Chapter 43: The Struggle for Survival (3)
“Hah… hah.”
It was almost laughable as soon as I saw it.
I felt like I would just wither away if I continued to hold my position.
So, I tried to find a way out.
The enemies had been repelled once again, and this time the interval was a bit longer.
I held a glimmer of hope that maybe this was the end.
“F-Felix…”
But that was a vain expectation.
Outside the common area they had taken as a refuge lay the vast level filled with countless black beasts.
The very same monsters that had just slaughtered enough to form a mountain of corpses in a frenzy.
They were swarming on the floor, the ceiling, and the walls.
“Everyone, grab your weapons. This is it.”
Felix finally realized the situation.
His eyes gleamed.
“This is not a war.”
For a moment, I had been misled by their restrained behavior, which was different from the infected, but this was not some grand war.
It was nothing more than a desperate struggle for survival that they had been engaged in all along.
Lose, and die; win, and survive.
“If only there was just a little more time.”
Murmuring faintly, he raised the sword with its edge already dulled.
At this point, everything felt regretful.
If the Sacred Tree had grown just a bit earlier.
If I hadn’t been discovered this time.
“UAAAAH!”
And then, he took the lead and charged at the legionnaires first.
The last warriors, filled with nostalgic emotion, followed suit.
And this moment, when they were all in for one final strike, was precisely the moment the Legion had induced.
[Indeed, their combat power, which had been steadily on the rise, peaked. Though stamina and numbers were dwindling, what made this miracle possible was true strength.]
In a trance, Felix swung his sword, having already surpassed his own limits.
A faint blue light ignited from his sword and body.
The symbols etched on his body shone brighter than ever.
Though his swordsmanship was inferior to that of the knight phantoms guarding the city, he possessed explosive power that phantoms lacked.
[The Legion dispatched its strongest all-purpose soldier.]
Amongst the legionary group, a newly created legionnaire emerged.
Its form was similar to the existing type.
It stood about 2 meters tall, based on orc and human bodies, along with the recently acquired moonlight fairy features.
It had a slender yet resilient physique covered in black armor.
However, it also bore a long, sturdy, yet agile tail taken from the lizards that were the rulers of the lowest level.
“Cough…”
Felix winced as he felt something brush past his cheek, breaking into a cold sweat.
Like a whip, the tail that had swung around grazed his face, leaving a deep cut on the floor as it returned.
“Truly a mysterious creature. Is it really a living being?”
He gritted his teeth and summoned his strength.
He had never seen such a monster before.
It was a different kind of horror compared to the disastrous Devouring Fungus-infected.
“But I must win.”
Drawing his sword, he braced himself and charged at the legionnaire.
The clash of swords erupted.
The sword made of armor cracked audibly.
In a split second, he ducked to evade the swinging tail.
With another pair of arms popping out from the split armor, he twisted his waist to avoid an incoming attack.
Still, while locked in a clash of swords, he redirected the blade, cutting through the legionnaire’s body in half.
“I can… win!”
He instinctively sensed his growth.
His heart pounded with excitement.
“What are you?”
He didn’t lose confidence even when confronted with the emergence of a new enemy.
With a slender form, curvaceous body, and flowing black hair.
Compared to the other monsters, it was strikingly dissimilar.
Felix instinctively prepared himself and stepped back.
Through the gap in the black mask covering her face, red glowing eyes flashed.
*
“It’s not brainwashing…”
While the moonlight fairies launched their final attack for survival, Kang Do-yeon arrived at the scene swiftly.
She adjusted her mask.
The mask merged with her, melding into her body.
She was acutely aware of her condition.
‘What the Legion wants is my voluntary action.’
She didn’t know what the mask would actually do.
At least it didn’t force her actions, but it was clear that it wouldn’t allow thoughts counter to the Legion’s will.
[A newly created all-purpose legionnaire has fallen in a single blow. The difference lies in whether you can manipulate Formancy. Therefore, the Legion is sending forth its strongest creation.]
She bit her lip. It was time for her to step in.
However, fighting against an entity resembling herself was not something she could take lightly.
[From the start, the Legion did not expect much from you, a once ordinary human girl.]
“Ugh!”
The moment she weakened, the mask began to appear.
The function of the mask was to allow her to concentrate on her mission as a ‘part of the Legion.’
“Ah…”
As the mask was placed over her, her hormones were forcibly regulated, calming her anxious mind.
In this newfound tranquility, the orders from the Legion took precedence.
“Kill and devour.”
She drew her sword.
The blood-stained and battered opponent breathed heavily as he looked at her.
If she had been herself, she would have been overwhelmed by the warrior’s gaze, teetering on the edge of battle.
But now, wearing the mask, that was not the case. Moreover, she had already grown tired of witnessing the opponent’s skills.
The battle data gathered from the legionnaires that had perished lay intact in her mind.
“..!!”
As her opponent swung his sword, she evaded it with a single step, and he widened his eyes in surprise.
“Bring them despair.”
She twisted her body to dodge the second attack of his, delivering a kick that smashed one of his legs.
The broken shin bone tore through the flesh, protruding grotesquely.
She dodged the flailing arm that came at her, slicing it off with a swift strike.
Then, a final counterattack came from the lone arm and leg remaining.
A softly glowing sword.
If hit, even she would be dead.
Yet, she swung her sword to meet that force-filled blade.
Half of her arm gleamed with the blue gemstone embedded within.
From that gemstone, a hot energy surged forth.
“Ah.”
He let out a sigh of despair upon seeing that.
“Hah… hah…”
[They tasted true despair. A mountain they could never surpass appeared before them, no matter how much they wagered. All that remained was to deal with those consumed by fear.]
The legionnaires surged forward, pushing the frontline.
Kang Do-yeon removed her mask and gasped for air.
The gemstone embedded in her arm had lost its radiance, falling to the ground.
“Execution Authority, what do you want with it? You could use it against me.”
‘What does that even mean? With just the Execution Authority, we won’t die.’
Though she spoke with a trembling voice, the return of the Legion’s will was cold.
‘Promise me. After all, your soul and all data are with me. Even if you die, reviving you would be easy. You would be something precious to him, something you could never afford to lose.’
“This can’t be…”
The Legion, in fact, extended kindness and goodwill sincerely.
It was just that the method and direction followed its own standards that differed entirely from human sensibilities.
Kang Do-yeon bit her lip.
This was a price.
A price paid in exchange for her life and the power she gained.
‘If you can’t endure it, wear the mask at any time.’
Terrible data from the slaughter continued to flood her mind.
She barely endured.
The Legion’s reluctance to command her to clean up afterwards was a sort of consideration.
After all that attention, she couldn’t complain any further.
“I’m completely fine.”
‘That’s a lie.’
“Yes, I’m lying. But I have to say something, don’t I?”
She stood up from her spot.
Wearing the mask didn’t mean she wasn’t herself.
The sensation still lingered at her fingertips.
The sensation of killing.
She couldn’t forget those piercing eyes that had been watching her.
“I need to become stronger.”
She murmured to herself in a daze.
Though she had clearly won in battle, she considered it a defeat for herself.
If she hadn’t had the mask, she would have lost.
[They captured a prisoner. To extract information.]
‘You know what I might do, right?’
In the numbing chill of reality, Kang Do-yeon shut her eyes tightly.
“Let, let go of this… let it go!”
In the survivors’ hideout.
The living beings were slaughtered without exception, and one survivor was dragged in.
The Legion sought to uncover certain facts through him.
[First, it’s about language. The Legion has only one way to acquire language.]
‘Let’s have a conversation. With us.’
“I-I can’t just comply with monsters like you… ugh.”
[They had already devised a way to easily pry open the mouths of those who resist.]
The legionnaires injected bacterial legionnaires into the captured survivor’s body.
In an instant, the prisoner was covered in black veins all over his skin, screaming in indescribable agony.
“Now you can hear my words, can’t you?”
The Legion infiltrated every corner of his body, infecting him, and deformed the cells.
Not merely the pain, but the horrific agony embedding itself directly in his nerves.
The prisoner’s will to resist collapsed in an instant, and he began to act according to the Legion’s intent.
Though he wasn’t particularly cooperative like Kang Do-yeon was, and it took some time, eventually the questions were peeled away, one by one.
