Part 1 Chapter 5 (13)

Late at night. The 60,000 Seoul citizens finished their resident registration. The government decided to organize this list and release it at 9 AM the next day through government ministry websites.

New Seoul was in an uproar, in a good way. What if their family, friends, or lovers, who might have died, had survived in Seoul?

Although it was only a 0.6% chance, 60,000 out of a population of ten million, people hoped to get the list as soon as possible, just in case.

Even if it’s raw, it’s fine, let’s just check it first.

Eventually, those who went to Seoul finished preparations to return to New Seoul immediately at 8 PM when the work was done. They left Seoul with the list of 60,000 people who had completed their resident registration in Seoul.

Only about a thousand of them refused resident registration. Only a very small number gave up restoring their South Korean nationality.

And separately from that, about 200 people didn’t even show up at the resident registration office at all. All of them, unlike the underground refugees, wore uniforms centered around the color blue and willingly became criminals.

Azure Syndicate.

A criminal organization that takes an unknown psychic, said to have defeated Seolhwa Princess, as its motif, and has burning blue flames as its symbol.

The government classified them as a Class A dangerous organization and designated them for special management.

And the leader of that organization was….

* * *

7th, 10 PM, Azure Syndicate Hideout.

“Congratulations on becoming the figurehead leader, Kim Ji-hwa-ssi.”

Kim Ji-hwa trembles with rage. Rage at losing its target surges, but no one here can accept Ji-hwa’s resentment.

Jo Deokbae says, “I’m not even an executive, so why would they think I’m the leader?”

Cheon Gaeul says, “You, me, and Haneulseong welcomed the special envoy team. Don’t you think they might have thought I was the second-in-command?”

Ryu Cheon-seong says, “Please take good care of monster extermination in Seoul from now on. My Lord Commander. Hahahaha!!”

James Lee says, “The only people known outside are you, me, and Haneulseong, but Haneulseong and I got an indulgence. You’re going to have a bounty on your head now, Beacon.”

“Uwaaaaaaah!!”

Ji-hwa goes berserk. He, who was just a rather ordinary new employee at a large corporation, had somehow become the head of a criminal organization. I brought up the list of criminals that Eun Yuha had secretly sent me again.

– Kim Ji-hwa. Villain. Bounty: 200,000,000 won. Presumed leader of the criminal organization .

“Congratulations. Please work hard from now on.”

“L-Leader! This is absurd. How could they mistake someone like me for the boss?!”

“It’s plausible.”

Deokbae interjected.

“I’m an exception. Cheon Gaeul is dead, and Phantom’s identity is ambiguous. It’s probably taboo to even mention that in New Seoul right now, isn’t it? Try saying that the Villain who defeated Seolhwa Princess is the leader of the Azure Syndicate.”

“…There would be chaos.”

They would soon be identified as a force attempting to subvert the nation and become public enemies worldwide.

Eun Yuha suggested that they exploit people’s misconceptions.

“Beacon and Haneulseong collaborated. Beacon conquered the underworld instead of giving up Guro, and Haneulseong became the Azure Syndicate’s backer instead of stepping into the light.”

“Why did you make me into such a terrifying existence?!?!”

I pointed at Ji-hwa’s two eyes and laughed.

“Commander-nim, why don’t you look in the mirror? Anyone can see you’re an Intermediate Realm Demon King, can’t they?”

“Even you, Leader-nim, are doing this? You’re the one who made my eyes like this!”

“You said it looked cool last time and liked it.”

Ji-hwa was shot down by Deokbae’s retort. His aimlessly flailing fists cut through the air. I patted Ji-hwa’s shoulder and encouraged him.

“Don’t worry, Kim Ji-hwa-ssi. You lack experience now, but you have enough potential. If you just refine yourself a little, you’ll be able to win even against an Association Commander.”

“…R-Really?”

Beacon’s eyes wavered. I put strength into my shoulder and raised my other hand, giving a thumbs-up.

“You showed what you could do during the last Seoul Reclamation Operation, didn’t you? You’ve also exterminated Villains and remaining monsters in the past three weeks. If Kim Ji-hwa-ssi continues to do well like this….”

“If I do…?”

Ji-hwa gulped.

“I’ll entrust Beacon with the command in the battle to capture the snake in the City Hall.”

“Y-Yes, I’ll work hard!”

Kim Ji-hwa. He’s timid, indecisive, and secretly good at gossiping behind people’s backs, but he’s a man weak to praise. Furthermore, perhaps because he’s a successful applicant to a large corporation, his mind is quite flexible.

“Alright. Shall we slowly move on to the main topic now?”

I had to move on to the main subject before he became aware of the bounty on his head. Fortunately, Ji-hwa was still out of it.

“…May 9th, 00:00 AM. The operation’s name is .”

“…The name itself is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Gaeul fiddled with her neck. The monstrous humans’ gazes naturally shifted to Yooishin, who was standing behind Gaeul.

Yooishin quickly typed. The AI on his smartwatch read it aloud in an electronic voice.

[I think Blue Feather Knight is good.]

“That’s not the problem right now!”

Gaeul tore at her hair. Heroes from the Pine Tree Unit were especially like that, but Yooishin’s sensibilities were uniquely off among them.

“Hey, what do you think of your unit’s leader?”

[I think he’s a good person. Unlike us, he’s someone directly chosen by God.]

“Wow. So that guy’s like the Pope of the Phoenix Cult or something?”

“Uh, even I find that a bit much.”

When I waved my hand, Yooishin’s body stiffened as if he had received a great shock. Honestly, when it comes to Blue Feather, I don’t know about anything else, but that guy, the leader, his words and actions are the most embarrassing.

That’s why I try to cast spells for monstrous human creation in places where no one is around. Terra’s sensibilities are too fatal for modern people.

“Ahem. Anyway, the main force of this operation is the former Pine Tree Unit, now . As soon as the ‘countdown’ ends, show yourselves and cause a disturbance.”

“If they happen to die, I just secretly retrieve their Core, right?”

When Gaeul raised her hand and asked, I nodded in affirmation.

A monstrous human doesn’t truly die even if they die. As long as their Core returns to me alive, I can revive them.
They would lose the mana they accumulated, like Deokbae, but expendable units like Blue Feather weren’t a big problem.

Those who massacred people and committed crimes to end up in this state in the first place. They should be grateful just for being revived as monstrous humans and put to use.

“What about the declaration of war? How are you going to do that?”

“I’ll set an alarm and go.”

I snapped my fingers and created a flame.

5.9.

“It’s May 9th.”

“Yes. I was going to do it on another day, but I set it for the 9th. Originally, I wanted to do it tomorrow immediately, but….”

Eun Yuha objected. She predicted that today, the 7th, wouldn’t get much of a reaction due to the focus on Seoul residents, and they decided to skip the 8th because of what day it was.

Parents’ Day. On the day when Eun Yuha should be pinning carnations on her parents’ chests, she strongly insisted that she couldn’t make Seok Harang offer white chrysanthemums at a funeral parlor for the rest of his life.

I had no choice but to agree. Although it was only a one-day difference anyway, it seemed to be Eun Yuha’s unyielding bottom line.

“Fortunately, Seolhwa Princess said she’d take care of suppressing it herself, so I just need to worry about Busan.”

“Is the boss really going alone?”

Architect’s voice was tinged with worry. I shrugged one shoulder.

“I’ll draw aggro in Gwanak, and I’ll have a 1:1 with Gwanggeom in Busan. That’s the main plan for this operation, isn’t it?”

“The Blue Feathers will raid Anyang like zombies affected by the dimensional gate and be exterminated. And while the Heroes’ attention is focused on Seoul, Leader-nim will kill Gwanggeom.”

Everyone nodded at Ji-hwa’s summary.

Eun Yuha suggested that they attribute everything to the aftermath of the dimensional gate where the Fire Dragon appeared. Since it hasn’t been properly researched yet, all repercussions involving Azure Flame will be blamed on the dimensional gate and the Fire Dragon for the time being.

“Thanks to already resurrecting the Hellhound as a zombie, they’ll think nothing is strange no matter what happens in Seoul now. They’ll just think, ‘Oh, the influence of Shadow and the Fire Dragon still remains.'”

“There’s a possibility that research institutions will come, but that’s for later.”

“Then there’s only one problem left….”

“Don’t worry. I’ll kill him cleanly and come back.”

I clenched my fist and struck a fighting pose. All the monstrous humans sighed in unison.

“To have to send off a hero of South Korea like this….”

“…Leader-nim, may I ask you something?”

“Yes. Anything.”

Ji-hwa hesitated before opening his mouth.

“That Spirit, the one called Rusalka of Snowy Night. How strong is she?”

“Oh. I’m curious too. Are all six of them, like you, as strong as you?”

The hierarchy of Spirits, huh. I haven’t really thought about it.

“Below me, they’re all pretty much on par, but….”

As Spirits are fundamentally rooted in ‘mana’, there might be advantages or disadvantages based on elemental compatibility, but no difference in raw power.

If a difference occurs, it’s a difference in compatibility.

Earth Water Fire Wind Earth
Light Dark Light

By these laws, mana has a correlation with each other. The illusion attribute is separate, so it’s an exception.

Still, if we go by the original work….

“After me?”

“…You mean second in combat power, right? That’s reassuring then.”

Ji-hwa patted his chest in relief. Deokbae clicked his tongue and agreed with Ji-hwa’s words.

“Once Gwanggeom is dead, we’ll have to conquer Seoul, and exterminate all the Chinese forces, so that much would be a great help.”

“That’s right. In terms of individual combat power, they’d be SS-class.”

“…What kind of unit is that?”

Gaeul looked at me with suspicious eyes. I simply conjured a flame and drew a formula.

“If we consider an Affinity Rate of 90 or higher as S-class, there are stages up to 99 within that. 90-95 is regular S, 96-99 is SS. The Round Table is currently mostly in the S and SS range.”

“So the new combatant is Round Table level, right? Then that’s fine.”

The monstrous humans were relieved. I deliberately swallowed my last words.

‘Though I might have to fight that water attribute power.’

Will she awaken as a Spirit, or awaken as an executive of the Dark Legion?

Whether it’s the former or the latter, I might have to fight. Against the power of the water attribute.

‘If I say that, they’ll try to stop me again.’

Cheon Gaeul, in particular, would fuss over me. Ever since she became a monstrous human, Cheon Gaeul has been unusually worried about me. I approached Cheon Gaeul and gently stroked her head.

“……What are you doing?”

Gaeul grabbed my wrist with a tentacle. I just smiled and brushed her hair back.

“Nothing. Just because you’re admirable.”

“…….”

Although her gaze seemed somewhat displeased, Gaeul didn’t show any particular resistance. I used both hands to tidy Gaeul’s slightly tangled hair and commanded the executives.

“Alright, then, let’s all fulfill our roles until the day of execution. The operation start time is May 8th, 23:00. Make full preparations until then. Understood?”

24 hours from now.

The great event that would bring a singularity to the history of South Korea, and furthermore, the world, the candle announcing the start of , burned down.