Ch.261261. Competitive Spirit (2)

That’s how Jin A-yeon came under Kim Su-ho’s command, carrying out numerous battles while embarking on her own personal struggle to discover the source of Kim Su-ho’s strength.

Kim Su-ho himself seemed positive about Jin A-yeon joining, fighting alongside her in upcoming battles. After that day, they became comrades who fought together in dozens of battles.

Time and again, they ravaged cities controlled by the Cult of Immortality.

“Looks like the Cult of Immortality is starting to make their move.”

[Indeed. Now that the Seoul-Kim Su-ho alliance has been formed, it’s the Cult’s turn to devise strategies to break our alliance. Haven’t powerful undead already appeared on the frontlines?]

They had encountered and directly fought against new undead developed by the Cult of Immortality.

While treating the wounded in Seongnam and organizing reports coming through the Hwarang, Yu-na reported to Bahamut that the Cult of Immortality was beginning to counterattack the alliance. Bahamut, seemingly tense about the appearance of new undead, warned Yu-na.

“You mean those Death Knights?”

[It seems they wanted to use the same tactics Kim Su-ho employed. They were a terrifying undead cavalry that devastated the frontlines at Gunpo and Hwaseong using overwhelming mobility.]

The Death Knights created by the Cult of Immortality had indeed played a significant role in this war.

They deployed Death Knights not only to the frontline at Gunpo but also to Hwaseong, which was some distance away. Countless Awakened and ordinary people stationed there fell victim to their cruel blades. Even Awakened individuals with considerable levels couldn’t directly face the Death Knights, who demonstrated tremendous power and skill.

If undead golems were the Cult’s strategic weapons, Death Knights were their tactical weapons, and they continued to devastate alliance Awakened with their high cost-effectiveness.

“Yes. When Kim Su-ho decided to settle things on the battlefield, the Cult responded in kind… but watching him charge at the front and sweep them away was truly a magnificent sight, wasn’t it?”

[Hmm. Magnificent indeed.]

However, countermeasures weren’t entirely absent. Several times, the alliance forces had challenged them to open field battles and completely wiped out the Death Knights the Cult was so proud of.

While individual Death Knights were certainly powerful and difficult even for high-level Awakened to handle, a superhuman with Awakened support could defeat entire units. The alliance forces evaluated Death Knights as being at or below the level of average Hwarang members in dragon armor.

Of course, considering how Hwarang were treated in Seorabeol, this meant they were elite Awakened, requiring appropriate countermeasures.

“Whew. I almost died today from being so busy destroying Death Knights!”

Soon they were able to implement countermeasures, and with those in place, defeating Death Knights became instantaneous.

Just as Hwarang weren’t invincible, Death Knights were also vulnerable to group attacks without support from other undead. The alliance installed surveillance cameras at strategic points where Death Knights could utilize their mobility, tracking their movements and dispatching multiple Awakened capable of dealing with them to methodically eliminate them.

Today again, Jin A-yeon had apparently returned after defeating Death Knights on the frontline, sighing about how busy she was as she arrived at Yu-na’s location.

“Just got back from the frontline? Any injuries?”

“Ah, I got treated by the healers over there, so no problem at all. Since you’re handling the wounded in the rear, Su-ho’s healers only need to focus on treating soldiers on the field.”

“That’s good to hear. It’s the most dangerous place, after all. Real-time treatment is important.”

Yu-na asked Jin A-yeon if she had any injuries, but Jin A-yeon replied that she was fine thanks to her ally Kim Su-ho’s help.

Indeed, thanks to Yu-na’s presence here, all of Kim Su-ho’s healing mages had been deployed to the frontlines, treating casualties in real-time and sending those who couldn’t move to Yu-na in the rear. They were conducting efficient battles by making good use of each other’s specialties.

“So, Jin A-yeon. When will Jeong Dong-geon be able to arrive?”

“Well, it’s going to take some time for him to get here.”

“Take time?”

However, Yu-na seemed concerned about just handling treatment in the rear while leaving the frontline to Kim Su-ho. She seriously questioned Jin A-yeon about the main force’s whereabouts.

Jin A-yeon scratched her head with a somewhat troubled expression before explaining the reason.

“It seems the Cult doesn’t want Seorabeol’s main force to reach Seoul, so the roads our main force needs to travel keep getting attacked by undead. Cheongju is under attack, and Daejeon has become even more chaotic with what looks like civil war.”

“That’s troublesome.”

“Even those who declared neutrality are starting to have second thoughts. They must think we’re wavering.”

The frontline wasn’t just concentrated in Seoul; all routes from Seorabeol to Seoul had become battlefields.

Even Cheongju, which was responsible for Seoul’s supplies, was being openly attacked, and Daejeon, with its many warlords, had become even more divided, accelerating the chaos.

And the hyenas who had declared neutrality and stayed out of this war were now eyeing involvement as they saw the Seoul alliance beginning to waver.

The Korean peninsula’s situation was incredibly messy, but surprisingly, it wasn’t bad from the alliance’s perspective.

[Well, now that it’s known Kim Su-ho is stronger than expected… or rather, if even Death Knights, which were supposed to be their trump card, are useless, their only option is to target supply routes and reinforcement paths.]

“But it’s not bad. We’ve confirmed that the neutral faction isn’t truly neutral.”

[True. Judging by how anxious the neutral faction is, they seem wary of the Seoul alliance achieving victory on its own.]

Conversely, the fact that they were making such minor moves indicated that the opponent was also getting desperate.

From the neutral faction’s perspective, the best scenario would be to stay out while the Seoul alliance and the Cult of Immortality clashed and mutually destroyed each other.

However, the Cult was showing signs of being pushed back, and even the Death Knights, which they considered tactical weapons, were being directly defeated.

From the neutral faction’s perspective, there was a real possibility that the war might end with the Seoul alliance’s outright victory. And they didn’t believe that a victorious Seoul alliance would look kindly upon the neutral faction that had neither sent troops nor food, and had instead fueled the chaos.

Naturally, there would be a bloody purge against these fence-sitters, so the neutral faction needed to destabilize the Seoul alliance before that happened, inducing mutual destruction with the Cult.

“But their sabotage must be painful from Seoul’s perspective.”

[True enough. Cheongju was responsible for Seoul’s food supply, so attacking the food source is only natural. And Daejeon was a place with many warlords dissatisfied with this alliance. It will be difficult for our Seorabeol army to reach Seoul.]

However, because of this, it was difficult for Seorabeol’s army to reach Seoul.

The existence of hostile organizations like the neutral faction was evidence that Seoul’s rear could be attacked, so they needed a means to check the neutral faction that might cooperate with the Cult of Immortality.

“Because we need to keep the neutral faction in check?”

[Yes. If the neutral faction changes its mind and supports the Cult of Immortality, we’ll have to fight surrounded on all sides. As far as I know, Jeong Dong-geon is the only one who can secure an escape route and keep the neutral faction in check.]

“True, General Jeong Dong-geon specializes in defense rather than offense.”

And they had decided on Jeong Dong-geon as the general to handle this check.

While Jeong Dong-geon might not excel at offense, he was skilled at defense. He had actually fought directly against the Cult of Immortality on the Ulsan front without losing ground, firmly protecting North Ulsan.

On the other hand, he wasn’t as adept as Kim Su-ho in offensive battles, but they were confident he could demonstrate his abilities in battles like this where they needed to firmly protect supply routes.

“But one thing that worries me is the rumor that the one the Cult of Immortality calls ‘The Master’ might directly participate in the battlefield.”

[This is a crucial battle that will determine the fate of the Korean peninsula. If the one the Cult calls ‘The Master’ steps forward, I too will not back down and am prepared to fight them directly.]

But the most important factor was whether “The Master” mentioned by the Cult of Immortality would participate.

There had been talk that the Cult’s deity would enter this war, and in response, Bahamut had declared that he would not be intimidated and would step forward himself.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, Kim Su-ho. Looking at the current situation, I think the decisive battle isn’t far off.”

And Kim Su-ho, who had just returned, saw Yu-na and A-yeon discussing with serious expressions and asked what was happening. Yu-na shared the content of their discussion, saying that the decisive battle wasn’t far off.

Kim Su-ho thought for a moment before contradicting Yu-na’s statement with a subtle expression.

“About that… I think the Cult of Immortality won’t want a decisive battle just yet.”

[What’s the reason?]

Kim Su-ho stated that the decisive battle wouldn’t come right away, and that the Cult of Immortality was actually in a position where they didn’t want a decisive battle now.

Seorabeol had predicted that the time for the decisive battle wasn’t far off, but when Kim Su-ho expressed the opposite opinion, Bahamut asked him for his reasoning.

“Whoa?! A ghost?!”

[To put it simply for you, I am the Dragon God Bahamut.]

When Kim Su-ho was startled and shouted “ghost,” Bahamut introduced himself as the Dragon God Bahamut in an apologetic tone.

When the famous Dragon God Bahamut spoke to him, Kim Su-ho looked around with an intrigued expression.

“…So you’re the Dragon God who descended upon Namhansanseong? Can you share vision in real-time with the priestess you’ve contracted with?”

[You can think of it that way. So, what’s your reason for saying the decisive battle is still far off?]

He shared his deduction, and Bahamut acknowledged it wasn’t wrong before asking why Kim Su-ho thought the time for the decisive battle was still far off.

Kim Su-ho confidently explained:

“From the Cult of Immortality’s perspective, I think they’ll only engage in a decisive battle after absorbing the undead forces coming down from North Korea. After several defeats, absorbing the undead coming from the North before engaging in a decisive battle would be their best way to increase their chances of victory.”

[I see. From our perspective, we’d like to have the decisive battle right now, but for the Cult of Immortality, who doesn’t see a clear victory, it’s rational to maximize their chances before fighting.]

The implication was that the Cult of Immortality wasn’t confident in defeating the Seoul alliance right now.

Naturally, to maximize their chances, they needed variables, and that variable was none other than the undead coming down from North Korea.

In fact, the number of undead coming from North Korea to South Korea had been increasing for a long time, and if the Cult absorbed these undead, they might be able to defeat the Seoul alliance.

Bahamut also agreed with this opinion, concurring that the Cult would avoid a decisive battle.

“Yes. The problem is that the undead coming down from North Korea are a variable we can’t control. The undead coming from there include North Korean residents, but most are Chinese undead that have crossed the Yalu River and the border.”

“Eh? Chinese undead? Are they crossing the sea?”

“No, not that.”

What made this even more variable was that no faction could control these undead.

Kim Su-ho mentioned undead coming not just from North Korea but also from China, and Jin A-yeon, who hadn’t expected China to be mentioned in the context of the Korean peninsula, looked at Kim Su-ho with a surprised expression.

“It seems the warlords stationed near the Yalu River can’t handle the undead pouring in from China to North Korea. The central and local authorities, who had been fighting each other, are now cooperating to divert all those undead southward.”

“It couldn’t have been easy to lure them, right?”

[That’s right. The distance is considerable; how did they lure them?]

Kim Su-ho explained that to deal with the undead coming from China, the local and central authorities cooperated to send them down to South Korea. Yu-na and Bahamut found this strange, saying that luring wasn’t an easy task.

Considering the distance from the Yalu River to the border, luring them that far would have been incredibly difficult.

“According to rumors, they used criminals or prisoners of war as bait.”

“Wow.”

Kim Su-ho simply stated that they used living people to lure the undead.

Jin A-yeon could only express amazement in a trembling voice.

“Hmm. Should I say it’s surprisingly common in the apocalypse? Or should I be shocked that a nation would throw human rights to the dogs?”

[I’m not sure.]

Yu-na and Bahamut were somewhat surprised by this, but considering apocalyptic standards, it was surprisingly common and hard to comment on.

Using living people to lure undead was a common and efficient practice, with many cases reported not only in the Korean peninsula but also overseas.

Of course, from a human rights perspective, it was a failing grade for a nation to directly commit such acts, but since North Korea had been structured that way even before the apocalypse, it might not have been particularly problematic for them.

“Anyway, the decisive battle is still far off. So, if we hunt the undead established in Seoul before that battle comes, the upcoming fight will be a bit easier.”

[I’ll follow your advice.]

Thus, the time for the decisive battle was postponed, and Kim Su-ho asserted that hunting the undead remaining in Seoul before they could absorb the North Korean undead would make the upcoming battle easier.

Bahamut also decided to follow Kim Su-ho’s opinion on this matter.