Chapter 85: Chaos and Hero (3)
“How is he doing now?”
[He and the army he belongs to have achieved victory. They will continue to advance, establish a base, and keep striking the enemy’s main stronghold.]
“What about me? Any praise?”
[…Wait a moment. He is currently surrounded by his comrades. They all admire and praise his achievements alongside you.]
Achievements alongside you. That phrase made Eve’s lips curl into a smile.
It meant Shin Woo’s intentions had worked.
Eve sensed that Shin Woo needed her and sought her help, and when he ultimately achieved his accomplishments with her assistance, she could experience the exhilarating feeling of being one with him.
“I’m glad he’s gotten stronger. It’s thanks to me, so he’ll rely on me even more, right?”
[In your judgment, what is his level?]
“Not that high, but that’s not important. I can make him stronger. Most importantly, humans have the potential to surpass their limits.”
Objectively speaking, if Shin Woo were to join the Legion, his skill level would be comparable to a mass-produced type meant as a consumable.
Although he could handle Formancy, real combat was not just a numbers game based on data values. By Eve’s cold calculations, his actual combat power was nowhere near the level of higher beings.
However, Eve not only rated him highly but was also overly generous in her evaluation.
[…]
“I need to acquire the technology related to the Gate quickly.”
Right now, Eve’s excited mind was filled with a single topic.
The Kobolds Shin Woo was facing in the demonic realm were definitely Units. Moreover, the Player who controlled them was in this world, where Eve was.
Thus, the Gate technology they used was certainly technology from this place.
In fact, she had already secured testimonies related to it.
The Mages of this world were those who had migrated after losing a long war in their distant past in a world they called REDRIUM. The migrants used Golems to drive away the Devouring Fungus that had infested the world.
How did they reach this place? They used magic that transcended space. That method was the Gate, and there was even an academy dedicated to researching it.
“The Gate is classified information, and only a handful of high-ranking officials can access it, aside from that academy. Moreover, sharing the magic of the Stars Academy would mean they have knowledge of other academies.”
At the same time, Eve deduced the identity of the being presumed to be the Player. The candidates narrowed down rapidly. It was likely an active former high-ranking official of the academy. Based on the testimonies of the academy’s Mages, there were at most a few hundred.
To Eve, that was not a very large number at all. She could easily create a plan to capture and eliminate them all.
[But the information related to the Gate is all in Menace. It’s there.]
However, even if she wanted to obtain Gate-related technology right now, she couldn’t.
According to the information she had gathered, the academy researching Gate-related magic was called Ardos.
Ardos Academy had its headquarters solely in Menace, the central metropolis of the continent.
The information also indicated that Menace was the base of the Continental Council that governed this continent, as well as various Mage academies.
In other words, even if she knew, coveting the information would not be easy.
“Those idiots…”
Eve’s mood quickly soured as she clicked her tongue quietly with a fiery glare.
The provocations and pride shown by Commander Austin were fresh in her mind. It was only natural to feel frustrated knowing they would resist pathetically until their end, even when they should just spit everything out and die quickly.
And Eve still needed a bit more time. Above all, she still did not know the power of the people in this world.
Even if she finished her expansion to her satisfaction, there was no guarantee she could just obtain the technology she desired.
“There’s no need to waste time.”
Returning to her throne, Eve calmly surveyed the situation.
She could see and hear everything across the Legion’s expansive reach. With the hastily summoned defense force nearly wiped out, the nearby cities and towns were defenseless lawless zones.
‘There may be a slight manpower shortage, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll trample everything.’
Eve commanded the Legionnaires scattered everywhere, including those that had grown into super large types after crushing the enemy, to regroup and move again.
The humans, who had lost the will to resist, would now face death unless they fled to safety.
[Good. Then during the spare time left, I can record a video to pass on the newly refined martial arts to him based on the methods of the knights here.]
“…”
[What’s with that reaction? You said you’d show him your face and communicate directly after this battle.]
Suddenly, Eve’s body froze.
It was something she had said herself. Yet now, for some reason, her body wouldn’t move.
“I-I’ll do it later. When Kang Do-yeon… comes.”
[Why? You can operate a cellphone now, can’t you?]
“Shut up!”
Her emotions were in turmoil. Faced with this odd, strange feeling that made her want to act but held her back, Eve flinched, caught between action and inaction.
‘I’m still not complete. Just a bit more.’
[It’s better to finish preparing your heart quickly. Kang Do-yeon has encountered the enemies.]
As a stroke of fortune, a situation arose that quickly quelled Eve’s tumultuous emotions.
Kang Do-yeon had not participated in the last battle due to a separate mission.
And now, she was facing the enemy for that mission.
‘Good. Proceed with the execution.’
Eve ordered the plan she had devised in advance to be executed.
She detached a swift unit from the main force and targeted a 2,000 strong detachment that had slipped away.
Though the number was only in the dozens, it was a mission utilizing several upper-tier beings, including the strongest force, Kang Do-yeon.
“Um?”
“I felt it too.”
However, as Kang Do-yeon approached them, both she and Eve sensed something.
A thread of soul connected to the outside. Someone in the detachment possessed a String.
*
“Damn it. What the hell is that?”
Roses LeBlanc, who had realized he was the root cause of this situation and was mentally exhausted, lamented while looking up to the sky, forgetting his dignity.
He had just finished a humiliating trade with a bizarre entity that had introduced itself as the Demon King of the demonic realm after intermittently battling Legionnaires.
And now, a being was descending from the sky to deliver the final blow to his already battered spirit.
“That…”
“Vice President! Aaaah!”
Those entities, not reducing their speed, landed right in the middle of the assembled detachment with an enormous shockwave.
‘What the…’
The first thing that caught Roses’s eye as he squinted through the shockwave and dust was the black wings. Wings wrapped in dark feathers.
However, those wings soon ignited in crimson flames, swinging like blades and creating an explosion of blood.
“They’re enemies! Enemies!”
“Form up!”
The startled soldiers hurriedly aimed their weapons and magic at the beasts that appeared from the heavens.
“Fire!”
Roses quickly commanded.
Though they had been taken by surprise, the enemies had landed right in the midst of their crowded allies.
A rain of indiscriminate magical explosions was unleashed upon the enemies.
Amidst the glare and explosions that made it hard to even open his eyes, Roses watched the scene with tension.
[It’s useless. They’re… unscathed.]
But the moment the magical explosions ended, he widened his eyes at the words flickering in front of him.
At the same time, as the dust settled, the sight of the enemies surrounded by a crimson barrier, vibrating with energy, came into view.
The upper-tier beings, with their wings already tucked behind their backs, stood back-to-back, thrusting their spears in all directions.
Among them was the master of the black wings.
Now, the mask she wore didn’t affect the hormone system. The mask served merely to disguise her face.
In that instant, Roses’s eyes met the four glowing red orbs shining from within that mask.
‘I’m going to die.’
He instinctively sensed it, even while surrounded by a protective barrier.
It took him less than a second to jump off the Golem he was riding and hide behind a fellow Mage.
Right after that.
From the aimed spears, energy coalesced from extended hands and exploded outward at maximum output in all directions.
This energy explosion was an original technique possessed by the Legion—the power of pure release that had not been learned through magic or swordsmanship.
That simple outburst of power incinerated thousands of armored forces who had surrounded them, turning the area into a cacophony of death and chaos.
“This… this is…”
In the wake of the shock, a scene where more than half was annihilated. As eerie silence descended upon the spot, those who had lost their minds stood frozen, scared to move.
“Ugh!”
In the midst of it all, seeing a comrade, whom he had fought alongside, vanish completely to leave behind only an arm clutching a sword, one knight let out a furious yell and rushed forward, sword in hand.
“Cough.”
She showed no hesitation in her movements as she deflected the sword with an armored hand and kicked the knight squarely in the chest.
With a single blow, the knight’s breastplate crumpled, and blood splattered as he collapsed to the ground.
“Urgh…”
“Ah…”
In an instant, fear and despair spread among the crowd.
Even with half of those still standing, armed with vengeance and fury, they hesitated to charge at a mere five enemies.
“Vice President, where is Vice President Blakele?!”
“We need strong firepower. He could do it!”
People instinctively searched for a stronger ally. Clearly, there was still hope. The enemies were only five, and there was still potential left for their side; the enemies would have additional burdens to unleash their power again.
“Vice President…?”
However, at the spot where he stood, only the horrifying remains of a corpse were visible.
On the ground, where he had vanished without a trace, only his abandoned robe remained.
