#021.
『The End, and 10 Years Later』
Trump Castle.
A massive castle made of cards.
Stationed there were the ‘Queen of Hearts’ and the Card Knights who followed her.
A symbol of absolute power dominating Wonderland.
A place that, thanks to the tyrannical Queen of Hearts, should normally be ruled by suffocating silence.
Clang, claaang!
Raucous metallic sounds began to echo.
“Kill them!”
“Advance!”
Roars burst out simultaneously.
Those armed with armor and weapons, and the Card Knights engraved with the Space, Clover, Diamond, and Heart suits were waging a fierce battle.
Shhk!
Flesh and bone were sliced.
Fwuk!
Organs inside bodies were torn by sharp weapons.
Because of this, every corner of the castle was filled with pools of blood and corpses, creating a spectacle truly no different from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Facing the Card Knights was one of the survivor groups of humanity marching toward the end, ‘the White’.
It was one of the most powerful organizations among existing forces, counted among the Five Hegemons.
But they were being pushed back.
「The true ruler of Wonderland!」
「Obey the command of the Queen of Hearts.」
Those blocking the White were the ones bearing the Space suit.
They were the Royal Knights defending the Queen of Hearts’ throne, the highest class among the four.
At that overwhelming power unleashing a unique black aura.
“Kugh!”
“Uaaack!”
Survivors belonging to the White began falling like dominoes.
At that moment.
“Urk….”
“How are they so strong….”
They had been brimming with confidence until they pushed back the Diamond and Clover Knights.
After all, they were one of the Five Hegemons, and they possessed the confidence that they were the only ones who could pierce through the castle of the Queen of Hearts, one of the absolute rulers of Wonderland, with such ease.
But what was this?
The Space Knights guarding the front of the massive gate decorated with splendid roses were different.
Though their bodies were merely cards, their might approached that of Rankers.
Terror settled in because of that power.
The emotion of terror spread like a plague, permeating the surroundings in an instant.
Shuffle, shuffle.
Those who had only advanced forward began slowly stepping back.
“Do not retreat.”
A presence emerged, pushing through those stepping backward.
Hwaak!
He who gripped a broad sword exuding extraordinary sharpness anywhere one looked confronted the Space Knights.
A man with golden hair and golden eyes flashing mystically.
Sword Star William.
In the past, a cleaner born in London, England, but now serving as the supreme commander of the White.
Ranked 11th among survivors.
Although he could not enter the Ten Venerables, the ranks of the strongest, he was the strongest of those outside them.
Therefore, he was the only one capable of dispelling the fog of fear permeating the White.
“Glory!”
He raised his broad sword high and uttered the starter word.
At that moment.
Hwaaaak!
An enormous light, a golden dawn, began to burst around the sword.
It was not mere light.
Light particles like grains gathered around William.
Clack!
Forming the shape of shining golden armor.
『King of Victory』
Excalibur, the power dwelling within this great treasure, granted William ancient power.
Now he had become a great king who would surely bring victory.
“I shall protect you all.”
The great Sword Star, William.
The moment he infused his will—
Swoosh—
He became a gust of wind and charged toward the front.
Shhk!
The body of a Space Knight who had been driving back the White with overwhelming might was bisected.
That was the beginning.
Shhk, shhk!
The momentum of William, who had transformed into the King of Victory, was like a fierce storm.
The frail cards standing before the savage storm were too busy scattering to the surroundings.
“William!”
“William!”
“O Sword Star!”
If the Queen of Hearts had the Space Knights, then the White had William.
Ranked 11th.
The Sword Star.
Befitting that fame, he slaughtered the Space Knights whom no one else could lay a hand on.
“Let’s go!”
“Follow the Sword Star!”
The fog lifted.
The White, freed from fear, surged forward with the same momentum as before.
“Uwoaaaaah—”
They collided with the Space Knights with courage a hundredfold!
「For the Queen of Hearts!」
Of course, the Space Knights waged an all-out war to stop them.
Had it been the White’s strength from just moments ago, they could not have guaranteed victory even with William.
However, he was not merely a being of outstanding personal strength.
Hwaaak!
From the bodies of the White, the survivors, a faint golden dawn just like William’s bloomed.
『Cry of Victory』
It was a passive trait automatically manifested upon transforming into the King of Victory.
All allies near William and in a friendly relationship were affected by the Cry of Victory, causing all their abilities to massively increase.
At least, this meant they were no longer the survivors who had been overwhelmingly dominated by the Space Knights.
“We broke through!”
Having breached the Queen of Hearts’ final gate, they stood before a massive iron gate decorated with roses.
“….”
In a suffocating tension.
Screech—
Finally, William and the White entered, opening the doors to both sides.
A space dominated entirely by darkness.
「Filthy, trivial things.」
Along with a voice that seemed to flow from dozens of speakers installed all around.
Snap!
The place shrouded in darkness was engulfed in red light.
Surprisingly, it was a garden.
In the center of that place completely covered in roses.
Trickle, trickle.
A woman sat atop a gushing fountain.
“The Queen of Hearts!”
William, no, everyone in the hall knew at once.
The woman in a voluminous red dress with red hair shaped like a heart—she was indeed the ruler dominating Wonderland.
「Disgusting. Do not breathe with that filthy mouth.」
The bewitching Queen of Hearts furrowed her brow.
At that moment.
Kwaaaaah—
The emotion she harbored surged like a wave.
“Uurk!”
“Blergh—”
It was merely an aura.
Yet that dreadful killing intent was something even survivors who had endured seven years of the apocalypse could not withstand.
“Haah!”
But William was no pushover either.
The ruler of Wonderland?
He too was one of the absolute powerhouses among the many humans, ranked 11th.
Hwaaaaak!
He blocked the Queen of Hearts’ aura with the intense golden dawn radiating from his flesh.
「Disgusting trash. Cut all their heads off!」
Along with her gesture.
Rumble!
The surrounding roses grew rapidly, taking on forms.
「Cut their throats!」
「Chop off their heads!」
Bearing sharp sabers, they were the powerful Rose Knights, surpassing the Card Knights.
As the Queen of Hearts’ personal guard, their strength was incomparable to that of the Card Knights.
“Right on time.”
The one who revealed himself among the survivors trapped in despair.
“Yunchan!”
William exclaimed in joy.
He was someone who should have participated in the siege, but had briefly left due to an important matter.
Yunchan, one of the core members of the White, had revealed himself at the perfect time.
“….”
“….”
The gazes of the two men intertwined in the air.
Soon, Yoonchan placed the old anvil he had brought onto the floor, and struck it with an old hammer.
Clang!
As a clear metallic sound echoed.
Flash!
The weapons held by the survivors glinted once as if emitting light.
Clang, clank!
And when it rang a second time, the luster of their armor flashed.
It was not just that.
Clang, clank, clang—
Gloves, boots, helmets, all equipment flashed.
“Ooh!”
“The Infinite Enhancer is with us!”
Their morale rose even higher than at William’s appearance.
It couldn’t be helped, for Sin Yunchan was precisely the Infinite Enhancer.
He was the Venerable of Strength, one of the Ten Venerables, who strengthened all nearby allies with a single hammer blow.
“Let’s go!”
William and the White, their morale soaring to the heavens, charged in.
The battle with the Queen of Hearts and the Rose Knights protecting her had begun.
But they were not the White from moments ago.
William had joined, and so had Yunchan, who had obtained the legendary anvil and hammer, the Enhancer’s exclusive weapons.
“Urk—”
“Ugh!”
They slaughtered the Rose Knights with overwhelming force.
“The Queen is right before our eyes!”
“Cut off her head!”
The moment they tried to claim victory, throwing the Queen of Hearts’ own line back at her.
Rumble!
The ground shook.
What was initially faint.
Rattle—
Soon created an intense vibration that could be mistaken for an earthquake.
「Come, my King!」
The Queen of Hearts, who had been known as the sole ruler, mentioned a sovereign.
And the change that occurred.
Crush!
From the cracked earth, where a green light shone, skeleton soldiers revealed themselves.
They were not the only ones.
“Uuuuh….”
The survivors who had lost their lives moments ago, and the Card Knights, rose.
A green aura enveloping them.
“….”
Yoonchan and William’s gazes naturally turned toward the source of that aura.
“You…!”
What entered their vision.
Was an old man clad in white hempen robes, holding a bell and a sickle in his hands.
“…The Venerable of Death!”
One of the Ten Venerables.
Jeong Do-hwan, the Venerable of Death, the absolute ruler of all specters.
He was blocking the White, standing not on humanity’s side but on the Queen of Hearts’ side.
“…You deserve to die.”
A cold gaze.
The moment it reached the survivors.
Stampede, stampede!
The specters occupying all sides began charging at the survivors.
*
“….”
I woke from sleep and blankly stared straight ahead.
I had dreamed.
Of events that happened before my regression.
In some ways, it could be called a nightmare, but now it wasn’t that surprising.
How should I put it.
The dreams I’d been having lately seemed to be demanding something of me.
A signpost, in a way?
Should I say they were like guidelines telling me what I must do from now on?
‘Is it okay to let things flow this way?’
I sometimes questioned.
Was it the right path to chase the one from my dream, to follow that memory?
‘Then again, I don’t think there’s any particular reason to avoid it either.’
Considering the priority and location, it was right to seek out the person who appeared in the dream.
‘The Venerable of Death, Jeong Do-hwan.’
One of the Ten Venerables born in South Korea, like me.
‘Originally, I had planned to kill him.’
He was one who had a profound impact—of course, in a negative way—on me, William, and the survival of humanity, making him a target who absolutely had to be eliminated.
But I had added another option besides elimination.
Recruitment.
If we went by past grudges, he certainly had to be eliminated, but.
‘If we can bring him in as an ally, he would become a tremendous force for humanity.’
I knew his strength better than anyone.
If I could draw him to our side, it would surely buy a considerable amount of time for the ship sailing toward doom.
So I made a call.
“Speaking.”
Despite the early morning, he answered before the ringtone could even finish once.
“…Hm. How in the world can you answer so quickly?”
I mean, it’s not like he was a fish with half his brain kept awake; how was this possible?
“I tend to focus on matters regarding important clients.”
“This isn’t just focusing; aren’t you pretty much pouring all your mental strength into this?”
“…It merely proves that you are that important a client.”
“I see.”
Anyway, he was a man with good instincts.
That must be how he could build such a massive enterprise from nothing.
“I need information on a person.”
“Speak.”
“Jeong Do-hwan. Roughly in his mid-to-late sixties? And his profession is an undertaker. Do you need any more information?”
“A name, approximate age, and profession are sufficient. How much time do I have?”
“By today….”
“One hour. I’ll contact you within then. Is there anything else you need?”
“Y-yes. If you could just tell me where he lives, I would be grateful.”
“Understood.”
Click—
With that, the call ended.
‘Anyway, he’s no ordinary person.’
Originally, he was someone who should have died from dementia before the apocalypse arrived.
But with the appearance of someone like me, Chairman Gang had returned from death.
I wondered what kind of role he would play in the apocalypse to come.
‘And how will the future change due to the actions I am taking now.’
Would it really head in a good direction?
Could this butterfly’s wingbeat cause negative problems?
‘For now, I have no choice but to do the best I can.’
I don’t know right now.
I’m merely executing a method for a slightly better future, to greet a slightly more positive apocalypse.