13. Human (4)
13. Human (4)
I need overwhelming power.
I have to make them not even think, "Maybe we have a chance?" or "If we risk our lives, could we possibly win by even a tiny margin?"
To do that, I need more [Overlord]-class units for our legion.
The problem is, to get those guys moving, I need an equivalent amount of resources.
The stronger the Creature, the more energy it requires. If I don't satisfy that, they'll just eat whatever living thing is nearby.
Even if it's their own comrade. That's why I can't just wake up all the Creatures blindly.
I have to secure enough food before waking them up.
Most of the [Overlord]-class units are currently sleeping. Or to be precise, they're conserving energy.
I'm planning to wake one of them up.
Currently, I have Dagos and Evolute as [Overlord]-class units, but neither of them is the combat type.
Dagos is specialized in command, and Evolute is specialized in research. That's why they eat less food than other Creatures.
Now, the [Overlord] I'm about to wake up is specialized in brute force.
The problem is, since that [Overlord] is strong, it eats a lot of food. But it's fine, since I plan on having them eat plenty of humans in this fight anyway.
The lowest level of the Colony.
It's a place where weak Creatures can't even approach.
Because the moment they enter, they get cannibalized.
The lowest level of the Colony has a larger space than anywhere else. The reason, obviously, is the size of the Creatures.
Right in front of me, there's a Creature that doesn't end even if I tilt my head all the way back.
It's a Creature that makes the word "Leviathan" pop into your head the moment you see it. This Creature is just pure destruction, chaos, terror, and despair, but the moment I wake it up, the Colony will also be filled with destruction, chaos, terror, and despair.
I have no way to provide the food a Creature of that size would need right now. If I woke it up, tens of thousands of Creatures would just get cannibalized every day.
For now, I have to let that Leviathan Creature keep sleeping.
Feeling sorry that I couldn't wake it up right away, I slowly stroked its body and kept walking deeper inside.
Kkumteul (Twitch).
"Hiiik!?"
I was startled by the Leviathan suddenly moving like it was undulating, and I pulled my hand away.
'Phew... it was probably just breathing, right?'
If the Leviathan wakes up now, it's a real catastrophe. A total catastrophe.
Somehow, I arrived in front of the [Overlord] I wanted.
'Whoa... seeing this up close, it's terrifying.'
I don't even know how to describe it.
It just looks like it's designed to devour every living thing. It has the appearance of something meant solely to eradicate living beings.
Its body isn't solid; it looks like it's melting like mud, and the scary part is that between that mud-like body, there are rows of teeth that look like they could tear through steel.
I came here to wake this [Overlord] up to give the Adventurers overwhelming power and terror, but I started to have second thoughts.
'Can I really handle this?'
The Creatures currently active were somewhat understandable.
Spiders, eagles, mosquitoes, wolves, tentacles. The Creatures so far were just slightly scarier versions of forms I already knew.
But the Creature in front of me right now is terror itself, impossible to even describe in words.
'I shouldn't be scared by just this one Creature.'
Starting with the Leviathan, which takes up more than half the size of the Colony, even more terrible, scary, horrifying, and despair-inducing Creatures have all sealed themselves away for my sake.
Hoping that I will wake them up someday.
I placed my hand on the [Overlord]'s head, imbuing it with the Queen's dominance.
[ Wake up. ]
Kkumteul (Twitch).
==
The Adventurers of Mederun City in the Padix Kingdom entered the Forbidden Forest in perfect formation.
The Forbidden Forest.
There has been a legend since long ago that anyone who enters here never returns alive.
Of course, I know that's just a legend.
To begin with, everyone who becomes an Adventurer enters the entrance of the Forbidden Forest at least once.
But to anyone's eyes, the Forbidden Forest is safe.
For some reason, it's a place with only plants, no animals or Monsters whatsoever.
The tension wasn't just because of the Forbidden Forest; over 20 people have gone missing near the Forbidden Forest recently.
"Missing" is just a word; the Adventurer Guild already considers them dead.
To uncover the reason, a whopping four A-rank parties came to explore the Forbidden Forest.
The exploration didn't last long.
Because in front of them appeared the Monster that seemed to have caused these disappearances.
"Everyone, prepare for battle."
Although the appearance of the Ners was enough to be flustered, as if to prove they didn't just get their A-rank status for nothing, the Adventurers took the formation they had practiced in advance and finished their perfect combat readiness.
Dagos walked out in front of those Adventurers.
"It's certainly understandable why a B-rank party would be wiped out. It's chilling that they didn't know about this many numbers until now."
"There's an overwhelmingly large one among the Monsters. Is that the king of those Monsters?"
[ That is correct. ]
""!!!!!!!!!""
As soon as Dagos's voice was heard, all the Adventurers flinched in surprise.
It's not that there are no non-human creatures that can communicate. But those creatures are all human-like beings.
For example, creatures like Elves, Vampires, or Dwarves. However, there has never been a case where a Monster that looks like a Monster to anyone's eyes spoke to them.
[ Greetings. Humans. For what reason have you come here? ]
They hadn't even imagined a Monster would speak to them, so their reaction was a bit slow, but the Adventurer who was temporarily acting as the leader for this expedition opened their mouth.
"Many people have gone missing here. Do you know the whereabouts of those missing people?"
[ They are all dead. It is because they trespassed into our territory. ]
"Did you kill them all...?"
[ That is correct. Is there a problem? ]
"It seems like there's a big problem..."
[ Why is it a problem? ]
"Because you killed humans."
[ Strange. Do humans have a problem with killing livestock? It is the same. Us killing humans is the same as humans killing livestock. ]
"...!"
'As expected, a Monster is a Monster...!'
Seeing Dagos speak as if they had no qualms about killing humans while possessing such high intelligence, all the Adventurers present judged Dagos to be extremely dangerous.
The Adventurers raised their Mana, Unique Abilities, and all the power they possessed, preparing to fight.
[ Therefore, I intend to make a proposal to the humans. ]
"A proposal? What proposal?"
[ Periodically offer a large number of humans to us... Then we will not leave this Forbidden Forest. ]
"Bullshit!!!!"
==
The moment the Ners were about to charge according to Dagos's command.
The Ners that was charging at the very front had half its body chewed off by a giant mouth that popped out of the ground.
"Ooh..."
I squinted slightly and watched the appearance of the [Overlord] Gluttony.
Gluttony, which was slightly slime-like, started devouring all the Ners nearby as soon as it appeared. Acidic Blood? Poison? It didn't matter at all; it just chewed everything up.
I dislike cannibalism, but there's no help for it right now.
Gluttony uses a massive amount of energy every time it moves. I was supposed to give it something when I woke it up, but since we have nothing in our Colony right now, I just sent it out.
On top of that, I even told it not to eat the Adventurers, so from Gluttony's perspective, it must have been absurd.
Making it work without feeding it? When it had been starving all this time? So, I had no choice but to allow the cannibalism.
Gluttony started to grow bigger as it began eating the Ners.
As its black body grew larger, the dripping parts of its body became individual Creatures, moving and taking control of the battlefield area.
If I were one of the Adventurers there? I would have just committed suicide immediately.
However, although the Adventurers were all terrified, they steeled their minds and began attacking Gluttony.
==
"Damn it...! What the hell is that."
"Dodge!"
"Aaaargh!"
Gluttony's power transcended imagination.
It just eats everything.
It even eats the Mages' magic attacks just like that, and arrows, swords, shields—it just eats everything.
A mouth suddenly appears on the part they're trying to attack and just eats it, and even I think, 'How can you win against that?'
Just as I was expecting an overwhelming victory for Gluttony, suddenly one Adventurer popped out and landed an effective hit on Gluttony.
"That Monster's name is Gluttony! It doesn't have a specific weakness, but you have to deal damage with surface-area attacks, not point-attacks!"
'What? How does he know that?'
"And we have to stop it from eating the Ners, the spider Monsters nearby!"
Unlike the other Adventurers, he has black hair, a neat appearance, and expensive-looking equipment.
He had been present without any presence until now, but suddenly, when the Adventurers were in danger, he stepped forward and is now leading the Adventurers, trying to push Gluttony back.
"If everyone just keeps their cool, we can win!!!"
As soon as I saw that man, I knew.
That man.
He's not an Otherworlder.
It's clear he came from the same Earth as me.
I can't not know. The appearance of people from this world and that man's appearance are completely different.
He just has a face that looks Korean at a glance.
Gluttony didn't talk to the Adventurers, and Dagos didn't say anything either.
Yet, that Adventurer knows more about Gluttony than I do.
'That man's ability is probably that.'
It's that ability that you usually get when you go to another world in manga or novels.
'I want it.'
I commanded all the Creatures there right now.
It doesn't matter if they kill everyone else. It doesn't matter if they eat them.
But that Adventurer—bring him to me while keeping him alive.