Chapter 104: Each Person’s Purpose (2)
“I don’t know how long I’ve waited for a moment like this.”
The once-thriving satellite city near Menace. Now, it had become a stronghold of the Legion, covered in dark red flesh walls and twisted Sacred Trees. Here, Reina, who had withdrawn from Menace, arrived.
She was not alone.
She brought all the ‘spoils’ obtained from Menace with her.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Before Reina, who was manipulating the Sacred Tree, someone was delivered, having their ankles pulled and hanging upside down.
A captured mage from the Ardos Academy. Some had died at the hands of allies, but not all of them held their mission dearer than their lives.
He was already infected with the contagion and couldn’t even twitch a finger of his own will.
Death, life, and even madness were all means beyond his control, a state of utter despair.
His eyes shook violently at the sight of Reina’s unmasked face.
He did not recognize Reina. He was simply startled that the face behind the mask, once a figure of ruthless and brutal slaughter, now belonged to a beautiful young woman who still showed signs of youth.
“The Great One has permitted me to take on this task and extract all that you know from you.”
Reina opened her mouth to speak to him. Of course, this was not possible if one considered it a ‘conversation.’
He could only answer the questions posed to him.
“Grrrr… Aaaah!”
First, Reina inflicted upon him the strongest pain, where all the nerves in his body twisted and scratched chaotically.
His eyes bulged as he screamed to his heart’s content.
In contrast to Eve, who had silenced the cries of prisoners to extract information, Reina, having been granted full authority, had one reason for allowing the screams.
‘What a madwoman.’
Including Blake, the president of the academy, all the captured prisoners were watching and hearing this scene.
The horrific scream of a fellow in the same situation, and the despair that even death was not allowed.
The fear piercing through the psyche of humans shook their emotions.
“There is only one way to escape this pain. To vomit out everything.”
If a glimmer of escape from despair presented itself, there was no choice but to wish for comfort, even with a strong sense of duty.
“Remember this. Reina’s actions are not at all normal.”
“What do you mean by not normal? What is the standard of normality?”
“…What?”
While Reina was cruelly torturing the prisoners,
Eve was facing Kang Do-yeon.
Currently, Reina’s connection was severed, and she had no idea what they were discussing.
“Right now, Reina is effectively torturing humans to extract information and testimonies. Faster than when I led. Is that wrong?”
“I’m not trying to defy you. Of course, that’s right. Well, according to our standards.”
Kang Do-yeon flinched and desperately thought.
She knew all about Reina’s circumstances, but the last thing she wanted, influenced by Reina, was for Eve’s values to shift that way, something both she and Shin Woo did not want to see.
The problem was, she couldn’t express that to Eve directly.
Kang Do-yeon hoped that her words and actions would not interfere with Shin Woo’s ‘education’ for Eve.
“What’s certain is that I just don’t want Reina’s hatred for humans to grow. There are also… many good people.”
“I have no interest in the concept of good and evil that humans created. Ultimately, it’s merely a self-comfort created by a species called humans for society and survival. To me, it’s too trivial and pointless.”
Eve scoffed.
“Well, unfortunately for you, my brother is very interested in that.”
“…Right. That’s true.”
However, when Kang Do-yeon brought up Shin Woo, Eve’s emotions suddenly turned cold.
‘Does he want me to become a “good human”?’
Eve spoke through the Collective Consciousness, as she hadn’t mentioned that Shin Woo was absent.
‘That can’t be it. He’s just doing it for your sake. It’s not that he wants you to become human; he just doesn’t want you to become a monster.’
‘A monster?’
Kang Do-yeon calmly voiced her thoughts. Eve reacted to the word monster.
‘He is precious to me. I cannot possibly be a monster in front of him.’
‘…I suppose. Since our lives depend on his.’
‘But I also can’t stand by and watch him make a wrong choice that puts him in danger, even if that choice might be the right one from a human standard.’
‘That’s your true intention right now.’
Kang Do-yeon shivered at the unsettling feeling. Indeed, Shin Woo’s influence was significant.
However, the current Eve was not an obedient puppy who would simply follow orders, and she knew better than anyone what her power was.
‘Why? Why feel fear? Shouldn’t you be happy instead? He wished for us to become one. Reina even said she’s happy to be one with us. She said it was more complete, more glorious.’
‘He would never wish for himself to become like me or Reina.’
‘That’s hard to understand, but if I were to understand, I would naturally grant him the highest status. Equal to me. However, that would mean he has to always converse with me and be with me, convincing me until he discards human ways of thinking.’
Eve raised the corners of her mouth silently.
Kang Do-yeon could not refute her. It was evident to anyone that Eve had more than Kang Do-yeon, and the relationship of Player and Unit was not yet set in stone.
‘…My brother will be able to do it.’
In the end, she had no choice but to believe in her brother.
She believed he could handle this enormous presence that was engulfing an entire planet in real time.
‘I love him.’
‘Well.’
Kang Do-yeon did not explicitly deny Eve’s feelings. In reality, the emotions that Eve experienced moment by moment were not much different from that word. Even if those feelings were somewhat twisted from human common sense.
[He is busy right now, and thanks to that, the screen is turned off for a moment. There’s no need to hold back.]
“The arrogant lizards dare to desecrate and ruin my land.”
Eve expressed her irritation while looking off into the distance. The sight she was seeing through the reconnaissance soldier’s eyes showed the REDRIUM monsters emerging from the gate.
They had devolved, becoming creatures that moved solely for destruction and slaughter, void of any productive activities.
The lush greenery was trampled under their feet and burned, turning into wasteland, while all living beings were killed.
“They have now become enemies that threaten our lives and our growth. So from now on, we will kill our enemies.”
Eve showed Kang Do-yeon several things.
The results obtained by thoroughly dissecting and analyzing the bodies of the monsters captured in the last battle.
“What are these?”
“Still, as those who became victorious and conquered a world, there were some intriguing things. We must pay our respects to them, and now that they are ours, we must use them.”
Two items arrived before Kang Do-yeon.
One was a roughly shaped translucent reddish ore, and the other was a piece of rough rock-like shell.
“What Reina spoke of regarding the dragon. The ancient dragon of REDRIUM that imparted magic to humans had a very powerful heart. And that heart, which was the power of Formancy, is still possessed by its devolved descendants.”
Eve lifted the object, the size of an adult’s fist. She then placed it against Kang Do-yeon’s chest.
“This will become a new heart for us, and for you, enhancing efficiency by over four times using the legacy of those monsters.”
“…Then what’s that?”
“The scales of those creatures have the function of absorbing and storing or releasing Formancy. The power, which grows more tempting the more we learn, is now ours.”
Kang Do-yeon sighed and hung her head. She had a rough idea of what would unfold moving forward.
“How many times will my body be modified? I feel like I’m becoming a transformation robot.”
“You don’t want to get stronger?”
“…No.”
She grumbled but shook her head again. Ultimately, this was her choice.
Above all, the power obtained by analyzing the monsters was the energy they had gained from entirely annihilating and maximizing a world.
Thus, applying it would mean using an incredible amount of energy compared to before.
Thanks to this, Eve had to hurry to expand the nest, where she would start the extermination of humans.
“So producing stronger soldiers on a scale similar to before is impossible. The number of troops will be reduced to less than one-tenth of the current.”
“But we can’t stop those dragons like that.”
“It doesn’t matter. Those foolish beasts won’t know or care what kind of existence we are.”
Just like before. They had expanded the nest with a small number of troops, enduring until they amassed a large-scale force to sweep away the humans.
Even now, the devolved monsters were indulging in their nature, which they hadn’t exhibited in a long time, taking their time; the Legion planned to grow even larger and sweep them away with their newly strengthened power.
“Deploy, the first fang of the Legion. Go and sweep them away before they play tricks.”
“…Understood.”
With another intense wave of pain, Kang Do-yeon’s body was restructured. With a sigh, she spread her wings.
The speed with which she soared into the sky was on a different level than before.
In an instant, tearing through the sound barrier, Kang Do-yeon ascended to high altitude and began flying eastward toward the continent alongside the Legionnaires moving on the ground.
