Ch.11Chapter 11 – The Military

As the paladin and the two police officers continued their deliberation, they reached the original room. The battle had already ended, leaving the room filled with corpses. No human bodies were visible. There were some injured, but it seemed most had successfully defeated the monsters.

Around Kim Jae-min, who was gazing out the window, there were particularly numerous imp corpses. Simply calling them “numerous” would be inadequate to describe the carnage. Yes, as the idiom goes, the demon corpses formed a massive mountain. The filthy blood flowing from the mountain of stacked imp bodies pooled in the lower areas, resembling an algae-covered lake.

‘He’s a real monster… And I can’t even sense any mana from him.’

Shin Jae-hyuk stared at Kim Jae-min with disgusted eyes. He could hear Jae-min’s steady breathing. Kim Jae-min’s face was calm, as if this level of exertion didn’t even make him short of breath. Since no mana could be sensed from him, it meant that an ordinary person who hadn’t even awakened had caused this level of slaughter. If, as Kim Jung-soo said, there was an achievement section in the status window, Kim Jae-min would likely earn an achievement like <Demon Slayer> when he awakened.

Amidst the voices of people laughing and chattering with relief that the threat to their lives had passed, words like status window and skills could be heard. As expected, there seemed to be people who had awakened special powers here as well.

Shin Jae-hyuk went to stand beside Kim Jae-min and patted his shoulder in appreciation. Kim Jae-min didn’t respond but raised his hand to point at the main entrance. An imp with one ear bright red with blood was passing through the main entrance, escaping from the police station.

“Do you see that? The imps are fleeing.”

Kim Jung-soo heard this and cheered.

“That’s a relief! Those wretched monsters, I really can’t stand the sight of them…”

“No, this isn’t something to celebrate. If we leave them be, the fleeing remnants will surely return with reinforcements for another invasion. We need to divert the demons’ attention elsewhere.”

Kim Jae-min shook his head in disagreement. Shin Jae-hyuk wondered why this terminal paranoid was voluntarily taking on difficult tasks. It didn’t take long for him to deduce the answer.

It was obvious. His motivation was his mother’s safety. As long as his mother was in the police station, he couldn’t allow the station to remain in danger. For Shin Jae-hyuk, Kim Jae-min’s plan wasn’t bad either. As a paladin, he had to protect innocent citizens…

“Alright. Let’s leave some forces to defend the police station and form a small team centered around awakened individuals to follow them. If we take police cars, we can quickly catch up with the monsters that fled first. Even if we can’t catch up, we can draw their aggro with the siren sound.”

Kim Jae-min objected.

“No, police cars are too bulky and would be easily surrounded. And once you’re overwhelmed, you won’t survive. Let’s ride motorcycles instead.”

“You know how to ride a motorcycle? I don’t.”

“I don’t either.”

Shin Jae-hyuk turned to him in disbelief.

“I’ve ridden horses before, so I should be able to learn motorcycles quickly.”

Kim Jung-soo, who had been listening to their conversation, quickly interjected.

“Understood. I need to calm the citizens and lead the remaining personnel, so I’ll stay at the police station. I’ll select awakened officers to join you.”

Shin Jae-hyuk and Kim Jung-soo agreed with Kim Jae-min’s opinion. They gathered people to organize the plan and went downstairs to the first floor to select volunteers. Kim Jae-min rushed to check on his mother.

The first floor was chaotic. Looking to see what was happening, they found a police officer curled up on the floor with his arms covering his head, surrounded by people kicking him. On the outskirts of the crowd, Mrs. Jung-sook Jeong was trying to stop the people. A shocked Kim Jung-soo jumped up and intervened to stop the crime taking place inside the police station.

“Wait! What are you doing! Everyone stop this immediately!”

“That bastard deserves to die!”

“Yeah, he deserves death!”

The enraged crowd shouted. Kim Jung-soo looked at the beaten officer. Seeing his bruised face covered in blood, he understood the crowd’s anger. It was him—the man who had fled in a police car, leading the horde of imps to the police station. Kim Jung-soo’s junior colleague whom he had been friendly with. With his bruised and swollen face, tears streaming down, he mumbled:

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I just wanted to live… I had no choice… I’m truly sorry…”

“Yeah, now you see why we’re beating this bastard? If you understand, get out of the way!”

An elderly man with white hair brandished his cane at the officer writhing on the floor, as if threatening to beat Kim Jung-soo too if he stood in the way.

“Oh my, sir. Please calm down, calm down… There were no casualties, were there? I saw this fellow fighting hard against the monsters earlier, so let’s forgive him this time…”

The police officers tried to calm the angry crowd. The fact that there were no casualties thanks to the remarkable efforts of Kim Jae-min, Shin Jae-hyuk, and other officers, the fact that they had already beaten the bastard before the police intervened, and the fact that the bastard was crying and showing remorse on the floor helped subdue their anger. Kim Jung-soo consoled his junior.

“It’s okay, Sung-ho. It’s not your fault… Tell me what happened when you responded to the call.”

Sniffling, the officer, Park Sung-ho, began to tell his story.

“When we first received the dispatch call, I thought it was a wild boar sighting and went out, but when we arrived near the reported location, suddenly these green monsters swarmed like a wave, engulfing the car and my seniors. Everyone else was swept away, and I somehow managed to get into the car… I needed to escape, but I didn’t know where to go, so with my mind blank, I somehow fled here. I’m sorry… I really didn’t think those monsters would follow me all the way.”

The young man confessed his sins, crying profusely. It seemed he would be severely traumatized. His fellow officers embraced him, comforting him with words like “it’s okay, it’s okay.” Kim Jung-soo stood before the citizens to clarify the situation.

“Everyone, we’ve repelled the first wave, but we don’t know when the escaped monsters might return with reinforcements. Fortunately, it seems the monsters are easily lured by siren sounds, so our friends Shin Jae-hyuk and Kim Jae-min plan to select a few people to drive vehicles and lure the monsters elsewhere, as far away from the police station as possible. This will be a very dangerous plan, so we’re asking for volunteers. Only those who have awakened special powers during this battle should volunteer. The rest of you, please remain at the station and follow my instructions.”

The room became noisy. Kim Jung-soo’s words were persuasive, and due to concerns about another demon attack, people generally supported the plan. Several brave citizens who identified themselves as awakened raised their hands to volunteer.

“Um… I don’t think that’s necessary anymore?”

Just as the team was being finalized, someone pointed at the TV with a dumbfounded voice. It was a news channel. At an emergency press conference, the new Prime Minister Park Ju-gwan was addressing the nation.

“Citizens, rest assured! The military is responding swiftly. Your homes, families, and property will be safe. Please refrain from going outside and follow the instructions of the military…”

Detailed information followed about which units were being deployed to which areas. Shin Jae-hyuk checked which unit was coming to Gwanak District. The 52nd Infantry Division, codenamed Arrow Unit, stationed in Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province.

Someone checking the internet quickly changed the channel with the remote. People reflexively cursed at the sudden channel change but fell silent when they saw the new screen. A familiar road appeared. It was the street in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District.

Advancing tanks and military trucks. They’ve already reached Bongcheon-dong? It was a faster advance than Shin Jae-hyuk had expected. Was it the influence of Park Ju-gwan, a former military general? Or was it Mr. B’s action after confirming the message he left? Either way, it was fortunate for Shin Jae-hyuk. A broadcast helicopter was flying between buildings, capturing the scene. A female reporter, her long hair fluttering in the strong wind, was reporting the situation.

“…This is above Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District. Military units are advancing toward the unidentified black sphere. Small monsters continue to pour out of the sphere, attacking people. Ah! The Arrow Unit has just encountered a group of monsters.”

The reporter swallowed nervously, unable to hide her tension. The sound of her swallowing, amplified by the microphone, reached even those watching the news in the police station. A wave of monsters, having spotted moving targets, charged to engulf the army. Simultaneously, the military on screen began firing. Machine guns and turrets spewed fire.

“The army, the army is defeating the monsters! The monsters are literally being torn apart by the military’s firepower! Whether due to low intelligence or confidence in their numbers, the monsters keep charging, but our proud Republic of Korea military is crushing them head-on.”

Since the enemy had no means of ranged attack, the army didn’t even need to dig trenches—a basic tactic of modern warfare—as they slaughtered the enemy. It was an overwhelming scene, like fighting Stone Age primitives.

Thus, it took less than 10 minutes for the first group of imps to be reduced to puddles of blood. The army advanced slowly toward the black sphere, maintaining a defensive posture, crushing any imp groups they encountered. People watched the scene, cheering for humanity’s victory.

Shin Jae-hyuk watched the scene with a shudder. Contradictory feelings of emptiness and joy surged through him. Those terrible, revolting demons, so easily defeated. If only they had such weapons in his previous life, or at least if information had been transmitted faster…

The army eventually reached the front of the first sphere. Beneath the sphere lay crushed imp corpses, trampled to death by their own kind, and the hole continued to steadily spew out demonic forces. However, the number of demons being released at once had significantly decreased compared to the beginning. As if the hell’s army was running short of soldiers.

Shin Jae-hyuk recalled Eden’s hell gate, which had poured out forces day and night for a week like an inexhaustible spring, and found it strange.

‘This is odd… The demon numbers are depleting this quickly? Could it be that humanity in Eden has defeated most of the demons? The demons abandoned Eden and sought another land, Earth, for invasion… No, that’s too optimistic an observation.’

By now, the army had shot and killed all the minions in the vicinity and surrounded the hell gate. Following their commander’s orders, the soldiers in position fired simultaneously at the cursed hole. Explosions sent asphalt fragments flying. Tank shells entered the hell gate, and seconds later, flames and hot winds burst out from the sphere.

Like excessively spraying insecticide under a wardrobe to exterminate cockroaches, a barrage of fire poured into the gate. Powerful explosions escaped the hole first, followed by infernal firestorms. Like firefighters shooting water streams to suppress a fire, soldiers fired K2 rifles as if to quell the firestorms. A rain of bullets, denser than a downpour, entered the hole, killing unseen enemies.

Tedious time passed. The black sphere accepted the one-sided violence humbly like a black hole, without showing any minor resistance. After about 10 minutes of firepower, the black sphere finally showed a reaction.

Contrary to Shin Jae-hyuk’s expectation that it would release more and stronger enemies, the black sphere gradually diminished. As the target area kept shrinking, the army ceased fire to prevent friendly fire.

10m, 7m, 3m… The hell gate kept shrinking. The surrounding air rushed in like a pack of wolves, swirling to occupy the space the sphere had originally filled. Eventually, it shrank to the size of a fist, then to a grain of millet, before disappearing cleanly as if erased. A violent whirlwind swept the area as an aftereffect of the sudden disappearance, then soon transformed into a gentle breeze and dissipated.

“Huh?”

Shin Jae-hyuk’s dumbfounded voice echoed.