"This... this is unbelievable..."

His breath came in ragged gasps, his voice trembling. He had just awakened, his grip on reality still shaky, but he had managed to run as fast as he could to get here.

‘At least I can catch my breath now.-’

He barely had time to catch his breath and steady his thoughts. He had managed to shake off his pursuers, and now the surroundings were eerily silent. The place he had rushed to was a dense forest, filled with twisted, demonic trees.

‘Phew, if I can wake them up, they should be enough to serve as escorts.'

His escape had been frantic, but he hadn't come here without a plan. This place was a sealed area, a place that contained beings like him from the past. His intention was to

awaken the dormant forces here and bolster his troops to counter the rapidly changing situation.

"Awaken! Loyal hounds of the Demon Army!"

He channeled his magic and activated the spell that was placed on the sealed area. The spell began to work, emitting light. A faint smile played on his lips. Those buried here

were elites, recognized for their combat prowess. They would undoubtedly provide the power to figure out what was happening in this land.

"Good. With this, I can deal with those despicable traitors..."

A smirk crossed his face as he watched the pitch-black armors slowly reveal themselves. The summoned soldiers naturally retained their appearance from the past.

"Huh?"

But at that moment, something tore through the air, grazing and even ‘shattering' his horn.

"Aaaaargh!"

In extreme pain, he clutched his shattered horn. The sound of ripping air reached his ears belatedly, his face contorting as he twisted his body.

"You... bastards! How dare you, you lowly creatures!"

The ones who had ripped away the horn of a high-ranking demon were the lowest of the low, creatures unworthy of even mingling with. They were low-ranking demons. They were known as ‘Nol' to some humans, creatures that toyed with them. The issue was that these creatures were the ones who had tried to ambush him just after he had awakened from the seal.

"Our name is Ashkroud."

"Wh-what..."

He was shocked twice over: firstly, by the fact that the Nols had silently crept up behind him without his notice, and secondly, by their ability to speak.

‘What the hell is going on?'

Only then did he take a closer look at their appearance. They undoubtedly resembled the Nols he remembered, but something was different. Their equipment, the mysterious weapons they held in their hands.

"We don't have time to waste. Kill him quickly."

At that moment, an unusually tall figure among the Nols removed their hood. His face twisted grotesquely upon seeing the hooded figure. It was a creature the Earthlings called a ‘Kobold', another low-ranking demon.

“Fire!"

As the Nol leader gave the command, a barrage of bullets began to rain down.Gritting his teeth, he quickly channeled his magic to create a purple barrier in front of him.

The large and powerful bullets, capable of piercing through Earthling's armored vehicles, cracked the barrier but couldn't break through.

"I, Karka, Legion Commander of the Demon Army, refuse to fall to the likes of you!"

Karka's body levitated slightly as he unleashed his power, his magic flaring around him. It was a display of power fitting for one who had once led his legion to conquer an entire continent.

[Ordinary bullets won't penetrate that kind of power. Use beam weapons.]

"Beam."

The command reverberated in the Nols' minds. The new weapon, now prepared, aimed at Karka's body, which was enveloped in blazing magic.

"Die, you lowly creatures!"

[...How amusing. I wonder who the lowly one is.]

A blue beam shot from the aimed barrel, colliding with the massive fireball launched by Karka. His eyes widened in shock as the beam disintegrated the fireball, shattered the protective barrier, and pierced through his body.

"Too easy."

That was the end. One of the Demon Army's Legion Commanders, who had just awakened from a long slumber, was easily slaughtered by the very low-level demons he had once dismissed.

"Now, it's your turn."

"I know."

The kobold snickered, showing no interest in Karka's corpse, even though he was once a high-ranking demon they wouldn't dare to face.

"Huh... So this is the extent of the Demon Army's magic. Such crude, lightweight spells that fail to grasp the true essence of potent magic."

A radiant power unfurled, tracing intricate patterns. The kobold stepped forward, swiftly hacking and reversing the ancient spell that had been released from the seal but had not yet designated a commander. He did this right in front of the Demon Army's hunting dogs.

"Now, your new master is not the Demon King, but me."

The kobold chuckled, commanding the troops that now pledged allegiance to him. The name of the Demon King was once an absolute authority for those who inhabited this land. But not anymore. Now, they had entities even more formidable than the Demon King.

"Hmm. It's a waste to just discard it, isn't it?"

The kobold sneered at Karka's miserable corpse on the ground and jabbed it with the staff in his hand. At the same time, the corpse's hand twitched and moved.

"Fight for the great Demon King, even if it means becoming a rotting corpse. For now the people of the Otherworld have come with their legions, and slay those who disturb the Underworld."

The enchanted corpse convulsed violently as it rose.

"Keep your promise."

"I know. It's an agreement between players. How could we betray it?"

lust before parting, the kobold nodded at the Nol's words, seemingly annoyed. They were now planning to attack the Earth Alliance Forces together. It was a strategic choice to defeat a larger enemy, even though the units' relationships were fundamentally incompatible.

*"Isn't this a breach of contract? We were supposed to stay at the garrison and escort the researchers after the battle..."

"Well, technically, that place is also a garrison."

On the road, marred by the tracks of armored vehicles and tanks, Robert sighed, silencing the grumbles of his team members. In truth, there was nothing to protest. Our mission was to escort the researchers, who were also bound for the front lines.

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"I consider it a mission."

The researcher, who had introduced himself as Antoniv after I saved his life, admitted his fear but insisted on the necessity of his task.

"There's a lot we can learn if we research and analyze them. In fact, we've discovered many ways to counter them so far."

"That's true."

I couldn't deny it. It was only because of the thorough research and analysis that we could effectively counter them. However, what bothered me was that they were no longer ordinary demonic creatures. The legion had received my help and undergone a series of evolutions beyond common sense, eventually subduing the ancient and powerful destructive bacteria. It was precisely that extraordinary change and growth that characterized units and players.

"Lately, there have been many strange occurrences, but we'll figure it out."

I remained silent, observing his attempt to cling to hope. I tried to understand my position. I was merely a civilian with limited power. Even if I wanted to intervene, it was a job for competent individuals like Cha Ji Yeon's players. Military vehicles were also in motion alongside us. State-affiliated researchers were part of our convoy as well.

"You don't need to worry."

"I'm not particularly worried..."

"We will undoubtedly prevail. Even if we were to be ambushed en route, our firepower is more than sufficient."

The half-bald commander confidently reassured us. His assertion about firepower was likely accurate. The issue was that firepower wasn't the only factor in this war.

"Overconfidence often leads to problems. Just recently, our superiors discovered and eliminated an enemy ambush unit."

"Don't jinx it."

I entered the assigned barracks ahead of Robert, leaving him to endure Cox's reprimand. I then retrieved two items from my bag. The one in my left hand would alert me if there were any units or players nearby. Fortunately, the ore didn't glow. The item in my right hand was another protective offering from the legion.

"What is the legion doing now?"

[They're still focused on exploring. They haven't finished digesting the colonies yet.]

"...What about reconnaissance?"

[Once they've fully digested the megacolony's body, the passage blocked by the body will become accessible.]

The legion had calculated for efficiency, deciding not to waste energy digging a detour while physically disassembling the megacolony. Instead, they opted to explore other areas during this downtime. This decision was facilitated by the Underworld Terrain Dogs' ability to detect terrain.

[Now, with that detection ability, the legion can sense even the slightest underground currents and has decided to dig into the walls where they found something unusual.]

The legion decided to excavate the area, and with the assistance of dozens of mining-type legionnaires, they quickly opened a path.

"...Could it be a new labyrinth?"

What they discovered was a tunnel. Another space, uncertain whether it was connected to our current location.

"Kyaaak!"

A familiar destructive bacteria-infected creature lunged at the legionnaire.

[This worked well. It's an opportunity to test whether we can use the mental reaction ability against the same race that we obtained from the destructive bacteria megacolony.]

Of course, ordinary destructive bacteria were no longer a threat to us.