Chapter 1: Do You Admit Your Guilt? I Admit You’re a Fool! – Episode 121: Everyone Has a Dark Side (9)
“Everything is still very primitive. The army, the hunters—they’re all inexperienced in this kind of war. Especially the hunters, who can’t develop a strategy to effectively merge traditional hunters with martial arts hunters. They just engage in a hit-or-miss fight.”
“Huh? That’s the same for us, though.”
“…Well, I don’t know. The movements you two showed aren’t something you can achieve just by chance.”
The local commander of the Guardian Alliance, Jason, shook his head as he observed my bewilderment.
He claimed to lead the hunters as the nominal commander, but the truth was that there was very little he could do as an actual commander.
Everything is still in the early stages. Waging war against monsters known as demons, not humans. And fighting both ranged and melee battles against such monsters.
And the emergence of hunters who combat using martial arts instead of supernatural abilities.
Even the alliance, which has control over multiple planets, was unaware of the situation.
“So, you must learn diligently. However… I can’t know how many more will die in the meantime.”
Jason murmured while staring blankly behind me. My gaze involuntarily followed his.
It was the place where the bodies of soldiers and hunters who died in today’s battle were being collected.
Today the allied forces managed to win in this new type of war, successfully capturing one of the enemy’s bases after pushing through their stronghold with shelling and bombing.
But even with victory, the dead do not come back. The war was not over. I could see soldiers paying their respects to the fallen.
“By the way, where has she gone? I checked, and she was a girl who had just joined the Guardian Alliance, yet her performance was overwhelming. Is she okay? I heard she was a casualty.”
Maybe the heavy atmosphere made Jason raise his voice.
I flinched at his question. He was inquiring about Eve, who had vanished right after the battle ended, but she wasn’t here right now.
“Um… She’s probably sleeping?”
I desperately tried to defend myself. Thankfully, he didn’t press further.
“It’s a battlefield, but do rest as best you can. You never know when you’ll have to fight again.”
That was the end of the meeting with him. As I watched him leave the room, I shifted my attention to a screen that others couldn’t see, which I had neglected.
Eve was there. It was effectively a desertion, but she wouldn’t care about such things.
‘Isn’t it about time to return? You successfully recorded the sand swimmer you aimed for.’
“Alright.”
Standing on a barren rocky mountain and looking down at the land, Eve nodded at my words conveyed through the collective consciousness.
That place was over tens of kilometers away from here. The reason Eve went there was to take the mobile phone I had given her and send the specimen of the demon realm creature we aimed for.
“To think Eve could use an app…”
[It’s possible because you have a special relationship. It’s not merely possession, possession, or brainwashing; it’s literally a complete unity.]
“But my soul is that of the game, right?”
[It’s a difference in ownership and actual ownership in the contract.]
Perhaps responding to my mutter, words appeared. I clicked my tongue in disbelief at their content.
Without any input from the person involved, they’re discussing ownership of my soul among themselves.
“Ah.”
“…What?”
But at that moment, I involuntarily gasped in surprise.
As Eve was about to return, dozens of beasts with gigantic bat wings launched an attack across the air. Not only their wings but their appearance also resembled bats.
The only difference was that they had grotesque, bald human faces.
As Eve rolled on the ground to dodge them, she frowned. I instinctively felt that these creatures were not ordinary beings of the demon realm. They weren’t units, but they were definitely receiving orders from demons.
“Kiki…%@&₩!”
“@&₩!”
The creatures surrounding Eve began to drool and speak incomprehensible language while closing in, extending their claws.
In that moment, sharing emotions, I could feel Eve’s intense feelings. It was pure disgust. Not the kind based on a sense of superiority over humans.
Disgust, literally, means she simply found them utterly repulsive.
“Kikiht…?”
Eve’s eyes gleamed, and in an instant, she swung her sword wrapped in a blood-red aura like a windmill, slicing through everything around her.
The resulting strike split the creatures’ bodies apart.
“Filthy, filthy, filthy, filthy!”
Eve recoiled in horror at the remnants of the creatures’ fluids that splattered onto her white shirt, tearing it apart and regenerating it to erase the traces.
Her face was scrunched up, clearly indicating how much she detested it.
[Do you think it’s fortunate? It seems Eve hates those monsters more than humans do.]
I felt a pang at the rising words. It wasn’t an incorrect statement.
Until now, Eve had mostly met good people. My mother, Team Leader Baek Jong-hoon, and so forth…
But I knew well enough that not everyone in the world was good, so I could only hope that such people wouldn’t cross Eve’s path.
“This place, although better, is still barren like REDRIUM.”
Eve hurriedly lifted her body into the sky, wary of another ambush. At the same time, she activated her invisibility ability and concealed herself.
‘Is that the conclusion from your inspection?’
“Yeah. There’s no investment value. That’s my judgment.”
Eve answered as she flew across the sky, responding to my question.
Eve didn’t move alone just to take a picture of the creatures for the specimen.
Beyond simple data and testimonies, she was investigating the soil and environment of the demon realm, trying to determine if this land could be established as a ‘new base’.
And the results of that investigation concluded that it had no investment value in terms of efficiency.
“With so much land to consume, why bother with this place?”
She initially showed no interest.
Currently, Eve’s focus was completely on the sights, and after reclaiming the territory that was pushed back by the rebel alliance’s space fleet, she planned to attack their strongholds one by one to consume them.
To outsiders, it might appear as a sudden invasion by space monsters, but I couldn’t afford to worry about them.
“Welcome back.”
Soon after, Eve released her invisibility and entered the room.
—
“An impressive specimen. If we join forces, it will surely be a great help.”
This was the heart of the Legion’s nest. The giant creature buried in the sand that Earthlings referred to as a sand swimmer had been brought here, captured by Eve.
Its appearance resembled that of an ancient creature or a salamander.
The creature that panicked and flailed around shattered the sacred tree, which was over thirty meters tall, and the nest was crushed. Though short in length, it was heavier than a death worm.
Reina, who was in charge of the overall base management and cleanup, had to subjugate that monster, which was the size of a small castle.
Of course, it was not difficult. A pure creature without any modifications simply could not withstand the firepower that could target spaceships from that far in the universe.
The magic that Reina cast unfolded. A massive magic circle began to stack upon the creature’s body.
“Immovable spell, doubling it with amplification spell.”
Based on existing knowledge, Reina’s self-developed legion-style magic was activated once again.
The creature caught in the overlapping magic circles began to move frantically, letting out a tearing scream.
“Multi-bond magic—Legion style amplification resonance—Lightning strike!”
A lightning bolt induced by magic descended from the sky. As it passed through the magic circle, the power amplified dozens, if not hundreds, of times, changing its nature into an energy wave.
The resulting massive shockwave exploded. The entire nest shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and Reina herself had to shield herself with a barrier to withstand the impact.
‘Start analysis.’
Before the dust had settled, Eve, who had been observing, gave the command.
There was no need to hastily dismember the body for quick dissection. That massive figure had already become a heap of shredded meat, disappearing into the flesh walls of the nest.
“The cleanup is almost done.”
“Yes.”
When the corpse of the sand swimmer had completely vanished into the nest, Eve physically appeared behind Reina.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Since joining the Legion and receiving its grace, every day has been a paradise. Who wouldn’t be happy?”
Reina beamed widely. It was neither flattery nor insincerity. She genuinely believed that.
Moving the legionnaires in this empty space and engaging in battles against hybrids was happiness in itself.
And that thought remained even now that the mages, who had been targets of her revenge, were virtually annihilated.
The new energy driving her was no longer a desire for vengeance but pride and arrogance in herself and in the Legion.
“Now, there is basically only one location left. They say the one called the Dragon’s Gorge by the mages is where their leader resides.”
“From experience, I’ve learned that leaders who don’t take the lead in command or combat are all useless.”
Hearing the mention of the monster’s leader, Eve snorted.
“I’m going to give you another gift, Reina. With the strongest firepower we possess, which still has some room for improvement, kill him. And make this world ours.”
“Ah…”
Reina’s collective consciousness connection rate, which had risked losing part of her ego, surpassed that of Kang Do-yeon and Shin Woo.
There was no need for her to convey it verbally; she realized Eve’s plan with an expression of amazement.
What Eve intended to give her was a prototype of a colossal legion-style creature that she would employ going forward, even larger than what she had used for charges.
Of course, it was incomplete and wouldn’t fly yet, but that was enough for now.
Within less than two days, she received that gift, which had been infused with tremendous energy.
“I will kill all those who dare to reject us.”
Reina grinned as she advanced toward the last remaining stronghold of the hybrids.
The gigantic creature, injected with the largest amount of energy as a single entity, moved, leaving a long trail across the ground.
Reina, perched upon it, connected her body with dozens of tendrils.
She planned to use the energy contained in this colossal creature as her battery, knowing full well that this prototype was to be used and discarded for recycling.
Just like before when she had drawn all the energy from the base to target the space fleet.
Only, this time, it was a mobile artillery piece rather than a fixed position.
