Chapter 772: Invasion (2)

CRUNCH, CRUNCH.

{!#@#%!!@......!}

Even as it was being chewed between those teeth.

The insect’s mind continued shouting something or other.

But the man merely worked his jaw with a blank expression, as though already tired of those cries.

Countless corpses were already piled around him like a mountain.

There were so many that even though the humans nearby were busily carrying them away, their efforts felt meaningless.......

No.

They were the shells left behind after he had eaten.

The countless zombies that had existed across this land.

Many of them had already been crushed between the man’s teeth and swallowed into his stomach.

The man seemed to prefer the plump insects among them.

He mainly chose zombies containing especially enormous insects.

As a result, many of the insects he devoured possessed enough intelligence to scream at him right up until the moment they were eaten.

The intelligent zombies that had invaded this city not long ago.

The high-level evolved forms that had once roamed this land hunting its greatest threats.

The last surviving remnant of the force left behind after that invasion failed was now rolling miserably between the man’s teeth.

“No matter how many I eat, I can’t get used to the taste.”

The handsome man grumbled as he chewed the last one.

Despite his complaint, he continued chewing the insect thoroughly.

Legs wholly unsuited to his beautiful face twitched between his teeth.

The insect he had chewed so carefully then began to melt into his body very slowly.

SHHHH.......

The history carried within that insect.

The few nutrients still remaining inside it, and the direction in which it had evolved.

All that information and power dissolved into the man.

“It’s good for the body, but digestion is slow. Infuriatingly so.”

Feeling the sensation, the man closed his eyes.

“What a terribly inefficient species. Well, I suppose this is the limit of a race created from nothing but hatred and malice.”

It was a foolish and idiotic design.

Had it been him, he would never have designed a species this way.

Thinking that, the man directed a question toward someone.

“Don’t you agree?”

But those who served him were busy carrying the discarded shells outside.

No one who might have heard him was in sight.

That did not mean there was no one listening.

{.......}

It was simply that.

Something inside him had heard those words and chosen not to respond.

“You’re certainly quiet. Are you bothered by what those insects said? That nonsense about being your own kind?”

{.......}

“If you found it so unfair, you should have evolved at least a little more. The fact that your body was connected to the [System] was useful, but didn’t you neglect evolution far too much? Had you not done so, I wouldn’t have needed to waste your [kind] in such an inefficient manner.”

{.......}

“Well, there is little point in discussing what has already passed.”

Despite saying that, the man did not seem to have expected an answer.

He merely kept his eyes closed, feeling the insects dissolve into his body.

Then, at that moment.

“......Oh?”

The man had spent some time swallowing several insects with his eyes closed.

As though sensing something, he opened them.

“So you’ve finally come.”

When he rose to his feet.

GURRRRRGLE.......

The body that had appeared human.

Rippled violently.

A transformation that had not been visible while he was seated...... no.

[Evolution] was taking place.

“If you took much longer, I was planning to come to you myself. Fortunately, that won’t be necessary.”

The man stood with his body still undulating and looked into the distance.

“I’ve also just barely completed a body capable of containing my soul.”

The man grinned.

Where his gaze fell.

“Shall we meet again, just as promised?”

A wave of gray steel.

Was surging forward, invading the brilliant golden light.

***

“Open the barrier!”

At Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s shout.

Every member of the Legion began moving in perfect order.

The soldiers gathered before the barrier stepped forward.

BOOM!

Long, thick pipes connected near the barrier.

The conduits transmitting Bimana’s mana were severed.

Then.

RUMMMMMMBLE.......

The enormous barrier blocking the border with North Korea.

Once its supply of mana disappeared, the lightning formed from countless spells and magical techniques slowly began to fade.

And.

Beyond that lightning lay the strange golden glow.

The barrier had been holding back that light with powerful spells and mana.

The moment it was released.

The golden light surged greedily toward them.

The being on the other side.

A force generated merely by that being’s existence.

The Legion members looked out over the land consumed by the golden light.

“......What is that?”

“This is absurd.......”

This was North Korea.

The country was different, and the cultural divide had been stark.

But physically, it was not far from South Korea.

Naturally, its environment should not have differed much from Gangwon Province.

But.

CRRRRUNCH.......

Enormous plants had grown to two or three times the height of an ordinary person.

Unidentifiable liquids floated and glittered in the air.

Far in the distance, columns of sand could be seen spinning in place without moving.

A landscape impossible to explain through Earth’s laws of physics.

It was as though they were looking at an entirely different world.

'Terraforming.'

Merely by being exposed to that golden energy for a short time.

The planet that had once been their home had transformed into another world.

And the Legion members would not be exceptions.

The moment that light touched them, they too would be forced to undergo similar changes.......

[Five Loaves and Two Fish]

Just before the surging golden light reached the Legion members’ bodies.

Something appeared above their heads in a soft glow.

[Course Meal - Earth]

As the dish seeped into the Legion members’ bodies.

An enormous light began to emerge.

[Land influence growth against the [Otherworld] is strengthened.]

Not long ago.

When we fled from the north, only a small number of Legion members had been able to eat my cooking.

With so few people consuming it, the effect had also been limited.

But now, things were different.

[Talent - Mass Cooking]

Not only the existing members of the Legion, but also the various awakened cooperating with it.

The royal guard captain’s vampire forces and the warriors of the Green Mane tribe.

And even the beastkin who possessed tremendous power.

The effect of the ‘course meal’ was to strengthen this land’s influence against the [Otherworld].

And the medium for that effect was those who possessed the power of this land.

The System had once been the master of this world.

Now it had become a framework of power.

Those who had received a portion of that power.

The stronger they were, the stronger the effect of the dish became.

The new powerhouses who had joined the Legion.

Those whose bodies and souls had grown stronger under the System’s support consumed the meal.

FWAAAAASH.......

A light incomparably more brilliant than before.

Began invading the golden glow.

“Advance!!!”

[The order of a high-ranking commander resounds!]

[Combat Command - Advance]

Together with that light.

Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s order rang out.

“For the victory of the Legion!!!”

They advanced with a roar.

The light surrounding their bodies pushed into the golden domain.

CRRRRUNCH......!

The grass that had grown to such enormous heights collapsed the instant the light touched it.

The strange liquid floating in the sky began to fall, only to evaporate before reaching the ground.

The world that had been mutated by the [Otherworld] began returning to its original form in an instant.

Viewed from the sky.

The golden domain covering North Korean territory was probably being carved away from the moment the Legion began its advance.

And as I watched that battle.

'The effect of the cooking has grown stronger with our increased forces, but even this isn’t absolute.'

For now, we had created a light powerful enough to overcome even that golden glow.

Compared to when our light had been slowly devoured during our escape from the north, the difference was enormous.

But in the end, the medium for this light was the awakened.

The more exhausted they became, the weaker the light would grow.

'Meanwhile, the enemy can probably emit that energy simply by existing.'

As time passed and the Legion members began to tire.

The balance of power would gradually shift.

That meant what we had to do was already decided.

“We end this quickly!”

“Advance at full speed!!!”

We would advance to Pyongyang as quickly as possible before our forces became exhausted.

Then eliminate the demon before it could grow strong enough.

'The fact that it still hasn’t moved south means its physical evolution is still incomplete.'

We needed to settle this before its evolution was complete in the first place.

We had to end this war as quickly as possible.

Fortunately.

The overwhelming number of zombies that would have been our greatest problem had already been cleared away by the enemy itself.

With no zombies blocking the area in front of the barrier, the Legion members could advance at tremendous speed.

But naturally.

Our plan was far too obvious.

The enemy would know perfectly well that we intended to end this through a swift assault.

“They’re coming!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

An enormous number of shapes surged toward us from beyond the golden light.

Gray-winged angels of every grotesque form.

They were the ones who had descended to this side from beyond the heavens when ‘the sky’ briefly opened last time.

We had already eliminated a considerable number of them while retreating south from the north.

But they had not mindlessly fought us to the death during that battle.

Once the situation turned against them, many fled.

And because our own numbers had been limited, we had been unable to reduce their forces by much.

......But.

Our numbers were different now.

“The enemies will soon enter our sphere of influence!”

“Report the coordinates of the projected point!”

“Yes! Latitude three.......”

The soldiers confirmed the enemy’s approach.

They switched on their radios and contacted someone.

Because every communication device had been rendered useless, countless people had died during the early days of the apocalypse without ever being able to cooperate.

But the Legion had already solved that problem to some extent.

Long-range radio communication was now possible.

And as a result.

“We have a response! Fire support will arrive in less than one minute!”

Those who received the enemy’s position over the radio.

The forces stationed far inside Legion territory began to act.

A moment later.......

FWAAAAASH.......

Behind us.

Red lights began flickering in the far distance.

Reconnaissance beyond the other side was impossible because the golden energy obscured everything.

Satellite support was out of the question.

And the instant our weapons crossed into the golden domain, they would inevitably be altered by its influence.

The Legion members therefore had to confirm the enemy’s location themselves, wait until the enemy entered the area affected by my cooking, and only then request fire support.

'Compared to the overwhelming technology from before the collapse, it’s laughably primitive.'

We had restored our technology to a certain degree.

Even so, it could not help but remain far inferior to what had existed before the apocalypse.

......But.

That was not true of its firepower.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOOM!!!

“......!”

The weapons installed throughout Legion territory opened fire.

An area larger than an entire city was quite literally melted away.

The numerous spells engraved into the shells synergized and detonated together, producing destructive power approaching that of a tactical nuclear weapon.

'Those insane engineers......!'

Had the Republic of Korea always been called a nation of firepower?

Even after most of civilization had vanished, that lineage remained.

If anything, it had developed even further.

The weapons modified by awakened now possessed greater range than before the collapse and firepower on an incomparable level.

Had the enemies remained entirely inside the golden domain, perhaps things would have been different.

But they were standing where the golden light overlapped with the landscape of our world.

Unable to resist the physical laws of our world.

They were forced to endure the full damage.

......The only problem was.

“Multiple survivors!”

“Ha. Impressive.”

Even after being struck by such overwhelming fire support.

A considerable number of them were still alive, though wounded.

Many did not even appear to have suffered any significant injuries.

'What kind of world lies on the other side?'

How could so many creatures survive an explosion of that magnitude?

It was somewhat absurd.......

But it did not matter.

“Commence combat!”

Eliminating the enemies who had survived.

Was the role of the soldiers who had advanced this far...... our role.