Ch.170169. Seorabeol (1)

Heo Jin-ho completed only his urgent business and purge operations in Daegu before returning directly to the Balhut Cult’s main hall.

Simply being in Daegu was enough to raise suspicions from the Balhut Cult, as Daegu was actually the foundation of Heo Jin-ho’s power base.

Considering that there were still many people in Daegu who believed in and followed Heo Jin-ho, his return to Daegu could be seen as a “king’s return,” which could strengthen independence movements.

That’s why Heo Jin-ho finished only his urgent business and returned to the main hall—to prove that Daegu was Balhut Cult territory.

‘That would be troublesome.’

If he wanted to break away from the Balhut Cult, he could certainly capture all the cult’s police forces stationed in Daegu and demand independence.

In the pre-apocalyptic era, such actions would have branded him as disloyal or untrustworthy, but now it was the apocalypse.

Betrayal and deception were common, and contracts were frequently broken without hesitation.

In such times, one might think it foolish not to betray others in such favorable circumstances.

‘The Balhut Cult is stronger than I thought. They’re not an opponent to be taken lightly. Above all, their Geass technique is real.’

But betrayal should only be committed against opponents you can handle. Betraying someone you can’t possibly defeat is essentially asking to be killed.

Heo Jin-ho had many opportunities to witness the Balhut Cult’s strength, and they truly had the power to establish a new nation as they claimed.

Betraying such a force would essentially be risking the lives of everyone in Daegu, and it would mean fighting against the Balhut Cult from that point forward.

Heo Jin-ho had no confidence in defeating the Balhut Cult, nor did he have any desire to betray them like those mushroom-headed traitors had done to him, and he had no intention of following that path.

‘Even if I betrayed them, I’d just be a local warlord in Daegu. But if I cooperate with the Balhut Cult, wouldn’t I become a founding contributor to the new nation?’

Indeed, betrayal should only be committed when there’s something to gain. Betraying without reason would make one no better than a beast.

Even the remnants of the old government in Seoul betrayed Kim Su-ho for their own benefit; if Kim Su-ho had been beneficial to them, they wouldn’t have considered betrayal.

Heo Jin-ho realized that even if he betrayed the Balhut Cult now, he would only establish himself as a local warlord with no further benefits for Daegu. Instead, he was convinced that cooperating with the Balhut Cult would benefit both Daegu and himself personally.

Above all, a new nation was about to be established, and this was a golden opportunity to participate in its founding and have his name recorded as a founding contributor.

“Oh? You’ve returned faster than I expected.”

“Yes. Given my position, I wanted to avoid raising suspicions from the cult.”

“I suppose so. It’s a position that would make independence easy.”

A founding contributor with his name recorded in the annals!

The mere thought of such honor was thrilling, and since Heo Jin-ho had considerable ambition for honor, upon returning to Gyeongju, he immediately secured a meeting with Yuna as the mayor of Daegu.

After completing the purge operations and urgent business, Heo Jin-ho returned, and Yuna commented that he had returned faster than expected. Heo Jin-ho replied with a bitter smile that his position required a quick return.

It was an expression that he understood his position well, and Yuna nodded, calmly explaining the Balhut Cult’s requests for Daegu.

“What we’re asking for, as I mentioned before, is a unified nation—that is, a nation established with the Balhut Cult in the superior position. We’d like Daegu to join us. From now on, Daegu will serve as a shield against external threats to the cult.”

“Yes, the Daegu interim government will agree to that. From now on, Daegu will fight for you on the front lines. We’re used to that role anyway.”

“Excellent. I’ll make sure your name is added to the list of founding contributors.”

With this, Daegu would be unable to betray the Balhut Cult, but in return, they would become founding contributors to the soon-to-be-established nation.

Having received Yuna’s promise to add their names to the list of founding contributors, Heo Jin-ho and the interim government officials would achieve significant success in the new nation.

Of course, he would have to give up his position as a warlord, but in exchange, he received substantial compensation, so he had no complaints.

‘With this, Daegu has become the cult’s front line. We can demand more support.’

Most importantly, Daegu had become the Balhut Cult’s front line.

To use Daegu as a shield, the Balhut Cult would have to consciously invest in Daegu, which would benefit the city.

What Daegu needed most for reconstruction was resources, and the Balhut Cult was a force that could freely use the numerous supplies coming in from America.

“Have the other areas been discussed?”

“Pohang has already agreed, and in the case of Ulsan, they only have influence over the northern region, so essentially it will be a nation combining Gyeongju, Pohang, Daegu, and part of Ulsan.”

The newly established nation would combine Gyeongju, Pohang, all of Daegu, and part of northern Ulsan.

It had essentially become the largest power in the Yeongnam region, gaining enough strength to be called a dominant force on the Korean peninsula.

But if considered as a single entity…

“I see. Still, among the current powers on the Korean peninsula, we’re second only to Kim Su-ho.”

“We’ve grown that much.”

They were just below Kim Su-ho, who controlled half of Seoul.

In other words, if Kim Su-ho was number one, the Balhut Cult was number two, but Choi Yu-na didn’t seem to mind that Kim Su-ho was in first place; she was simply pleased with how much they had grown.

After all, who else could be number one if not Kim Su-ho, who had absorbed the legacy of South Korea?

As the saying goes, “Even a bankrupt rich man can last three years,” the inheritance of South Korea’s legacy was tremendous.

The downside was that there wasn’t just one or two heirs to this legacy, and everyone was stabbing and cutting into Kim Su-ho’s belly to inherit that legacy.

“By the way, it’s time I told you something. Now that you’ve become one of us, there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?”

“About the god we serve.”

The next step was to show the dragon god to Heo Jin-ho, who would now be in charge of Daegu.

Yuna told Heo Jin-ho that she would give him the opportunity to meet the dragon god Bahamut, and Heo Jin-ho responded with a somewhat puzzled expression but answered seriously.

“A god. Is this the god of the Balhut Cult I’ve heard rumors about? I believe… the Balhut Cult refers to this being as the Dragon God.”

“You’ve done your research.”

He had indeed heard rumors.

The Balhut Cult worshipped a dragon god, and this dragon god actually existed and had appeared in reality to help the cult.

‘Everyone dismissed it as game CGI, but no one could answer which game the footage came from.’

Of course, given that the apocalypse—a fantasy scenario—had occurred, the logic that divine beings could intervene in the human world was not entirely implausible, so Heo Jin-ho judged that these rumors were not completely false.

Thinking that if there were rumors, there must be plausible evidence, he had dismissed the Bahamut descent videos circulating on the internet as game CGI, but he kept in mind that no one could answer which game the CGI was from.

“A dragon god. If it weren’t for the apocalypse, I would have answered that a dragon god is a fictional being.”

“And now?”

“Now… since it’s the apocalypse where anything can happen, I suppose I should say, ‘Yes, that’s possible.'”

So now was the time to trust and follow Yuna, and to understand this being called the dragon god.

“Then I’ll guide you.”

And Yuna guided Heo Jin-ho to the temple where Bahamut was located.

“…Greetings. I’ve heard much about you from Yuna.”

“Ha. Hahahahaha.”

Upon seeing that enormous being, Heo Jin-ho could only laugh in despair.

“This makes my past ambition to surpass Gyeongju meaningless. It was nothing but a delusion!”

Bahamut’s presence alone made Heo Jin-ho submit from head to toe, and any remaining pride as a warlord vanished completely.

He could only lament his past self who had expressed ambitions to surpass the Balhut Cult, calling himself a fool and his actions nothing but delusions.

“Yes, I’ll cooperate. I’m not an idiot who would choose not to cooperate after seeing this.”

With such a being protecting them, swearing loyalty was the only way to survive.

Heo Jin-ho bowed his head to Yuna and swore loyalty with the determination never to betray them, and Yuna nodded as if pleased with his oath, then looked at Bahamut.

Now that Heo Jin-ho had submitted, there was only one thing left…

“Now, Lord Bahamut, please name the nation that will be established.”

It was none other than the name of the nation about to be established.

As this was the most important ritual in the founding process, Heo Jin-ho raised his bowed head and immediately spoke.

“Such an important matter… Ah, I see. No problem.”

He had started to question whether such an important matter should be handled so casually, but upon looking at the dragon god Bahamut again, he immediately understood.

What could be better than a name given by the dragon god?

It had sufficient symbolism and could serve as evidence that this nation was under the dragon god’s protection, so this important ritual had to be performed by the dragon god alone.

‘F-Finally, it’s here!’

However, upon hearing Yuna’s statement, Bahamut broke into a cold sweat and tensed up as if facing a final boss.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time this topic had been brought up; it had been mentioned in passing right after the establishment of the Balhut Cult.

At that time, they had brushed it off as not immediately important, but now that time had passed and it was mentioned again, if he hadn’t been just playing around during that time… he might have come up with an answer.

“Drawing from the peninsula’s past history, how about Seorabeol?”

“Seorabeol.”

“Not bad. It might even be good?”

It seemed he had made some preparation after all, having half-conquered the Yeongnam region. He decided on Seorabeol, a name from the peninsula’s ancient history.

Certainly, Seorabeol was a name that suited Korea.

Seorabeol itself was the capital of ancient Silla, but it was also such an important term that there was a saying that “Seorabeol is Silla.”

For the Balhut Cult, which would stand tall as a unified nation, it showed a firm determination to integrate future joining cities under the name of Seorabeol…

‘Well, this area was originally Silla territory, so I named it Seorabeol to evoke memories of Silla.’

There were no such noble thoughts at all; it seemed he simply named it Seorabeol because the Balhut Cult’s base was in Gyeongju.

Yes, one shouldn’t expect serious meaning or interpretation from this fool.

“The dragon god declares the name shall be Seorabeol.”

“The name of ancient Silla. Very well.”

However, once the nation’s name was decided as Seorabeol, perhaps thanks to the title of being a name bestowed by the dragon god, the cabinet accepted it without much resistance, and thus a unified nation integrating Gyeongju, Pohang, Daegu, and northern Ulsan was born under the name of Seorabeol.