The Great Filter 2#

The newly appointed goblin leader slowly rode forward.

Unlike the previous captain, this one's left eye was missing.

A jagged scar stretched across half his face.

His lips curled into a savage grin.

"So..."

He glared at Romelo.

"You chose death."

He raised his axe toward the sky.

"Kill them."

His grin widened.

"Then mount every last one of their heads on the village gates!"

A chorus of monstrous laughter answered him.

The villagers instinctively tightened their grips around their weapons.

Many of them were shaking.

Some were crying.

Others silently whispered prayers beneath their breath.

They were afraid.

Terrified.

Yet...

No one stepped back.

Romelo slowly raised his spear.

His voice remained steady.

Surprisingly steady.

"Don't fear them!"

His words cut through the panic.

"We fight with everything we have!"

"If death is inevitable..."

He planted the butt of his spear firmly into the ground.

"Then let us die with dignity rather than live beneath our enemy's chains!"

He pointed his spear toward the goblins.

"Charge!!"

With a thunderous roar...

Romelo rushed forward.

The villagers followed.

Axes.

Pitchforks.

Woodcutting hatchets.

Old hunting bows.

Anything that resembled a weapon.

They charged anyway.

Even knowing many of them would never return.

...

Perhaps...

That was what courage truly looked like.

Not the absence of fear.

But the resolve to move forward despite it.

The battlefield exploded into chaos.

Steel clashed against steel.

Magic illuminated the air.

Fire.

Wind.

Earth.

Screams echoed in every direction.

Armored wolves crashed into defensive lines.

Bodies were thrown aside.

Blood stained the once-peaceful marketplace crimson.

The village...

Had become a battlefield.

---

Meanwhile...

I had far more immediate concerns.

Several Goblin Riders suddenly turned their heads.

Toward us.

...

No.

One.

Two.

Three.

Five of them broke away from the battlefield.

Straight toward Mother.

Straight toward me.

Their wolves accelerated with terrifying speed.

Dust erupted beneath their claws.

The distance closed almost instantly.

...

Damn it!

"They're coming!"

"Ta! Ta!!"

(Wake up, you idiot!!)

(Mother!!)

(Wake up!!)

This time, I slapped her cheek with every ounce of strength my one-year-old body could produce.

A pitiful amount.

Barely enough to sting.

Yet I struck her again.

And again.

And again.

Still...

Nothing.

Sophia remained frozen.

Her vacant eyes stared at the ground.

Her lips silently trembled.

"My sister..."

She whispered.

"...No..."

She wasn't seeing the battlefield anymore.

Her mind had already collapsed.

...

Damn it!

Wake up!

Please...

Move!

I had spent my previous life solving problems that challenged the brightest minds of humanity.

I had designed megastructures capable of harvesting the energy of stars.

I had rewritten the civilization itself.

Yet now...

I couldn't even wake a grieving mother.

How...

Ridiculous.

---

The Goblin Riders closed the distance.

Twenty meters.

Fifteen.

Ten.

The lead goblin raised his sword.

His yellow eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

Five meters.

Four.

Three.

The blade rose high above his head.

Ready to split us apart in a single strike.

...

There was no escape.

No miracle.

No hidden trump card.

Only death.

I slowly closed my eyes.

So...

This was how it ended.

Twice.

I had conquered death once only to arrive in another world.

And now...

I would die again before even learning how to walk properly.

...

What an absurd life.

No...

What an absurd pair of lives.

...

Then-

Something warm splashed across my face.

...

Warm...

Sticky...

Thick.

...

Blood?

My eyes snapped open.

Scarlet droplets slid down my cheeks.

The goblin's sword...

Had stopped.

Someone...

Was standing in front of us.

A broad figure.

Unmoving.

Like an unbreakable wall.

The afternoon sunlight cast a long shadow over both Mother and me.

For the first time since the battle began...

Hope flickered once more.

Whoever that person was...

They had intercepted the strike.

And judging by the blood covering my face...

They had done so at a terrible cost.

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