Conductor of the Battlefield - 2
The Cadaver Legion charged toward the Remnant Zone.
Screams echoing from all around carried the madness of those craving violence.
This assault was sure to be a more radical and all-out bloodbath than the legion had ever imagined before.
All the legion yearned for now was blood and flesh. Exhausted by the endless survival struggle outside, the legion craved a new revolution.
I thrust my right hand forward with all my might.
At this moment, my mind and the Cadaver Legion's were perfectly aligned. The legion's trust in me was firmer than ever. And I fully understood their desires with unwavering loyalty.
They wanted it: the red elixir of life that would never run dry. They also wanted it: the greedy meat living comfortably in its cozy cage! And finally, they wanted it: the shattering of that frigid, suffocating barrier blocking all their cravings!
Let's go. Unleash all the pent-up rage against those arrogant enforcers!
Cadavers streamed endlessly past me. Counting them was impossible.
But strangely, they all seemed to be avoiding me. It was as if an invisible wall stood between me and the cadavers. They were all keeping about five meters away.
I lowered my outstretched arm.
Something felt off. The cheers (screams) from the audience kept ringing out endlessly, yet I felt utterly alone in the world.
My excitement completely fizzled out. What's the point if they'll just move on their own without me now?
I surveyed my surroundings. The endlessly surging Cadaver Legion looked somehow unreal.
I couldn't just stand by and watch Carlos take it easy... No, that's not it. As an inspector duty-bound to protect the Sector's safety, I couldn't ignore the Cadaver Legion!
Besides, every single cadaver in this legion had Linker abilities—not just one or two. If they'd slipped away like this, the surveillance net would be hiding at least hundreds of Linkers.
Linkers are like assassins or snipers. Just knowing they're lurking nearby keeps you on edge. For the ambusher, it's easy—they wait for a moment of carelessness. But for the victim, you have to be constantly braced for an unpredictable strike.
Forcing that unfair psychological warfare just by existing! How unjust is that? If I'd ignored this, the enforcers heading out on future missions would tremble in fear of death every dark night, unable to sleep soundly.
I couldn't let that happen! So if we could handle it right here, what could be better? Especially with the Defense Bureau's most capable cleanup crew on hand.
Yeah, I'm basically a broker. I just assigned the perfect job to the person who could handle it most efficiently.
The Cadaver Legion gets its blood and flesh craving satisfied, and Carlos gets to wipe out a vile cadaver horde. Win-win.
Come to think of it, the Cadaver Legion had its eyes on the Remnant Zone from the start. There must be some kind of remote control freak pulling their strings, right?
Hmm, what to do. Sitting around waiting sounds boring, so I should at least watch from somewhere with a good view.
This was a disaster.
She'd acted on impulse, sure, but the situation far exceeded Lira's expectations.
Who would ever imagine a whole Cadaver Legion bursting from underground? Sure, it happened occasionally, but at most, one or two would ambush you.
No enforcer ever dreamed an entire legion would erupt from below.
But now that it had happened, excuses meant nothing.
In the end, Lira had left the squad's weakest member, Nera, behind. If anything happened, it wouldn't end with mere excuses.
Lira's advance toward the outskirts was ferocious.
She hated Nera to death, but she'd never truly wished for her demise. She just wanted punishment fitting the crimes. Killing a living person over mere dislike? That would make her no different from the cadavers she despised so much—mere beasts acting on instinct. Nothing separated them.
She unleashed her Cheon-gong-gi with full force. The cadaver her fist met exploded without resistance.
Her movements were rougher than usual, splattering blood everywhere, but she didn't care. Every delayed step only made her heart race more urgently.
How long could anyone survive in this overwhelming horde? Lira didn't buy that Nera was just a simple 2.5 Stage inspector, but she was still only a bit stronger than a cadaver. The number she could face alone was limited.
And this was a rookie inspector barely a month into missions. One month was laughably short to adapt to the outside world.
Even Lira, with three years of missions, was rattled by this— what could a lone inspector do against such a catastrophe?
Lira just charged forward savagely.
In the process, massive wounds scarred her body.
Bitten, scratched, slashed, melted, torn.
Pain surged through her, but it didn't slow her. If anything, she pushed harder, faster, fiercer.
Wounds healed anyway. As long as they did, her muscles wouldn't tire. The pain from the cadavers only fueled her rage thicker and thicker.
A gap appeared amid the onrushing horde. She forced it open with sheer power.
She dove in. Deeper, fiercer.
But at some point, the cadavers' movements turned linear. Those blocking her path attacked, but the rest ignored her completely.
She couldn't move. With cadavers charging heedless of death, Lira had no choice. She planted her feet firmly and desperately held her ground.
The faster the horde moved, the quicker she slipped through in reverse.
The distance she'd covered wasn't short. By her senses, this was near where she'd parted from Nera.
Once the horde passed, that tiny figure should come into view. It had to.
Tension and anxiety gripped her as the horde thundered by. Lira's body was a wreck—trampled, scratched everywhere.
Finally, her view cleared. Just a few steps ahead, the ground was covered in unidentified bloodstains.
Up close, it was mostly cadaver flesh. No skin or meat that looked human. Or... perhaps it'd been devoured without a trace.
"Ah...."
No words came. Even feeling anything seemed disrespectful in this moment.
Absurd? Impossible?
Wasn't it just a tiny mistake?
Pretending to fall. Needing a moment because the rage was too much. How could anyone exploit that split-second gap to torment her like this?
Her unstable fury lost direction. The anger toward Nera was still an unfinished emotion, not fully formed.
A familiar presence approached from the side—a cadaver mimicking human form, clumsy as ever.
That sight, so loathsome now.
"Was it... you?"
Ridiculous talk of bonds with a cadaver, but Lira sensed inevitability in the one before her.
She'd heard it was alive. Straight from Carlos's mouth. And what had happened in the ruined city while she was sidelined.
A cadaver saving a human? Unbelievable from the start.
Just a cadaver killing others, coincidentally letting a human survive. That wasn't salvation. Merely a fluke born of violence.
She clenched her fist tight. Cheon-gong-gi sucked in the surrounding air wildly.
Pressure crushed her fist like it might shatter. Lira kept her gaze forward, dropping into an extreme crouch.
Her entire body launched like a projectile. Ferocity like a beast clung to her stance.
-Tchwaaang!
She didn't dodge.
The massive shockwave flung Lira back, unable to withstand the recoil.
Yet Abyss, the target, didn't budge an inch.
I was riding on the back of a single cadaver, Cadaver Rider style, when I spotted a familiar face cleaving through the legion.
I figured she'd lose it completely at the sight of the surrounding cadavers, but surprisingly, she paid them little mind.
But Lira's next actions were even more shocking.
She glanced around, then gripped a mangled cadaver corpse in her fist.
Blood dripped from her trembling hand.
What're you doing? Hungry?
Good choice, actually. Gotta drain the blood before eating meat. Otherwise, the fishy smell's brutal. And with Lira's strength—the world's best— that cadaver meat's probably pulverized beyond recognition.
Was Lira a culinary genius all along? One action, two meanings. Impressive.
But she didn't have time for that. The horde was already that far ahead, about to overwhelm the Remnant Zone.
You're the main tank in this squad! Without you, how are Carlos and Nova supposed to hold? They'd manage somehow, sure. But this number might be a bit much. Fighting like this, you'd naturally crave a frontline bruiser.
I kept watching Lira, and suddenly she whipped around toward me.
Whoa. Beastly senses. I thought I'd kept my distance, but she spotted me instantly...
Lira muttered something. Too far to hear clearly, and her low growl just sounded like a beast threatening. Like a tiger rumbling?
She assumed her stance.
Pulling back her Cheon-gong-gi, eyes locked on me.
No need for words now that she'd closed in.
Fine, show me that pathetic fist of yours!
Lira leaped right in front of me. Her extreme crouch made it look just like a beast pouncing.
Cheon-gong-gi screamed. Right before shockwave release—that was my cue. Naturally, I met it head-on without dodging.
Air roared, ground cracked. Tinnitus shook my body repeatedly.
Like a low-frequency massage, every muscle cell in my body waking up.
I was shocked. Her face screamed "rip everything apart," but she'd prepared such a gift?
Nice words pave the way for nice departures. I grabbed Lira's retreating fist.
Her pupils dilated hugely. Did she really think she'd escape easily after I closed the gap like that?
We've got so much history between us.
Fistfights are usually the last resort for reconciliation, but we don't need words.
Was it... about this much force?
I gathered blood into my arm. An omnipotent surge, like it could pierce anything.
One step forward, and I slammed it crisply into Lira's solar plexus.
"Kahak...!"
She couldn't even scream, crashing to the ground.
I can't mimic Cheon-gong-gi's full function yet. So I roughly matched its impact with extra muscle power!
Lira convulsed, limbs twitching, unable to move.
A bit too strong? Even with great regeneration, she's not as tough as a cadaver.
I sighed dramatically, for show.
Way too anticlimactic. Lost interest. Sleep there if you want, Lira—I forgive you.
I turned to leave.
"Where... are you going!"
Propping herself on one arm, trembling like a newborn foal, Lira rose.
Steam rose from her whole body. Her deeply caved-in solar plexus restored in seconds. Minor wounds vanished without a trace.
Her veins thickened. But the color shining through wasn't red.
Golden. Immortality had descended upon that frail, pathetic life.