Chapter 33: The Legion’s Favor (4)
Theseus’s ship. The conundrum of change and continuity.
The body that constitutes me is being replaced cell by cell.
Its function and appearance are undoubtedly the same as before.
So when all the cells are completely changed, is it still me? This was one of the strange and chilling feelings Kang Do-yeon was experiencing at that moment.
[If you cannot endure this feeling of estrangement, your mind will collapse like this.]
A strange voice echoed in her ears.
It was a voice that the Legion had been bored of hearing, yet one that the Legion couldn’t comprehend.
The voice belonged to a deep-voiced man, but there was something scratched and wounded about it.
[Who are you?]
‘I… I am…’
She frowned as her body curled up like a fetus.
It was all so confusing.
Too much information was flooding her mind.
Knowledge of the Legion that her small human brain could not withstand.
Therefore, the Legion had appropriately controlled the information directed at her.
With this control of information, she possessed the strongest sense of self within the Legion, yet she had been pushed down to the second rank.
‘I am Kang Do-yeon. I am just me.’
[Is that all?]
‘And a… part of the Legion.’
She overcame the feeling of estrangement with her mental strength.
She succeeded in not losing her sense of self.
She clearly remembered the last moment.
The red cross-eyed gaze of the blue suit that had torn her limbs apart and brought her to the brink of death.
‘You bastard.’
Anger boiled within her.
But that anger was not only hers.
The entire Legion resonated with that anger.
The area covered by the Legion’s nest trembled.
[The first being has been born. This has been recorded in the history of the Legion.]
She slowly opened her eyes.
At the same time, a crack appeared in the flesh wall of the nest she had been in.
Light poured in through the gap, and slime spewed out.
“Ugh… Hack…”
She was swept away and poured out into the outside world.
Instinctively gasping for air, she filled her lungs.
“Ugh…”
With her blurred vision, she stood up on the floor of the nest and stumbled.
Even though she overcame the feeling of estrangement, it still lingered within her body.
A sensation that felt like it was not her own.
But biting her lip, she took a deep breath and steadied herself.
As her mind stabilized, her body quickly adjusted.
[Do you know what you have to do?]
“Yeah. I do… um… sir.”
Holding her throbbing head, she chuckled softly.
Though the Legion controlled the information, on the other hand, they decided to use Kang Do-yeon, the only entity with an advanced brain, actively and efficiently.
So there was no way she wouldn’t know.
She knew exactly where she was, why she was in this state, what the Legion was, and what she had to do moving forward.
“I’m filled with anger toward those damned bastards. But it’s not anger directed at me, is it? To you, I’m just entity 1. You’re just angry because your brother is sad, right?”
She walked slowly.
Even in the grotesque and abominable sight of the nest and the legionnaires, if a normal girl were to see it, she would scream; she didn’t care that she was completely naked.
After all, such things were no longer important to her.
“Let’s go.”
The waiting legionnaires followed her as she moved upward.
The procession continued endlessly.
It was a march to completely occupy the 35th level.
There was no fear or doubt on Kang Do-yeon’s face as she led the way.
[You, we, are the Legion.]
She too, was ultimately a part of the Legion.
In exchange for saving her life, she became one with the Legion.
‘So war, fighting, is my duty.’
There was no rationale behind it.
War and predation were the essence of the Legion’s existence.
“What could it be? To me, it looks… almost like an elf from a fictional work. Grotesque pale corpses, but what kind of structure is this? A shrine? A temple?”
Kang Do-yeon reached the 35th level leading the legionnaires.
Through her, the Legion made its first concrete assessment of the enemies on the 35th level.
[They dared to attack us once again. As before, the patterns on their bodies began to shine.]
The Legion responded to the guardians running at them, having lost their reason.
The Legion had never lost in a rematch until now.
They always mobilized stronger and more innovative forces and tactics during the second attack.
“Ugh…”
It was the same now.
Leaving behind the legionnaires that dashed out first, Kang Do-yeon squinted and stared.
[Get used to it. The Legion has granted special powers to special entities. This is an application of the rapid growth, another racial characteristic of the Legion. It’s the peak of inefficiency, but this entity is worth the investment.]
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
Kang Do-yeon screamed in pain as her body twisted and reformed.
At the same time, her entire body began to reverse.
Her skeleton rapidly changed and mutated, and the skin across her body started to be covered in black leather and carapace.
Her muscles were rearranged, and her nerves contorted.
As a result, except for her neck, her body was completely transformed.
The appearance resembling that of a being clad in a black suit was not very different from that of any other versatile legionnaire.
“Kyaaah!”
As she endured the pain and gasped for breath, an enemy charged at her with a spear.
She lifted her head, which she had bowed.
Before long, her eyes glowed with a red gleam as she gritted her teeth and kicked at the enemy.
The superhuman force of the compressed muscles created by the Legion exploded.
“It really hurts like hell…”
With a shockwave, the upper body of the enemy, who had broken the spear, erupted.
She drew a sword that transformed her cells from her hand.
Rage boiled within her.
The entire Legion resonating with her felt the same way.
And that intense anger helped her crush the enemies.
In a single leap, she split apart the body of the enemy struggling against a legionnaire in a contest of strength.
Certainly, the composition and scale of the Legion’s military types were exactly the same as before.
However, the results were entirely different.
The Legion quickly began to drive the enemies into a near-total extinction.
With the emergence of the advanced brain and Kang Do-yeon, the collective consciousness became even faster and denser, and the learned fiery anger turned into madness, slashing through the enemies again and again.
Mindless corpses moved by spell?
Certainly, they were excellent bodyguards who would not die easily, but that was the same for them as well.
[All enemies have fallen. But it’s not over yet. We must head up there.]
“…What the hell is going on here?”
Kang Do-yeon murmured, looking at the massive hole in the ceiling with her sword sheathed.
*
“Is Mom okay? Did you tell her everything honestly?”
“…I told her that I will definitely survive.”
“Really? But can I really go back to Earth?”
The thing spoke while gazing into the void.
It was aimed at me through the screen. Of course, the perspective didn’t match at all.
“I’m sure there will be a way.”
“I think I can get back soon.”
Despite my feelings, Kang Do-yeon smiled lightly.
The being’s form was still in that state.
It looked similar, but it was certainly not human.
That form, resembling a female legionnaire, felt so out of place.
[Do you have nothing to convey now?]
“No. That’s not it.”
I shook my head.
My words were being conveyed by the narration, by the being that called me ‘brother.’
“It’s not just what I’m saying. My brother might not know, but I do, being directly connected to the Legion. It’s truly… amazing. That strange can of junk that attacked us, I can tear it apart with one hand now.”
The being clenched its fist.
The hand bore sharp claws, as if it were wearing a gauntlet.
“Yeah. That’s right. But we need to get out of this maze first.”
“In my opinion, it looks like some kind of ancient ruins. Those that attacked us seemed to act as if they were trying to protect this place. But even though they’re big, they’re really nothing special.”
Kang Do-yeon stood up and began to investigate around the 35th level.
Unlike other levels, this place was a barren cave itself.
Currently, the seeds of the nest were planted, expanding their territory, but there was hardly anything for it to digest.
[The Legion has decided to take a short break. They intend to replenish the lost troops and turn this place into a complete nest to ascend further.]
The nest was an essential space for both producing legionnaires and simultaneously supplying them with nutrients.
If efficiency was pursued, it was foolish to squander even legionnaires like consumables.
“Ugh… I really hate this.”
A tentacle flowed toward my younger sibling from the nest.
As it poked into the lumbar area, it trembled, grumbling incessantly.
“I can send food. I’m still constantly buying and sending it.”
“Forget it. I don’t even have a digestive organ right now, and more than anything, consuming food this way is more efficient than digesting it through my own digestive system.”
“…Do you hate bread too?”
For a moment, the being’s ears perked up.
I chuckled as I stood up.
I wanted to at least do this for her.
“Hey! Are you listening?! We’ll handle all the fighting here, so just hide! Stick close to Chae Yeon!”
“…Tell her I got it.”
[Good.]
I smiled bitterly.
Kang Do-yeon had become a part of the Legion.
However, her thoughts did not always align with the Legion.
The higher species was, of course, the Legion.
My younger sibling worried about me, and because of that, wished for safety.
But not the Legion.
The Legion worried about me, and for that reason, desired for me to become even stronger.
Now I understood. It wasn’t only the Legion that could fathom my emotions.
