“Unless his willpower is absurdly strong.......”
“.......”
If what the therapist said was true,
this man should’ve already died or passed out a long time ago.
But in that state,
not only did he not die, he endured all the way to here without even fainting.
He even gave them orders in that condition.
‘That’s insane.’
‘How strong does his will have to be.......’
Unless he used some special item, it was impossible.
Staring at the young man who’d collapsed, people felt awe.
And also......
‘For a man like that to end up like this.’
‘What in the world happened in there?’
Fear of the cause that finally forced even Shin Youngjun to faint
wrapped around them.
The Awakeners in the rear had heard the conversation Shin Youngjun and Jo Beomseok shared.
Their gazes turned toward the Black Curtain.
‘Just looking at it, it’s suspicious...... and it does look like a place where the enemy’s boss would be.’
‘How fierce a fight happened in there?’
The cold that had covered all of Gyeonggi Province had been resolved in an instant.
No matter what,
everyone guessed that a bloodbath far more brutal than this battlefield the Expedition Force was fighting on
had taken place inside that curtain.
“......This seems more dangerous than I thought.”
And.
Once his thoughts reached that point, Jo Beomseok raised his voice and shouted urgently.
“All troops!!!”
Before he collapsed, Shin Youngjun said it.
That by cutting down the ones inside that Black Curtain,
he’d eased this cold.
Because of that,
the humans of Gyeonggi Province no longer had to freeze to death, but......
“Fall back!!!”
As for cutting down every monster inside that curtain......
he’d failed.
Which meant that inside, there were still powerhouses lying in wait—
powerhouses that had reduced Shin Youngjun to this state!
“Huh?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
“We’re fighting well and you’re telling us to fall back?”
People panicked, but
the commander, Jo Beomseok, shouted decisively.
“This fallback is not a retreat due to defeat!”
“?”
“Everyone, check the surrounding temperature!”
At that,
everyone who’d been busy fighting......
“Wait. Don’t tell me.”
“The temperature.......”
“It got warmer!”
noticed the change.
“Gyeonggi Province’s abnormal climate has been resolved!”
“......!”
“And we have also succeeded in rescuing every member of the Assault Team captured by the enemy!”
Jo Beomseok’s thunderous shout
covered the battlefield.
“All objectives of the Expedition Force have been completed!”
“......!”
“Further combat is meaningless, so we return!”
[Command Order - ‘Rapid Withdrawal’ echoes out.]
It was a withdrawal order,
but it wasn’t an order given for an unfavorable reason.
“......I don’t really know what’s going on, but!”
“We have to follow orders. Everyone, pull back!”
The commander of the Expedition Force.
Following Jo Beomseok’s orders, they began to withdraw in perfect formation.
They’d achieved their purpose,
and everyone had played a huge role in this battle and gained an enormous amount of experience.
Their retreating steps were comparatively light.
To withdraw quickly without crushing morale,
Jo Beomseok had wrung his brain and issued the order, but......
Koo-woong.......
“......?”
The moment people turned their backs
and tried to break away from the battlefield.
“W-wait.......”
“That...... what is that.”
Some of the fleeing people
stopped when they saw the sight in the distance.
‘......So you won’t let us go easily.’
That Black Curtain in the distance.
From the Gate’s entrance—
Kuuuuuu-woong.......
-You......
A monstrously huge hand burst out.
A hand so enormous you could see it even from far away,
it used the surrounding buildings as supports and hauled the body that had been inside the curtain up into reality.
A body that looked like it was fifty meters tall.
A giant of tremendous size.
‘That monster Shin Youngjun talked about......!’
And.
Seeing it, the Expedition Force’s Awakeners could only go silent.
“That magic power......”
“What the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) hell.”
It wasn’t just big.
Magic power it was showing without even trying to hide.
That magic power was overwhelmingly vast.
To a degree they’d never experienced even once until now!
-Native guardians!!!
And then.
The giant with that overwhelming power let out a monstrous roar.
“......!?”
“Ghk......!”
It was so huge and so powerful that
just hearing it made people’s bodies stagger.
-You who massacred our greatest brothers and hid our king!
-For now we have no choice but to let you go, but remember!
And.
The people listening to that voice couldn’t help but be horrified.
‘This.......’
‘It’s not Korean.’
That giant was shouting in its world’s language.
But they could understand the words.
They weren’t understanding it as language.
Literally—
those words were ringing through their “souls.”
-We will never!!! forget this!
“Ghk......!”
-Watch and see...... we will never forgive you!!!
Hwooooooo-!
At the giant shout,
the snow piled up around them whipped up into a blizzard.
“My, my head...... hurts.......”
A voice that rang directly through the soul.
People could also feel the emotion carried in that voice without distortion.
‘Massacred their brothers and hid their king.......’
What was in it was
rage and hatred.
And...... sorrow and pain.
“Ignore the enemy’s words! The Expedition Force withdraws as fast as possible!!!”
Even as they fled from the monsters.
People’s eyes
fixed on the combat vehicle running with Shin Youngjun loaded on it, unconscious.
‘Against monsters like that.......’
‘What happened......!?’
If the emotions in that giant’s shout were true,
then the man on that vehicle
had done to beings on the same level as that giant......
literally—
a “massacre.”
*****
“Ghk...... it hurts.”
“Stop whining and hold still!”
“Argh!”
The Expedition Force succeeded in retreating like that
and returned to the nearest Wall.
As the wounded were treated,
there were wounded in particular who drew attention.
“They really are people from the Assault Team.”
Humans who had belonged to the Assault Team.
Some of them had been injured in battle against the Expedition Force, but
in the end, with the power of “anti-magic energy,” they were able to throw off the domination.
“And these people.......”
And beyond them......
“Are they the ones who endured their mental attacks.......”
“.......”
There were also people who,
without even being dominated in the first place,
had somehow endured the whole time.
“......They’re people we should be grateful to.”
People looked at them with a strange emotion.
In a way,
the Expedition Force might have endured this battle because of them.
‘If even these people had fallen to the enemy, the battle would’ve been even harder.’
Especially.
The person Shin Youngjun had set down without much thought—
‘Seong Jinhye is a priest with incredible ability.’
One of the Association’s executives.
Support Captain, Seong Jinhye.
If her body had been taken,
her large-scale buff ability and large-scale healing ability would’ve been added to the enemy.
We would’ve had to watch already-powerful enemies rush us like zombies.
Because these people resisted domination and held out,
the battle could be that much easier.
“Is it those two?”
“Yes.”
And among them—
“They’re Youngjun’s parents.”
The man who was unconscious right now,
Shin Youngjun’s parents were included as well.
“Like parent, like child, I guess? Hah. To think they endured those monsters’ mental domination.”
“......It’s incredible.”
It would take time for them to come to their senses.
But that also meant that if we just had time, they’d come to their senses eventually.
Until then, it was important to treat them so their bodies bore as little burden as possible.
“Since some of them fought in the battle, there may be people who feel hostility. Make sure you spread that they were only being controlled.”
“Yes. Understood.”
After warning the therapists,
Jo Beomseok looked at the other leaders and said,
“Then...... there’s something I need to say to the rest.”
“What is it, General Jo.”
“Shin Youngjun left us some words before he collapsed.”
At that,
everyone’s attention gathered.
“You all saw the giant that came out of that Black Curtain.”
“......Even if we didn’t want to, it was too big not to see.”
“Right. And according to Shin Youngjun...... there are still more than ten monsters like that left in there.”
“......!”
At that,
horror spread among the people.
If it was only one,
maybe the Association could somehow hunt it down.
No—if it was three, even.
If it was an Association with Howard Jin’s Cuisine added, maybe we could win.
But......
“The monsters’ army is still there.......”
“And on top of that, more than ten giants like that?”
That was—
even taking Howard’s Cuisine into account, it was an opposing force we couldn’t match.
“I ordered the withdrawal because of that.”
“.......”
“And Shin Youngjun’s message had one more thing.”
“......Don’t tell me.”
Shin Youngjun, who’d told us about the enemy’s existence.
If he had something to leave behind, then—
“Is there a way to oppose those enemies?”
“I don’t know the details. One thing is certain...... we have to gather people as quickly as possible and move to the Northern Branch.”
At those words,
everyone’s eyes fixed in one direction.
“The Northern Branch......?”
And.
The people who received those gazes—
“......Huh? Us?”
“Uh...... Jaeho? Do you know something?”
“I thought Iseo or Junggu would know something, though.”
“......?”
The Northern Branch people
could only tilt their heads, not understanding.
“You don’t know either, huh. Still, Shin Youngjun told us to do it. There has to be a reason.”
“......If that’s the case.”
“We have to lead every survivor spread across all of Gyeonggi Province and go to the Northern Branch.”
And so.
As the leaders of each branch discussed the operation,
and the move to the Northern Branch was about to happen.
“R-reporting in!”
“What is it!”
Someone rushed into the meeting room and
shouted in a frantic voice.
“An attack......!”
“!?”
“Th-those giants...... they brought an army!”
The enemy’s attack
began faster than expected.
*****
“......An unfamiliar ceiling.”
When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
This time it wasn’t a joke—it was truly an unfamiliar ceiling.
“My god......!”
“Shin Youngjun has woken up!”
“Call the leaders right now!”
And as soon as I opened my eyes,
I saw people running out in a rush.
‘......In the Legion or here, stuff like that is the same.’
Contrary to my expectation that people would show up right away,
it took quite a while for the leaders of each branch to gather.
“Youngjun! Are you all right!?”
And.
How should I put it.......
“......You all look terrible.”
“Huh? Ahem.”
The leaders looked pretty bad.
Everyone looked like they were worn out.
“What happened?”
“That’s what we want to ask...... but we’ll speak first.”
When I asked,
Jo Beomseok let out a sigh and said,
“After you collapsed...... a few weeks passed.”
“......What?”
A few weeks?
Not a few days, but a few weeks?
“Already?”
It feels like I just closed my eyes and opened them.
“‘Already’.......”
“They said even you waking up now is an unbelievable recovery speed. The therapists were wondering if you’re even human.”
“.......”
That stung a little,
but that aside, I was still thrown off.
I didn’t expect to be down for weeks......
“And during that time.......”
Jo Beomseok sighed,
then spread a wide map on the bed I was lying on and said,
“We’ve been at war.”
“War?”
What are you talking about now.
“After you collapsed, not long after, those giants attacked.”
“......!”
I understood that immediately.
The giants inside the Gate.
The ones whose seals were released had finally begun to move.
“Just like you said, we tried to withdraw with everyone across Gyeonggi Province to the Northern Branch, but.......”
“Those giants. They were unbelievably strong.”
When I saw their expressions as I heard that,
I could see shadows on their faces.
‘......Of course they would be.’
Beings you have to pour your heart into even when facing them with the Legion.
And there are twelve of them.
And those giants even brought an army with them.
“After the temperature rose, the monsters looked like they were suffering. But...... near those giants, they didn’t look like that.”
“.......”
They’re the ones who lowered the temperature of all of Gyeonggi Province that far with only twenty.
Monsters that spew tremendous cold each.
Even if Gyeonggi Province’s overall climate rose,
near those monsters it was still extremely cold.
“Then what do you mean by war?”
“Their advance was too fast. Like you said, we wanted to gather everyone at the Northern Branch, but there simply wasn’t a gap big enough. So.”
Jo Beomseok had to start explaining while showing the map.
“Using the Walls as strongpoints, we retreated while delaying their advance as much as possible. This is our territory, and this marking is where they invaded.”
I looked at that map.
And......
“.......”
I couldn’t help but frown.
Because.
“The Walls of the Southern Branch and the Central Branch held the longest...... but in the end, they fell.”
“.......”
“If we didn’t have Howard’s Cuisine and the oil you secured, we’d probably have been wiped out by now.”
Except for a tiny part of the Northern Branch.
All of vast Gyeonggi Province—
‘In the few weeks I was unconscious.......’
had fallen
into the monsters’ grasp.
*****
‘......Well, if monsters like that really set their sights on conquest, it makes sense.’
Unlike Gangwon Province,
in Gyeonggi Province, monsters were concentrated in the Demon Realm and Monsterland, and outside of that, monster frequency was lower.
Considering that, it meant that aside from the Demon Realm, the difficulty of occupying the region was far lower than Gangwon.
With monsters like those, it was enough time.
“Still, what’s fortunate is that it was an operation meant only to buy time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our strength is still intact. We deliberately conserved it as much as possible.”
Jo Beomseok looked into my eyes and said,
“Because you told us to save people and go to the Northern Branch.”
“......!”
“We thought the place our strength would be used was elsewhere. We preserved it as much as we could. While waiting for you...... to open your eyes.”
When I lifted my head slightly,
I could feel the Association leaders’ gazes stick to me.
“So now, tell us.”
I could feel the Association leaders looking at me.
“What happened in there. And.......”
“How we’re supposed to move forward!”
