Cromwell was walking forward.
'Huh...'
Using her bloated arms as forelegs, she crawled along the ground and noticed an ant colony crushed beneath her tree-like hand, pondering in a daze.
'Where am I going?'
The fragments of her torn thoughts slowly entangled and stitched together.
'Ah, right.'
To Crossroad. To the gateway of the mortal realm.
'...Why?'
Why was she going there?
'To destroy the mortal realm.'
Why must the mortal realm be destroyed?
'Because that's my final mission.'
Why must the mission be carried out?
'To uphold the honor of our legion.'
Our legion...?
'The great demon species... We left our distant home to conquer all dimensions...'
As her thoughts reached this point, Cromwell became puzzled.
'Home...?
Where is that?
She couldn't recall any memories associated with her home... She had left it too early in her life to have any attachments to her country or species.
However, she enjoyed listening to the elder's tales about home.
Stories about their great homeland where they gathered stardust to create paths and harnessed the sun to illuminate cities...
'Elder?'
Cromwell's slow but unstoppable march suddenly came to a halt.
'Who was that...?'
Very slowly, an image of an old demon's face surfaced in her mind.
'Ah, father...'
Thud...
Cromwell's advance stopped entirely.
The entire zombie monster horde following her also came to a halt.
'Listen, dad. I really tried my best.'
Cromwell opened her mouth to speak,
"Graah, aah, aah..."
But her vocal cords had mutated into a form incapable of producing speech.
Unaware of this, Cromwell continued to speak.
Addressing the phantom image of the elder demon she had revered as a child.
'I became the legion commander as you said, allied with the Demon King, and tried to lead our legion well.'
'But I failed. I was a proxy for the Demon King's authority but was utterly defeated. The capital fell, and I was torn to pieces by the black dragon.'
'I wanted to do well. I gave it my all. I wanted to be a good legion commander and lead our legion proudly.'
'I had no other path but this, but I completely messed it up.'
From the moment she became self-aware as a very young child,
Cromwell had been trained and grown as a legion commander. She grew up with everyone's expectations.
- You are overflowing with talent, you will make a great legion commander.
- Lead our legion to victory.
- You will succeed. We all believe in you.
But, however.
No one told her.
After a loss instead of a victory. After failure instead of success. What to do and how to cope.
How to get back up after suffering a heartbreakingly severe wound...
'Help me, dad. Comfort me.'
'I feel like I'm suffocating. I feel like I'm going to die.'
Cromwell cried out to the silent image of the elder.
'Why are you just watching? Because I failed to meet your expectations?'
'Do you think I wanted to fail? Do you think I wanted to ruin our legion?!'
'But I did my best, and it still turned out like this...'
'Please, tell me... What do I do after a failure, after a defeat?'
Still receiving no response from the elder, Cromwell reached out in desperation—
Crunch!
Crunch, crunch! Splat...!
The next moment, the image of the elder turned into chunks of flesh.
Only then did Cromwell notice the taste of blood and flesh left in her mouth.
'Ah...'
Gazing blankly at the bloodstain on the ground where the elder's image had vanished,
Cromwell slowly lifted her head and looked around.
'Where is everyone?'
Then she slowly recalled the scene at the abandoned cathedral a few days ago.
She remembered that she had devoured the last of her comrades.
Just like replaying a recorded video in reverse...
The flesh, bones, and entrails torn and stuffed into her mouth began to gather together, forming the shape of her legion members.
And they all stared at her with empty, black eyes, opening their dark mouths to speak.
- This is our last chance, bought with our lives, Commander.
- The mortal realm must be destroyed.
- This time, we must succeed, no matter what.
A slow smile spread across Cromwell's blank face.
'Ah, I see.'
There is nothing after failure. Once defeated, it's just death.
This time, she had been revived by sacrificing her entire race, so...
'Now I just need to succeed.'
Yes.
The previous defeat is 'null and void.' It doesn't count. She had revived spectacularly.
She would conquer Crossroad, destroy the mortal realm. Simply resume her path to success.
Reclaim the honor of her species and lead the Cromwell Legion once more...
Once more...?
"Graaaah!"
Roaring fiercely, Cromwell resumed her advance.
The monster, who couldn't accept defeat and chose to return as a corpse, charged forward with a roar.
To ensure she wouldn't fail again.
To destroy the mortal realm ahead.
***
"Graaaah!"
Leading the zombie monster horde.
Momentarily pausing, Cromwell, transformed into a giant reindeer-like creature, let out a fearsome roar.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Her massive body advanced rapidly, followed by the entire zombie horde. The earth and trees trembled at their advance.
Watching this, I extended my arms and shouted.
"Activate the 'wall'—!"
This was the moment the new wall of Crossroad, prepared since the black dragon incident, was revealed.
Sssshhh-!
Simultaneously with my command, magic rails were laid along the guide lines installed in front of the southern wall of Crossroad.
Using the power cores and components of the Iron Horse Legion we had defeated, we had mimicked their movement system... A magic railway that could designate new routes each time.
Following these rails...
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk-!
Nine waiting magic trains emerged.
More like long carts on wheels than trains, each one was equipped with a dark power core.
The nine carts lined up in a row outside the southern wall, separated, and arranged at regular intervals.
Confirming the trains were in position, Lilly shouted.
"'Wall' activation ready, deploying—!"
The next moment.
Clunk...!
The nine power cores installed in each train simultaneously floated into the air.
Hovering in midair, the nine power cores emitted an eerie, beautiful glow, with the central core being the largest.
Looking at the ominously glowing black power core, I smiled wryly. It was bound to attract attention.
The central power core was an EX-grade dragon heart obtained from Night Bringer.
The remaining eight power cores were SSR-grade cores also obtained from Night Bringer!
Clatter...!
As the nine power cores resonated and emitted magic around them, they began extracting 'parts' from within the trains and rapidly assembling them.
The dragon's bones formed the framework, covered densely by dragon scales.
In the blink of an eye, the structure was assembled according to the design, and the nine power cores poured out ink-like magic to fill the gaps and solidify the framework.
Although the explanation was long, the actual setup time took only a few dozen seconds.
Thud...!
When I regained my senses, a newly built black wall stood in front of the southern wall of Crossroad.
"..."
I smiled satisfactorily at the sight of the astonished soldiers' gaping mouths.
The artifact we constructed, pooling the maximum resources of the World Guardian Front.
An unprecedented mobile fortress. Its name is.
"[Knight Bringer]!" (TL note: The funny part is that this joke only works in English. The unfunny part is that it's written the same way '나이트 브링어', so I need to pay extra attention.)
Meaning the one who carries knights... but honestly, the name was chosen to mock that black dragon!
We used the power cores and components of the Iron Horse Legion to create the movement system.
We implemented the fusion and separation system using the power cores and components of the Wraith King Legion.
Then we poured everything we obtained from Night Bringer into creating this.
It's made from the materials of three legions. We almost used up the entire black dragon!
'Since seeing the option for portable walls in New Terra's fortress, I'd been contemplating this design...'
The timing of the monster legions' appearances allowed us to implement it.
Click! Click! Click!
Soldiers orderly mounted the beautifully completed wall.
As a magical artifact, this wall's defensive power was unparalleled, but it consumed immense magic just by being activated. Fortunately, Crossroad was a source of mana stones, so we had a plentiful supply, but it was still resource-efficient to deploy it only right before battle.
"But Your Highness."
Lilly, who had been working tirelessly to control this black dragon wall until just yesterday, asked with a tired face.
"Couldn't we just build a wall in front of Crossroad with these materials? Why did we have to include such a complicated system of fusion, separation, and movement?"
To this, Kellibey, who was admiring the wall with an impressed look, shouted in response.
"Because it's cool!"
"..."
"Seriously, Ash is a genius. I mean, who else would think of making such an awesome mobile fortress? This kid understands romance, really."
Lilly squinted. Well, that's Kellibey's opinion. Of course, it's nice that it's cool, but.
'Having a wall that can move, separate, and merge means it can be deployed anywhere.'
In other words, advancing the wall turns that area into a forward base.
Even sending only three trains can create a small base. From the Black Lake to Crossroad, we can create, dismantle, and retreat forward bases at strategic points.
Although it was barely completed and couldn't be deployed forward this time, it will be flexible from Stage
46 to the final battle, Stage 50.
Listening to my explanation, Lilly nodded and then looked at the approaching zombie monster horde.
"Everyone on the front worked hard to make this, so I hope it withstands the upcoming battles."
"It will hold."
The blood, sweat, and tears of the people who built this intricate wall are immense.
And additionally...
'Night Bringer... though he was an enemy.'
He was monstrously strong!
And this wall, made from his entire being, is also 'strong'!
Bzzzzz...!
The nine power cores resonated inside the wall, emitting the sound of artifact activation.
The black wall, a defensive artifact in itself, prepared for defense, its magic fluctuating...
Grrraaah!
Gaaahh!
The zombie monster horde charged towards the wall like a tidal wave.