Chapter 265
Choi Hyun-seok’s chest heaved violently.
How many hours had he been fighting without even a moment’s rest?
The plain where he stood was densely packed with corpses, each one without a head.
“Huh… Huh…”
Kinley Fusel, standing beside him, was panting as if she was about to pass out.
Although she is also a legend, her stamina is weaker compared to Choi Hyun-seok.
It was natural since she used a heavy hammer as her weapon, which consumed more energy.
“Get yourself together. We need to move right away.”
“I, I know… Huff! I know!”
They had only dealt with one group so far. They needed to handle two more fanatic groups of similar size before the day ended.
“Phew… At least we have the Magic Corps. Without them, we would have had to exhaust everything here.”
The Magic Corps’s support proved more helpful than expected.
They steadily reduced the number of enemies with magic while simultaneously protecting Choi Hyun-seok from enemy magic.
The buff spells cast occasionally were also a great help.
Since he had to conserve mana and fight only with his physical body, the buffs made it much easier to blow off heads.
Thanks to that, he was able to finish the battle while relatively preserving his strength.
“By the way, what were those monster-like beings in the middle?”
While moving to the next operation area, Choi Hyun-seok asked.
He recalled the unusual fanatics that appeared during the battle.
Despite being human, they had grotesque appearances, and their strength was far greater than ordinary fanatics.
“Probably chimeras being researched in Gatren. They must be test subjects.”
“Test subjects?”
“Human experiments. Like grafting magical beasts onto humans, or replacing organs with magical devices to produce greater strength. I’d only heard rumors about such experiments happening in secret, but this is my first time seeing them in person.”
“You guys really chose to do only the most despicable things.”
“… I have nothing to say.”
The Holy Empire of Gatren and the Deusis faith.
Every action taken by these groups, which outwardly claimed to serve God and pursue peace, showed the worst of sub-human behavior.
While a minority doesn’t represent the whole, when that minority consists of the leaders guiding the whole, it can’t be dismissed as just individual actions.
It was a bitter and cruel reality.
“Well, maybe this hero thing that levels up by doing such acts is just as despicable.”
Choi Hyun-seok smiled self-mockingly.
Checking his status window, his level had increased significantly.
▫Name: Choi Hyun-seok
▫Title: Legendary Hero
▫Level: 1352
- Strength: 507
- Agility: 508
- Staminaa: 506
- Mana: 632
- Charisma: 153
- Fighting Spirit: 166
- Bonus Points: 41
In other words, he gained 41 levels from this battle.
While it was a natural result considering he killed tens of thousands, the problem was that the targets were fellow humans.
“Can’t tell if I’m a hero or a villain anymore. Tsk.”
There was justification.
To save the world.
A hero fighting to save more people.
Though it looked glamorous on the surface, when you looked deeper, the job of a hero was closer to being a machine.
A killing machine that crushes people’s heads with the hammer of justice.
While it wasn’t anything new at this point, he couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that investing points to become stronger just meant becoming a more efficient killing machine.
It felt suffocating to think that the title ‘Legendary Hero’ occupying part of his status window was a medal earned by sacrificing countless lives.
“Lord Choi Hyun-seok. We’ll reach the operation area soon. You have about an hour to spare, so please focus on recovering your stamina as much as possible.”
The Magic Corps Commander’s voice pulled Choi Hyun-seok from his sticky thoughts.
“Damn. I was totally deceived no matter how I look at it.”
Choi Hyun-seok shook his head.
Wealth, honor, beautiful women – a happy other-world adventure!
Such fantasy delusions never existed from the start.
It was too late for regrets now.
***
The fighting continued.
Choi Hyun-seok had to face groups of fanatics several times a day.
In just five days, he had dealt with hundreds of thousands of fanatics.
When the pungent smell of blood no longer lingers.
They called for him from the capital, Draxel.
More precisely, they gathered all the legends who were out on the frontlines.
“Hey, everyone looks quite presentable.”
Park Hyun-a, who had arrived at headquarters first, waved at the entering legends.
Seeing how worn out everyone looked, there was no need for detailed conversation.
They must have all gone through similar experiences and had similar thoughts.
Choi Hyun-seok grinned and patted Park Hyun-a’s shoulder.
“Older sister, you look quite something yourself.”
“Damn… I’ve been smelling burning meat for days, it’s making me sick.”
Park Hyun-a said with a frown.
Since her specialty is fire magic, she mainly used area-of-effect fire magic when dealing with fanatics.
As a result, the battlefield where she was stationed was always filled with the smell of burning human flesh.
The independent legend who had teamed up with them says they now feel nauseous at just the smell of meat.
“You’ve come, Choi Hyun-seok.”
“Sidriel. You were here too?”
“I just finished internal arrangements yesterday. Since the final battle is approaching, I thought it would be good to exchange opinions here together.”
Choi Hyun-seok exchanged brief greetings with Sidriel.
She seemed to be attending the meeting as a representative of the demon race.
Shortly after.
When all participants had gathered, Orlaben Grimier stood up from his seat.
“The reason I called you all today is to inform you of the current war situation and assign new missions.”
The legends didn’t know because they were focused on their assigned duties, but many things had happened over the five days.
Orlaben Grimier called the meeting to check progress and inform them of future tasks.
“First, the largest group that could be called the fanatics’ main force has passed through the center of Gatren.”
The group of fanatics that had invaded the Agros Kingdom in the northern continent.
They turned south and moved nearly half the distance in just five days.
“The Imperial Intelligence Department judges that the enemy will enter Drason territory within a week at this pace.”
“Hmm, what’s the current evacuation progress?”