Chapter 790: A Battle of a Different Meaning

FWAAAAASH!!!

The light of Avaritia that appeared beneath Bimana and the light originating from the Legion members.

The two lights divided the battlefield in half around their respective formations.

The intense collision between the two lights split the world in two.

All the light across the scenery visible beyond the horizon was divided into two, with this battlefield as the dividing point.

An alien sight, as though the world itself had been split in half.

And the result was.......

=It seems this lord stands slightly above you.=

A slight advantage for the other side.

‘This is seriously ridiculous.’

Even after causing this much chaos and wringing out every last bit of power we had.

The other side still held the advantage in the power to control laws.

If it could display that much power even without possessing its complete body, it was difficult even to imagine how strong it would be when it had its original flesh.

“I know.”

But.......

“The difference isn’t that large, is it?”

I had no choice but to admit that the other side held a slight advantage.

Fortunately, however, the difference was not decisive.

This energy was not something that simply flowed out of that bastard as it breathed.

It was power that even that bastard was releasing in earnest.

Against that earnest power, which we had originally been incapable of opposing at all.

We had obtained a rank that allowed us to approach it to some degree.

“Besides.”

FWAAAAASH.......

“Unlike you, we’re still in our growth period.”

=.......=

“We’re still growing rapidly.”

This light became stronger as the power of the awakened grew stronger.

The dishes I had made.

The [Potions of Stat Increase] should have melted into the bodies of every Legion member up to the limits of their abilities.

‘It is impossible to digest power that is too great all at once.’

Even now, most of the Legion members probably had not reached the limits of those stats.

They were likely slowly digesting the power of the potions over time.

‘As long as we can drag this out, the Legion members will gradually digest those stats...... and the light they emit as a result will also grow stronger and stronger.’

It probably would not be difficult for us to emit light completely equal to that bastard’s.

Therefore.

What mattered now was making this battle last as long as possible.......

Fighting against that light, which stood above ours, without being pushed back.

‘If the power we possess to interfere with laws is similar.’

And while the other side’s power was superior, the two were almost equal.

Fortunately.

It seemed that a battle in this domain of transcendence was not decided in an instant merely because the other side’s light was slightly stronger.

If the outcome was not decided instantly by the size of each side’s light alone.

Then, from that point onward.

‘It becomes a battle of how that power is handled.’

It was time to move on to the next round.

And.......

In that regard.

Rustle.......

=You know nothing of battles between us.=

We could not help but be at a disadvantage compared to that bastard.

=I am Avaritia, the one seated upon one of the Alliance’s Seven Thrones.=

The golden light that had divided the world in two.

A portion of that golden light gathered together and became that enormous giant of radiance.

And now, the rest gathered together and became a spear of light held in the giant’s hand.

=With this spear, I shall defeat the threat to my brethren.=

There was only one thought that came to mind as I watched that sight.

‘......How the hell are you doing that?’

Unlike that bastard, who had summoned a figure resembling itself and even placed a weapon in its hand.

The light on our side merely existed in a dispersed state.

It could neither gather together and take form like that, nor transform into the shape of a weapon.

That was only natural.

‘That bastard was a transcendent from the very beginning.’

According to the System, it had even been born an incredibly long time ago, making it an elder even among transcendents.

Naturally, it would be far more skilled at handling its own power.

Perhaps it had even experienced this kind of...... battle involving the manipulation of laws before.

On the other hand, we had only just begun to understand how to touch these ‘laws.’

Even I, the one currently using this light, had only now become a demigod.

I had merely reached a level comparable to something near the edge of godhood.

Being comparable absolutely did not mean being equal, so there was no comparing me to that ancient existence among divinities.

FWAAAAAAAAAAAAASH.......

The enormous golden spear surged toward us.

A sharply honed energy.

That energy was surging forward with tremendous force, as though it intended to tear apart our light, which was scattered defenselessly.

We were already at a disadvantage in the total amount of energy.

If we were also inferior in how we handled it, then there truly would be no answer.

It was obvious that the moment that energy touched us, the light on our side would be torn apart miserably.

Therefore.......

“All forces!!!”

We.

Needed to oppose it by using any shortcut we could.

“Advance while maintaining formation!!!”

As my order rang out.

“It’s the Legion Commander’s order!”

“All forces, advance!”

[The Supreme Commander’s order resounds!]

[The Strategist’s tactical advice resounds!]

[The Field Commanders’ local orders resound!]

The orders of the Legion’s commanders rang out.

And in response, the Legion members began to move.

The deployment I had ordered in advance.

‘A formation for facing a single powerful enemy.’

While I had been focused on cooking inside that fortress.

Even amid the countless dangers that had descended upon the ground, the Legion members had maintained their positions for this formation until the very end.

And.......

[A massive army has assumed formation.]

Those who had trusted me and maintained that formation even in the face of annihilation.

The result of that trust.

Was now beginning to appear.

[A profound principle is contained within the formation.]

It went without saying.

The Legion had already been enormous, and it had continued to grow larger as time passed.

Eventually, it had reached the point where there was virtually no situation in which every Legion member would gather in one place to fight.

And.

‘A formation in which every one of those Legion members gathers in one place to face a single enemy?’

Naturally.

‘There’s no way something like that existed from the beginning.’

That was right.

The formation the Legion members had maintained until the very end had not originally been part of the Legion’s manuals.

In terms of when it had been created, it was extremely recent.

It had only been created a short while ago.

Not long ago.

Cheonho had fought against the Legion and had been astonished by its movements.

Such an enormous Legion, with so many people, had been moving as though they formed a single perfect martial formation.

Considering that maintaining a formation became difficult with even more than ten people, it was an unbelievable degree of harmony.

He had been amazed by that miracle.

And...... to put it the other way around.

The Legion was an organization capable of displaying unified movement so precise that even a powerhouse on Cheonho’s level viewed it as no different from a ‘martial formation.’

In other words.

“Deploy!”

This entire enormous Legion.

Could truly manifest a single ‘martial formation’.......

Mirinae and the disciples.

The Thousand Mountain Twelve Formations formed by the twelve of them had ultimately failed to stop that lord.

In that case.......

There was only one military-style solution that could come from this.

“Legion Grand Annihilation Formation!”

Twelve people failed to handle it?

Then.

‘We just need to increase the numbers, don’t we?’

[Martial Formation - ‘Legion Grand Annihilation Formation’ has been deployed!]

[This is a formation of extreme difficulty that mobilizes tens of thousands of people to confront a single powerful enemy.]

Since twelve had failed.......

It was now time to throw every Legion member at it.

***

As I said.

We could not help but be inexperienced in handling this power.

Trying to improve that in a short period of time would also be foolish.

In that case.

‘At the very least, we need the help of someone who understands it better than we do.’

Fortunately.

There was one such figure near us.

‘A tactic created from Mirinae’s knowledge...... no, a martial formation.’

Mirinae was someone who had reached transcendence.

The formation created from that knowledge amplified the power that shook the laws and caused that energy to move according to the formation’s movements.

And as a result.

“Deploy shields!”

“U, u, u!”

As Avaritia’s spear reached them.

The soldiers drove their shields into the ground.

Then.

FWAAAAASH.......

The energy that had been scattered defenselessly.

That energy moved.

CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG.......

=Oh......?=

Just as Avaritia had created a spear.

It took the shape of an enormous shield and blocked that spear.

I had intended to receive Mirinae’s help from the beginning.

More precisely, the martial formation displayed by Mirinae’s disciples.

I had wondered whether that martial formation could also be incorporated into the Legion.

The problem was the issue inherent to martial formations themselves.

A martial formation was by no means an easy technique.

It could only be established if every person within it moved precisely in accordance with the formation.

If an unskilled person entered it and acted out of step with the flow, it could instead inflict fatal injuries upon everyone else, making it an extremely dangerous technique.

For that reason, even in Mirinae’s homeland, formations usually consisted of five or six people, or at most around a dozen.

In exceptionally rare cases involving an unusually large number of people, a formation of 108 was supposedly the maximum.

“Advance!!!“

“For the Legion’s victory!!!”

But now.

‘The number of Legion members forming this martial formation is...... hundreds of thousands.’

The entire Legion was displaying perfect movement without disrupting the flow of the formation in the slightest.

The reason such a thing was possible was simple.

“Squad 82! Advance another 15 paces!”

“Squad 11 reports multiple casualties!”

“Squads 9, 10, 12, and 13, retreat 15 paces in accordance with the flow!”

[Lv.41 Commander of Bluster]

[Skill - Meeting Expectations]

The commander of our Legion, Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok.

His skill, Meeting Expectations, allowed him to display ability appropriate to the position entrusted to him.

And the position entrusted to him was that of the Legion’s commander.

As the destruction continued and the Legion’s fame spread beyond Korea.

The expectations placed upon that commander had grown without limit.

-Amazing. To understand the martial formation I created so perfectly...... and maintain it using nothing but reports from the field commanders.

The ability he displayed was appropriate to those expectations.

It had reached a divine domain beyond humanity.

And when he surveyed the battlefield and adjusted the formation.

[CRRRRZZZZT...... Squad 82, advance 15 paces!]

The communications Sergeant Lee Minjae had restored.

Through those radios, orders were sent to squad leaders across the battlefield, and enough equipment had been distributed for those squad leaders to contact every soldier in turn.

And every one of them was a soldier.

Their creativity might have been restricted, but when it came to doing exactly as they were told, they were more thoroughly trained than anyone.

It was a completely different distinction from ordinary martial formations, in which everyone had to respond while watching one another’s movements.

And.

‘......The beastkin also said that it was easier to maintain a martial formation among those who had learned the same martial arts.’

The martial formation consisting of the greatest number of people in their world had included 108.

However, those within that formation all had to be infinitely similar individuals who had learned the same martial arts, shared the same way of life, and received the same teachings.

We were similar.

Soldiers belonging to the same Legion and wearing the same equipment.

Moreover.......

[System]

The essence of their power originated from one vast framework known as the System.

They were people who fundamentally handled the same power.

“Now! All forces, charge! Attack that detestable light!!!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

As the Legion members’ charge touched that golden energy.

......That energy, though only slightly.

CRACKLE......!

“......It worked.”

“Our attacks.”

I could see it crumbling beneath our light.

“They’re working!”

Of course.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!!

Even so.

It could not compare to the amount of light that was shaved away whenever that bastard attacked us.

‘......An exchange of offense and defense has been established. But the damage on our side is overwhelming.’

That was why it was ultimately only a temporary measure.

The Legion moved through a martial formation, while that bastard moved the light like its own body.

The difference between them could not help but be obvious.

Even if our objective was to buy time.

At this rate, even buying that time would be impossible.

-......We should join in again as well.

Then.

The beastkin who had fallen during the previous battle raised their exhausted bodies.

As they moved onto the battlefield to contribute even a little strength.

-......At first, I was somewhat uncertain.

Mirinae looked at me floating in the sky and spoke.

-That sight in the sky. As I thought...... it is somewhat familiar.

-......What? Could it be an existence you know?

-I do not know that one. But.......

Above our heads.

The enormous wasteland that had approached in order to make contact with this land.

The Demon Realm was situated there.

-I have some idea of what that one intended to deceive you about.

-......?

-Perhaps this battle will not merely be about helping you.

SPOT!

-......It may become a battle with an entirely different meaning.