Ch.221221. The Beginning of War (1)

The first defense battle had been successful, but the Ulsan Command Post on the frontlines of Seorabeol, where Jeong Dong-geon was stationed, was bustling with activity.

Despite the deep darkness of approaching dawn, Jeong Dong-geon and his staff couldn’t get proper sleep as they monitored the deployment and situation on military codes and battle lines.

Red dots were rapidly multiplying on the map they were observing, and unfortunately, those dots represented the Cult of Immortality forces, not Seorabeol’s.

Though they had succeeded in eliminating the enemy’s secret weapon with the deployment of the Hwarang, they fundamentally couldn’t overcome the numerical disadvantage. Jeong Dong-geon glared at the map with deep wrinkles etched on his face.

“…We can’t catch up to them.”

His rough voice echoed through the room. The Seorabeol staff looked at him with tense expressions.

“What do you mean, General?”

“The Cult of Immortality is deploying and moving their troops faster than we anticipated.”

Jeong Dong-geon looked around at his staff and recounted the battle situation, pointing at the map as he spoke.

“We also expected the Cult of Immortality to attack when summer approached after spring, following the implicit ceasefire. We trained the Hwarang accordingly and prepared for all-out war with the Cult. But looking at this, events are unfolding very differently from our predictions.”

When Jeong Dong-geon charged magical energy into the map, a semi-transparent record of recent engagements appeared before the staff’s eyes.

It was a real-time strategic simulation developed by Bahamut and militarized by the Seorabeol Mage Association. Through this simulation tool, the staff could recreate recent battle records on the map in real-time.

The battle records were meticulously recreated with red dots symbolizing the Cult of Immortality, blue dots for Seorabeol, and purple dots for their ally, the Yamato Alliance. The special Hwarang units were marked with knight symbols, and even the undead giant revealed by the Cult of Immortality had been assigned a knight mark, while headquarters were represented by flag symbols—a testament to the simulation’s completeness.

“A week ago. The implicit ceasefire ended with a surprise attack from the Cult of Immortality, and the war began. The Cult deployed an undead giant that instantly broke through our defense line, but with proper preparation and the deployment of the Hwarang, we destroyed one enemy undead giant and achieved victory in the defensive battle. However…”

The first battle was undoubtedly a complete victory for Seorabeol. Although the undead giant’s deployment had collapsed Seorabeol’s defensive line, the enemy’s trump card—the undead giant—fell to the Hwarang. They successfully defended their position and even managed to kill a Necromancer from the Cult of Immortality.

But after the first battle, the Cult of Immortality’s strategy changed 180 degrees.

“Five days ago. The Cult of Immortality attacked Daegu. With the Hwarang on standby there, along with Gyeon Gwan-im and Jin A-yeon, we successfully defended without much damage, but it showed us that the Cult has ways to bypass Ulsan.”

After that, their attacks shifted from large armies to deploying small-scale forces attacking multiple fronts.

The massive army they had shown at the Ulsan front was gone, replaced by small detachments striking here and there.

“And last night, a ghost fleet was deployed near Pohang Port. Lady Seol-hwa, the Dragon Priestess, repelled them. But the problem is that it was near Pohang Port.”

All battles so far had ended in Seorabeol’s victory.

But the staff’s outlook wasn’t positive.

Since Daegu was the frontline, the Cult’s attack there was surprising but understandable. However, if they had successfully attacked near Pohang, it meant the Cult had means to directly target Seorabeol’s lifeline.

Which meant…

“Could there be spies dispatched by the Cult of Immortality within Seorabeol?”

“Yes. Recently, exchanges with the Yamato Alliance have increased, but as you know, the Yamato Alliance just recaptured Kyushu, and that period of chaos hasn’t properly ended. There’s a good possibility that Cult spies could infiltrate through the Yamato Alliance during this confusion.”

The Cult of Immortality had deliberately prepared for war, and one of those preparations was infiltrating spies into Seorabeol.

In reality, the Yamato Alliance had just liberated Kyushu, but the liberation period was too short, and proper household registration investigations hadn’t been conducted within the Yamato Alliance.

From the beginning, they didn’t have the capacity for household investigations when reconstruction was urgent, and using this chaos to obtain Yamato Alliance citizenship and enter Seorabeol was a relatively easy route.

“Then aren’t we in crisis?”

“Yes, we’re in crisis. Looking at the battle situations so far, the Cult of Immortality isn’t simply engaging in local battles in various locations. They also seem to be testing how far we can respond to their attacks.”

At Jeong Dong-geon’s words, the staff fell silent, and the room sank into heaviness.

“Then… does this mean the Cult of Immortality’s attacks aren’t over? That they still have plenty of resources left?”

When Son Sang-hui cautiously raised her hand and asked, Jeong Dong-geon nodded heavily and spoke.

“Yes.”

His voice carried conviction.

“The Cult of Immortality isn’t using their large army for an all-out war but is splitting it into dozens of fragments to gradually collapse our front lines. Even with some losses, they’re creating small conflicts in each region to find weaknesses in our defense network while simultaneously trying to cause confusion within Seorabeol.”

Jeong Dong-geon pointed to several strongholds on the map.

Daegu, Gyeongsan City, and numerous possible bypass routes.

After losing the first battle where the undead giant was deployed, the Cult of Immortality disbanded their large forces and sent troops to multiple fronts, causing conflicts in various regions to shake Seorabeol.

However, it was difficult for the main force stationed at Ulsan Fortress to attack the Cult of Immortality’s main base.

“The problem is that it’s also difficult for us to attack. According to the observation team’s report, undead giants are stationed at the South Ulsan defense point. The moment we approach carelessly, we’ll suffer great losses from the undead giants’ throwing attacks.”

The undead giant, which had demonstrated overwhelming siege capabilities in the first battle, had the advantage of being an equally overwhelming defensive weapon.

While its mobility was problematic and its size made it vulnerable to concentrated fire, considering that the undead giant’s main purpose was to withstand the powerful firepower of Bahamut Bullets and destroy Seorabeol’s defense line, it could now showcase its terrifying throwing power against observed enemy troops without the weakness of mobility, serving as a fixed artillery position.

With its tremendous defensive capabilities and firepower beyond what ordinary Awakened in Seorabeol could handle, choosing to attack required considerable determination.

“We actually tried deploying some Hwarang to remove the undead giants, but all attempts failed.”

“They’re also turtling.”

Yes, if Seorabeol maximized the defender’s advantage, the opponent, being equally Korean, dispersed their numerous troops, induced guerrilla warfare, and set up a strategy to turtle with their main force.

Above all, the Cult of Immortality wasn’t simply a group of religious fanatics or magic-obsessed cultists.

“Intelligence from the NTS has already come in that some looters cooperating with the Cult of Immortality are moving near several strongpoints. They seem intent on continuing to shake our internal stability.”

They had even drawn looters uninvolved in this war into the conflict.

It was unclear how they had negotiated with these supposedly neutral groups to use them as military assets, but since this information came from none other than the NTS, it could be considered reliable.

All staff members began to tense up the moment the NTS was mentioned, and as soon as Jeong Dong-geon finished speaking, an officer rushed into the command post.

“General! Urgent report!”

“What is it?”

“The Seorabeol military base in Gyeongsan City has fallen!”

Instantly, the command post was in an uproar.

Gyeongsan City was one of the important hub cities connecting Daegu and Seorabeol.

If Gyeongsan City were completely seized, Daegu would be isolated, cut off from Seorabeol. This wasn’t just a crisis for Seorabeol but a major crisis for Daegu, which depended on its connection to Seorabeol.

“What? Are you saying that the important connection point linking Seorabeol and Daegu has fallen?”

“Y-yes, sir. Without any warning signs, a suddenly appearing undead giant’s attack…”

The military couldn’t have been unaware of its importance.

Naturally, since there were means to attack Gyeongsan City from Ulsan, they had established a military base in Gyeongsan City and stationed defense forces there.

But the Cult of Immortality had boldly succeeded in deploying an undead giant to Gyeongsan City, and the defense forces stationed there were insufficient to withstand its intensely powerful siege attack.

“What’s the damage situation? What about the deployed forces?”

“They successfully retreated with the Gyeongsan citizens. But we have no idea how they could deploy forces through our surveillance network! It’s not like they dropped from the sky!”

The one fortunate aspect was that information about the undead giant had been shared throughout the Seorabeol military, and the moment they spotted the undead giant being deployed, they chose to retreat rather than recklessly engage in a defensive battle.

After all, this was the undead giant that had shattered the heavily fortified defense line at Ulsan, the frontline.

The deployed forces were relatively few, and knowing the power of the undead giant, the Gyeongsan defense base commander chose to evacuate the citizens of Gyeongsan rather than fight.

It was choosing the lesser of two evils, but…

“Given the enormous size of the undead giant, it couldn’t possibly avoid detection by our observation team once it moved.”

“It seems the enemy has means to evade our observation.”

The problem was that the military now had another challenge.

While Gyeongsan was one of Seorabeol’s major strongholds, it was also close to Seorabeol’s home base, so Yu-na, the Dragon Priestess, could handle it, and the Hwarang stationed in Gyeongju or Jin A-yeon could immediately respond due to the proximity.

The issue here was how they had deployed the undead giant while evading the military’s observation team.

According to the report, the undead giant had appeared suddenly, and its deployment method wasn’t through normal movement.

Jeong Dong-geon quietly sighed at the new deployment technique demonstrated by the Cult of Immortality.

“…They prepared more than I expected. Deploy the Hwarang. If the enemy has captured our military base, it means they haven’t yet seized Gyeongsan City. Request support from Jin A-yeon as well.”

However, Seorabeol had the means to break through the preparations shown by the Cult of Immortality.

Jeong Dong-geon deployed the Hwarang protecting the homeland while requesting Jin A-yeon’s intervention. With her approval, Jin A-yeon personally led the Hwarang and clashed with the Cult of Immortality attempting to seize Gyeongsan.

Fortunately, though omitted from the report, the retreated Seorabeol military forces had established a new defense line, and the Hwarang led by Jin A-yeon could receive their support.

“Let me ask one thing. How is it possible that such a huge creature wasn’t detected? Isn’t the observation team failing at their job?”

After seeing the size of the undead giant through tactical binoculars at the Gyeongsan temporary base, Jin A-yeon asked incredulously if it was possible for such a massive creature to move stealthily.

Indeed, the giant, which appeared to be at least five stories tall, made tremendous booming sounds with each step as it moved.

Beyond the noise, something of that size should have been visible from a distance, yet the observation team had failed to detect this entity approaching Gyeongsan City. It was natural for Jin A-yeon to question the observation team.

“It appeared suddenly, they say.”

“Is that so? Then, did they use teleportation magic or… wait, saying it like that, I can actually understand.”

But it truly was a being that appeared suddenly.

In defense of the observation team’s honor, when the commander in charge of Gyeongsan City testified that it had appeared suddenly, Jin A-yeon jokingly asked if they had used teleportation magic… and immediately understood on her own.

Come to think of it, teleportation might be impossible by normal standards, but in the apocalypse, couldn’t a mage capable of teleportation magic appear?

Considering all the strange things emerging during the apocalypse, even the most impossible things could become true if there was even one logical explanation for their possibility.

“Nothing we can do about it. Let’s resolve this quickly and recapture the area. They’re destroying our farmland!”

So they needed to resolve this quickly and focus on understanding the situation.

Jin A-yeon twirled her spear, preparing for battle, and the Hwarang also prepared to deploy…

“It’s finally time to move. The enemy numbers are more than expected, which is concerning.”

“I get the big one, right?”

“I know, Captain.”

After deciding who would take what, Jin A-yeon raised her hand and shouted.

“Hwarang, commence battle!”

At that moment, the Hwarang donned their dragon armor and rushed into the battlefield.

One Hwarang slashed through the air with his sword, and a blue flash of sword energy instantly turned undead to dust.

Another Hwarang deployed an elaborate magic circle, causing a massive fireball to soar into the sky before crashing down in the middle of the enemy formation.

And in the rear, a Hwarang with an anti-materiel sniper rifle didn’t stay still but moved while precisely supporting the advancing Hwarang targeting the undead.

“You’re mine!”

“Grooooaaar…!”

Jin A-yeon moved as fast as light, reaching the undead giant before it could react. She leaped and instantly drove her spear into the giant’s filthy face.

Even with a spear thrust into its forehead, the undead giant didn’t fall, but a sizzling sound of burning skin began to emanate from the spear tip.

The undead giant, seemingly in pain, tried to pull out the spear stuck in its forehead, but…

“Stay still!”

When Jin A-yeon struck the arm reaching for the forehead with her fist, the giant’s arm was deflected by her tremendous strength.

After displaying this incredible power, Jin A-yeon landed back on the ground. As the giant tried to remove the painful toothpick-like spear…

“Move.”

Jin A-yeon used telekinetic magic from her position to remotely control the spear.

The spear began to stir inside the undead giant’s head, and due to the magical effect engraved on the spear, the suffering undead giant soon collapsed with a boom, its massive body falling.

Jin A-yeon used telekinesis to retrieve her spear, which had been stirring inside the giant’s body. Looking at the spear, free of any undead remains, she sneered at the fallen undead giant.

“In the end, you’re just undead. My spear is special, with Turn Undead magic engraved on it. You’re weak against it.”

“The captain has taken down the undead giant! The enemy’s leader is gone!”

“Undead creatures! Regret following a leader who couldn’t live up to its size!”

For this battle, Jin A-yeon had requested a spear engraved with Turn Undead magic from the Dragon Priestess, and its effect was tremendous, allowing her to eliminate the undead giant instantly.

Witnessing the undead giant’s fall, the Hwarang proceeded to clean up the remaining forces, and soon the flag of Gyeongsan, once taken, was raised again as Seorabeol’s flag.