บท 169: Ghouls of the Old World
What could've been a simple and typical way for this war to end didn't follow that flow of events. With mankind's blood and steel unable to meet his astronomical expectations in strength, bloodlust and unrelenting and immovable loyalty to his so-called "justified cause", Miyazono Keiji made the decision that would certainly damn the entirety of the world.
From the words of Aragami, a spy who was sent by the Shogun to monitor and after climbing up step by step to be right next to Keiji, sabotage his entire command structure, after he has set alight the mountain bunker of Keiji, he heard the madman howl in utter hatred while he's making his mistake. It could've easily just be his usual maniacal inability to control his temper after he has received no good news at all ever since the Alliance was formed and began to drive his Coalition back time and time again.
However, while he was making his escape from the hideout, Aragami said that he sensed some kind of ominous power coming from the mountain… from his own words, it felt like "something was unsealed that should've never been opened".
That brings us to the reports that came into the Military Communications Outpost of Camp Shirou two hours ago.
"Hm? This is Camp Shirou MCO, who is this communication line from?"
["This is 56th Infantry- *Bzzt-!* We are under attack from all sides and- *Bzzt-!* Requesting either back up or withdrawal orders from H- *Bzzt-!*"]
"Your signal line is too erratic, sir! Please find a better place to transmit your-"
["None of us have any time for that! I am request- *Bzzt-!* Shimura for permission to withdraw! We are getting outnumbered here and- *Bzzt-!* We can't hold on for much longer and- *Bzzt-!* Oh heavens above! They broke through the walls! We are being over- *Pyiiiii…*"]
"Sir? SIR!!! Answer me! Are you alright there!?"
Hearing the last lines from the other side of the call, the radio operator stood up from his chair, worried about what just happened back there. Noticing him, the supervising officer walked towards him and asked about what happened.
"What's wrong, boy? Did something happen?"
"T-The transmission I just received identified themselves to be from the 56th Infantry Division. They said something along the lines of being overrun and was requesting for permission to either be reinforced or be allowed to retreat."
"The 56th… Adjutant! Can you tell me where they are located?"
"Oh! Umm… Near the Shiho forest, sir! They're among the army groups in the foremost frontlines."
"Shiho… What was the contents of their last transmission?"
"T-The caller said that the enemies broke through their walls and they were being outnumbered. Before he can say anything more, the line was cut into static."
"Outnumbered? Impossible! The Coalition cannot possibly have enough number to overrun an army group as large as the 56th!"
"W-What the-!? Hey! Answer back!"
"Are you still there-!? Hey! Hey!"
Their skepticism about this information would've remained if not for about five more radio operators standing up in shock around the room and shouting into their microphones for the other side to answer them back.
"S-Sir! The 108th Mechanized Battalion has requested for permission to retreat before being cut off!"
"T-The same goes to the 142nd Cavalry Brigade!"
"The Shogunate army's 81st also requested for reinforcements before their lines were abruptly cut!"
Chaos engulfed the room and the supervising officer began to realize that this is not a normal thing to happen.
"…Adjutant!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Call for General Shimura and Ishigawa! They need to hear about this stat!"
"Aye-aye!"
Minutes later, the two high ranking generals arrived in the command room and was concisely briefed by the officer about the mysterious calls they received from various frontline units that was suddenly cut off.
"Overrun and requesting for either reinforcements or permission to retreat…"
"It sounds like even in the heat of the battle, their training paid off since they gave us a lead on how to guess the current situation."
The two generals already guessed what was happening by following the training manuals handed to the soldiers who made that call. Allied Officers usually only pick one out of the two requests that they can send to the HQ during a dangerous situation in their assigned area.
When the area can be held, but the unit has a majority of its forces either dead or incapacitated, the request is always for reinforcements. On the other hand, if the situation is too dangerous and the officer deems the area too difficult to hold even with the presence of reinforcements, the request is always a permission to withdraw from the area.
Very rarely would the request involve both reinforcements and retreat… and the only reason for such a thing to happen is that the officer doesn't know the capability of the enemy, and whether or not more soldiers reinforcing them would make a difference, and just retreating would be a better decision.
"What should we do, Shimura-dono?"
"…"
Faced with an unknown situation, Nobisuke knew that he cannot depend on what he has learned so far as a General, but instead, he has to solve this in his own way.
"Contact our AWACS planes in Yamashiro Airbase to sortie out immediately to the frontlines and give us visual on what the hell is going on out there!"
"Yes, sir!"
"And another thing, tell them to have Keima escort fighters with them since it's a potential battlefield!"
"Noted, sir!"
As the communications officer went out of the Command room to answer to his duties, Nobisuke looked at the tabletop monitor where a map with a few red dots were placed. The dots represented the places that gave out a distress call earlier before being abruptly cut off.
"Anything bothering you about this, Shimura-dono?"
"All of it… All of it is bothering me…"
The timing, the pattern and the way all of the calls seemingly coincidentally cut off before better information was given was something that piqued his interest. He knew that there is some kind of explanation for this… but as to what it is, he can't crack it and that's what makes it frustrating for him.
*Blip-blip! Blip-blip!*
Suddenly, the command room's telephone sounded and with him being nearer to it, Gojo picked up the call and chose to have it on speaker mode for both of them to hear.
["This is AWACS plane Kagami 8-2, sir. We are en route to the area where the 56th Infantry Division was located."]
"Good. Send us the video feed as soon as possible."
["Will do, sir. ETA is about half an hour. We will call back as soon as we are within range of the observation cameras."]
"Mm. Mind your altitude since the enemy may have anti-air capabilities with them. If the situation is too precarious, you have my express permission to pull back as soon as you have secured viable visual records from the battle area."
As the line was cut, the door of the command room opened and in came the Ayanami sisters and Himeji Kotori who must've been the last among them five to hear about the situation.
"We heard that something happened out there."
"Care to tell us about it?"
With them present now, Gojo and Nobisuke told them about the situation so far and their predictions about what is happening at present.
"Could it be a counterattack by the Coalition?"
"It can't be. They are already on the back foot for a long time. Our spies and the prisoners of war have all concluded that the Coalition forces are far too weak in both numbers and capability to do something like this."
"Then what can it be? It's possible that they are trying to break open the frontlines just like how we did it a year ago to them, but it's pretty impossible for that to be done with their insufficient supplies and men with low morale…"
"Unless of course, if they have somehow found a way to alleviate their supply problems…"
"…or found soldiers that just wouldn't give in and fight till the bitter end."
"What?"
"The video feed from the AWACS plane above the camp of 56th Infantry is on air now… look at this."
Called over by Nobisuke, the other four generals gathered around the monitor in the table and there, saw the greenish night vision video feed where the large alliance encampment was alight with bright fires and numerous figures that are clearly humanoid were firing towards the other side of the camp in unison.
"The night-vision system is too blurred and the fire around the camp is turning the footage into a mess."
"There's also the fact that we can't see who they are shooting at."
"Contact them and tell them to turn this into thermal sights."
"Gotcha!"
As Mitsuhide called the plane and told them to change the visual system, the change made them recoil in shock and immediately grab a telephone near them as the realization kicked in.
"This is General Ishigawa Gojo! Send this emergency communications to all available- No, all active and reserve units in the frontlines and rear lines!"
"Get to the borders now and reinforce the frontlines!"
"We can't let the frontlines to fall!"
All of them shared the same thought as soon as the thermal sights brought into vision the enemy that they are facing off now.
"Iwasawa-sama… I can't believe it…"
"…I will wake him up right now, Shimura-dono."
"Yes… go do that now."
As the three Generals from Shinka contacted each and every unit to hand them emergency orders and Kotori headed out of the command room, Nobisuke can do nothing but grit his teeth and hit the backrest of his chair in utter frustration.
"For what you just did to actually pay off… I can't believe this is actually happening…"
"Shimura-dono! An Akatsuki Tactical bomber in Yamashiro airbase just heard of the news and are asking about whether or not they should arm themselves and prepare for deployment!"
"…"
As soon as he heard the model of the airplane that was asking that, Nobisuke forced himself to swallow his spit as the possibility of that horrible weapon being used after all haunted him.
"Tell them that they can load the bombs and fuel their planes… but until Iwasawa-sama hasn't given his word, they are not cleared to take off."
"Roger!"
The aptly named Akatsuki (Dawn/Sunrise) bomber is an aircraft designed to carry nothing else but the pinnacle of the alliance's destructive weapons.
The Nuclear Bomb.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After being awakened from my nightmare, another nightmare awaited me in the dark and cold command room where not only the five Generals of the alliance have been called due to the emergency but the hundreds of other rear line commanding and liaison officers as well.
"Iwasawa-sama… we've printed them for your perusal."
"It's just like how you described them to be…"
"…"
In the past world, there are human clones grown out of the DNA of natural human beings and are implanted with a "cleaned" record of their memories who are called "Replicants". Just like me, my mother and little sisters, all of us were clones made by our "creator", Professor Miyazaki Akihito, who has poured his entire life into proving that humans can indeed be successfully cloned, but personally saw it as taboo until he has lost his entire family to an accident.
However, Professor Akihito's expertise in cloning is only half of the entire work needed for an actually successful clone to come into being. It would need another genius of his own medical field, one Doctor Jonathan Seliah Chronia, to create the way for human memories and consciousness itself to be replicated and uploaded to a cloned body to give it life.
Professor Akihito deeply respected Dr. Jonathan and they even wrote a research study together, combining their expertise into a written proof-of-concept about human cloning. However, no matter how much he tried to pry out the core of Dr. Jonathan's method that is compatible to be used on human clones, the man was a tough person to crack and this furthered his belief that a real cloned person may indeed be something that can only remain in paper… or so he believed until fate screwed him over through the death of his family in the Sagami Bridge Incident.
Suddenly, he was hellbent and ready to do anything necessary to acquire Jonathan's knowledge and after forcing it out of him, he turned his back as his closest friend was killed by the people who deeply hated Jonathan.
Armed with both halves of the forbidden puzzle, Akihito stepped into the dark abyss and supported with both money and facilities by one well-known conglomerate, step-by-step, he perfected the procedure until his efforts bore fruit and in his 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th attempts, his family was reborn and rewired with their memories by the corporation's lab experts who gave all four of them back to him as his payment.
However, this wasn't even the end of this horrible story… In exchange of giving him back his beloved family, Akihito gave up all of the procedures and data about human cloning and soon, that corporation, who has also begun to become a horrendous cult-like organization, did what any typical company would do with such information and used it for their own ends…
That brings us back to the current situation in the battlefield of this new world… where going against the Allied army are misshapen beings that can barely be held back by the soldiers from getting past their positions.
"These are not just failed Replicants… these were enhanced so haphazardly that it can barely be considered human."
"These are primary observations made by the on-site medical staff that made an ad hoc autopsy on the enemies."
"Read it for me. I'll try to relate it with the pictures here."
"Very well, Kou-sama… There are roughly four variants of the enemy at the time of this writing. First are the more humanoid ones that moves at brisk walking pace and would swing their weapons on anyone unlike them. They seem to gave a short eyesight and a sharp sense of smell since they react more and head to places with an overwhelming odor (for example: stables and latrine pits). These are the least dangerous of the enemies."
"Got it. Continue."
"Next are the quad pedal ones that act feral in the presence of loud sounds. They are agile and can use their sharp claws to both stick to walls and tear whoever they jump on into a bloody mess. After some time, it was realized that these ones are highly susceptible to shotgun fire, especially buckshot and heavy slugs that immediately kill and blow them away."
"Disgusting… next."
"Third are the ones labeled as of writing as "ones with enhancements". There are three sub-variants of them, one is a humanoid that has an overly bloated abdomen and a slack jaw that it opens to vomit out gastric juices at a range of about five meters. The second variant has no hands and in place of it are forearms with bare bones that resemble large blades. One unfortunate soldier was sneaked up by one and in a matter of seconds, died of deep and bloody wounds. The last variant has skin that has undergone extreme calcification where every patch of sskin have calluses and causes the individual to have a very stiff and slow movement."
"Any information about how they can be disposed of easily?"
"There are, Kou-sama! Retrieved corpses of these enemies have stated the following ways to easily kill them. The acid vomiter is highly susceptible to incendiary weapons, especially when it is hit on its bloated stomach where built-up methane gases would cause it to explode. The bone slasher is susce\ptible to being disabled and eventually killed by explosions due to its rickety joints. Meanwhile, the armored one is best killed off with a flamethrower because most of its defenses are only on the skin-level."
"Good. Disseminate this information quickly… What about the last one?"
"This… this is the most disturbing, Kou-sama."
"Why?"
"Unlike the three others who are clearly lab rejects that were purposely over-enhanced and robbed of their human faculties, the fourth one resembles a human perfectly and its ability is currently turning the entire command structure upside down."
My realization about those words bothered me greatly… with wishes for such a thing to not be real, I asked for it and I was immediately let down.
"These enemies can change their appearance and assume identities with almost perfect accuracy. So far, a few of these enemies have been caught and killed immediately when they made a mistake talking with people close to the individuals they are posing as. However, there is still no-"
"General Himeji! A report from a medical camp about that fourth variant!"
"What? Let me see… Oh! They have found out a way to positively ID the impostors!"
"Say it, Kotori! And everyone! Listen well and prepare to instruct every unit to do whatever it is to properly rid their ranks of the enemies!"
"""Yes, Iwasawa-sama!"""
"Ahem! The fourth enemy variant can be identified due to their lack of a belly button! All camps who have caught and analyzed the enemy corpses have correlated this fact and it seems like a foolproof method!"
"Alright! You heard it! Get to transmitting!"
"""Yes, General Shimura!"""
As the officers went to communicating such a crucial method to the allied force, I sat on a chair and digested what we know so far and connected it with my knowledge about the enemy both in this world and on the past one.
"Miyazono corporation… they did this back then and even here, they're doing it again…"
"Are you saying that this has already happened before, sir?"
"…I didn't see it, but both the Shogun and Maya was there and talked about something like this happening back in our old world… and there is also the few lines left to me by the one who finished this long ago."
Although much of what Ephraim left me were well-wishes, encouragement on continuing the fight and apologies to me and the people of this new world about his inability to fully solve this problem from his side and leaving it all for us to solve in here, he did tell me that even if what we will be left with are a miniscule portion of an already microscopic number of the monsters that he and the other rebels against the Miyazonos faced back there, it is still an abysmally enormous army.
I've created the blueprints of the nuclear bomb after learning this and Kurumi and Reiha's report made me prepare a real deal and even test it. That was how paranoid I was after learning from the Shogun the fact that Ephraim and his comrades fought against enemies like this that he cannot properly numerate them and instead, he called them "as numerous as the stars in the cosmos".
"Iwasawa-sama… as it is right now, we can probably hold and decimate them in a matter of months. With land and naval conventional ballistic missiles, it can be shortened into weeks and if you order it so, we can pour all our military power into the fight and end it in days…"
"But…"
As Gojo said those things and Mitsuha trailed off from what she wanted to say, it was Mitsuhide to faced me and told me about the "cost" of even such a drastic measure.
"There would still be countless of dead allied soldiers with just that kind of response… and worse, the resources and time that we could've used to finally push into Mikia province and corner Miyazono Keiji will instead be wasted on these meat shields."
"We'll basically give the crook some time to find a way to sneak out of the place and escape from our grasp as we rearm ourselves."
Such was the situation right now… I believe that there is a saying about this in the Kiko army that goes like "you have six bullets in your revolver and your enemy made you shot his six goons so that you have to reload while he still has a full gun". It is nothing but an awful situation.
"However, if you will permit it…"
"What?"
All four generals, even Mitsuha, turned to look at Nobisuke who seems to be pale in the face and slightly shaking in nervousness.
"At present in Yamashiro airbase in Yamato province, there are four Akatsuki tactical bombers each armed with two nuclear bombs… we have also contacted both Submarine fleets in Niijima strait, one who are about to dock in Mizuki province and the relieving fleet to the latter. They said that they are also prepared to launch their nuclear-armed ballistic missiles at your immediate command."
Whether due to his nervousness or he intentionally did it, his voice echoed in the now silent command room as almost all the officers who just finished giving out commands heard him and turned their shocked faces towards him.
"What do you say, Iwasawa-sama…?"
And as the one being asked that question, those eyes were set on me as these words came from Nobisuke's lips.
"Are you willing to destroy the world… in order to save it?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After months in the islands of Okinawa, the Shogun and his retinue are on their return trip to the mainland. Their first stop is no other than the city of Naka in Kiko province where they received up-to-date news about the progress of the war.
"It seems like the end of this war is near."
"That's a good thing for sure, senpai. After almost a century of bloodshed, there will finally be some peace."
In the executive suite room of Hotel Paradis (T/N: Nobisuke's hotel where Kyoko once spent her day off in an extra chapter), Chiasa and Endou are talking about the headline of the newspaper where claims of the end of war was plastered in big and bold Japanese characters.
With the war situation clear as day to everyone in the media, such claims and editorial subjects has become the subject of every facet of media from newspapers, radios and even the newly-established television companies.
"To think that all of this will end in a matter of a decade and with the ending act not requiring our meddling…"
"Right… I've always thought that the four of us would be the ones to end all of this. Because of that, Sora and I did all kinds of horrible things just to speed things along and limit the people who are suffering…"
"So, you still carry the burden of almost wiping the people of Haguro into extinction, huh?"
"I've always did… Sora and I thought that Hiroshi-kun would be nothing more but an utter disappointment and failure, so we chose to condemn the entirety of Haguro so that they would be a warning to all who would go against the Shogunate…"
"But in the end, he proved himself, yes?"
"Right. He did prove himself and even went many strides beyond."
While they were talking, Kichi, her adoptive daughter, came out of her bedroom and showed a piece of paper with some exclamation.
"Lookie, lookie! Mama!"
"Wow~! Look at this nice drawing! You sure you made it by yourself?"
"Mm! I used the new crayons that you bought for me!"
Being the ever-supportive mother, Chiasa praised the drawing of Kichi and let her boast a bit more before she told her to go to the kitchen to have some snacks.
"That reminds me… congratulations on the confirmation of the pregnancy. It took a while, but it seems like you and Sora-senpai would finally have the child you have always desired."
"Yeah… it's a real answered prayer. For once, I have a reason to constantly nag Sora to always fuss about me and make me his only focus for days on end."
"That sounds… a bit too much even between married couples."
"Heh! You'll understand it once you get married, Endou-kun."
Just as their conversation was getting more casual and bubbly, a wave of aura familiar to both of them hit them and made itself greatly obvious to the two of them.
"T-That-!!!"
"What the hell-!?"
As Otherworlders and ones who belonged to the same time frame as the beginning of the supernatural events that happened in their past world, Chiasa and Endou knew that aura meant only one thing.
"Endou! Get Sora dressed and ready to leave ASAP!"
"Yes! I'll leave Kichi-chan and the others to you!"
As Chiasa sped to the kitchen and found Kichi and her personal maid and best friend eating ice cream at the counter, she told them these orders quickly and concisely.
"Darling! You can take that with you! We have to leave now!"
"Eeeh?! But I am still enjoyin' the ice-cream!"
"Haah… You can take two more on the go and we have a deal."
"Deal!"
"Alright! Ai-chan! Get both of you ready to leave stat and-"
"S-Senpai! Chiasa-senpai!"
"W-What now-!?"
Before she can even finish her orders for her child and her personal maid, she heard Endou scream from the master's bedroom and her instincts kicked in as she ran towards the room.
"S-Senpai! L-Look!"
"W-W-What on…?"
Endou's shock and her being dumbfounded wasn't unnatural though… for at the bed where the ever deteriorating Amanogawa Shogun was laying down earlier, now sits someone whose body showed vigor and strength.
"S-Sora…? Is that-"
"Yeah… I woke up and suddenly, instead of my new face after being reborn, I now have this body again."
"Now that you say that…"
Indeed, he was right. All of a sudden, he was suddenly given back his old body and from every angle, it was his body from back in the old world.
"W-What could've caused this thing to-"
"I guess this is it…"
"W-what?"
With resolution in his now clear eyes and vigor exuding from his tip-top form body, Sora spoke the following words.
"It's time for me to fulfill my destiny."
"Sora…"
"I will now end what I have started back then."
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