Chapter 57: Entangled (1)
“This is… this is ridiculous…”
His breath was ragged, and his speech was shaky.
Having just woken up, he managed to run here as fast as possible with a sense of reality that was still unclear.
‘At least I can catch my breath now.’
He had bought himself some time to catch his breath and calm his mind.
He had shaken off the pursuers, and only silence surrounded him.
The place he rushed to was a forest where the trees of the demonic realm appeared to be dry and twisted.
“Huh, if I awaken them, the guard troops should be no problem.”
Although he had fled in a panic, he hadn’t acted thoughtlessly.
This place was a type of seal.
A seal that confined beings from the past, just like him.
He intended to awaken the forces sleeping here to bolster his own troops against the rapidly changing situation.
“Rise! Loyal dogs of the Demon King’s army!”
He moved his magic and utilized the spell bound by the seal.
The spell began to function normally and glowed.
He smiled faintly.
Those buried here were elites known for their combat prowess.
Surely, they would give him the power to uncover what was happening in this land.
“Good. With this, I can deal with those lowly traitors…”
Watching the blackened armor slowly reveal itself, he grinned.
The summoned soldiers naturally retained their forms from the past.
“Huh?”
However, at that moment, something flew through the air and grazed his horn, no, ‘smashed’ through it.
“AAAH!”
He clutched his broken horn in extreme pain.
The sound that ripped the air was heard a moment later.
His face contorted as he turned his body.
“You… filthy pests!”
The one that had broken the horn of a high-ranking demon was none other than a lowly, contemptible, low-level monster.
They were known as Nol, by some humans.
The problem was that they were the ones who had tried to ambush him right after he awakened from his seal.
“Our name is Ashkruud.”
“W- what…”
He received a first shock from realizing that the Nols had followed him without him noticing, and a second shock from the fact that they could speak.
‘What in the world is going on?’
He then scrutinized their appearances closely.
They were unmistakably the same Nols he remembered.
But something was different. Their gear, the strange weapons they held.
“There’s no time to waste. Kill him quickly.”
At that moment, someone exceptionally tall among the Nols removed their hood.
Seeing the one who had taken off the hood, he contorted his face in disgust.
It was a Kobold, regarded as a low-level monster to Earthlings.
“Fire!”
As the leader of the Nols issued the command, bullets began to rain down.
He gritted his teeth and moved his magic to create a purple barrier in front of him.
The large and powerful bullets capable of piercing Earth’s main battle tanks cracked the barrier but did not penetrate it.
“I, Karka, the commander of the Demon King’s army, shall not fall to the likes of you!”
As his power exploded, his body started to levitate, and his magic began to blaze.
It was a power befitting one who had once led his legion to conquer an entire continent.
[Such a type of power is difficult to penetrate with conventional bullets. Use energy weapons.]
“Energy weapon.”
The Nols received the command ringing in their heads.
The new weapon they had prepared aimed at his body engulfed in raging magic.
“Die, worthless creatures!”
[…How amusing. Who is the worthless one?]
The massive fireball shot by the demon Karka was met with a blue beam from the aimed barrel.
Karka’s eyes widened.
The beam disassembled the fireball completely, shattered the barrier, and pierced through his astonished body.
“Too easy.”
That was the end. One of the commanders of the Demon King’s army, who had awakened from a long slumber, was thus effortlessly slaughtered by the very low-level monsters he had looked down upon.
“Now, it’s your turn.”
“I know.”
The Kobold snickered.
They had no interest in Karka’s corpse at all.
Once a high-ranking demon they wouldn’t dare to even look at.
“Heh… I see now. They called it the Demon King’s spell, but is this all there is to it? Primitive and lightweight spells that do not even know the true principles of powerful magic.”
Shining power spread with intricate patterns.
Stepping forward, the Kobold succeeded in reversing and hacking the ancient spell released from the Demon King’s army, which had yet to assign a new commander.
“Now, your new master is not the Demon King, but me.”
The Kobold grinned as he commanded the unit now obliged to listen to him.
The name of the Demon King had once been an absolute name to those living in this land.
But not anymore. Now, there were beings greater than the Demon King.
“Hmm. Is it a waste to just discard it?”
The Kobold laughed at the miserable corpse of Karka lying on the ground before poking it with his staff.
At the same moment, the corpse’s hand twitched and moved.
“Even as a decaying corpse, fight for that fancy Demon King. The humans of this realm are leading an army to invade, so kill those disturbing the demonic realm.”
The cursed corpse twitched violently and began to rise.
The corpse began to move alongside the ancient legion that had begun to march.
“Keep your promise.”
“I know. It’s a pact between the players. Would we, mere pests, betray?”
Just before parting ways, the Kobold nodded as if startled by the words of the leader Nol.
They were now planning to jointly attack the allied forces of Earth.
Originally, it was a relationship that could not be united, but this was a strategic choice to defeat a greater enemy.
—
“Isn’t this a breach of contract? We are clearly supposed to remain at the garrison while escorting the researchers during operations…”
“Technically, that’s still part of the garrison.”
On the road where the main force surrounded and paved the way with armored vehicles and tanks, Robert sighed as he quelled the dissatisfaction of his comrades.
In reality, it wasn’t worth resisting. Our mission was to escort the researchers, but the researchers were headed to the frontline with us.
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“I consider it a mission of sorts.”
Since I saved his life, the researcher, who introduced himself as Antonif and grew a little closer to me, insisted they had to do it despite the fear.
“If we research and analyze them, we can learn a lot. In fact, many countermeasures have been discovered this way so far.”
“That’s true.”
I couldn’t deny it. The thorough research and analysis conducted so far had allowed for more effective resistance against them.
What bothered me, though, was that they were no longer ordinary monsters.
The legion, aided by my assistance, had evolved beyond common sense and had knocked down the ancient ancestor, the Devouring Fungus.
That transformation and growth that defied common sense were the traits of units and players.
“Recently, there have been many oddities, but we will figure it out.”
Seeing him desperately trying to stay hopeful, I kept my mouth shut.
I have tried to assess my position. I am just a mere civilian with weak capabilities.
Even if I wanted to do something, it should be the capable ones like Chae Yeon who take action.
Military vehicles were also moving alongside us.
The government-affiliated researchers were now on the move with us.
“You don’t need to worry.”
“Not particularly worried…”
“We will definitely win. Even though we were ambushed during the move, our firepower is sufficient.”
A commander with a partially bald head assured us confidently.
It may be true that the firepower was sufficient.
However, the problem was that firepower alone wouldn’t win the war.
“Normally, boasting like that invites problems. Just before we were ambushed, our superiors discovered and crushed the enemy’s detachment.”
“Don’t set strange flags.”
I left Robert, who was reprimanded by Cox, and stepped into the assigned barracks.
Then I took out two items from my pocket.
In my left hand was something that indicated whether there were any units or players nearby.
Fortunately, the ore did not shine.
In my right hand was another offering given to me by the legion.
This was purely a gift for my safety.
“What is the legion doing right now?”
[Still focused on search activities. The assimilation with the Great Army Body is not yet complete.]
“…What about reconnaissance activities?”
[We have to completely assimilate the Great Army Body before the path obstructed by the enemy reveals itself.]
The legion decided not to expend energy to take a detour or physically cut the Great Army Body apart. Instead, they chose to explore other areas during this downtime.
What aided that decision was the terrain detection ability of the Demonic Earth Puppies.
[Now, using that detection ability, the legion, capable of noticing even minute flows underground, discovered something strange within the wall and decided to dig into it.]
The legion decided to excavate that area, summoning dozens of mining-type legionnaires, quickly clearing a path.
“…Could it be a new labyrinth?”
What was hidden there was a cavern.
It wasn’t clear if it connected to the place we were or not.
“Kyaaaak!”
Now a familiar Devouring Fungus infected entity charged at the legionnaires.
[Well done. This is a chance to test whether we can use the mental connection ability on the kin of the recently acquired Devouring Fungus Great Army Body.]
Of course, ordinary Devouring Fungi no longer posed any threat to us.
