Troubled Times, Part 3

"You may grant the experience points you earned as a reward for your real-world achievements to any unit you choose."

With the Great Lord’s activity power fully restored, the game resumed, and I, too, straightened in my chair and started playing again.

The first thing I needed to do was strengthen my units with the reward I’d earned in the real world for climbing the rankings.

"It’s not that much, though."

I scratched my head after checking the amount of experience. The achievement probably wasn’t all that impressive, because the experience points were pitifully few. If I poured this into the Great Lord or Lena, they wouldn’t grow in any meaningful way.

I chose Karin.

Karin was the minion with the highest compatibility after Lena, a unit that had retained her sense of self and could therefore be expected to grow accordingly. If I invested this experience into her, she could advance to the Warrior rank.

When I applied the experience, a note of gratitude rose above Karin’s head, and then she became a cocoon and began her evolution. My eyes, however, shifted to Lena, who was wearing an unmistakably displeased expression.

Apparently Lena was not happy about not being chosen.

"We can deal with a sulking unit later. Right now, shouldn’t we handle the pile of work in front of us first?"

"Fine."

I couldn’t do anything for Lena right this second. As Agares said, I had quite a bit to do.

First, I needed to sort through the spoils from the city raid.

"Karin is in a cocoon now, but before you shut the game off, there were more than fifty minions who had also entered cocoons. They, too, were among those who leapt straight from Minion to Warrior. They’re awakening now."

In one corner of the nest, dozens of cocoons had gathered together. Emerging from them were units just like Lena, their bodies armored in black from head to toe. Unlike Lena, though, the top of their heads were covered with helmets that looked almost like beetle shells.

"The Great Lord is a spider. Knights are bees. Warriors are... beetles?"

Only then did I catch on, and I let out a dry laugh. It turned out that my allied units, which had looked like horrifying infected things when they were still minions, actually had distinct forms and appearances depending on their role and rank.

Come to think of it, that made perfect sense. Ascalas was a hive united as one. If every individual looked like a random mess, it would only get in the way of collective action.

"Exactly. Your faction isn’t some petty gang of thugs. It’s a single... legion, one with the potential to devour the world."

Agares agreed with me. The Great Lord, Lena, Karin, and the fifty or so Warriors, along with the hundreds of minions.

And yet, in the end, my forces were only just now truly beginning.

"There’s too much nourishment. The humans you captured, of course, but also all the nutrients stored in each minion’s body. Unless you inject the essence separately, it’s impossible for the Great Lord to digest all of it."

The next choice was how to handle the massive amount of nourishment gained from the city attack.

That was a subtle dilemma, too. If I increased the number of minions, maintenance costs would rise, but if I didn’t increase their numbers, the total amount of stored nourishment wouldn’t increase either.

"...Option one."

I chose to increase the number of minions. Units below fifty percent compatibility had no growth potential, so I didn’t particularly want to make them minions, but they were still troops I could use.

"With that, the number of minions has increased, and maintenance costs have risen accordingly. To expand our faction, we have to consume, and to consume, our faction must first grow."

"That’s right. Your faction, armed with endless greed, will focus solely on devouring this world."

"...Should I attack the city again?"

The next option hadn’t appeared yet, but I was already thinking ahead. We had conquered the city, but we hadn’t occupied it. There were far more residents who escaped than the ones we managed to catch.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The reason, of course, was to avoid drawing all the aggro onto ourselves.

If an unidentified monster faction suddenly seized a city and turned it into a nest, not only the other players but the local humans would decide to come after us with everything they had.

"For now, I think the northern barbarian position... is enough."

I had a rough idea of the local atmosphere, so I didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention.

Like the nomads from the north who once harassed and raided the Korean Peninsula and the Central Plains, I wanted to become something that appeared when everyone had nearly forgotten it, struck a few times, and was too troublesome to uproot completely.

"And do you think it’ll go that way just because you want it to?"

Agares snorted at the plan I muttered under my breath. Of course, what mattered most wasn’t my intentions but the attitude of the locals once they heard about us.

"Got it."

A hawk had been resting on a healthy tree, but a surging tentacle snatched it up in an instant.

The minion that caught the hawk carried it straight to the Great Lord, and the Great Lord infused it with essence, turning the hawk into a monstrous bird with black veins bulging beneath its feathers.

"Depending on your choice, the Great Lord sends the hawk, now turned into a scout, into the sky. From this point on, it will fly above us, observe the enemies’ movements, and provide all that information to you."

"Better than sending Lena."

I nodded in satisfaction at Agares’s words. Rather than sending Lena, I had made a scout-specialized minion and sent it out to see what the local humans would do in the place we had just ravaged.

"Hmm, the humans have chosen to rebuild the city. Well, to be honest, the main reason we were able to take it in the first place was that they let their guard down."

Through the scout’s vision, we could look down into the city ourselves. Despite their wounds and fear, the people were returning to their homes and taking part in the restoration work.

As Agares said, the fact that we had won such a large battle without suffering major damage was largely due to the enemy’s carelessness, born from ignorance of our existence.

"We’re going to keep fighting, and fighting, and fighting."

I zoomed in the screen for no real reason, only to see a child wandering alone with a filthy face, then zoomed it back out again.

No matter how hard I tried to brainwash myself into thinking they were nothing more than simple NPCs, it was just sticking a hand over my eyes and pretending not to see.

"Again, again your heart is wavering? For someone burdened with such desire, you are remarkably kind. But a kind heart is useless when it comes to surviving in the wild."

"I know."

"You’ve already come too far. Do you think losing is acceptable? You’ve already grown to a certain extent, so that should be enough? If you’ve truly been entertaining that thought, it’s an extremely foolish one. Your game no longer rests on your shoulders alone."

I frowned, not wanting to hear it, but Agares went on as though he couldn’t care less, and, just as I’d expected, his words drove straight into my chest.

My defeat would mean the annihilation of my units. Lena, Karin—all of them would die. Those who had come this far, looking only at me and nothing else.

"To obtain what you want, you can destroy the world if you need to. That is the essence of the players who joined... this game, Pandemonium."

His laughter echoed softly. And when it faded, I had already hardened my resolve again.

"What is that?"

But the moment I turned my gaze back to the screen—

Something strange began to appear.

"A large group of soldiers... and their equipment looks unrestricted, so they’re probably mercenaries. In a way, it’s only natural. The city was attacked and countless people were hurt; there’s no way the ruler would just sit still."

They marched in disciplined formation and entered the city. The people saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them and cheered with relief and joy. They were heroes, after all—heroes who would avenge them.

But I remained wary. They were definitely my enemies.

At the same time, a quest suddenly appeared.

"What is this?"

I was reaching out to touch the quest notification and dismiss it when it happened. A streak of light surged from the ground far below where they were marching.

The screen flashed from that burst of light, and in an instant, my vision vanished.

"??!"

"The scout has been destroyed."

Startled, I flinched and nearly dropped my phone, and then Agares’s voice drifted through my earphones.

I had clearly seen it. A heavily armored giant of a knight, perched on top of a building and watching the ground below, firing an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arrow at the scout.

"You decided to avoid rivals like yourself and stockpile your strength. You expected the others to compete with one another and fall away. But someone else doesn’t think that way. On the contrary, they intend to catch the rival themselves and achieve even greater growth."

"Another... player!"

I ground my teeth.

At last, we had met. And not only that—this one hadn’t approached with goodwill. They’d come for me first, specifically to capture me.