The Tales of an Infinite Regressor - Chapter 269

Chapter 269

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The Merger III

“Have you heard the rumor?”

“Rumor? What rumor?”

It began on a day like any other.

From the depths of the earth, where ancient creatures still torment the humans basking in the light, arose a mocking taunt: “Enjoyed your reign at the top, did you? Now, it is your turn to suffer.”

And so it was that the dreadful tale took its root in the hearts of humankind.

“They say there’s a city that moves.”

“A what now? A moving city?”

“Yes, exactly. A massive city that moves as if it’s alive.”

“Great. Another Anomaly? Just what we needed.”

Strangely enough, no one questioned how such a city could exist.

Civilization had long since crumbled away, and the weak—incapable of adapting to this post-apocalyptic meta—had perished. The survivors who had not yet succumbed to the call of those ancient, bestial kings and remained above had, by necessity, learned to adapt to the new, Anomalous natural order.

“But that’s the thing… Apparently, it’s not an Anomaly. I heard it’s a city built by humans.”

“What?”

And that was why they were all the more vulnerable to “non-Anomalous” tales—the phenomena of the ordinary.

“You know that old Global SOS Board, right?”

“The site that takes forever to load? Where it’s a miracle if even one post goes up in a day?”

“Yeah, that one. People are reporting sightings of the city there—Neo-Busa, they call it. And it’s slowly making its way across the Eurasian continent.”

“Huh.”

“From what I hear of the rumors, if you see a vertical plume of smoke on the horizon, it means Neo-Busa is within a few hundred kilometers.”

Thus, they dubbed it humanity’s last sanctuary.

A quadrupedal fortress that shook the ground with every step.

A colossal structure that fired beams of light from its core without ceasing and deployed hundreds of robots like a land-based aircraft carrier.

“That last part makes it sound like an Anomaly. It has to be, if something like that actually exists. No way humans built it.”

“But the Global SOS Board—”

“The site’s so slow you’d be lucky to see one post a day. How reliable can it be?”

The rumors were readily dismissed and met with derision. A walking city? That sounded too absurd to be true, and trust was in too short supply to allow for such blind faith.

Faith, after all, is far more readily born from moments of despair.

– Woooooooong.

– Ka-clank, clank! Click.

Annihilation came for a living community of some 500 survivors.

From the western skies, a fleet of airborne battleships emerged in detrital hunks of metal and concrete.

They were the remnants of civilization: the Sky Fleet, a horde of city-eating predators that had gorged themselves fat by devouring London and Paris.

“Ahh— AHHHH! It’s them! The ones from the message board!”

“Run! Grab whatever you can and get out of here!”

“Run? Where? How?”

Despite their hulking appearance, the airborne battleships were fast. They weren’t the kind of Anomalies that fleeing refugees could easily outrun. No matter how far the humans ran from the ships and each other, the death rays fired by the fleet would incinerate them all.

And above all else, humanity was exhausted.

They had fled from their homes, fled from their workplaces, from countless temporary shelters, and more. This settlement had been their last refuge.

There was no energy left in them—no willpower or strength left to find another safe zone or build one with their own hands.

If only the rays from those monsters could vaporize us instantly, they thought. To meet death without pain—wouldn’t that be a mercy?

How were they to know the dark truth of it, after all? Who among them could imagine that Anomalies like the Mastermind might still drag their souls into eternal torment even after death?

To them, death beckoned as a sweet release. And who was to call them back from the brink? The loved ones who might have stopped them—family, friends, partners—had long since vanished.

Fine. I give up. Let’s leave this insane world behind.

Even the veterans, the ones who had once fought tooth and nail to help build the settlement, at long last let their grip on life slip away.

– Wooooooong. Wooooooong. Wooooooong.

The fleet’s crimson eyes had locked onto the survivor community—when suddenly, a beam of light streaked across the sky and cleaved the Anomalies in two.

“What?”

An explosion pealed across the heavens.

The stunned residents turned their heads to see a plume of black smoke rising in the distance. But it was no ordinary smoke—the plume was unnaturally straight and rose impossibly high.

A signal fire?

The rumor they had heard flitted through their minds just as something massive began approaching from the direction of the smoke. The object moved quickly, diving into the fleet of airborne battleships and zipping around like a pesky mosquito.

Except, this “mosquito” was far deadlier. The battleships, once heralds of humanity’s doom, were shredded, torn apart like mere scraps of paper.

Witnessing aerial combat for the first time in their lives, the residents could only gape in shock until finally, one voice broke the silence.

“A… robot?”

Murmurs began to ripple through the nearby residents, their voices trembling.

“Look! A flying robot!”

“No way. What kind of Anomaly is this?!”

“It’s not an Anomaly!” someone shouted, their finger pointing toward the horizon. “Look there! It’s the Ark City!”

Ba-doooom.

The ground trembled.

The enormous object lumbered and swayed in light nods to and fro. Each step it took, whether forward or backward, sent shockwaves rattling through the earth and into the bodies of the residents.

“Hide! Everyone, take cover!”

“Wh-what?”

“Don’t get caught in the crossfire!”

Snapping out of their daze, the residents scrambled for cover. For people who had just moments before given up on life, their movements were remarkably swift.

Hiding in trenches, they watched the aerial battle unfold with bated breath.

The airborne battleships fired ray after ray, raining down death in ominous, humming beams. Yet they were met by agile robots wielding energy blades—energy blades!—that danced through their ranks.

And steadily drawing closer, shaking the very ground beneath it, was the colossal Ark City.

The full form of the land-based aircraft carrier, once only a figure of myth, burned itself into the residents’ eyes. Scrawled across the armored exterior of the Ark City was the following script:

기동육상모함요새

起動陸上母艦要塞

인류최종방위방주도시

人類最終防衛方舟都市

BusaN

Truthfully, among the scrawling text that declared the Mobile Land-Based Aircraft Carrier Fortress as Humanity’s Final Defense Ark City, the residents could only recognize the English letters “BusaN.”

But still, they wondered.

Why…? Why did it make their hearts race?

Thump!

Could it really be? Could this be not an Anomaly but a weapon created by human hands? But that was so…

Unbelievable. It would take a leap of faith.

Still, seeing it fight against the city predators…

Maybe.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

One survivor felt a mysterious pounding in their chest. There wasn’t time to ponder its meaning.

“Wahoooo! Go get ’em!”

Already, the other residents hiding with them were cheering, caught up in the battle between the airborne fleet and the land fortress.

“That ship just went down!”

“Ah! Ahh! It dodged! It dodged!”

“Kill them all! Wipe out those Anomaly bastards!”

The trenches erupted in a cacophony of jubilation.

Whenever a battleship was destroyed, the residents cheered. Whenever a robot lost a limb to a stray blast, they groaned in despair.

Soon, the heartbeat of the one survivor was drowned out by the resounding chorus of cheers and found themselves shouting along with the rest. Euphoria sang through them.

How long had it been, they wondered, since they’d last rooted for someone so earnestly?

Ahhh――ah――

It was then the song echoed from the Ark City.

Mesmerizing was its melody sung in what sounded like Latin. It was a pure a cappella chorus, composed solely of human voices, unaccompanied by instruments.

Beautiful!

The voices were so enchanting that the survivor felt as if they could fall in love with the singers after just a few lines. The other residents beside them fell similarly into rapture, momentarily forgetting even their cheers at the sublime melody’s spell.

Then, a hatch opened on the Ark City, and a new robot soared into the sky.

The moment they saw it, they knew.

That crimson robot was different.

The choir of the Ark City crescendoed, its harmonies growing more fervent, as if blessing the departure of this ace unit.

Emboldened by the music, the crimson robot unleashed a whirlwind of destruction upon the airborne battleships.

“Oh, my God.”

“What are we even watching?”

The crimson ace turned the tide of battle in an instant.

Battleships that had seemed invincible only moments ago were reduced to ribbons, sliced cleanly as if made of butter. The Anomalies fired their death rays with furious defiance, and yet the ace would not be touched—not even by a single glancing blow!

Elegantly, precisely, the crimson robot danced through the sky, obliterating its enemies in an unassailable declaration of true combat prowess.

“To think the world could be so…”

The once-unstoppable force of the Anomalies was now crumbling, powerless against the lone assault.

What could it be but a dream? Yes, it had to be that. To prey upon even their hope with an illusory display in humanity’s final moments…

The spite of Anomalies knew no bounds.

“W-wait, it’s coming this way!”

“Huh?”

As the other robots returned to their mothership, the crimson ace slowly made its way toward the trench where the residents were hiding.

When it finally stopped just in front of them, its towering size became painfully clear.

Only then did the survivor begin to feel the creeping edge of fear.

Wait, came the thought, these people are complete strangers!

Sure, they all had rooted for the robot squad like rowdy fans at a sports match, but in the post-apocalyptic world, humans could be just as dangerous as Anomalies.

If the pilot of the crimson ace was capable of defeating the Sky Fleet so effortlessly, they could wipe out the community and its residents as easily as one could snap a twig.

As tension froze the air, the cockpit of the crimson robot opened with a loud clunk. When the pilot revealed themselves, the survivor’s eyes widened in shock.

It was… a child? And an adult man?

There were two pilots.

In the lower seat sat a young girl, barely older than a child and missing both legs. Above her sat a young Asian man.

It was the man who spoke first.

“Which way is west?”

His Turkish was fluent, and the survivor responded instinctively.

“Wh-what?”

“We’re looking to go a certain way. Can you tell us which way is west?”

“Oh, uh, west… It’s… that way. The direction where the city-predators came from.”

“That way, then.”

The man turned to the girl, speaking in an unfamiliar language. When the girl replied, he nodded, then turned to look back at the residents.

“Thank you. This place is no longer safe. I suggest you evacuate eastward. Goodbye.”

The cockpit began to close. They had stopped here for nothing more than directions.

They didn’t threaten the residents. There was no gloating about saving them or demands for anything in return.

Realizing the ace pilots were about to leave without a trace of hesitation, the survivor called out impulsively, “W-wait! Please, wait!”

“Yes?”

“Just one question! Why are you heading west? There’s nothing left there! The cities are destroyed, and no one lives there!”

The man blinked. Then in a matter-of-fact reply, he said this:

“To kill the Anomalies, of course.”

“……!”

“It will be humanity’s final battle. We won’t win. But we must show them, just once, the strength of humanity.”

With those words, the cockpit sealed shut.

Ssshhh!

The crimson ace released a hiss of steam and ascended into the air.

The massive Ark City, now with its ace recovered, resumed its march once more.

As promised, it headed west.

Toward the final battle for humankind.

The survivor’s heart pounded in their chest.

Damn… That was so cool.

The long-lost thrill of hope and romance, thought to be forever gone, sparked anew.

A rush of pride in humanity and uncontainable awe for the robots surged through the community of survivors, leaving them breathless.

“That was epic. You have to admit it.”

“Yeah, I admit it.”

“The cockpit of the ace opens, and there’s just a girl sitting there, all deadpan and dignified… Ugh. That’s the romance of it, I’m telling you.”

“Did you see their faces? If I don’t see someone with that look on their face ever again, I can’t say I’m truly living. That’s the stuff that makes life worth it.”

“Ha-yul, you really get it. You’re one of a kind.”

“And you, oppa—you’re the only one worthy of being my partner.”

Clap!

Ha-yul and I high-fived.

As we laughed and joked back aboard the Ark City, Do-hwa, who had been waiting for us in the control room, muttered under her breath.

“Damn. Why do these two idiots stay mentally twelve no matter how old they get…?”

It was summer.