Episode 5: Northern Front (4)
The battle lasted a full two days. The unprecedented event of three great demonic beasts striking the front lines simultaneously ended in humanity’s victory, with two of the beasts defeated.
But the cost was steep. Of the eight elite fighters in the Radiata subjugation, five died, one fell into a coma, and two, including myself, were gravely injured. Forty percent of the northern front’s garrison became casualties.
“Long time no see, Captain.”
Rie, lying in a hospital bed wrapped in bandages like a mummy, greeted me.
The task force had succeeded in stalling the great demonic beast that directly hit the front lines.
The price for that immense achievement was just as heavy. Four members, including Nazar, died.
Rie, the sole survivor, had lost sight in her left eye.
“How’s your body holding up?”
“I just woke up, so I’m not sure, but everything aches. And my left eye’s gone.”
“I brought some herbs and fruits good for recovery. They’re rare up here in the north.”
Rie, who had been in a coma for two weeks, smirked.
“Did your wife help out a lot?”
“Who?”
“…? Now you’re asking which one? Captain, just how far have you gone with those three?”
“Denying it just makes the rumors worse. And I haven’t done anything.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
I really hadn’t done anything. Both Irena and I were bedridden with serious injuries—how could we?
Even after two weeks, we hadn’t seen each other. As for the nobel lady, she just brought herbs for my recovery. Rie shot me a cold, skeptical look.
“Yeah, sure. Same tent, same rumors. What exactly are you denying?”
Enough with the gossip—time to get to the point.
“Did you see it?”
“I saw that paint-like thing you talked about. Don’t know if it’s because of my eye, but my power definitely spiked.”
“What do you think the condition is for seeing the Wave?”
“Considering you and I saw it in similar situations… maybe it blooms in the face of death?”
“Anything else?”
Rie blinked, then fell deep in thought. Suddenly, she looked up.
“Oh! It felt like the sword moved so slowly, I was hyper-focused.”
So, the conditions for awakening the Wave might be a life-or-death crisis and extreme focus. I wasn’t certain yet.
“Anyone else see it?”
“Fel said he saw it too. Oh, speaking of, where’s our youngest? I haven’t seen him.”
Fel, the special task force’s youngest, was dead.
Cause: excessive blood loss.
He’d fought with everything he had to buy time, only to die the moment the battle ended.
Sensing something from my silence, Rie forced an awkward laugh.
“Haha… yeah, no one survives a hole in their gut…”
Her attempt to fill the awkward silence was palpable.
No matter how many times I experienced it, I couldn’t get used to this.
Pretending to be cheerful to hide grief was excruciating. I suppressed the emotions threatening to spill out.
“Rest up. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
***
Next, I visited Irena’s bedside. Having single-handedly defeated a great demonic beast, she still wasn’t mobile but was expected to recover in a week—an inhuman recovery speed.
“Here for a visit.”
Her silver hair, now slightly longer and reaching her nape, caught my eye.
Irena, staring blankly at the ceiling, widened her eyes in surprise as I entered the tent.
“You’re alive.”
“I promised I’d survive, didn’t I?”
“You took so long, I thought you were dead.”
“Sorry. I only just woke up myself.”
There was a brief pause. Irena broke the silence first.
“…I’m sorry. That was a first. Great demonic beasts working together…”
Her face twisted with guilt again. It was an unpredictable situation—no one could calculate every possibility on the chaotic northern front.
Yet Irena blamed herself, letting it fester beneath her stoic exterior.
Her endlessly kind nature made me ache with sadness.
“No, it’s not your fault.”
“People died because of me. How can you say it’s not my fault? I… I can’t accept that…”
Irena bowed her head, her silver hair falling to cover her face.
Tears dripped onto the blanket. I watched silently before speaking carefully.
“Watching others die is hard. But if you keep shouldering that burden, one day you’ll—”
—break.
I couldn’t finish the sentence. The image of Irena from the game—turning into a great demonic beast, annihilating the northern front, and being slain by the player—overlapped with the woman before me.
I bit my lip hard, and blood trickled down my chin.
“…So, don’t try to carry it all.”
Irena lifted her head slightly, her eyes red-rimmed.
I decided to lean into something a bit cliché.
“What we can do for the dead isn’t just bearing their weight.
It’s killing every last one of those monster bastards, wiping them out completely.
If we can bring peace to the northern front, surely the dead can rest easy, don’t you think?”
Irena, uncertain even of her own words, asked,
“…Can we do it?”
This wasn’t the confident knight commander I’d seen leading soldiers on the front.
Before me was a hesitant, anguished human, wrestling with doubt.
Having superhuman strength didn’t make her more than human.
It was a stark reminder that no matter how great the power, a human remains just that—human.
I still had no certainty I could end this hell. Clearing a game a few times didn’t guarantee a happy ending. I, too, was just human.
But I resolved to try. With fierce belief that it would happen. Determined to make that belief a certainty.
“We can. We absolutely will.”
“…”
“I’ll make it happen, no matter what.”
Irena’s eyes—her ice-blue eyes—met mine.
“…Together.”
She gave a faint smile.
“Let’s end it together.”
***
Beyond enduring the front lines day by day, I had to prepare again to prevent the same sacrifices from repeating.
As soon as Rie recovered, we began researching Wave Techniques together. Two heads were better than one, and we made real progress, getting closer to the essence of the Wave.
The Wave’s principle began with resonating to external forces.
It involved recognizing the vibrations of all things and aligning the body with those vibrations.
By attuning oneself to external forces, one could wield their power.
That’s why swinging a sword along the Wave amplified its strength.
Through repeated study, Rie and I systematically established the foundations and stages of Wave Techniques.
“What should we call them?”
“It’s related to vibrations and waves, so…”
Stage 1 – Initial Tremor
The stage of first connecting to the Wave. Muscles, nerves, bones, and sensory organs begin responding to vibrations.
Stage 2 – Heavy Tremor
The stage where internal organs, particularly the spine and skeletal system, resonate with vibrations. Resonance ability improves dramatically.
Stage 3 – Deep Tremor
The stage where the heart and mind fully connect to the Wave. The self and the Wave resonate completely, allowing projection of one’s vibrations externally through weapons, materializing them.
“So, what’s next—Extreme Tremor?”
“No idea. I haven’t reached that far.”
“Oh! Captain, if I hit Stage 4 first, can I name it?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Sweet! Get ready for my dazzling growth.”
Research alone wasn’t enough. Unproven techniques were no better than illusions.
So, we began experiments to pass Wave Techniques to new task force members.
This wasn’t the clumsy approach I’d initially tried. With insights from our research, we adopted a more refined method: injecting our own Wave into the recipient to artificially induce the sensation of vibrations.
A new recruit, Seraph, began rubbing their eyes during the process, scratching their cheek awkwardly before asking,
“Uh… hold on, I’m starting to see something weird. Is this normal?”
It worked.
Thanks!!!!!
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