Chapter 95
Episode 95 - Evolution, Not Corruption (3)
At the moment of execution. Instinctively, at the very moment she realized that the heavy and massive blade was falling on her neck.
In a sensation as if time was flowing slowly, Reina was flung away without even having the chance to scream from the intense wind pressure and shockwave.
The last thing she saw was undoubtedly the mask of the black monster.
"What the..."
"Argh!"
Screams echoed from all directions.
Flung from the shattered guillotine, Reina writhed on the ground like a bug.
Her limbs, with severed tendons, and her wrecked body no longer moved as she wished. All she could barely manage was to turn her head to see what was happening now.
'What is this.'
She was horrified by the spectacle unfolding before her eyes.
In the chaos of the scene, a pair of black feathered wings imbued with dark crimson aura were being swung around.
The dark crimson aura soon turned into slashes and was fired in all directions. The execution grounds, once filled with the frenzy of excitement and madness, were instantly engulfed in fear.
People screamed and ran, and many had already become corpses.
"Catch, catch it!"
One knight guarding the execution grounds, unaware of his limits, charged forward. A long leg covered in black armor stretched out, kicking the knight's upper body, shattering his breastplate, and sending him flying while spraying blood.
Only then did Reina fully take in the appearance of 'that,' no, 'her,' who was undoubtedly a young woman.
'She's looking at me. Why?'
The gleaming eyes beyond the mask met her blue eyes directly.
Reina couldn't understand. Why was this monster looking at her? In her current state, abandoned and betrayed, she was no better than a bug.
"Ah..."
But the monster reached out her hand and gently touched Reina's trembling face.
Reina didn't realize that through that touch, infection fungus had penetrated her body.
At the same time, her wounds began to heal, and the pain started to subside. For the first time, the infection fungus, which had only been used to torture humans, was now being used to heal one.
'Do you want to live?'
"...!!!"
And at that moment.
Reina shuddered at the will of a transcendental being echoing in her mind.
"Move now!"
"Attack! It's an attack!!"
The Continental Capital Menas was thrown into chaos.
An intruder had appeared and started wreaking havoc in the Holy City, a place that had until now never allowed the intrusion of anything worthy of being called an enemy, a source of pride for its people.
"What on earth is that monster!"
"Don't just stand there in shock, move, Captain of the Guard!"
But this was the center of the continent and the very heart of magic.
In other words, this was a place where the continent's battle power was concentrated, and where wizards were more common than pebbles on the roadside, so the response was swift.
"Get away, monster!"
Toward the enemy being bombarded with magic attacks hurriedly cast by the wizards in the air, a large knight clad in gleaming silver armor leaped onto the roof with all his might.
His name was Rark. His position was the Captain of the Royal Guard protecting Menas.
His skills were among the best of the knights. The sword he wielded glowed blue and soon became a bolt of lightning that struck down.
"Tch! You blocked this?!"
A massive shockwave echoed in the air. Squinting at the vibrating sword, he frowned as he saw the black wings that had crossed to block his sword.
"Ugh..."
Of course, there was no real damage, but since he couldn't fly, the wings spread, and he was pushed back, flailing in midair before falling to the ground.
"Prepare the Mystic Cannon..."
"What's the use of that! It's already flown off in another direction!"
The moment Rark landed on the ground with a thud, the wizards on the ground, in their haste, could do little more than haphazardly cast magic, stumbling and panicking.
Moreover, they couldn't match its mobility. Before the wizards could do anything, the enemy had already crossed the sky and reached the opposite side of the city in an instant.
As if its goal was to stir up the entire city.
"So, we need to bring it down first."
"Conference Leader, there's no need for you to step in personally..."
"If I don't step in during such a critical moment, then when should I?"
At that moment, an old man with a hunched and frail figure, draped in a robe and leaning on a staff, stepped outside with his disciples and looked up at the sky.
"I don't know what kind of monster it is, but it's utterly arrogant."
The old man's eyes gleamed as he raised his staff and moved his mana.
"Of all places, it dares to enter Menas alone. Do you know how many conference leaders are here right now?"
As he swung his staff, the flow of air around them suddenly changed.
That flow turned into a fierce storm. The strongest magic used by a Guild's conference leader who specialized in controlling wind.
The enemy, who had been enduring with the power of Formative Power, eventually couldn't withstand the whirlwind and landed on the roof of a nearby five-story building.
"Fire!"
Immediately, a concentrated bombardment from the waiting wizards followed.
The enemy, surrounded by black wings that roughly blocked the bombardment strong enough to destroy the building, once again kicked the ground and leaped over the structures.
"Do you think you can escape?"
The knights blocked its path again. Gone was their initial panic; now, they seemed confident, as if they believed they had gained the upper hand.
"First Royal Guard! Form a formation. Capture it at all costs! The merit will be ours!"
Following the commander's orders, the Royal Guard formed a precise formation, drew their swords, and charged all at once.
The enemy also kicked the ground, heading toward them.
"Attack from behind! From the front, Carlson and I will..."
Collision, impact, and a fountain of blood.
The commander, who had been shouting orders with spit flying, couldn't believe his eyes for a moment.
Why was his face, the one meant to command the battlefield, now caught in this monstrous grip?
Why could he see his own body spraying a fountain of blood as it collapsed?
Why were his subordinates clutching severed limbs and screaming?
Having now received the order to leave this place, she flung the severed head of the commander she had been gripping.
His vision, flying through the air, slowly darkened in despair.
"Where are you going?"
"...!"
But once again, she encountered an obstacle.
A burst of light. Just as she was about to spread her wings and take off again, a blinding flash engulfed her.
The eyes of the one who unleashed the flash twitched. She didn't fall. Instead, she looked down at him, surrounded by a dark crimson barrier.
'A unit!?'
Realizing its identity, his brow furrowed deeply. But as she was now in a position where she had to flee, she didn't attack him there.
She simply flew away.
"C-Chairperson!"
"Chairperson!"
Immediately after, people hurriedly ran toward him. Yet his expression didn't easily soften.
People assumed he was angry about losing the enemy, but that wasn't the case.
'Monsters like that have been gaining strength?'
He gritted his teeth. If it were just a simple monster, it honestly wasn't worth worrying about. It could simply be hunted.
But not anymore. It was no longer a monster to be taken lightly.
Under this sky, it was something that could never coexist with them.
It was an adversary and a rival that had to be killed at all costs.
"Don't be disheartened! Look! The Capture Formation cast by our proud wizards has manifested! The creature is now a rat in a trap!"
One of the council members, oblivious and excited, pointed to the sky and shouted.
Indeed, as he said, a massive veil had appeared in the sky, enveloping the city. Originally intended to block external invasions, this magic could also be used to trap fleeing enemies.
That veil would now gradually shrink, trapping the target completely.
"...Impossible."
But their optimistic thoughts didn't last long.
The enemy extended its hand, unleashing dark crimson power, concentrating it at the tip before releasing it.
No matter how vast its range, the veil, created with the participation of the Guild's conference leaders, was shattered in an instant.
When the veil that had been falling in fragments turned into smoke and disappeared, no one around could open their mouths, and only silence flowed.
"...With the Chair's Authority, I will convene an Emergency Assembly immediately."
"What?!"
"And bring Senator Schultz, who is currently under investigation. I need to hear the story in detail. We can no longer take this lightly."
He made the decision immediately.
*
"The youngest Chairperson of the Continental Assembly, Darque Yuta Kruger."
In the middle of the Nest, Eve identified his identity with the simple physical description she had obtained from interrogating the prisoner.
A young genius mage with brilliant silver hair from a prestigious family. That was his publicly known identity.
But not anymore. He was no longer a mere human but a special being connected to the existence of the Outer World.
"But whether he is a Unit or a Player..."
"The String was extremely thin. Of course, it's not certain, but the probability of him being a Unit is very high."
"Would he have figured it out too?"
"Probably."
Communicating with Kang Do-Yeon, Eve smiled faintly.
The last face of his, seen through Kang Do-Yeon's eyes, was still vivid. Eve was convinced that he had somehow identified Kang Do-Yeon as a Unit.
"Then isn't it dangerous?"
"Not at all."
She immediately responded to the question of whether it was dangerous to expose her identity so easily.
The chaos caused in Menas by Kang Do-Yeon today was not just to extract Reina.
"Whether it's battle power or not... If what was shown today is all the Mages have to offer."
Eve stood up and looked around the Nest.
"They can never win."
[Preparations are nearing completion. A large-scale troop formation that has never been attempted before.]
The target expansion was complete. The mass production of the planned Legion Soldiers was already underway.
A massive troop force, numbering in the hundreds of millions, was ready to be unleashed from the Nest at any moment.
"We are the Great Wave, and their defense is nothing more than a Sandcastle. What about you, Reina? Can you see clearly? Have you made up your mind?"
Eve murmured quietly.
In Kang Do-Yeon's arms, who was flying here at that moment, Reina, at a loss, was being held.