I Became a Swordsman of a Dystopian World

Rain falls.
Red rain.
Clammy, unfamiliar—yet carrying an odd warmth.
No—
it feels like coming home after a chaotic day and stepping beneath a running shower.
A sensation that doesn’t match the moment, but insists on surfacing anyway.
And as always, the memories that arrive unbidden leave the deepest afterimages.
At the end of that afterimage—
my foot meets the ground.
KWAAAAA—
Whether it was blood vessels bursting or the air itself detonating, I couldn’t tell.
But my mind was colder than it had ever been.
Then the surrounding scenery came into view.
THUD! CRASH—!!
Clear as day.
The sight of that thing falling from the sky and burying itself into a mountain of trash.
“Hoo…”
“Ki҉eee҉. . . .”
It shrieks in agony and thrashes wildly, but I know.
Even that is just another trap.
Meaning—
Everything begins now.
“Motheeeeer—!!!”
BOOM—!!
Sounds of gunshots were ringing in my ear.
Only after its shoulder blade was pierced
does the frenzied creature’s movement shift.
The Behemoth begins to move—
Now missing one leg, but still supported by four tails and six arms.
I only prevented its leap;
one severed leg isn’t enough to incapacitate it.
[Flash Step LV.7]
I have to go full power from the start.
And I still have plenty of time left on the Plasma Blade.
My body charges forward, feet crushing ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) piles of junk.
I hide Zero behind me.
And the moment I clash with the monster—
Zero, concealed behind my back, swings upward in a sweeping arc.
[Slash LV.6]
Flash Step + Slash.
A slash driven by the full momentum of Flash Step cleaves straight toward its nape—
FWOORRRSH—!!
A full-power strike from the very beginning.
The creature moves its four tails at the moment it has been waiting for.
It aims for my wrist.
However—
‘Panicking, are we?’
It still hasn’t learned—
not when it comes to the Plasma Blade.
VWOOOOOM—! SHEK!
“Ki,҉gi,҉gi҉,gi҉,gi҉k!?”
The Plasma Blade slices straight through its tail.
And stops at nothing.
In an instant, the sword continues, cleaving its arms.
The stench of burning flesh mixes with the reek of trash, making my head spin—
but my sword never falters.
The first arm is gone.
The second drops onto the garbage heap.
Only then does it realize something is wrong.
It jerks backward, but it was too late.
I strike at the gap it reveals—
relentlessly.
“Ki҉,gi҉,gi҉,gi҉k!?”
The Behemoth lets out a confused, distorted cry, unable to understand what’s happening.
A dozen slashes land in mere seconds.
SHHNK—!
Vertical to horizontal.
CHAAA—!
Then horizontal to vertical.
SHRAAAK—!
The blade returns, slicing diagonally.
CRACK—!
“Hff!”
A single spinning step slices through its shoulder blade.
SHRAAAK!
“GRRRAAAP!”
Its body turns to rags.
And unable to endure, it spews acidic venom—
“KA҉AA҉AA҉AK—!!”
“Deploy barrier.”
VWOOOM—!
I activate the plasma force field, pressing the creature further.
‘Just a little more.’
This is the perfect moment.
The moment it makes fatal mistakes because it doesn't understand the Plasma Blade—
because it dared to challenge human civilization head-on.
Step after step.
With Air Walker added to the motion, I press forward relentlessly.
Zero’s path is nothing but offense—unyielding, focused, unstoppable.
How far did I push?
How many times did it retreat from Zero’s blade?
I see Behemoth’s eyes.
Now I know for sure—
The fear in them is real.
‘It’s over.’
My final strike aims at its brow.
But—
“…!?”
Right then—
the Plasma Blade’s time expires.
SHRAAAAA—!
Zero should have sliced through its arm and pierced its brow in one sweep—
but only manages to sever one arm.
“Damn it—!!”

No—this is still salvageable.
The creature is mangled beyond recognition.
And because the Plasma Blade burned its wounds, regeneration isn’t working properly.
‘I need another power source—!’
But then—
A bizarre sight stops me.
The Behemoth begins cutting away its own flesh.
It removes the unhealed wounds
and aims to regenerate fresh from the inside.
It tears itself open like a mad beast—
and because of that, its regeneration accelerates at an impossible pace.
“This insane—!!”
A curse bursts from me.
Give it even a moment, and it will restore itself again.
But I wasn’t the only one who understood that.
SPLAT—!!!
A hole tears through its torso—
and only then does the gunfire reach my ears.
BOOM—!!
‘Erhi Mergen…’
I have to trust her.
And that trust will never betray me.
Not now, when the creature is immobilized.
Then—
its throat—
SPLAT—!!
Explodes.
“Ki҈…gi҈…!”
Its grotesque cry cuts off.
BOOM—!!
—Kyle, now!!!
I can’t think.
Only one intention fills me—
to sever its neck.
From my fingertips to my toes.
Every cell ignites for a single purpose.
My mind is clear.
My thoughts cold.
No bursting sound.
No scream.
Only a single, short slicing noise marks the end.
shhk.
thud—
***
A Kill Zone has been formed.
Hundreds of personnel in protective suits hold their breath at their posts.
Khan’s radio crackles:
—The creature swarm is moving. ETA 3 minutes until the approach route is reached.
“Brother.”
“Seems everyone’s finished prep.”
Operation White Horizon—
the flare that will open the era of Eastern Reconstruction.
Once white phosphorus rains onto the ground, this place will turn into hell.
But only one concern remains: the Special Variants.
Even the Ark’s leader said that high-class variants cannot be killed by phosphorus fire.
Liberation Brigade knew of them, but hearing direct confirmation was shocking.
‘Evolution through cannibalism…’
If that’s true, they would have to face those monsters inside the phosphorus blaze.
Khan looks at the shotgun in his hand.
‘This won’t cut it.’
The intel isn’t fully confirmed, but he prepares his mind anyway.
Only then can he react when things go wrong.
As that faint thought crosses him—
Rrrumble…
The ground begins to shake.
“They’re coming.”
“Commander.”
“Yes.”
—Static— Unit 2 is ready.
—Static— Unit 3 ready as well.
“Tech support in place?”
—Static— Unit 4 ready!
RrrrRRR—
A tremor strong enough to believe it’s an earthquake.
The monsters chase something blindly.
Piiiiii—
“So damn loud.”
A shriek threatens to burst their eardrums.
The last drone is shredded by the bat-like creatures.
“All units, ear-plugs on!”
““Ear-plugs on—!!””
“Gas masks on!”
““Gas masks on—!!””
“You have one minute. Finish prep!”
““Yes, sir—!!!””
Even small sounds trigger the creatures.
But it isn’t enough.
Khan speaks quietly into his radio:
“Michael. Play it.”
—Static— Then excuse me.
At the center of the Kill Zone—
A massive blast erupts.
PIIIII!!
Stronger than before.
Multiple flashbangs being detonated at once.
Even through ear-plugs, the sound drills into their heads.
But the effect is perfect—
The creatures rush toward the center.
RrrrrRUMBLE—!!
CRAAAASH—!!
ROOOAR—!!
Like waves over a beach,
their tide crashes into the Kill Zone.
The tremors are strong enough to be felt from skyscrapers.
Some soldiers collapse from sheer fear.
Yet—
Khan waits.
An overwhelming spectacle beyond expectation—
and still he doesn’t waver.
“Brother.”
“We hold the Kill Zone.”
“Understood! All units, HOLD THE KILL ZONE—!!!”
“Riflemen and SMG gunners, focus fire on creatures clinging to the barricade!”
““Uwaaah—!!””
In the chaos,
what is he waiting for?
The number of creatures increases, swarming the barricades.
Anxious voices rise.
“There’s too many! The armored vehicles are being pushed back!”
“Commander! We need to fire it now!”
“Not yet.”
“Commander—!!”
“NOT YET—!!!!”
His roar shakes the air.
He never takes his eyes off the monsters.
“The bats are climbing the outer wall!”
“At this rate it’s dangerous—!”
Even with mounting pressure, his eyes burn with stubborn madness.
Then—
The moment arrives.
He sees it:
A cluster of creatures tangled together, unable to move.
Khan knows.
‘Now.’
This is the moment.
“FIRE THE WHITE PHOSPHORUS—!!!!”
His scream rips the sky.
“USE THE PHOSPHORUS—!!!”
Grenadiers and artillery fire without hesitation.
Khan himself shoulders a rocket launcher, aims at the center, and pulls the trigger.
Dozens of white phosphorus shells burst in the air.
Fragments scatter—
hundreds, thousands of burning petals.
Flowers of fire descend like fireworks.
But the result is anything but beautiful.
The moment the fragments cling to the creatures—
FWOOOM…!
Like dye spreading through water—
fire crawls across everything.
FWOORRRSH—!!!
“From this moment, NO ONE removes their gas mask! Remove it and you’re dead—!!”
Unquenchable fire spreads and spreads.
But more terrifying—
the creatures feel no pain.
They burn yet advance.
Smaller ones crawl through gaps in the Kill Zone.
Liberation Brigade soldiers shoot desperately to plug the holes.
By the time the barricades crumble,
heaps of charred flesh form new walls.
Amid the hellscape—
Khan stares at something.
What is he watching?
What does he sense in the inferno?
‘That man was right.’
The battle hasn’t even begun.
And to prove it—
a strange scene unfolds, numbing every mind.
“Eric! Rin!”
“Yes, sir!!”
“Eric, move with me! Rin, command the units!”
“C-Commander?”
“No time! Move!”
***
The monster’s head falls.
“Haa… haa…”
Hunter and prey can switch with the thinnest of margins.
This was such a moment.
If I had tried to fight alone without Mother—
If I hadn’t had the Plasma Blade—
If I hadn’t had Air Walker—
I can’t say I’d have made it.
Likely impossible.
It ripping its own flesh to force regeneration was beyond expectation.
Thankfully, in that instant, Mother fired.
Both shots penetrated the Behemoth.
And now, with the creature fully exterminated—
relief floods through me.
“---!!!!”
I let out a raw, triumphant shout.
But Mother approaches silently
and takes something out—
Ssss—!!
A special solution splashes onto the Behemoth’s corpse.
“…?”
A final confirmation kill?
I’m not sure.
The stench worsens as the flesh melts.
Mother watches it quietly.
Her eyes… are trembling.
When the solution finally neutralizes—
something emerges from within the melting flesh.
“……”
Armor.
A reinforced suit and helmet the Behemoth couldn’t digest.
She retrieves them
and reaches into her coat.
She took out a crumpled cigarette.
click—
inhale
I know whose it is.
“……Haa.”
[Queen].
And [Rook].
Mother’s children, long unseen—
have finally returned to her arms.