Chapter 472: Futile Resistance, Indestructible, Weak Demi-God

Ah! Run!

I don't want to die! Run!

Die! If I die, I die! Hahaha! Anyway, Earth is doomed anyway!

After the explosion, panic, helplessness, despair, and mad shouts burst out in the tunnel.

!!

The mother and daughter hiding in the house were no exception.

"Mom, what's happening?!" the girl asked in panic.

…

The woman said nothing, grabbed the girl, rolled out of bed, flung open the car door, and ran outside.

Just entering the narrow passage, the mother and daughter saw the patrol soldiers frozen, staring toward the right end, while civilians rushed toward the left side of the tunnel.

It appeared the explosion came from the subway station at the right end, and the survival instinct made people flee to the left.

Hahaha!

As the woman observed the situation, a disheveled, filthy madman suddenly lunged at her side.

The madman half-squatted, trying to seize the girl's shoulders, and kept saying, "Die! Die! Death brings happiness, child!"

"Mom!!" the girl cried, stumbling back in terror.

"Get out of my way!"

Before the madman could finish, the woman swiftly kicked his face with the sole of her flat shoe.

"Thud~"

The madman was knocked down by the woman's kick.

"Hahaha!" The madman lying beside the rail merely wiped his nose with the back of his hand and kept laughing.

"The new god has descended! The old gods are either dead or fled! Only death is the way out! Only death is liberation!"

"Mom..." the girl clutched the woman's right thigh, trembling with fear.

"It's okay, don't listen to him, ah, it's fine."

The woman reluctantly picked up the girl, moved away from the madman, and fled with the crowd toward the left side of the tunnel.

During this, the mother and daughter saw more and more soldiers heading in the opposite direction.

Held in the woman's arms, with her chin resting on her mother's left shoulder, the little girl happened to see the soldiers' backs.

Through the gaps between people, she noticed that the earliest patrol soldiers were no longer standing frozen; after a brief discussion, they resolutely pressed on and gradually disappeared.

For some reason, despite her cluelessness about the situation, the girl felt a surge of awe and whispered:

"Come on… big brothers, big sisters…"

At this moment.

On the right side of the tunnel.

"Thud-thud!"

The sound of military boots running was clearly audible.

A patrol squad of six soldiers, each with a grave expression, appeared resolute, but deep in their eyes lay an unhideable fear.

There was nothing they could do; they were soldiers, and even if the original social order and government army had collapsed and vanished, they remained soldiers.

Moreover, they ate and drank far better than others, yet when it came down to fleeing at a critical moment…

Perhaps some could manage it, but they could not.

"Static..." the corporal squad leader's left-shoulder radio suddenly crackled with noisy chatter.

"We are… the entrance… about to fall! Request… support! Beware! The incoming force is not a demon-like… it's a demon!!"

Immediately after, fragmented, loud, shouting words came through.

? ！

Upon hearing that.

The patrol squad slowed its pace, then other squads trailing behind rushed to join, swelling the total to over sixty in an instant.

But after hearing the radio's voice, the already fearful soldiers' morale sank even lower.

While continuing toward the subway station entrance, the corporal slung his well-maintained HK416 across his chest, lowered the radio, and asked:

"Please repeat, who is the incoming enemy…?"

"Static..." the communication, still filled with noise, soon became clear: "It's a Doom Demon! A Doom Demon! We can't possibly resist it! Run! Quick..."

"Whoosh~! Ah ah!!!"

Before the soldier on the other end could finish speaking, he was cut off by the sound of blazing fire and the victims' screams.

The communication likewise cut off, with no further response.

However, even without the radio, the corporal and the over sixty soldiers present could still hear faint sounds from ahead.

Everyone stopped, foreheads and faces drenched in cold sweat; some half-crouched, others leaned against the walls to form a line, raising their weapons and aiming forward.

Moreover, each soldier no longer hid his panic, and some even silently wept.

Because the intruder into their refuge was not a human traitor betraying mankind and Earth, nor a human-turned demon-like, but a Doom Demon.

"Boom!!"

With another explosion ahead, the blazing firelight instantly illuminated the dark tunnel.

"Thud, thud!"

It also allowed the corporal and all the soldiers to see clearly the heavy-footed "big guy" emerging from the smoke, mist, and firelight.

Upon closer look, this "big guy" was enormously massive—one to one and a half times the size of the 05 Universe's Hulk, standing at least 4.3 meters tall.

Its skin was dark gray, rough and cracked, with spikes and blade-like bone growths on the fingers, elbows, knees, joints, and chin.

Its back also bore a pair of bone wings; it seemed that this "big guy" could fly using those wings.

Together with its ferocious, ugly visage and the scarlet light emanating from its eyes, etc., the culprit behind the subway station entrance's collapse and the violent explosion was precisely the Doom Demon.

!!!

Upon seeing the Doom Demon's appearance and emergence, all the soldiers seemed to forget how to fire, even to breathe, standing frozen in place.

Fortunately, the corporal reacted first, taking down the HK416 slung on his chest, aiming at the Doom Demon while also loudly reminding his comrades: "Damn it! Let's fight this guy! Fire! Fire!"

"Rat-a-tat!"

When the roars and gunfire sounded in succession, the soldiers finally regained their senses and began pulling the triggers, engaging in futile resistance alongside the corporal.

"Ding~ ding~."

No matter the caliber of the bullet, any strike against the Doom Demon's body only produced a tinkling sound, unable to pierce its skin in the slightest.

At that moment, a soldier took down an offensive hand grenade, pulled the pin with a "click~", then released the safety and hurled it with all his might at the Doom Demon.

"Clang… clang… Boom!!"

The grenade struck the Doom Demon's body, and upon hitting the ground it instantly exploded, once again engulfing it in smoke.

But the smoke lasted only about a second before being actively dispersed.

It turned out that the grenade's impact and energy were completely absorbed into the Doom Demon's body.

This is why the corporal and the soldiers felt fear and despair, believing that any means of counterattack were futile…

Because the Doom Demon cannot be killed!

"Roar…"

Only a low growl was heard from the Doom Demon.

"Zi~…"

Thereafter, the Doom Demon, with its scarlet eyes, gazed at the soldier who had thrown the grenade while also building up some kind of energy.

"Whoosh!!!"

Two laser-like beams of blazing light shot from the Doom Demon's eyes.

The soldier who was stared at and locked onto couldn't even let out a scream before being sliced in half by those two laser beams, instantly losing his life.

Immediately afterward, the Doom Demon continued to emit laser beams, sweeping them toward every soldier within sight.

"Roar!!"

Moreover, this creature, seemingly lacking reason or self-awareness, roared as it charged toward the corporal and others nearest to it.

It employed the most savage, most violent yet efficient means—swinging fists like hammers and stomping with its feet—to carry out a massacre.

"Squelch! Plop!"

Instantly, the tunnel in this area began to echo with the sound of a massive hammer smashing flesh.

Until the motion and noise ceased.

The laser beams faded out.

Looking at the scene again, only shreds of meat and fragments remained, a bloody mess; all the soldiers were dead, none survived.

Meanwhile, the Doom Demon that carried out the slaughter remained unscathed, continuing toward the shelter's residential area.

Along the way, many soldiers still came to block it, but aside from making the Doom Demon expend a bit more time, the outcome was unchanged—the shelter's fall was inevitable.

Soon.

The Doom Demon then arrived at the dwelling of that mother and daughter, and due to its enormous size, it "accidentally" destroyed their home and all the buildings in the residential area as it moved forward.

But no one would care anymore, for before long everyone in the shelter would be dead.

Actually.

Normally, the Doom Demon merely guards key surface facilities nearby and does not carry out orders to search for human survivors and conduct slaughter.

Ultimately, because this shelter built in the abandoned subway station and tunnels had, half a day earlier, sent a scavenging team to the surface to scavenge supplies, and they rescued a "demigod" who ought not to have been saved, thereby leading to the impending doom.

At the same time.

The left end of this tunnel is also the terminus of this subway line.

Tens of thousands of people crowded here, ignoring the remaining soldiers' guidance and commands, terrified of being slaughtered by the Doom Demon, and hoping to reach the surface by relying on the long‑out‑of‑service escalators and stairways.

However, those who heeded the soldiers' guidance and commands, combined with the selfish side of human nature prevailing, meant that only a few managed to escape successfully.

Some frail elders, women, and children even suffered injury or death due to the crowding and trampling.

As for that mother‑daughter pair earlier, they chose to sit at the tunnel's end on one of the medical area's rails, blankly and helplessly watching the scene before them, which magnified the negative aspects of human nature without limit.

Moreover, the woman began to feel that the madman's words seemed……correct?

Earth's environment changed drastically, making it impossible to grow any crops, and freshwater resources were nearly exhausted.

Before long—perhaps ten years, perhaps a hundred—the atmosphere will become completely unsuitable for human and animal‑plant habitation.

Moreover, with traitors, demon‑like beings, and the Doom Demon wreaking havoc, thinking this way, being alive is indeed no better than being dead.

But…

The woman looked at the girl in her arms, who had yet to truly experience life, and felt deep down an unwillingness, wondering why…

Why must her daughter also suffer such fate?!

"Let me… let me go deal with that Doom Demon…"

Suddenly, the woman and the girl both heard a weak cry coming from the medical tent nearby.

However, all the medical personnel responsible for this shelter were military medics and combat medics, and those who could serve as fighting strength had already been dispatched to intercept the Doom Demon at the outset of its invasion, leaving no one to answer the cry from within the tent.

The mother and daughter exchanged a glance.

The woman temporarily set aside her "give‑up" mindset, took her daughter's left hand, rose from the rail, walked to the tent, unzipped it, and entered directly.

Inside the tent, the medical equipment was extremely rudimentary, yet beside the metal rack holding the medicines lay a short sword, a rope, and a round shield, which seemed utterly out of place.

And on a folding stretcher that looks like it was taken down from an ambulance, lies a person wearing ancient Greek-style armor, with black beautiful hair, a face beautiful yet not lacking heroic spirit, the right arm torn off by brute force, a "female".

Because of the restraints of the bed-pushing binding strap and her own extremely weak condition, the "female" could not free herself on her own.

Noticing someone entering the tent, the "female" slowly turned her head, struggled to open her eyes, looked at the mother and daughter, and said:

"I... am the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta... I am Diana of Paradise Island, help me loosen the bindings... I will fight the Doom Demon..."

"Mom! It's her! It's her!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.

"I know." the woman nodded lightly.

To the other people in the shelter, Diana might seem like a post-apocalyptic cross-dresser, talking about Zeus and heavenly madness, but the mother and daughter would not think so.

Because two years ago, when the woman brought her daughter into the shelter, among her personal belongings was a newspaper with headlines such as "Metropolis Showdown!" and "Superman, Batman, and the Mysterious Woman Jointly Fighting Monsters!".

And that newspaper happened to capture a high-definition photo of the "Mysterious Woman"...

That was none other than the Diana standing before them.

Stuck in the dim underground, the woman could only repeatedly read that newspaper to pass the time, and moreover, she made up corresponding stories to tell her daughter.

Thus, the mother and daughter, as if igniting hope, immediately helped Diana undo the binding strap.

But this "female demi-god" who had just regained freedom still needed support to roll out of bed, causing the woman's newly sparked hope to be swiftly crushed, and she couldn't help asking herself in her heart:

In such a condition, can we really defeat the Doom Demon?

"Come on! Mysterious lady!"

On the contrary, the girl who helped pick up the rope and hand it to Diana was full of confidence.

"Hehe."

After taking the rope and tying it around her waist, Diana showed a relieved smile, and also raised her remaining left hand to rub the girl's head.

Then, "she" first attached the round shield to her back, freed her left hand to grasp the short sword, and without hesitation, somewhat staggering, walked out of the tent.

Just having left.

Diana and the mother and daughter then saw the huge figure of the Doom Demon appear within their field of view, and the fright people felt intensified, as they desperately tried to run to the surface.

As for Diana, she forced herself forward, quick-stepping, swinging her short sword with her lone arm to strike at the Doom Demon.

But...

"How could we let such a warrior die in vain? Rest assured, from now on, I, Fogelrim, will take your place in battle."

But a single utterance interrupted Diana's action.

(End of chapter)