Chapter 48: Legion vs. Legion (2)
“…He is afraid.”
“Yeah. I can feel it too.”
“And I feel a deep grudge.”
“You have hated and despised the demons since that day. They have destroyed our family.”
“How dare…”
Anger boiled.
It was not an emotion from the outside. It was the intense rage felt by the Legion itself.
The entire Legion was stirred.
“Calm down. You have crossed the gate now, and we have our own tasks to do.”
Kang Do-yeon stepped forward to calm the Legion.
The Legion soon regained its composure.
Kang Do-yeon knew that this was what the Legion expected of her.
“That’s right. To meet him… we need to leave this place as soon as possible.”
“Wh-what do you mean by meet? What are you going to do when you meet him?”
“…I don’t know.”
The Legion frowned.
Such situations had been quite common up until now.
A phenomenon where, despite knowing something, one’s reason and emotions could not catch up or understand each other.
Now, the Legion had accumulated some knowledge and knew the cause of this phenomenon.
It was due to a lack of experience and a weak ego compared to the knowledge it had and the processing power it could mobilize.
“This is not efficient.”
From the Legion’s perspective, unnecessary ego had caused this inefficiency.
To reduce it, they aimed to utilize subminds like Kang Do-yeon.
However, even the ‘mature’ Kang Do-yeon was still ultimately just an emotionally immature 17-year-old girl.
[The scouts continue to be intercepted. Indeed, they definitely have advanced intelligence and a communication network.]
“You understand the situation, right? Go deal with them.”
“…Got it.”
Switching thoughts, the Legion focused its consciousness elsewhere.
It had now leaped into danger for itself.
Therefore, it had to achieve results.
“Grooo…”
In the dim corridor, a mournful yet eerie wail spread out.
The scouts scattered around shared everything they saw and heard from their encounters with the enemies.
[These are not ordinary devouring fungus infected. Their appearance and behavior are different from the data.]
The devouring fungus infected began to be encountered one by one starting from the 40th level.
However, they all looked strange.
Clearly, these were the ones that infected Moonlight Fairies and cave creatures, yet they only had excessive tumors or some bodily parts altered.
“What is this…”
But these creatures were different.
Though clearly based on Moonlight Fairies, they had something appearing on their chests or their arms and legs had grotesque hooks.
The degree of mutation had marred their original form.
[I distinctly remember hearing that from the captured. The infected on the upper levels are so grotesque and dangerous that our ancestors warned us to avoid them.]
Despite their dreadful appearances, these creatures were more active compared to other infected beings.
They sensed the scouts’ movements and attempted to devour them through various means by extending tentacles or swinging their limbs.
[I can tell. Those peculiar mutated devouring fungi are trying to manipulate the genetic information of the Legion through the scouts they have just consumed. This was the first encounter the Legion had with an opponent capable of manipulating genetic information.]
‘Dare.’
The Legion was, of course, enraged.
If it were about anything else, it might not matter, but genetic manipulation and analysis was one of the Legion’s sources of pride.
The Legion thrived by devouring, analyzing, and combining primitive and imperfect beings.
Now, that mutated devouring fungus was effectively throwing down a challenge to the Legion.
“Kill them.”
Kang Do-yeon gritted her teeth.
The mask did not emerge. Now, she had grown somewhat, and she knew that well.
She drew her sword.
The power core embedded in her heart exuded energy.
One for the heart, one for each arm, and one for each leg.
She had five power cores from the Legion embedded in her body.
With strength incomparable to other legionnaires who carried one each in their hearts, she shattered the ground and leaped up.
“Th-that… Aaaah!”
[The infected creature that noticed her approach let out a terrible scream from its presumed mouth and charged with its large hooked limbs swinging.]
Faced with such a grotesque and bizarre sight, Kang Do-yeon’s face was partially covered by a mask.
At the same time, energy erupted explosively from her sword, manifesting as a slashing attack.
“Ugh…”
Kang Do-yeon staggered from her stance.
It was a strike she unleashed, but she had not expected it to be like this.
Since this was the first battle using her power core, the Legion had no prior data on it.
The blast of energy sliced through the infected creature, which was more than 2 meters tall, cutting it in half and creating a gash that extended over ten meters before dissipating.
“Repulsive.”
However, the infected did not die immediately.
Even after being split in half, it tried to rise or crawl closer to attack her.
[Other infected creatures began to swarm in response to the noise they heard. But indeed, there was something alien about them.]
The entire area quivered.
Kang Do-yeon, gritting her teeth, swung her hooked claws once more at the enemy creeping towards her.
In the end, it was reduced to minced meat, but it was difficult to say it had completely stopped breathing.
[The Legion decided it needed to learn more about them.]
Soon, the mutated infected began to charge in madly while shrieking.
To counter this, the Legion dispatched troops.
After all, the war against the infected was now familiar.
“Huh?!”
She quickly turned her head to evade something that flew towards her.
What was shot at her was a large venomous spiked bone.
The furious Legion retaliated by firing venomous spikes as well.
‘…This might not be easy.’
Kang Do-yeon sensed it, as did the entire Legion.
The foes closing in furiously now might be stronger than any adversary they had faced until now.
The Legion charged forward, kicking the ground towards the infected.
Without slowing down, in the initial collision, Kang Do-yeon unleashed another slashing attack forward.
[Elite legionnaires heightened their output.]
Still, the Legion had already made another leap.
[Resonance and amplification. This is the ability we have taken from the Sacred Tree of the Moonlight Fairies.]
Before long, a red energy gathered in front of the bodies of the legionnaires, including Kang Do-yeon, whose entire face was hidden by a mask, forming a protective barrier.
[The Moonlight Fairies, the oldest archrivals of the devouring fungus. They subdue them with their final legacy.]
“Gruuu…”
“Kieek!”
With a loud crash, the infected that collided with the energy barrier received the shock and bounced back.
Poisonous spikes and acidic substances, etc.
The various and horrific offensive methods possessed by the mutated infected could not penetrate this energy barrier.
However, the attacks from the legionnaires striking from within the barrier struck the monsters tightly.
A black wave of varied shapes and sizes began to push forward again after a slight lull.
[Their attack power and abilities are incomparable to existing devouring fungi.]
In the very center of the nest, while the legion soldiers continued to fight, the Legion utilized some of its smaller forces crawling along the ground to continuously transport fragments of devouring fungus infected being produced on the battlefield back to the nest.
“How audacious, to try to transform and devour parts of the Legion.”
At the same time, they were the nutrients for the Legion and subjects to be analyzed.
Additionally, there was now a strange mix of rage.
“Disassemble and digest.”
The Legion’s tentacles mercilessly descended upon the writhing flesh.
The mucus secreted from the tentacles was the Legion’s digestive fluid.
The countless cells imbued in the mucus began to weaken the target, breaking it down into cellular units.
Normally, at this stage, most victims would not offer any resistance and would be disassembled and digested.
“…?!”
[However, this time, the enemies were uniquely capable of cellular warfare among the beings we have encountered. They began to devour the Legion’s cells as they attacked.]
The Legion’s nest, which was processing digestion, began to harden rapidly while simultaneously twisting.
The mutated devouring fungi began to overpower the Legion with the toxins they emitted.
They first seized the nutrient supply system using the Legion’s cells they infected.
The energy input only bloated their bellies, and as a result, the devouring fungi began to proliferate infinitely within the Legion like cancer cells.
[If this continues, the entire Legion will succumb to them. The predator that devours everything is being devoured in return.]
Gluttony was the Legion’s innate essence and nature.
To have that denied was to deny the very meaning of existence.
“No.”
However, the Legion had already completed all its calculations.
At the same time, it acknowledged its own mistakes.
“Merely growing claws and teeth is insufficient.”
It had indeed focused solely on the enhancement of the legionnaires.
Because up until now, it had never encountered an adversary capable of challenging its abilities.
By taking this event as an experience and preparing for it, that alone would be a great harvest.
This was the conclusion the Legion had reached.
Within the nest where a fierce battle was taking place, the Legion initiated a new form of attack.
Thin, root-like structures began to forcibly burrow into the infected tissues, resembling the roots of a tree.
Simultaneously, powerful energy waves erupted sequentially from those roots, annihilating all nearby cells.
“The potential of Formancy is limitless.”
Another force granting the legionnaires a transcendent power beyond reality.
The Sacred Tree of the Legion was already growing rapidly in the middle of the widest trunk layer.
There was no law that said this power must only be used for visible combat.
The eyes behind the mask sparkled.
The desire for knowledge that would strengthen her was only intensifying.
