Bahamuts descended upon Karta from all directions, their unholy eyes wide and hungry.
No one knew how many citizens had escaped into the wilderness. The diversion meant to draw the Bahamuts’ attention had certainly worked—just not in the way they’d hoped.
The western wall had crumbled, and the northern barricade had completely collapsed. Like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam, Karta had no defense against the relentless tide of monsters.
They advanced methodically, corrupting every soldier and remaining citizen they encountered. The tender sprouts growing between cobblestones were crushed beneath their massive feet.
Humans turned on humans. Towering Bahamuts lumbered through the streets, their elongated arms swinging before them, surrounded by red-eyed, corrupted humans who staggered like broken marionettes. The air reeked of blood and carnage, punctuated by desperate screams.
It was hell unleashed on earth.
Tonight, Karta would share Bayern’s fate. Families, friends, neighbors, comrades, innocents—all would perish together in this unholy slaughter.
I wanted to stop this. Veronica huddled in a military storehouse, trembling as she pressed her hands over her ears. I thought I had. And now I can’t even move. Why can’t I move?
This was nothing like Asseldorf. This mirrored Bayern’s fall with terrifying precision.
The overwhelming déjà vu drove her to the edge of madness. Memories she had desperately buried clawed their way to the surface—her father being devoured before her eyes, streets carpeted with mangled corpses…
Veronica trembled violently, squeezing her eyes shut against the horror. It had been so long since she’d felt this utterly powerless and pathetic. Time seemed to fold back on itself, and she was once again hidden in the ruins with Benjamin. If she left this sanctuary and passed through the burning debris, she’d feel a hand grasp her shoulder—and Benjamin would die again. At least that was what her confused mind wanted her to believe.
A sickening crack broke through her thoughts.
“We need to reach a larger, more defensible building,” whispered one of the knights, peering through a crack in the door. “The surviving knights have likely regrouped at the church.”
“The church? Why there?”
“It’s designed to shelter large numbers of people.”
The four young apprentice knights huddled with Veronica had chosen to hide with remarkable composure while everything around them was consumed by chaos.
What about Leon? she wondered. Which path would he have chosen? Could he still be fighting on the walls?
“The church is on the outskirts near the military camp, so it’ll take at least half an hour to get there. If we want to move safely, it’s better to get a bit of sleep, even if just for a short while. Let’s also gather some food. We’ll move once the sun is up and we can see our surroundings better.”
The knights discussed tomorrow’s plan seriously.
Should I ask to join them? Veronica considered it. The surviving knights would likely include Leon among their ranks. She was a capable fighter, so they wouldn’t turn her away. This paralyzing fear would pass in time. It had to.
She lowered her trembling hands from her ears. Gathering what little courage remained, she raised her head—and froze. Her voice died in her throat.
A burning crimson eye peered through the crack in the door. It was a grotesque face with its mouth stretched wide in a mockery of a smile. The knights, their backs to the door, continued their discussion, blissfully unaware of the horror behind them.
Veronica’s lips quivered uselessly.
“Run…” she managed, but the warning came too late.
A sickening crunch filled the room as elongated, inhuman fingers punched through the skull of the boy standing by the door, emerging grotesquely from his mouth. Veronica remained petrified even as blood sprayed across the faces of the other knights. Her mind screamed at her to help them, but her body remained paralyzed by invisible chains. It was Benjamin’s end playing out again before her eyes—an inescapable curse of fate.
Suddenly, her gaze fell on a wooden box near her feet. Words had been carved into it in the sacred language of the Divine Text. Almost against her will, she found herself reading the inscription.
Deus dereliquit hominem
“God has abandoned humanity…”
A Bahamut burst through the door, seizing the knights with its massive hands, tearing their heads off to feast upon before discarding their bodies like broken toys. After surveying the storehouse, its burning gaze fell upon Veronica, who sat motionless. It approached with thunderous footsteps that shook the ground beneath her.
Her gaze locked with its blood-red eyes. Veronica realized that history was repeating itself. If the pattern held true, the next to appear would surely be…
“Impossible…”
The chilling whisper of a blade slicing through the air sent shivers down her spine. The Bahamut looming over her collapsed as its head was cleaved in two. A tall, imposing figure strode in with measured steps, silhouetted against the moonlight streaming through the doorway.
I understand now. I see why you believe in God.
“…Veronica?”
A deep, familiar voice emerged from the backlit shadow.
“Do you want to live?”
It felt like being thrust backward through time. Bahamut corpses littered the ground behind his billowing black cloak. Embers danced in the air around the red-haired man who stood tall, looking down at her with those penetrating eyes.
Veronica felt the weight of destiny settle upon her shoulders. A bone-deep chill coursed through her entire body.
In life, everyone will eventually face a crossroads such as this, encountering situations that mirror their past experiences. Then they made choices based on those experiences, never realizing that these moments might actually be divine messages guiding their path.
“Are you hurt?” Leon knelt before her, one knee pressed to the blood-soaked ground. “Do you need help?”
Her vision blurred as she gazed up at him.
“I’m asking if you want to live, even if you have to crawl through hellfire.”
“Answer me. If you say you want to die, I’ll kill you painlessly.”
“Then ask for help.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You don’t need to help me.”
When the same crossroads appeared twice in life, it meant you should choose a different path this time.
Leon thrust his sword into the ground before her. Her pale face appeared fragmented in the silver blade, reflecting the crimson light of distant fires. She saw her short black hair, snow- white skin, and red eyes—eyes the same color as a Bahamut’s.
The world was falling apart, but humans were evolving. Veronica was sent by God to be humanity’s salvation. She had to leave this place.