Chapter 593: The weight of hope [2/2]
Ignoring the peanut gallery, I waited. After a few seconds, the rest of my girls and my avatars arrived. Although they tried to freshen up, the faces of my harem remained flushed.
As if that were not enough, they also smelled slightly of sweat, but were glowing from After Sex Glow, or ASG. It was obvious to everyone what we had just done, but the girls didn't give anyone a second glance.
Instead, they all stared in the same direction. Towards our enemy. The emotion evoked by that freak of nature was one of desperation and fear.
But unlike the Phantoms, who were terrified, my girls were all smiles of confidence. After a few seconds, the Sirens began commenting what they thought of the situation.
"Dearest, after Andromalius, this thing looks cute by comparison."
"I wonder if we can eat it after our barbie? Possum, do you think it will taste like crab or steak? Though how long would this huge bastard need to cook?"
"Hehe! Darling! I will brainwash Alphy and make him our mascot! We can ride him around like a huge pony!"
"Alphy ? You even have a name for this fucking oversized cockroach? Sorry, I will not settle for anything less than crushing this thing into paste. Honey, let's go. Gareth and his defenders have already returned."
"It is time for the old to give way to the new. I will show Gareth and his senile bastards the power of Husband and the Sirens."
"Shujin, may I please borrow Liv? She refuses to let anyone pat her when she is Chibi-sized."
"Beloved! Please don't leave me to Aki! She keeps tickling me!"
I couldn't help but smile at the girls' antics.
Unknown to them, much like me earlier, everyone present saw my girls as mental patients. This group hadn't seen me in combat, prior to a few minutes ago. That meant that they were not present when Hellsend defeated Andromalius.
And aside from my army, only David and his inner circle knew that we had killed the greater demon and not the Specters.
While they may have been impressed with how we dominated earlier, the fact remained that the M777s did most of the work.
For the Alpha, however, even the M777s were rendered useless.
So from now on, what my girls and I would do would be based solely on our own abilities. That, and our desire to triumph over this oversized motherfucker.
"I'm glad you are all so eager. Let's go."
Without so much as a second glance, I ran to the wall and jumped over it. The Sirens had done it before, and it was so fucking cool!
So much that I wanted to do it too. Probably understanding my reasons, the rest of the girls followed while laughing out loud.
Despite my falling to certain death, even baby Liv in my arms raised her hands in the air. You would think she was on a roller coaster given her bliss.
I didn't bother using {blink} and tried to imitate the superhero landing popularized by Marvel. I could hear the Phantoms' chatter after I left the ramparts.
"White boy still loony. Now even Sirens are loony. Oppa, do you think we become loony too?"
"What makes you think we aren't already, Gela?"
"...Ugh...this is all white boy's fault."
Other voices joined in that I didn't recognize. They probably belonged to the other Phantoms.
"Commander Joshua, the lord isn't serious, is he? He doesn't really want to fight that thing?"
"Can't we just fire the howitzers to provide fire support or something like the Sirens did earlier? Maybe we can crack its shell or something. And why don't we have Commander Mike's Wyvern Air Wing help? They have immense firepower from our training exercises!"
"I agree, Commander! Why don't you summon the whole army! If we use Sacreds, we should be able to drive it away!"
Half expecting Joshua to correct them, I was surprised when the racist Korean was the one who replied.
"You two dumb as shit. White boy and Siren loony. They stupid in love but not in fight. They say this thing is dead. Nothing in the world can save it. Watch closely.
White boy may fuck too much and eat shit burgers. But in fight. White boy like a god of war."
"What's your name, Reaper?" Joshua asked.
"Maddox Sherman, Commander. I am one of the rogues who recently joined. I joined when I heard that Limitless did not discriminate between us and the official Reapers."
"I see. Then have you ever seen him in battle? Like in the Seeker War?"
"I have, Commander. But forgive me for saying so, Limitless only uses guns. If anyone else had his ability to recover ammunition, they would achieve the same things he did!"
"Oppa, whose squad this dumb fuck belong to? Can I beat him?"
"Relax, Gela. Do you all think the same?"
A short pause in which no one spoke. But when I raised my {Listen}, I heard the sounds of more than twenty heads nodding.
"I see. Then I suggest we keep watching. I did not follow the Lord because of his ability to never run out of ammunition. That certainly helped in the beginning, but it was not the reason why people were still drawn to him. My opinion and that of all the officers of Hellsend is the same as Gela's."
Liv and I landed slammed on the ground in that moment. Using my body as an artificial Descendant, I hit the ground with my fist while my other hand carried baby Liv.
The rest of the girls landed shortly after. Smug smiles were on their faces. It was probably because, like me, they had overheard Joshua's conversation with his men.
"To be honest, Commander, I think you would be better suited to be the lord. After all, you are powerful even without weapons."
"I'm going to kill that motherfucker. Darling is a thousand times better! For one Darl-mhgm!" Jo began to complain as she glared at the wall. Funnily enough, the other Sirens covered her mouth so as not to interrupt the show.
Then we all heard something heavy hit flesh. A loud thud echoed before Gela spoke derisively.
"Geuyk!"
"I save your life, dumb fuck. If Siren heard you, you dead! Oppa has big dick but White boy is only lord. No one like him. Even without gun, white boy will kill zombie. You try bite zombie like dog?
How about you get eaten alive and eat them back?"
"How is he not dead then, Commander Angela? I am sorry, but none of us can really see the lord as anything more than a figurehead. The stories about him are so exaggerated that they must be made up."
"It's not that I don't understand what you mean, Reaper. But you are wrong. The stories are not exaggerated, they are downplayed. There is a reason why we all follow him and him alone. I for one cannot kill the Alpha. I don't even know how," Joshua confessed.
"But isn't that because Limitless just got lucky? His power is because of the Sirens! They are all so amazing! Even without the lord, I am sure they could kill the Alpha. If any reaper had the Sirens with him, he would be just as great as Limitless! If I met them all earlier, I could do it too!"
"Oppa, were we this stupid?"
"Haha, no Gela. He just hasn't seen what we did. Reaper, you are mistaken. Even if you met the Sirens before him, you would never be like Limitless. The man you all follow brings more than just the ability to kill the zombies. He is a symbol."
"A symbol?"
"Yes. My lord is the symbol of hope. Those who are not capable enough would simply be crushed by the expectations of others. My lord, Limitless is the only one who can carry the weight of hope, you will soon see," Joshua said proudly.
The girls all giggled with happiness. It was probably the feeling of second-hand pride. Like seeing your spouse or siblings succeed in life.
"The weight of hope, huh..."
Joshua's words made me think a bit. I didn't know that I had such a burden on my shoulders. But I never really cared about such things in the first place. I tried to clear my mind of unnecessary thoughts. I walked toward the enemy who was advancing on us. Find your next read on empire