Chapter 670: The Darkest Hour

“After working hard, you should depart.”

A familiar voice.

That voice made Puppet, Merlin, and Kent all turn their heads.

At the end of their gaze stood a man.

A man wearing a thick, large cloak like a traveler.

He stood there naturally, as if he had been there all along.

“Well, well, it seems everyone knows this face… Ugh.”

He climbed up over the rubble towards Puppet, Merlin, and Kent, and then bent over to greet them.

“Nice to meet you all. I am the great wanderer Ewan Bremner, a master craftsman who makes all kinds of miraculous items, a genius negotiator who traded beans for cows, a legendary debtor, and someone who has traveled from the eastern lands with flying dragons to the insane world where mice shoot guns and the giants live in the sky.”

Ewan introduced himself with overly dramatic gestures and speech, like an actor in a play.

His appearance was cheerful, almost playful, but Puppet, Merlin, and even Kent couldn’t say a word.

As if they had encountered an unexpected obstacle.

While they were silent, Ewan straightened up and returned to his usual tone.

“It’s good to see all three of you again.”

“…I’m not particularly glad, though.”

Puppet responded to Ewan’s words.

Ewan echoed him.

“Honestly, I’m not glad either. I owe everyone here money.”

Ewan joked with a smile.

For the record, that wasn’t a joke but the truth.

A long time ago, Ewan had borrowed money from Puppet and Archive. He even borrowed money from Kent fairly recently.

He refused to take the money offered as thanks after saving him from a Druid raid.

However, those present were not shocked simply because of the loans.

It was the very existence of Ewan that surprised them.

Whether he knew this or not, Ewan continued with his usual antics.

“Why is the atmosphere like this? Ah, it seems you all are really shocked that I’m here? Well, I admit it. Honestly, even I find it amazing that I’m here! Though I won’t say who, I almost died because of someone who can’t take a joke! I ran into apprentices I sold off a long time ago!!”

Step. Step.

“I’m serious, I thought I was going to die. One of those guys was forced into hard labor for over twenty years because of me, so they tried to take me apart alive to make dark magic items… Crazy people! But what’s even more ridiculous is that the person who promised to protect me just rescued a lady and some kids and then left. Completely forgot about me! But do you know what’s even more surprising?”

Step. Step.

“He really forgot about me!! Despite my kind help! I still can’t forget that guy’s expression when I was pulled out from the filthy water of the River Sem on the Wendy. Ah, the look in his eyes when he realized he’d forgotten me! I got so heartbroken that I missed the chance to get off the ship, and as a result, I ended up drinking that filthy water again!”

Step. Step.

“And that’s how I finally set foot in this city. Do you know the moral of my story?”

Ewan, who had been rambling on with his story, suddenly stopped right beside Merlin and asked.

Only after hearing the question did everyone realize that he was standing right beside Merlin, more precisely in front of Kent.

“What is the moral?”

Puppet responded to Ewan’s question for Merlin.

“The moral is that timing is the most important thing in life. If you hesitate, you reach a moment where nothing can be undone.”

Ewan answered Puppet’s question, but his eyes were fixed on Merlin.

His gaze and voice were serious, completely different from before.

So serious.

As if realizing something from those words, Merlin closed his eyes for a moment, then turned around to look at Kent.

Cant looked at Merlin, speaking silently with his eyes.

A silent conversation began.

After a moment, they finished their conversation. Merlin then retracted the magical power that disturbed the surrounding air and activated a teleportation spell.

He left the place without a sound.

***

Randa was filled with the roars of zombies, gunfire, explosions, and the screams of people.

Three people remained there.

Puppet, who had raided Randa, Kent, who was attacked, and Ewan, who suddenly intervened.

They looked at each other in silence as if they could not understand one another.

Of course, the silence did not last long.

The first to break the silence was Puppet.

“I want to say thank you…but I guess I can’t?”

Despite knowing it was futile, Puppet tried.

“It’d be hard without any reward. Shall we discuss after I pay off my debt first?”

Ewan spoke in a way that suggested cooperation was possible, as long as the conditions were met.

It wasn’t a bad proposition for Puppet. However, Puppet just snorted.

“You’re talking nonsense. A being freed from the world’s shackles, offering money as a bargaining chip.”

“Tsk… You deciphered it quickly. Did I make it too obvious?”

“I don’t understand… How does someone who ran away from the end of the world get involved in this one? The end is this world’s problem, not yours, the wanderer’s.”

“I’m the one who doesn’t understand.”

Ewan mimicked Puppet’s words exactly before speaking.

“Why do you want to become human so badly, even if it causes all this chaos?”

“…”

“Ah, I’m asking sincerely, not mocking you. I can’t understand why an infinite being, who is free from the constraints of aging and mortality, would want to become a limited, finite being.”

“…”

“Since we’re on the topic, let me ask. Are you really trying to become human on your own will? Or is it because of your master? If it’s the latter, then you truly live up to your name, Puppet.”

KWAHHHH━━━!!!

KYAHAHAHAHAHA━━━━!!!

BOOM━━!!!

As soon as Ewan finished speaking, the expression on the Zombie Puppet, which Puppet controlled, hardened, and a monstrous roar echoed throughout all of W-District.

The zombie army, which had been attacking Randa’s key facilities and defense infrastructure, gathered in W-District under Puppet’s command.

“Headmaster Kent, listen to me.”

The atmosphere had changed. Puppet now addressed Kent, the head of the Poor Brothers Orphanage.

This alone made it clear that Kent was Puppet’s true target.

Puppet had orchestrated an attack on Randa, the world’s largest city, all for the sake of an old man.

Even in this utterly surreal situation, Kent tried desperately to maintain his composure.

“What do you want?”

“Assist me for a moment. If you do, there will be no further bloodshed.”

“You’re asking for cooperation after causing all this?!”

Cant pointed to the staff who had lost their lives because of Puppet’s attack. He tried to maintain his composure but, overwhelmed by the horrors unfolding before him, he momentarily lost his cool.

Puppet took advantage of that.

“Yes, exactly. If you don’t cooperate, more will die. And first, I’ll slaughter all the humans living in this district.”

It wasn’t a bluff. That was the very reason he had invaded Randa.

Cant’s face turned even paler than when he was attacked, but then Ewan intervened.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just spouting off because he’s ticked at me. The fact that he’s so irritable shows how angry he really is.”

Ewan was provoking Puppet, but Puppet ignored him and continued to pressure Kent.

“As I said, it doesn’t matter if you refuse. I’ll just carry out my plans.”

As he spoke, they could see the zombie army advancing from the distant roads.

The zombie army, a mix of Zombie Golems and Zombie Puppets, was surprisingly well-armed with state-of-the-art weapons.

Even considering the simultaneous surprise attack, it was odd that the Randa Defense Force hadn’t been able to adequately respond. But looking at this force, it made sense why they had been overwhelmed despite the significant funding poured into them.

The sight alone was enough to break one’s spirit.

However, Ewan’s demeanor remained unchanged.

“I’m curious today. Why do you talk like you’ve already won?”

“Let me ask you instead. How is a runaway, who fled the shackles of the world, going to stop me?”

“With the power accumulated over centuries of misfortune?”

Ewan pulled out a large stack of old papers from within his thick cloak.

They were IOUs that Ewan had accumulated over decades, and he tore them all at once.

RIP-!

As the sound of the papers tearing echoed, an unknown shockwave burst from Ewan’s body, pushing back the Zombie Puppets-Archive that surrounded him.

Then, massive waves of emotions, magic, and the Power of Nature flowed out of Ewan’s body, visible to the naked eye.

A phenomenon beyond comprehension.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by this bizarre phenomenon, Ewan pulled out a giant wooden staff from his cloak and struck the ground.

A clear sound spread out.

In sync with the sound, the natural energy within Ewan’s body traveled through the wooden staff into the ground and expanded, enveloping W-District entirely.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE-!

As the Power of Nature spread, the ground began to shake, and a colossal beanstalk erupted from the earth, toppling buildings.

“What the hell is that…”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a beanstalk I planted earlier.”

Ewan reassured Kent, who looked at the beanstalk piercing the sky, with a calm tone.

Seeing Kent’s shocked expression, Ewan shrugged.

“Planted it during some gambling and womanizing, you know?”

An utterly ridiculous attitude.

But Kent couldn’t respond.

The towering beanstalk had pierced the void, creating a hole in the sky.

Amazingly, through that hole appeared a large, ornate ship, glowing as if sprinkled with fairy dust.

DONG! DONG! DONG!

The ship was none other than Captain Hook’s Wendy.

Wendy sailed through the skies above W-District and began bombarding the zombie army below.

Click. Click. Clank… Clack! Clank… Clack! Ratatata-BOOM!

Gun ports opened all over the ship, and countless cannons and machine guns emerged.

The countless weapons simultaneously fired, and barrel bombs rained down incessantly.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM━━!!!

The overwhelming firepower quickly swept away the zombie army that filled the roads.

But that wasn’t the end.

Through the gaps in the hole created by the beanstalk, Dark Sorcerers and heavily armed militia poured out and began clearing the areas Captain Hook had devastated earlier.

“Bean City…?”

“Didn’t I say? I’m the great debtor.”

Ewan answered with a gesture, and another beanstalk sprouted, creating another hole in the void.

This time, bandaged and powerful individuals with immense physical abilities emerged, wiping out the zombie army that had even given the Randa Defense Force a tough time.

They belonged to the Anti-Development Committee that governed Y-District and Z-District.

“I owe those guys money too.”

Ewan joked calmly after rapidly turning the tide.

Puppet looked at Ewan with shocked eyes.

He was not only surprised by Ewan’s power but also by the fact that a man like Ewan would act so boldly.

“Ah, and it pisses me off.”

“…What does?”

“The reason why I, a wanderer with no place to settle, got involved… The more I see it, the more it pisses me off. The fact that trials no god, no angel, no adult could handle were pushed onto a kid. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

“You’re hoping I’ll back down with just that lousy story?”

“No way… I was just stalling for time.”

SWISH━━━!!

At that moment, something flashed, faster than the speed of sound, and struck Puppet.

The Zombie Puppets-Archive that Puppet had summoned responded, so he wasn’t hurt, but his attention was drawn to the sudden disruption.

An unmistakably intense energy.

At the end of Puppet’s gaze stood a man wrapped in bandages, wearing what looked like tattered rags for a coat.

It was Bartholomew, an elder of the Anti-Development Committee.

He exuded a dark energy between his bandages and pointed a Quarterstaff made of molded flesh at Puppet.

“Stand down, wooden doll.”

His words were full of disdain.

Puppet let out a low chuckle. For quite a while.

“This is genuinely funny. A runaway from the end of the world and a runaway from his own sins, both trying to act superior and stand in my way… Do you think I’m that laughable?”

Puppet’s expression turned serious. At the same time, the Zombie Puppets-Archive released a massive surge of magical power. The intensity was on par with Merlin’s.

Ewan didn’t show any fear and simply shrugged.

“That’s the blessing bestowed upon humans. Even if we make mistakes or commit sins, we can change if we reflect on it…”

“And that’s why I hate humans.”

Puppet stated.

As those words left his mouth, the pages of the book held by the Zombie Puppets-Archive fluttered, and Ewan tore more of his IOUs, while Bartholomew’s body swelled, breaking the bandages.

The battlefield where flying ships, Zombie Puppets, and zombie armies clashed.

Amidst it all, a building collapsed.

From the top of the collapsed building, a giant multicolored beam of energy rose, and the corrupted sinner tainted by the great disaster revealed his true form.

At the same time.

On a remote inland across the sea, an old man and a boy faced each other.

[…]

“…So, this is how it ends.”