Chapter 104
Episode 104 - Individual Purpose (2)
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment."
Once a flourishing satellite city near Menas, this place has now become the Legion's Base Nest, covered in dark crimson flesh walls and a twisted Sacred Tree. Reina, who had retreated from Menas, arrived here.
She did not come alone.
She brought all the 'spoils of war' she had obtained from Menas to this place.
"Mmph! Mmm!"
In front of Reina, who moved the Sacred Tree, someone was grabbed by the ankle, hung upside down, and delivered.
A wizard from the Ados Academy who was captured. Some were killed by allied forces, but not everyone valued their mission above their life.
He, already infected by the Infection Fungus, was now in a state where he couldn't even move a single finger by his own will.
Neither dying, nor living, nor even going insane was within his control anymore—a truly miserable state.
His eyes shook violently as he saw Reina's face, revealed beneath her mask.
It wasn't that he recognized Reina. He was simply shocked that the face behind the mask, which had committed such merciless and brutal slaughter, was that of a beautiful woman with traces of youth.
"The Great One has allowed me to take on this task and extract everything you know."
Reina opened her mouth and spoke to him. Of course, this was only possible because it wasn't a 'conversation.'
All he could do was answer the questions asked of him.
"Ugh... Aaaagh!"
Reina first inflicted upon him the most intense pain, as if his entire nervous system was being twisted and scratched.
His eyes widened as he screamed to his heart's content.
This was in stark contrast to when Eve tortured prisoners for information, where even screams were suppressed.
The reason she, who had full authority, allowed the screams was singular.
'This is insane.'
All the prisoners, including Blakel's Leader, were watching and hearing the spectacle.
The horrifying screams of a companion in the same situation as them, and the despair of not even being allowed death.
The fear that pierced through the inner psyche of humans shook their emotions to the core.
"There is only one way to escape this pain: spill everything."
When a sole escape route from such despair was visible, even those with a strong sense of mission could only wish for relief.
"Keep in mind, Reina's actions are never normal."
"Not normal, you say. What is the standard of normal?"
"...What?"
While Reina was cruelly torturing the prisoners.
Eve was facing Kang Do-Yeon.
Currently, the connection with Reina was severed, so Reina had no way of knowing what they were discussing.
"Reina is effectively torturing humans to extract information and testimony faster than when I take the lead. Is that wrong?"
"No, I'm not trying to oppose you. Of course, that's right. By... our standards."
Kang Do-Yeon flinched and desperately racked her brain.
She knew everything about Reina's circumstances, but she and Shin Woo both didn't want Eve's values to be influenced in that direction by Reina.
The problem was that she couldn't say that directly to Eve.
Kang Do-Yeon hoped that her words and actions wouldn't cause any issues in Shin Woo's 'education' of Eve.
"Just make sure not to amplify Reina's misanthropy. There are... good people too."
"I have no interest in humanity's concept of good and evil. Ultimately, it's just a consolation humans created for society and survival. To me, it's utterly insignificant and pointless."
Eve sneered.
"Well, regardless of what you think, unfortunately, Oppa cares a lot about it."
"...Yeah, that's true."
However, when Kang Do-Yeon brought up Shin Woo.
Eve's emotions turned cold for a moment.
'Does he want me to become a "good human"?'
Eve spoke through the Collective Consciousness instead of out loud. There was no mention that Shin Woo was absent at the moment.
'That's not it. He's just doing it for your sake. He doesn't want you to become human; he just doesn't want you to become a monster.'
'A monster?'
Kang Do-Yeon calmly expressed her thoughts. Eve reacted to the word "monster."
'He is precious to me. There's no way I could be a monster to someone like that.'
'...I suppose so. Our lives are tied to Oppa's life, after all.'
'But I can't just stand by and watch him make a wrong decision and endanger himself. Even if that decision is the right one by human standards.'
'So that's your true intention right now.'
Kang Do-Yeon flinched at the eerie feeling. Shin Woo's influence was undoubtedly significant.
But the current Eve was no longer a dog that unconditionally obeyed orders, and she knew better than anyone how powerful she was.
'Why? Why harbor fear? Shouldn't you be happy instead? He wanted to become one with me. Reina said she was happy to become one with us. She said it was more complete, more glorious.'
'Oppa would never want to become like me or Reina.'
'That's hard to understand, but if I had to, I'd obviously give him the highest rank. Equal to me. However, if that happens, he'll always have to talk to me, be with me, and convince me. Until he abandons the human way of thinking.'
Eve silently curled her lips into a smile.
Kang Do-Yeon couldn't refute. Anyone could see that Eve had more power, and the relationship between Player and Unit wasn't fixed.
'...Our Oppa can do it.'
In the end, she had no choice but to believe in her Oppa.
That he could handle this gigantic entity currently engulfing an entire planet in real-time.
'I love him.'
'I wonder.'
Kang Do-Yeon didn't bother denying Eve's feelings. In fact, Eve's emotions, which could be felt moment to moment, weren't far from that word. Even if those feelings were a bit twisted by human standards.
[He's busy right now, and thanks to that, the screen is off for a while. No need to hold back.]
"Arrogant lizards dare to defile and destroy my land."
Eve grumbled as she looked into the distance. What Eve was seeing through the Scout's eyes were Redrium Dragonkins emerging from the Gate.
They had degenerated into creatures that moved solely for destruction and slaughter, with no productive activities.
The lush mountains and vegetation were trampled under their feet and burned, turning into wasteland, and all living beings were killed.
"They have now become enemies threatening our lives and growth. So from now on, we kill our enemies."
Eve showed something to Kang Do-Yeon.
They were the results obtained by thoroughly disassembling and analyzing the bodies of Dragonkins from the last battle.
"What are these?"
"As expected of those who became victors and conquered a world, there were some interesting things. Let's pay them respect, and now that these are ours, let's use them."
Two items arrived before Kang Do-Yeon.
One was a roughly shaped, semi-transparent dark crimson ore, and the other was a carapace fragment resembling a rough rock scale.
"The legend of dragons Reina mentioned. The Redrium Ancient Dragon, who taught magic to humans, had a very powerful heart. And that heart, which was the source of their Formative Power, is still possessed by their degenerate descendants."
Eve picked up the fist-sized item and showed it. Then, she lightly pressed it against Kang Do-Yeon's chest.
"This is the item that will become your new heart, ours, and boost our efficiency by more than four times."
"...Then what about that?"
"The scales of those creatures had the function to weaken, absorb, store, or release Formative Power. The more I learn about their power, the more desirable it becomes. And now, it's ours."
Kang Do-Yeon sighed and lowered her head. She could roughly predict what was going to happen next.
"How many times will my body be modified? I feel like I'm turning into a transforming robot now."
"Don't you want to become stronger?"
"...No."
She grumbled but shook her head again. After all, this was her choice.
Above all, the power gained from analyzing the Dragonkins was the power they had maximized by annihilating an entire world.
In other words, applying it consumed an enormous amount of energy compared to before.
Because of this, Eve had to accelerate the Nest Expansion Plan, which would begin with exterminating humans.
"So, mass-producing enhanced soldiers on a scale similar to before is impossible. The size of the troops will be reduced to less than a tenth of the current scale."
"If you do that, you won't be able to stop those dragons."
"It doesn't matter. Those foolish beasts won't know or even try to understand what kind of existence we are."
It was the same as before. Until they had assembled large-scale troops to wipe out humans, they expanded the Nest and endured with a small number of soldiers.
Even now, while the degenerate Dragonkins were indulging in their nature, which they hadn't revealed in ages, the Legion planned to grow larger and sweep them away with even greater power.
"Charge, the Legion's First Fang. Go and wipe them out before those human bastards can make their move."
"...Got it."
Once again, Kang Do-Yeon took a deep breath as her body was painfully reconstructed, spreading her wings.
The speed at which she soared into the sky was on a completely different level compared to before.
In an instant, Kang Do-Yeon, who had ascended to high altitudes while tearing through the air, began flying towards the eastern continent along with the Legion Soldiers moving on the surface.