Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

In the dead of night, wildfires burned.

The acrid smell of charred remains filled the air, the wilderness was littered with insect corpses, and the shattered iron stained with dried blood and bodily fluid lay around. The circle built by the armored vehicles was covered with the bodies of insects, while the situation inside was also critical.

After nearly 10 hours of continuous fighting, even the Heshan Rescue Association, carrying ample supplies, was on the brink of running out of bullets and its personnel extremely fatigued. However, the intense battle and the burning of insect corpses produced pheromones that continuously attracted the killing insect swarm from tens of kilometers around.

One by one, the outer circle fighters fell, and the inner circle fighters continually filled the line; there were no passionate speeches or slogans, only the silent backs of those sacrificing themselves.

When the last team of fighters stepped forward and still could not fill the line, some women and elderly from the inner circle also began to pick up weapons, donning armor stained with blood and grime, to fill the line.

By this time they had already lost nearly half their members, and those left unengaged were mostly children unfit for battle and vulnerable wounded.

"The last batch of serum." The captain, covered in blood, opened the refrigerated box and took out the remaining row of potions.

"The bullets are all gone too." Another team member opened a box and dumped it on the ground, the previously full box of bullets long since exhausted.

Now, along the line, there was no longer a continuous sound of gunfire, but more of the dull sounds of hacking and the gasping roars of fighting.

"If no reinforcements arrive, we might not hold out for another hour." The few commanders left in the Rescue Association looked at the crumbling line, unwilling to concede.

"When we were attacked this afternoon, the distress signal tower had already been activated, just hoping the Northern Fede Alliance still remembers our past agreement."

"It seems impossible to wait for them now, we are too far from the northern mountains, and their railway only extends to the mountain's exit. The nearest force is the rumored Shilin Mountain Castle established by the Grey Feather Species."

"But according to intelligence, even the Shilin Mountain Castle is just a gathering of a few thousand people, and they don't even have enough modern weapons." At this, everyone present fell silent.

Perhaps, there was no hope left.

"Hiss—"

In front of the line, a ferocious insect ripped apart the person holding a shield with a single strike, decapitating them, and then drove its appendage into their body, sucking flesh and blood to replenish energy. At the same time, its sharp forelimbs swept again, spreading from the fallen member toward the surrounding, storming into the inner circle of the line.

"Kill it!" The members in charge of firefighting and filling gaps shouted, then fired a shotgun at close range at the rushing insect, blasting its head into pieces, its slender mouthpiece inserted into the corpse also shattered, scattering the sucked blood around.

Such gruesome scenes had long numbed the personnel on site, those remaining wiped away the blood and fluids obscuring their visors, continuing to fight, grasping the steel-forged shields. Compared to the initial line, the circle had now shrunk by half, and each step back taken during this process was over dead bodies.

『One day, everyone will be heartbroken /

The shadows chasing away the light

Even if we cry rivers of tears

Reinforcements will not arrive

One day, everyone will be cowed

Family part ways, friends turn against each other

The creatures of darkness flaunting their might

The Sun no longer rises

When all our hope is dashed

And we succumb to fear

Blood rain falls from the sky

Extinction approaches step by step

I will fail and fall

But not like this, at your hands

I will fail and fall

But not here, and not today』

When people face death, is it a terror of bewilderment or a courage of determination? People from different eras give different answers, but at least now, they haven't let fear shatter their will, even if the last hope is so faint and so slender, they still have not given up.

Those who lived in peaceful times probably cannot understand this faith and spirit, and in the early days of the Federation, at the fiercest and most brutal times of fighting against the Fifth Epoch and the Black Sun, it was by relying on this belief that the people of that era pulled their civilization step by step from the mire of thousands of years.

If you don't have even this courage and belief, on what grounds can you compare with those most ingeniously and excellently designed synthetic races? Compared to those with stronger physical abilities and various special abilities of the newborn races, as native humans, the only reliance is the wisdom, bravery, knowledge, discipline, and fearless sacrifice passed down through countless historical eras, which the newborn races have never had nor dare to have, because once the newborn races possess these, they would no longer be the Black Sun's cornerstone and ignorant followers.

Success also because of the newborn races' single-minded purity, failure also because of the newborn races' single-minded purity, an overly complex and unyielding will could never become a qualified slave.

Now, the line slowly crumbles, but a light of hope for salvation descends from the sky.

Above the sky, a silver-haired figure crossed infinite distances and finally arrived at this desolate battlefield, with corpses and burning charred remains everywhere, the entire land covered with an acrid stench. Below, the tightly packed shield fort was in danger, about to be torn apart at any moment, the burnt armored vehicles, the faded Rescue Association logo, and the people crying with tears.

How should I save this broken world?

If this is my mission, then what does the future I ultimately hope for look like?

To ensure past sacrifices are not forgotten

To prevent future people from repeating past mistakes

To achieve that childlike, naive and original dream

I will bravely do things I never imagined before

No matter how meaningless these things may seem

No matter how unrelated these people may seem to me

No matter what doubts and opposition I may face

I will carry out this mission

Because this is what I wish for

That which allows me to live happily

World

————

The silver moon rises slowly from the night sky, in this world that has never seen moonlight, it is so beautiful, its light illuminates the blackened earth, giving everything a silver frost. In terms of brightness, it can never compare to the Sun's fiery brilliance, but it offers you the peace and gentleness of the deep night, silently telling everything.

Emotions that words cannot express

Faith that images cannot convey

Sensibility that thoughts cannot touch

It is the yearning hidden forever in the heart, it is the touching and reminiscence that cold rationality can never reach.

This is the Moon Crown, a great creation born from the regret and longing of past times crossed through the void of time.

The Moonlight Mark on her forehead has never shone brighter or more luminous, touching the hearts of all present in this moment, the quiet sadness and unyielding determination flowing gently, and the tenacious hope they eternally hold to all made her feel a beauty lost to time.

Perhaps that is why, back then, Isenisha could triumph over those Black Suns, not just the 'Golden Flame Flower', but more importantly, the civilization of that era glowing with the brilliant light of humanity.

Without those unyielding beliefs and wills, where would the magnificent Crown come from? If they weren't steadfast enough, how would they have persisted until the fourth millennium, awaiting the turning point that changed everything?

People always hope for a hero who will change everything to appear, but without you and me being brave enough, even a hero would die in the night.

A single tree does not make a forest, Heaven's lonely star fails against the dawn of the East.