Chapter 87

Blood cascaded from his left arm, missing below the bicep.
“Off, off, off……!”
Camellia clung to the fading threads of consciousness. She gritted her teeth against the terrible pain that pierced her every nerve, the heat that threatened to scorch her brain fluid.
We couldn’t afford to sit on our hands.
Even in my confused state of mind, I knew two things: I was in danger, and the enemy had been looking for an opening from the start.
Camellia’s value as a fighter is centered around her spells. Without her spells, she is left with only her Pecatomb strength.
Even then, the combat skill itself is not superior. It’s just that his so-called low point is high. At the very least, he was not confident of surviving a head-to-head fight with the current Kim Yi Hyun.
“Do, we have to run.
Camelia turned her back and ran.
At the same time, my head was barking out orders: tie the enemy’s ankles, even if it meant throwing myself at them. I had to run the railroad and get out into the streets while the soldiers were buying time.
Acting solely out of survival instinct.
The anger and hatred had been replaced by fear.
Camelia glanced behind her as she fled.
Poof, bam!
Kim swung her mace to clear a path. The infected’s nails clawed at the jumper, sometimes digging into the flesh and splattering blood.
But it doesn’t stop there.
It just rushes on like a tank. Even though the wound is shallow and growing, there is no sign of infection.
“Why, how did they get away with that…!
Camelia had no way of knowing.
There is no such thing as a perfect enemy in a game. Unless they’re labeled “unplayable,” they’re designed with the assumption that you can defeat them.
Even stages that seem insanely difficult often have a way to be beaten, whether it’s by organizing a certain crew or using certain equipment.
Episode 14, featuring Camellia, is no different.
[Sacria].
[Rating: ★★★★★★]
[Category: Weapons].
[Descriptions : A holy relic unearthed from the ruins of Ostes, a religious state that died without a sound two hundred years ago. Despite being buried for so many years, there is no sign of rust. It is not even known what metal was used or how it was refined.
You know what the problem with this thing is? It’s too shiny. It glows all by itself at night. I can’t sleep because it’s fucking glowing!
─A record of a certain minority atheist].
[Effect: Every 15 seconds, prepare ‘Punishment’, which increases the damage of 1 Basic Attack by 1333%. When this effect is triggered, the wearer is inflicted with ‘Purification’, which removes all status ailments every 3 seconds for 15 seconds].
Here, Camellia’s spells are judged as debuffs.
The order in which you mutate after being debilitated for 5 seconds. If you are completely infected by the fungus, you can’t be released by ‘purification’, but if you break the debilitation in time, you won’t advance to the next stage.
“It’s a sham.
To reiterate, Polaris is a collectible strategy game.
It’s not just about recruiting agents. The game relies heavily on equipment. You can still progress without it, but the quality of play will be different.
“I don’t want to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a weapon for nothing.
Fifteen seconds. Once again, the Iron Chu scattered the light of destruction everywhere.
Kwah!
With a single swing, the infected were swept away like fallen leaves. As expected, it was powerful. He didn’t need any skill, just strength.
What I hadn’t counted on was the recoil. The bones and muscles of my right arm screamed as I gripped the mace. It might have been an illusion, but it sounded like it shouldn’t have come from a human body.
But it was enough to keep me going.
Broken muscle fibers reattached themselves. Twisted bones snapped back into place, and ashen crystals grew over the exposed flesh where the jumper had been torn in several places.
[Mutation rate 46.7009%]
“You’re moving too fast.
Kim clucked her tongue in frustration, but she couldn’t help it. A mere three-star agent was overpowering Camellia with her short stature. It was a price to pay.
That said.
“I can’t drag this out any longer.
It’s better to get it done as soon as possible. Even if it’s a little overwhelming.
You’ve changed the policy in your brain. It threw out its arbitrary “safe zone” criteria. It cut off the rear and focused on the infected who were blocking its path.
“Crrrrr!”
Diving, he pushed the clinging infected’s head away with his palm. He trampled on a flailing hand. He clutched at the chain against the wall of meat.
The timing was spot-on.
The mace flashed as he swung the chain sideways. Part of the torso of the first infected to be struck by the mace disappeared. As if plucked from a pile of jenga.
It wasn’t until three or four people went through the same thing that the shock wore off. But the sheer force of it was enough to send the infected in its path flying like garbage.
As the body grew, the walls became thinner.
The number of soldiers, too many to count, had dwindled to a trickle. So much slaughter, so much killing. The sensation in my hands was sickening.
Chimi turned her displeasure into murder.
“I never miss it.
There is no next.
Camellia must be killed here.
I made my way through the lobby to the platform. Once outside, the view was unobstructed. The rails between the platforms on either side went on forever.
“Well, well…….”
Infected people crawled out of stopped cars. There was no distinction between young and old. The pieces of meat, which could no longer be called human, carried out my orders without my consent.
And then I saw a woman running wildly on the rails.
“Eek, eek, eek, damn it, why did I do this…!”
Camelia.
The man responsible for this carnage was making a dastardly getaway. Blood was dripping down his pants. He limped away from the blow, which must have been a grazing blow.
Blame.
Kim leaped off the platform and onto the train. He bent down and set the mace down. Next, a pike appeared in his hand.
The windowpane seemed to be made of glass. The reflection was filthy. Not only the mask but also his hair was stained red. It was as if it had been dipped in a bucket of blood and then drained.
Grab a spear and assume a javelin stance.
─Drop it!
Ultramarine-blue sparks fly from your pike. The leather of his hands burned. He tightened his grip, enduring the pain. The current grew stronger and stronger, enveloping the entire spear.
Camellia noticed the massive flow of power, too. Her eyes flickered wildly as she checked behind her. She stopped running and shouted in her training.
“Hey, get over here!”
As instructed, the infected gathered around Camelia. An old man with glasses. Pregnant women with bulging bellies, children who looked ten years old. There was a high percentage of the socially disadvantaged.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
The infected at the station were soldiers selected by Camellia. The less combat-ready ones were left here as hostages, just in case.
Make the enemy hesitate, even for a moment.
Camelia brought her free hand to her arm. She pulled a pistol from her coat pocket and pointed it at Kim, her finger on the trigger with a crooked smile.
“Die-”
Faster than a bullet, lightning struck.
It felt like a nightmare.
My limbs felt limp, like they were being held down by scissors. My whole body felt heavy, like soaked cotton. My parched throat screamed for moisture.
The only sense that remained intact was vision. My vision was blurry, and I had to take a moment to make things out. The shattered ceiling, the sky. Snowflakes falling down.
Soon, a shadow covered my vision.
The sky was obscured and a hateful face was visible. The enemy of my benefactor, the man who would chew me up and kill me, pointed a gun at me. My gaze was drawn to the black muzzle.
“…… why.”
She wasn’t sure if she was deaf or hard of hearing. Unsure if she was even verbalizing the words correctly, Camelia spoke out the question that had been on her mind.
“Why, I killed it.”
“What?”
“You’re not the only one, you didn’t have one, so why….”
Camelia was crying.
Her expression was unreadable through the leather of her face, but it was clear she was grieving. Snowfield was dear to her.
There were hard days, and there were days of salvation and sustenance. Kim knew this. Camelia’s past had been explained in the game.
It was none of his business.
“That’s your business.”
He cleared his throat and said.
“I’m not going to go on and on because you’re not going to hear me anyway, but everybody has their ups and downs, everybody’s had their shitty days. I’m in the middle of one.”
I looked away.
The rails were strewn with bodies. The only reason they were still alive after taking the full brunt of the [Revolving Light] was because they were protecting Camellia.
I could have put my foot in my mouth.
They were important to someone, too. They were living beings with families, friends, and lovers. They were human beings, capable of loving others as they deserved, capable of anger as they deserved.
The thought remained a thought.
As I’ve already said, it’s hard to hear, and she’s never been one to fight for others. The only difference between her and Camelia is that she blames herself for her mistakes, not others.
The difference was crucial.
“Snowfield was going to make my life suck even more, so I killed him.”
“Why, you, because. if only you, hadn’t…….”
“Basically all for similar reasons, except you’re the exception to the rule.”
The upraised thumb descended, retracting the pistol’s hammer.
“I just don’t like you, and I’ve never liked you.”
Ta-da!
A wind hole in the center of his forehead.
Camelia’s pupils dilated as soon as her eyes opened. Her breathing and shaking stopped. Snowflakes sprinkled across her messy coat.
[ERROR!]
[An unexpected error occurred].
[confirming the death of the character “Camelia”].
[Calculate the damage rate for the scenario].
[Now Loading…….]
A follow-up message soon arrived.
[Loading Completed!]
[Best damage rate in main episode 14 “The Curse”].
[during the damage rate in the main episode 15 “Repentance”].
[under the damage rate in Main Episode 16 “Twilight”].
[under the damage rate in Main Episode 17, “Dawn”].
I waited another 10 seconds.
“……what. Is that it?”
I protested, but nothing changed. The flow was still the same. Despite my puzzlement, my brain kept working. I quickly came up with a plausible explanation.
“You’re saying that’s not good enough.”
Camelia’s importance in the Hagiya “story” is not significant. She meets a similar end in the game. She’s a character who dies in vain because she’s blinded by revenge.
‘It almost blows up a city.’
In other words, it’s just a city. Even in the event story, it’s a world where a country is destroyed. It’s not a big enough event to spread across the continent.
“Common sense would dictate that the experience barrel would be bigger than it was at 1 and 2 stars.
The only way I’d accept it is if they said it wasn’t good enough.
“I’ll take it, though.”
Kim started to scratch his head, then pulled his hand away in disgust. The sticky blood was repulsive. He looked around the area and let out a tired breath.
“Let’s just cut back a little more.
There were still infected people running around the station.