“The mission is the Republic of Korea’s territory, territorial waters, and airspace—what the former 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Corps were responsible for. The defense of the entire nation. And the symbolic designation is...... the [Steel Legion].”
“......Loyalty.”
First Lieutenant Kim, under the effect of [Meeting Expectations], was—
A commander whose capabilities transcended imagination.
“First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok, I will carry out your order.”
“You get flustered too, huh. You’re not a first lieutenant anymore.”
“Excuse me. Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok. I will carry out your order.”
Even so.
How had that order reached him?
With slightly trembling hands, he saluted and accepted that order.
“Hm. If that’s what you think, General Kim.”
And.
That wasn’t the end.
“I don’t know if you remember me. I’m the Police Special Forces commander. Back then, in that meeting room, we met once...... no, a few times, didn’t we?”
“Yes. I remember.”
With Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan at the forefront—
Those who had been in charge of Seoul’s various forces stepped forward.
“Take the Police Special Forces commander position. You do it.”
Starting with the Police Special Forces.
“The Seoul Autonomous Vigilante Corps is an organization of people who rose up to protect themselves. So...... broadly speaking, it means you also qualify to join the Vigilante Corps.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Vigilante Corps Chief. I’ll be counting on you.”
The Seoul Autonomous Vigilante Corps.
“We fight for a society where people can sleep without fear. Just remember that.”
The Counterterror Unit.
“Hyung. No matter what, isn’t that guy Army?”
“......Well. Isn’t the most important thing the Marine spirit? Those guys are more than enough.”
The Marines Veterans Association.
And besides that—
All kinds of high-and-mighty people and organizations we’d run into.
“It’s a position that’s become nothing but obligations, with no authority left. Still. Please take good care of it.”
All of them—
Handed over their authority and positions to First Lieutenant Kim Hyeon-seok.
“Ah. Sorry, but I can’t give you the head-of-state seat.”
“What? You said you don’t like that seat, Jinhwan.”
“Even so. It’d be a little much for the acting acting acting to appoint the next person however they want, wouldn’t it?”
Last remaining was Vice Minister Yoo Jinhwan, but—
He said with a small laugh.
“The head-of-state seat...... later, after this world returns to normal.”
He was someone who’d said he didn’t like holding the head-of-state seat.
“Let’s decide it again through lawful procedure.”
It seemed the way he wanted—
Was somewhere else.
And so.
When all appointments were finished—
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok looked at Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan and said,
“Somehow...... it feels like the workload has gotten too big for a single corps to handle, Lieutenant General Kim.”
“What can you do. If they tell you to do it, you do it. You didn’t join the military without knowing it’s that kind of place, did you? Lieutenant General Kim.”
And.
After saying that much, Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan turned his head and looked toward where the soldiers were standing.
“Sergeant Shin Youngjun, right?”
No, to be precise—
He looked at me standing among them and said it.
“......Loyalty. Sergeant Shin Youngjun.”
I answered the call with a stiff expression.
Then—
Lieutenant General Kim Myeonghwan gave a small smile.
“Thank you.”
He said that.
It was a pretty sudden expression of gratitude, but—
I accepted it in silence.
“It’s nothing.”
Because I had a vague idea—
Of what he was trying to say.
“We couldn’t even endure it. It was an apocalypse we failed at. And maybe for you too, overcoming this apocalypse wasn’t easy.”
“.......”
“In the process...... there must have been plenty of situations where it was beneficial to throw away your duty.”
As he said—
It wasn’t like there hadn’t been temptation.
We were strong among humans, sure, but—
Not once had we ever been strong enough to be “sufficient” to overcome this apocalypse.
And.
Not once had there been a moment—
When we hadn’t had choices that would let us get stronger faster.
If we were willing to shoulder a bit of guilt—
There were plenty of options that would make us stronger than we were now.
-...You’re obsessing over something pointless.
In the past.
Corporal Seo Suhyeok had told me that.
A few soldiers, with him at the front—
Had argued we should toss aside the duty assigned by a country that had already collapsed.
That it would be more advantageous for survival.
They’d suggested it to me—
More than once.
But even so.
“I listened to that radio.”
A soldier’s duty was—
To protect people.
“In a time like this...... you didn’t forget that duty.”
We—
Didn’t abandon it.
To be honest—
Even I had times when I wondered if this was right.
Whenever soldiers died—
There were many times I held regret, thinking we shouldn’t have done it this way.
“Thank you.”
All that regret—
I could feel it fading away, right now.
A soldier worthy of respect.
And for us, a superior so distant we could barely imagine it.
“Thank you for not letting go of that duty.”
Because he was—
Supporting the choices we’d made until now.
“Sergeant Shin Youngjun.”
“Yes.”
“One last order for you...... no. Not an order. A request. May I ask you one?”
At those words—
I answered in a steady voice, standing at attention.
“Loyalty. You can order me as much as you want.”
“Haha. It’ll probably be a pretty difficult request.”
His last request—
Just as he said, it wasn’t exactly easy, but—
“From now on, too. I want you not to forget that duty.”
At the same time—
It was something that didn’t even need to be asked.
“......Loyalty.”
“Yeah, yeah. Loyalty.”
When I raised a light salute—
Lieutenant General Kim received it gently.
“Everyone!!!”
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, seeing that, shouted in a loud voice.
“To all fallen guardian spirits who defended the nation—salute!”
All unit members—
Raised a salute toward Seoul’s last residents.
“Lo-yal-ty!”
And.
That was the end.
Fsssssh.
The forms of the Seoul residents, barely managing to maintain their shapes—
Scattered into dust.
KRRRACK.
The fractures that had appeared across the entire world—
Kept growing larger and larger.
And then.
CRACK......!
As if glass were shattering—
All fractures exploded at once, and the whole world was dyed in pitch-black darkness.
*****
In that darkness—
I looked up at the sky.
‘Space.’
Every time the repetition caused by Jang Youngwoong began—
I looked up at the sky from here.
I would feel the presence staring down at me from there—
And I’d have no choice but to tremble in fear.
But.
Not now.
Unlike before—
I couldn’t feel any gaze looking down at us from that sky.
And.
Space where no gaze could be felt.
‘It’s beautiful.’
In the night sky—
Stars were shining beautifully.
And.
Between that view—
Filling my entire sight—
A status window appeared.
*****
[You have succeeded in dismantling the sanctuary created by an existence of the [Otherworld]!]
[This is a rare miracle even across the entire universe.]
[It is a divine feat that would make even those called heroes click their tongues in amazement!]
[Achievement: One Who Pushed Back Divinity]
[To one who has accomplished a great achievement, an appropriate reward is granted.]
[As an achievement reward, stat-increase potions are granted.]
[Stat-Increase Potion (Strength) - 5]
[Stat-Increase Potion (Agility) - 5]
[Stat-Increase Potion (Mana) - 5]
[Stat-Increase Potion (Luck) - 5]
A ridiculous number of potions.
And a top-tier ingredient, one of the materials needed to brew those potions.
[As an achievement reward, ‘Top-Tier Ingredient - Fragment of an Ancient Meteorite’ is granted.]
And on top of that—
[As an achievement reward, ‘Trait Enhancement Ticket’ is granted.]
‘......!’
Something I hadn’t gotten in a long time.
Even a Trait Enhancement Ticket.
‘Insane.’
And.
That still wasn’t the end.
[Title - Adversary of Divinity]
[With a human body, you confronted an external existence and forced them to withdraw!]
[This is surely a great achievement, but the existences of the [Otherworld] are greedy and endlessly cunning.]
[They will not abandon interference with this land, even in the future.]
[Be wary of the existence of the [Otherworld], and crush them!]
[Do not ever tolerate their interference.]
[Effect]
[A 300% bonus is granted to all uses of abilities for opposing enemies that possess ‘Divinity’.]
“......This is.”
An effect that was extremely simple—
And powerful.
But unfortunately—
I didn’t have the leisure to read all of it.
FWOOOOSH!
Because before I knew it—
The space that had filled my vision was disappearing.
*****
And a little later.
When I opened my eyes again......
“Ah.”
What I saw in front of me was—
A city collapsed so miserably—
That the destruction we’d just committed would barely even count.
“......So.”
Now—
So ruined I could hardly even recognize its shape.
“This is...... the [real] Seoul.”
It was the sight of the old capital.
*****
When Matron withdrew—
The [Otherworld] she had made, which had been overwriting reality, also vanished.
Which meant—
The city in front of us was Seoul.
“......My god.”
“Sergeant Shin, this. This is.”
The soldiers, looking at it, clenched their teeth and spoke.
“Isn’t this too much.......”
“.......”
As they said—
Right now, Seoul’s scenery was......
To the point where you could only think, ‘This is too much.’
Buildings destroyed beyond recognition.
And even on the few buildings that remained, there were massive unknown things plastered everywhere—like gigantic reptile eggs.
KOOOM, KOOOM......
Across the ground, magma-like stuff was flowing in streams—no one even knew where it originated.
And over it, monsters with power you absolutely couldn’t take lightly prowled around.
Black smoke rose up everywhere—
And that smoke filled the sky.
In the blackened sky, grotesque monstrous birds flew around in flocks.
-KIEEEEEEK!!!
Monsters’ screeches rang out across the place.
Tremors from territorial fights between the monsters shook the ground.
This—
Rather ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) than reality, it was, how should I put it.
‘Closer to hell.’
Clench.......
‘Compared to this...... the destroyed city I saw in Gangwon was nothing.’
The demon realm I’d seen in Gyeonggi had at least been concentrated on the outskirts—
But the monsters that had appeared in this narrow patch of Seoul......
Had turned the entire city into a demon realm.
“......What will you do, Sergeant Shin.”
Corporal Seo Suhyeok said with a deep frown.
“There are too many monsters, and the situation looks like the worst possible. Before, we came with a small force thinking there were friendly forces here...... but now.”
“Yeah. It’s not something we can handle on our own.”
Even if we mobilized the entire Legion—
Unless we brought that vimana, conquering this city wouldn’t be easy.
And Private First Class Park Taejun’s prophecy had weakened too.
“Then, will we return?”
“No. There’s something to do first.”
It was impossible to stay here long.
So.
“We move through Gyeonggi. Our target is southern Seoul.”
“Yes? Why there.”
“Because if we go there, there’ll be people who came looking for us.”
Thankfully—
Maybe because the monsters recognized territory boundaries, the number of monsters that had come out past Seoul’s border wasn’t that high.
We moved along Seoul’s outskirts, through the Gyeonggi area, and headed toward Seoul.
Then—
“Who are you people......?”
We found a group of people gathered near the southern boundary of Seoul.
A grandmother who looked quite fit stared at us with suspicious eyes.
The eyes of those looking at us were filled with wariness toward strangers, but......
To me, they were quite familiar faces.
“Are you also people who came after receiving the government’s invitation?”
Survivors from other regions.
People who had received the invitation message Jang Youngwoong sent—
And came here.
