Ch.142141. Recovery Operation (3)

# The Surprise Attack Was Successful

The Cult of Immortality failed to properly defend against the coalition forces’ landing operation and couldn’t stop the platoon led by Jin A-yeon and Han Seong-geun from landing at Ulsan Port Terminal 1.

The landing was successful, and as luck would have it, Ulsan Port Terminal 1 wasn’t far from Myeongchon Bridge and Ulsan Bridge—the most crucial transportation hubs in the Ulsan conflict.

In other words, the suicide squad that successfully landed could attack the rear of Ulsan Bridge and Myeongchon Bridge in the blink of an eye.

“Have the remaining fleet attack Ulsan Bridge.”

“Understood. All ships, prepare for artillery fire. Time to deal with those undead bastards.”

To make matters worse for the Cult of Immortality, the undead army stationed at Ulsan Bridge couldn’t dispatch troops to Ulsan Port Terminal 1 after noticing the suicide squad’s landing.

The Pohang Fleet, which had transported the coalition forces, didn’t immediately return to port. Instead, they turned around and advanced toward Ulsan Bridge, engaging the undead army stationed there.

They opened fire with ship-mounted artillery, demonstrating to the undead at Ulsan Bridge that the Pohang Fleet posed a serious threat, while simultaneously…

“Turn Undead! Turn Undead!”

Seol-hwa, the Dragon Priestess who had come out on deck, used Turn Undead on the undead at the bridge and docks, showing everyone present why Dragon Priestesses were the most threatening existence to the undead.

The moment she pointed her finger, even the named undead couldn’t last a second before being purified into white ash. With a single wave of her hand, over a hundred enemies fell.

The Pohang Fleet, accustomed to this sight, continued their mission without surprise.

“Haha. You’ve grown stronger again.”

“So that’s the rumored Dragon Priestess…!”

“She’s even more impressive than the rumors suggest…?”

Son Sang-hui, who was leading the coalition forces facing the enemy at Ulsan Bridge, couldn’t help but admire Baek Seol-hwa, who had grown even stronger than before.

Among the coalition soldiers, the veterans who had fought alongside Yu-na for a long time weren’t particularly surprised by Seol-hwa’s strength. However, the new recruits selected through the Awakened Project and soldiers who had joined in Ulsan couldn’t help but fix their gazes on Seol-hwa with awe.

She was strong. The Balhut Cult had promoted her as their trump card within the cult, but there was an enormous difference between knowing something from information and seeing it with your own eyes.

And then…

“The fleet is responding. All troops, charge!”

For the coalition forces, who had expected a difficult battle, this spectacular performance was enough to boost morale significantly.

Indeed, thanks to the Dragon Priestess’s great achievements, the coalition forces’ morale soared rapidly. They began charging toward Ulsan Bridge without hesitation following Son Sang-hui’s order to attack.

“Our forces are charging! Provide covering fire to prevent enemy reinforcements!”

“Roger!”

As Son Sang-hui deployed the troops she had stationed near Ulsan Bridge as promised, Kim Tae-sik immediately redirected the artillery fire that had been targeting the bridge area to focus on the undead forces approaching Ulsan Bridge.

The cannons immediately spewed flames, and the fleet began concentrating firepower on the undead forces coming toward Ulsan Bridge. The only means the undead army had to respond to the fleet’s attack were their limited ranged attacks.

“Haha. Their effective range is very short!”

But their attacks were completely ineffective against the Pohang Fleet due to range issues.

The fleet was attacking with maximum firepower from the maximum distance, and the undead army essentially had no means to attack the fleet due to range limitations. All they could do was passively take the artillery shells.

At best, if Skeleton Mages used magic attacks, they might somehow threaten the fleet, but…

“Sacred Domain.”

“Kieeeeeeeeek!”

Unfortunately for them, the Dragon Priestess Baek Seol-hwa was on the fleet.

Before her contract with Bahamut, she had been a mage who specialized in area-of-effect magic, making her most effective in large-scale battles.

That hadn’t changed much after the contract, and while Yu-na was essentially a Dragon Priestess specialized in resurrection and powerful healing for one-on-one combat…

“Healing Magic Circle. Echo of Salvation. Divine Blessing!”

Seol-hwa was a battlefield supporter who could grant powerful buffs to large numbers of soldiers.

Sacred Domain deployed a holy attribute field over Ulsan Bridge, weakening the undead while automatically granting physical enhancement buffs to allies. The Healing Magic Circle installed magic circles that automatically healed soldiers when they were wounded.

Echo of Salvation was a spell that granted a buff allowing one to escape a life-threatening situation once, and the final Divine Blessing was an enchant magic that literally imbued weapons with holy attributes.

With her proper support, she could turn ordinary soldiers into holy warriors who could definitely kill undead, and this ability had played a decisive role in Seol-hwa’s consecutive victories against the ghost fleet in the East Sea.

“Turn Undead. The installed barricades go boom~!”

On top of that, she was sniping named undead with Turn Undead and blasting away interfering barricades and defensive forces with area magic. How could the undead forces defending Ulsan Bridge possibly hold out?

If they had received reinforcements from the main force, they might have held out a bit longer. But without reinforcements, the undead army was nothing.

In an instant, Ulsan Bridge was recaptured by the Pohang Fleet and coalition forces. Once Ulsan Bridge was recaptured, the Pohang Fleet turned around again…

“Then shall we go up the river to support the rest?”

“Understood. All forces, we’re going up the Taehwa River.”

They were going to attack Myeongchon Bridge, which could be considered the fiercest battleground.

The coalition’s elite forces, under Jin A-yeon and Han Seong-geun’s command, were already engaged in fierce combat at Myeongchon Bridge.

Moreover, as soon as trouble arose in South Ulsan, the Cult of Immortality’s expeditionary force in North Ulsan dispatched troops to attack the coalition forces attacking Myeongchon Bridge, turning the area into a chaotic battlefield.

However, in this chaos, the undead were confused, while the coalition forces moved with a single objective.

“Our target is Myeongchon Bridge! Just capture the bridge! We don’t need to go deep into South Ulsan! We’ll hold off enemy reinforcements here until Captain Jeong Dong-geon eliminates all enemies in the North Ulsan area!”

“Got it!”

If they could recapture Myeongchon Bridge, control of North Ulsan would return to the Balhut Cult.

They had already successfully recaptured Ulsan Bridge, and the remaining bridges would become of little value to the coalition forces once Myeongchon Bridge was captured.

After all, if they could immediately strike at the Cult of Immortality’s main force through these two bridges, why bother capturing the remaining bridges that would require a detour?

“Seol-hwa. We’ve received a report from the fleet patrolling the East Sea. The ghost fleet has appeared.”

“Things are about to get busy.”

So when Ulsan Bridge fell and Myeongchon Bridge was in danger of falling, a report came in that the ghost fleet had suddenly appeared.

This information confirmed the suspicion that the ghost fleet was somehow connected to the Cult of Immortality. Baek Seol-hwa, who had been about to attack the undead at Myeongchon Bridge, frowned at Kim Tae-sik’s report.

She thought it was too obvious for the ghost fleet to appear in the East Sea at this timing, but…

“Let’s return to the East Sea. We’ll leave a few ships to support the coalition forces, and the rest will intercept the ghost fleet that has appeared in the East Sea.”

She couldn’t afford to abandon the East Sea, which was a zone of interest. She lowered her finger that had been pointing toward Myeongchon Bridge and ordered that only a few ships remain to support Jin A-yeon while the rest retreated.

She wanted to stay and participate in this battle until the end, but the Dragon God Bahamut’s order to Baek Seol-hwa was to protect the East Sea.

How could she just watch a crisis in the East Sea when the august Dragon God had ordered her to protect it?

“What a shame. It was an opportunity to earn merit.”

Kim Tae-sik regretted missing a decisive opportunity to earn merit at this timing, but he strictly followed Seol-hwa’s orders, leaving a few ships to assist in capturing Myeongchon Bridge before retreating.

The navy withdrew, and the small fleet that remained couldn’t provide the same level of support as before.

At best, they could only provide support through artillery fire, but that was enough for the suicide squad.

“The goal is in sight!”

“Attack fiercely! We must capture the bridge today and divide Ulsan!”

The enemy’s pattern had already been disrupted by the night raid, and their defensive line had collapsed.

They might have summoned the ghost fleet to force the navy to retreat, but even if they succeeded in making the navy withdraw by summoning the ghost fleet, it was too late to rebuild their collapsed defensive line.

The elite forces led by Jin A-yeon and Han Seong-geun were blocking reinforcements heading to Myeongchon Bridge, and the forces stationed at Myeongchon Bridge were gradually collapsing as they were forced to fight on two fronts.

‘This is insane! It’s only 7 o’clock now!?’

Above all, the Cult of Immortality’s fatal mistake was that no one thought they would launch a surprise attack at this time.

Common sense would suggest they’d attack around 10 or 11 o’clock when people would be falling asleep, not at 7 o’clock when everyone would obviously be awake.

However, the apocalypse had turned off all the street lights, and even the streetlamps that had provided some light were not working, leaving the entire city in complete darkness.

Moreover, considering that the sun began to set at 4 o’clock and it quickly became night by 5 o’clock, this timing could actually be seen as the most unexpected time to strike.

“Good. We’ve completed the capture of the bridge!”

“Then we’ll deal with the divided forces. Eliminate all the remnants in North Ulsan.”

Not long after, the forces led by Jeong Dong-geon captured Myeongchon Bridge, physically cutting off the connection between North and South Ulsan.

This meant that the Cult of Immortality remaining in North Ulsan could no longer receive support from South Ulsan.

Jeong Dong-geon declared his intention to eliminate the remaining forces in North Ulsan, determined not to miss this opportunity.

“The suicide squad, set up barricades! If we can just block the bridge, victory is ours!”

“We need to buy time for the barricades to be set up! I’m looking for brave warriors to follow me!”

While Jeong Dong-geon focused on eliminating the remaining forces, the suicide squad began fortifying Myeongchon Bridge for defense.

They installed barricades transported from Ulsan Airport one by one, forming a defensive zone to prevent the Cult of Immortality from attacking easily. When Jin A-yeon led a small group to begin rampaging, the undead main force began to falter at their momentum.

As they began to defend again, the experience at Ulsan Airport acted as a trauma, breaking their will to resist.

“Damn it!”

And as the suicide squad stopped the Cult of Immortality’s movements, Jeong Dong-geon was able to capture the Necromancers who remained in North Ulsan.

They were all field commanders who had been directing operations on the North Ulsan front, and it was quickly apparent that they were among the leadership of the Cult of Immortality.

“Oh my. Looking at their levels, they’re quite high. At least mid-level 10s.”

As Awakened, they were talents who could reach superhuman levels with just a little more effort.

The Balhut Cult treated people of this caliber as executives, so capturing them as prisoners was a boon for the coalition forces.

Jeong Dong-geon bound the captured Necromancers and sent them to the headquarters established at Ulsan Airport.

“Hey, be careful. Those guys self-destruct.”

“Come to think of it, there was self-destruction during the refugee transport operation, wasn’t there?”

Seeing the Necromancers transported to headquarters, Jin A-yeon warned Jeong Dong-geon about self-destruction.

Jeong Dong-geon nodded as if he knew what had happened during the refugee transport incident…

“Then we have no choice but to seal their magic power and confine them in solitary cells.”

“Is it possible to seal magic power?”

“Among the items developed by Lord Bahamut, there are handcuffs that seal magic power. We’re currently using them to keep one of our worst criminals rotting in prison.”

At that time, Bahamut had successfully developed Mithril, and among the many byproducts created during its development were items that could seal magic power.

Of course, this wasn’t intentionally given to Jeong Dong-geon in anticipation of the current situation.

“It’s annoying to deal with these, so let’s dump them on someone! Let’s dump them on Jeong Dong-geon!”

At that time, items other than Mithril were essentially meaningless to Bahamut, and while wondering how to dispose of them, he chose to dump them on the military.

Moreover, it was a time when he had agreed to attend the International Organization Reconstruction Conference, making the disposal of development byproducts particularly annoying. So Bahamut introduced the byproducts he had created to Jeong Dong-geon, who had been contemplating how to use these magical items he had received from Bahamut when he discovered an unexpected use.

The magic-sealing handcuffs he just described could make it easier to apprehend Awakened criminals when used to restrain criminals.

“Worst criminal?”

“That’s our business. So we’ll use these and confine them in solitary cells. Just in case, we’ll replace direct conversation with communication devices.”

Thanks to this, Jo Sun-do, who had been sentenced to death in court and imprisoned, was waiting for his execution with his magic sealed, unable to even dream of escaping using an Awakened’s powers.

That’s how effective these items were against Awakened, and Jeong Dong-geon used them to seal the Necromancers’ abilities and confine them in solitary cells.

Moreover, to prepare for the possibility of self-destruction from outside, the coalition forces were thoroughly guarding against the enemy’s abilities, even replacing direct conversation with communication devices.

“Your name?”

“…Noh Tae-jun.”

The captured Necromancer, realizing that his abilities had been sealed and he was confined in a completely isolated solitary cell, cooperated with the coalition forces’ interrogation.

In this apocalypse, human rights didn’t exist, and if the coalition forces wanted to, torturing those who didn’t cooperate would be trivial.

Moreover, these were Necromancers who controlled the undead that had plunged South Korea into the apocalypse, so few would sympathize with their suffering.

From the captured Necromancer’s perspective, if he wanted to keep his body intact, he had to cooperate with the coalition forces’ interrogation.

“Your position in the Cult of Immortality?”

“Mid-level executive.”

He readily revealed his position within the cult, but…

“Does your side have any intention of negotiating with us?”

“Negotiate? The Balhut Cult—you and our cult are destined only to kill each other!”

When Jeong Dong-geon asked about negotiations, he exclaimed in horror that the Balhut Cult and the Cult of Immortality were in a state where only killing each other remained.

It was essentially an expression of hostility while screaming, and seeing this hostility, Han Seong-geun sighed and spoke.

“Only malice remains.”

“Isn’t that because they couldn’t capture Ulsan Airport? He seems to be the one responsible for Ulsan Airport.”

In contrast, Jin A-yeon said that due to continued failures, the other side couldn’t possibly have good feelings toward the coalition forces.

“Is there really no negotiating body on your side? Such an important figure has been captured as a prisoner, and moreover, Myeongchon Bridge, the most important strategic point in this war, is now in our hands.”

However, despite the words of these two and the Necromancer’s screams filled with malice during the interrogation, Jeong Dong-geon remained cold and calm, beginning to declare the coalition forces’ victory.

Declaring a firm victory that no one could deny…

“The situation is no longer unfavorable for us, but for you.”

He warned that they could no longer turn their eyes away from reality.