12th Corps.
One of the Republic of Korea’s forward-most corps charged with defending northern Gangwon Province.
As a corps abutting the border,
the 12th Corps had possessed considerable combat power.
Of course—
"All of it has been annihilated now."
"That only means monsters that strong appeared. Nothing to be done."
The units belonging to the corps were now
mostly occupied by the monsters that had breached those places.
To one such military base,
a certain group drew near.
"This is the place..."
Since the day of ruin,
an enormous number of people had been killed by monsters.
Beasts so powerful ordinary humans couldn’t even resist.
"This is the 12th Corps’..."
"The corps headquarters."
Yet even those powerful monsters,
compared to the monsters occupying a military base, were scarcely worth calling strong.
"The unit’s scale isn’t enormous, but it is the headquarters. Substantial monsters will be entrenched."
"...Gulp."
On rare occasions, monsters with great power appeared outside of military bases,
but they either had to satisfy special conditions to become strong,
or survive only within special environments like dungeons, and the like.
Extremely exceptional cases.
Even groups commanding a fair number of Awakened
generally wouldn’t even approach near a military base.
In other words—
"If we set these ones loose,"
"those ‘Legion’ people will take heavy damage."
The name Iron Legion sounds flashy,
but at best they’ve been Awakened less than a year.
Even that word “Legion” is just a nickname.
The ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Republic of Korea’s genuinely powerful force—
a true corps, a world apart from a self-styled legion.
They could not possibly overcome the monster that wiped out the 12th Corps.
Thus,
they had come seeking a military base all survivors avoided.
"Huff... huff."
A group of five.
Among them was an old man.
Most wore flat expressions,
but a few looked badly strained,
their bodies trembling.
"Everyone, do not shake."
The man who was the group’s de facto leader
looked at those who were trembling and spoke.
"I understand the nerves. It’s inevitable."
"Leader..."
"But remember this."
Smiling kindly,
he took their hands.
"Our sacrifice will lead humanity to a bright future."
"...Yes."
"I’m a bit scared, but I’m not backing out."
Thus,
suppressing their shaking, they approached the military base.
"Then let us all pray together."
Upon reaching near the base entrance,
they joined hands,
closed their eyes, and began to pray.
"Master of our souls."
The one they prayed to was neither Jesus nor Buddha.
In fact,
it could hardly be called prayer at all.
"We seek a contract..."
In that moment,
the air over the area subtly changed.
"...!"
Outwardly nothing seemed different,
but everyone gathered there felt it in their bones.
"The Master,"
"is watching this place."
Their master
had acceded to the contract and was now watching.
At that,
a few of the humans murmured through tears.
"So he truly exists."
"Unlike the fakes that never existed..."
"A true god..."
Thus
their voices swelled with rapture.
"I offer the flesh and souls of myself and my four companions. In return..."
The group’s leader
spoke the reason they had come.
"Grant freedom to the monsters occupying that base."
Moments later,
a voice resounded in their heads.
[The contract is concluded.]
"Ah...!"
"He has answered..."
And
just as they were about to shed tears of joy at that voice—
Puhk...
Roughly ten humans who had been seated there—
their bodies seemed to turn to powder and scattered into the air.
What they had offered
was their flesh and souls,
that is,
their very existence.
And
what the recipient of that payment would provide—
was the monsters’ freedom.
The corps headquarters seated at the heart of the 12th Corps,
the mighty beast that had completely annihilated that unit—
[Deathclaw]
obtained its freedom.
A beast that, dominated by thoughts filling its skull,
had been unable to hunt for months,
reduced to gnawing the soldiers’ corpses to live.
—Grrrk...
The long-starved beast rose to its feet.
The moment for a long-awaited hunt was about to begin.
****
"A guest will be coming. Someone who really didn’t like what you did... and wants to wreak havoc."
Sergeant Park Taejun, who’d been speaking with me—
the words he suddenly dropped.
They could have sounded like idle clouds,
but I’d heard the notion of a guest coming before.
Back then the ones who came were survivors like Team Lead Lee Sanga.
But
this time seemed different.
A guest who wanted to wreak havoc—
in other words,
‘An enemy is coming.’
It wasn’t hard to grasp the meaning.
I sprang up and asked Taejun:
"Where do I go?"
"Near Outpost 3. If you’re there, everything will go well."
"All soldiers, with me."
The soldiers I’d brought,
and even the ones staying at the 423rd—
I took the force and left the Radar Section.
The direction he said the enemy would come from was Outpost 3,
an outer post not far from the radar.
‘There was a reason he said it from the radar, then.’
The enemy was coming close, so he’d called me there.
I understood that intent enough,
but I did wonder why he told me only now.
‘I’ll confirm that later.’
Running with the soldiers,
soon—
"Outpost 3. Here!"
"But it looks like no one’s around."
"No, wait."
We reached Outpost 3.
Contrary to Taejun’s words, it looked like an empty post.
But—
—Alright... then together now.
From far off,
we heard someone conversing.
—Master of our souls.
I didn’t know the details,
but I was certain they were about to do something bad.
Therefore—
[Assistant Chef]
Kitchen knives and utensils lifted into the air.
[Assistant Chef] doesn’t share my traits,
but it does share my stats.
Not long ago,
after absorbing the stats of the [Chef of Dasmur],
my already high stats had risen even further.
Fwoooooom!
With those stats applied as-is,
the utensils suspended in the air shrieked through and were fired at tremendous speed.
—In payment for the contract, we offer the flesh and souls of the five of us...
I heard a man muttering something,
but he couldn’t finish speaking.
—Release the fetters upon the monsters entrenched here...!
KWA-AA-AANG!
—Guhk!?
While a flustered voice rang out,
my unit and I reached the place the voices were coming from.
‘Humans?’
I’d wondered what kind of beings they were if they were the enemy—
what stood there
were about five utterly ordinary-looking humans.
‘Not monsters. Why would ordinary-looking humans come at us...?’
Honestly, it threw me a bit.
They felt oddly different even from bandits.
And I wasn’t the only one taken aback.
"Ah, from the inside—"
"People came out...!?"
Seeing me and the soldiers,
they muttered in obvious panic.
"Humanoid monsters?"
"...No. If they were the monsters occupying the base, they wouldn’t have left it. Humans... no—"
The fluster lasted only a moment.
They looked like they were drawing weapons from their belts,
then leveled them at us and shouted.
"[The Legion]!"
He said our guild name outright.
They’d heard the radio we broadcast,
and had enough wits to decide, on seeing us, that we were the ones who’d sent it.
But—
even with wits, that was their limit.
"Guys."
"Yes!"
"There are ‘approaching personnel’ near the unit."
Draw a blade?
In front of whom, exactly?
Awakened with the plain look of people assuming a fighting stance.
Seeing that,
I snorted.
"What are you doing. Not bringing them in?"
"Loyaltyyyyy!!!"
That was enough.
****
"Loyalty. All approaching personnel captured alive."
"Good work."
The suspicious lot caught near the unit.
"Kh... kill me!"
The man who seemed to be their leader shouted.
‘Kill you, my ass.’
Our unit’s treatment of criminals is a little different.
He won’t even get to die; he’ll work for the unit.
"Heh heh... You’re the soldiers who broadcast that radio, right."
"Yeah. You figured that out."
Then,
the man opened his mouth at the sight of us.
"Heh. You think you’re some messengers of justice."
...We don’t?
I watched, wondering what the hell he was trying to say.
"But do you know this?"
Even on his knees before us,
the man shouted without losing an ounce of bluster, excitement rising.
"What you’re doing will ultimately bring about humanity’s annihilation!"
"...?"
"I will never allow it. Even if I must offer up my life and those of my brethren!"
"What the hell are you babbling about."
What had we done to make him this angry?
Curious, I—
‘Let’s see what this guy is.’
stared hard at him
and activated a trait.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Primate — Human]
Up to here—
same as always.
But what came next was a little strange.
[Class: Demon Contractor Lv.14]
"..."
What.
What did I just see.
[Trait — Consecration]
[Your stats increase by offering the body and soul of enemies you have hunted to a demon.]
[Skill — Contract]
[Execute a contract with a demon. By paying a price, you may present a request commensurate with that price.]
A vicious class name,
plus a one-of-a-kind trait and skill.
"Demon Contractor, huh."
"...!? H-how did you—"
I muttered because it was absurd,
and I saw the humans visibly flinch at my words.
Regardless,
I looked over the information and thought.
‘The Spirit of Darkness I met recently.’
That thing clearly had the description,
[Minion of a demon].
A demon.
Whether that one was truly a demon or not is secondary—
it’s certain it was something powerful.
And,
for whatever reason, I’d already had my life targeted by a minion of such a being.
‘I already had a lot of questions.’
I didn’t expect
someone on that side to roll in like this.
Grin.
"Perfect timing."
"W-what do you mean."
"I’ve got a lot I want to ask your side."
As I approached with a smile,
the man who seemed their leader went pale.
"...So you’d even grasped our identity?"
Not that.
Whatever he misunderstood in my words, he muttered, aghast.
"The Guide didn’t say that... You’re more dangerous than I thought."
"What are you on about?"
Still muttering to himself,
he seemed to be weighing something,
then, moments later,
he nodded gravely and opened his mouth.
"Demon! I request a contract!"
"...!"
Shouting to the empty air.
Even at a glance, he was about to do something bad.
"He’s trying something!"
"Stop him!"
The soldiers, seeing that, rushed in.
They forced the man flat and even clamped his mouth,
but—
"Mmff...! Mmmffmm!!!"
"Be quiet!"
Even with his mouth covered,
he kept trying to say something.
I didn’t know what,
but perhaps it had an effect.
—Koooooom...
"...!?"
A plain mountain-base with nothing in it—
the air around it...
sank heavy.
‘Damn.’
I hadn’t caught the content,
but what he’d forced out with his mouth covered—
‘So it doesn’t need to be perfect language.’
That much, that it had effect, was certain.
A space where the air had suddenly flipped.
Within it, I—
‘There.’
lifted my head
and looked to the sky.
‘Something is there.’
Something
watching me.
