Chapter 1: Do You Admit Your Guilt? I Admit You’re a Fool!
Episode 71: Monsters of the Abyss (10)
“Are you sure he isn’t watching?”
[Yes]
“Then it doesn’t matter.”
In a dim corner of the cave, the Legion first checked the most important matters.
In reality, Shin Woo, who was currently conversing with Chris and Chae Yeon, was not looking at the screen.
Of course, there was a reason why he chose to turn off the screen, which he could use to observe everything others couldn’t see.
“Whew…cough..”
“Let’s talk a bit more.”
The Legion chuckled as it held onto the trembling man leaning against the wall beside it.
The prisoner, in disbelief, couldn’t comprehend the situation of a monster taking on a form similar to that of a human woman, whispering to him from behind a mask.
He had extensive experience in interrogating prisoners.
He used infection bacteria to infest their bodies and manipulate their nervous systems at will.
After realizing that pain is an efficient tool for extracting the truth, he continued to use this method.
Even the proudest of fairies couldn’t endure the extreme pain for even an hour.
“Tell me everything. Even the smallest detail.”
The language system was different, but that didn’t matter.
With just a few clues, the Legion quickly learned the language of humans, and its speed was increasing.
“Everything.”
“Cough…gack..”
This was why Shin Woo wasn’t watching. The victim, terrified by the unimaginable torture, shivered and surrendered all he knew, half-conscious.
The Legion memorized all the information.
Of course, they knew that cross-verification was necessary, but for now, they assumed the acquired information was true and began their calculations.
‘If only I could analyze the brain, I could extract the information contained within.’
There were indeed shortcomings. They understood that extracting information through torture was not a particularly sophisticated method.
Currently, the Legion had the ability to perfectly replicate the target’s brain cells, but interpreting the information contained within remained impossible.
Unlike language, which could provide clues through external communication, cell analysis had nothing to reference at their current level.
[So. Have you decided on a course of action?]
“Of course.”
Finally having extracted all information, the Legion raised its physical form.
At that moment, a faint glimmer of hope crossed the captive’s eyes as he thought he might escape the torment.
“Ah…aaah!”
But the infection bacteria, having been controlled, completely consumed the now-useless captive, shattering his brain and utterly erasing his identity.
The horrific screams of the struggling victim gradually ceased.
With the last tear that flowed from his eyes, the captive, fully consumed by the black veins, would later become a living lump of flesh, digested and converted into sustenance when the Legion’s nest arrived here.
‘Now that it’s over, let’s move, Commander Legion.’
The Legion commanded Kang Do-yeon, who had been waiting while masked, to get moving.
Now knowing exactly where they were and who the enemies were, there was no reason to hide any longer.
‘I will devour everything.’
The calculations were complete. The Legion decided to initiate action as movements were detected at the entrance.
“Hey Boris. Why aren’t you responding!”
“These guys cleared out, and they were supposed to report before the shift…”
As the sun set outside the cave, a group of mages entered, unaware of the events that had occurred there just a few hours earlier.
They were furious, having come to relieve the previous staff. Reports of abnormalities were supposed to be made regularly, but not a single one of the existing workers had contacted them first.
Regardless of how insignificant a post was, there were basic regulations to at least pretend to uphold.
“…What the hell?”
“Why is nobody here?”
However, they were bewildered by the emptiness of the place, which lacked even the slightest sound of life.
This place had existed for decades.
They had not anticipated such a variable occurring in this corner area that had exhausted its usefulness, and they hurriedly checked the crystal spheres.
But they were not truly alone here.
Unbeknownst to them, numerous eyes were watching them in real time.
“What… all connections with the golems have been cut off.”
“Same here. It seems like there’s been some kind of issue.”
As they checked the crystal spheres, a sense of tension instinctively surged within them.
The atmosphere changed in an instant. What had once been a dull and mundane workplace littered with desks, crystal spheres, papers, and books now reclaimed the sinister and eerie essence of the past.
The sound of dripping water from the stalactites was unusually loud.
“Hey rookie. Get to HQ and report right now. We need to investigate. Damn, it’s just a matter of bringing in the communications sphere, ignoring the regulations.”
Among them, a middle-aged mage with a mohawk, who seemed to be a veteran, commanded the young man in a slightly trembling voice.
It seemed he was used to being treated this way; the young man nodded urgently at the serious voice and hurriedly turned to leave.
“Uh…?”
“You can’t leave.”
However, just as the young man dashed toward the entrance, someone appeared from who knows where and blocked his path.
Draped in black armor over a slender and voluptuous body, the figure, backlit by the darkening evening, had long black hair cascading down to the waist, and its mask glowed with red eyes.
“What…?”
“Fool! Duck!”
While the young man faced the Legion in surprise, the senior, quickly grasping the situation, conjured and launched an ice spear.
However, the ice spear was abruptly stopped by a dark, translucent barrier that had appeared.
In that moment, silence enveloped the area. Meanwhile, the Legion pointed a finger at them.
‘Kill.’
An order was given to the waiting legionnaires.
The flying-type legionnaires waiting one level below surged forth as if a dam had burst.
“Ugh, aaaah!”
“Barrier! Now!”
Some of the mages, terrified by the oncoming giant beasts, could not respond quickly enough and fell, bleeding from sharp talons and venomous stingers.
Since they had already resolved to kill everyone, there was no need for infection.
The few survivors who rushed together set up a barrier in a corner and began to bombard the legionnaires with various spells in a desperate attempt to defend themselves.
‘The staff of the maze management office, mostly low-level mages.’
However, the Legion already knew their identities and the spells they exhibited from interrogating the earlier prisoner, and their reaction was indifferent.
Although the new method of manipulating Formancy was of interest, it seemed to the Legion that with that level of skill, it was not worth learning.
“There are too many…”
“Help!”
Completely overwhelmed by the flying types, they resisted with difficulty against the black monsters that filled their field of vision, all within a layer of defense.
But the barrier was not infinite. There was no one to come to their aid.
Moreover, the ferocity of the monsters before them was different from that of ordinary beasts.
The multitude of monsters that rushed at them didn’t see humans as mere prey but as targets to be completely eliminated.
The mages sensed that murderous intent and succumbed to panic, and the more psychologically shaken they became, the thinner their barriers grew, gradually beginning to crack.
‘The academia and the city.’
The Legion was already contemplating its next plan as it watched them unable to maintain their barrier, brutally torn apart.
According to the gathered information, there were those among the humans of this world who were far stronger than these low-level mages.
If they had that level of power, they seemed worth learning from.
[It takes some time to establish a nest.]
“It doesn’t matter.”
The Legion first made its nest on this hundredth level.
The massive legionnaires, resembling giant toads, began to regurgitate the sticky mucus they had brought within, from which walls and tentacles began to grow, covering the ground.
The nest had yet to engulf even the deep underground of the seventieth level, so for now, they only needed to create a connection for sharing sustenance from the main nest and develop a method to digest and supply sustenance for the forces here.
“There’s plenty to eat. We will devour everything and increase our scale.”
Standing at the entrance of the cave, the Legion spread its arms wide.
The vast expanse of forest, the flora and fauna dwelling there, and the sizable city visible in the distance.
There would never be a shortage of food. Unlike the labyrinth it had only rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
Everything unfolding now could become its energy.
The Legion stepped out of the cave, which had previously been nothing but rock, and placed its feet onto the soft, weed-covered earth.
Though its rough monster’s feet boasted sharp claws, it felt plenty.
Kneeling, the Legion swept its hands through the soil and then grinned.
An ant, fearlessly climbing onto its hand, crawled around.
