Chapter 127 – A New Category (5)
The staff was, in reality, a large and heavy weapon that could well be described as a solid stone pillar.
The power it swung with full force felt akin to being struck by a heavy truck.
And now that staff was flying towards the hunters, sweeping the ground as it approached.
‘They’re going to die.’
Those who were unable to evade it felt the death looming over them.
With Jason, the S-rank hunter they had relied on, having been knocked out by the unexpected blow from the demonic spirit, there was no way for them to deal with the troll, which was already above a high-ranking demon.
“Uagh!”
“Cough…”
Then the fierce shockwave burst forth, sweeping them away.
They rolled across the ground, naturally thinking they were dead.
‘I’m alive?!’
Max was one of them.
But with a ringing in his ears, he rubbed the ground and slowly opened his eyes. His body ached, but he was not dead. The other hunters shared the same fate.
“This is unbelievable.”
Having barely regained his composure, Max turned over. Through his blurry vision, he saw someone who had single-handedly blocked the swinging staff.
At least he could tell they had survived because of her.
‘Eve.’
He unconsciously repeated her name.
Holding a sword that seemed like a toothpick compared to the troll’s staff, Eve stood firm.
Her once white shirt was stained red with blood that had erupted from her body. The ground beneath her shaky legs had been deeply gouged.
She had raised her power, but even Eve still lacked training for a human body.
“Hah…”
Yet Eve persevered. Of course, no one watching could understand that she was driven by pure rage and that the act of blocking the staff was motivated by her desire not to be defeated by the troll that had disregarded her.
In the meantime, Shin Woo finished off the troll.
The clay golems that had been constantly attacking collapsed one after another, and those who understood the situation cheered.
“Eve!”
However, at that moment, Max, who had also been cheering and was slowly getting up, inhaled sharply at Shin Woo’s shout and opened his eyes wide.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he flew into action. Among those who could still move, he was the closest to Eve.
‘…I can’t hold on.’
Eve, with blurred vision, sensed the magical projectile flying toward her. With her human body, still insufficiently adapted and trained, she was already at her limit.
In that fleeting moment, a jumble of emotions crossed her mind: disappointment in herself, feelings of defeat, and anger, among others.
Of course, even if her body were to shatter, Eve would not die. It was in her nature as a primordial being that she could resurrect as long as a single cell lived on.
But the biggest concern was that if this flesh were to be destroyed here, then everything Shin Woo had planned would go awry.
Eve bit her lip. It wasn’t the first time that her emotions had overshadowed her judgment of what was about to unfold.
It was an expected side effect, but somehow it always resulted in a painful outcome.
“Ugh…”
But then, at that moment, someone roughly shoved her aside.
Eve, who couldn’t resist and rolled across the ground, quickly pushed her stunned body up, eyes wide open.
She assumed someone had attacked her from behind.
“Why…?”
And as she witnessed the scene, a breath of despair escaped her lips unbidden.
Max, who had pushed her away at the cost of getting hit squarely by the magical projectile from the demonic spirit, was now rolling on the ground with his body half-burned.
With his immense intellect, Eve’s mind temporarily froze. It was that shocking a moment.
“You are… the hope of humanity that will develop further…”
Max barely muttered with a voice that was hard to hear.
And upon hearing those words, Eve found herself in even deeper chaos.
It was overwhelming to manage the emotions that surged wildly, let alone think logically.
The shock of being saved by a human was astounding, and she also questioned why Max referred to her as the hope of humanity.
Most importantly, she had no idea why Max had made such a choice for her sake. Eve did not understand what the concept of sacrifice meant as humans articulated it, nor did she care to know.
“Stay alive… for the people… my…”
He strained to move his barely functional hand and placed it against her shoe.
Although a human had touched her body without permission, the dazed Eve did not speak or act.
‘You mentioned you didn’t understand the special forces. Why did you choose to act out of fear? I believe it’s because you think of diversity as a strength of humanity. Some people are willing to throw their lives away to protect someone else. They feel fear, yet they throw themselves into battle against the enemy, even when they know they will likely lose.’
Shin Woo’s heavy voice resonated, addressing the collective consciousness that dealt with the demonic spirit.
Eve said nothing. The shock did not easily fade away.
The few who had regained their senses shouted retreat commands, forcing her legs to move against her will.
*
“Please take good care of her. She’s really strong and fights well, but she’s still young. The shock will be quite significant.”
“…It is indeed a big shock. Thank you.”
The medic wrapped bandages around Eve’s arms and legs.
Both Eve and I quickly recovered from internal injuries and critical wounds, but we did not erase all of our injuries to avoid suspicion.
Normally, Eve would have been growling at me, but now she leaned on me with a dazed expression.
The severity of the shock was something others could also sense. The kind of shock was just a bit different from what they had expected.
“Is being saved by a human that shocking? I thought you would understand now that they are worth accompanying us.”
Ultimately, I had to ask directly.
“It is true that being saved by a human makes me angry, but that’s not the most important thing.”
As she watched those hastily collecting the corpses and rushing to prepare for retreat, Eve shook her head quietly, contrary to expectations.
Eve did not bother to hide her emotions. This meant that what she expressed now was sincere.
Moreover, the collective consciousness, greatly influenced by Eve’s current emotions, was incredibly calm. What they were thinking was unclear, however.
“I’ve been foolish all this time.”
“Foolish?”
The atmosphere was tense. Speaking calmly made it even more so. If Eve were her usual self, she would have been in a rage by now.
“I used to think that becoming one with you would simply be the end of everything. I believed that just being together would bring happiness and everything would work out. My father, my deity, and the other masters of the Legion. But we were missing the most important thing.
We needed to be faster and more aggressive. Our goal now isn’t to become one, but rather to grow stronger and devour those who dared to attack us.”
“…Eve?”
“Until now, I was nothing more than a foolish child. And merely a female in love. What made me this way was all your doing.”
At that moment, a chill ran down my spine. I was speechless and couldn’t move a single finger, nor could I raise an eyebrow.
Eve was currently in my arms, but to others, it might seem like I was simply holding her.
However, I felt a threat to my life.
‘From now on, I will take the lead. Until now, I acted according to your will, but from now on, it will be my wishes. We are not humans. We are the Legion, beings that devour everything. Thus, our guise will change from this point onward.’
The colossal will hammering into my head felt no different than a threat.
Even if our standings are equal, as long as I cannot control the collective consciousness, I would still be an ordinary human without Eve’s cooperation. I forgot everything I wanted to say in shock.
Eve, who had rested her head on my chest, slowly loosened her hold on me. At the same time, the control over my body began to return.
“Still, you’ll always be there for me, just like now?”
“Yeah, so don’t worry.”
“I’m glad. I thought you would come to hate me.”
Eve smiled brightly as if reassured. It was a pure smile, but it no longer appeared innocent as before.
[Is this within the realm of predictions?]
And letters that rose beyond Eve’s face flickered.
I didn’t let it show that I noticed, but it was true. In fact, one could say it was better than the situations I had anticipated.
Eve, who acts solely on her affection for me, would naturally seek to take the lead someday.
My goal was to establish as much influence as possible before that happened. Even in the environment surrounding me, excluding myself.
Both my mother and Kang Do-yeon had failed, and every human we had come across had failed.
Yet a few days after meeting an ordinary hunter, Max, who was nothing but a stranger, he succeeded. And that too, sacrificing his life.
[They won’t recognize it, nor will they understand it from the beginning. But today, a significant mark was undoubtedly left in Eve’s inner self.]
I believed the observer who could see straight into my mind wouldn’t fail to be aware of Eve’s thoughts.
With his acknowledgment, that was enough. Even if Eve decides to act roughly in accordance with her nature, at the very least, I believe we can avoid the worst situations I was worried about.
