Surrounded by a wave of corpse guards, Caesar swung his black blade, Dictator, with all his might.
He didn't know how many waves he had already fought off, but the number of corpse guards in front of him still showed no sign of decreasing.
King Leonidas led five hundred Spartan soldiers and stopped five hundred thousand Persian soldiers at the Pass of Thermopylae, a great feat in human history.
But the enemies they faced were not human, but a group of mummies resurrected through alchemy.
The corpse guards were tireless, fearless of death, and were pure "living machines" born for slaughter!
Word Soul: Vampire Kamaitachi!
Compressed air formed dense wind blades, exploding from the center, around Caesar.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Dozens of fierce corpse guards were instantly torn apart.
Caesar was panting heavily, but suddenly he felt a sharp wind from behind. He spun around and saw a corpse guard emerging from the shadow of a container.
It seized the brief moment of weakness and struck the ground with its thick tail. Using the rebound, it leapt forward, its two clawed hands slicing through the air like ten sharp knives.
It was too late!
Caesar's pupils instantly contracted to the size of a pin, and he felt as though time had stopped.
His mind flashed with images, but they froze on the red-haired girl shouting below the dormitory at Cassell College.
Was he really going to die?
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared. A torn suit and white shirt revealed a muscular back.
The tattoo, known as 'The Evil of All Realms,' seemed to come alive, the fierce tiger and yaksha vividly displayed, as if they were about to leap off the skin.
"Not time to give up yet."
An old voice reached Caesar's ears as the figure, holding a folding knife, thrust the blade into the corpse guard's mouth and cut through its lower jaw.
The corpse guard's head was severed and fell to the ground. Caesar snapped back to reality, looking at the bloodied figure of Hilbert in front of him. His heart burned with renewed strength, and his tired limbs found new energy. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself up: "A man from the Gattuso family doesn't fall so easily!"
"Good," Hilbert breathed deeply and used Word Soul: Time Zero.
"Sometimes, I really envy you guys," Caesar said bitterly, glancing to the side. "In situations like this, some Word Souls are really such an advantage."
There was a hell of flames.
Chu Zihang, alone with a sword, unleashed his sword flames recklessly, cutting down nearly a hundred corpse guards by himself. The pile of bones behind him was over a meter tall.
After a brief adjustment, Caesar once again gripped his black blade and charged back into the wave of corpse guards.
"Sonar detects a massive creature approaching!"
At this moment, EVA issued a warning.
"What is that?!"
Hilbert's pupils contracted as he stared at the sea behind the corpse guard tide.
In the range of the shore searchlights, a gigantic creature surfaced from the black tide, revealing a black spine that resembled a low mountain.
"It's probably the 'King of the Corpse Guards' that appeared in Tokyo Bay last time," EVA, after taking over Japan's intelligence, naturally recognized the creature. "It was struck by Uesugi Erii's Word Soul last time, but it's surprising it wasn't killed. This is beyond what humans can handle, Principal."
"Koeru, how long are you going to wait?!"
Hilbert shouted in anger, unable to hold back. "How long are you just going to watch?"
Since the battle started, that old man had been standing there, staring at something as if in a daze. It was about time he woke up, right?
Since 'humans' can't solve this, let the 'non-humans' deal with it.
"Fate..."
Looking at the endless waves of corpse guards pouring onto the shore, Koeru, who had been silent, seemed to finally awaken.
In that moment, decades of ambition, accompanied by a thunderous roar, caused a shockwave of sound to erupt.
The rain curtain was shattered by the sonic wave, creating a brief moment of vacuum. This thunderous roar drowned out the countless screeches of the corpse guards, and the overwhelming force exploded like a dormant volcano, releasing all the energy it had accumulated over millennia.
Koeru moved forward, swinging his sword casually.
The seemingly light blade contained unimaginable power, easily shredding the approaching corpse guards.
"Old man, is that all you've got?" Koeru reached Hilbert's side, cutting down several corpse guards with a single strike, his movements effortless.
"Taking so long to move, were you waiting for us to die?" Koeru panted, giving him a side glance. "If you had waited any longer, you would have been collecting our corpses."
"Do you really think a few people can stop the tide of corpse guards?"
Koeru looked around. More and more corpse guards were charging ashore, and both Chu Zihang and Caesar were nearly exhausted. At this rate, everyone would soon be wiped out.
"We will send the alchemical sulfur bombs," Hilbert said, panting, "but the problem is, we need to hold on until then."
"So this is my fate."
Uesugi Koeru finally understood the words spoken to him by the boy named 'Sogetsu' that day.
This artificial island was his destined 'grave,' no matter how much changed in between, he was always meant to end up here.
Since stepping onto this artificial island, he had felt it in the depths of his being, but he never imagined it would come so soon, before even meeting his beloved daughter.
"Everyone, step back."
Uesugi Koeru said casually.
Then, the coastal platform suddenly shook, and ancient, imposing dragon script echoed above the artificial island.
Uesugi Koeru remained unnervingly calm and dignified, like a Buddha statue standing in flames, surrounded by a dark corona of a sun that seemed to shadow his form.
"Koeru... Finally willing to make a move?" Hilbert noticed the movement behind him and smiled. He stepped back slowly into the realm of Time Zero to avoid the power of the forbidden Word Soul, reminding Caesar and Chu Zihang, "Move away from Uesugi Koeru!"
He had once witnessed the end of the Black Sun, a terrifying sight, like death walking among the living.
Word Soul: Black Sun!!!
A massive black corona slowly rotated above the artificial island.
The surrounding air was rapidly consumed, almost creating a vacuum in the area within a hundred meters.
Then, the outside air violently rushed in, creating a fierce wind visible to the eye, shifting the wind direction around the island. Building debris, seawater, the corpses of the guardians, and even hundred-ton containers were swept up by the explosive hurricane, flying toward the black sun.
The guardians seemed to sense the terror of the black sun. They dug their claws into the ground, desperately resisting the pull of the black sun, screeching in pain.
But ultimately, it was futile!
The pull of the black sun intensified, like a sudden collapse, and the hurricane grew fiercer, howling as it drew the guardians closer.
Before reaching Uesugi Koeru, they were already set aflame by the intense heat, but in the thin air, they didn't burn violently; instead, they glowed red, like burning coals.
Uesugi Koeru walked forward calmly, slicing the burning guardians into pieces. When the fragments touched the edge of the black sun, they turned into pure white ash.
The black sun pulled hundreds of corpses toward him. Those snake-like black shadows covered him entirely, then collapsed in pieces.
The pressure on the sword grew stronger. Uesugi Koeru began to roar as he swung his blade, his voice like a giant dragon. The sword glowed red, burning with heat, and each swing created a dazzling flash of fire.
On his own, he was enough to rival an army, like the iron hooves of ancient heavy cavalry, crushing everything in his path.
But strangely, Uesugi Koeru did not stop. He continued forward, deeper into the tide of corpses.
Feeling something was wrong, Hilbert shouted from behind, "Wait, come back, Uesugi Koeru!"
But Uesugi Koeru ignored him and pressed on, heading deeper until he faced the massive King of Corpses and the countless ghost-toothed dragon vipers following the tide.
"Hilbert, I really hate you."
Uesugi Koeru glanced one last time toward the direction of the Mountains, then laughed loudly. Raising his sword, he stepped into the wave of corpses.
"I have walked the road I was meant to, and I have guarded what I needed to. Now, it's up to you. Help me protect this world, Hilbert."
********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 15 early chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/Unique_Writer