to the ‘bait unit’ followed him and gathered one by one.
A special team made up of high-ranking awakened individuals with the ability to fly and fly together.
They followed Ojin towards the entrance to the sanctuary leading to Rome.
“Let’s go.”
The ‘War of the Stars’ was named as it meant that awakened people of different nationalities and races joined forces to fight.
The second and final war has come to an end.