The Association’s Expedition Force kept fighting the monsters without pause.
And in the middle of that, some of the Awakeners thought—
“There are too many.”
The momentum of battle was definitely on their side.
The enemy was being cut down at an incredible rate, and they weren’t even producing many wounded.
But.
“At this rate, we’ll lose in the end.”
Human stamina isn’t infinite.
Right now they were overflowing with an unknown courage and crushing the enemy with tremendous force.
But that force would run dry at some point.
In the end, to win this battle.
They needed a reversal.
And many of them thought.
“That reversal...”
“That man will make it.”
The man who wasn’t here right now.
Would be making that reversal.
Then.
KWAA—AAAAAANG!!
From far away.
They felt an overwhelming wave of magic power they couldn’t identify.
“Wh-what was that!?”
“Where did that just come from?”
“Over there. Near... that Black Curtain.”
Far from here.
Near that black wall, some enormous battle was taking place.
Magic power strong enough to reach this far.
Monstrous opponents had to be clashing.
Then.
“That’s—!”
Right near that wall.
Small shapes leapt up into the sky.
KWAANG!
They slammed into a high-rise—
And they fought while smashing the building itself to pieces.
“It’s him!”
No one could mistake it after feeling that magic power.
A massive, ominous red magic power.
It was the power Shin Youngjun showed whenever he went all out.
“I can feel cold magic power too. It’s definitely those Stray Specters, but....”
But.
Everyone watching couldn’t help feeling a few things were off.
“Who is he fighting?”
It was a battle happening too far away.
They couldn’t see anything except the ominous red magic power wrapped around Shin Youngjun.
All they could sense was that his opponent was spewing the cold magic power of Belsnickel.
And.
There was something even stranger.
“Why....”
It was too far to see clearly.
But that ominous magic power Shin Youngjun had shown last time....
“...does it look like there are multiple of him?”
It looked like there were several.
*****
“Hup!”
An old man clad in white ice armor.
The old man’s greatsword swung toward “Sergeant Shin Youngjun.”
KAAANG!
“Kgh...!”
“Sergeant Shin Youngjun” crossed both arms and barely managed to block the greatsword—
But the impact sent him flying back.
The very attack that had suppressed Shin Youngjun a moment ago.
Normally.
The old man’s attack would’ve followed the “Sergeant Shin Youngjun” who’d been knocked away—
But....
“Switch!”
“Count on you...!”
Filling the gap left by the knocked-away “Sergeant Shin Youngjun.”
Was another figure.
“Just what the hell...!”
The old man swung the greatsword at that figure, too—
But the second attack, hurriedly recovered and thrown after an already-swung greatsword.
“Opening found!”
Was not something a “Sergeant Shin Youngjun” would miss.
Using the opening made while the greatsword was being swung, “Sergeant Shin Youngjun” dove under the old man’s body.
In a low stance, he used his overwhelming stats—
PAAANG!!
“Guhk...!”
With a full-power kick.
He launched the old man into the air.
“Sergeant Shin Youngjun” was overwhelming in physical ability.
With that kick loaded with absurd strength, the old man’s body flew through the air and got pinned into the wall of a high-rise.
“Such a huge, committed move from that posture.”
Normally, that would’ve been the end.
Because “Sergeant Shin Youngjun,” after throwing a full-power kick from a low stance, would’ve had his own posture collapse too much to chase.
But....
“Nice!”
“Next is us!”
PABABABABABAK!!!
Kicking off the ground and leaping into the air.
More than ten shapes.
“High chance they’re assassin-type Awakeners... that’s what I thought, but!”
The old man, pinned into the building wall.
Shouted as he watched the shapes with that red, ominous magic power charging up from the ground.
“Even so!”
Charging at the old man with blades in hand was—
None other than.
“A clone technique!”
More than ten.
Sergeant Shin Youngjun.
PABABABABABABA—BANG!!!
More than ten Sergeant Shin Youngjun.
When their attacks poured down all at once—
“Guhh—!”
Gangsan, pinned into the wall, didn’t even have time to recover his posture before he got beaten down.
And under that violence.
KWAJIK....
The upper floors of the building collapsed.
And.
Watching Gangsan get beaten under the overwhelming brutality of more than ten “Sergeant Shin Youngjun”—
“So.”
I muttered leisurely.
“I told you I didn’t come alone.”
Yeah.
I’m a non-combat Awakened class.
No matter how I’d built up my strength in my own way.
This was me leaving my entire faction behind in Gangwon and crossing into another region with nothing but my body.
“There’s no way I’d go somewhere that dangerous without any countermeasures!”
...Well, obviously.
“And it’s not actually clone technique.”
When I crossed into Gyeonggi.
I’d brought a few methods with me, just in case.
One was the vampires, with Ariella at the head.
In the process of crossing the Wall, everyone except the elites and Ariella had been wiped out, but....
Ariella would be near that Wall.
Raising forces in the Inhuman Demon Realm.
And.
In addition to Ariella, the force I’d brought was....
[Legion’s Droplet, Vimanar]
The new force I’d barely managed to obtain.
Droplets.
“...Thinking about the trouble it took to make these bastards still makes my thighs and calves hurt.”
Droplets made by feeding them extremely unusual materials.
[Transformation Target - Legion Commander, Sergeant Shin Youngjun]
When two or more of these Droplets gather.
They fuse on their own and increase their numbers.
“Also known as the self-replication protocol.”
When I first crossed the Wall, they weren’t a usable number.
But after I entered Gyeonggi, I’d kept increasing their numbers.
As a result.
By the time I left Central Branch and tried to join up with Southern Branch.
They were already usable as a fighting force.
The monsters I ran into while moving to link up with Southern Branch.
Yethil of Rage.
The massive monster group that had been approaching the Expedition Force from behind in the Expedition Force’s first battle.
Ice-Branch Goblins.
“Honestly, there’s no way I could’ve caught those alone.”
No matter how strong I was for a producer-type.
How would a producer-type catch monsters like that alone.
“I could catch them because I had these guys.”
Of course.
I could catch them because I wasn’t alone.
There was a limit to how many [Vimana] could multiply.
But the number of Droplets I’d replicated to use here was twenty in total.
The reason I could handle the monsters I met along the way was, well....
It was just a numbers game.
“Guhhh....”
“All right, then....”
The old man dropping from the high-rise and slamming down, caught between the rubble of a smashed building.
“One old man.”
As I approached him.
“And all of me.”
I spoke together with the twenty Sergeant Shin Youngjuns standing at my side.
“Let’s compare who’s stronger when we both fight like our lives are on the line.”
“.......”
The old man’s expression.
Rotted away in an instant.
******
“Clone technique.”
Even as cold sweat ran down his face.
The old man looked at me and the Sergeant Shin Youngjuns and said.
“It’s a ridiculous technique... but luckily, the main body is clearly visible.”
Like he said.
There was a difference in clothing between those “Sergeant Shin Youngjuns” and me.
“That uniform... whatever it is, it’s good news for me.”
“Ahem.”
The Vimanars transformed into me.
All wore uniforms.
This was exactly why.
I hadn’t fought alongside other people up to now.
“Because it’s hard to deploy these guys.”
Droplets basically remember the state I was in when they ate me.
Which meant.
They looked like me back when I was in Gangwon.
Wearing the Legion’s uniform and Legion-made equipment.
Sergeant Shin Youngjun.
“A perfect way to get exposed as Legion.”
There’d been reasons I’d fought alone, where no one could see, up until now.
“I got caught off guard just now, but even if it’s clone technique, it can’t be limitless.”
“Hm?”
“That clone will be weaker than the main body!”
Saying that, the old man swung his weapon at the Sergeants.
And sure.
Except for the fact it wasn’t actually clone technique, his point wasn’t wrong.
“Right now, Vimanar can only reproduce part of the target’s stats.”
In reality, those copies’ base stats weren’t high.
Around the level I had when I was about level 15.
Considering my stats had been explosively inflated after I got [Absolute Palate].
My level-15 stats were pretty low.
But.
“That doesn’t mean they’re weaker than me.”
The old man’s sword strikes.
The Sergeants swung blades into them—
“...No way!”
KAAANG!
The old man shouted with a horrified expression.
Yeah.
The copies’ base stats were weak.
But.
“Unlike me, they’re wearing that uniform.”
[An all-out joint work forged with the lifeblood of the IRON LEGION workshop elites, IRON LEGION custom-made combat uniform for the Legion Commander Ver.23 - Imitation]
[Solitary Blade Style - Imitation]
[Black-Sword Heavy Cuisine - Imitation]
[Sound-Splitting Flying Knife - Imitation]
Those Sergeant Shin Youngjuns’ base was around level 15.
But that equipment was the latest gear the Legion made before I crossed out of Gangwon.
“Even if the equipment is just a copy too.”
It was still a replica of Legion-made gear.
With all of it equipped, Shin Youngjun’s stats.
Rose to about the level I’d had right after hitting level 19.
And also....
“The truly important part is this.”
Those slimes copied me from right before I crossed the Wall.
And the Skills and Traits they had were the same.
Their Skills weren’t “me right now.”
They were “me right ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) before crossing the Wall.”
And....
[Penalty will be applied.]
[2. The enhanced effect of ‘Absolute Palate (Enhanced)’ will not activate while outside the region.]
Between me before crossing the Wall and me right now.
There was one massive difference.
[Legion’s Droplet, Vimanar]
[Skill List]
[Absolute Palate (Enhanced)]
[Enhanced Effect - Dish effects can stack.]
“Even I didn’t expect that to still be there!”
The various penalties applied to me as I crossed the Wall.
The enhanced effects those penalties removed from me—
Were still intact for them.
*****
[Joint Course Meal Filled with the Radiant Courage of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook - Course Name – Rampage]
[Joint Course Meal Filled with the Radiant Courage of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook - Course Name – War]
[Joint Work of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook, Panteron Grill]
[Joint Work of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook, Ice-Branch Vegetable Stir-Fry]
[Joint Work of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook, Ice Bear Bone Steak]
Those bastards.
Swallowed every dish Howard and I had made and stored in shadow.
And the number of stacks they built up was....
[Active Dish Effects - 5]
“Five.”
Up to now.
It was a number I’d never even dared try.
“Even four was a heavy burden. Considering aftereffects, three was the limit.”
If you stacked five dishes at once.
The burden would be beyond imagination.
A realm I’d been too scared to attempt until now.
But.
“Droplets are closer to a swarm.”
Each individual doesn’t hold a soul.
One individual’s destruction isn’t a major loss.
“And it’s not just five stacks... it’s five stacks including [Rampage].”
Whether it was [Rampage].
Or [Five Stacks].
Using just one was a buff that would force me to brace for severe aftereffects.
And.
Now that the two were overlapped—
“Guhk... a clone... and yet...!”
No matter how low the Droplets’ original stats were.
That power.
“...is similar to the main body...!?”
Me, right now, who couldn’t wear Legion equipment.
Me, right now, with only one buff—Rampage—applied.
“It rose to around that level.”
The old man was already suffering penalties in momentum and stats from [Force-Feeding].
Meanwhile, me and the Vimanars were also receiving buffs from allies including Jo Beomseok.
And on top of that, a 21-on-1 fight.
Sure, I alone.
Would’ve been a level he could handle without even using monster power.
But with a gap like this.
“Destroy him!”
“GUH—AAAAH...!”
If he couldn’t dominate.
That would be the strange thing.
******
SLASH—
KWAJIK!
PUH—OONG....
After that, the fight stayed one-sided.
No matter how strong he was.
It was twenty-one of me rushing him down.
Even the Chair couldn’t endure that pincer assault.
All he could do was keep taking the onslaught.
We were winning, but.
“That....”
Watching it, I couldn’t help frowning.
“Can we actually kill him?”
I stared at the old man.
“Huff... huff... you damn... bastard...!”
“......”
Once he’d been cornered even after drawing out every last bit of hidden power.
The old man’s earlier pretense of dignity was gone, replaced by spewed profanity.
Sssrak....
The magic power leaking out from behind that curtain kept restoring his armor.
But now its restoration speed couldn’t keep up with the damage from me and my copies.
The armor shattered completely.
And inside was only the old man’s true body, frozen solid.
And that was exactly the problem.
That body wrapped in unknown ice.
“Had already... been butchered badly.”
Even before he fought me.
He’d already looked like a corpse.
And after that.
Me and my copies kept dealing damage, but—
SLASH—
Even when one Sergeant Shin Youngjun chopped off his arm.
Pah-sah-sak....
Ice formed in midair and clung to the stump.
Reattaching the severed arm.
KWAJIK!
Even when I drove a poison-smeared dagger into his heart.
Sssrrrk....
Ice crystals replaced the torn heart area, wrapping around it.
Ice crystals that should’ve been rigid and immobile moved organically—
Thump.
“....”
Like a real heart.
They started beating.
Only then could I be sure.
“That old man can’t be killed by normal methods.”
So then.
I considered forcing him down by feeding him [cooking].
But.
“Grab him!”
“Kgh...!”
Even if he was losing to numbers.
In terms of individual power, the old man was strong enough to handle five or six copies.
He couldn’t stop the Sergeants’ attacks completely.
But he grit his teeth and avoided being subdued—
And above all, he avoided being shot by my handgun.
“You little... punk... with milk still on your lips... nothing special...!”
“......”
“That kind of impossible clone technique...! It can’t be permanent...!”
As long as the old man didn’t die.
The fight naturally dragged out.
“Until then... cough... if I endure...! I win...!”
...Droplets weren’t clones, they were closer to summons.
They didn’t vanish just because time passed, but.
“That’s not completely wrong.”
The reason I could overwhelm him right now was because.
The Legion’s Droplets ate dishes and stacked five buffs, including [Rampage].
If even one stack dropped.
I couldn’t dominate him like this.
“They stacked buffs that would make you suffer pain bad enough to die even with just one.”
The ones taking those aftereffects were the Legion’s Droplets.
But that didn’t mean the aftereffects weakened.
The moment that buff ended.
Those slimes might simply vanish.
“I need to finish this before that.”
We were definitely dominating.
And yet the old man showed no sign of falling.
“How can he be like that?”
Even if he was a human who’d become half Belsnickel.
From my perspective, as someone who’d become half Noble of the Night.
You couldn’t look like that just by borrowing another race’s power.
“It’s certain. There’s another cause.”
The problem was.
Unless I’d seen the Chair in the past.
I couldn’t know what that cause was.
“Strong buffs also have short durations. At most, the Droplets have only a few minutes left.”
If the Droplets’ buffs ended.
I couldn’t beat him alone.
As I wrung my brain out, trying to find an answer—
“...Now I’m sure.”
A voice came from behind me.
Startled, I turned.
And there—
“Like you saw, the Chair won’t die by normal methods.”
“Won’t die?”
The man I’d assumed would’ve passed out long ago.
It was Ha Yunseong.
“How do you know that?”
“Looks like even you didn’t know that far. Ghk....”
No matter what he was trying to say.
Yunseong clutched his chest, grimacing in pain.
“How do I... know...? It’s simple.”
Even while grimacing in pain.
He looked at me and said clearly.
“Back then, we... no, the Assault Team.”
“...?”
“We killed the Chair once.”
*****
The humans of Gyeonggi thought the Association as an organization had been built solely by one man: the Chair.
If someone asked the secret of the Chair’s power.
They’d mention the rewards he received after forming the first party.
But.
There was something people often forgot.
[Achievement Unlocked - Rapid Assembly!]
[Large Region - This is the Republic of Korea’s second party.]
[You succeeded in forming a party at an overwhelming speed compared to others!]
[A reward will be granted for those who lead the way.]
The start of the Chair’s rise....
The first party in Gyeonggi, and the second in all of the Republic of Korea.
[Party Member List]
[Gangsan, Jang Ji Han, Jung Hwayeon, Jin Sahyeok, Park Sanghyun, Seong Jinhye]
The party’s members were.
Naturally, not just the Chair alone.
“...Cough!”
All the party members from back then except the Chair.
And even among the guild members who joined later—commanders, deputy commanders, and elite Awakeners counted among the strongest.
A combined assault from more than thirty powerful Awakeners.
“Old man....”
“To put your hands on this kind of unclean power...!”
No matter how strong the Chair was.
He wasn’t strong enough to withstand that.
