BXBX NOVEL Chapter 142: Heroine Chapter: By his side. [1/2]
My blood boiled at the sight before my eyes. While my people were being starved to the point of insanity, the Japanese were living like kings.
I knew I could not blame them for the misfortunes of the North, but I could not help it. Unlike the misery of my homeland, no undead roamed these lands. Yet such good fortune went unnoticed by those who experienced it.
They didn\'t have to fight. They did not have to die. The world of the Reapers and the humans even remained separated. Why did my people have to rot and bleed just to survive when they were those who lived in peace all over the world?
"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I yelled, channeling all my anger and frustration.
The Sirens and I rampaged through a land called Japan.
Though mostly peaceful, I learned from Bella and the others that this peace was an illusion. According to them, the southerners might appear content, but hopelessness and despair ruled their lives.
Being unlearned in matters outside of the Northern continent, it was paramount that I learn from the Southerners. Lilly, the heiress of North America, slowly taught me what she explained as common sense.
In the North, the Reapers ruled over the humans, but in the South, the humans were still oblivious to our world.
"Why? Why would the Reapers intentionally keep them in the dark? If the Reapers failed to defend Hellsgate, the humans would be the ones to be annihilated!"
But Lilly\'s answer made me silent.
"I\'m sorry, Liv. I don\'t know either. The order came from the Revenants."
"How foolish you all are! How arrogant! The war with Hellsgate is already on the back foot. Your father will doom your people with his actions!" I retorted in anger.
They wanted humans to believe that their lives were all there was? Such hubris! And six Revenants all believed that this was the right course of action? The insanity of it all!
Like my own father, they were all so set in their ways that they would rather die a meaningless death! What good would shielding the humans do? Would living in ignorance somehow give them a sense of fleeting happiness?
I asked each of the Sirens if humanity had already united under a single banner. That would be the sole cause worthy of concealing the truth.
\'If they really wanted to allow people to live and die happily, then they should do so completely.\'
But their response was as I expected. Not only did humanity remain divided, but Trinity and IRIS waged a war that plunged the world into deeper chaos. Even if the humans did not know about the Reapers, they were already knee-deep in our affairs.
"Such hypocrisy!"
I raised my shield and brought it down on an approaching vehicle.
Despite the progress of the southerners, their fighting skills didn\'t seem all that impressive. If it were up to me, I would round up every able-bodied man and woman then immediately enforce a Northern ceremony.
Because of the desperation of the North. What little food we had was kept for infants and babies. Every Northerner who reached the age of six underwent our rite of passage.
I remembered the time before this became our norm. Childish and selfish, I made the mistake of taking my life for granted. And on the day the dead walked under the sun, I lost something I could never get back.
The Northern Ceremony was a bloody piece of our culture that reminded us of what we had lost. Anyone who participated in the ceremony would be stranded on an island with the other participants. The ceremony ended when every human ceased to exist.
This island was just an iceberg underneath a massive Soulgear called the {Heart of the North}. Any human who died on the island would be injected with souls and forcibly transformed into a reaper.
Depending on how they died, who killed whom, each participant would be ranked. Those who performed well would continue their training under veteran Reapers. Those at the bottom of the rankings would be forced to serve as sacrifices for the clearing teams.
Since our continent already had undead outside of Hellsgate, the clearing teams were those who fought to reclaim our frozen lands. The undead were weakest when the sun was out, so if you could not fight, the next best thing was to die honorably as bait or as a distraction.
"{WITHSTAND}! {ENDURE}!"
When the Japanese warriors attacked me, I used my {Fates} to stand my ground. These people were weak. They would not last a second in the North.
Our culture had no need for burdens. If you could not help the war or give birth to the next generation, then the only option was to perish and grow stronger in your next life.
\'That was the Northern way.\'
Any Northerner who underwent the Northern Ceremony would no longer need food or water. Their bodies would gain the ability to transform souls into sustenance. Their bodies were immensely stronger than the average Descendant\'s.
[Freyja! Type 90 battle tanks have arrived! Retreat!] Bella warned.
I saw metal coffins with long spears crawling towards my direction. As the tanks turned their weapons upon me, the hairs on my body stood on end. Yet I gritted my teeth and roared my fears away!
"COME!! {BLOCK}! {SUFFER}!"
Unlike {Withstand}, {Block} created a layer of armor over my body. It worked well with {Suffer} while reducing the pain I had to experience.
Invoking my latest {Fate}, I raised my shield and blocked the tanks\' powerful attacks. Together with {Withstand} and {Endure}, I barely felt a thing as hot explosions similar to volcanic eruptions scorched my shield.
[Holy shit! Those were 120-millimeter APFSDS! Frejya, are you okay?]
"Northern children hit harder! {COUNTER}!"
My sword sent a wave of energy that split one of the tanks in two. It then exploded in a chaotic fireball.
"Even with such weapons, the southerners were just as powerless!"
Due to such extreme situations, the only way to survive in the north was to gain souls by killing the undead. There was no other way. Our survival depended on how many we could kill on a daily basis.