Ultimately a Tragedy (2)

Watching the crowd retreat, the black-haired youth charging forward shouted, "If you're scared, then run! But even if I'm the only one left, I'll do everything in my power to stop this guy here, because I don't want my wife and children to be trampled into mincemeat by him like I have."

Upon hearing this, the feet that had moved to the back returned to their original positions and increased their grip on the ground.

"The captain is right. If we don't stop this guy here, not only us, but our families will also die at his hands!"

"Tch! Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well be a hero!"

"Hey big guy, let me show you my true strength!"

"Big guy, Captain, don't look down on us!"

"Damn it! I'm going to die anyway, so I'll fight to the death!"

"Let's give it our all!"

After leaving behind their tragic declaration, the silver two-legged insects brandished their weapons and charged towards the slowly advancing bluish-black formation.

Just as the black-haired youth and others were blocking the blue-haired boy, the frightened (realizing reality) residents fled to the other side of the town. In this wave of panic, two exceptions emerged—the blue-haired young woman and the black-haired boy.

"Hey! Deliora is almost here, you guys better run for your lives!"

Hearing the kind reminder amidst the wave of famine, the blue-haired young woman smiled at the other person and said, "Thank you for the reminder, but we can't leave yet. You should escape with the group!"

Seeing the two people turning their heads to look at the other end of the town, the kind-hearted person shook his head, then followed their advice and rejoined the wave of people fleeing famine.

This happened several more times in the following period, but nothing changed.

Their unconventional behavior made them the focus of the chaotic situation, and as a result, everything about them was dug up by those with ulterior motives, sparking a wave of heated discussions.

"Are those two crazy? Instead of running for their lives in this situation, they're standing on high ground looking around." (Passerby A)

"Tch! What do you know? They're Captain Silver's wife and son. Captain Silver is fighting Deliora right now, how could they bear to leave him!" (Passerby B)

"No way? They're actually... that person's family? (Passerby C)"

"Heh! If it weren't like that, do you think any normal person would do that? (Passerby B)"

"So... they're waiting for Captain Silver? (Passerby Ding)"

"Of course!" (Passerby B)

Upon hearing what the passerby said, the waves in the rushing torrent bowed deeply to the mother and child before continuing to flow forward.

Noticing the unusual situation behind him, the black-haired boy holding his mother's hand looked up and asked softly, "Mom, why are they bowing to us?"

The blue-haired woman affectionately ruffled her son's hair and then smiled, "They're all Daddy's good friends, that's why they greeted us!"

"Oh! Is that so!"

After nodding in understanding, the black-haired boy continued to ask, "Mom, when will Dad be back?"

"It'll be soon! It'll be soon!"

After comforting her son, the blue-haired woman looked up, her eyes filled with worry, at the battlefield flickering with fire.

Unlike the blue-haired young woman's hopes, things weren't going well on the battlefield... well, the correct way to put it is that the human side was in dire straits, and the burly, dark blue-black figure was doing the cleanup work.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

After taking a step and turning the last few silver bipeds into embellishments on the red plum blossom and white snow scene, the sturdy, dark blue creature roared excitedly at the sky a few times.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

After the celebration, Cautious Demon, in demolition mode, launched a massive purge of the entire town.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

With bursts of orange-yellow light, the town, which still had some buildings, was instantly turned into ruins and a sea of fire.

"Um?"

Gazing at the eerily quiet Purgatory, the experienced Cautious Demon let out a surprised exclamation. He then carefully scanned his surroundings before heading straight in a certain direction.

"Um?"

Sordil, who was lounging on the windboat like Ge You, suddenly sat up and stared at the left front with a solemn expression.

"This reaction... Damn it! Was it too late?"

After saying this, Old Suo turned the windboat up to its maximum speed and rushed straight toward the direction he sensed.

Besides Old Suo, Ice Beauty, who was out looking for a shape and happened to pass by the Lockdia Town, also noticed the anomaly not far away.

"Ulu, what's wrong?"

Hearing the childish voice beside him, the frozen ice sculpture instantly snapped out of its daze.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about some things!"

"Hehe! Are you imagining the wonderful scene of being defeated by me?"

"Bang!"

After sending a daydreaming fellow to his senses in the snow, the Ice Beauty said coldly, "If you want to defeat me, you'd better improve your pathetic strength instead of your delusional imagination."

After speaking, the Ice Beauty stepped over the other person's body and walked forward... well, in the instant she left, she casually dragged away a handsome silver-haired man who landed face down.

Although the torrent of chaos flowed before Deliora, their speed was limited by the terrain and their physical abilities, so they were soon stopped by the straight-moving cyan-black.

"Boom!"

Gazing at the dark blue-green mass descending from the sky, the panicked torrent instantly boiled over.

"Deliora! It's Deliora!"

"Run!"

"Help!"

Looking at the panicked bipeds below, the bluish-black behemoth revealed a satisfied smile. Then, his mouth slowly opened, revealing an orange-yellow light inside.

"Call out!"

The orange-yellow pillar of fire easily pierced through the chaotic torrent, and countless surging waves stopped moving and froze in place.

"Boom!"

Seconds later, a violent explosion rang out, and the original flow of the chaotic torrent instantly turned into a fiery abyss.

Ah~~

"My hand... my hand..."

"My legs... ahhh~~"

"Yoshiko... Hehe... Quick... Run!"

"Husband~~"

"Renael, run! Quickly, get out of here with Daddy!"

"Mommy~~"

"Mommy~~"

Hearing the shouts below and smelling the stench of burning flesh in the air, Cautious Demon's smile widened even further.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

To make himself feel even happier, Qinghei unleashed without hesitation all the energy, resentment, and dissatisfaction he had accumulated within him.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Explosions rang out one after another, buildings were leveled, and waves were smashed to Crush, turning into countless black powders scattered on the ground.

A moment later, Deliora, whose energy was depleted, stopped his ranged attacks and charged into the minion wave, swinging his fists.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A series of impacts rang out and then subsided, leaving behind craters and bright red Plum Blossom on the smooth snow.

Just as Cautious Demon was about to end his performance, a reaction from the distant sky caused his swung fist to freeze in mid-air.

"This... this is... damn it! That guy is still here! (Cautious Demon monologue)"

After cursing the unfortunate few who provided the information a few times, Deliora stepped over the ruins in front of her and quickly fled back to the place where she had appeared earlier.

Gazing at the bluish-black flames that vanished into the inferno, the surviving few exchanged glances, then embraced each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces.

"We survived... we survived!"

"Yes... yes... we survived! We survived!"

"Great! We survived!"

Looking down at the people embracing each other below, Sordil, standing on the deck of the windboat, frowned.

"How did this guy manage to escape at such a convenient time? Could it be... that he can sense me?"

Once this idea appeared, it took root in his heart like a weed and could never be erased.

"Are you kidding me?! How am I supposed to be a hero and save the damsel in distress?! How am I supposed to rewrite history?! How am I supposed to prevent this tragedy from happening?!" (Mashima: This is a butterfly effect you created yourself. It has nothing to do with me. Don't try to shift the blame to me!)

After a few dozen seconds of frantic activity, Old Suo instantly switched from extreme motion to extreme stillness.

"Forget it, let's go check if this is Gray's hometown first!"

After speaking, Old Suo prepared to jump off the windboat. Just then, two somewhat familiar auras appeared below, causing him to stop and revert to a state of observation.

"Wow~~ What happened here? How did it get into this state?"

Hearing the childish voice coming from ahead, the crowd celebrating their survival turned their cameras toward the source of the sound.

"Who are you? (Survivor Number One)"

"Hello, we are traveling mages. What happened here? How did it become like this?" (Ulu)

"A Traveling Mage? (All Survivors)"

After pondering the other party's answer several times, Survivor A roared, "Why did you only show up now! Why!"

Looking at the survivor A, who was extremely excited (almost to the point of madness), Lord Zero Emperor scratched the back of his head and said, "Hey, what's wrong with you?!"

Upon hearing Lord Zero Emperor's provocation, Survivor A clenched his fists and stood up with red eyes. However, before he could fully unleash his berserk state, the rational members on either side stopped him. At this moment, Survivor Number One slowly walked around him and bowed deeply to Zero Emperor and his companion.

"I'm sorry, I've offended you both!"

"It doesn't matter!"

After accepting the apology, the Ice Beauty repeated the question she had asked earlier.

"Um... what exactly happened here? Why was your companion so agitated to see us?"

After calming himself down, Survivor Number One recounted everything that had happened in detail.