The battle dragged on for a full two days before it finally ended.
The unprecedented incident of three Great Beasts simultaneously ravaging the frontline came to a close with humanity's victory, as two of the beasts were successfully subjugated.
Humanity hadn't emerged entirely unscathed.
Of the eight elite operatives who participated in the Radiata subjugation battle, five were killed, one remained unconscious, and two suffered severe injuries.
Forty percent of the Northern Frontline garrison had become casualties.
"It's been a while, Captain."
Lying on her sickbed, Rie greeted me in a mummy-like state, wrapped head to toe in bandages.
The Special Task Force had succeeded in buying time against the Great Beasts that directly assaulted the frontline.
The cost of that tremendous achievement was equally immense.
All four members of the Special Task Force, including Nazar, had perished.
The sole survivor, Rie, had lost sight in her left eye.
"How's your body holding up?"
"I just woke up, so I can't say for sure, but everything aches. And my left eye... I can't see out of it."
"I brought some medicinal herbs and fruit that are great for recovery. They're pretty rare up here in the north."
Rie, who had been in a coma for two weeks, grumbled teasingly.
"Did the captain's wife put some effort into it?"
"Who?"
"...? Now you're not denying it but asking who it is? Captain, just how far did you three go?"
"Denying it would just spread more weird rumors. Besides, nothing happened."
"You expect me to believe that?"
Nothing had really happened.
Both Irena and Nana were bedridden with severe injuries—how could anything have?
Even two weeks later, we still hadn't seen each other.
Moreover, the young lady had only come to visit with some herbs.
Rie shot me a cold, skeptical glance.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it was all innocent. Especially with rumors flying that you shared the same tent."
Putting the banter aside, I got to the point.
"So, did you see it?"
"I saw that paint-like stuff you mentioned, Captain. Not sure if it's because my eyes are messed up, but its power definitely ramped up."
"What do you think the conditions are for seeing Waves?"
"Since you and I both saw it in pretty similar situations... maybe it's something that awakens in the face of death?"
"Anything else?"
Rie blinked a few times, then lapsed into deep thought.
Suddenly, she snapped her head up.
"Ah! I think I was hyper-focused—like, the sword felt like it was moving in slow motion."
Were the conditions for awakening Waves a brush with death and extreme concentration?
It was still too early to be certain.
"Did anyone else see Waves besides you?"
"Pel said he saw it too, I think. Oh, speaking of which, where's Pel? I haven't seen our little maknae around."
Pel, the youngest member of the Special Task Force, was dead.
Cause of death: exsanguination.
He had squeezed out every last bit of strength to buy time, only to die the moment the battle ended.
Misinterpreting my silence, Rie gave an awkward laugh and added,
"Ah, haha... yeah, on second thought, no one survives a hole in their gut..."
It was the kind of reaction where she was desperately trying to fill the awkward silence with words.
No matter how many times I'd witnessed it, I could never get used to it.
Forcing a cheerful facade to hide grief was utterly heartbreaking.
I suppressed the emotions threatening to surge up.
"Rest up. I'll come by again tomorrow."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next place I visited was Irena's sickbed.
She had clashed with a Great Beast alone and ultimately subjugated it, but she still wasn't recovered enough to walk around.
That said, I'd heard she'd be back on her feet in about a week.
It was inhuman recovery speed.
"I've come to visit."
I caught sight of silver hair that had grown long enough to reach her nape.
Irena, who had been staring blankly into space, widened her eyes in surprise as I entered the tent.
"You're alive."
"I promised, didn't I? That I'd survive."
"You took so long, I thought you were dead."
"Sorry. I only just woke up myself."
Irena and I hesitated for a moment.
She was the one who broke the ice first.
"...Sorry. That was a first for me. Great Beasts teaming up..."
Hearing her words, I looked again at her guilt-ridden expression.
No one could have predicted it.
On the Northern Frontline, where anything could happen at any moment, it was impossible to account for every variable.
Yet Irena tried to shoulder all the blame herself.
She kept it hidden, letting it fester inside.
I just felt depressed at how endlessly kind she was.
"No, that's not it. This wasn't the commander's fault."
"...People died because of me. How can you say it's not my fault? I... I can't accept that..."
Irena bowed her head deeply.
Silver strands fell, covering her face.
Tears dripped onto the blanket.
I watched silently for a moment before carefully speaking up.
"Watching others die is painful. But if you try to bear it all, someday you will surely—"
—break.
For a split second, I couldn't voice the final words.
The image of Irena from the game overlapped with the one before me now.
Her transformation into a Great Beast, annihilating the Northern Frontline, only to be subjugated by the player.
I ground my teeth, biting my lip.
Blood trickled from my lip, running along my jawline.
"...So don't force yourself to carry it."
Irena lifted her head slightly.
Her eyes were red-rimmed.
I decided to go with something a bit clichéd.
"What we can do for the dead isn't just shoulder their burden. We kill every last one of those monster bastards—wipe them out root and stem. Then, when peace finally comes to the Northern Frontline, surely the fallen can rest easy."
Irena asked, as if she couldn't even convince herself.
"...Can we do that?"
It wasn't the confident knight commander who led soldiers with unwavering certainty on the frontline.
There sat a single human, hesitating, tormented, and uncertain.
Proof that even with superhuman strength, she wasn't some transcendent being beyond humanity.
Humans were just humans.
No matter how immense the power, they couldn't become anything more. I felt that truth anew.
I still had no confidence that I could end this hell.
Just clearing the game a few times offered no guarantee of a happy ending here.
I was just another human.
All I could do was resolve to try.
With a strong belief that it would happen.
Believing it firmly until it became conviction.
"We can. We will."
"..."
"I will make it happen, no matter what."
Irena's eyes.
Her ice-blue irises met mine.
"...Together."
Irena smiled faintly.
"Let's end it together."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Beyond merely surviving day by day on the frontline, it was time to prepare once more.
To ensure such sacrifices never repeated.
As soon as Rie fully recovered, the two of us dove into Wave research.
Progress came much faster working together than alone.
We began to grasp the essence of Waves.
The principle of Waves started with resonating to the spreading external forces.
Perceiving the vibrations of all things, syncing the body to those vibrations.
By assimilating with external forces, one could wield them as their own.
That was why power only amplified when swinging a sword along the vibration's flow.
Rie and I systematically established the foundations and realms of the Wave Technique through relentless study.
"What should we name it?"
"It's related to wavelengths and vibrations, so..."
Stage 1 - Initial Vibration
The stage of first accessing Waves.
Muscles, nerves, bones, and senses begin reacting to vibrations.
Stage 2 - Heavy Vibration
Internal organs, especially the spine and skeletal system, react to vibrations.
Resonance ability improves dramatically.
Stage 3 - Deep Vibration
The heart and mind fully connect to Waves.
The self fully resonates with Waves, allowing projection of one's vibrations outward.
One can manifest their Waves through a sword or weapon.
"So what's next—wait, don't tell me Extreme Vibration?"
"No idea. I haven't reached it myself."
"Aha. Captain, if I hit stage 4 first, can I name it?"
"Sure."
"Great. Look forward to my brilliant growth."
Research alone wasn't enough.
A technique unproven in combat was no more than illusion.
So we began transmission experiments on the new recruits.
Not the crude method I'd used initially.
Now that we'd honed our understanding, we employed a more refined approach.
Injecting our own Waves into the recipient.
Artificially inducing Waves to let them sense the vibrations.
Seraph, the new recruit receiving the Wave injection, suddenly started rubbing his eyes.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly and asked us,
"Uh... hold on, something weird's appearing in my vision. Is this normal?"
Success.