"Damn it..."

Cha Ji Yeon, at the forefront, bit her lip. She instinctively knew the storm rushing towards them would be rougher and tougher than the previous one.

"The ground is..."

"The ground is shaking!"

The Alliance Force, unprepared for such a situation, fell into panic. Initially, they had only considered Nols and Kobolds as their enemies. Those unfamiliar with the underworld or its history couldn't have anticipated this situation.

"Hold on tight!"

[The player has manifested their ability. Pay the price and gain power to fight.]

At the end of the earthquake-like tremors, the ground beneath the vehicle carrying Cha Ji Yeon and Chris exploded. As Cha Ji Yeon was flung into the sky, she drew a dagger from her possession. One of the abilities favored by players in the early stages was to enhance her power by receiving blood.

"Ugh..."

Ignoring Chris, who was falling to the ground, she shattered the vehicle and soared into the air, her body surrounded by electricity. With her blue eyes flashing, she sent a dazzling bolt of lightning towards the monster that had burst through the ground. An ancient creature that had been living underground in this land, along with the Underworld Terrain Dogs, had ambushed the main force by bursting out of the ground.

The creature, hit by her lightning, twisted its body, which was tens of meters thick, and opened its mouth towards her. The Deathworm, which only had a mouth on its face, roared, । opening its huge mouth wide enough to swallow a tank or a howitzer in one gulp.

'Can I do it?-’

Cha Ji Yeon broke into a cold sweat. Those dense and massive teeth. She couldn't guarantee whether she could handle it even if she exerted her maximum output.

[Use it. The player has decided to save the One-time Assassination Right.]

"Tsk..."

She looked at the potion bottle she had taken out after barely avoiding its bite. Chris, who was fighting on the ground, did the same. A potion they had received as a reward in the past, which temporarily maximized their strength. She downed it in one gulp.

[The essence of the Heavenly Soul Art is one's own soul. And now your soul is strongly connected with your 121 comrades. That is your power, so fight.]

For a moment, she staggered, then opened her eyes, which were flashing with electricity. And she unleashed the storm of electricity that was raging around her. The massive lightning, splitting into thousands of branches, tore through the air and pierced the ground. Hundreds of enemies, regardless of their size, were electrocuted, exploded, and burned to death.

On the ground, Chris, who had also enhanced his abilities, caused an earthquake that shook the ground, knocking down and crushing the enemies that had survived her attack.

[Soul Resonance. You can gain tremendous power, but in the end, the connected souls become one mass, losing their self.]

[Of course, that's not a consideration.]

[The enemy has survived.]

A hollow voice echoed in the minds of Cha Ji Yeon and Chris, who were now unconscious. The Deathworm had survived the storm of lightning and the earthquake, even though half of its outer shell was broken and it was leaking fluid from various places. Once again, the Deathworm opened its mouth and lunged at Cha Ji Yeon.

"Pull yourself together."

At that moment, a burst of red flame erupted. The Deathworm's massive neck slowly fell to the ground, and Ji Chang Hyun, who had fired the attack, ignored the lightning and returned to the ground with Cha Ji Yeon.

"People need you."

"Okay, I'm conscious now. Let go of me."

Ji Chang Hyun shook her by the collar until she regained consciousness. As soon as the connection was cut, she gasped for breath and pushed his hand away.

"You're strong. Thanks to you two, we avoided the worst.""...Honestly, I don't want to do it again."

She didn't know the details of the Soul Resonance because she had lost consciousness, but she knew it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"But, we have to keep fighting."

Ji Chang Hyun stepped forward with his sword. The Deathworm was dead, but something stronger and faster had landed in front of them.

"Death to humans!"

Gartin, the lord of the demons, roared in a language the humans couldn't understand, then swung the spear in his hand, pouring out monsters that were rushing in like a flood. The main force, already shattered by the sudden underground ambush, couldn't resist properly, let alone fire back.

"You seem to be the strongest."

"...A unit?"

Ji Chang Hyun and Gartin faced each other. Of course, they didn't understand each other's words. They could only feel each other's intent to kill.

"Glory to the underworld..."

Gartin kicked the ground in one breath and swung his spear, which was burning with magic, towards Ji Chang Hyun. However, his spear didn't even reach the tip of Ji Chang Hyun's foot, who was about to swing his sword in defense. Gartin, who had been running, was embedded in the ground and rolled around awkwardly. He remained motionless in that state.

"Could it be..."

"The player used it. The One-time Assassination Right."

Chris, who was supporting Cha Ji Yeon, chuckled. Ji Chang Hyun, who was about to swing his sword, was also surprised. He too just stared at Gartin's corpse on the ground with wide eyes. But he quickly regained his composure and looked around.

"It's not over yet. If we want to salvage the situation, we need to hurry and save the people..."

"Watch out!"

As Ji Chang Hyun turned to move again. A bolt of lightning shot by Cha Ji Yeon, who had turned pale, struck behind him.

"He, hehe... Glory to the underworld."

The white beak clattered, and the pupils inside the skull flashed blue. Gartin, who had risen from the ground as a white skeleton, swung his spear at Ji Chang Hyun again.

"Glory to the underworld..."

Gartin, now a white skeleton, swung his spear at Ji Chang Hyun again.

*

"Damn, this isn't good. This time it's for real."

Robert muttered, his face blank. Even as a seasoned mercenary, he couldn't find a solution to the dire situation. The front line had collapsed, the line that Cha Ji Yeon, Chris, and Ji Chang Hyun, three of the strongest, had been holding.

The creatures from the demon world charged relentlessly. Monsters leaping through the rain of bullets became symbols of terror, crushing the soldiers' morale and painting the scene with despair. I had witnessed this spectacle several times before. If I were to see the legion from the perspective of its enemies, this is how it would feel.

"Retreat! Retreat!!"

A desperate order to retreat echoed through the radio. But there was no orderly retreat in a field already overrun. It was every man for himself. Amidst the chaos, I snapped a picture of a monster attacking a machine gunner with my phone. I only had nine samples left. There was no sign of leveling up, so all I had left were nine chances.

"Get in! We need to get out of here!"

Robert, who had been firing his gun, grabbed my arm and pulled me along. The command structure had completely collapsed. Everyone, including us and the other Evolution Corporation personnel, began to flee, as did the soldiers of the Alliance Force.Gasping for breath, I looked back. There were fewer than thirty vehicles heading in the same direction as us. It was a rout, no, a total annihilation. We had suffered a crushing defeat in a place where I had fought. But what on earth had happened to make the creatures of the demon world, which had been acting like ordinary animals and plants, attack us?

"There's a gorge over there. We'll take cover in the gorge and head to the base."

Robert held onto the radio, communicating with the others and deciding on a direction. The destination was a narrow gorge made of columnar joints visible in the distance.

[Can we escape?]

But I looked up at the sky through the sunroof. The sky was already the monsters' territory. We might be out of sight of our reconnaissance aircraft, but it was certain that we couldn't escape their eyes.

"Those bastards, they're following us!"

"Just head to the gorge. Whether we defend there or do something else, we can't win out in the open!"

Robert, enraged by Cox's outcry, gave harsher orders. The panicked Alliance Force command must have been paralyzed, as the Alliance Force vehicles fleeing with us were also following us.

"What do we do now? We can't hold them off for long!"

"Why are you asking me?! I'm just a PMC!"

Even after reaching the gorge, there was no good solution. Using the narrow entrance, we managed to repel the pursuers with all the firepower we had. But that was only temporary. Once their main force arrived, we would be caught.

Neither the Alliance Force officer nor Robert could come up with an answer.

"Mr. Antonov, what is that?"

"Please take a look at this, Mr. Shin Woo."

While the frantic people were raising their voices, I approached researcher Antonov, who was examining the gorge.

"It looks like a stone slab."

"Exactly. Look at this uniform wall. There must have been some ruins here. I'm very excited right now. These are definitely relics. After all, think about it, Mr. Shin Woo, this was also a world where someone lived. Weren't the monsters also groups that lived together?"

He and his colleagues carefully collected, examined, photographed, and gathered data on the stone slabs. Then they carefully loaded them into the car.

"These are clues. If we study these, we will be able to understand more about this place that we thought was just a terrible monster nest. Then something like today won't happen."

Even in this situation, he was looking to the future. In a situation where it wouldn't be strange to die at any moment, he was only for hope and victory. They were people who had volunteered for that purpose from the beginning.

But for his foresight to work, we had to overcome the crisis we were facing now. We had to survive here to have a tomorrow. So I decided to act here.

"Everyone, get in the car right now."

"...Huh?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I approached those who were still angry and quietly conveyed my intention. Of course, they reacted as if it was absurd.

"I'll hold them off here. In the meantime, escape from the gorge and return to the base."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Robert shook his finger at his temple.

There was nothing to say to that. I drew my sword and headed towards the entrance of the gorge.

"Leave all the remaining explosives and bombs."

A passing ammunition truck gave me a good excuse for what I was about to do. Of course, what I was going to do was not to collapse the gorge with explosives when they came, but to trust the only chance I had.

[The legion is waiting for you. They want to be with you.]

Faint letters overlapped on the dusty, massive cloud of dust approaching my location.