Chapter 829: What It Feared
The countless monsters blocking the way.
The monsters that had continued dividing and increasing their numbers...... instead did the opposite.
Slosh.......
They began gathering together in one place and merging.
At first, one became two.
Then the monster formed from those two merged once again, becoming roughly the size of four.
And so...... hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...... hundreds of thousands, millions of monsters began merging together into a single form.
“What the......!”
The monsters had numbered easily in the tens or hundreds of billions, stretching all the way to the horizon.
They were gathering at an incredible speed and taking on a single shape.
-I will not, let you leave.
Individually, each one was only slightly larger than an ordinary human at most.
But after gathering in such enormous numbers, the monsters swelled in an instant to a size greater than a skyscraper.
“If the target got bigger, that’s even better!”
“Commence bombardment!”
POP-POP-POP-POP.......
The Legion’s bombardment struck the monster as it grew larger.
But after the smoke from the bombardment cleared.
The Legion members could only frown at the sight before them.
'It barely took any damage?'
The Legion’s current bombardment was by no means weak.
Its firepower had now reached a level comparable to a decent-sized tactical nuclear weapon.
And yet, despite taking a direct hit from that kind of firepower, the monster looked far too intact.
And the monster that had endured the bombardment casually swung its enormous hand.
“Engineers! Everyone, get out!”
The soldiers who saw it hurriedly escaped from the tanks.
And immediately afterward.
POP-POP-POP-POP-POP.......
The core of the Legion’s firepower.
The tanks were reduced to wrecks in an instant.
'The tanks built by the engineers were destroyed in one blow......?'
Those tanks were not merely powerful in terms of firepower.
Their solid armor was tougher than even the Legion’s tankers.
They were, quite literally, moving fortresses.
And not just one such tank, but dozens of them had all been destroyed in a single blow.
Only then did the Legion members realize.
That monster had been able to divide far too easily and increase its numbers.
And...... the opposite was also true.
It could merge just as easily and increase its power.
FWAAAAASH!
At that moment.
A gray-white mist surged toward the monster.
The Prince, who had been fighting while floating in the sky, had noticed the abnormality and launched an attack.
But.
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
-Interference.
FWASH!
The enlarged monster’s fist pierced straight through the mist and headed toward the Prince.
BOOM!
The Prince’s body, struck directly by the enormous fist, was sent flying at tremendous speed and crashed into the distance.
***
“Prince!”
“I’m fine.”
The Prince’s body had been sent flying far away and knocked down.
Even so, it did not seem to be a fatal injury, and the Prince, buried deep in the ground, climbed out of the crater as though nothing was wrong.
But as he did, he frowned.
'Strong.'
The Prince himself was also a powerhouse so strong that it was difficult to find an opponent for him in this land.
But that thing’s strength surpassed even the Prince’s.
The Prince could not help finding that fact strange.
'If it has this much power, why did it operate while divided?'
With that much strength, there was no need for it to fight in a divided state.
If it operated while gathered into a single body, it could quickly sweep away every enemy that got in its way.
Yet it had not done so.
The reason puzzled him, but.......
-......Grrk.
'I see. That state is certainly strong, but.'
Before long, the Prince noticed one fact.
'Is it inefficient?'
The enormous body was certainly strong.......
But compared to the number of monsters being absorbed into that body, the rate at which the body itself grew was slow.
No, to be precise.
A portion of the absorbed individuals was simply being consumed in an instant as calories required to maintain that body.
Only then did the Prince understand.
'That enormous body is not good for it either.'
Most likely, under normal circumstances, that thing remained divided, a state with better efficiency, devouring everything around it and absorbing mana.
It was probably a monster that grew stronger that way.
And only when enemies appeared that it could not handle while divided did it combine into that enormous form, one that consumed a tremendous amount of calories.
Then it would fight while burning through the power it had accumulated like water.
'If that’s the case.'
And.
Now that he understood that state was inefficient, the way to deal with it was extremely simple.
'We only need to buy time.'
In the first place, it was a monster incapable of maintaining that level of power for long.
They only needed to buy time while making sure not to suffer any fatal injuries.
It was certainly strong, but if the Prince had faced that monster alone, merely buying time would not have been difficult.
Then it would weaken on its own, and before long, the Prince would be able to eliminate it with his own strength.
If there was a problem.......
'Right now, we’re in a situation where we can’t buy time.'
The awakened were trying to escape from this place.
It was impossible to simply ignore that monster and pass by.
The Legion members might be one thing, but the Russian awakened could not endure its attacks the way the Prince could.
If it had encountered only a small number of powerful individuals, including the Prince, that might have been different.
But now that a large force was gathered here, that thing held an overwhelming advantage.
As the Prince frowned at that thought.
-Die, quickly.
The monster that should have held the advantageous position.
He could hear its mind shouting.
-Hurry, hurry up and die and become my nourishment......!
And.
Hearing that voice, the Prince could not help feeling puzzled.
After all.
'......Why is it so desperate?'
BOOOOOOM!!!
“Ugh!”
“All forces, defensive formation!”
The Legion solidified its defenses against the monster’s attack.
Seeing that, the enormous monster furiously brought its hand down.
-Hurry, hurry, hurry up and die......!
“Ghh......!”
-Hurry and be eaten, and become my nourishment......!
The monster already had poor fuel efficiency in that body.
Since it was already in an overwhelmingly advantageous position, there should have been no problem even if it fought while minimizing the amount of power it consumed.
Despite clearly holding the advantage on this battlefield.
That monster looked far too rushed.
-Do not resist. Hurry, quickly......!
And.
After realizing that fact, the Prince soon thought of another question.
'That enormous form is inefficient.'
And, if that was the case.
'Why...... did it take such an inefficient form?'
The Legion had not come here to subjugate that monster.
Having judged that subjugating it immediately was impossible, their highest priority had been rescuing the awakened who were inside its territory.
The monster should also have been able to easily figure out the Legion’s objective by watching the Legion move straight into its territory.
If that was the case, the answer it should originally have chosen was simple.
'Give up the awakened and continue repeating its efficient absorption.'
It would lose the chance to consume the powerful mana possessed by the awakened.
But it was already a monster that had multiplied into an enormous number.
'Time should practically be on its side.'
Even if its growth slowed a little, it only needed to let the awakened go and continue devouring the land.
That would have been a much safer and more efficient way for it to grow.
But for some reason, it did not do that.
It deliberately took on an inefficient form and blocked the Legion members and the awakened from escaping.
'If there is some reason why it absolutely has to do that.......'
The Prince could think of only one.
'If time is not on its side.'
If it had plenty of time, then even if it let the awakened leave here, it could simply take its time growing afterward.
But the fact that it was not doing that meant.
'Only if it is in a situation where it has to become stronger as quickly as possible.'
Yes.
If there was some reason why it needed to become stronger quickly, even if it had to resort to a method close to gambling.
Then its actions made sense.
And...... just as the Prince was thinking that.
-Hurry!
It shouted desperately and attacked the Legion members.
-Before it appears again...... hurry!
Only then.
The awakened other than the Prince also began to notice that something was strange about the monster’s behavior.
-At this rate, even devouring this entire land and every last one of you would not be enough, and yet I cannot afford to waste time like this!
Every awakened present realized one thing.
'That thing.'
'It’s afraid of something.'
There was only one reason why it was acting so desperately.
And only one reason why it was forcing itself to become stronger so quickly.
'To build enough strength to oppose that something.'
That thing was afraid of something.
In preparation for the moment when it would face that something, it was devouring this land.
And furthermore, it wanted to devour the awakened, who would make excellent nourishment.
The problem was.
'Something that a monster possessing that much power is so afraid of.......'
'What in the world could it be.'
Perhaps.
There might be another monster in this land powerful enough to overwhelm even that thing.
At that thought, every awakened felt goosebumps rise across their skin.
'We don’t even know whether we can defeat that thing.'
And yet there was something that a monster that powerful feared.
Fear spread among all of the awakened as they wondered just how powerful the monster lurking somewhere out there could possibly be.......
And at that very moment.
-......Ah?
The monster had been pounding away at the awakened for some time and had nearly reached the point of breaking through even their defensive line.
The enormous amorphous giant let out a short voice completely at odds with its overwhelming presence and turned its head.
***
“......?”
“What is it?”
When the attacks suddenly stopped.
The Legion members, who had barely managed to withstand them, looked at the enormous monster in confusion.
-Why.
The monster had been trying to deal with the awakened and devour them as quickly as possible.
But its gaze was no longer directed at them.
The place it was looking toward was...... south.
The direction from which the Legion members had advanced.
And the place they were now heading toward in order to escape.
The south, where the Legion’s territory should have been located.
-Impossible.
And.
From far away.......
Flap.
The sound of enormous wings beating through the air began to reach them.
-It should have disappeared from this world.
Because the enormous monster was blocking their view, the awakened could not tell what lay beyond it.
All they could hear was the sound.
The sound of something enormous approaching while beating its wings.
-Why, already.
But before long.
As the owner of those wingbeats drew closer, the awakened were finally able to make out its form as well.
What appeared in the sky was.
'......A dragon.'
A dragon covered in enormous steel scales.
'......That dragon.'
'The being that monster was afraid of......!'
The Russian awakened trembled in fear as they looked at it.
The monster possessing such tremendous strength was itself looking up at the sky in fear.
They could not even begin to imagine just how powerful that enormous dragon must be.
But.......
“......Uh.”
“What, no way.”
The other awakened who were looking at it.
The Legion members could not help having a slightly different reaction.
After all.
That enormous dragon was...... how should they put it.
“......Kkamangi?”
It was a being with a...... cute name that did not suit its imposing presence at all.
-How could you have appeared again so soon......!
And.
The being that monster was looking at in fear was not Kkamangi.
More precisely, it was the person riding on top of that dragon, looking down at the ground with an interested smile.......
“......Sergeant Shin?”
A single human.