Chapter 31
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Legion's Gratitude (2)
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"Are you sure we're supposed to attack them?!"
"You idiot! The detector is going off!"
"B-but they look like normal students..."
It was their first time in the field.
Though nervous and flustered, they had to move.
"Didn't you hear?! The target's age or gender doesn't matter. If you're scared, back out, rookie."
"N-no, that's not it!"
The irritable, somewhat scrawny middle-aged man stepped out of the car.
The young man beside him scrambled to follow.
*This isn't my problem. I just do what I'm told, get the medicine, and that's it. That's all I need to think about.*
His rugged face contorted as he clenched his teeth. He spat out the cigarette he was smoking and activated something on his wrist.
"Kuh..."
A jolt of pain shot through him as a blue wave, starting from his wrist, began to envelop his body.
This was a gift he had received.
Soon, his entire body, including his face, was covered in a nanosuit, and a cross-shaped blue light flashed from his eyes.
"Whoa..."
"What is that?"
He walked straight toward his target, passing by the whispering onlookers.
His breath grew ragged, but he forced himself to ignore it.
He drew a weapon from a compartment that had split open on his thigh.
It was a highly advanced weapon that fired rounds far more powerful than any ordinary pistol.
*I can do this.*
He aimed it at the target.
The detector was pointing to a mother and daughter heading home from the parking lot.
He bore no grudge against them; he didn't even know their names.
But to get what he wanted, he had to kill them.
"Mom!!"
At the very moment he pulled the trigger.
The high school girl, who had instinctively turned to look, shouted as her eyes flashed gold.
"Tch, what was that?!"
Startled, he fired again and again.
Sparks flew as the bullets were deflected by a translucent golden barrier that emanated from the girl's body.
Screams erupted from the surroundings.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time.
"You idiot! Hurry up and shoot!"
He yelled at his partner behind him.
Fortunately, his partner snapped out of his daze and quickly got ready.
"Don't blame me for this!"
As the first man approached, the young man, now also in a suit, gritted his teeth, pulled out a large-caliber rifle, and took aim at the high school girl.
The large-caliber armor-piercing round tore through the air with a shriek, striking the barrier.
This time, the barrier didn't hold.
With the sound of shattering glass, the barrier broke, and blood splattered everywhere.
Wincing, he checked the people who had fallen to the ground.
"Dammit."
"M-mom..."
The shot had failed.
In that split second, the mother had thrown herself in front of her child to save her.
The girl was now trapped under her mother's corpse, which was drenched in blood, her head gruesomely shattered. She was muttering blankly.
"Sorry, kid. You have to die for my kid to live."
He raised his pistol and aimed it at her.
But he never got to pull the trigger.
"Keuk..."
"Run!"
A large brick, thrown by someone, flew like a fastball and struck him squarely in the head.
The suit absorbed most of the impact, but he was still a rookie.
While he was stunned, another high school girl, her face pale with terror, grabbed her panicked friend and pulled her away.
"You goddamn idiot!"
"Heek..."
Coming to his senses, he let loose a string of curses at his partner for letting the interloper get away.
There was no time.
He had to eliminate the target as quickly as possible, before the police arrived.
"Just get ready to scram! I'll finish this and be right there!"
Giving up on his partner, he kicked off the ground.
The suit granted him superhuman leg strength.
The built-in AI locked onto the target, who was helping her friend up into a nearby building.
*What a pain in the ass!*
Gritting his teeth, he drew a new weapon and chased after them.
He had already killed once.
Would a second time be any harder? Kill her. That was his only thought.
*
"Mom... My mom..."
"I know. I saw. But please, Yoon-ah, you have to pull yourself together right now!"
Kang Do-yeon barely held on to her sanity.
She desperately fled, dragging Oh Yoon-ah, who had all but lost her mind.
"Help! Somebody help! It's a murderer!"
"Wh-what... Aah!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran up through the commercial section of the mixed-use apartment building, trying to draw people's attention.
A few people who rushed out saw the blood-soaked Oh Yoon-ah and, horrified, started calling for an ambulance and the police.
*At least there are people here.*
Kang Do-yeon allowed herself a moment of relief.
But that thought was terribly naive.
"Uwaaah!"
"What the... Aaaargh!"
Her eyes trembled violently.
The monster in the blue suit crashed through a third-floor window in a single leap, kicking and throwing aside the people who were nearby.
"I told you, I've got nothing against you. But you have to die here."
He brandished a cold blade that extended from the back of his hand.
As energy flowed into the blade, it began to glow blue.
*No.*
Finally, her limit was broken.
She needed to fight back, but her body wouldn't respond.
Panic set in. Her teeth began to chatter, and she found it hard to breathe.
Her decision to come here after sensing the stigma's reaction and rescue the endangered Oh Yoon-ah wasn't a simple, emotional one.
If they knew enough to identify and target Oh Yoon-ah, a Player, then her own brother, Kang Shin-woo, was also in danger.
It was a calculated move: save Oh Yoon-ah, and then use her connection to Cha Ji-yeon to report the discovery of a Unit from another faction.
"Ah..."
But none of that mattered if she died here.
Kang Do-yeon collapsed to the floor, letting out a small sigh as she watched the blue glint fly toward her.
"Kugh..."
"Y-Yoon-ah."
Just as the blade was about to cut her down.
The monster was sent flying backward by a powerful shockwave.
Beside her, with a pale face, stood Oh Yoon-ah, holding a strange staff.
"Let's... let's run."
Their eyes met.
They nodded at the same time.
They couldn't afford to be careless anymore.
*This is war.*
Gritting her teeth, Kang Do-yeon used her superior physical abilities to pull Oh Yoon-ah higher up the building.
There were multiple exits, anyway.
All they had to do was hide, wait quietly, and then escape.
"You're not getting away."
"Kyaaah!"
But their opponent was too strong.
She had locked the emergency exit, but the plasma blade sliced the thick steel door in half with a single swing.
"Ugh... Uaaah!"
In that split second, trapped in a dead end, Kang Do-yeon threw a desperate punch.
Her small fist slammed squarely into the face of her unguarded opponent.
"Gack."
With a sickening crunch, a powerful impact rocked the suit.
The price for underestimating her sorcery-enhanced physical strength was a momentary loss of vision.
"J-just hold on a little longer! I'll do something!"
Oh Yoon-ah used the staff she had received as an offering to activate another inscribed spell.
Meanwhile, Kang Do-yeon kicked her staggering opponent hard in the groin.
As he screamed and clutched his vital area, a glimmer of hope seemed to appear.
[Auto-Countermeasure: Executed]
Until now.
"Huh?"
Her confidence growing, she threw another punch, then blinked.
Something went flying, spraying blood.
She gasped at the blood splattered on her own face.
It was her own arm, still covered in its uniform sleeve.
"Ah..."
But before she could even register that her arm had been severed, her body collapsed.
Her other knee, which had been kicked, gave way under the shock, tearing apart in a spray of blood.
The suit's movements had changed completely, and its cross-shaped eyes now glowed red.
"I'm sorry, Do-yeon..."
Watching her friend crumble, Oh Yoon-ah muttered blankly and canceled her spell.
The price for canceling a spell was an overload.
Choosing self-destruction, the condensed energy from Oh Yoon-ah's spell exploded uncontrollably, blasting toward the enemy.
*
[The Legion has chosen a tactical retreat. They are a foe that does not die, even when killed. Moreover, their combat prowess was formidable.]
"Still, it feels like we could have overwhelmed them if we kept pressing."
[Correct. In any case, this battle was merely a reconnaissance to gauge each other's strength. The next step is...]
The voice cut off.
Suddenly, my phone rang.
I thought it was spam and almost hung up, but I answered it anyway.
I could always hang up if it was weird.
"Yes. Who is th—"
And just like that, after answering the call so casually, I froze.
Even as the person on the other end spoke frantically, I couldn't believe my own ears.
[...What are you hesitating for? Run to the hospital now!]
I remained frozen on the spot until it shouted at me.
By the time I came to my senses, I was already in a taxi heading to the hospital, though I had no memory of hailing it.
"How... how could this..."
[Get a grip. This is a dangerous situation.]
I was in a panic, unable to think straight.
A dangerous situation? Of course it was a dangerous situation.
The thing I had feared might happen had actually happened!
"But what does that matter? This is... this is the second time for me. My father died the same way. If I lose her too, I... I can't take it."
Was I going crazy? A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
My sister, lying unconscious before me, was literally just a breathing piece of meat.
She had lost her arms, her legs, even her face.
Her condition was far more severe than that of Oh Yoon-ah, who was also unconscious.
At the gruesome sight, my eyes trembled uncontrollably.
[No, you can do it.]
"What...?"
[Look at the screen. And believe. In the Legion, the masterpiece you have created.]
The screen changed.
The lowest level of the Labyrinth.
The place of our origin, where the Legion's brain resided.
[The Legion is here to repay its debt.]
There, the assembled soldiers of the Legion stood at attention in perfect formation.
Their red eyes seemed to be looking at me, right through the screen.