CHAPTER 133: THE LAST WAVE

[3rd City: Control center.]

"Reporting, captain!"

"Speak, aide. How many casualties?"

"..."

The Dame had asked a simple question; however, the reporting individual could not speak. He simply stood there with his fist clenched, worried about what would happen to him.

"Speak." The Dame had to ask again, and this time with more weight behind her voice.

The aide, the reporting individual, had no choice but to answer the question with his head down.

"The 1st city has reported 15 civilian casualties as well as three player casualties... There are a total of twenty injured.

The 2nd city has reported 10 civilian and 2 player casualties.

The third city does not have any player casualties; however, we still have three civilian deaths here."

The report was... not good.

The Dame looked at all the screens present before her, at the scenes that showed the current situation of the three cities under her.

She had never guided others in a war; this was her first time experiencing a real war, to begin with. Still, she had done her best and stood at the forefront of every major battle that occurred throughout the previous nine waves.

With the help of their network as well as the quick travelling ways between the three cities, she was able to jump between the three cities far more easily than the other players.

It was possible because it was her, so the items at hand and the knowledge about certain things were not the only things that helped her with it.

Thanks to her, they were able to prevent many casualties... but despite her doing so much, they could not save all of them.

"The law of life is simple, Aide." The Dame did not look in their direction. She continued monitoring the areas before her, making sure there was nothing going on within the forest at the moment.

While no monsters were coming out of the forest anymore, the final wave was still going on.

They were in the middle of something right now, something that might take them through the storm if they weren’t careful.

The forest was still full of dangers that could destroy more life on this bloodstained battlefield, and she did not want that to happen.

"The living are bound to die, and the dead will pass through the cycle of rebirth to come back to this world in a new form.

We could not save them; however, we did whatever we could. Some things were inevitable... we could not save all of them, but that must not tie us down."

Finally, looking at the person who had followed her instructions closely all this time, the one who had served her faithfully, her aide and supporter, she spoke with her usual dignity.

"Go and fulfil your duty. The war has not ended yet." She patted his shoulder and went back to her work, clenching the holy sword by her waist, a bitter feeling of loss present in her heart.

"As you command, M’Lady." The aide moved out of the room and went back to his post; however, just like his master, he was aware of a strange fact as well.

"This is not the end."

The final wave was not the end of the war.

There may be no monster present to battle right now, but if one thinks about it logically, there was still more than an hour left for the end of the night.

If the curse lasted for the entire night, just like how it had begun manifesting at dusk, it should also perish at the brink of dawn.

But, if one reads the mission of the floor correctly, they would notice how the players were only supposed to be there until the end of this 9th wave.

After this wave, they did not know what would happen to them. As a matter of fact, they might just get teleported out of the tower...

’If that happens, what will happen to the natives? Can they survive on their own? Could they really handle things by themselves?’

There were monsters present within the forest, somewhere. They were somewhere out there.

She could feel it in her soul even if the radars and the detectors weren’t picking up anything. She knew there were many of them out there... they were there, and they might invade the cities right after the players vanished.

"According to the data we gathered from the players, it was obvious that the game went through some kind of a ’reset’ as soon as they finished the quest.

When they came back, they were in a city that, while they did not know about the players, was nothing different from when they had arrived there previously."

It’s strange, she thought. To not remember any of them in a game that was so founded in reality, as if the entire floor was reset after the quest was completed... It was strange.

She understood it was not something she should be overlooking, so she had been looking into it for a while now.

She had her suspicions, and even Ziggy had warned her not to let her guard down even after the waves... he was pretty vague in his message, so she was a little suspicious as well.

But now that the final wave was here and pretty much no great dangers were visible, she was even more concerned.

’The death toll of the entire floor is around 360 civilian deaths and over a hundred player deaths... It’s concerning.’

A hundred players from all over the world came to this damned tower just to make a contribution.

They fought this war for glory and honor, for resources and praises. They fought for themselves, yes, but above that, they risked their lives for the sake of their own world, for the sake of their peace and survival.

"Looking into it from a different angle, these numbers are much better." She nodded in a strange approval, remembering the incident on the previous floor where thousands of lives were taken in the matter of moments.

The A2P2 paid great attention to the survival of each and every one of the players in the cities they were controlling.

The eastern Alice guilds also took care of their people, something she did not expect would happen... the highest death toll being from their cities was still a concern, but they did their due diligence by protecting their people, or their assets, as they liked to put it.

The natives held their own and protected the players as their own, and the players paid them back with their honesty and skills.

The battle that went on for the entire night was something that involved many battles and many confrontations, but they ultimately made it out of it alive.

They survived the battle and now...

[9th wave progress: 80%.]

The wave would end soon, and then, they would have to see what comes. They would also have to look after themselves since they did not know if the victory horns would bring a new rain of blood or put a halt to this whole damn war.

"Tell me the answer..." Looking up north, standing on the city walls, she held her sword in her hand, unsheathed.

She waited as she looked up, seeing the rain clouds that had been the biggest help in this entire battle clear out. The red moon was still up there, crimson, shining like a blood-red eye of the wounded beast.

She had fought her battle and stained the holy sword with the unholy blood of the creatures that had now dried up on the battlefield before them.

She knew she could not have done better than this, but still... she had not been the best. And, neither was he.

"Even his cities suffered casualties." She lamented over something that had happened to him. It was strange, but she had been thinking about him throughout her battles.

"Strange..."

She did not know why she would think about him at times like these, and she did not dwell any deeper into those unnecessary thoughts.

[Ding!]

[The waves have come to an end.]

[Contribution calculations will now begin.]

[Players will now be transported out of the quest zone.]

This was a message that popped up before every player present on the floor.

[You have been selected as a special player for the Hidden Stage!]

And this one was something only a few, like the holy swordsman, had received, confirming the suspicions that she had all this time.

"So is this the real thing?" she looked at her sword, and then at the sky above.

Then, she watched as the entire scenery before her eyes changed, and she was teleported to somewhere she had never been to...

[Hidden Stage of the 3rd floor will now start.]

All those who were selected for the hidden stage were now present in this new area, and... he was here as well.

"Dame Althea?"

And so were the two partners that he usually accompanied everywhere.

"KiRA... right?"

In a wasteland that did not have any vegetation, surrounded by walls that made it feel like they were inside of a cave with the sanguine moon present above them... the players were not the only ones present here; the forces of all of the cities were here right now.

In this place that was familiar only to one.

"This..."

Captain Rose’s heart stalled for a moment before she looked around herself.

This was just like what she had seen in her dreams.

-Oooooooooooooooong!

These were exactly the moments she had lived in her years of nightmares every single day...