Of course, the 'suicide' I ordered was not simply physical destruction.
It was a command for real death, to shatter his own soul core.
"Ah, urk...!"
Pain-filled groans slipped out of Celendion's mouth.
He was in the midst of destroying his own soul core, having torn out his own heart.
"Kuh, ahh...!"
The 'absolute command' gives an absolute order, as the name suggests.
Celendion faithfully followed my command, severing his own life to the very end.
Everyone watched silently as the vampire king met such an end, surrounded by them.
Some wore triumphant expressions, while others harbored a trace of pity.
Some bulged their eyes, not wanting to miss a single moment, while others couldn't bear to watch and turned away.
When only ten lives were left in Celendion, he coughed up blood and cried out.
"Please, stop! Just kill me with your own hands!"
"..."
"Please! With the demonic gun! Shoot my heart with the Nightmare Slayer!"
Celendion cried out to Damien. But Damien turned his head away.
"A holy weapon is fine too! Cut my neck! Or, shred my flesh without leaving anything! A holy weapon has the right to do so!"
He pleaded to Lucas and Evangeline, but the two knights simply stared at the monster expressionlessly.
"If so, just a silver weapon! No, anything else is fine! Humans! Kill me with your own hands!"
At Celendion's outcry, the soldiers flinched, but no one stepped forward.
That's because I ordered them to just watch.
Absolutely do not touch him. Let him die on his own.
While being reduced to a mere spectacle, Celendion continued to commit suicide, crying out miserably.
"Please! I'm asking for an honorable death...!"
"You talk of honor, you blood-sucking scum."
I replied coldly.
"You're to die like a monster, like vermin."
A deep despair cast over Celendion's face.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six...
As his remaining lives dwindled, Celendion's face aged rapidly, turning into a complete old man's face by the time he had five lives left.
The panic gradually disappeared from his face. Whether he had given up, his voice sank heavily.
"Every morning in my mansion deep within the Lake Kingdom, I tried to commit suicide."
Looking at his own soul core shattering in his hands, Celendion laughed grimly.
"But now I realize. That was just a game. Because I knew I wouldn't really die at that level, I could play that game, just confirming that I was alive."
"..."
"You might be right, human."
He looked up at me with a wrinkled old face.
"Maybe I was just bored with a long life, numb to everything... So, I sought new stimulation."
Four.
"In front of real death, I'm scared now."
Three.
"But because this feeling of fear is novel, because real death is before my eyes, I finally realized."
Two.
"At this moment, I really... realize that I'm alive."
One.
"Thank you, human. No, thank you, Ash. For killing me."
"You're blabbering to the end."
I clenched my teeth.
"Fall into hell, monster."
After reviving with his last life, Celendion destroyed his soul core for the last time.
Clang-!
A sound like a glass art piece shattering echoed,
"Ah."
Celendion looked into the void and muttered softly.
"Finally, it's the end..."
Thud.
Celendion crumbled to the floor like a straw doll.
"...As a word of thanks for killing me, I'll give you some advice..."
Looking at the void with relaxed eyes amidst the sea of blood, he muttered slowly.
"The King of Nightmares knows everything. He is a higher-dimensional existence..."
"...?"
"So don't try too hard to oppose him..."
Celendion's bloody eyes slowly closed.
"It's futile, after all..."
"What the hell are you..."
I tried to question him, but I stopped.
The collapsed Celendion no longer moved.
"..."
I quietly looked down at him.
He was a vampire lord, a commander of monsters, and the stage 5 boss monster.
Celendion, the worst enemy of all the monsters we've ever faced, had died like this.
"Phew..."
I let out a parched sigh and slowly looked around.
"..."
"..."
"..."
I saw heroes and soldiers covered in blood and wounds.
They were all looking at me with faces that didn't know what to do now.
As the hatred for the enemy cooled down and the adrenaline left, they all felt too late.
The wounds left on us.
The death of a comrade scattered around.
"..."
It's heavy.
It's too heavy.
But this is the weight a frontline commander must bear.
Clasping my fists tightly, gritting my teeth, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Collect the bodies of our allies. Make a roll of honor for the fallen. Assess the damage to the walls and the fortification equipment."
I allocate the mechanical, obvious tasks to be done.
"Retrieve the magic stones from the enemy's bodies and gather the spoils."
When there are tasks at hand, people don't collapse.
So, I issued commands.
Then, as I always did after every defensive battle, I tried to recite a hopeful speech.
"..."
I stopped.
Instead, I spat out shortly.
"The war is over."
I didn't say we won. No, I couldn't.
We lost too much.
It was a victory, but it was a victory full of wounds.
Looking at the walls smeared with blood and horribly destroyed, and the cruelly fallen bodies of our allies,
I gritted my teeth and spat out once more.
"The war is... over."
***
The recovery of our allies' bodies began on the walls.
I forced strength into my wobbly, energy-drained legs and slowly walked on top of the walls.
"..."
Junior was quietly weeping next to Jupiter's body.
- Please come to the Crossroad branch of the Continental Mercenaries Guild, Your Highness.
I passed by them.
Bodybag and Burnout were wailing next to the bodies of Oldgirl and Skull, and Godhand kept his head down with his mouth tightly shut.
- Is the third prince a good person? Is he good?
- He seems like a good person?!
- He saved us in the first place! Even if he has ulterior motives, we have to acknowledge that~
I passed by them.
The three tankers from the Old Hunters were helping with the recovery of our allies' bodies despite their severe injuries.
Reluctant priests forcibly loaded them onto vehicles and escorted them to the temple.
I stopped in front of the bodies they had recovered.
Old Hunters' magician, Yenichi. And the bodies of the five Dion mercenaries.
Dion's face, who looked like he died a peaceful death, unlike his cruel one, could be seen.
- Send us to the front lines. We'll show you that we can do our bit.
I passed by them.
The vice-captain of the Twilight Brigade was sitting quietly beside the body of the captain, with his knees bent.
The veteran soldier was blankly staring at the face of his comrade he'd spent his life with.
- There are no more monsters coming from the south, so there's no need to keep the firewall!
I passed by them.
The soldiers' bodies were neatly lined up.
Those who were burnt, shattered into pieces, swept away by explosions, and couldn't even find a trace were also there.
The soldiers wept as they recovered the bodies of their dead comrades.
- The prince is here!
- Lord! Lord! Lord!
- The best commander in the South!
- A man born to kill monsters!
I passed by them.
I won't collapse. I can't collapse.
Because I am the commander.
Because it's natural for people to die on the front lines.
Because we've lost before, and we'll lose again.
So, even if everyone else cries, I alone have to be firm.
There was a temporary outpost in the watchtower at the corner of the wall. When I entered, Lucas, Evangeline, and Damien were waiting there.
"The roll of honor has been completed, Your Highness."
Lucas extended the documents he was holding. I took them without a word.
"..."
Is it because I'm tired? I can't read the letters.
As I'm trying to focus and read the contents, Lucas cautiously called me.
"Your Highness."
"Hmm?"
"It's just us here."
Looking up, Lucas was giving me a faint smile with a pallid face.
"You can be at ease."
"..."
Evangeline and Damien also gave me a gentle smile.
"Sure, senior. It's just us... there's no need to hold back."
"We're in the same party, Prince."
"..."
My legs gave out.
My party members caught me as I swayed, about to collapse, and set me down in a chair.
"We could've saved more."
I hid my face behind my trembling hands.
"If only I was more thorough, we could've avoided their deaths."
"Master."
"If I had planned the free exploration route more rigorously. If I had farmed gear to the limit to equip them. If I found a way to bring reinforcements from the city."
I knew.
"If I had retreated the regular troops earlier. If I had trained the Dion Mercenaries more thoroughly. If I had been more alert when buying time from Celendion. If I had perfectly protected Junior so that Jupiter didn't have to step in."
I knew, all right.
There was no better way. There was no better strategy. There was nothing more foolish than mulling over what could have been done in the past.
But.
But someone had died.
A comrade had died. Those who laughed, cried, and crossed the line of life and death with us, had taken their last breath right before my eyes.
They met death within arm's reach.
"Even if we had no choice during the Black Spider Legion, it wasn't the case this time. We could've changed things. We could've saved at least one more person. But, I... I was lacking."
Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. I squeezed them shut and gritted my teeth.
"If only I... did a little better..."
"You did your best, Master."
Lucas spoke warmly with a hoarse voice.
"Everyone knows that."
Damien and Evangeline gently patted my shoulder.
"So please, don't blame yourself too much."
With my face covered in my hands, I sobbed quietly.
I cried for a long time, tears and snot streaming down my face.
My party members cried with me.
Nine heroes.
146 soldiers.
Those were the numbers written on the list of casualties that day.
***
[STAGE 5 - CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP - Jupiter Junior(SSR), Ash(EX)]
[Leveled-Up Characters]
>Main Party
- Ash(EX) Lv.41 (↑5)
- Lucas(SSR) Lv.44 (↑3)
- Evangeline(SSR) Lv.44 (↑3)
- Jupiter Junior(SSR) Lv.53 (↑3)
- Damien(N) Lv.41 (↑3)
>Sub Party 1
- Godhand(SR) Lv.41 (↑3)
- Bodybag(R) Lv.36 (↑3)
- Burnout(SR) Lv.34 (↑5)
>Sub Party 3
- Free(R) Lv.34 (↑3)
- Sentence(R) Lv.33 (↑3)
- Viole(R) Lv.33 (↑3)
[Injured and Killed Characters]
>Main Party
- Ash(EX) : Minor Injury
- Lucas(SSR) : Minor Injury
- Evangeline(SSR) : Minor Injury
- Damien(N) : Minor Injury
>Sub Party 1
- Oldgirl(R) : Deceased
- Skull(N) : Deceased
- Burnout(SR) : Minor Injury
>Sub Party 2
- Dion(N) : Deceased
- Aila(N) : Deceased
- Rock(N) : Deceased
- Hesen(N) : Deceased
- Chai(N) : Deceased
>Sub Party 3
- Jupiter(SR) : Deceased
- Yenichi(R) : Deceased
- Free(R) : Serious Injury
- Sentence(R) : Serious Injury
- Viole(R) : Serious Injury
[Obtained Items]
- Blood Tribe Legion Magic Stone : 520
- Vampire Magic Core(SR) : 7
- Vampire General Magic Core(SSR) : 2
- Vampire Lord Magic Core(SSR) : 1
[Stage Clear Rewards have been distributed. Please check your inventory.]
- R Grade Reward Box : 5
- SR Grade Reward Box : 7
- SSR Grade Reward Box : 3
>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE
>> [STAGE 6 : BEGINS!]