Chapter 704: Pest Control

The monster whose neck had been cut off by my blade.

And yet.

Its body was still moving.

What flashed through my mind in that instant was something that had happened not long ago.

The Cardinal from that Church, who had cut off my head.

The Cardinal and I, both having lost our power because of the [Maxim].

Even though the difference in strength between us had been enormous.

I had been able to exploit the Cardinal’s opening because he never expected me to stand back up after my head had been cut off.

'Since earlier, I’ve been......'

Right.

A monster that could move just fine even after its head had been cut off.

Normally, I might have been fairly shaken.

But fortunately, if that was the right word.

'The smell of rotten meat.'

Without being greatly shaken, I simply took one step back.

And then.

BANG!

Its attack.

Passed right in front of my nose with almost pathetic emptiness.

“Commander!”

“T-these things......!”

The Cardinal had been shaken by me only because I had been a living human whose head had been cut off, yet still moved.

My case was a little different.

“They’re zombies.”

“......!”

If the opponent was already dead to begin with.

Then no matter what happened, it would not be strange!

Slash......!

The moment I dodged the attack, I quickly swung my blade.

The monster had already had its neck cut.

Its limbs were severed in an instant, and the monster’s body collapsed to the ground.

Ding.

At that very moment.

A transparent window rose before my eyes.

[Berserker: The enemies’ identity has been confirmed. Zombies. Those bugs we know.]

A broadcast message sent to every unit member.

The one who had sent that message was Corporal Jeon Gwangil.

'As expected of Gwangil.'

I thought I had led the unit members in a fairly quick charge myself.

But Corporal Jeon Gwangil, who had been leading the warriors at another key stronghold, had dealt with the enemies and identified them even faster than I had.

'Zombies.'

Hearing that name now almost felt unfamiliar.

An enemy we had not paid much attention to after the awakened had raised their strength past a certain point.

But in truth.

'In the early days of the destruction...... the things that killed the most humans were those bastards.'

Things that parasitized the corpses of the dead and moved their bodies.

It was only natural that the cities where the largest number of humans had lived produced the largest number of zombies.

Those things even parasitized the corpses of dead monsters.

The terror I felt when the body of that [Pope] I had struggled so hard to hunt suddenly began moving again after death still remained in my mind.

That was why.

All awakened had to go through the necessary process of gathering and burning the corpses of the enemies they hunted.

There had been a few fortunate points, at least.

The fact that human zombies, the most numerous zombies, were no longer a major threat once awakened had grown to a certain degree.

The fact that monsters saw one another as prey, so even if corpses were created, they were eaten, leaving few corpses behind that could become zombies.

“Zombies?”

“The zombies we know are......”

And lastly.

“Don’t they die when you cut off their heads......!”

If you cut off the head.

Even a zombie could be killed......!

Slash—

I cut off another monster’s head.

But even after its head disappeared, the creature continued moving.

Right.

That was the problem.

'They’re a little different from the zombies we knew.'

Unlike existing zombies.

These things could move even after their necks were cut.

I had a guess as to the reason.

In the past.

After seeing the memories of that [Dasmur] chef and figuring out the zombies’ true identity.

I remembered the phrase written in their information.

'These things evolve.'

When I saw that phrase back then, I felt tremendous fear.

That was why.

Through Corporal Lee Minjae, the Legion had spread warnings and information about the zombie threat as widely as possible within the range radio waves could reach.

Through that, survivors in various places hunted zombies and awakened.

Then, by growing stronger, they were able to eliminate the zombies before they could evolve sufficiently.

But what if.

'......I hadn’t seen the memories of that Dasmur chef?'

What if I had failed to detect the danger of zombies?

'And because of that, the zombies, not even regarded as a threat, had continued surviving?'

If they survived like that.

And evolved over a long period of time.

If the zombies that grew stronger that way hunted other monsters......

And if those hunted monsters were not eaten as prey, but as parasitic targets, then revived as new hosts.

'What the grand duke was talking about wasn’t that demon.'

The moment my thoughts reached that point.

A strange certainty came over me.

'It’s these things......!'

The country we had considered our main enemy.

North Korea had been occupied by zombies.

***

North Korea had been occupied by zombies.

That black wave descending toward us was a horde of gray-black, decaying corpses.

It was good that we had figured that out.

But.

“Sergeant Shin......!”

“There are too many of them. What should we......!”

The problem came after that.

The Legion members were strong enough.

Those monsters were strong as well, but in terms of individual combat power, they were on a level where comparison was impossible.

“Fourth Company, move to the designated coordinates!”

On top of that.

Their strategy was nothing but charging.

“Fortress Four, strike the side of the mountain visible ahead! Bury those bastards under the landslide!”

“The enemy formation has collapsed! Full-speed charge!”

On the other hand, in the Legion.

Commands from Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, as well as the current Association Chairman Jo Beomseok and his grandson Jo Jun, were still spreading everywhere.

The structure was no different from an army hunting wild animals.

The exchange ratio of enemies a single Legion member could bring down would easily exceed one hundred.

Literally, they were capable of fighting one against a hundred.

However.

'The problem is that even a hundred isn’t enough......!'

The problem was purely their numbers.

The violence produced by that tremendous mass was not something Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s strategy could resolve.

Especially.

BOOM!

“Ugh.......”

“Even after cutting off its neck and arms......!”

Monsters that continued moving even after their necks were cut off.

And even after some of their limbs were severed.

Taking that vitality into account made the problem even greater.

'No matter how wide the difference in skill is...... stamina has to be consumed.'

Normally.

No matter how strong the Legion members were, dealing with these things would have been far too difficult.

If there was any method, it would be to cut off all their limbs.

But that was easier said than done. In a war like this, where we were already at a numerical disadvantage, doing that would quickly exhaust every soldier.

'They’re absurdly troublesome.'

Right.

At least.

'That would be the case normally.'

I looked at the monsters rampaging in front of me.

Among them, I focused on one monster that carried strong mana.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Zangar Great Warrior]

[Freshness - Lowest]

[The greatest warrior of the Zangar, a wild race that conquered the jungle with powerful strength.]

What I saw was its information.

Since I had charged in to bring down the strongest enemy first.

The contents of its description were quite brutal.

A monster that would have been a fairly burdensome strong enemy even originally.

'Not this.'

But.

That was not what I was trying to see.

With a smooth motion.

I cleared away the system window floating before my eyes and looked at it again.

What I wanted was the other side.

[Common Trait]

Yes.......

Originally, it had been mine alone.

But now it was a power that belonged to all awakened.

[Combat Power Measurement Device]

FLASH!

The color of mana rising from the monster’s body.

The color visible on the outside was pale blue.

It was dense mana, clearly difficult to face even now that the power of the awakened had risen considerably.

But.

The important thing was not that......

'Inside it.'

Within that blue light.

Another color of mana was shining alone.

“Everyone!!!”

Fortunately, if that was the right word.

The color inside was so intense that.

Even within the blue mana, a color completely opposite to it, it burned “red”!

“Aim for the ‘red mana’ inside!”

The moment I shouted that.

I dodged the charging monster’s attack, extended my dagger, and pierced that red light.

CRUNCH!!!

“You act so impressive, but in the end!”

CRACK. As I pulled out the dagger.

Something was dragged out, pierced on the tip of my blade.

[Parasite]

It had merely been clinging to the corpse of that monster.

Its original mana and power were so weak that the [Combat Power Measurement Device] judged it as the lowest-grade individual.

“You’re nothing but bugs!”

“......!”

Mere bugs.

And unlike in the past.

“Loyalty, loyalty!!!”

The awakened of today.

Had the means to exterminate those bugs.

***

[Combat Power Measurement Device]

Not long ago.

A power newly engraved into the souls of all humanity...... no, all awakened.

Its effect was extremely simple.

It visualized and showed the opponent’s combat power or abilities.

“Blue light.......”

Normally, it would only allow them to distinguish strong enemies from weak ones.

Or detect the presence of hidden monsters first.

“Inside.”

That would have been its limit.

“......Red light!”

CRUNCH!

The soldiers’ weapons stabbed into the middle of the monsters’ bodies.

CRUNCH!

No, not even the middle.

If I had to be precise...... somewhere around the lower left.

It was a position far too ambiguous to launch an attack with killing intent toward.

But it did not matter.

Because the moment that red light was stabbed.

The monster’s body, which had been moving even with its limbs severed, fell silent in an instant.

“It w-works!”

“It’s just as Sergeant Shin said. Stab the red light!”

Like that.

A change occurred on the frontline, which had only been getting pushed back at tremendous speed.

The enemies’ numbers were still overwhelming.

But the force eliminating and pushing back those numbers had also become unimaginably faster.

It was not simply because we had found the enemies’ weak point.

'The zombies’ true body is this one bug.'

I looked at the bug stuck on my dagger.

Maybe because it had gone through that “evolution.”

Unlike the tiny ones I had first seen, it had grown to nearly the size of a head.

Its strength and abilities must have grown as much as its size.

But.

'If we’re only talking about the fact that it got bigger, that’s actually good for us.'

Putting aside the other abilities that had strengthened.

Its size was actually advantageous for us.

'It means those bastards gained a weakness they themselves didn’t know about.'

Most living beings have weaknesses.

A perfect life with no weaknesses cannot exist.

That was why.

Living beings evolved and acquired means to protect those weaknesses.

Humans, too, had hard skulls and ribs to protect the brain and heart.

And when injured, the “instinct” to protect the head first was lodged in that head.

But.

“These things.”

“Even though they fight this well.”

The monsters’ movements were quite brutal.

Most likely, they were imitating the movements those monsters had used while alive.

I had once seen the zombie of a former unit member fire a gun at our soldiers, so it was not strange that evolved ones could imitate those movements more precisely.

CRUNCH!

What the unit members felt.

Was not doubt, but unfamiliarity.

“They don’t protect their weak points!”

Those monsters must have moved and evolved while alive in ways that protected their own weak points.

That was why the movements the zombies imitated only protected the original weak points.

'Those bugs don’t take that circumstance into account.'

Compared to those monsters’ tactics.

The bugs, the actual bodies, were merely embedded somewhere inside the body.

In that case.

'No matter how strong the monster was when it was alive.'

CRUNCH!

'It’s actually easier than the monster was in life!'

The enemies.

Were exposing their own weak points while making no attempt to protect them.

THUUUUD......!

A monster that had been emitting blue mana collapsed after just a single blow.

Compared to how strong it must have been while alive.

Dealing with them was almost emptily easy.

And.

That was not all.

“If their true identity is zombies......!”

When we had first looked at them from the outside.

They all appeared to be monsters of different races, each with separate traits.

If that had really been the case, this would have been an extremely difficult fight.

But.

If their true nature was only one thing.

“That actually makes it easier!”

FLASH!

I thrust my hand into the shadow beneath my feet and pulled something out.

[Insect-Eater Mazar Jerky Infused with the Demigod Chef’s Care]

What I pulled out was a single dish.

Among the countless monsters the Legion had faced.

A monster with the epithet “one who devours bugs.”

[Five Loaves and Two Fish]

And.

I poured mana into that item.

FWAAAAASH!!!

The border with North Korea.

Across that entire line, once called the Demilitarized Zone.

[Common Trait]

[The effect of Absolute Taste activates!]

A radiant light.

Bright enough to be visible even from the distant reaches of space.

Descended.