Chapter 63
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Monster of the Abyss (2)
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[I know. I know it all too well. Their language, their habits, their way of life, their methods of combat—everything.]
"There are many ways to overcome them, and I will find the most efficient one."
The Legion grinned. In the past, when it had battled them, efficiency was a concern, but in the end, a direct confrontation was inevitable.
But not anymore. Having grown rapidly by devouring the monsters of this other world, the Legion was free and powerful within this labyrinth.
What's more, these were opponents it had faced several times before.
The Legion had never lost a rematch. Its specialty was exploiting and digging into an opponent's weaknesses.
It could crush them with overwhelming power, or it could toy with them, make them tremble in fear, and slowly consume them.
"But, they're not Units...!"
Kang Do-yeon managed to say, her face grim.
"So, what."
But there was no persuading the Legion, which had already finished all its calculations.
Defeated by that single phrase, Kang Do-yeon lowered her head and voluntarily put on her mask.
'The number of detected enemies is merely a few thousand. If I attack from several points, how can I shatter their defenses in an instant?'
Having dismissed the objections of its sub-mind, the Legion happily ran the calculations and instantly found the answer.
The optimal and most powerful tactic, considering the current scale of its legionnaires, the enemy's level, the situation, and the terrain.
The Legion divided its soldiers.
The forces were split into exactly thirteen groups.
The initial assault force consisted of over five thousand medium-sized or larger soldiers, all bigger than humans. Moreover, it was confident it could pour in more than ten times that number at a moment's notice.
Like a great flood sweeping away tiny creatures, a swift, decisive battle driven by sheer numbers was the trump card it had prepared.
"Legion Commander. You will break through the strongest barrier at the front. I'll give you a gift in return."
The Legion gave Kang Do-yeon a special soldier created from a newly acquired concept.
The Legion had no magical knowledge. But creating physical tissue using omnipotent cells was easy.
[A new weapon, incorporating the concept of a golem, has appeared.]
Tendrils like creeping tree roots spread over the stone chunks that formed the golem's body, clinging to them and beginning to take shape.
Soon, a soldier appeared, controlling the stones that formed its body with tendrils extending from a power core in the center of its chest.
"Inefficient."
Just as expected, however, its efficiency wasn't very good.
This new soldier had been created for one reason: to bring despair to its prey.
To the Legion, which was aiming for greater heights, the city of the Moonlit Elf survivors was nothing more than a warm-up before moving on.
*
"A tremor...!"
"Everyone, to a-arms!"
The meeting hall erupted into chaos. The thudding vibrations were indeed growing closer.
Wythe burst out of the barracks, sword in hand, and glared toward the front of the base.
"These... bastards!"
He could see the enemy. A procession that could only be described as a pitch-black wave—dark, sinister, and chilling—was marching straight for them.
"It can't be!"
"It's the humans' magitech weapons! It's them!"
"We never should have trusted those human scum!"
The Moonlit Elves were deeply shocked to see the enemies that had revealed themselves.
Because the giants stomping toward them at the forefront were something they recognized.
'No. That can't be right.'
But even as he watched his subordinates tremble with a sense of betrayal, Wythe had other thoughts.
'The humans' weapons... so...'
His eyes twitched, and his grip on his sword tightened enough to crush the hilt.
'They can't be that terrifying.'
He was the most experienced and seasoned warrior.
So he trusted his instincts.
These monsters marching toward them might be beings that even the Ruin Fungus or the humans on the surface could not compare to.
"Ready the greatbows! Their weakness is the glowing core in their chests! We can stop them if we destroy the divine stones!"
He hurriedly gave the order. He already knew how to counter the golems.
The warriors followed his command in perfect unison.
Their expressions were resolute. It was the kind of spirit only those who had wagered everything and prepared for death could possess.
Just like the survivors the Legion had met in the past. To them, this was a place they had to protect with their lives, for the future of their race.
"The Divine Tree and our ancestors are with us! Fire!"
Under Wythe's command, the massive ballistae installed for defense were fired.
They weren't simple ballistae. Each bolt was a powerful strike imbued with a faint magical energy.
"They're hit?"
With a *CRASH!* and a *BOOM!*, the massive bolts slammed into the enemies' bodies.
From the thunderous roar, everyone assumed the enemies had been defeated.
"Alright! We got them in one..."
"Behind! Look behind you! The city...!"
But their cheers for half-destroying and felling the imposing enemy golems were short-lived.
Wythe's heart sank at the screams and the roar of something collapsing from behind, and he spun around.
The exceptionally loud roar wasn't from the golems falling.
"Noooooo!!"
He let out a scream of pure anguish.
What he saw were monsters crawling out of a rumbling sinkhole and pouring out from burst walls and ceilings.
"Lord Wythe! The enemy is charging!"
"S-split the forces!"
There was no other choice. They had to stop them all.
"I! Will go!"
"Orote, the warrior with the greatest strength."
One of them stepped forward confidently.
Wythe nodded and assigned warriors to him.
"Go, and you must hold them back."
He sent him off to stop the enemies who had burrowed in.
He grit his teeth. When he turned back, his eyes were filled with rage.
"We will defend this place at all costs."
He resolved to look only forward, never back.
To the enemies marching on them, the golems had been nothing but shields.
Among the horde of beasts and monsters, there was someone with a slightly smaller build.
"Have courage, all of you. We are warriors blessed by the Divine Tree. Mere monsters like them, who cannot wield sacred power, can be cut down in a single blow by our swords!"
He encouraged the warriors under his command.
Still, there was hope. They had already nurtured the Divine Tree beyond its sapling stage.
The symbols carved into their bodies since childhood resonated with the Divine Tree's magic, amplifying it.
A Moonlit Elf warrior blessed by the Divine Tree is strong.
So strong that if the Ruin Fungus that had conquered the world had been fewer in number, if they had formed an allied force before being picked off one by one, perhaps the future would have been different.
"That is."
But they weren't the only ones who could use special powers.
Wythe's eyes wavered.
A woman with a slender, curvaceous figure stepped to the front and raised her sword.
The sword she held aloft, along with the ores attached to her forearms and thighs, burst into flames and was aimed right at them.
'Maximum output burst.'
The one and only technique the current Legion possessed that used Form Power.
To instantly fire a maximum-output burst of energy as a slash or a beam, focused on a single line and a single point.
Since it directly utilized the power cores, other techniques like calculations or incantations were unnecessary.
This technique was simply the strongest and the fastest.
"Aaaargh!"
"Block it!"
A blazing flash of light cut through the darkness of the passage.
The massive flash erupting from Kang Do-yeon's sword incinerated everything in its path before crashing into the shields hastily raised by the terrified Moonlit Elves.
'Neutralize defenses.'
The ensuing explosion vaporized most of the Moonlit Elves in the front ranks without a trace.
And how stunned they were was not even a consideration.
The legionnaires charged straight into the enemy's formation, which had collapsed in an instant.
Since they hadn't even properly established their positions at the defensive point, the outcome of simply steamrolling them was obvious.
"Hold them back. You must!"
But they were desperate. That was how much was at stake.
Gritting their teeth, they blocked the legionnaires with their bodies.
To be sure, their strength was considerable compared to a mere group of survivors.
The Legion's constantly evolving carapaces were cut and pierced by swords and spears wielded with every last ounce of strength.
But that was all. The only thing they had the upper hand in was their desperation.
The screams of victims being torn apart by teeth and claws echoed from all sides.
"What... in the world are you."
"..."
In the midst of the desperate battle, Wythe blocked Kang Do-yeon's path.
She swung her sword without a moment's hesitation.
"Kuhak."
Wythe parried her sword and staggered, stunned by the heavy force behind it.
Her physical abilities, powered by five power cores, were already transcendent, and there was not a shred of inefficiency in her movements.
"To think a mere monster could reach such a level..."
Wythe muttered blankly as he looked at her, at the dark red aura radiating from her entire body.
The power she exuded was one of the states he had trained so desperately to achieve.
For him, who didn't know how her body was structured, it was an unbelievable sight.