Ch.225225. Forced Termination (1)

# Yu-na’s will was clear, so Jeong Dong-geon didn’t argue and quietly decided to follow her instructions.

He judged that she must have some plan in mind, and remembering that the Dragon God stood behind Yu-na, he believed there must be profound reasoning behind her decisions.

Upon returning to the Ulsan base, Jeong Dong-geon ordered all troops to focus solely on defense, and instructed the Hwarang elite guards and the observation team to thoroughly scout the interior of South Ulsan.

“Avoid combat as much as possible. Infiltrate South Ulsan and determine if there are any surviving civilians?”

“Is that even possible? In the current situation?”

“This is strange. Why investigate civilians now? Could there even be civilians in South Ulsan?”

Scouting South Ulsan wasn’t unusual, as it was necessary for planning a large-scale counteroffensive.

But what puzzled the Hwarang most was Jeong Dong-geon’s order to infiltrate South Ulsan and investigate whether civilians were living there.

If it had been reconnaissance of mages belonging to the Cult of Immortality, the order would have made sense, but identifying civilians who couldn’t fight?

They could certainly carry out an operation to rescue civilians from the Cult of Immortality, but wasn’t the war against the cult more urgent right now?

“Is there some kind of operation planned?”

“Or is it about the military’s reputation?”

“Well, civilian casualties are a sensitive issue.”

So the Hwarang in the field could only assume that something must have happened in the Seorabeol Cabinet regarding the military’s reputation or civilian casualty concerns.

Some among the Hwarang were from Ulsan, and some wanted to know the whereabouts of family members who had lived in South Ulsan.

It was perfectly understandable to think that Jeong Dong-geon was being considerate of those from Ulsan.

“Wait. This operation… it seems familiar.”

“What do you mean?”

“No, it’s from a while back, so it was hard to recall immediately. But this… could it be that Seorabeol is making a deliberate move?”

However, a very small minority—those who had joined the military from the beginning and been reorganized into the Hwarang—commented that this operation seemed familiar and began to feel hopeful.

Yes, since Jeong Dong-geon had been conducting precise reconnaissance operations, if he was now working to identify civilian residential areas…

“Making a deliberate move? What does that mean?”

“It’s an operation to summon Lord Bahamut, the Dragon God, to Ulsan.”

“Huh?”

The descent of Bahamut, the Dragon God.

This would showcase Seorabeol’s ultimate weapon.

Originally, the military’s role wasn’t to be the primary war force, but to open paths to other cities, safely guide the Dragon Priestess along those paths, and support her in summoning the Dragon God.

The military, which had primarily served as support for the Dragon God’s descent, became reluctant to engage after contact with the Cult of Immortality. Bahamut, concerned about the mysterious entity known as the Dark Lord, was hesitant to enter the frontlines. After that, as everyone knows, the military became the main force in the war, and the Hwarang elite guard was established.

“Indeed. That makes sense!”

“Of course. If we’re halting combat operations and focusing all our resources on reconnaissance, summoning Lord Bahamut is the only option that makes sense!”

Yes, if the Dragon God descended with the military’s support as before, this grueling Ulsan front would finally end.

The military, eager to end the exhausting fight against the Cult of Immortality, had such expectations. The Hwarang, especially the few who had witnessed Bahamut’s descent before, began to have high hopes.

So far, Seorabeol had never lost when Bahamut descended, and for the Hwarang, who served as the Dragon Priestess’s personal guard, it was an excellent opportunity to witness the Dragon God’s majesty with their own eyes.

Of course, this was more like military gossip, as Jeong Dong-geon hadn’t officially announced to the military and Hwarang that Bahamut would descend.

“There’s information that the Dragon God will descend to the Cult of Immortality front?”

“Great. This is the perfect timing to gather more supporters!”

Somehow, this rumor, which should have only spread among the military and Hwarang, had also reached the cabinet.

The cabinet announced to the citizens of Seorabeol that the Dragon God Bahamut would be deployed to the Cult of Immortality front, and simultaneously tried to increase their support by claiming they had persuaded the Dragon God.

Indeed, in current Seorabeol, the reputation of being able to persuade the Dragon God was almost like a guaranteed check for gathering support. When they went out to the streets to campaign, their approval ratings began to rise rapidly in opinion polls.

“…Of course, if our summoning method were the same as before, their approval ratings might continue to rise.”

Yu-na sneered at their actions.

Yes, the fact that rumors of Bahamut’s descent had spread through the military and cabinet meant that Yu-na had at least permitted it.

While Jeong Dong-geon was distracting the military with the situation in South Ulsan and the rumor of Bahamut’s descent, Yu-na used Hwang Geun-chul and Park Cheol-gon to spread information to cabinet members that the Dragon God Bahamut could descend. The cabinet members had taken Yu-na’s bait perfectly.

“Has the Dragon God granted permission?”

“Yes. At first, he was concerned about this plan, but after seeing the state of the Seorabeol cabinet, he finally gave permission after deep contemplation. So that the cabinet might reflect on their actions. Let’s show the Cult of Immortality the Dragon God’s wrath as thoroughly as possible.”

Naturally, the three heroes of Seorabeol—Hwang Geun-chul, Park Cheol-gon, and Jeong Dong-geon—had cooperated in executing this operation, and they had all heard the plan devised by Yu-na and Bahamut.

Perhaps that’s why…

“Wrath… is it?”

Hwang Geun-chul bowed his head to Yu-na, who had spoken of wrath, with a bitter expression.

But Park Cheol-gon, seeing Hwang Geun-chul like this, opened his mouth as if to comfort him.

“We need reflection and introspection now. Until now, the cabinet has acted with pre-apocalyptic thinking. We must deeply reflect on such immature behavior and now, as members living in the apocalypse, engage in politics befitting the apocalypse.”

“That’s right. It’s what we need. Is the bill preparation complete?”

“Yes. The moment Yu-na gives the order, we’re ready to launch a surprise attack.”

Yes, reflection and introspection were necessary.

For that purpose, they had devised this operation, and the two heroes nodded and followed Yu-na.

All preparations for the operation had already been completed, and now they were just waiting for Yu-na’s signal.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes. I believe public opinion has sufficiently matured.”

“Then, let’s proceed.”

Yu-na left Gyeongju and arrived at the Ulsan base, and the morale of the military and Hwarang began to rise as they witnessed her arrival.

Indeed, the rumors spreading within the military camp were true, and the Dragon God’s direct participation in the war against the Cult of Immortality meant certain victory!

Although it was somewhat disappointing that it wouldn’t be the military and Hwarang ending the Cult of Immortality, just having the experience of participating in a battlefield where the Dragon God was summoned would be something to boast about for generations.

The military and Hwarang escorted Yu-na to Jeong Dong-geon’s headquarters with sharp precision, and Jeong Dong-geon bowed respectfully when Yu-na arrived.

“We’ve been waiting for your arrival.”

“What is the status of South Ulsan?”

“According to reports, we’ve searched all areas where civilians might live, but there are no survivors except those affiliated with the Cult of Immortality.”

Upon arriving at headquarters, Yu-na immediately asked about the status of South Ulsan, and Jeong Dong-geon handed her the investigation report as if he had been waiting, stating that there were no civilians.

The report, organized by district, stated that there were no civilians in South Ulsan, but wasn’t there still a possibility of survivors who had managed to live in this battlefield for a year?

“That means…”

“Either they evacuated to Busan, like the North Ulsan citizens who fled to Gyeongju…”

However, in such a battlefield, leaving Ulsan would have been advantageous for survival, and indeed, North Ulsan had evacuated to Gyeongju due to the war with the Cult of Immortality.

If the Cult of Immortality had intended to govern, they could have evacuated all South Ulsan citizens to Busan, but if they had no intention to govern and only wanted to exploit…

“Or they likely became materials for the undead giant.”

Jeong Dong-geon gazed at the undead giant visible through the headquarters window, implying that they could have become materials for that undead giant.

If corpses were stitched together one by one to create such a massive giant, they must have sourced the materials from somewhere, and the possibility that those materials were citizens of Ulsan or Busan couldn’t be ruled out.

Of course, without conclusive evidence, this remained merely a possibility.

“Regardless, currently there are no civilians in South Ulsan, only the Cult of Immortality. Can you be certain of this information?”

“Yes. I swear on the honor of the military and Hwarang.”

At the very least, there were currently no civilians in South Ulsan.

He had both material and circumstantial evidence for this and could confidently tell Yu-na.

“Good. Then, the time for him has come.”

All that remained was for Yu-na to summon the Dragon God Bahamut.

Without further hesitation, Yu-na left the headquarters and began heading toward the bridge leading to South Ulsan, with Jeong Dong-geon and the Hwarang following to escort her.

Looking at the bridge defense line that had collapsed under the undead giant’s attack, Yu-na smiled bitterly and slowly raised her hand.

Then, a clear blue light began to emanate from the tips of her fingers.

“I didn’t want to use it in such a crude way. But since things have become so complicated, both I and Dragon God Bahamut have been prepared for this. So…”

Jeong Dong-geon and the Hwarang could see with their own eyes that the immense magical power Yu-na usually concealed was gradually emerging.

Yes, the magical power had materialized to the point where it could be visually confirmed without needing to sense it, and they could even recognize that Yu-na’s magical power was blue in color.

As Yu-na’s magical power reached its peak, she quietly whispered.

“It’s time to settle your karma, Cult of Immortality.”

At that moment, the space above the bridge cracked.

The cracked space began to shatter like glass, and through the gaps, sharp, massive fingers began to appear one by one, as if being inserted.

Those fingers began to exert force as if to tear the spatial gap wider, and before long, the sky was torn, and something began to appear through the space beyond.

“GROOOOOOOOAAAR!!”

The shattered space created an optical illusion as if glass shards were falling to the ground one by one, and through the split space appeared navy blue scales, massive shoulders, and gleaming wings.

Then sharp jaws and fangs were revealed, and steadfast blue eyes shone like stars in the night sky.

Finally, the Dragon God Bahamut had descended onto the Ulsan battlefield.

“As my summoning skills have greatly improved, I can summon the Dragon God in this limited way. And thus use all my remaining magical power…”

Of course, Bahamut, who appeared through the split space, showed only his upper body; his lower body had not yet appeared on the Ulsan battlefield.

But even with just the upper body visible, it was enough to overwhelm everyone present.

“As a sacrifice for the Dragon God.”

With a body larger than most buildings and two pairs of wings on his back, overwhelming magical power flickered with blue flames, capable of destroying everything.

Bahamut, with only his upper body emerging from the space, faced the sky behind him and looked down at South Ulsan below.

“This is absurd! Do you really intend to summon him here?! Didn’t we implicitly agree not to summon our gods…!”

“That’s why I only summoned half of him. Yes, exactly half. Of course, even that is more than you can handle.”

His gaze alone was enough to freeze even the undead who knew no death.

The undead giant that the Cult of Immortality had created with great effort was useless, and no one could stand against the Dragon God’s presence.

At most, a necromancer belonging to the Cult of Immortality shouted in desperation, but Yu-na kindly refuted his words.

“Now, let’s go, my Dragon God.”

At Yu-na’s words, Bahamut spread his wings forcefully.

With that single movement, the sky was overturned, the wind became a storm, and weak undead began to be swept away in the tempest.

But the real problem came next.

“Ha. Haha? What is that? I don’t know, but it’s terrifying.”

Pure white heat began to condense in Bahamut’s mouth.

Space distorted, and the whole world seemed to contract around that light. Seeing this massive energy, the necromancer couldn’t even think of escaping and just blankly laughed.

No, perhaps realizing that escape was meaningless, he dropped the staff he was holding, completely losing his will to fight.

The necromancer who still had some presence of mind tried to control the undead giant to use as a wall, and somehow managed to gather all the undead giants deployed in South Ulsan, but…

“Let me show you how illusory your beliefs are.”

They had been waiting for everyone to gather from the beginning.

Saying that their resistance was merely an illusion before the Dragon God, Yu-na transferred all her remaining magical power to Bahamut, and Bahamut released the massive energy from his mouth.

Then, a huge blue light began to engulf the entire South Ulsan region at once, as if pouring down.

The stationed undead evaporated on the spot.

The magic circles and traps that the Cult of Immortality had ambitiously prepared vanished without a trace, and the buildings and structures installed by the cult were either shattered or completely obliterated.

The undead giants they had been so confident in couldn’t withstand even a second and were torn apart the moment they were touched. The entire South Ulsan city fell silent under Bahamut’s single strike.

“It’s over.”

It was just a moment.

Just a single breath exhaled.

But that alone was enough to silence the battlefield completely and end the Ulsan war.

“Huh? Wha…?”

“It ended in an instant. The Cult of Immortality. All of South Ulsan.”

“It’s… gone…?”

All the Hwarang could see was the blue-burning land where South Ulsan had been and the silhouette of Bahamut disappearing into the spatial gap.

The Dragon Priestess, having ended everything, quietly lowered her hand.

And she muttered as if bitter:

“This is why I didn’t want to use it.”

The Hwarang now seemed to understand the meaning of the Dragon Priestess’s words.