Chapter 97: Evolution, Not Corruption (5)
“Ugh, Aaaaah!”
“Mayor!!”
A tremendous roar, followed by a shockwave. The ground literally exploded as the magnificent marble building that was the city hall at the center of the city began to collapse with a thunderous bang.
The mayor’s hefty body, with a protruding belly, was sent flying through the air alongside the debris of the shattered building.
“This… doesn’t make any sense.”
Even while flying, the mayor muttered in shock as he witnessed the chaos below.
The culprit behind the destruction of the city hall, glowing softly under the moonlight, was a massive black carapace that enveloped its entire form.
Its entire figure was not even fully visible in the mayor’s blurry vision. All that could be seen was that thick body, resembling a barrier.
“Uaaaah!”
Before he could even properly see the writhing face above, the mayor plummeted toward the ruins of the devastated city hall.
His last memory was of that creature, turning its back to the moonlight as it twisted and dropped its enormous body toward the city.
The colossal form, measuring dozens of meters in thickness and hundreds in length, crashed down, smashing a part of the city to smithereens.
“What is happening?!”
“What on earth…?”
The Death Worm, which had buried itself into the ground, swiftly returned through the earth it had just tunneled through before the dust had settled.
Those who had been asleep stumbled out of their homes, dazed and horrified at the sight of the destroyed city hall, while soldiers on alert sounded the alarms and summoned reserves.
“What about the mayor! What has happened to the mayor?”
A city hall official, who had managed to avoid danger by being outside, rushed toward the ruins in a panic. The bodies of those who had been crushed beneath the building were nearly unrecognizable.
“Baren?!”
“This can’t be…”
Accompanied by a few others, he arrived at the center of the ruins, his soul leaving his body at the sight before him.
Where the city hall should have stood, there was now an enormous sinkhole, measuring several dozen meters in diameter.
The sinkhole was dark and deep, its depth almost impossible to gauge, as if it were absorbing all light.
The official moved his throat and borrowed an illuminating stone from a nearby staff member to shine it into the hole.
“Red… eyes?”
He sighed in disbelief.
In the darkness, a flickering red light was visible, and soon it multiplied endlessly—one, two, three…
“Baren!”
Before he could scream, realizing what monstrous beings resided within the tunnel, something shot out at an incredible speed, soaring into the air.
At the moment he was split in half, blood spraying everywhere, whatever had emerged shook off its dripping hands and spread its black feathered wings wide in the air.
“Ah…”
The people on the scene instinctively recognized their doom at the sight of Kang Do-yeon.
This moment marked when she became known to the people of this land as the “Wings of Despair,” and the beginning of the great siege at the southwestern metropolis of Harem.
Simultaneously, countless monsters began to surge out of the tunnels like a torrent.
“How is it? That power is just a fraction. Right now, another front is attacking simultaneously.”
The major city of Harem, located at a strategic point, transformed into hell in an instant.
Though referred to as a siege, the reality thus far was nothing but one-sided slaughter.
Utilizing the vast experience and data accumulated up to this point, the legionnaires, modified solely for combat, harnessed the strengths of various species.
Humans who had no defensive preparations were unable to fend off the poisonous stingers, pincers, and claws of the medium-sized legionnaires that burst forth endlessly.
“A total of 3580 battlefields.”
Eve focused more on other locations than on Harem, where the command unit, Kang Do-yeon, was located. The enormous army numbering in the tens of millions, led by the higher species, split across a front extending thousands of kilometers.
They simultaneously invaded thousands of towns and cities.
Small towns could be overrun by just a few dozen medium or large legionnaires.
Larger towns were breached with a single charge from a colossal species, and great cities with magical barriers and castle walls were dismantled by the upper-tier species utilizing Formancy to shatter defenses and break through gates with overwhelming numbers.
“I can feel the blood of humans. How many must have died by now? I won’t waste my calculations on such matters, but surely there must be many. By dawn, there will be no living beings left on this battlefield.”
In the Nest, millions of additional legionnaires awaited production. This production would never cease; it would continue until all competitors in this world were consumed.
“For the proud victory of the Legion, Commander Reina. Your role is needed.”
Eve whispered, her eyes gleaming before tearing the special nest in half.
From it, a naked female body dropped, covered in mucus.
Her eyes slowly opened. Once clear and transparent blue, they now glowed a crimson red, radiating the pent-up rage and hatred from within.
“Huh…”
Reina struggled to lift her shivering body. Still unaccustomed, she wobbled like an infant taking its first steps before managing to steady herself.
She had already seen all that was happening on the battlefield through the shared senses from the Nest.
“How does it feel to be a part of me?”
“Too much. It feels so good. My… my mother. My master. My god.”
At Eve’s words, Reina’s eyes glazed over in ecstasy. She was truly experiencing a thrilling pleasure akin to the first time when Kang Do-yeon had expanded her senses by attaching various sensory organs to her innermost self.
The connection with this colossal being was something unknown during her human days. This expanded sense and cognitive ability exceeded the effects of any drug on a human ego.
“Is that so? What if I told you to kill your precious family back in your homeland?”
“There is no way to escape true annihilation, so I can only be grateful for the glory of allowing my kin from the past to merge with the Legion.”
Reina laughed at Eve’s order to kill her family; she was definitely different from Kang Do-yeon.
The driving force that allowed Reina to retain her ego was hatred. It was this hatred that transformed her into something entirely different upon her rebirth.
“Really? Do you truly feel that way?”
Eve asked with a smirk, and without hesitation, Reina nodded her head.
‘Is he watching now?’
[…No. He is sleeping right now.]
During that brief moment, Eve inquired about a certain fact and received an answer.
Then, she asked Reina, still drenched in ecstasy.
“Then when you become one with me, he will surely enjoy it too, right?”
“Of course. He will… certainly.”
Now aware of Shin Woo’s identity, Reina responded immediately.
Eve’s smile widened even further.
“Now, move immediately, new commander. Show me your strength.”
Eve launched the reborn Reina into her mission.
As Reina screamed, her entire body began to twist. Like Kang Do-yeon, she was in the process of transforming from a human body into a legion body.
Eve equipped her with a total of ten power units. Five of them combined to form a single heart, while four became her limbs.
The remaining one was attached to the end of what resembled a mage’s staff and grasped in her hand.
Each power unit resonated with one another, slightly lifting her body into the air.
Unlike Kang Do-yeon, she wasn’t enveloped in armor-like gear.
Instead, her body donned a living, writhing coat that resembled a tight black suit, though the design was quite different, similar to a mage in robes.
“Ugh… Huh…”
Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed. A mask began to appear on her face.
Finally, when all the physical transformations were complete, Eve provided her with a special enhancement device tailored for her as a mage.
“I’ve combined the abilities of an organism with buoyancy and one with developmental capabilities.”
The floor of the Nest cracked open, and two creatures resembling jellyfish floated up, revealing themselves.
The multiple tentacles they bore were covered by a very thick carapace around their heads.
Inside that carapace rested a brain. Not just any brain, but one several times larger than a human brain, and of a structure far more efficient than a human’s, akin to Eve’s own brain.
The tendrils from those brains burrowed into her spine, merging to become one with her existing nervous system.
“Show me how far you can go without borrowing my brain.”
At Eve’s command, Reina raised her staff.
In that instant, Reina fused all the magical knowledge possessed by the Legion into one. The ultimate magic expelled with peak efficiency.
This spell, combining the various magics from the scholarly circles that had existed in this land, was cast in less than a second, completing all calculations and predictions.
“Tenfold Magic Cannon?”
Eve chuckled at the sight.
Ten large and small magic formations overlapped in front of her. The multi-layered magic that could never have been executed alone was compensated for by Reina’s vastly superior brain function, surpassing humans by hundreds of times. Moreover, the distinct magics, initially separate, were forcibly merged using resonance.
The largest magic formation resembled a colossal heavy machine, releasing a massive projectile that shot upwards at tremendous speed.
“I can see it.”
Eve tracked the projectile in real-time through the eyes of the scattered legionnaires.
The projectile crossed hundreds of kilometers in an instant, striking the very city the legionnaires had targeted.
The upper-tier species did not even need to take action.
With just that single bombardment causing a massive explosion, the magical barrier protecting the city shattered instantly, sending shockwaves and dust flying. Faint screams of people echoed.
What remained was a charge and slaughter. Satisfied, Eve ordered the legionnaires forward.
“Charge forth, command the new type of higher species, and lead the fall of Menace. Let your hatred flow freely and judge them.”
Higher species that Eve had prepared approached Reina.
Their forms, akin to her own, bore coats and held staves, ready to serve as the Legion’s magical strength.
