Chapter 88: Chaos and Heroes (6)
[He stood alone before his enemies, a legion of demons numbering in the thousands. Yet, he remained calm and serene.]
"I know. I can feel it. There's no hesitation. I'm certain."
[He needs you. He trusts you. He hopes that you will come for him, that you will win.]
“Yes. He trusts me."
Like Kang Do Yeon, Eve placed her hand on her chest and murmured softly. They were calling out to each other. At this moment, their connection was stronger than ever before.
Thanks to this, Eve could feel all of his emotions. The same was true for Shin Woo, who was facing the enemies rushing towards him in the wasteland.
Their trust in each other was solid. The connection between their souls, exclusive to the two of them, was incredibly strong.
“I will go to him and kill his enemies."
Eve, who had abruptly risen from her throne, had a gleam in her eyes. The entire legion stirred, not a single entity was left out.
There was no hesitation in her decision. This sortie was for the purpose of her existence, her growth, her survival, all of which she had defined herself.
[The application of the Unit Summoning Ticket is special for you, an entity that is both one and many. And you can choose.]
“Show those deceitful and weak beasts what a true legion is."
[However, the number of troops that can be mobilized right now is not large.]
“Use the stored energy to mass-produce legionnaires through Rapid Growth and division."
[Doing so will result in an inefficient loss of energy.]
“I don't care."
Eve had already completed all calculations and predictions. If Shin Woo, the player, dies, she dies as well.
“For him, even a planet is worth it."
Therefore, there was no reason not to put all her efforts into saving Shin Woo. Even if she had to devour an entire planet, she could invest the massive energy generated from it all for him.
Soon, the entire nest vibrated. The legion's racial characteristics of Rapid Growth and quick division sucked up energy like crazy, creating a massive force in an instant. Of
course, this was something she would never do unless it was a situation like now.
In the meantime, Eve picked up her weapon. It was a plain iron sword, one of the spoils of war. The reason she chose a sword as her weapon was simple. Since he learned the sword,
she chose the sword as well.
[Get ready.]
Soon, a massive amount of energy moved. Eve's eyes sparkled. She was also greedy for this unidentified power that moved the system.
“But this power is impossible to analyze or approach. Not yet. It's closer to some kind of authority."
[-]
Eve chuckled as she looked down at her physical body, which was gradually being wrapped in light. Soon, part of the legion, including Eve's physical body, seemed to evaporate from the world.
*
“There's a lot of them."
At the entrance of the gorge, I chuckled as I watched the demons rushing towards me. The people eventually left in their cars. It was a good thing, as it would have been a disaster if they had dawdled and seen the legion.
[The legion has already finished preparing.]
“Are you sure? There's no one popping out or anything like that?"
I asked for confirmation one last time. I wasn't crazy enough to stand here alone. What I believed in was the Unit Summoning Ticket, a reward I received for annihilating an enemy unit for the first time.
Reading the description, it wasn't really a beneficial reward for other players. It could only summon one entity, and even then, it had to return after a certain time.
But that didn't apply to me. The legion, Eve, was both one and many. So, the entire legion is summoned by the ticket.
[However, it's impossible to bring the entire legion, so only a part of it will be summoned. But that part will surely be enough.]
“Good."
I wasn't flustered or excited. As long as the legion was definitely being summoned here, I had nothing to worry about.
We're going to win anyway. I'm sure of it. We're going to win.
A fight between legions? Eve would never lose to those guys.
I was so relaxed that I could leisurely observe the demons coming towards me.
fI wonder how the others, like Cha Ji Yeon and Ji Chang Hyun, are doing?'
I had the leisure to worry about others.
The horde of monsters rushing towards this place was their main force.
The largest chunk of them that had scattered to chase the fleeing remnants was coming here.
For now, I could only hope that others survived and escaped safely.
“There's no way the main base was destroyed just because a bunch of ordinary monsters attacked. There must be something more."
Scanning the area, I looked for something out of the ordinary. I suspected a commander was leading this horde of monsters. The battlefield dynamics had drastically changed recently as the monsters evolved into units, shedding their simple beastly nature. The era where sheer firepower guaranteed victory was over.
“...Is it that one?"
I thought I spotted the culprit, the powerful creature that had defeated the alliance's strongest, including Cha Ji Yeon. I pulled out a detection stone from my pocket. The range was too far to determine whether they were units or not.
“&O?@%*#! !"
Soon, the ground shook as a horde of monsters rushed towards me and stopped in front of me. As I had suspected, there was a leader guiding these monsters. This bizarre creature, holding a spear in its skeletal hand, looked like a mix of a bird and a human.
“@#%! !"
“What the hell are you saying?"
The creature continued to clatter its beak at me. It seemed to be in disbelief that I was alone, constantly scanning the surroundings rather than focusing on me. But when it realized through continuous reconnaissance that I was indeed alone, I could almost see the expression on its skeletal face. It looked very upset.
‘'Here it comes.'
I instinctively sensed it and immediately used my summoning ticket. The detection stone remained silent. I confirmed that they were not units, shaking off the last bit of unease.
“Uh..."
But at that moment, I missed the spear thrown at me with transcendent power. By the time I noticed the incoming spear, it was already on the verge of piercing my chest.
“Eve."
At that moment, I called out her name aloud. The name I had given her.
Suddenly, she appeared in front of me, her long, dark hair fluttering. Even though I could only see her back, I had seen this sight many times before.
There was no response. Eve, who had caught the spearhead thrown at me with her hand, simply dropped the spear.
[The legion has arrived. Now, it's war.]
The ground shook. The atmosphere vibrated. Even without looking, I could tell what was coming from behind me.
“Eve. Maybe you should..."
[There's nothing for you to do now. Just watch. I came to protect you.]
Eve kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.
I couldn't follow her due to the intense vibrations of the ground.
“Damn..."
Something huge passed by my side. A super-large species that I had only seen on the screen.
Not just the super-large species. Countless legionnaires were tearing through the ground, the sky, and the earth, marching forward past me.
The face of the skeletal creature appeared. It looked flustered.
[Sure, the creatures of this demon world are strong, but they're just creatures after all. They can't compare to the legionnaires, who were born by analyzing and combining such creatures.]
I stood in the middle of the black wave, watching the scene. The legionnaires, who had overwhelmed in a power struggle, were pushing the enemies away.
The demon army that annihilated the Earth's alliance was indeed strong. But in the end, they were ordinary creatures.
They had to reproduce, eat, and survive.
So now we were stronger. The legionnaires didn't care about such things. They were filled only with muscles, without digestive or reproductive organs.
Survival wasn't important to the legionnaires either. They moved only for victory and battle.
In my sight, the demon beasts, which seemed to be quite large, were being blown away and exploded as they collided with the super-large species. The demon dogs, which used to crush and destroy tanks, were having their heads torn off by the mining-type legionnaires, which were made based on them.
“Ugh..."
Then, a large fragment from the battlefield flew towards me.
But the fragments didn't reach me.
“Should I... thank you, Eve?"
Suddenly, two high-ranking species appeared by my side and activated a barrier to block the fragments.
My gaze naturally went upwards.
In the sky, just like on the ground, a fierce battle was taking place.
The flying species of the legion were tearing apart the flying demons, including the strange birds, with their claws and stingers.
And a pair of black wings cutting across the sky.
My face naturally darkened.
The owner of those wings, who had torn and cut through the enemies surrounding her in an instant, landed in front of me at a fast speed.
“You're okay, right?"
“There's no need for you to worry, oppa. I'm perfectly fine. More than ever."
My younger sister, Kang Do Yeon, who had taken off her mask and appeared by my side, sparkled her red eyes, which were unchanged, and spoke.