Chapter 31: The Legion’s Gratitude (2)
“Is it really okay to attack?!”
“Idiot! The detector is going off!”
“B-but they look like ordinary students…”
This is their first real battle.
They were nervous and flustered, but they had to move.
“Did you not hear?! The target’s age or gender doesn’t matter. If you’re scared, get lost, rookie.”
“Th-that’s not fair!”
A somewhat short and slender middle-aged man got out of the car, agitated.
A young man next to him hurriedly followed.
‘Just stick to the plan. I’ll just do as I’m told and get the medicine. That’s all I need to think about.’
Grinding his rough face, he spat out the cigarette he was smoking and activated something on his wrist.
“Khuh…”
With a sharp pain, a blue wave began to cover his body, starting from his wrist.
This was the gift he had received.
Soon, his entire body, including his face, was covered in a nanosuit, and a blue cross-shaped glow flashed from his eyes.
“Whoa..”
“What is that?”
Ignoring the murmurs around him, he walked straight toward the target.
Although his breath was quickening, he tried to ignore it.
He pulled out a weapon from the split thigh section of his suit.
A sophisticated, advanced weapon that fired powerful bullets unlike a typical handgun.
‘I can do this.’
He aimed it at the target.
The detector was pointing at a mother and daughter heading home from the parking lot.
He held no grudge against them; he didn’t even know their names.
But to get what he wanted, he had to kill them.
“Mom!!”
The moment he pulled the trigger.
The high school girl, who had reflexively turned around, shouted with golden eyes blazing.
“Ugh, what?!”
Flustered, he pulled the trigger in succession.
Flames erupted from the translucent golden shield generated by the high school girl as it blocked the bullets.
Screams erupted from the surrounding crowd.
He couldn’t afford to take his time.
“You idiot! Shoot already!”
He yelled at his companion behind him.
Fortunately, his companion quickly prepared without panicking further.
“I don’t know!”
As he approached, the young man in a suit grit his teeth and pulled out a large-caliber gun to take aim at the high school girl.
The fired large-caliber armor-piercing rounds tore through the air and collided with the shield.
This time, the shield couldn’t hold.
With the sound of shattering glass, the shield broke, and blood splattered everywhere.
Frowning, he checked the people lying on the ground.
“Damn.”
“Mom…”
However, the sniper’s shot was a failure.
At that critical moment, the mother had thrown herself to save her child.
Covered in spurting blood, she was limp under the crushed body of her violently battered mother, mumbling in a daze.
“I’m sorry, little one. You have to die for my child to live.”
He raised his pistol to aim at her.
But he did not pull the trigger.
“Ugh…”
“Run away!”
A large brick thrown by someone struck him squarely on the head.
Thanks to the suit, the impact was minimal, but he was still inexperienced.
While he was thrown off guard, another high school girl, pale-faced and panicked, dragged her friend.
“You idiot!!”
“Yikes…”
Finally coming to his senses, he showered his accomplice, who had left the obstruction, with all kinds of curses.
There was no time.
Before the police arrived, he had to dispose of the target as quickly as possible.
“Get ready to run! I’ll finish this and leave!”
With hopes dashed, he pounded the ground.
Thanks to the suit, he demonstrated superhuman agility.
The embedded AI detected the target, who was helping her friend into a nearby building.
‘So annoying!’
Gritting his teeth, he brandished a new weapon and chased after them.
He had already experienced murder once.
Would two be difficult? He would kill. That was his only thought.
“Mom… Mom…”
“I know. I saw it too. But for now, please focus, Yu-na!”
Kang Do-yeon desperately clung to her sanity.
While dragging the effectively catatonic Oh Yu-na, they fled for their lives.
“Help! Help! There’s a murderer!”
“W-what… Yikes!”
She screamed for help while climbing the commercial building of the mixed-use apartment.
Several people who rushed out were horrified to see Oh Yu-na stained in blood and called for an ambulance and police.
‘But there are people here now.’
Kang Do-yeon felt slightly relieved.
However, that thought was utterly naive.
“Whoaah!”
“What… Aaaah!”
Her eyes shook violently.
A monstrous figure in a blue suit crashed through the window of the third floor with a single leap, kicking and throwing bystanders aside.
“I have no grudge against you, but you have to die here.”
He pressed the cold blade that erupted from his knuckles against them.
As energy flowed into the blade, it began to glow blue.
‘No!’
Finally, her limit was broken.
She needed to resist, but her body wouldn’t respond.
Panicking, her teeth chattered, and she struggled to breathe.
Coming this far to perceive the mark and saving the endangered Oh Yu-na was not just mere emotion.
If they had identified Oh Yu-na as a player, then her brother, Kang Shin Woo, would also be in danger.
So, she had to save Oh Yu-na and find a different unit connected to Chae Yeon to ask for help; that was her rational calculation.
“Ah…”
But dying here would be pointless.
Sitting down, Kang Do-yeon sighed softly as she saw the blue flash flying her way.
“Ugh…”
“Y-Yu-na.”
At the moment the blade was about to cut her down.
The monster was knocked back by a strong shockwave.
Suddenly, there was Oh Yu-na, pale-faced and holding a strange staff.
“Let’s run…”
Their eyes met.
And then, simultaneously, they nodded.
They could no longer afford to think naively.
‘This is war.’
Clenching her teeth, Kang Do-yeon used her superior physical abilities to pull Oh Yu-na higher.
There were multiple exits anyway.
They could hide and wait quietly until they could escape this place.
“I won’t let you go.”
“Ahh!”
But their opponent was too powerful.
Although they had locked the emergency exit door, the plasma blade sliced through the thick iron door in an instant.
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
In that critical moment, Kang Do-yeon, cornered in a dead end, threw a desperate punch.
Her small fist landed squarely on the opponent’s unguarded face.
“Ugh.”
With a sickening sound, a strong impact hit the suit.
As a price for ignoring her enhanced physical abilities through magic, the opponent lost sight.
“J-just hold on a little longer! I’ll figure something out!”
Using the staff that Oh Yu-na had received as a sacrificial offering, she activated another engraved magic.
In the meantime, Kang Do-yeon kicked hard at the opponent’s groin.
Seeing the opponent clutching their vital area while screaming, hope began to shine.
[Counterattack executed.]
Until now.
“Huh?”
Gaining confidence, she swung her fist again, but her eyes blinked in confusion.
Something splattered with blood flew past her.
She inhaled sharply as blood splattered on her face.
It was undoubtedly her arm, covered by her school uniform sleeve.
“Ah…”
But before she could fully comprehend that her arm had been severed, her body collapsed.
Soon, the shock from her previously kicked knee joint also gave out, tearing and spraying blood.
The crosshairs on the suit glowed red, indicating a change in movement.
“I’m sorry, Do-yeon…”
Watching her crumble, Oh Yu-na muttered blankly and canceled the magic.
The price of canceling magic was overload.
With Oh Yu-na’s choice of self-destruction, the condensed power erupted uncontrollably and spewed toward the enemy.
[The Legion chose to retreat strategically. They are the kind that does not die even when killed. Moreover, their strength was extraordinary.]
“Still, I think we can keep the pressure on?”
[That’s right. After all, this battle was just a reconnaissance to gauge each other’s strength. What comes next…]
The words trailed off.
Suddenly, a phone rang.
I thought it might be a spam call and considered hanging up but answered instead.
If it was weird, I could hang up right away.
“Yes. Who is this…”
And as I casually answered the call, I froze.
Even as the other party was frantically speaking, I couldn’t believe my own ears.
[…What are you hesitating for? Hurry to the hospital!]
I stood frozen until he shouted at me.
When I finally regained my senses, I realized I had already gotten in a taxi heading to the hospital without knowing it.
“What… How did this happen…”
[Stay focused. It’s a dangerous situation.]
I was in a panic, unable to calm myself.
A dangerous situation? Of course, it was a dangerous situation.
Because what I had dreaded was actually happening!
“But what does that matter? This is my second time. My father passed away like that. If I lose her too, I… I can’t take it.”
Was I going crazy? A hollow laugh escaped me.
The sister lying unconscious before me was literally just a chunk of meat still clinging to life.
She had lost her limbs, her face, everything.
Compared to Oh Yu-na, who was likewise unconscious, it felt far worse.
My eyes trembled at that gruesome sight.
[No, you can do this.]
“What…?”
[Look at the screen. And believe. The Legion, your crafted creation.]
The screen shifted.
The lowest level of the labyrinth.
Where our origin lies, and at the same time, where the brain of the Legion is located.
[The Legion wishes to repay you.]
There, the gathered legionnaires stood in formation.
Their red glare seemed to look right through me beyond the screen.
