Chapter 79: Invasion and Infiltration (8)
“Kugh…”
With a single blow, my sword, still quite clumsy, held a power difficult to compare with others.
The strength that Eve had solely created for me allowed me to take down everyone who faced me in duels.
“You’ve changed in some way.”
“They say you’ve finally come to your senses.”
Even by Ji Chang-hyun’s words, which expressed surprise, I found it difficult to relax my expression.
I greeted the training officer who had dropped his sword after being struck by my blade and stepped out of the training hall.
“In my opinion, it seems like you have another reason rather than just coming to your senses.”
“…Another reason?”
“My master says the same. Right now, Kang Shin Woo’s sword carries a burden. A mission, an obligation, something like that.”
“A burden.”
I couldn’t deny his words. I had no means to make excuses now.
Having witnessed with my own eyes that my 17-year-old younger brother chose the path to fight on his own, I knew I had to fight as well.
“I had an excuse ten years ago, saying I was just a child. But now I’ve become an adult, and I have people who support me. I have to seize this opportunity. I dislike being powerless? I feel the same way.”
“…That’s a good mindset. It’s not just about swinging a sword; my master’s teaching is to pour your true will into that sword. Kang Shin Woo, you’re already ahead in that regard.”
Ji Chang-hyun clapped his hands with a smile. To be honest, I still couldn’t grasp what he was saying about the sword.
He likely misunderstood my true situation, considering the Legion and my younger brother, but unable to speak the truth, I simply kept my silence.
“We’re heading out soon. Prepare yourself.”
Ji Chang-hyun passed me by and approached others.
The sortie meant that the allied forces would once again take offensive action. They would likely engage in a battle of a completely different nature from before.
I had gleaned enough about the enemy’s strength, and those trained by the Guardian Alliance had been organized into a new force within the allied army.
It crossed my mind that this might just be the beginning. The thoroughly individual death game was gradually transitioning to a struggle for dominance.
Given this, the game board I thought was merely a plaything of existing strong players might drag on more than I expected. They would continue to grow stronger as they interacted with one another out of necessity.
“At my current level, can I handle a Legionnaire?”
[…A higher species, you say?]
I merely muttered it, but it felt like I could read emotions from the words that appeared. I gave up waiting for an answer and left to gather my belongings.
“This time, I’ll join too. Both sides have made up their minds, so it’s truly going to be an all-out war.”
“Has the Player said nothing?”
“Maybe they’re focused elsewhere.”
Chae Yeon, whom I met in the barracks, nodded weakly and smiled.
Her Player’s unit, the Step Up Hunters, was currently working closely with the allied forces and spread worldwide.
I thoroughly empathized with her statement that the growing scale of the Legion and the increasing places to scout would keep us all busy.
“To be honest, I wish you wouldn’t have to fight…”
“Regardless, they’ve taught me to use my abilities, so should the Player just sit back? And I can fight as well.”
“There’s no restriction on that. It’s not that you’re a Player, it’s my pure intention. Well, it’s not of much value right now.”
Her words, muttered with a feeling of helplessness, made me curious.
The relationship between a Player and a Unit is not absolute. It implies that she accepted the constraints akin to a leash on her own.
“There was a condition that if I didn’t put a restriction, they wouldn’t grant me power. Since what they desire and I desire align, I thought it wouldn’t matter as long as I could become stronger.”
“What is it that you desire?”
“To kill the Demons and save the people.”
She calmly revealed her inner thoughts. In a sense, this was a thought well aligned with the ideals of the Guardian Alliance.
“I have negative feelings towards the Demons.”
“…That’s right. Most likely, everyone feels that way.”
I had heard it in passing. She had mentioned that one of her family members had fallen victim to a Demon on that fateful day ten years ago.
It wouldn’t be surprising if her anger, sympathy, and vow for vengeance upon hearing the story of my younger brother’s fate originated from that commonality.
“So I have no regrets. Having gained strength, I think I should pay the price for being used like a pawn. They are monsters that harmed people even before they became Units.”
Chae Yeon’s resolve kindled as she bit her lip.
I silently projected a screen she could not see, beyond her face.
Just like us, my units in the Legion and Eve were preparing for war.
As I rotated the screen with the eyes of a scout, I could see the opposing forces.
Countless humans were gathered. We still hadn’t encountered any Units or Players from that world.
How would the Legion, crawling out of the labyrinth, appear to them?
To those who knew nothing, wouldn’t the Legion look like the Demons, invaders from the demonic realm?
“We’re just going to fight.”
I murmured absentmindedly. My thoughts on good and evil had already changed significantly.
In the struggle for survival, there is no good or evil. It’s simply the law of this world that consumes and is consumed.
Even if the Legion does not oppose humanity, once they invade the world, a clash with them is unavoidable.
So we should just hate and fight as we please.
There’s no need to have guilt in a hunt where our lives are at stake.
“You’re right. When it comes to them, we just fight. There’s no need to complicate it; it’s just for what I want.”
Chae Yeon smiled more lightly.
“By the way…”
“Weren’t you and Chris close in that way?!”
I was flustered by her overt actions of fiddling with my hands.
“What are you talking about? That guy already has a fiancée back in his homeland.”
Of course, I now understood well that in a battlefield where anyone might die at any moment, everyone carries different emotional lines than usual.
“Since coming here, no, since I became a Unit, I’ve always thought tomorrow might not come. So, I will never do anything to leave regrets or attachments.”
Her face leaned over the desk towards me.
The one to stop her, instead of me who couldn’t pull my gaze away, was the urgent shout from an Evolution official looking for her outside.
—
[The faction he belongs to has officially begun preparations for war. They’re moving very busily even now. He’ll likely be deployed by tomorrow at the earliest, or within two days at the latest.]
“I don’t care about that. Who is it? Who dared provoke his feelings? I can tell roughly now. This… this is not excitement from battle or tension.”
[Does it matter? While you may not know how great he is, he is still an ordinary person. No matter how much he may be like a daughter to him, he would likely be more attracted to a kindred spirit he can relate to than to someone he doesn’t know their face or has never conversed with.]
“No!”
Eve stomped her foot and shouted with Formancy.
The whole nearby Nest trembled and shook with her fervent anger.
“I-I must show my face to him and talk. Then he will notice me.”
[…I wonder if you’ll even be able to talk to him.]
Eve forcefully tried to ignore that voice.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fully concentrate on communication with him right now.
The gathering human forces were moving toward the nearest stronghold Nest.
“What should we do now?”
Kang Do-yeon, who was also waiting at one of the stronghold Nests, inquired about the next steps. Eve quickly began calculating.
“I told you, humans are constantly swayed by unnecessary emotions. The choice is ours.”
The calculation itself was quickly done. Eve issued new orders to the scattered Legionnaires.
“A mass of them is slowly advancing while demanding an all-out war. But our goal is to buy time. So, we don’t need to be caught up in their intentions.”
Eve’s orders focused on thorough rear disruption and guerrilla tactics.
She had already extracted all the information about the emotions and behavior patterns of the humans here, as well as the circumstances they found themselves in.
Knowing that they could not completely exclude rescue activities, Eve planned to continuously attack the villages or towns in the rear to destroy the justifications they had for protecting what they valued.
Moreover, even if this plan were to fail, it wouldn’t matter.
Rear disruption was just one of several options; if it failed, we could fight together anyway.
“After this battle ends, I’ll show him my face. Along with a gift.”
“I-I think you don’t really need to say that.”
Kang Do-yeon, taken aback by Eve’s words, interjected.
“Don’t worry. Unless they show us something new that we don’t know, we will win.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t say such things!”
[The commanded Legionnaires began to scatter and move, avoiding their main force. It was a simultaneous movement occurring in hundreds of places across a front line spanning hundreds of kilometers. As long as they don’t notice this, we can’t stop a decisive strike. However… it seems the enemy still has ample reserves.]
Kang Do-yeon’s ominous intuition proved correct. The moment the Legion began to show movement, something rose high in the air above the tightly clustered human formation.
It was a massive magical eye, glowing with a translucent blue light.
