Chapter 1085 – 1085. God’S Atlantis
“Federica! Kill those bastards!!”
A man fighting a giant robot head-on shouted.
“Sorry. My boyfriend is a bit hot-headed. Don’t misunderstand. I want to resolve this through conversation.”
As the wind blew, her voluminous red hair swayed like waves.
“……”
Kang Myungjin acted cautiously. He quietly surveyed his surroundings, gauging their strength. It seemed he knew something about Federica and the Thorn Rose Legion.
I rolled my eyes, assessing the situation. The giant robot, reaching 5 meters in height, was attacking members of the Thorn Rose Legion with mechanical tentacles and missiles equipped with lethal weapons. Despite the large number of women, their attack was stable.
‘It’s because that man is holding his own.’
He was a huge man, almost 2 meters tall. He had a muscular body and tanned skin. Wearing light armor, he was facing the giant robot with his bare hands. His movements indicated he was a martial artist.
‘I don’t know what his unique trait is, but he’s definitely fulfilling the role of a tank without heavy armor. He’s no ordinary guy.’
It’s not that the others were useless. They were all doing their part. They seemed skilled at fighting giant monsters.
“We were a step late. I admit that.”
Kang Myungjin said. He seemed to have judged that fighting the Thorn Rose Legion here would be a significant loss. I agreed with Kang Myungjin. Compared to our six, they had more than three times the number of people. In the worst-case scenario, they might have even had some people lying in ambush.
“You’re retreating more easily than I thought? Thanks.”
Federica smiled with her eyes. For a moment, my gaze was drawn to her. While she wasn’t on the level of Elena or Joo Seo-hyun, she was still a rare beauty.
I thought about how to get Federica into bed. The simplest way would be rape. If a war broke out between legions… rape wouldn’t be difficult.
“Instead, we’ll take care of the mechanical monsters around here.”
“…Hmm. This area is the territory of our Thorn Rose Legion. Everything in this area is the property of our legion. Don’t do anything and leave the area. Then, we can maintain a good relationship with you in the future.”
“I understand that there is no ruler of this area yet.”
“Becoming the ruler is just around the corner. Look, our legion is doing a great job of cooking that big tin can. It’ll be over in two hours at the most.”
“Hmm. From what I see, it looks like it’ll take more than five hours. Until the Thorn Rose Legion officially gains control, this area is unclaimed. I acknowledge that the Thorn Rose Legion arrived first and is attacking the boss monster. But that’s all I acknowledge. There’s a possibility that the Thorn Rose Legion will fail. We need to gain our own benefits in this area.”
“What if I don’t allow it?”
“Do you have the right to do that? Ms. Federica, you’re not the ruler of the area yet.”
“…Hmm. Do as you please. But when we defeat that tin can and gain control, you’ll have to leave.”
“Of course. At that time, I’ll acknowledge that the Thorn Rose Legion is the ruler of this area.”
“The A-Plan Legion has grown faster than any other legion so far…. I believe you won’t do anything foolish.”
Federica smiled and waved her hand. It was an elegant gesture, but its meaning was clear. It meant to get lost.
Led by Kang Myungjin, we began to leave the area.
“Federica!! Kill those guys!!”
“Sorry. Santanu is very sensitive when he’s in battle. Please understand that he doesn’t mean it.”
“I understand.”
We retreated as we were. Federica’s gaze lingered until the very end.
“Kang Myungjin. You seem to know something about the Thorn Rose Legion…. Are they that dangerous of a legion? Enough to give up this area?”
I asked Kang Myungjin. The Thorn Rose Legion was a legion that didn’t appear in the original work or the setting book. There was no information about them at all.
“They’re one of the mid-sized legions located near our legion. If we only consider the power of their forces, the Thorn Rose Legion is above us. Especially Federica, the master of the Thorn Rose Legion, is no ordinary person. She’s a notorious woman known as the Queen of Fire.”
“……Are we really giving up this area like this? No matter how I think about it, it’s suspicious. They’re following you and trying to seize an opportunity. The circumstances suggest that’s the only possibility.”
“That’s probably true. But we shouldn’t act emotionally. We’re at a disadvantage in an all-out war. They must have already been preparing for a legion war. We need to get the maximum benefit from this area and leave quickly.”
Kang Myungjin said with conviction. Kang Myungjin had rarely made a wrong decision in these situations, so all the legion members, including myself, trusted him.
“There won’t be enough time to kill the mobs and gain benefits, will there? When we saw them earlier, the Thorn Rose Legion was overwhelming the giant robot. The attack will be over soon.”
“That’s how it looks now. But when I looked at them, they didn’t have an electric-type ability user. The attack will take at least three hours. We’ll get the maximum benefit for three hours and leave this area. The matter with the Thorn Rose Legion comes after that.”
We ran around the mechanical park, getting everything we could.
We moved so frantically that three hours passed in a flash.
「A new ruler has been born in the 2,910th district, the Mechanical Park.」
“Let’s go back.”
Kang Myungjin said without hesitation after checking the notification window. We took out space-time teleportation scrolls from our pockets and tore them. We instantly left the 2,910th district.
•••
Three days had passed since the conflict with the Thorn Rose Legion.
The A-Plan Legion had given up the 2,910th district. It was clear that protesting would be futile, and if a legion war broke out, we would lose more than we would gain.
Recently, Federica’s face occasionally popped into my head. Whenever I thought of her, with her rose-like red hair and seductive smile, my dick felt restless. I wondered if there was a way to get her into bed.
‘Should I put on a clown mask, barge in, and start a fight?’
Rape wasn’t something you could do recklessly. The opponent wasn’t an ordinary woman. She was the master of a mid-sized legion. If I barged in carelessly, I could end up being the one who gets hurt.
In the afternoon, Kang Myungjin, the legion master, called me and the other legion executives to the conference room.
“There was a fight in the village this morning.”
The village Kang Myungjin was talking about was the Red Mist Castle in the 601st district, where the A-Plan Legion was currently located. Outside the castle, a fairly large village had formed. It had continued to develop, and now it was almost the size of a city.
“Fights between residents happen often, don’t they?”
Ji Youngbin said. As the village grew and the number of people increased, various problems arose. Fights between residents were common. Kang Myungjin had created a separate police force. This wasn’t an issue that required us to have a meeting.
“Outsiders are involved.”
“…They’re not ordinary outsiders, it seems.”
“They’re merchants and mercenaries from the City of Roses in the 970th district. A fight broke out because they didn’t pay the right price and bumped into a passerby. They’re currently temporarily detained in the detention center.”
The atmosphere in the conference room instantly turned cold.
The City of Roses in the 970th district was where the Thorn Rose Legion’s headquarters were located. In other words, there was a high possibility that the Thorn Rose Legion had intentionally approached us.
“They’re building a pretext.”
Yoo Inha, Yoo Seohee’s younger brother and the A-Plan Legion’s mage, continued.
“It’s a common tactic. They start conflicts over minor things to build a small pretext, and then they escalate it into a war. It’s a pretty well-known tactic.”
The reason for building a pretext was reputation. If your reputation became the worst, you would be giving other legions a reason to attack you. In the worst-case scenario, a legion alliance could be formed, and you could be attacked by everyone.
“Is the Thorn Rose Legion targeting us?”
Joo Seo-hyun asked, as if confirming.
“It’s hard to be sure yet. However, considering the previous conflict with the Thorn Rose Legion… it’s almost certain. We need to prepare for war.”
War.
A heavy word was spoken. Worry filled everyone’s faces. But no one suggested that we should avoid war.
As the legion’s power grew, wars between legions were inevitable. If we wanted to avoid war, we would have to give up everything we had worked so hard to build.
“Are we just going to sit back and let the enemies do as they please?”
I asked.
“We can’t just sit still. If we leave them alone, they’ll completely ignore us. But it’s not really something we can act on with just this. The Thorn Rose Legion didn’t even act under their own name.”
Kang Myungjin was right. On the surface, it was just merchants and mercenaries from the 970th district who had caused trouble. The A-Plan Legion didn’t have enough of a pretext to directly condemn the Thorn Rose Legion.
“For now, we’ll prepare for war and watch how the Thorn Rose Legion will act.”
Kim Manggi, the administrative officer, sighed.
“Preparing for war… I know it’s inevitable. But it’s going to break the budget. And since this is our first war of this scale, I don’t really know what to prepare. Master, what should we prepare?”
“It won’t be difficult to get war supplies. It’s not a war between nations. We don’t plan to drag out a war between legions either. The important thing is manpower. Look into the mercenary market.”
The meeting continued with discussions about war.
•••
I separately investigated the Thorn Rose Legion. Fortunately, I had a useful hand in the Black Blood Alliance.
After meeting Li Mei, I had a good time with her on the bed and received a report on the Thorn Rose Legion.
“The Thorn Rose Legion. They’re quite famous.”
“Famous? I’ve never heard of them.”
“I mean they’re famous in the underworld, like us. Federica, the legion master, is from the Vaches Family.”
“The Vaches Family?”
“They were a mafia group two years ago. At the time, they had similar power to our Black Blood Alliance… but they collapsed due to internal strife. Federica was an executive of the Vaches Family.”
“She was a woman with a great background. But the important thing isn’t the past. It’s the present. Does the Thorn Rose Legion have any weaknesses?”
“They run a few shops in the shadows, but… it’s not a level that would cause problems.”
This place was different from the modern world.
Unless it was a serious crime, they would just let it slide.
And if the ruler of a district was openly committing crimes in their own district, there was no way to stop them.
“What about Federica’s boyfriend?”
“You mean Santanu? He was also an executive of the Vaches Family. But he was a low-ranking one.”
“What are their jobs, contract deities, and unique traits?”
“I’ve found out some of them, but not all.”
Li Mei told me all the information she had found. I crammed all the information about the Thorn Rose Legion into my head.
