Глава 8

Countless lives vanish before me, and I grieve for them. Yet, I can only continue moving forward. Because I know. The glorious nation I serve demands fresh blood. It wishes for death. It calls for humility.

It disappeared, then emerged once more; It disintegrated, then was rebuilt; It died a sudden death, then was resurrected.

'I journey across the plains of salt, the bleeding mountain valleys, and not once was I harmed.'

'For his sword, his territory, his subjects, they grant me protection.'

*Cough*, *cough*... To think you could use the sword techniques of Chi Xiao through your fingers alone. Do you not even need to wield the actual sword anymore?

You're getting older, you coot. So old that you've forgotten what is it you should be doing, before you even think of stopping me.

Your Arts may be outstanding, but your multitude of worries causes you to make mistakes.

Why do you stand against me? Are you thinking of giving up your life to delay me? Why?

Don't do anything you'll regret!

Are you lacking in things you regret doing, Wei Yenwu?

Would you like for Ch'en Hui-chieh to commit sororicide? For Kashchey to do as he wants?!

Our time is over, Wei Yenwu!

You're saying that they should not repeat our mistakes? I have never thought otherwise.

You raised her, fortified this city, watched as people lived and died. She's already gone, why do you force more onto her?

You think a group of Infected and a young officer can do it?

I think things will only get worse if you go.

Kojui, have I ever hesitated to kill?

Lots of times.

...You...

How long do you plan to get in my way?

Until I'm cold in the ground——

——Or until the core city stops.

Whether the Shadow Guard stops it, or Ursus, Hui-chieh or the Infected.

But before it stops, you're not taking a single step forward.

Lin Kojui! Do not challenge me!

...Try me, Wei Yenwu! If you want me to let you die like Master Edward did, you'd better send me off first!

You!

They're everywhere!

Hold the line! Forward! Forward! Push them out! Chase them out!

Feline, how much longer can you hold on?

Either we win and the battle ends, or I die.

I won't let them capture Amiya or interfere with her fight.

Even if Talulah dies, these people will not go away. How much more time does your squad need to maneuver?

Are you talking about all the guerrillas and the Infected Patriot brought?

Yes.

At least another hour.

Then we will live for another hour.

I'll go with you. Move!

Great! That's great, Feline!

Guerrillas... No, warriors of Buldrokkas'tee, the oppressed! Onwards! March onwards!

March onwards!

Who do you think are the two sides of this battle?

You think they are the Infected and non-Infected. You think that it is justice and injustice.

Wrong. That's all wrong.

This is the reason you cannot defeat me.

One side is simply doing as they wish for their own goals, acting on emotion alone... Weak-willed fools who do not even understand the meaning of war.

Whereas the other side is those suffering in Ursus... The people who live in pain under the discrimination of others.

You don't care? You don't have the right to care. How could you possibly fathom the love we have towards our land?

I love them, those warriors who fight for this country, those passionate people who willingly spill their own blood upon the battlefield... No matter who they see as an enemy, I love them all!

They entrust their lives to their faith. It's fine even if they go against Ursus in a moment of prejudice and shortsightedness.

Because, this land will forever love them.

Those dignitaries whose brains are full of shit, who mock the sacrifices and victims among the common folk... I love them too.

My love towards them will not falter just because of their actions! Because love is alike, it is equal, it is normal.

Those uninfected who fight for the Infected, those Infected who refuse to give up——I love them all!

The way they pursue life is thousands of times better than the trash who waste their lives away meaninglessly!

But I love all the people of Ursus. Whether strong or weak, benevolent or tyrannical, altruistic or greedy.

To Ursus, all lives are equal. We are all grains of sand in Ursus.

Some people deserve a better life from birth! But they cannot and will not choose so.

Because fate is blind. They must undergo these unreasonable hardships, so that they may grow stronger and mature.

Some people must be punished.

But they cannot, for their lives are still important. They will push forward the great river of time, where things will move and plans implemented, until the time when they are drowned and greatness is newly cast.

I love them all.

Not because of origin, not because of deeds, not because of identity, not because of personality.

I love everyone on this land.

It has been so for a thousand years.

The Deathless Black Snake.

The Deathless Black Snake!

Amiya, oh Amiya. Do you know why you are so shortsighted, why you are so weak?

Because you only stand in your own two shoes. Do you know how narrow your vision is? How much misfortune have you ever seen?

You've only seen some unremarkable scenes through the eyes of the Lord of Fiends, yet you presume to act as if you have personally experienced it...

I've experienced far more tragedy than you ever have.

You are constrained by your identity as an orphaned Infected, whereas I am the observer of the entirety of Ursus.

I live to save the vast land and crying people you cannot see. What about you?

You are but fools, blind and deaf, despairing over the littlest of things, proclaiming yourself saviors.

Could you ever imagine what has taken place across this world? You cannot.

The language, history and memories you see are all just short excerpts of self-glorification. You cannot see the scars carved onto the living by fate itself.

Scars can kill. The scars of millions of my Ursus kin are etched onto my body.

Ch'en Hui-chieh. You are my sister in blood and flesh. You stand here against me and view Ursus as your enemy, all because you think it is invading your homeland.

If you cannot even defeat your own sister, do you believe for a second that you will prevail against the entirety of Ursus?

What's more, whether or not Ursus will be dragged into this war, and whatever the result of the war may be, matters not to me.

All I want is for this land to free itself from the impasse and dissonance it finds itself in. After this war ends, there will inevitably be a winner and a loser, whether it is the military government or a new emperor.

The previous Ursus emperor was like the incarnation of the soul of Ursus.

He did not lose himself in pleasure, and maintained a healthy distance from power despite his lofty ambitions. He could not be called the embodiment of lust, and was as far from a tyrant as could be.

However, he brought about wars, for Ursus needs wars. Ursus needs wars for its people to grow.

He was exceptional. He was worthy of being called an emperor of Ursus.

As for you, Infected.

'Why don't you bow down in front of them and wag your tails desperately like the beasts you are? You may receive their forgiveness that way.'

You wish to be accepted by everyone?

Of course you can... Just accept the fodder they give you, abandon the language of people and become slaves. Hand over a quarter of your own for them to squander and slaughter.

They will see you as harmless livestock, a pet that looks disgustingly like a person yet is interesting enough to keep around. An accessory that they may grant meager protection to console their miserable pride.

You will struggle and die, yet there will always be countless new lives ready to take your place. Your kin will be reduced to such, then and forever.

——Because those fools can only feel forgiveness and satisfaction through such a method. The great systems of power are always established for the sake of you and them... the slave and the master.

No one else will treat you as fairly as Ursus and I. We know how despicable the Ursus may be, yet we have no choice but to let you live in their shadow.

If you think that is evil, then so be it. Because this evil perpetuated a mentality of pathetic salvation that spanned nations, that caused life to be so.

Until today.

I will change everything. I gave them direction.

The exceptional once-ruler of this nation brought greatness to them, yet even he could not escape the grasp of time. In the end, he could not bring salvation to the Infected.

In war, their irrational parts are sated, their non-intelligent parts are perfused, their mediocre parts become extraordinary, their indifferent thoughts become fanatic.

Those people gain a sort of nobility.

To tame and use them is an act of foolishness rather than wisdom. We do not need their allegiance, nor do we want to rule over them.