Chapter 773: A Martial Arts Genius

CRRRRZZZZT!!!

The Legion members and the gray-winged angels collided, and the battle began in earnest.

“KYOOOOOOOH!!!”

[Gray Formless Sword B+]

[Martial Arts Level - 31]

The Legion members had received instruction from the new martial arts instructors and the Combat Advisor overseeing them.

In particular, even the brief guidance they had received from the Combat Advisor had raised their martial arts to a level incomparable to what it had been not long ago.

But the ones who stood out most were not the unit members who had once been human.

“GRRRAAAAAARGH!!!”

“An honorable death for the Green Mane!”

The Green Mane tribe had multiplied to an enormous number through the Great Chieftain’s spell.

They, too, had begun learning martial arts while I was away in North Korea.

What was worth noting was this.

[Wind-Thunder Mountain Breaker A]

[Martial Arts Level - 11]

Despite having only recently begun learning martial arts, their martial arts levels were high.

And the overall ranks of their martial arts were high as well.

Due to their physical characteristics, the warriors of the Green Mane tribe were born with sturdier bodies than humans and were larger in build.

Moreover, their traits were closer to those beastkin than to humans.

Thanks to that, they adapted to the martial arts created by the beastkin even faster than the Legion members did.

That was not the only reason.

'They grow quickly in exchange for having short lifespans.'

The fact that a Green Mane only two years old could become a commander leading others in battle made that obvious.

Their rapid growth did not apply only to their bodies.

Their speed of growth also included how quickly they learned things.

I had not realized it when we fought them.......

'Martial arts geniuses.'

Martial arts were a form of technique the original Green Mane tribe had never encountered.

And when it came to that field, every single one of them possessed talent that was practically genius-level.

That talent had finally begun to bloom after they joined the Legion.

“May the Legion be granted a beautiful victory.......”

“For Karstein!”

[Blood-Soul Demon-Seizing Sword C]

[Martial Arts Level - 21]

Ariella’s retainers, on the other hand, were somewhat different.

Because they were composed of many different races, both the types of martial arts they learned and their aptitude for them varied.

Some of their races were occasionally even less talented than humans who had been judged to possess no aptitude at all.

Judging only by the average rank of the martial arts they learned, they were far below even the awakened of human origin.

But.

SHWAAAAK!

The elite vampire siblings, Im Naeun and Im Nahun, cut down their enemies while smiling.

As they swung weapons forged from their own blood, their enemies’ blood sprayed through the air.

The siblings drank the scattered blood, healing their wounds and increasing their own strength.

And yet...... why was that?

The power they gained through blood-drinking seemed even stronger than before.

And the might of their martial arts was far too overwhelming for its rank.

The reason was simple.

'Demonic martial arts.'

What they had learned were demonic martial arts.

Martial arts that could only be cultivated through vicious methods, such as drinking an enemy’s blood.

Demonic martial arts existed in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts.

But most were not highly regarded because they were judged to be too dangerous and to have low potential.

The System evaluated them the same way, so the ranks assigned to demonic martial arts were far too low compared to their actual power.

Their advantages were explosive might and rapid growth.

Even those without talent could gain powerful strength in an instant by learning demonic martial arts.

But the disadvantages were far too numerous.

The fact that they could only be cultivated through vicious methods was already a drawback.

And even if someone grew stronger by learning demonic martial arts, the limit appeared sooner than expected.

'Rather than a limitation of the demonic martial art itself, it was a limitation of the practitioner.'

The sinister mana cultivated through demonic martial arts...... demonic energy, damaged the body and destroyed the mind.

Anyone whose body broke down or whose mind collapsed could no longer continue training.

'They said that those who still tried to grow stronger beyond that point became mentally deranged nine times out of ten.'

There had apparently been a large faction in the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts that specialized in demonic martial arts.

But not only was the efficiency atrocious, with only one or two powerful practitioners emerging after teaching thousands.

The few strong individuals who did emerge were all deranged villains, so they were treated as enemies by everyone.

However.......

'......I hadn’t expected this either.'

The advantages of demonic martial arts were certainly clear.

The problem was that their disadvantages were simply too severe.

That was why their ranks remained low regardless of their power.......

[Blood Magic - Karstein]

A martial art cultivated through the evil method of taking an enemy’s blood.

And the wicked energy that accumulated in the body because of that method.......

SHWAAAAK!

'Is also the primary fuel for the vampires’ dark magic and blood magic.'

The problem was that the energy accumulated inside the body.

But the vampires expended it through other means before it could build up.

The energy that was a disadvantage to other races was practically a resource to them.

Before the wicked energy could accumulate properly, it was consumed through dark magic and blood magic.

And even if some of it still built up and adversely affected their bodies.

'They call it adverse physical damage, but in terms of scale, it only amounts to a few small holes in the blood vessels or organs.'

Of course, the instant even a tiny hole formed in a blood vessel or organ...... especially the brain.

It would be a fatal wound to humans, beastkin, and Green Mane alike.

But the actual physical scale of the injury was undeniably small.

[Noble Blood]

SHHHH.......

'......With a vampire’s regenerative ability, the wound closes before they even realize it formed.'

Even I possessed excellent regenerative ability.

But true vampires had regeneration on a level incomparable to mine.

A few holes in their organs or a small tear in a cerebral blood vessel would simply heal without consequence.

“Ghhk.......”

There was more.

Even if the wicked energy that normally failed to accumulate somehow built up in large quantities and reached the brain.

Even if, in extremely rare cases, it created a situation where their minds might collapse.......

“For the glory of the bloodline......!”

“KEEEEK...... for the head of the house and that knight......!”

A minor mental disorder.

Could not affect the bloodborne conditioning engraved into them in the slightest.

'Even if the adverse effects make them more violent and wicked, Ariella’s orders remain their absolute highest priority.'

That violence and wickedness would simply be directed toward their enemies.

Of course, it was true that mental abnormalities could occur.

If they were left unattended while Ariella was not giving them orders, a dangerous situation might arise.

'But the wicked energy that reached their brains will be consumed through dark magic soon enough anyway.'

The demonic energy that reached their brains would soon be completely expended and disappear.

Any slight damage to the brain would also heal quickly through their regeneration, and they would return to normal before long.

Demonic martial arts had clear advantages, but their enormous disadvantages had always been the problem.

But.

'Those disadvantages do not exist for them.'

If anything, the fact that they could use demonic energy to cast dark magic was an advantage.

Thanks to that.

Even though most of them were not particularly talented in martial arts.

'Demonic martial arts geniuses.'

By learning powerful demonic martial arts without suffering any penalties, they were achieving growth comparable to that of the Green Mane tribe, who were practically martial arts geniuses.

“Charge!!!”

“Victory or death!!!”

And so.

The Legion members wielding their newly advanced martial arts eliminated their enemies at tremendous speed.

Because the enemies had already been wounded by the Legion’s bombardment, their momentum was truly unstoppable.

“Urgh......!”

“Private Lee!”

Of course, there were powerful enemies among them that even the Legion members had difficulty handling.

Those enemies.......

BOOM!

“This one shall be handled by this humble one.”

“......Thank you, Instructor!”

The Legion’s squad leaders and instructors.

The strongest fighters among the Legion members stepped forward personally and dealt with them.

'I already knew it...... but seeing it like this really drives home how incredible they are.'

I thought that as I watched the martial arts instructors.

They were people I had somehow managed to fight five against one before.

But after that.

They received equipment from the Legion and compensated for their lacking physical ability.

To be honest, from that point on, I had already thought it would be difficult for me to face them directly.

'And now that they belong to the System, they have been freed from the effects of the seal.'

Their suppressed physical abilities had returned.

And with the Legion’s equipment and the guild system’s buffs, they had become even stronger than before.

To be honest, even I would probably struggle to properly face any one of them.

“......Corporal Jeon Gwangil!”

“Be careful!”

And.

The most surprising thing to me personally was.

BOOOOOM!

'Those guys aren’t falling behind the instructors.'

The Legion’s squad leaders.

They, too, were displaying martial prowess comparable to the martial arts instructors.

They had begun as awakened and possessed a wide variety of skills.

They had fought beside me across battlefields of impossible difficulty for a long time and accumulated many ‘achievements.’

'Their recent achievement must have been especially significant.'

They had ultimately succeeded in defending against enemies they should never have been able to defeat.

Empowered by the rewards from that achievement, they had grown even stronger than before.

Originally, they would have been weaker than the sealed instructors.

But now they appeared comparable even to the martial arts instructors who had been freed from the seal.

“Eldest Senior Brother, well done.”

“Mm. It seems you have just finished dealing with your enemy as well, Junior Brother Hyeonchuk.”

“Yes. In that case...... I shall deal with the enemy over there.”

“Then I shall take that one.”

......Of course.

There were exceptions even among them.

'Those four.'

The ones who had not awakened until the very end, including Eldest Senior Brother Cheonho.

Even among the instructors, their performance was dazzling.

They dealt with enemies that even squad leaders leading entire squads would have struggled against, without their breathing becoming even slightly labored.

Their performance was on an entirely different level from the other squad leaders and instructors.

'That’s absurd.......'

I could only stare blankly at their strength.

***

......On the other hand.

The thoughts of those fighting were somewhat different.

CRUNCH.

[You have gained experience!]

'This battle...... is easy.'

After defeating yet another powerful enemy.

The eldest disciple of the martial hall and the most junior class among the instructors.

'Is it because the enemies are weak? No...... that isn’t it. They are certainly weaker than I am, but they are not weak enough to feel this easy.'

Cheonho looked down at his hands and thought.

'My body feels far too light. If I let my guard down even slightly, I may lose control of this overflowing strength.'

The beastkin world, the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts.

[Cooking] did not exist there.

The concept of spells existed to some extent.

But because it was a world that had developed around martial arts, its level was not high.

Even then, most spells centered on communicating with the immortals of heaven and borrowing their strength.

That was why the warriors of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts had always fought with their own power.

It was so natural to them that they had never even considered any other possibility.

But now things were different.

'The Legion’s equipment...... and the power of [Cooking].'

Even though it was not strength he had gained through training.

It felt as though his power had multiplied several times over.

The beastkin who had only just joined the Legion found that sensation deeply unfamiliar.

'No, that isn’t the only reason the battle feels so comfortable.'

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM......!

Monsters attempting to circle around the battlefield and reach the instructors from behind.

The barrage from the Legion’s tanks fired toward them.

The instant it seemed as though the instructors might be placed at even the slightest disadvantage.

Fire support from the marksmen, mages, and Legion weapons poured down like rain, eliminating the threat before it could ever develop.

'They are preventing situations that would become troublesome for us before they can occur.'

When it came to fighting powerful individuals, only a handful of squad-leader-class personnel appeared capable of keeping pace with the instructors.

'I feel sorry saying it, but there are fewer than ten even if I am generous.'

But.

The reverse was even more extreme.

'Among my fellow disciples, only Junior Sister Sarin could come close to matching the Legion’s firepower, even if I am generous.'

Even Cheonho himself felt that reproducing that overwhelming firepower would be difficult.

Sarin’s poison arts would also fall somewhat short.

Furthermore.

'None of my fellow disciples could imitate this strategy.'

Among the disciples, Miyang was the one who dealt with tactics.

But even her tactics were limited to small-scale engagements.

The movement of this vast battlefield was entirely different.

'This enormous group, numbering in the tens of thousands...... perhaps even hundreds of thousands, moves as though it were a single formation.'

The Legion’s combat system had been created by modifying modern military strategy to suit the post-apocalyptic world.

And while martial arts may not have developed in this world.

When it came to ‘war,’ this world had accumulated experience and undergone development on a scale incomparable to the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts.

'Even the most famous formation consisted of only 108 people. And even that could only be performed by members of a single sect who had spent their entire lives practicing the same martial art.'

'Perfectly controlling different people could only be even more difficult.'

'How can so many people move as though they are one?'

Even though they knew nothing about the strategy itself, all they had to do was go where they were ordered and fight.

It was a battle approaching perfection, designed with even the inclusion of those who knew nothing about tactics taken into account.

“Lieutenant General Kim. According to the scouts’ investigation.......”

“Contact the Association Chairman. Have those forces circle around and strike the enemy’s rear.”

“The strategist’s tactical proposal is.......”

“Accepted. However, to support the instructors, move the tank unit here forward and.......”

Faced with this artlike craft of war.

The beastkin, who had believed themselves to have reached the pinnacle of martial arts, could not help but be astonished.

***

'How?'

The Legion’s warfare was far too advanced.

That alone was more than enough to amaze the beastkin.

But strictly speaking.

Their surprise at that technology went only that far.

Their own martial arts were something these people did not possess either.

They were merely intrigued and impressed to see different technologies having developed in different worlds.

Because they had reached the extreme of martial arts, there was nothing there that could shock them any further.

They had experienced the destruction of their world in the first place.

They had witnessed the battle between the immortals and the great evils.

Even when they saw something ordinarily shocking, they would only find it unusual.

They had experienced far too much to be genuinely astonished.

......But.

BANG!

That was not the end of what was truly surprising.

BANG! BANG!

BOOM-BOOM.......

As the battle continued.

The Legion’s weapons kept firing from the ground.

And among them was one awakened who was shooting down more enemies than anyone else.

“That man is surely Corporal Seo Suhyeok.......”

“Eldest Senior Brother. Is Corporal Seo your friend?”

“......M-my apologies, Junior Brother. Yes, Corporal Seo.”

In any case.

Whenever his muzzle flashed, one enemy fell.

Cheonho, who had fought them on Mount Cheonsan, already knew the power of those shots.

Although his mind had been half-asleep and he had watched it as though in a dream, even he and his fellow disciples had been forced to feel threatened by that marksmanship.

But...... the targets he was sniping shared one characteristic.

'He is only shooting those in the sky.'

All of the gray-winged angels were capable of flight.

But they were merely capable of flying.

Those who mainly fought in the sky and those who descended to the ground to do battle were divided into different groups.

How should he put it.......

'It seems they are divided between creatures that originally flew through the sky and creatures of the earth that were later given wings.......'

Among them, Corporal Seo Suhyeok was sniping only those that appeared to have originally lived in the sky.

They were all long-range enemies dwelling high above and projecting their power toward the ground.

They were launching attacks toward the surface from several thousand meters in the air.

'It cannot be easy to hit something at that distance, so perhaps Corporal Seo...... is assigned exclusively to them.'

Then, before long.

BANG!

Among those flying in the sky, there had been powerful enemies that had not suffered even a scratch from the explosion.

The last of them fell.

Only monsters wounded by the bombardment remained.

And at that exact moment.

“Mission complete. Report!”

“Yes!”

Corporal Seo Suhyeok shouted.

A soldier circling nearby responded.

'......?'

Even while fighting the enemy, the beastkin glanced toward them.

Then.

“Relay this to Legion Headquarters. First Marksman Unit, mission complete. All powerful enemies above an altitude of one thousand meters have been eliminated!”

Corporal Seo Suhyeok’s shooting.

At first, they had thought he had stepped forward simply because he was the only person capable of eliminating powerful enemies at that altitude.......

“Airspace secured. Deployment is now possible!”

But that was not it.

He had not acted merely because Corporal Seo was the only one who could deal with those enemies.......

'That shooting had been carried out with a specific purpose......?'

And.

This battle was quite literally an all-out war.

A fight in which the Legion was pouring in everything it possessed.

In that case.

RUMMMMMMBLE.

Even while countless Legion soldiers were engaged in battle.

There was still a force that had yet to be deployed.

'.......'

Sensing an enormous presence behind them.

The beastkin fighting on the battlefield turned around.

Then.

Those who had survived the destruction of their world.

Those who had fought absurdly enormous evils and grown so accustomed to shock that almost nothing could provoke a reaction from them.

Their eyes widened.

“What in the world is that......!”

Voices filled with astonishment escaped their mouths.

It could not be helped.

What appeared there was.

'A palace......!'

A palace that looked even larger than the imperial palace of the royal family.

Was flying through the sky toward them.