A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 75

"Just answer this one thing."

[What do you mean?]

"Is there something that can defend against the Assassination Authority?... You're not talking about something silly like Assassination Reflection Authority, Reflection Negation Authority, or Rainbow Reflection, are you?"

[Of course, nothing like that exists.]

Perhaps the question was absurd, as the other answered straightforwardly.

Even so, it was hard to understand. If there were no systematic means of defense, how could Ji Changhyun remain so composed?

The Assassination Authority, a divine power that indiscriminately targeted anything, was terrifying even for Players. But ultimately, wouldn't it be most dangerous for Units? It was a power capable of tearing apart even a Wraith, a ghost without a physical body.

Players could at least hide and focus solely on surviving, but Units, by design, had no choice but to stand at the forefront.

[What that guy said wasn't wrong. A game... is just a game.]

"Are you trying to say it's not absolute?"

I smirked bitterly. The game-like power embedded within the system, like the Assassination Authority, was undoubtedly beyond imagination.

It connected worlds to worlds, forcibly linked groups and individuals, and held the power to kill any strong being without resistance.

But does that make this system absolute and truthful?

[In this universe, there are forces that surpass this system. The Assassination Authority merely brings death to its target. Then, what exactly is this 'death'? Isn't it commonly defined as the cessation of bodily functions and the separation of the soul from the body?]

"So, if one could overcome that state, in other words, return from death through some kind of trick, the Assassination Authority would no longer be frightening?"

I let out a hollow laugh. However, I didn’t think it was entirely absurd.

Even the Legion was free from the Assassination Authority. The Legion was both one and many. If one of its entities died, it was merely a part of itself being severed, and there was no damage to its true body when the soul was separated and the connection was cut.

A fleeting thought crossed my mind, that death might not be as significant as I had previously assumed, contrary to conventional values.

"Isn't that unfair?"

Ji Changhyun’s signature phrase escaped my lips.

If even the seemingly absolute, balancing power of the system could be escaped, wasn’t the outcome predetermined from the start?

[Don’t be too relieved. At best, you might temporarily evade it through loopholes, but that's limited to something as straightforward and clear-cut as the Assassination Authority, and even then, only for Units. There’s no way for the souls of Players, which are pledged to the game, to escape. And the world is inherently unfair; reality is not a game. If you fail to overcome competition and are weeded out... you simply die. That’s the truth of the world.]

The other retorted with another fundamental argument. It wasn’t wrong. After all, the purpose of this game was competition for survival.

A competition that was extremely unfair. In this battle devoid of balance patches, losers merely became experience points for the winners.

It wasn’t a comforting thought. Ultimately, in a situation where miraculous growth stories like those in fiction were practically impossible, my Unit itself embodied the very concept of growth.

"...Open the screen."

Left with nothing but a lingering uneasy feeling, I stayed behind in the barracks alone during my free time, as always, to observe the Legion. Unaware that I was watching, the Legion was actively operating even now.

While I had grown indifferent to the Legion killing humans, my mind was preoccupied with what name to give that child.

It had to be a meaningful and beautiful name.

*

[He has mastered the Resonance Method, the internal technique you improved to manifest formative power, and has been recognized for his achievements, successfully growing stronger.]

"Was he happy?"

[...Yes. Perhaps he might even mention it in the next video.]

"In the next video."

The Legion, unaware that Shin Woo was watching now, felt slightly pleased after hearing about what had happened to him today. It wasn’t about others recognizing him.

It was solely about whether he liked and appreciated the gift he was given. Nothing else mattered.

"I'm planning gifts to make him stronger. He’ll surely like those even more."

[That’s a wise decision. He needs to grow stronger for you to remain safe as well.]

Since ascending to the surface, the Legion had successfully acquired far more diverse and abundant knowledge.

The data it consumed and analyzed became assets far beyond mere observation or listening. Even things it couldn’t obtain through consumption posed no issue for acquisition.

"Aaagh!"

"I’ll talk... I’ll tell you! Start by drawing a line toward the northeast, then from there..."

This was the middle of a forest that the Legion had turned into its nest.

The area, once filled with lush mountains and vegetation, now sporadically housed throbbing crimson flesh walls and grotesque, dark brown trees towering high enough to block the sunlight.

At the base of those distorted, colossal trees, eggs that mass-produced Legion Soldiers were embedded in the trunks, with screaming humans half-buried within them.

"Ugh... ugh..."

Those subjected to the Legion's infection fungus experienced excruciating pain, spilling all the knowledge and information they had, just as the Legion intended. Most of them were individuals associated with magic.

The Legion was currently extracting knowledge of magic and, at the same time, gathering information about this world from those in its societal upper class.

"But so far, it’s not much."

In this place devoid of the usual sounds of birds or insects, with only screams and shrieks echoing, the Legion conjured up a floating fireball in its hand before shaking its head.

Even though prisoners had been captured and interrogated, the results were not yet satisfactory.

Lower-level magic, which anyone could learn, lacked power and wasn’t worth studying, while the magic of relatively skilled mages had issues with efficiency.

Having witnessed the high-level magic cast by the Deputy Director, the Legion desired magic at least of that caliber.

[In just one day, we hunted an entire city, 23 villages, and over 20,000 humans. And the hunt continues. Humans have already realized our existence and will surely prepare countermeasures.]

"The troops I’ve dispatched now are merely for stalling. The humans, who don’t even fully understand who we are, won’t notice our expansion."

The Legion shifted its gaze far ahead. Compared to this nest, which was continuously expanding by devouring all vegetation, it was quite distant.

The tens of thousands of Legion Soldiers, initially gathered and then released en masse, were advancing with irresistible momentum, indiscriminately slaughtering in all directions.

The brutal and reckless assault was clearly intended to draw attention.

While the panicked humans focused all their attention on those areas, the intention was to devour this entire region undisturbed.

The plan was to cover this vast forest and land entirely with the cells of the Legion.

"Once the nest is expanded and immense energy is secured, I’ll be able to accomplish things I couldn’t before due to efficiency issues underground."

An aerial map, based on the human map it had acquired, unfolded in the Legion’s mind.

Countless flying species were released, and on that accurately crafted aerial map, the image of a continent corner gradually turning black was vividly clear.

According to its calculations, just by consuming this corner of the land, it could produce hundreds of thousands of mid-sized Legion Soldiers daily.

Alternatively, it could experiment with combinations it hadn’t tried before.

'Capture mages from the Mage Academy who have mastered advanced magic. Kill the others and use them as nutrients.'

The Legion issued another command to its troops on the battlefront.

Such diversionary tactics were essential for even minimal stabilization.

'Mage Academy, and the Continental Assembly.'

Now, it had learned who the local powerful figures were, how their power and authority were structured, and how they wielded it.

Having heard of their strength, the Legion took no chances, aiming to achieve victory with minimal losses.

To grow strong enough to crush them with overwhelming power, the top priority was to throw them into disarray.

[I understand capturing mages or skilled warriors.]

"Save me... please save me..."

"Let me go...!"

[Then why are you capturing these people?]

At that moment, a group of people began to be dragged to the center of the nest.

Controlled by infection fungus that manipulated their bodies, they were forced to walk, letting out powerless cries as they arrived at the nest.

These people, chosen regardless of their social status or background, were all local women.

The commonality among them was that they were all young and physically healthy women of childbearing age.

"Obviously, for analysis."

[...Analysis of what?]

The Legion's nest, which handled production, digestive absorption, and decomposition, had grown in size, leading to a division of its roles.

The reason these women were brought here, to this specialized nest for decomposition, absorption, and data accumulation, rather than the battlefield nest where organic matter was quickly processed and fed to Legion Soldiers, was simple.

"Eek!"

"No!"

Tentacles coiled around their ankles, and secretion from the flesh wall of the nest began to engulf them.

At that moment, the faint hope that they might survive, unlike the others who had been killed and processed into nutrients at the battlefield nest, was completely shattered.

"No... no..."

As they were buried alive and covered in secretion, their trembling bodies convulsed as if in a seizure.

Whether they were processed into nutrients at the battlefield nest or decomposed and analyzed here, the end result was the same: death. However, the degree of their despair was vastly different.

[Do you think he would approve of this? If you accumulate data in this way to craft beautiful bodies and faces...]

"For the first time, I looked up at the sky and felt it. Pursuing beauty is natural for living beings. Even Kang Do-Yeon said he likes beautiful women."

The Legion, of course, showed no hesitation.

"...Huh?"

But at that moment.

The Legion placed a hand on its own chest.

Though it had substituted its heart with a core engine, it had unconsciously mimicked something Kang Do-Yeon did when she experienced intense emotional changes.

"Why is that?"

The Legion flinched in confusion. This was the first time the entire collective consciousness had been so profoundly shaken.

"He is enraged. Was he perhaps attacked?!"

[No, he has begun watching this sight in its entirety... Will you hide your body?]

The voice of the Observer, resonating within the mind, was as calm as ever.

The startled Legion hurriedly ran to the trunk of the Sacred Tree nearby, concealing its body within.