Ch.114Chapter 114 – Eden (5)

Along the long wall surrounding the institution, like the Great Wall of China, there were four gates in the four cardinal directions. These four gates were the only paths from the outside into the institution, making them the highest priority for defense against demonic invasions.

Shin Jaehyuk and Kwak Taewoo, who had rushed out of the library, arrived at the East Gate guard post just in time to join the other hunters.

“Right on time.”

Marco, the East Gate guard captain, glanced at the assembled hunters while chewing on jerky, then shifted his gaze back beyond the wall. Stroking his bushy beard that concealed his face full of scars, he shouted:

“Anyone else out there? Close the gate now!”

As it appeared the evacuation of refugees was complete, soldiers followed the order and closed the gate. During normal times, farmers would work outside, and when sentries spotted demons approaching from a distance, people would be let inside before the gates were locked. That was how the Empire utilized its land.

At that moment, Kwak Taewoo, who was observing the farmers seeking refuge, witnessed someone convulsing as if electrocuted immediately after passing through the gate, then collapsing. Nearby soldiers, far from helping the fallen farmer, repeatedly stabbed him with their spears.

“…What are they doing?”

“Weeding out disguised demons.”

Marco spat.

“Sometimes those bastards try to sneak in like that, so we’ve embedded holy relics in the gate. If they try to enter carelessly, they end up paralyzed like that.”

When the soldiers burned the creature with torches, the demon abandoned its human form, writhing like jelly before turning to ashes. The soldiers took the remains to the top of the wall and threw them into the moat—a moat filled with holy water.

The soldiers’ movements were practiced. They seemed experienced at this.

“…Impressive.”

“The Empire didn’t become Eden’s last nation for nothing. By the way, have you outsiders been enjoying yourselves these past few days?”

Marco muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

“We have enough men to guard the walls without you. I don’t know what the higher-ups were thinking, letting unknown foreigners into the city. I bet they’re just trying to make connections to escape to your world. Those nobles…”

He made no attempt to hide his displeasure at the hunters’ presence. One hunter bristled at this.

“Ha! We came all this way to help you medieval folks, and you can’t even show gratitude…”

“Heh, haven’t you heard there are no heroes on the battlefield? What help could you possibly be? Not even a hundred of you. Unless all hundred were Sword Masters…”

“In our world, even a private with a machine gun can become a hero. But I guess that’s beyond what your technology can imagine.”

The hunter boasted, showing off his gun barrel. He was already relishing the thought of these primitives, who hadn’t even invented steam engines, being speechless at the power of modern firearms.

Marco showed curiosity at the unfamiliar weapon.

“Oh? Is that a weapon from your world? Since you’re so confident, perhaps we should see its power.”

Marco and the hunters climbed the stairs to the top of the wall, where turrets and crossbows were installed for sniping enemies.

From this elevated position with a good view, they could see the enemy forces. The horizon was pitch black. All of them were creatures that had emerged from the gates of hell.

The black wave of malevolent beings undulated, making it seem like an ocean rather than land. Even Shin Jaehyuk was taken aback by the sheer numbers.

“Damn… this is disgusting. Are all of those demons?”

“First time seeing this many? Since the Demon King of Sorrow ascended, this has been our daily reality. Actually, this is much less frequent now. Before, these attacks happened every few hours, not every few days.”

How many could there be? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Even the confident hunter was intimidated.

“Well then, let’s see what your weapon can do.”

“…I don’t think I have enough ammunition to kill all of them.”

“I’m not asking for that much. Just try hitting those imps at the front.”

“Hmph… don’t be shocked by what you see.”

Unable to back down from the arrogant guard captain’s challenge, the hunter placed his machine gun on the brick wall and infused the magazine with mana. Reinforcement, aim, and fire.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!!

As he pulled the trigger, a stream of bullets firing at six hundred rounds per minute swept through the front lines of the hellish army. The imps hit by mana-reinforced bullets exploded into pieces, spraying foul blood and flesh.

“So it’s a kind of small cannon? Rapid-fire seems to be its strength. Good for mass slaughter of low-level demons.”

Marco saw through the principle of the machine gun and acknowledged its usefulness. Yet his reaction was somewhat lukewarm, as if it were nothing special.

The hunter felt that their scientific technology—and by extension, he himself—was being dismissed. With wounded pride, he sneered:

“All talk… How powerful are your weapons then? Do you have nuclear warheads on your arrowheads or something?”

“Nuclear? I don’t know what that is, but I know we don’t need it.”

Marco raised his right hand and clenched his fist. The soldiers on the wall moved in perfect unison at his signal.

“Charge!”

The soldiers activated the golems spaced along the wall and supplied them with power. The mana rods densely engraved on the wall glowed with intense blue light, channeling energy.

Blue sparks flickered in the stone statues’ eyes, energy compressed to the point of near explosion.

“Fire!”

The golems’ eyes emitted light. A hundred pairs of lasers shot toward the advancing demon army. The extremely compressed mana exceeded even the intensity of sword auras.

The beams from the statues’ eyes scorched through the demon king’s army, devastating their formation. Both low-level and high-ranking demons burned and vanished without discrimination. It was like a massacre carried out by a hundred Sword Masters swinging their auras.

The hunter who had been boasting about his machine gun’s power stood with his mouth agape. The expressions of the other hunters and Kwak Taewoo were no different. Only Shin Jaehyuk, who had experienced the power of mana cannons before, maintained his composure.

In contrast, the imperial soldiers’ faces remained calm. They had witnessed this scene countless times over the past decade. Even the livestock outside the walls were so accustomed to this situation that none fled in panic; they simply continued grazing peacefully.

Marco cackled, mocking the hunters’ comical expressions.

“Hehehe, now do you understand why I said we don’t need you, outsider?”

The demon army couldn’t advance against the mana cannons’ firepower. The beams erased them faster than they could move forward. Occasionally, swift and agile demons would approach the wall, but even they were easily dispatched by the soldiers’ arrows and magic.

A situation where only one side suffers casualties—we don’t call this war or battle. This was more like pest control, spraying insecticide into a bug nest.

The demon army had no choice but to retreat after their one-sided losses. As the enemy withdrew, the soldiers turned off the golems. No one cheered or celebrated this great victory. It was an extremely ordinary day for them. Even the joy of victory naturally fades after being repeated dozens or hundreds of times.

And Marco was not pleased with these strange beings disrupting his routine.

“See? We don’t need your help. In fact, it would be fortunate if you didn’t get in our way…”

“…”

“You’ve done your job for today. Not causing problems—that’s your job. I’ll be watching to make sure you keep doing it well.”

After delivering his warning with a cold gaze, Marco departed. Kwak Taewoo frowned.

“He’s quite territorial. We know both the Duke and the Prime Minister—should we report him to his superiors?”

“Hahaha! That probably wouldn’t help. Captain Marco is famous for being stubborn.”

A handsome blonde man approached them with a smile. Despite his noble appearance, he wore a shabby military uniform.

“I’m Eric, Captain Marco’s adjutant. I apologize for the captain’s rudeness.”

“Why is that man so hostile?”

“Please don’t hate him too much. You saw that shapeshifting demon earlier, right? He once lost all his subordinates to those creatures… he’s been paranoid ever since. But his dedication to the Empire is genuine. He’s also very capable. Once he gets over his suspicion, you can become friends quickly. He’s actually quite soft-hearted.”

So that’s why he’s so sharp with strangers. Shin Jaehyuk nodded slightly, understanding Marco’s hostile attitude.

Eric calmly explained to the hunters:

“As you can see, our defense system is quite well-established, so you won’t have much to do. Just relax and deal with any demons that occasionally approach the wall. Or you could protect residents outside the wall. Many people out there are anxious, not knowing where demons might be hiding.”

“I see. Is there anything else we can help with?”

“Well… if you wish, you could go outside the city individually to hunt demons. There’s an adventurer’s guild that pays bounties for demon corpses, but since it’s funded by the national treasury, don’t expect large rewards. It’s more like volunteer work or a hobby.”

“Adventurers? Like the profession in RPG games?”

As several hunters showed interest in adventurers, Eric explained in detail.

Adventurers are people who hunt demons to sell their corpses or search abandoned cities and palace ruins for artifacts. There were plenty during the era of heroes, but their numbers have dwindled, and now few people make adventuring their livelihood.

In the past, abundant tax revenue allowed generous payments for demon extermination, and the Magic Tower would buy demon corpses for research, making adventuring a viable profession. But that was no longer the case.

The meager taxes collected from the poor were entirely consumed by administrative and defense costs, and the Magic Tower had long since fallen, so demand was lacking. Eventually, it didn’t take long for adventurers to change their profession to soldiers or farmers.

Shin Jaehyuk sighed.

“So the struggling Magic Tower finally… What happened to the Order of Light?”

“You seem quite interested in our history. The Order of Light moved its headquarters to Eldorado, the Empire’s former capital, after the Papal Massacre four hundred years ago. But when Eldorado fell during the Lion King’s Rebellion, the Order was greatly reduced. Now they’re based here in Akemene, barely surviving on government subsidies.”

“This can’t be…”

Shin Jaehyuk was dismayed. Had Eden’s only religion declined this much?

“How did it come to this…”

“Well… actually, the Order of Light’s decline was partly due to the fact that no Saint has appeared since Saint Aisha, who was active during the era of heroes a hundred years ago. Saints are said to be chosen directly by God, so the absence of a Saint could be interpreted as the Light no longer caring about the Order.”

He explained that now the Papal See is treated as a government agency, receiving education fees for supplying holy knights and priests to the army, or support funds for periodically turning the water in the moat surrounding the city into holy water.

“As the number of prosperous commoners decreased, donations naturally declined, and financial sustainability became impossible. Now clergy members earn money as mercenaries, even serving as bodyguards for nobles. His Imperial Majesty also keeps holy knights as his guards.”

“What about on the battlefield?”

“You saw it earlier, didn’t you? Holy knights aren’t a popular profession these days. The mana cannons solve almost everything. Close combat rarely happens. Occasionally, flying demons appear, but those are handled by mages and the ancient magic barriers surrounding the entire capital.”

Shin Jaehyuk’s expression darkened as he heard about the Empire’s decline and struggle. He recalled the battle from a few minutes ago—the advance of the Demon King’s army that was described as routine. The sheer numbers warranted the term “all-out attack.”

If that was considered routine, it meant the Demon King was truly pouring all of hell’s demons into this place. Despite the massive casualties in each engagement, the Demon King was determined to erase humans from this earth.

‘Indeed… we must defeat the Demon King. This war will never end unless we eliminate the Demon King.’

Only by killing the Four Heavenly Kings and the Demon King would this meaningless cycle of attrition end.

***

Three months had passed since Shin Jaehyuk took charge of the East Gate guard.

During this time, Shin Jaehyuk and Kwak Taewoo went in and out of the city gate daily, hunting demons outside the walls. Thanks to their active hunting, the amount of land available for farming had increased.

Normally, they hunted demons to level up, and during large-scale attacks, they escorted farmers into the city while killing demons that approached the walls. This had become their daily routine.

Today too, they were returning to the city after defeating an A-rank demon.

“You can’t hide underground when I can see everything.”

Shin Jaehyuk pierced a mound of dirt with his spear, seeing through a demon’s concealment with his Insight ability. The demon that had been pretending to be dead became pure experience points. Level up.

Feeling his physical abilities and mana increase, Shin Jaehyuk smiled with satisfaction. Kwak Taewoo was also in a good mood, having just reached level 600 today.

“Should we skip training today and have some drinks…”

“That’s unusual coming from you, but I’m all for it! Since you finally hit 600, I’ll treat you to celebrate!”