＜ Chapter 111 – Corps (11) ＞
Episode 111 – Corps (11)
“These monsters…”
[What can I do? That your strength is still weak.]
“noisy!”
Liam let out his anger and ran forward, slicing through enemies one by one who tried to get in his way, and continued on his way.
Although the allies were being pushed back, it was not particularly angry with the enemies. It was just anger at the situation itself, and anger at himself for not being able to defeat the enemy so easily.
‘That stupid woman.’
It was only natural for him to see Lee Ji-yeon, who was in danger due to the appearance of a new, higher-class species.
He gritted his teeth and ran towards her. The moment she blocked the enemy’s attack with a golden shield borrowed the power of the constellation, he too opened his eyes wide, but he did not stop running.
“monster! Search!”
Liam, who had hit the ground, was about to finish off Lee Ji-yeon, who had exerted all his strength, and swung his sword into the enemy’s shoulder. Just before the sword touched, the enemy wrapped himself in a red energy shield, but his sword broke it with even greater power.
“Kuk.”
However, thanks to being hindered by the shield, contrary to expectations, the enemy’s body did not cut at once even when he swung his sword with all his might, only digging into his chest.
This new breed raised its arm and grabbed Liam’s body, which had been dismembered. At the same time, the cracked breastplate and the intense energy core shining between them now condensed its power and tried to shoot it at Liam.
‘Damn it. Was it not enough?’
The thought of having been attacked in reverse crossed his mind and he gritted his teeth. If that ray cannon was fired from such a close distance, he had an intuition that he would not be able to withstand it.
“no!”
He could see Lee Ji-yeon, who couldn’t control her body properly, shouting urgently. But these monsters invading the world don’t hesitate.
“you······.”
It was at that time that the head of a high-ranking species was split in half and soon burst out like a watermelon bursting. The existence that attacked from behind and wielded a black carapace sword was another monster whose entire body was covered in black suit-like leather and carapace.
Liam fell several meters down when his grasping hand was released, but the black monster, Code X, who reached out to the body of a superior species who had fallen with him and made them disappear in an instant, went up into the sky and disappeared.
‘It was him as expected!’
After falling to the floor, Liam forced his throbbing body up and hurriedly looked around, but the surroundings were already full of smoke and dust, screams and shouts.
***
[It was an opportunity to kill easily, but…]
“Have you still not let go of your lingering feelings? give up And anyway, Liam saved Lee Ji-yeon, so let’s fight it.”
[We will also proceed with the analysis of the new species you just sent.]
The moment Liam stumbles and looks around. Having already ascended to the sky and escaped the battlefield, he watched the ground again and even confirmed that Lee Ji-yeon and Liam were rescued and transported to the rear.
“Let’s go back now. without question.”
The battle isn’t over yet, and the number of people dying here and there is increasing even at this moment, but he was convinced that his work ended here.
“This defeat is a bit bitter. I think everyone thought we would win unconditionally.”
The dungeon battle, in which mankind defends itself with gates and declares war on invasive species, ended in defeat this time. Of course, the enemies must have suffered a lot of damage from artillery fire, but the enemies didn’t seem to care about the damage to some of the troops.
On the other hand, mankind suffered heavy losses from consumed resources and sacrificed troops, including high-level awakeners. It was when new species appeared that the winning rate of strategy battles, which had been fairly successful, began to drop drastically.
He had a hunch that the Awakeners could not win this competition unless they stepped up a notch.
“I wonder what you think. As you said, the invasive species are similar to the Demon King’s army you lead. What must we do to defeat them?”
[Judged only from the data gathered now, Earth’s firepower is sufficient. The firepower of firearms produced by Earthlings cannot be compared to that of the armies of this world. However, as you said, the power of the Awoken is not enough. Both experience and output are lacking]
It has enough firepower to stop the invading army. However, the power of the few elites who mix with the corps and infiltrate the inside to hinder the development of allies’ firepower is stronger than the Awoken who are supposed to stop it. That was the problem Lucy pointed out.
[It is impossible to inject great experiences at once into humans who evolve by turning the breeding cycle and do not have very good short-term learning abilities.]
“I guess so.”
[The power of growth using levels is what the beings of this world have overcome. If there is no such thing, the human race on Earth, which is lagging behind in both experience and output, will soon become extinct.]
Lucy was cold. Without hesitation, he foretold our end. Knowing how accurate the calculation was, I couldn’t help but stiffen my face.
[So, I have to intervene.]
“right. So, is the work going well?”
Unlike before, I had no choice but to depend on Lucy as the reality grew darker and the hope left for us gradually disappeared.
[Of course. you can meet soon.]
Will Lucy know that? The voice was always the same, but I wondered why we weren’t happy that we lost this time.
***
“I feel… good.”
“Yes?”
“It seems to be going the way I hoped. Here and there.”
Kim Seo-yoon, who was with Lucy, one of the nests of the demon king, was embarrassed when Lucy opened her mouth. It’s because he doesn’t know that while Lucy is talking to him, he is also talking to Chang-hyeon at the same time.
Especially since Lucy can even see a smile.
“What happened over there?”
“It’s not your concern. So there is no reason to be interested.”
Lucy, who was worried about what happened to her family on Earth, covered Seo-yoon Kim’s mouth with her finger and turned around again.
“But in order for all this joy to bloom into true happiness, I have to be able to go there eventually. To that end, the new technology acquired this time will take us to the next level.”
Lucy looked with satisfaction at the production plant where new organisms were being cultured in large numbers. Lucy, who analyzed the sample newly supplied from outside without difficulty, can now use the power it had intact, no, even stronger.
“Bur, it’s hard to believe that mushrooms photosynthesize. Even our enemies, the invasive species, were using it?”
“I don’t know exactly what photosynthesis is. Although there is knowledge about it, the cells of plants cannot be directly analyzed. But that’s true to some degree. These mushrooms, which will serve as our new nutrient supply in the future, have the ability to store sunlight as nutrients.”
Lucy manipulated the tentacles inside the production plant, injecting more nutrients into the mushrooms that raised their heads toward the rising sun of the Pandemonium, accelerating their growth.
These mushrooms, which began to be remodeled by Lucy in a cell unit, escaped the limits of genetics and began to grow several times their original size.
“We’ll have to look at each one to find out how much we need to grow to achieve the most efficient nutrient production for the investment, but if we can cover all the occupied land with these.”
The land where all nutrients have been exploited by Lucy is useless. If only these mushrooms could be planted in such vast plains and mountains to produce nutrients.
Realizing that the amount was almost incomparable even with simple calculations, Lucy was already moving her entire army. So that it can be used without a little empty space.
“How to extract soil energy from demonic earthworms, how to extract heat from fire eater, and now we are able to exploit light… I really think I can cover the entire demon realm.”
The absolute ruler of the Demon World.
Originally, the demon king was a ruler who exercised force on the demons and commanded them, but Lucy tried to dominate everything except the demons and was on her way to becoming a true ruler of the demon world in a different sense.
***
“Can’t you fly a little faster in case the sun rises?”
“Kyaaak! Isn’t this all because you guys are heavy!”
The time when the sun was just rising in the distance. In the still dark sky, a group was quickly crossing.
Those flapping their wings with someone on their backs are gargoyles, demons with skin-covered wings and thin bodies. And those who ride on top of the gargoyles are armed orcs. They were brown-skinned orcs who came down here from the north.
“You never know when or how they will change. Reconnaissance is essential.”
“Then why are you trying to go inside when you only need to look near the wires? Don’t you already know that nothing remains where they left?”
“… you never know. No one knows yet how far their abilities can reach. They are completely different monsters now than when they were fighting us.”
The leader of the reconnaissance party, who was talking to the gargoyle, shook his head with a stiff face. To the black-clad monsters who took everything they had, being careless is poisonous.
“Huh, there’s not much left now.”
In the end, the disgusted gargoyles shut up, and at the end of the glide, they crossed the central area where the fierce battle was unfolding and entered the northern area, which the black beetles had completely taken over as their territory.
And the sight that unfolded in front of him.
“… what the hell is that?”
“What is so much? Is it a tree?!”
A scene unfolded in front of them that shattered common sense that a place occupied by black beetles would soon become a barren wasteland. The vast plains, narrow canyons, and rugged mountain ranges were all covered with something black that was growing.
They didn’t know what it was, but they instinctively felt a sense of dread at the gigantic waves filling the place at perfectly regular intervals, without the slightest gap.
“No, they must be up to something.”
“Go back! hurry!”
They turned their heads as fast as they could. I don’t know what that is, but I thought I should get out of here and tell this fact.
“Wait, that one behind me, no way.”
But it was impossible to escape completely. It was because when they turned around and started to run away, something rose up in a large scale from the overgrown black forest.
‘······No way, that’s all.’
A huge number of flying species that are difficult to include at a glance. With their backs to the rising sun, a huge army rushed towards them like waves.