Chapter 713: The Smell of Death

Those bugs.

It was true that they were currently the enemy blocking the land route above us.

But at the same time, I had begun to think that I needed to find out more about those things in detail.

In the middle of that, they had been the first to demand something from us.

And demanding something meant there was a deficiency.

'If I can figure out what that deficiency is...... I might be able to understand those things more deeply.'

With that thought, I followed behind the goblin without turning back.

“Wa, wait.......”

When we had moved a certain distance like that.

The goblin’s steps stopped.

The area around us was still packed full of hordes of zombies.

“......What is it? Is this the place you called ‘us’ or something like your main base?”

“N, no.......”

The creature’s gaze turned toward the sky.

And then.......

Fwoosh.......

A rough wind blew from far away.

I and the unit members looked in the direction the wind was blowing from.

Fwoosh...... fwoosh.......

From far away.

Something flapping enormous wings was approaching.

'Big.'

A shape that looked incredibly huge even from here.

And.

The larger that shape became, the more my expression and the unit members’ expressions twisted.

Because.

'......Why is it still getting bigger?'

Even though it had already grown large enough.

That monster was still flying toward us from far away.

And then, soon.

THUD.......

It landed on the ground.

A monster with an appearance resembling a bat.

But its size was...... absurdly, impossibly huge.

'......Even just its length must be around 100 meters.'

There were also giant birds among Ariella’s dependents.

But that thing was far larger than them.

“Sergeant Shin, that thing is probably also.”

“Yeah.”

No, to be precise.

“It seems to be one that underwent...... evolution.”

It had a massively “altered” appearance.

A rough, swollen form that no naturally born life-form should have possessed.

It had probably been a considerably large monster to begin with.

'It is the same as some of the other zombies we saw on our way here.'

As those parasites underwent “evolution,” they altered their host.

As a result, it had probably become even larger than it had been in life.

“Ri, ride.......”

“You’re telling us to ride that thing?”

“Way, way...... far. Ch, children. Block road....... S, slow. Fa, faster.”

The destination was far away.

And because those zombies were blocking the path, it would take even longer.

So it was saying we should go quickly...... but.

'......I would already be worried about riding on the back of a normal monster. And now you want me to ride on a zombie’s back?'

I looked at that monster.

Then.

Roll.

The half-rotted eyeball of that giant bat rolled.

And its eyes met mine.

“......This one too.”

And.

Only after seeing those eyes could I realize it.

“It is the same kind as you.”

“.......”

Unlike that goblin.

It simply could not speak because it did not have a human vocal structure.

'It is a rational one.'

From those eyes.

There was the “taste” of faint wariness and curiosity toward us.

“How many more bastards like you or this one are there?”

I had guessed as much to some extent.

But this meant the goblin was not the only zombie that had evolved to a level where it possessed intelligence.

I asked that question with some wariness, but.

“Ca, cannot...... tell.”

“......Well, of course you wouldn’t.”

Naturally.

There was no way it would answer a question asking about their military strength.

In the end, I let out a small sigh.

Then I moved my feet toward the giant bat.

“Se, Sergeant Shin? Don’t tell me.”

“Are you...... planning to board that zombie?”

“Well, what else can I do? It told us to ride.”

If it were just an ordinary zombie, then I did not know.

But this one was a rational zombie, like that goblin.

Thanks to that, there was something I could know.

'It does not taste spicy enough to attack us right now.'

The power of [Taste Bud Enhancement].

It was not exactly a power I could trust unconditionally.

But I could not feel much hostility from this thing.

No.

It was not only this thing.

'That goblin is the same.'

Yes.

A fact I had found strange from the beginning.

......Despite being the species that had killed the greatest number of humans.

I could feel an oddly small amount of hostility from those things.

***

Tap.

I climbed onto the back of the giant bat.

Then.

Psssshk.......

A giant tumor-like thing happened to be where I stepped, and it sank in.

Gas-like fumes leaked out from there.

Gas that had built up inside the corpse and had been unable to escape.

“.......”

It was a moment when I wondered whether deciding to ride it had been a mistake for no reason.

I thought I already understood it well enough.

But it was a moment when I felt in my bones that the true nature of these things was corpses.

Fwoosh.......

It was a slightly unpleasant vehicle.

But anyway.

Since I boarded first, the unit members had no choice but to climb onto its back after me.

“Le, let us...... go.”

The speed at which we moved through the air was quite fast.

As we moved, I looked down at the ground.

We were flying relatively low, but it was still the sky.

Even though we should have been able to see quite far, the sight of everything in view being black continued for a very long time.

'How many are there?'

How far had we traveled like that?

'......Finally.'

The end of that black wave.

Ordinary land began to come into view.

It was the moment I realized that even that seemingly endless zombie horde did have an end.

As the goblin had said, they had probably been crowded toward the South Korean side.

And.

As I looked at the exposed land, I thought,

'North Korea, huh.'

It was a land that, only a few years ago, I would have found it hard to even imagine visiting in my lifetime.

A country I had only thought of as a hostile nation as a soldier.

It felt strangely new to be flying through the sky of such a place like this.

And a little while later.

'......A city?'

Far away.

A huge city began to come into view.

“......Hmm.”

And.......

“So...... mething, unusual...... seems to have, happened.”

I saw enormous monsters approaching that city.

***

The city visible in the distance.

Judging by the situation.

It seemed this giant bat was flying toward that city.

I was puzzled as to why it was headed to that city.

But the problem was that we were not the only ones approaching that city.

THUD, THUD.......

Every time they moved one step.

The monsters were so enormous that the vibrations could be felt even from this far away.

“Gooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

Enormous stone mountains moved as if they were alive.

They opened their mouths and let out massive roars.

I looked at those stone mountains...... no, the giants made of stone.

[Rock Giant]

Giant monsters over twenty meters tall.

Dense blue mana poured from each of their bodies.

“My God.”

“There are so many monsters of that level.”

The unit members who saw that muttered blankly.

As time passed, the level of myself and all the Legion members had risen considerably.

Especially after the last “patch,” they had grown drastically stronger.

But even so.

That blue mana still meant the opponent was an enormous strong enemy.

That number of powerful enemies was...... yes.

'The frost giants we fought in Gyeonggi Province.'

The awakened of that Association and Ariella’s forces.

On top of that, the Legion had to bring Bimana and fight with all its strength before we could bring those powerful enemies down.

Each individual one might be weaker than them.

But unlike back then, the number of those giant giants seemed to exceed thirty.

A group that did not fall behind at all compared to the frost giants we had fought then.

“......What are those things?”

There was no way monsters like that would be in the place we were heading for no reason.

I frowned and asked the goblin.

“They are a little different from what I expected us to meet. Did that ‘us’ you mentioned include other races too?”

“N, no.”

At my words.

The goblin shook its head back and forth and said,

“Tho, those...... enemy.”

“Enemy?”

“Stone, giants...... hard, hard. We...... cannot, parasitize.”

At those words, I thought, Ah.

Now that I thought about it.

That barrier had opened because we had achieved 100% of the Conquest War for the country called the Republic of Korea.

The barrier made by the system did not use only the human Conquest War achievement as its standard.

So at that point, there was no being in another country that had achieved 100% of the Conquest War.

And that meant.

'The same applies to these things too.'

These things too.

There must have been forces they were fighting against as they approached 100% conquest of this country called North Korea.

'Are those things that force?'

Giants formed from enormous rock.

Since zombies, which were essentially weak bugs, would have found it difficult to parasitize those bodies.

In a way, the relationship might have been one that could be called natural enemies.

“Then isn’t this a big problem? Your competitors have shown up.”

A situation where the creatures that had been threatening us might end up in trouble.

I grinned as I looked at it.

“I’ll tell you in advance. We came here to make a deal, not to help you. You’d better not think about receiving our help.”

“......?”

But.

At my words.

“Competi...... tors......?”

This goblin.

Only tilted its head as if asking what I was talking about.

'......?'

A reaction different from what I expected.

And.

This bat also kept flapping its wings toward the city without the slightest hesitation, even after discovering those monsters.

“Bugs!!!”

As we grew closer to the city.

The giants’ shouts could be heard in detail.

“No matter how arrogantly you have run wild, in the end, bugs are bugs!!!”

They had already approached near the city.

Among them, the largest thirty-meter monster shouted,

“Unable to forget that essence, you committed a foolish deed like bugs!”

The creature shouted while bursting into wild laughter.

It looked confidently toward the inside of the city and said,

“The brothers of nature told us. What happened to you bastards!”

Wooooooong......

As the rock giant’s words resounded, a sound came from the surroundings.

'The stones nearby...... are resonating.'

Their appearance alone was not like walking stone mountains.

Those things truly possessed the ability to communicate with stone.

“We know that you bastards have grown weak.”

And.

After hearing the words that followed, I could not help frowning a little.

'Grown weak?'

Because those words implied something we still did not know.

“We have not forgotten the insult we suffered.”

Regardless.

That creature seemed not to have noticed our approach at all.

It shouted triumphantly.

“At last, the time has come for revenge, when we shall release our resentment......!”

The enormous giants hurled their bodies violently.

A tremendous gale swept around.

The enormous bodies of the giants charged toward the inside of the city.

They seemed as though they would smash through the buildings and enter inside just like that.

“Com, petitors...... you said.”

At that moment.

As the goblin watched that scene, it calmly opened its mouth.

“Different.”

“......?”

Even though monsters of that scale had appeared.

There was not the slightest agitation in the goblin’s expression as it looked at them.

“Cannot, compete.”

The creature answered the words I had spoken, far too calmly.

“If they hold breath, and hide...... same as rock. Hard, to find...... Had other things, busy. Hard, to parasitize...... pushed, aside.”

“......Pushed aside?”

“But.”

Instead.

The emotion I felt from the creature was...... the exact opposite of agitation or fear.

“Did not, know...... they would come, here.”

Relief.

As if it was glad the troublesome task had been reduced.

And.

That emotion was not bluffing, nor was it the result of the creature having gone insane.

“You are finished too. Death......!”

The moment those enormous monsters discovered something.

And tried to charge toward it.

FWAAAAASH!!!

From inside the city.

A massive gray aura erupted.

“......!”

And.

The moment I saw that gray aura, I could not help being shocked.

Because.

'This smell.'

It was incomparably denser than what I had smelled near that barrier.

Dense enough to make my mind go distant.......

'The smell of death.'

And.

When that energy erupted.

THUD.......

The dozens of giants that had been carrying blue mana.

The bodies of those powerful beings, like walking mountains...... collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Those beings had moved even their massive bodies with tremendous vitality.

Their lives...... vanished in an instant.