Chapter 154 – System Resetting (4)
I couldn’t command countless troops like Eve, single-handedly.
Therefore, I needed the subject’s consent to move the troops as I wished. It was similar to a kind of submind.
The problem was that I didn’t have the luxury of recruiting someone I didn’t know at all. I had to make the most of the limited resources.
So, I sent Kang Do-yeon there. First, to someone who had ties with us but had retired early, completely unrelated to the forces currently in intense competition, and could become my subordinate through a mutually satisfactory deal.
“Are you… Do-yeon?! Kang Do-yeon?”
The sight of him dropping the wet towel he held was visible to me through Kang Do-yeon’s eyes.
It might have been better not to show myself, but if the subject was only him, it didn’t particularly matter.
“Hello.”
Her younger brother, currently in human form, greeted the gaunt and emaciated man.
A father who had lost his wife and daughter had been waiting for days without hope while taking care of his daughter, who had been in a coma for the past few months. Tears welled up in his eyes.
“How, how is this possible? You definitely…”
“I died and came back to life. I thought it was necessary for you to know that I’m not hiding but waiting for you.”
Kang Do-yeon, who was desperately trying to control her emotions, said emotionlessly.
“I’ll take Yu-na with me.”
“Can, can she wake up?”
He seemed to have already reached his limit.
A person who had already been declared dead coming back to life and acting suspiciously was making him feel at a loss, and yet he thought of it as his last hope.
“Maybe. But I can’t go back to how things were before. Still, don’t worry. Yu-na will stick with us from now on.”
Her younger brother told him the reality. However, would that mean anything to someone who was already cornered? Especially a parent. Seeing their child in a comatose, hopeless state, they wouldn’t just stand by.
He swallowed his sobs in silence and bowed his head, granting Kang Do-yeon permission to take his daughter.
“For now, return.”
I instructed Kang Do-yeon, who had retrieved Oh Yu-na, to return. The destination, of course, was REDRIUM, the planet where the Legion’s nest was located. I had already moved part of the nest there and completed the preparations.
“Even if she’s in a vegetative state, the fact that the Player Oh Yu-na is still alive means that the units are still holding on.”
“If we make Yu-na a part of the Legion, we can move those units according to your wishes, right?”
“If they are still viable.”
I received Oh Yu-na from Kang Do-yeon. It weighed heavily on my conscience to involve a girl who was the same age as my younger brother in such matters, but I disregarded it.
After all, Oh Yu-na had already involved my younger brother in this game. Moreover, this girl was ultimately a Player too. In the end, this would benefit both sides, and I decided to fulfill my part of the deal by healing her injured and severed body and waking her from her coma.
In return, Oh Yu-na would become a Legionnaire who would obey my commands.
“…Is it going to continue like this? Incorporating people into the Legion.”
“Probably. But it will be somewhat different from Eve’s methods. We are a Legion but also part of society. If Eve seeks to conquer and trample based on understanding, we will utilize cooperation and understanding. Must we be a part of the Legion to possess the power to act? It’s not like that, is it?”
Kang Do-yeon mumbled as she stared down at her friend, who was slipping away into oblivion. I nodded in agreement.
Amidst the rise of the Legion, which had started its invasion by growing in strength, I had laid down a rough plan for my ideals.
First, I needed minimal military power. Oh Yu-na, who was being reborn as my submind, was part of that plan.
“You will move with the troops I assign you. The Alliance’s movements are concerning. They seem to view the war between Eve and the rebellion as an opportunity.”
“…Disgusting. Is it still a war of powers at this point?”
“They probably don’t know any better.”
Richard and Pyles, the spies implanted within the Alliance, particularly Richard, who was the highest-ranked person there after the captain, provided real-time information about everything they saw and heard.
This information included the current movements of the Alliance, which was trying to mobilize its army.
If the Alliance, with its far larger scale than the rebel coalition, decided to act based on the intersecting interests of each force, it would be impossible for them to underestimate us, who were merely tussling over a few planets.
“But with the fight against Eve, the rebel coalition has also gained new strength, so we don’t know how the war will unfold. Therefore, we should look for opportunities to move towards the void.”
I thought it was our true mission to continue expanding our forces while utilizing the advantage of being able to change shapes, maintaining a balance regardless of where we sided.
So that one side wouldn’t easily collapse.
Eternal war, eternal conflict. As long as this fight doesn’t end, there will be no true destruction or despair.
*
“This, this can’t be… A large number of warp reactions!”
“It’s already too late. Quickly evacuate the residents of Valen!”
Planet Valen, a large planet where many people lived. The battlefield filled with despair and fear, where intense fighting had just taken place.
The fleet, attacking to drop the invading stronghold, was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of hundreds of ships that had warped in.
The fleet, which had just been outnumbered in an instant, began to stagger.
The vessels under Liam’s command crashed into the most vulnerable sections of the human fleet, breaking formations and dispersing firepower.
While the fleet was pushed back, the remaining ships entered the atmosphere and took control of the planet’s airspace.
The Legion’s nest began to rapidly expand, devouring remnants of the destroyed city.
‘As expected. It was nothing after all.’
Watching all of this unfold, Eve felt a sense of satisfaction.
It was true that the humans had received help to contend with the higher species, but dispelling the Legion, which had already acquired overwhelming forces in space and on the ground, was impossible.
If they devoured this land, they could once again explode forth with overwhelming numbers and swallow up other places.
[But the war is not over yet. You know that, right? The coordinates of Eden, the humans know them already. That your hometown is here.]
‘…What?’
However, Eve couldn’t fully concentrate on the battle in Valen.
Just like she had warped her fleet, a group of ships was beginning to appear one by one in the skies above Eden.
It was reminiscent of the indiscriminate strike she had carried out against Planet Remun with her purpose.
The best defense is indeed attack; the second fleet of the rebellion coalition, dispatched under direct order from the Chancellor, was rapidly approaching Eden.
“That is it. That is the planet believed to be the source of those monsters.”
“Interesting. It’s surprising that all the worlds we lived in were actually shaped like that.”
The commander of the fleet, stroking his mustache, pointed with a tense expression towards the planet they saw ahead, stating that enemies were there.
He couldn’t help but feel tense, as he had received detailed reports of how terrifying and numerous the enemies were.
However, the one who heard his explanation responded as if it was trivial, snorting.
“I’ve fought them once before. They were tricky but sufficiently enjoyable to deal with. Don’t interfere; just handle those endless hordes of lowly creatures, and we’ll take down that so-called higher species.”
The response came in a rough tone filtered through a translator while he fiddled with the fur-lined clothes he wore.
‘Really, such foolish and primitive barbarians are allied with those monsters?’
The captain clicked his tongue and shook his head, observing the quivering muscles that bulged as the barbarian took a breath.
These barbarians, who introduced themselves as part of the Gai-shan clan, were also brought into collaboration with the rebel coalition’s units through Players.
The commander, a fleet captain, had no idea what scheme the Chancellor had to roll these otherworldly beings into the fold as mercenaries.
“Commander, their ships are approaching cautiously but not charging in at us.”
“That’s good. They dropped a large force there with the intent to obliterate Valen. They certainly have no troops left. We need to inflict damage on their nest on the ground!”
The commander, who tried to avoid space warfare as much as possible, led his fleet directly into the atmosphere of Eden. The ships that had been wary began to grasp his intent and started to charge forward.
“Quickly, let us land! I’m itching for it!”
“I’m trying to breach it right now!”
The commander, busy leading the fleet and directly controlling the unruly mercenaries, finally succeeded in lowering the fleet to an altitude suitable for assault.
‘…’
And Eve could observe that scene through her avatar standing on the ground.
Naturally, she was extremely angry. Eve hated being hit more than anything. She always had to be the attacker, in the position of a predator.
[Can you stop it?]
“Are you kidding me? But… I can’t avoid the delays. It was my mistake to exclude the game system. I didn’t foresee their synergy being beyond imagination.”
Eve scoffed at the voice of the observer resonating in her consciousness, but her expression then hardened again.
Numerous ground forces, from flying types to super-large and small species, surged towards the attackers trying to bombard the nest.
Eve’s avatar was among them. With a long sword drawn in one hand, a masked woman with red eyes launched herself into the sky, kicking off the ground.
