A Legion Grows From My Smartphone - Chapter 64: Monsters of the Abyss (3)

“All children, fall back! Hold them off!”

Orote, a hulking warrior known as the strongest fighter, effectively served as the assault team leader. He led his fellow warriors into the city, which was under attack by monsters.

“You beast!”

Standing at the forefront, he charged into the city, swinging his faintly glowing sword at the monster attacking the people.

“Damn it!”

However, the opponent was not a mere beast. Among the legionnaires, the quadrupedal assault type, which belonged to the medium-sized category, had a unique upper body and muscles that were further enhanced by the legion’s modifications. It dodged his sword and struck him with its powerful forelimbs. Its weight and size were comparable to a decent-sized tiger.

Orote managed to withstand the shock emanating from its compressed muscles by mustering all his strength, barely avoiding a fall. However, the blow was so powerful that it dented his shield.

“Argh!”

Discarding his shield, he thrust his sword into the forehead of the legionnaire, which was baring its sharp, gleaming teeth, bristling with saw-like edges, and charging at him.

The legionnaire-’s hard head armor shattered under the force of his magic-infused sword, splitting its head wide open.

‘What the hell is this?-’

Orote gasped for breath. He was young, but a veteran with considerable experience. He had fought many large beasts in the caves for hunting. However, the enemy he was facing now was different from a beast, despite its beastly appearance.

‘It’s chilling.’

The silence, not a whimper or a scream, even in the heat of battle or at the moment of death. And the gleaming eyes, unafraid of death. Orote instinctively felt fear at the thought that his current opponent was not a normal adversary.

“Orote! Help me!”

“Damn it! Ella!”

Panting, he rushed over to the source of the desperate cry for help.

“Rei is trapped!”

“Hold on. I’ll get him out now.”

He grunted as he lifted the fallen debris to rescue the trapped child. Although one of his legs was crushed, the child was still alive.

“Damn it…”

But they were quickly surrounded.

Medium-sized, spider-type legionnaires, modeled after the Cave Giant Spider, scuttled about on their eight carapace-covered legs. Their large venomous fangs clicked menacingly, dripping with lethal poison. These creatures, larger than humans and encased in a crab-like carapace, were a sight to behold.

‘These bastards are the same.’

Orote clenched his teeth as he saw their glowing red eyes. He hid the woman and the injured child behind him.

“I will protect you.”

He swung his sword with all his might at the charging spiders. He slashed wildly at the legs that aimed for his gaps, and split the mouth that tried to bite him in half.

“Argh!”

Displaying superhuman strength, he grabbed the leg that was trying to crush him and ripped it off. The giant spider was lifted and slammed to the ground, writhing.

‘I can do this.’

The mark on his body was glowing brighter than ever. The sacred tree was with him. Everyone was with him.

He managed to kill the last spider.

“Kyaa! Orote!”

“Ella!”

However, while he was engaged in combat with the spiders, a claw from the sky swooped down and snatched the woman and the child.

“Ah… Ahh!”

The woman, caught in the claw, was already crossing the sky dominated by the flying types. The combat flying type, based on the Hornet, held her with its six long legs and stinging tail, and pierced her with its venomous stinger.

Although it was a stinger, it was as big as a spear in the hands of a flying type the size of a bull.

“Gah…ugh..”

The flying type withdrew its stinger, which had pierced through the child she was holding, and threw the bodies to the ground. The lifeless bodies fell helplessly in the middle of the chaotic battlefield, splatting upon impact with the stone floor. Orote watched the entire scene, despairing.

“Argh!”

Enraged, he charged at a nearby monster.

“What the hell are you!!”

He kicked the ground, leaped onto the roof, and plunged his sword into the monster’s massive back.

In a surge of unparalleled might, he drove his blade through the skull of a mining-type legionnaire, a behemoth larger than a dump truck, in one swift motion. He clung to the hilt of the sword lodged in the convulsing body, only extracting it when the massive form finally crumpled.

“Get out… quickly.”

His words, gasped out to those on the brink of attack, echoed in the air.

As he watched their retreating figures, he brandished the sword he had retrieved from the lifeless body. His gaze then fell upon his own form.

His body’s mark glowed brighter than it ever had before.

‘Is this the growth White always mentioned? The necessity of trials, is this what he meant?’

He exhaled slowly, turning around.

A new adversary emerged.

The creature had a straight spine, a slender yet agile and elastic body, four arms, and a tail that moved freely.

“You dare wield a sword! You’re nothing more than beasts!”

His roar was filled with fury.

The all-purpose legionnaire, a superior species that had come to face him, only moved to kill him.

Four swords and an unpredictably moving tail targeted his vital points with deadly precision.

“Ugh..”

He blocked all four swords, but a tail pierced one of his legs.

‘By these bastards.’

He gritted his teeth against the pain, held his ground, and swung his sword.

Or at least, he tried to. His body began to stiffen against his will.

“Ugh…ah…”

Black veins spread from his pierced leg. The sacred tree’s purification could block airborne particles, but it was powerless against a direct injection into his body.

“Huh…”

Upon realizing the situation, he let out a sardonic laugh. Simultaneously, he grabbed the legionnaire’s arm.

“Do you think… I’ll die alone…”

Even as the black veins spread to his face, he held onto his consciousness. He began to overload the symbols etched into his body with magic, causing them to go berserk.

“You… must be the leader…”

His body exploded with a powerful shock, strong enough to shatter the barrier of the high-ranking legionnaire. Both bodies were torn to pieces simultaneously.

“There are too many…!”

“As it is… Ahhh!”

The Moonlight Elves began to retreat as soon as they collided. They had shown resistance beyond the legion’s calculations, but that was all. The only sounds in this place, where a once powerful warrior had self-destructed after a desperate blood battle with a high-ranking legionnaire, were the screams and shouts of the elves. They had stepped into this place.

At least dozens of them activated the power engines in their hearts. Their target was the sacred tree in the center of the city. Their goal was to conquer the place protected by a special spell.

‘Destroy it.’

The command was given. Half of them, who had no tails, spread their carapaces on their backs, revealing a pair of transparent wings, and flew into the sky. Using the Formative Force, which could twist the laws of physics, they could fly even under impossible physical conditions. The rest quickly kicked the ground and ran.

“They’re… coming! Great Chieftain!”

“Hold your positions. We are with the sacred tree. That’s the only way to protect our kin.”

The Great Chieftain, sitting in front of the sacred tree with the others, clenched the Vajra in her hand. The only one who still had the talent to understand and use the ancestral magic, which had been largely lost in the past, was the old Great Chieftain.

‘They are waves, plagues, and disasters.’

She took a deep breath and swung down the Vajra. The targets were those who were now crossing the sky, charging with long weapons like spears.

She realized why the many monsters terrorizing the city didn’t attack this place. They were waiting for those who could break this spell. And those were the ones now flying and running towards them.

“Die, monsters of the abyss!”

The magic she activated exploded, and the condensed magic was shot out like a cannonball. The high-ranking species in the air resonated their barriers to block the cannonball.

But thanks to that, the Great Chieftain bought some time. Now, they could hold on a little longer.

‘Now, that’s the only hope.’

She bit her lip. The last and only hope was now slipping away through a small hole. It was to ask for help from the only force that could help them.

First, they had to save their lives.

“Everyone! Put in a little more effort. Those horrible monsters, the humans on the surface won’t forgive them!”

She encouraged the people around her who were sharing magic and adding power to the spell. This place was truly their last hope.

“Great… Great Chieftain…”

“Kalton…”

But that hope was now shattered.

The Great Chieftain’s eyes shook violently as she turned around. A branch that had burst through the stem of the sacred tree was writhing as it pierced the chest of an elder next to her.

[The legion’s infection. Plants are no exception.]

“Ah…ah…”

In her eyes, she saw the sacred tree being crushed from the inside out in real time. What was bursting out of the stem of the sacred tree was another sacred tree, twisted and

black.