Ch.222222. The Beginning of War (2)

The full-scale war had arrived, and naturally, Seorabeol’s political circles couldn’t ignore this conflict.

The numerous battles and their outcomes reported by the military reminded Hwang Geun-chul, head of the Dragon God Association, and Park Cheol-gon, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, that the current situation was serious and that a real war had broken out.

“Sigh. I thought we could focus a bit on the competition. But thanks to the Cult of Immortality, we’ve been forcibly dragged out.”

“The preliminary battles have already begun, and our defensive battle ended in victory, but for the peace of Seorabeol, the Cult of Immortality must be defeated as an enemy.”

“The brief peace is now over. I wish the war had broken out after the competition ended.”

Park Cheol-gon and Hwang Geun-chul held a kind of summit meeting, and they successfully recognized that this war was unavoidable. It confirmed that the ruling and opposition parties could cooperate beyond partisan lines. After ending their official summit, they headed to…

“Yes. I’m not sure how long this war will last, but I’d like the current cabinet to focus on the war rather than prioritizing political activities.”

“Lady Yuna, are you proposing a National Unity Cabinet to us?”

It was Choi Yu-na, the Dragon Priestess.

When the two politicians visited Yu-na, who was praying to the Dragon God at the Bahamut Temple, she immediately proposed a National Unity Cabinet to them. It was a request for the ruling and opposition parties to put aside their political fights temporarily and focus solely on the war.

“Yes. Let’s officially form a National Unity Cabinet and focus on the war. I’ve considered how the previous Ulsan War stagnated without a National Unity Cabinet.”

This was also a reflection on the last war, when they had proceeded with an implicit National Unity Cabinet and ended up only securing North Ulsan.

During the previous Ulsan War, Seorabeol maintained an implicit rather than official National Unity Cabinet, making it impossible to focus solely on the war. As a result, despite the military achieving a decisive victory, they were only able to force a ceasefire.

To prevent such a situation in this war, Yu-na had officially proposed a National Unity Cabinet to the representatives of both parties in her capacity as the Dragon Priestess.

“I think that’s necessary. The Cult of Immortality isn’t a weak force. If they’ve secretly established influence in Kyushu, they surely have Busan in their hands too. With Busan, one of Korea’s economic cities, the current Cult of Immortality forces could be judged as equal to or greater than our Seorabeol.”

Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul, who was greatly pleased with Yu-na’s proposal, responded positively, saying it was necessary.

Hwang Geun-chul also recognized that one of the causes of the previous war’s outcome was the implicit National Unity Cabinet, which prevented Seorabeol from concentrating all its capabilities on the war.

In fact, there were political issues that made it impossible to focus solely on the war, such as restructuring Seorabeol’s political landscape and general elections. Nevertheless, it was the current cabinet’s fault for not resolving these issues in time, resulting in an awkward ceasefire in the Ulsan War.

“But convincing the members will be a problem.”

So Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul was determined to correct that mistake in this war, which Yu-na had proposed first, and to declare an official National Unity Cabinet. However, Park Cheol-gon expressed concern about convincing the cabinet members.

“Is that so?”

Hwang Geun-chul’s expression quickly darkened at Park Cheol-gon’s concern, and he began to agree with Park’s statement.

“Yes. While we can decide on forming a National Unity Cabinet as party policy, there will inevitably be those who oppose it.”

“Well, it’s already grateful that they’re following along quietly… Wait, isn’t that ungrateful thinking?”

It was impossible for all members of a party to have the same opinion.

Cabinet members supported different opinions or policies according to their own convictions, and power struggles over trivial reasons were the essence of parliamentary politics.

In reality, while massive parties like the Dragon God Association or the Constitutional Democratic Party might appear to move with mountain-like solidarity and unity on the surface, internally, debates between members over opinions or policy lines were common, and at worst, members holding grudges wouldn’t hesitate to openly attack opposing faction members through the media.

“Politicians seeking power are all like that. No one is satisfied with their position, and there’s easily a truckload of people eyeing our positions.”

When Hwang Geun-chul lamented, wondering if not following orders was ungrateful, Park Cheol-gon comforted him by saying that all politicians are like that, and it’s perfectly natural for cabinet politicians to covet Hwang Geun-chul’s or Park Cheol-gon’s positions.

Indeed, while they had risen to the highest positions at a young age with Bahamut’s trust, these top positions had always been coveted by numerous politicians.

So, if they could find even a slight flaw in the careers of these two politicians, Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon, could anyone guarantee that there wouldn’t be politicians in the Seorabeol cabinet who imagined themselves taking those positions?

Of course not! There were far too many Seorabeol politicians secretly eyeing these two politicians’ positions—enough to fill a truck.

“So… according to what you’re saying, there are members who won’t follow the National Unity Cabinet?”

“Yes, shamefully so. Moreover, there are those who question why we should go to war at all.”

Sensing something was wrong from their lamentations, Yu-na asked if there were really people who wouldn’t follow this proposal. Hwang Geun-chul blushed and answered that there could be.

From the beginning, Yu-na’s face darkened further when he mentioned that some cabinet members might question this war.

“More precisely, they’re taking it lightly. In fact, many are overconfident, thinking, ‘If Lord Bahamut appears, won’t all wars result in victory for our Seorabeol?'”

“To be fair, that argument isn’t entirely wrong.”

Seeing her expression, Park Cheol-gon added that it was more about questioning whether Seorabeol needed to take the lead in the war if the Dragon God Bahamut would descend.

In fact, the cabinet members’ opinion wasn’t particularly wrong.

If they were willing to sacrifice urban infrastructure, there was no need to resort to war; they could simply summon the Dragon God Bahamut to sweep away the entire city.

Wasn’t it true that the reason they could recapture cities like Gyeongju or Pohang was not because the Balhut Cult was impressive, but because the Dragon God Bahamut demonstrated his power?

“But haven’t we confirmed that there are beings with power equal to Lord Bahamut?”

“There was a crisis theory for a while, and such theories have been circulating within the party until recently.”

But isn’t now different from then?

With the appearance of a being known as Phoenix in Europe, said to be equal to the Dragon God Bahamut, relying solely on one Dragon God was nothing short of arrogance.

However…

“Unfortunately, with the Phoenix Revolution happening in Europe, they’ve gained confidence that Phoenix won’t be able to interfere with our Seorabeol.”

“Hmm.”

Unfortunately, Phoenix, known to be able to check Bahamut, couldn’t move.

The Phoenix Revolution in France was hot enough to burn all of Europe, and even now, the Phoenix Revolutionary Army and the European Union forces were clashing.

In this situation, if one asked whether Phoenix had the mental capacity to care about far-off East Asia when it needed to focus on Europe… naturally, there was no room to care.

This is why opinions were emerging in the Seorabeol cabinet that they were convinced there was currently no being that could stop the Dragon God.

“Has news of this battle been reported to the cabinet?”

So the method Yu-na chose was…

“No. Only a few know about it.”

“First, let’s inform the cabinet of this news and decide after gauging cabinet opinion. Please ask Jeong Dong-geon, the military leader, to attend the cabinet meeting as well.”

“Yes.”

She decided to first check the opinion of the Seorabeol cabinet.

For this purpose, Yu-na recalled Jeong Dong-geon, who had directly engaged with the Cult of Immortality, from Ulsan to Gyeongju, and Jeong Dong-geon responded to Yu-na’s recall order and attended the Seorabeol cabinet meeting.

“…Therefore, the military proposes declaring a state of war to the Seorabeol cabinet.”

When Jeong Dong-geon, attending the cabinet meeting, reported the news of the Gyeongsan City base’s fall and recapture, the Seorabeol National Assembly meeting room was momentarily enveloped in silence.

But that silence didn’t last long.

While most members did consider Jeong Dong-geon’s report for a moment…

“Hmm, General, aren’t you overreacting? Isn’t this just another small-scale engagement with the Cult of Immortality, as always?”

A member of the Dragon God Association smiled lightly and reproached Jeong Dong-geon for overreacting. He casually sipped his tea while fiddling with the gold-decorated badge that certified him as a Seorabeol member.

“Yes, that’s right.”

A member of the Constitutional Democratic Party also cheerfully agreed with those words.

“Haven’t we been too aggressive in treating the Cult of Immortality as an enemy from the beginning? Perhaps this is just a localized conflict.”

“A simple conflict, you say?”

Jeong Dong-geon questioned with a stern expression.

The danger of the Cult of Immortality had been proven from the Ulsan front to Kyushu.

They were a group that contaminated land, turned corpses from graves into undead, and even insulted those corpses to create monsters like undead giants.

Were they thinking that such a group could be defined as a negotiable counterpart, and that they could declare negotiations with a laugh?

“The friction that started in North Ulsan has already spread to Gyeongsan City. Do you consider the collapse of the Gyeongsan military base a simple conflict as well?”

Not just North Ulsan, but Gyeongsan City, which maintained the connection to Daegu, had also been attacked.

To dismiss this as a simple provocation or conflict would be like saying Seorabeol, if compared to a human body, had its carotid artery attacked.

It was a tremendous crisis where Daegu could potentially be cut off and become independent if things went wrong, but the cabinet wasn’t taking it seriously.

“General, you always worry about war.”

“Half a year ago, our military wanted a ceasefire with the Cult of Immortality, but the Cult saw us as enemies. The implicit ceasefire in Ulsan was possible due to our military’s decisive victory, but it was also a miracle made possible by the harsh winter weather that bound both Seorabeol and the Cult of Immortality. But winter has passed, and the war that was temporarily halted has simply resumed.”

More precisely, the cabinet didn’t want war.

Therefore, they were openly opposing war, with the Constitutional Democratic Party accepting the claims of the Dragon God Association, which could be considered their political rival.

Jeong Dong-geon opposed such a cabinet and tried to persuade them by sharing his experiences, emphasizing that while they had negotiated due to the circumstances, the Cult of Immortality was not a negotiation partner.

“But it seems there’s still room for negotiation with the Cult of Immortality. Since we’ve negotiated once before.”

“That’s… possible. But is there any reason for us to take the initiative in negotiations?”

However, the cabinet’s response was consistent.

The cabinet did not want a large-scale war.

“While it can certainly be called a crisis for Seorabeol, the entire nation isn’t shaking.”

“If the General responds too aggressively, it could result in unnecessary public anxiety and the collapse of ongoing projects.”

They couldn’t respond aggressively.

It was a crisis for Seorabeol, but they emphasized that the nation itself wasn’t shaking.

Rather, they stressed that the projects currently underway were more important.

“And…”

And as if to supplement such a member’s words, an unnamed economic official raised his hand and carefully added:

“If a full-scale war begins, there will be a significant economic impact. Do you think preparing for war right now is the best course of action?”

“At the very least, I believe Ulsan should be in our hands.”

When the economic official said that, Jeong Dong-geon softened a bit, but he still didn’t bend on the military’s conviction that at least all of Ulsan should be under control.

At those words, a Dragon God Association member declared with a confident face, as if to conclude:

“But even if we don’t take the offensive, if Dragon God Bahamut steps in, can’t he resolve the situation adequately?”

“…”

At those words, Jeong Dong-geon finally fell silent.

That’s because he had no words to refute that statement.

In reality, if Bahamut stepped in, Ulsan could be quickly recaptured, and devastating damage could be inflicted on the Cult of Immortality.

But because of that…

‘Is it possible for Seorabeol’s capabilities to handle a city destroyed by the Dragon God’s descent?’

Even the limited use of Bahamut’s power, which both Bahamut himself and the Dragon Priestess operated so cautiously, was dangerous enough to destroy parts of the city, and Bahamut himself was greatly concerned about descending without any preparation.

Yet the cabinet was making arbitrary judgments about a situation that both the Dragon God and the Priestess were worried about, leaving Jeong Dong-geon feeling deeply troubled.

‘The Prime Minister and the Chairman… they’re avoiding my gaze as if they’re sorry.’

And at the sight of such members, Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul and Chairman Park Cheol-gon turned their heads away, avoiding Jeong Dong-geon’s gaze as if embarrassed.

After all, they had received a proposal for a National Unity Cabinet from Yu-na to ensure this war proceeded smoothly, but the cabinet was actually avoiding war, so they couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

‘I understand the cabinet’s intentions. I can fully comprehend…’

‘Yes, I can easily imagine. Yes. But now?’

The problem was that both Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon, two heavyweight politicians, had grasped the current intentions of the cabinet and fully understood the emotions they harbored.

That’s why it was even more problematic.

They weren’t collectively insane, nor were they rebelling against Seorabeol; they were making extremely normal political judgments.