It was impossible.To stop hundreds of thousands of mutants alone.Such arrogance was never even considered.And yet, the circumstances left no choice but to hold the line.I had to hold this position. I had to endure.Even if only for a few minutes.This place.This situation had to be defended.Without that, there was no hope at all.“If these mutants break free, we’ll lose too much.”Not just the cultured meat facilities and the nuclear plant.In the face of this crisis, those things were insignificant.If these countless creatures were unleashed, at the very least this area would become devastated beyond repair.And no one could predict where that wave would go.It would be like releasing a moving disaster into the city.“If only I can hold on…”If the young man brings the gamma and the reactor safely.If Yevgeniya arrives on time.If the main forces join quickly.Then the situation could be turned around.Of course, even if everything went perfectly, there was no way to exterminate every single mutant.The numbers were far too overwhelming for just a few hundred people.But at the very least, the area could be sealed off to prevent them from crawling out.“What should I do?”Countless options flashed through my mind.But there weren’t many I could actually choose.The entrance had narrowed due to the explosion.I watched the mutants charging at me from the end of that entrance.“The guillotine is impossible.”But a similar effect could be produced.Stack the corpses to form a barrier and block as many of them as possible.Kyaaaak—!!Swoosh—!“Huff.”Hot breath escaped through the helmet.Stage-1 entities couldn’t pierce the chrome-alloy reinforced suit.Even so, accumulated damage would weaken the armor.In this desperate situation, all I could do was swing my blade.“Do not use technology.”Stamina is not infinite.“If I see an Eater mutant, take it down first.”The damage Eater mutants do to the armor may be small, but the shock can’t be fully absorbed.Hundreds of mutants swarmed.The fact that not all of them were trying to cross over yet was some small consolation.“Before they all break through…”The defensive line had to be built.“Huff…”Every movement of the blade hurt my body from the explosion’s aftereffects, yet the tip of the sword never stopped swinging.Swoosh—!Kyaaaak!Gwaaaah!I cut down five at once, kicking the corpses that were about to fall.Then a thought struck me: Could I really hold on until all the conditions were met?I knew the truth.It was impossible.Even now, I could flee and escape danger.Yet somehow, that thought didn’t come.This might be a place to die, but the choice to defend it wasn’t for any special reason.It might just have been a reckless impulse based on instinct.“If I collapse now, it’ll really be over.”The crisis was immense.Unmanageable at the current level.Even this, in time, might be seen as trivial.To retreat now would mean surrendering to every challenge.And survival built on compromise would change nothing.“Nothing will be achieved.”Even all past efforts would be meaningless.But this once—if I could just survive this once—“Everything changes.”My already determined swordsmanship.The worst weakness: inability to use firearms.I would test whether that weakness could become a strength.I seized a charging mutant by the throat and hurled it into another,then took a step forward.My blade traced a wide arc through the tide of foes closing in from every direction— another step.Step by step, I advanced.Chunks of debris built up on either side, forming sturdy ramps.The narrowed entrance became even tighter, and sunlight inside grew dimmer.The interior, like hell, was hideously grotesque.“Just a little more.”I had to endure.“Just a little more.”I had to defend this place.***“Dao! Can’t you go any faster?!”“This is top speed!”Above, Dao rode the handlebars of the hover bike, Black Wing.They followed the red smoke of the flare at maximum speed, their expressions deadly serious.“Damn, if the commander called us, this must be serious.”“It must be a massive swarm of mutants.”“How many are we talking about…?”“Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. That many gathered in the city center.”“Insane.”Even a fully armed defense force couldn’t handle these numbers. Dao clicked his tongue.“Don’t worry. There must be a plan.”“I hope so…”The smoke began to disperse.The cold up there nearly froze their hands, yet Dao’s eyes grew more intense.“Nothing should happen to the commander…”He pulled the throttle again, but Black Wing, already at max speed, only roared.“Zhenya, just in case, prep explosives now.”“Already done.”Yevgeniya’s expression mirrored Dao’s.She sensed it too: this was no trivial matter.***The number of mutants kept growing.No matter how many were killed, they kept coming, making me nauseous.“Huff… huff…”Was it really just an arrogant idea?Such thoughts rattled my body.At least five mutants bit at my limbs before finally collapsing.The armor’s exterior damage accumulated, and if this continued, it would eventually tear away.Once more, I gathered my strength and pierced a Stage-2 Eater’s throat.“Huff!”“Please… let anyone arrive,” I prayed.Yet time was barely on my side.From the 7th Defense Force base to here, from the Ark unit’s stronghold, even from the Wayless Museum…“It would take at most ten minutes”I had barely held out that long, and the engineer arms were already half-shattered on the ground.Relying on the barely functioning armor, swinging my blade, but my body enhancement had already failed.“Would it have helped to stay calmer?”Would positioning better or slashing multiple mutants at once have helped?A hundred what-ifs flashed through my headMy movements sharpened further.“Faster.”I slashed and shoved.“Stronger.”I severed throats.Every unnecessary motion vanished.No more double strikes; one strike, one kill.The swarm was larger than I could handle,but I held my position, using a captured mutant as a makeshift shield.My breathing grew ragged, and my mouth filled with the taste of iron.Ding![Status: Slightly Fatigued >> Fatigued]Holding on might actually have been the worst choice.Then, a sight caught my eye.“Krrk!”Slash—!!Three mutants went down at once, and for a heartbeat, my gaze was caught.“Wait.”It was a strange phenomenon: the collapsed subway exit had formed a unique terrain.The piled-up debris formed a canyon-like shape.The mutants surged up the wide slope, narrowing at the exit, their bodies jamming and tangling into a chaotic, spinning vortex.I felt instinctively: just hold a little longer.They were trapping themselves in the crowd.Roaring, my blade swung with newfound force.“Kraaaahhh—!!!”Perhaps it worked.The swarm began to thin.“Huff!”Swoosh—! Swoosh!Slash—!!“Just a little more.”Despite the unending swings, the blade remained firm.Time and again my feet tangled in debris, threatening to throw me off balance.The stench had become familiar.I recalled something someone asked me: “Why go this far?”I hadn’t had an answer… but now I did.“Because it’s necessary.”Looking back at my past self, trapped in a dark single room, dying day by day, barely existing like dust in a giant world.“Here, I am needed.”Here was different.I was needed. I was necessary.Ding![Status: Fatigued >> Very Fatigued]I could feel the vivid emotion of being alive.Even if this world were false, it didn’t matter.“Curse it… I have to…”The world outside seemed warm, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) lively, but it was harsher than this one.Here, there were people who needed me. I needed them.This wasn’t a world of meaningless arguments trapped in concrete rooms.Perhaps that’s why everything felt so real.Living in a world where you are needed makes your heart race.“This is real.”So I went on.“Kraaaahhh—!!”Even if foolish, it didn’t matter.It was a world where I could fully commit to what I thought right.Ding![Status: Very Fatigued >> Exhausted]“Khrghh!”Heavy as if weights were on my legs, but my mind felt free.Was this liberation?My body, once flexible, reached its limit.Yet a grim smile settled on my face.[‘Legendary Swordsmanship’ Trait Activated][Status: Extreme][Use a top-tier skill once]“Huff!”[No skill used]Mind cleared, intoxicated with adrenaline, tearing enemies apart.Ding![Condition met][Legendary Swordsmanship]…Ding![Legendary Swordsman]What had happened?System messages filled my vision.My exhausted body was reconstructing itself.Ding![Limit Break][Stamina][Stamina][Stamina][Agility][Maximum already reached][‘Humanity’s Strongest Weapon’ trait increased cap][Traits’ proficiency increases by raised value][Humanity’s Strongest Weapon LV.2 (56%)][Applied on all status recovery][Status: Exhausted >> Very Fatigued]Countless paths appeared before me.It was as if the system itself commanded, “Swing here.”Whoossh—!The air tore apart; the second swing felled countless creatures.“This is…”But as I prepared for a third swing, creatures filled the space I had cleared.BLOOOOM!!Ssss-!With a massive blast, a mutant’s head exploded.“Kyle—!!!”I turned and saw platinum hair.“Eli?”With her arrival, a group of reinforcements appeared.“Protect the captain!!”Finally, the fatigue I had been holding back crashed over me.Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!Bang bang bang bang bang!!!Barely holding himself together, Benjamin ran up and supported me.“Glad we’re not too late. Or… not late at all, right?”It had been only a short while since I last saw him, yet the relief that washed over me was immense

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