12. Legion
12. Legion
"What? The Tower's collapsing? For a doll, you sure talk big."
"Lowly creatures always say that. Because they can't do it themselves."
"Sihwan-ah, you need to discipline her. How can you use a doll that's so rude?"
"Bari's fine. The problem is you."
"Yeah. You're the rude one too."
Reforming the rude couple is impossible.
She gave up cleanly.
"Well, if you fuck him enough times, he'll figure it out on his own, right?"
"Jabakkkom, you talk too much."
"...You really need a beating."
How can she speak so carelessly?
Even for delicious Ryu Si-hwan, there's a limit to putting up with it.
"Bear with the pain a little."
"With me here, what are you—"
Kiiing.
A sound like scraping the ears.
It felt like the frame suddenly cut out and then connected again, a split-second slice in the space-time frame.
An ordinary lifeform wouldn't even perceive it, let alone understand it.
No, actually, even calling it a split-second is wrong.
"Time?"
Only someone on Bari's level could barely grasp what had happened in that bizarre phenomenon.
The sound, clearly far away, popped! right in front of Sihwan like it had teleported.
If it had just moved fast or teleported, Bari would've easily caught and grabbed it, but this time, she'd nearly stopped time, rushed in, attacked, and then released the stop right before it hit.
"What are you—"
Paang!
The sound of smacking startled Sihwan hard.
Sihwan flew like a cannonball and crashed into the ground.
"...As expected, at the top tier, they can handle time too, huh? Though a split-second is probably the limit."
"You figured it out right away? It took the Angel bitches a while to grasp it. Anyway, aren't you worried? No matter how tough he is, your master got smashed, and you're way too chill. Just like the rude doll you are, your prospects are looking real~."
"I protect Master perfectly, so no need to worry."
"What? That's your protection?"
She pointed at where Sihwan had crashed and sneered.
Bari smirked back.
"What are you looking at? That's just scrap metal."
"What?"
She looked down.
"..."
It should've been Sihwan embedded there, but instead, it was a dented lump of metal scattered around.
"I thought I was gonna die."
Sihwan revealed himself from a rock fragment near the destroyed ground.
Not a single scratch.
He said it like he thought he was dying, but there was zero sense of crisis.
"What?"
"What else? Bari swapped it out. I don't know the principle."
"..."
The sound vanished again.
This time, the target was Sihwan too.
Instead of appearing in front of him like before and attacking, she stopped time, charged in for the attack, and released the stop right before it connected.
Paang—!
But the one who flew was Ha So-ri instead.
She twisted her body mid-flight like a cannonball and landed right before crashing.
"...How?"
"Sorry, but the same attack doesn't work on an AI."
"Ha... that's kinda ridiculous?"
"By the way... your output dropped a bit. Last time, it was about 0.000000001 seconds reversed and cut, but this time 0.0000000003 seconds. That's 70% weaker than before. As expected, handling entropy takes a ton of Nobling, right? Want me to take a look?"
"Bullshit."
Ha So-ri laughed coldly.
She was pretending to stay composed, but the leisure was gone.
A chilling feeling.
Up until now, she'd been half-playing around, but some damn doll was dismantling the techniques of a 『Noblesse』 who shone on the front lines—not to mention a woman revered as a great hero—the moment she saw them. And a doll made by some human, no less.
'What the hell is she? A monster? Or... an Angel? Even Angels can't do this much. No way a Great Angel came down, right?'
Her head grew complicated.
No matter how she thought about it, by her common sense, a doll made by a human couldn't be this strong.
She hadn't thought deeply about it when he mass-produced cigarettes or made that cellphone thing.
At this point, even she had to seriously worry.
"What the hell is that thing? Did you make it?"
"Would I?"
"Yeah, right. You're an idiot."
"...That's too harsh."
"Harsh? I'm giving you high marks for an idiot."
"Your next Jabakkkom."
"..."
She glared at Sihwan with a stiff smile, then suddenly sighed and flopped down.
"Ah, fuck...."
"?"
+++
The Mock Raid was halted.
Publicly, it was because all trainees retired right at the start, but in truth, Ha So-ri bailed midway, and Soyoung and Yeonseo stopped it.
No matter how much of an eyesore and nuisance Ha So-ri had been, she was still a woman evaluated as a hero of the continental forces, who'd shone on the front lines for a thousand years and racked up countless achievements in securing territory.
The fact that such a woman fought on equal footing with a doll made by some mere human was on a whole different level from some minor gossip.
Caution was needed.
Of course, for Ha So-ri, it was bigger that she couldn't fuck Sihwan now.
She still believed that if she went all out, she could beat Bari and force Sihwan however she wanted, but separately, the sheer energy drain was real, so reality hit hard.
Class was over.
The Mock Raid they'd prepared so ambitiously was canceled, and with all trainees except Sihwan in treatment, it was only natural.
Ha So-ri was in Yeonseo's office, munching on rye bread with half-dead eyes staring into space.
"...You didn't go all out, right?"
"..."
Yeonseo's question from watching quietly beside her.
Ha So-ri didn't bother answering.
Strictly speaking, she hadn't gone all out, but from the point she'd used time stop on a newbie doll fresh in the Academy, it was a meaningless detail.
"But... what the hell are those guys' real identities?"
Soyoung asked, picking at her salad quietly.
For Yeonseo, who'd known Sihwan a long time, everything was just "I see," but Soyoung couldn't do that.
Mass-producing cellphones or cigarettes, and even fighting toe-to-toe with Ha So-ri.
What the hell let her fight like that? A doll, no less.
"I don't know either. Calls himself human, so I investigated 'cause it was suspicious. Thought maybe Angel."
"Then you don't know exactly either, unnie?"
"He's human. But for a human, he's got more than one or two weird things."
"Mm...."
Soyoung nodded slightly.
For starters, Ryu Si-hwan's attitude alone disqualified him as human.
"Not a disguised Angel for sure. I know their vibe well."
Angels can disguise like doppelgangers.
They hide their presence and replicate memories and habits perfectly, so even acquaintances can't tell easily.
Sometimes they create entirely new identities, and for races like Elves or Dwarves—part of the 『Advanced 7 Races』 but super numerous—they were favorites(?) for disguised Angels.
"And who disguises as a mere human anyway? What's the upside?"
"Right. Conclusion came back human too."
"Mm...."
Ha So-ri fell into deep silence.
Showing a clan head-worthy side for once, she ate two more pieces of bread before opening her mouth.
"Seems possible?"
"What?"
"No... that guy said he'd conquer the Tower."
"...You think that's possible?"
What crazy nonsense out of nowhere.
"Listen up. If Ryu Si-hwan himself is strong, it's impossible. Even if he's stronger than me or Tae-hee, he's just one guy."
"He's not even that strong."
"But the doll's strong. The tech or resources to make her might be lost, but point is, he can make that stuff."
"...You're saying if he makes a bunch of them, he can conquer it?"
Making multiples of 'that' Bari.
Isn't that too far-fetched?
Yeonseo tilted her head, but Soyoung went "Whoa..." along with it.
"Yeah. What's stopping him? Imagine if I had 1,000 of me."
"That's horrifying."
"Yeah. How horrifying would that be to the Angel bitches."
"No... that's not what I— anyway, that's if he can make more Baris."
"Yeah."
"But if he could, he'd have done it already."
"That's why he declared it. It's basically already conquered. He said that 'cause he'll make them someday, right?"
"......."
Yeah.
She got the gist. What she was getting at.
So, ultimately, what's the point?
"That thing about sneaking Ina out earlier, that true?"
"Yeah. In case Clan Head-nim pulled something weird, I sent the trainees for treatment and watched, and everyone else bit too."
Thanks to that, Yu Ina didn't see Bari and Ha So-ri's fierce battle, and people dispatched from various guilds or spectators from the city all had to leave.
"So only the three of us and that human set know the doll's full power."
"Right."
"Good. Don't tell a soul from now on."
"Family too?"
"Yeah. For now, just us three here know."
With that, Ha So-ri stood up right away.
"I'm going to see Sihwan."