Chapter 184:
In December, the Tumen River was freezing cold enough to walk across.
"Is everyone dressed well?"
"No problem."
Captain Kim Do-han said as he pulled on a winter coat that had been sent as a supply.
"This is ridiculously warm. What kind of material is it?"
"I heard Lord Yappy said it was some new material or something."
"The Iron Holy Knight makes all sorts of weird stuff."
Supplies for reconnaissance support: cold gear, new armor, and drones. And
"Why isn't this thing going back?"
The container-sized drone that had come to deliver the supplies to them hadn't returned after unloading them.
He was worried that if he left it here, someone might steal it, but Koo Dae-sung told him what he had been told.
"They told me to leave it alone. If everything goes well, we'll pick it up when we get back."
Some of the Men at Arms were puzzled by that, but since it was Yappys creation, they figured there was no loophole.
"Then, Mr. Cho."
"Oh, yeah!"
Koo Dae-sung said to Cho Mal-soon, the North Korean defector who had come to tell them the truth about the camp and to get help.
"Yes"
Cho Mal-soon looked uneasy so Kim Do-han put his hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay. We'll definitely protect you, just show us the way to the camp."
"Yes."
Cho Mal-soon swallowed hard and nodded. He'd heard a lot of news from the South Koreans since he'd been staying with Man-At-Arms at the Yanbian Hotel.
"is the TTG Temple really such a great place?"
"Of course. Our TTG Temple is ruled by a demigod who is an agent of the gods."
"You speak dangerously. In this world, the only god is Comrade Kim Il-sung, the Sun of the Nation, who is the only-"
"Ugh, this guy is going to get in trouble!"
Kim Do-han shouted at Cho Mal-soon in anger. The other Man-At-Arms exchanged sharp glances.
"I know Comrade Cho has lived in North Korea for a long time, and I know what kind of education he's received, but to say something like that in front of his majesty is really disrespectful."
"That's right. If you say things like Kim Il Sung is God or the sun in front of His Majesty, you'll have your head blown off that day."
What Leon hates as much as the demons is cults that call themselves gods and push false beliefs.
For Leon, even a North Korean who has been indoctrinated his entire life, he didn't know what kind of anger he would feel if someone said Kim Il Sung was God or the sun.
"It's not far across the river. Just follow me."
True to his word, it was only a few kilometers across the Tumen River to the Hoeryong camp.
From the moment they crossed the river, they were in North Korean territory. Compared to the 3.8th parallel, the territory of Heilong and North Korea on the banks of the Tumen River was incredibly close, but it was also heavily fortified to prevent defection.
However, crossing the Tumen River was not as difficult as one might think, as the route was normally used for smuggling and trading with the North Koreans.
"During the hardship march, the republic's government asked the people to renew themselves, and smugglers selling goods in the marketplace did a lot of business with their compatriots in Yeonbyon."
Cho was one of those smugglers himself.
"I would give the soldiers a few dollars or a few items and they would look the other way."
As Koo Dae-sung listened to the story, he tilted his head and asked.
"Hmm? But why is Mr. Cho Mal-soon in the camp? Didn't you say you were in the camp because of smuggling?"
"That's the strange thing, I was going to stab the People's Army for a few bucks as usual, but that bastard Warrior Park beat me to a pulp. That's how I got dragged into the camp."
"Suddenly?"
"I was told I was going to be sent to Pyongyang, but luckily I escaped before that happened. If you have the nerve to bother the people like that, you should be sent to Won."
There were many things they couldn't understand about the North Korean government, so the fed up South Koreans moved on.
They arrived at the city of Hoeryong. The camp was located in the center of the city, which was surprisingly deserted for a city that was building its own population not long ago.
"It's not such a small city, why don't I see any people here? Is there a curfew?"
"There is a curfew, but it's strange. Even soldiers usually roam around, but it's never been this deserted until I escaped three months ago."
"Three months?"
Captain Kim Do-han said, feeling that there was something untimely about that statement.
"The last major gate outbreak was three months ago."
"Then do you think the city was wiped out by the Dungeon Break that went off in this city then?"
"Not impossible. The Heilong People's Republic also had a gate outbreak on New Year's Day, so North Korea shouldn't be any better."
That would explain why there have been so many monsters in the area lately.
The monsters released by Dungeon Break had crossed the Tumen River and stretched all the way to Heilongjiang.
"The city is too clean for that."
"Didn't they evacuate all the people because they knew Dungeon Break was going to happen? I'm sure North Korea has that kind of protocol."
We were moving through the deserted streets of the city.
"Wait, the drone picked up a monster up ahead."
Koo Dae-sung's words brought the Men at Arms to a halt. The squad leaders gathered around to check the drone footage.
"It's a hellhound, and there are three of them."
"Why are there so many bastards in this neighborhood?"
The last monster they'd hunted was called the Shovel Tiger, a species that specializes in hunting humans because of their fast legs and tracking abilities.
They were bigger than an adult male, so it was difficult to defeat them in a maneuver war except for Koo Dae-sung on horseback.
"Let's do it like we did last time. I'll lure it in, and we'll take care of them quietly."
"Sure."
Kim Do-han showed the infantry railguns to the gunners.
The infantry railguns that Yappy had made to supply the ranged gunmen under the Kikiruks were naturally quiet, but when converted to subsonic mode with a power reduction, they were almost silent.
"I'll bring them up."
"Be careful."
Koo Dae-sung left Kim Do-han and Man at Arms alone, mounted his horse, and headed for the hellhounds.
Soon, he spotted the hellhounds wandering around the location the drone had picked up, and threw a rock at them.
-Thud?
The hellhounds spotted Koo Dae-sung and turned their heads.
"Follow me!"
Koo Dae-sung turned his horse's head and ran in the direction he'd come from, and he could hear the hellhounds stomping on the ground. But that wasn't all.
-Quah!
"Woof!"
A ball of flame whizzed right by Koo Dae-Sung, slamming into a concrete house and melting it.
Unlike most monsters, Hellhounds breathe fire from their mouths. It's so powerful that it can melt through military armor in an instant.
It's a monster with a base physical of Class B, which is why it has a difficulty level of B+.
If only I could use the Holy Law!
I've defeated similar monsters in the South many times, but each time I've been helped by a knight's Ranged Nullification holy law.
That made him realize how great the Ranged Nullification Holy Art is.
Still, since becoming a knight, Koo Dae-sung has been constantly cultivating his knightly virtues.
Among them is horsemanship, and his talent with horses is no less than that of any other knight.
In other words, he's gotten better at it.
"Alright, Mr. Koo, you've lured them in!"
Captain Kim Do-han shouted as he saw the Hellhounds chasing after Koo Dae-sung, shooting fireballs behind him.
"Rear row! Prepare for railgun fire!"
The elongated guns poked through the densely packed shields.
"Fire!"
Electromagnetic propulsion rounds pierced the monsters as they fired from shield to shield, in a hedgehog-like formation.
It was similar to the way humans hunted beasts when they first picked up guns. But the monsters were no slouches. Even after taking a dozen electromagnetic force bullets, they still flinched and saw an opportunity.
-CRACK!
The Hellhounds fire back but the primitive shields deflect the cannon-like barrage.
-Thud!
-Thud!
The Hellhounds' fireballs are intercepted by a huddled mass of shields.
Once trained and properly equipped, Man-At-Arms gain an additional talent.
[Man-At-Arms Solid Barrier]
[Lionheart's Man-At-Arms have become even stronger with their unity, and have trained to block the Lionheart King's strongest charge from the front.]
-Crack!
-Thud! Kukung!
One after another, the giant monsters collided with it, but the barrier did not collapse.
Having trained to block the charge of the strongest attacker, they have gained a knack for blocking the charge of unruly beasts.
"They're big! Show them why hedgehogs are scary!"
With Captain Kim Do-han's command, the soldiers pushed back the monsters, stabbing them with swords and spears.
"Let's turn around and join them. Group three! Group five! Surround them in wing form!"
At Koo Dae-sung's command, the rear rows of shields on the left and right spread out on both sides. In an instant, the Hellhounds were surrounded.
"Dry them out slowly!"
"Forward!"
Their shields were too hard for the monsters to break, and their swords and spears were sharp enough to cut through leather.
The battle lasted less than a dozen minutes.
* * * * *
After that, they were able to reach the camp without much fighting.
There, they witnessed the horrific conditions inside the camp.
"It's the end of the world. Monsters have taken over the city, enslaving and eating people."
"It is said that the giant race has more wisdom than you think."
Giants are boss monsters in many gates and powerful entities that start at least Class A.
They use tools like humans, and some have bred beasts to be used as hunting dogs.
It was a Giant and his hounds that occupied the empty camps in the city of Hoeryong.
They took over the camp and used the political prisoners as food to feed themselves.
"Looks like the Dungeon Break emptied the city, but not the camp people."
"So they didn't care if they died?"
Koo asked the drone soldiers as they finished their drone reconnaissance.
"Did you get an idea of how many monsters are in the camp?"
"The giantI think there are over twenty monsters kept by the giant?"
"Twenty, sir"
If we're talking about a similar specification to the Hellhounds they faced earlier, that's about twenty B to B+ monsters.
Combined with the quasi-A-ranked giant, it's a formidable force.
"That was close."
"The hounds are one thing, but the giant is the problem."
Even the smallest giants are Class A. Even in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, you had to be at least a knight to fight them.
"The best thing to do is to call for reinforcements. Someone with a name like Director Chun So-yeon or Goddess Ha-ri."
"That will take time. We can't use North Korean airspace right now, so we'll have to go around and come back, and even then it'll take two days."
In the meantime, at least a dozen people will be eaten. The monsters here have crossed the Tumen River to Heilongjiang, most likely in search of food.
Even now, with the drone watching over them, the giant had not forgotten about the people in the camp that would be used as snacks.
It was a large camp with quite a few people, but with less than a few hundred left, a few would be eaten every hour.
"Let's call Sir Yappy for satellite weapons support, it'll make this a lot easier."
Koo Dae-sung opened a commlink and requested support from Yappy, but got a disappointing reply.
-The current orbital position of the military satellite is not in an Asian orbit. It would take four hours to reach the East Asian orbit.
Except for geostationary orbit, which is 30,000 kilometers away from the Earth, satellites are constantly moving with the Earth's rotation.
Yappy had recently lowered a space-armed platform from geostationary orbit to low Earth orbit for artillery assassination of a group of demonic followers captured in Europe, and now only reconnaissance satellites exist in that airspace.
-Reconnaissance support, yes.
"Okay, let's see what we can do about it on our own."
In the end, they're on their own for this one.
"I hope it goes according to plan."
"Knight Koo's plan isn't bad."
As a commander, Koo Dae-sung came up with a decent plan.
First, he will use the drone to distract the hounds. Once the drone has distracted the hounds as much as possible, they'll take out the remaining monsters one by one.
"Come on, let's trust the plan."
Captain Kim Do-han encouraged his subordinates. He then turned to the unit's commander, Koo Dae-sung.
"It's hard to capture a giant with our equipment. Mr. Koo, you have to help us."
"Yes, I know."
Koo Dae-sung held on tight to his horse and the heavy jousting spear.
He might be a newbie knight, but he was the most powerful force in this place.
"All right, I ruffled their feathers with the machine gun and they're coming right after me, I've taken out ten of them!"
The soldier piloting the drone called out in triumph, and Captain Kim Do-han immediately called out.
"Mr. Han, take control of the drone and keep the hounds as far away as possible!"
Mr. Han's drone lured the hounds to the other side of the city.
When the drone had lured the hounds to a distance that was too far for the giant to call, Koo Dae-sung shouted.
"Let's go!"
Koo Dae-sung and the Man-At-Arms followed on horseback, and they soon came face-to-face with the seven-meter giant that had taken over the center of the camp and the hounds that were as big as houses.
"Uhhh this one is a little bigger than your average giants, aren't they?"
"Dogs, they seem to have a good price."
The giant was bigger than I expected and eerily black. Moreover, the tattoos on its skin gave it a magical aura.
The Dark Giant, something as sinister as the Dark Trolls I'd seen at the Shifting Gate in the Kingdom of Spero once
"Let's be vigilant and attack it."
-Grrrr!
The giant bellowed the order as he spotted the Man-At-Arms, and the hounds rushed forward in unison.
"Shields!"
Man-at-Arms move in unison and the hounds are greeted by a dense, hedgehog-like array of spear blades.
Each of the hounds was larger than a man, but not enough to break through the heavily guarded barrier from the front.
"Wow! This is a bit heavier than the ones we just caught!"
"We can hold out, but what about the giant?"
"Coming!"
When the hounds were unable to penetrate the barrier, the giant himself took up his club.
As skilled soldiers, their barriers are thick, but not enough to overcome the overwhelming mass.
Koo Dae-Sung spurred his horse forward and caught the giant's eye.
"Over here!"
The giant is wise, but only up to the level of the monster. Koo Dae-Sung rode his horse to the giant's attention but
-Hahahaha!
The giant sneered, as if it had read Koo Dae-sung's intentions, and ran straight for the barrier.
"Ugh, why is he coming this way?"
The panicked shout of Captain Kim Do-han spurred Koo Dae-sung on, and he charged at the giant. At that very moment
-Quack, quack, quack!
Sparks erupted from the giant's skin and shot toward Koo Dae-sung.
"Crack!"
"Mr. Koo-!!!"
Before Team Leader Kim Do-han could finish his shout, Koo Dae-sung was thrown off his horse.
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