Chapter 90
Episode 90 - Chaos and Hero (8)
"..."
"It's amazing that you don't die even in that state, but I guess I'll have to have a serious talk with someone else."
Eve pulled out a ring that sparkled with light from the severed hand of the enemy commander.
At the same time, the glowing eyes of the burning skull went out. As expected, the movement of the skull in such a state was probably due to some special magical force.
There are no more enemies now. I subtly observed the situation and passed by the higher species surrounding me to approach Eve...
"Hey! Stop running away!"
As I took a step forward, Kang Do-Yeon shouted loudly at Eve, who was about to run away. Eve's steps came to an abrupt halt.
"You know, older brother, Eve is embarrassed right now."
"Th-that's not it!"
At Kang Do-Yeon's words, Eve, showing only the back of her head, reacted sharply. Seeing this, I grabbed Kang Do-Yeon's arm to stop her.
Embarrassed? That might be true, but I guessed Eve's emotions were a bit more complex than that.
"Rather than being embarrassed, I think she's just confused. Literally, our relationship is special compared to other units or players, and you're special too."
I deliberately said this while looking at the higher species next to me rather than at Eve. The long-haired female body in front of me was just the avatar Eve had shaped for herself as a Hive Mind, and her essence was actually present in all the Legion soldiers here.
"Special."
"We've shared every moment together. It's different from suddenly meeting others out of nowhere. And we're connected as one, inseparable."
I know that Eve's feelings of obsession toward me are far from simple affection or anything like that.
The kind of feelings that could only be understood as a mix of devout faith a believer has for their god, the trust and longing a child has for their parent, the affection between lovers—all combined into something no one else could comprehend or predict.
"...You're right. We are special."
Whether my persuasion worked or not, Eve, who had only shown the back of her head until now, muttered and slowly turned her body. Though her face was still covered by the mask, for the first time, our eyes met.
I slowly walked forward. Eve no longer avoided showing her body.
Her body, which was based on my younger sister's, had been continuously improved by her? So now, even the fine details of her appearance were clearly different.
I slowly reached out my hand. Eve did not avoid my touch.
With a faint sound, the mask began to fall off. I flinched slightly but continued to remove the mask.
Although I had secretly seen her in various forms before, this was the first time I was seeing her face beneath the mask.
Pale white skin appeared. Small, red lips and glowing red eyes.
"...Do you like it?"
Eve placed her hand on her chest and faintly smiled. We share emotions. The feelings I couldn't hide flowed directly into Eve.
"I've been watching you since you were in the cell puddle of the lowest layer of the deep labyrinth."
I nodded. The face Eve was showing me now was undeniably beautiful.
There was no reason to hide it. I genuinely liked it. It felt like the pride a parent might feel when seeing their self-made, excellent child.
[Time is almost up.]
However, we couldn't keep watching each other forever. The Legion soldiers who had surrounded and observed us began disappearing one by one. The time limit attached to the Unit Summon Ticket had activated.
"...Why, why are you like this?"
Then suddenly, Eve's eyes began to waver, and she started to fidget nervously.
In that moment of confusion, I firmly grabbed both of Eve's shoulders.
"Damn it! Just hug her! Like you did with me! So stop asking questions; my head is about to explode!"
Kang Do-Yeon suddenly shouted loudly at that moment.
However, I couldn't turn to look at her. Eve suddenly lunged at me, throwing herself into my arms.
The impact sent me sprawling to the ground. Eve, now sitting on top of me, her long hair cascading down, was smiling.
"We'll meet again soon. I'll devour the mages and open the gates."
"Oh...? Y-yeah. I guess so."
"When that time comes, we'll become one and be together forever."
Eve's eyes sparkled for a moment. A cold sweat ran down my back.
As expected, in Eve's perspective as part of the Legion, everything ultimately converged into that. Becoming one and achieving perfection together.
"If we become one, we'll be free from assassination authority and death. We'll grow even stronger."
"I won't reject it. I want your power too. But there's one thing you have to promise me."
Suppressing my nervousness, I gently stroked Eve's face. This situation, I had already anticipated. I knew Eve would react this way.
"I want you to always and forever remain the good Eve who listens to me."
"That's not hard. I've always been like that."
Eve nodded as if to say it was no big deal.
But in truth, that was a misunderstanding. I had never once made a request that Eve would refuse.
Of course, taming her would be something to do gradually in the future. For now, it was enough to simply give her satisfaction.
"Take care. We'll see each other often anyway."
With my final farewell, Eve's face, wrapped in light, gradually became transparent.
I sat up.
"Eve considered my feelings."
"...I'm sorry."
"From the beginning until now, everything has been my choice, and it will continue to be."
The only one left was Kang Do-Yeon. Yet, despite my apology, my younger sister, who was trying to remain composed, was also becoming transparent.
"Just as you fight, I fight too. So just focus on what's ahead."
She coldly pulled away the hand I was trying to grab and turned her back.
I know my younger sister's personality. I also know how much she had to endure to get to this point. So I couldn't say anything.
If it's a path she chose herself, there's no room for me to interfere.
"I want to tell Mom something, but I don't have anything right now."
"It's not like there's no way. So make sure to come back."
Hearing the voice suppressing something rising from within, I tightly shut my eyes.
At least there wasn't no hope. If Eve figured out the technique to cross the world's barrier, she could come over.
We could meet again then.
Although both my sister and I had changed in many ways, we both already knew that such things didn't matter.
"Take care."
In the end, Kang Do-Yeon, unable to hide her sniffles, left those words and disappeared.
Now, in this wasteland, I was left alone amidst the desolate traces. Like a dream, the Legion disappeared without leaving a single trace.
I turned my body absentmindedly.
"The immediate crisis is over, but it's just that—an immediate crisis. What happens to the Allied Forces now?"
[What matters more is the Legion's progress. Focus on how Eve, who has grown once again through her connection with you, will act. That way, when Eve opens the gate and appears on Earth, you can control whether she becomes an obedient child or a great catastrophe that destroys the entire Earth except for you. Isn't that why you're enduring this hardship?]
Letters appeared rapidly in response to my soliloquy.
It was all true. I had always thought that facing Eve was inevitable.
So I had to prepare for that moment.
"...Wow, but when will I get there?"
Looking at the endlessly spreading wasteland, I lowered my head. For now, I had to return to the encampment, but the road seemed daunting.
*
"W-what on earth happened?"
"...I don't know. Those monsters were not creatures of the Demon Realm. They were deeper and more horrifying... beings whose souls I couldn't even properly read."
At the site where the Main Allied Forces were annihilated.
The Kobold and Gnoll Allied Forces, who arrived later than the Beast Legion, were flustered by the desolate scene.
The awakened Former Demon King, Kaltas, quietly lifted his hood and touched the dried blood on the ground.
"I sent them back in a hurry, but nothing remained. Nothing. Only the corpses of our allies. Isn't this also the power of that 'game system'?"
The monstrous bird that served as his eyes had long been killed by the Legion's flying species with a poison stinger.
Thanks to that, all they knew was that their allies had been massacred by a mysterious monster horde. And that his loyal subordinate, Gartin, was completely dead.
In his mind, he recalled the image of the human who had single-handedly blocked the Beast Legion in the final moments.
"That can't be. The player said that even if those monsters you speak of were units, there would be no way to mass summon their units. Didn't they say there were no traces of dimensional magic? And what does it mean that not even corpses remain?"
"That's right... There were no signs of the large-scale magic that would have been required."
He slowly nodded.
'But there are indeed all sorts of grotesque skills. You never know.'
However, he did not let his guard down. Having realized how vast the universe was and how many possibilities existed, he tried not to remain a frog in a well.
"W-well, they've disappeared, so isn't that enough? The player is urging us to move on quickly."
The Kobold Great Chief, sensing the atmosphere, urged him.
The Kobold Player, Rozes, who was distracted elsewhere, failed to realize that the Legion Kaltas vaguely mentioned was the same group that had attacked him.
After all, it wasn't his units that had fought them.
"Before they send their troops again, attack Earth in reverse."
Kaltas executed the next plan. He sent the Kobold and Gnolls to Earth along with his troops, intending to intervene in other places where the battlefront was currently being maintained and break the balance.