Chapter 749: To Myoyangsa

When I was fleeing from North Korea.

The scenery I had seen at the very end came back to mind.

That being had not seized me as I left.

But it was not as if it was doing nothing else.

'The zombies that were rising into the air.'

The energy that had seemed to merely spread outward.

The one thing that energy had done with a will of its own.

Was to seize and move the zombies spread throughout all of North Korea.

The zombies had been able to fight while maintaining their original abilities to some degree even inside that golden energy.

Considering that, those zombies should normally have been able to resist as well.

But the reason they could not was probably.

'The prince is a superior individual.'

Engraved into the zombies’ instincts.

The instinct to serve an individual that had achieved a higher evolution.

That must have remained even while someone else was encroaching upon that flesh.

“There is...... no time.”

And.

The reason that guy had gone that far to scrape together those zombies.

“That being...... with the prince’s body...... is probably...... devouring my kin.”

Was because of kin-devouring.

At the prime minister’s words.

I blankly recalled what I had experienced not long ago.

'The zombies that invaded the city.'

They had swarmed in to eliminate the prince and its followers, who had betrayed and obstructed their kin.

But.

When I thought we had somehow driven them back through my intervention.

'It ate its own kin and increased its power.'

And afterward.

That goblin had told the prince to feed on other kin.

But the prince had refused that kin-devouring.

And now.

“......That thing is eating its kin with the prince’s body?”

“Probably.”

That demon had forcibly descended onto this land.

According to Choi Wonjun.

It had been weakened due to the restrictions of that body.

And if it died in that weakened body, it would suffer serious damage...... perhaps even truly reach death.

Despite all that.

I still did not know what its goal was.

But I could know one thing.

That thing had not possessed the prince’s body without any thought.

'The zombies that took root in this land begin evolving according to it.'

Depending on how proper that direction is, they become stronger.

But even if the evolution advances in a poor direction, the information of that evolution is still a great help.

That is why they scatter as many of their kin as possible, searching for as many possibilities of evolution as they can.

And when their lifespan runs out, they are eaten by the individual that achieved the most outstanding evolution and pass on the information of that evolution.

By doing so.

That being gathers even that information and evolves into something even more outstanding.

And.......

'It will also take the calories of the remaining kin.'

Originally, it would have been fated to live for about two years and then starve to death.

But even that would become survivable by eating its kin.

So in the end, as time passed and only a single individual remained.

That being would annihilate every living thing on this land...... and then starve to death itself.

However.

“That...... is trying...... to use...... us.”

In the end.

To destroy another world through that method, the most efficient and strongest individual had to be born.

The individuals who still had time left before they starved to death had to remain alive and continue their evolution as much as possible.

Only then could more branches of evolutionary information be collected.

'But that is from those things’ perspective.'

The prince’s current body was certainly strong, but it was still at a level the Legion could handle.

But.

Seeing how the five zombies I had fought grew stronger after eating some zombies from the area.......

The prince had originally also been a strong enemy on a level similar to those five.

And the number of zombies it could eat was so large that there was no comparison.

In that case.

'......There will be a far more dramatic change than the change I saw in those five.'

Yes.

Probably.

'To the point that the current Legion won’t be able to handle it.'

It might not reach the main body that existed beyond there.

But there was a high chance it would gain enough power to run rampant in this world.

“How...... dare it.......”

But at that moment.

I was a little surprised by the emotion I felt from in front of me, and I looked at the prime minister.

“Children who have not even evolved, let alone gained reason.”

“.......”

“Them......!”

The prime minister was indignant.

No.

It was not only that guy.

'The other zombies too.......'

I could feel a strange agitation even from those things’ emotions.

They were beings whose brain functions were mostly dead and who should not have been able to feel proper emotions.

And yet, emotions like that.

Seeing that, I was able to realize.

'I wondered how the prince had persuaded those guys.'

Most zombies have faint emotions and follow only instinct.

However.

'Last time...... that guy definitely felt [sadness] while looking at the zombies gathered near the wall.'

In the end, individuals that achieve efficient evolution evolve in a direction that restores some degree of brain function.

And in that process.

Even the emotions in a small part of the brain are awakened, however faintly.

And.

“The prince...... promised...... us.”

Among them.

What those things probably shared in common was.

“That he would save our kin, who were destined for destruction.”

“.......”

“That he would free us from that fate and create a society only for the dead...... a kingdom of our own!”

Affection, or perhaps compassion.

An emotion in that direction.

These things were definitely zombies.

Even if they did not have the will to coexist with humans like the prince did.

They sympathized with the plight of their kin, whose destruction had been determined.

And they had the will to escape from it.

“.......”

And.

The emotion I felt from that thing.

'It looks like it’s angry.'

Faint anger and sorrow.

Feeling that spicy and salty taste, I thought.

'I’m the same.'

In the end, what those things were angry about was the deaths of other zombies.

But.

From my perspective, zombies that did not even have proper reason yet were enemies of the Legion.

Their deaths themselves were not something for me to be angry over at all.

On the contrary, I should have been happy because it was a benefit to the Legion.

Even so, the emotion rising in my heart was...... clear anger.

There was one reason.

It was not because I sympathized with their emotions, nor because I had suddenly come to pity the fate of the other zombies.

{......As expected.}

In the past, too.

I had once shoved one of the prince’s kin in front of its mouth.

But that guy’s reaction back then had been simple.

{I cannot do this.}

Eating its own kin.

Even in a situation where it was facing its own death.

It had refused kin-devouring, saying that it could not do that much.

“So. According to what you said.”

“......?”

“That demon bastard.”

Yes.

My job was chef.

And from my perspective.

“Is force-feeding something it doesn’t want to eat to a guy who says he doesn’t want it...... is that what you’re saying?”

This was, how should I put it.

A matter of professional ethics.

***

“You there, zombie prime minister. When you say there is no time, exactly how much time do we have left?”

Once the situation had been grasped to some degree.

Corporal Lee Minjae asked with a frown.

“According to the reports the unit members submitted about the battle in North Korea, the zombies devoured countless other zombies in an instant and became stronger at an incredible speed. If that is true...... isn’t there a high possibility that all the other zombies have already been eaten and the strengthening of its power is already finished?”

“That is...... not...... so.”

“Why?”

“Devouring...... is also...... a branch...... of evolution.”

The fight in that city.

This guy had advised the prince to devour its kin.

But the reason had not been to make it collect the evolutionary information of other kin.

“Absorbing calories...... is fast. But...... accepting evolutionary information...... requires...... a fitting evolution.”

“You mean it needs to create an organ necessary to become stronger through kin-devouring. But...... wasn’t the prince already an individual that had achieved considerable evolution?”

“It does not...... matter...... Evolution...... occurs...... right before eating kin. If it had eaten...... kin before...... collecting evolutionary information...... would also be...... fast, but.”

The prince was not like that.

Because that guy had never once tried to devour its kin until now.

“So there is a high possibility that the organ necessary for that is only now beginning to be cultivated.”

Although it had gathered the zombies immediately.

There was a high chance that, even if it ate them, it would be difficult for it to become stronger quickly.

“If there is the demon’s intervention, isn’t there a possibility it could happen quickly?”

“No. We probably don’t have to worry about that part.”

“Sergeant Shin?”

One might think that with the demon’s power, it could achieve that evolution quickly.

But my thoughts were a little different.

“These things are designed to invade and destroy any world.”

And.

Our world was simply a somewhat exceptional case.

“There were probably many cases where those worlds had powerful divinities.”

In reality.

I had already seen one such case in the past.

'Dasmur.'

That place was a sea touched by the care of a god.

A world where there existed even a guardian and a divine beast that had received power directly from a divinity.

Even so, they had been unable to prevent the zombies from becoming stronger.

“Those things acted just fine even inside that golden energy. They are probably manipulated in such a way that no matter how powerful a divinity is, it cannot interfere with that mechanism.”

“Then that means.”

“There’s little chance that devouring will be completed right away.”

“Whew, that’s a relief, at least......!”

However.

Even so, the fact that we had no time to spare was the same.

“Prime minister. How long will it take for that organ necessary to collect evolutionary information to form?”

“At longest...... one month. At shortest...... a few weeks.......”

“Crazy. That really is short.”

Once that time passed.

If that guy, who already possessed a powerful soul, obtained a powerful body as well, there would be no answer for us.

If we wanted to see even a little hope, we had to charge into enemy territory within that short time.

And subjugate the prince, in whom that demon had descended.

And.

I frowned inwardly and thought.

'......Will it be possible to separate the demon from the prince?'

If it were only a matter of dealing with it, that might not be impossible.

But it was a being with a mighty soul.

Whether it would be possible to remove such a soul from the prince’s flesh...... honestly, I had my doubts too.

Even with the hunters, would something like that be possible with only their knowledge.......

'No, why am I suddenly thinking so weakly?'

I shook my head and shook off those weak thoughts.

'Whether it can be done or not isn’t important.'

If we do not do it, we are finished.

So we have to make it happen somehow.

That was the only thing that mattered.

“However.”

At that.

Borjin, who was in charge of the unit’s shamanic arts, spoke cautiously.

“In order to do that, in the end, does that not mean we must push through that energy and advance?”

“That’s right.”

“I am sorry if this sounds weak. But although defending against that energy right now is possible, conversely corroding our way into it is impossible with our current techniques.”

If it were a small elite unit, it might somehow be possible by mobilizing even the power of my cooking.

But taking all the Legion members in would be difficult.

“To say we will eliminate the being hiding inside that energy under these circumstances...... is that not far too difficult?”

“That.”

At those words.

After sinking into thought for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“There is...... not no way.”

“What?”

The being that had descended there.

Even if it had restrictions according to the power of that body, the authority of its soul would not have gone anywhere.

Even now, there was a high chance it was a being that would not be lacking if called godlike.

However.

'First of all, I succeeded in returning to the Legion.'

There were means I could not use over there.

But within the Legion’s territory, the story was different.

Besides.

'I’ve already seen that energy once.'

If I had seen something once.

Making a dish suited to it was my specialty.

Looking at it from that perspective.

“......There is a possibility we can win.”

“What do you......!”

“The problem is.”

I stroked my chin and muttered.

“That is...... a bit too much of a gamble.”

“A gamble?”

“It wouldn’t be bad to keep it as Plan B, but still...... it’s a little much to make something like that Plan A.”

In that case.

We needed to prepare a more certain method than that.

And as for a method I could use right now.......

“It might perhaps develop into an even bigger problem...... but I suppose we have no choice but to try.”

“What do you mean?”

Only one thing.

Came to mind.

“Call the martial arts instructors of our unit. Miho and Seohwan.”

“Yes?”

“No, not just those two. Call every beastkin from the martial hall who agreed to cooperate with us.”

I turned my head and looked toward that side as I spoke.

We were short on time.

But fortunately, the place I had to go was not far from here.

“We’re going to Myoyangsa.”

An old temple on a mountain in Gangwon Province.

Because it was at Myoyangsa.

***

A mountain villa lined with old wooden buildings.

All around it, the universe stretched out, and below the cliff beside the mountain peak, fragments of destroyed earth floated.

And.

The pavilion seated at that summit.

Whoooooosh—

Inside that pavilion.

Even though it should have been inside the building, not outside.

A violent wind continued to rage there.

“Khuh......!”

Struck by that wind.

A man was letting out a pained groan.