How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 253: Made from Dust (2)

It required much deeper proficiency than Kin Issei had thought.

However, even a poor imitation was sufficiently shocking.

"Fire!"

An awkward and clumsy imitation.

But firearms so overwhelmingly advanced that they completely overshadowed that clumsiness.

The desperate fighting spirit of people who knew there was no retreat.

The firing net created by all these factors:

"Aaaargh!"

"Don’t retreat! Pikemen, advance!"

"We’ll all die if we advance!"

"Would you rather die meaninglessly here?"

It was still enough to overwhelm the Spanish.

In the sporadically formed firing net, the Spanish died without being able to escape.

Several companies attempted to advance for close combat as they were outgunned, but... they had no proper command or support. There was no command center to paint the big picture of the battle and control numerous limbs.

The outcome of ten fingers trying to play a tune separately was predictable.

Ratatatang!

The advancing companies, without proper support, only jutted forward and suffered crossfire.

Those who didn’t advance missed their opportunity to strike the enemy.

And so.

"Ha, damn it! Finally...!"

After a series of painful defeats, the Spanish in the rear finally extinguished the flames defending their position. They were drenched in cold sweat, aware of the hardships at the front.

They saw the remains of melted and collapsed metal fragments, and the remnants of people, grass, and wood that had been burned.

The smell of burned oil, plastic, synthetic leather, meat, grass, wood, and metal stabbed everyone’s lungs.

They watched the black smoke rising from the just-cooled ashes, then turned away.

It was time to fight properly.

Even though the command personnel were still incapacitated from shock and toxic smoke, the enemies were already before them, and if they retreated now, they couldn’t continue the fight.

To prevent disintegration even now, the only option was for the entire army to advance and crush the enemy with numerical superiority.

They took a step to cross the ashes and advance, and.

Twitch.

"Aaargh!"

"What’s wrong?"

"No... j-just now, something twitched under my foot...!"

A soldier stepped back after feeling something move beneath the ground.

Clearly, something was felt.

It wasn’t just an insect squirming. It felt like walking on someone’s rising and falling chest, someone who was catching their breath.

But those who thought he was making a fuss over a mere snake or insect scolded him for wasting time and took a step forward themselves.

Twitch.

And they too stepped back.

"..."

"..."

Even though their comrades were dying right in front of them, strangely, they couldn’t move forward.

Beneath their feet... they felt some enormous vibration. It was as if the ground they stepped on was part of a giant egg.

It felt like a massive life was sprouting inside.

As they instinctively turned their heads at the spine-chilling sensation, they saw smoke still rising from the ash heap.

"...Huh?"

But something was strange.

The smoke wasn’t dispersing into the sky.

It was gathering somewhere.

The wind was blowing those smoke and ash particles, gathering them somewhere.

Dust from beneath the ground they stood on also rose and joined the smoke formation. Even debris too large to be blown by wind floated up lightly like leaves.

They gathered at about chest height, and.

The black smoke puffed up and contracted rhythmically. The shape looked almost like...

"...Lungs?"

Someone muttered in a daze.

It was breathing.

Something was breathing life into it.

And.

There was light.

==

The battle continued.

As the Spanish tried to hold their collapsing formation, and the Florida forces compensated for their insufficient numbers with powerful firepower, the fight showed no sign of ending.

Even as dusk fell and everyone could barely distinguish each other by moonlight and starlight, they continued shooting and screaming.

This night the moon was new, and clouds covered the sky, leaving only darkness.

"W-what’s going on...? Why are they suddenly turning around without shooting...?"

And then.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a bright light shone through the Spanish lines. At the same time, the gunfire decreased, and the Spanish urgently murmured among themselves before retreating toward the recent fire site.

Even while shooting at them, the Florida forces cautiously followed, wondering what was happening.

"W-what was that light just now?"

"I don’t know... Are they firing cannons again?"

"For heaven’s sake, don’t say such unlucky things!"

Bang! Bang bang!

By now, only the Florida forces were still shooting. The Spanish were either kneeling and trembling, crying, throwing away their guns, or running in all directions.

The Florida forces finally reached the center of the Spanish formation, past the surrendering or quietly fleeing Spanish.

The center of the explosion, where the nameless one had rushed.

There they saw it. They saw exactly what the Spanish had seen.

"..."

"..."

Unable to move any further, they stopped in their tracks. Realizing that the Spanish were frozen by the same overwhelming feeling.

They felt it in the wind.

It was night, and they were near the coast. This was the time when the land breeze should be blowing methodically from land to sea.

But such "knowledge" couldn’t explain the strange whirlwind occurring above those ashes.

The figure above the ashes.

Each strand of wind was pulling up ash from the soil and adding new colors to the figure, as if painting over it.

Blackened things were breaking apart and reassembling, starting to take on new colors.

Something was being molded above the ashes.

And everyone could tell what it was.

"I-i-it’s a person...!"

The shape of a person rose like a heat haze, gradually becoming denser and clearer.

From the chest and head to the abdomen and shoulders, then to the upper arms and thighs...

Slowly.

It was being molded from earth.

Finally, down to the fingers and toes.

The form of an adult man appeared before them all. That naked body floating lightly in the air like the wind was lifeless like a doll.

From the dust... steam rose and gathered into streams of water. As it mixed with the ash, it began to take on a red hue.

Blood.

It began to seep into the body molded from earth.

As it seeped through the nose and mouth of that body, color rose in the glowing body.

And.

...

...

The body gently descended to the ground.

The body opened its glowing eyes.

When Kin Issei looked around.

Everyone on the ground was kneeling.

No one dared to stand on two feet.

==

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

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