Ch.313313. Asia (1)

While Seorabeol was flourishing under new leadership, completely controlling South Korea and rebuilding civilization from ruins, the Japanese archipelago across the sea was walking the opposite path.

Though Yamato Union had fulfilled its alliance obligations by participating in the Seoul Coalition forces, fighting alongside the Cult of Immortality, and gaining recognition in the international community as a rising power to succeed Japan, their destined mission of unifying the Japanese archipelago was progressing much more slowly than expected.

The fact that Yamato Union was struggling despite Seorabeol’s participation became known to Seorabeol’s government, and Prime Minister Park Cheol-gon quickly summoned Defense Minister Jeong Dong-geon to inquire about the situation.

“What do you mean Yamato Union is struggling? Didn’t Seolhwa and her Hwarang participate in the alliance?”

Indeed, it was a war in which Baek Seol-hwa, the Dragon Priestess, and the Hwarang, Seorabeol’s elite forces and personal guard of the Dragon Priestess, had participated.

In Park Cheol-gon’s common sense, it was a battle that could never be lost, and even Defense Minister Jeong Dong-geon who had received the report wore an expression of disbelief.

However, this news came directly from the Hwarang deployed on the ground, and it was an undeniable fact that Yamato Union was being pushed back.

The reason was crystal clear.

“Currently, Yamato Union has successfully advanced to Kyoto, but they’re engaged in battle with the Anti-Yamato Coalition in Nagoya. It’s essentially become a war between Western and Eastern Japan.”

“Are you saying they’ve been divided like North and South?”

“Yes. As a result, Yamato forces’ advance has significantly slowed, and even their supply lines are under threat.”

Indeed, while no single warlord could defeat the Yamato-Seorabeol alliance alone, when all the warlords across Japan except Kyushu united with one heart and mind, the situation inevitably changed.

Under the name of the Anti-Yamato Alliance, they had taken the very justification that Yamato Union had publicly declared—rebuilding the post-war order through Japanese unification—and turned it into fodder for establishing their own counter-alliance.

Warlords and power brokers who didn’t want to lose their positions gathered together, forcing a mandatory unity to face the mighty Yamato-Seorabeol alliance. The Anti-Yamato Alliance included not just warlords and power brokers, but also anarchist looters, shady villains who had dealings with the Cult of Immortality, and even forces connected to past pseudo-religious groups—all united under the pretext of standing against Yamato.

The reason such opposing forces could unite was simply that the Yamato-Seorabeol alliance was too powerful, and these people had too many reasons to die. Though Yamato Union hadn’t officially decided how to deal with them, they must have felt cornered and chosen to fight to the death with a “let’s die together” mentality, ultimately forcing Yamato’s advance to halt.

“This is troublesome. Yet we can’t massacre them with overwhelming force either.”

Takashima Shiro, the leader of Yamato Union, wore a troubled expression, as if he hadn’t anticipated this situation.

While Shiro acknowledged that many of his opponents deserved death, he had planned to punish the ringleaders and appease the public sentiment rather than deliberately causing a massacre.

He had even been considering amnesty when these warlords and looters, feeling cornered, formed an alliance to resist. With Seorabeol’s Hwarang and the Dragon Priestess supporting them, they had more than enough power to subdue the Anti-Yamato Alliance if they were willing to accept casualties.

The problem was… what came after.

“That’s right. And it seems that those completely unrelated to this war… or more precisely, those who don’t want your victory, have also joined the fight.”

“Pirates.”

“It seems Hayabusa-gumi has finally convinced all the South China Sea pirates. There are even Chu and Wu’s pirate fleets interested in this war.”

Unlike the Seoul Reclamation War, this conflict wasn’t simply a civil war among Japanese factions.

After Seorabeol’s victory and the gradual establishment of a Seorabeol-led East Asian order, the South China Sea pirates and fragmented China, feeling threatened, began to involve themselves in Japan’s civil war, rejecting Seorabeol’s ally, Yamato Union, and providing substantial support to the Anti-Yamato Alliance.

If Yamato Union won and the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance was strengthened, these groups knew they would be the next targets, so they joined the war to prevent that worst-case scenario.

Of course, some participated for personal gain, and even mafias established throughout Southeast Asia began to jump into the conflict, making the Japanese archipelago an extremely chaotic situation.

In this era reminiscent of the great age of piracy, trade routes could only be maintained because the Yamato-Seorabeol alliance protected the shipping lanes. Without the allied fleet, merchant ships traversing trade routes would have been captured by pirates many times over.

“The damage is already substantial. Merchant ships responsible for supply lines have been captured by the pirate alliance, and they’ve even seized Bahamut Bullets.”

“Are they accepting fleet battles?”

“No. Far from accepting, they’re avoiding fleet battles as much as possible and focusing only on capturing merchant ships. It seems they’re satisfied with just halting our advance. And if they can obtain Seorabeol’s magical weapons from merchant ships in the process, it’s killing two birds with one stone for them.”

Even when the alliance wanted to engage in decisive battles, the enemy wouldn’t accept. The allied fleet had clashed with the pirate fleet several times and won several victories, but they couldn’t achieve a decisive victory. Instead, the enemy would use a few ships as bait and then flee, avoiding fleet battles.

As a result, the Yamato-Seorabeol alliance’s battle lines kept stretching, their advance inevitably slowed, and it was becoming increasingly unclear who was enemy and who was ally.

“Still, we should be grateful that we’re just struggling, not defeated.”

The fact that they hadn’t been defeated alone was enough to consider their efforts valiant.

Considering that Seorabeol’s trump card—summoning the Dragon God—couldn’t be used in battles between humans, the fact that they had captured all of Western Japan could be evaluated as having accomplished everything possible.

Yes, even if they were struggling, as long as they weren’t defeated, Shiro strengthened his conviction that Yamato Union could start again, and it was a positive sign that their ally Seorabeol had no intention of abandoning this war.

“Seorabeol will stand with Yamato Union.”

Although this judgment was made independently by Dragon Priestess Baek Seol-hwa and the Hwarang on the ground, Seolhwa was in charge of Seorabeol’s seas, and when such an expert insisted that they couldn’t retreat from this war, the government had to reconsider.

Seolhwa had reported the detailed sea situation to Bahamut, and upon receiving news of this mess, Bahamut, though dumbfounded that Seorabeol’s seas were filled with pirates, could personally feel the necessity of war.

“If we retreat now, Seorabeol’s seas will be filled with pirates. It’s a situation where our lips and teeth depend on each other.”

“Is it that serious?”

“Yes. If Seorabeol has no intention of venturing into the sea for several years, the story would be different. But with Seorabeol’s export-based economy, isn’t that difficult to give up?”

Bahamut personally persuaded the Seorabeol government, and Prime Minister Park Cheol-gon, faced with the crisis conveyed by Dragon God Bahamut…

“This is a fight we cannot back down from.”

“Yes. I will arrange to dispatch additional Hwarang remaining on the mainland to Yamato Union.”

He decided to fight and ordered Jeong Dong-geon to prepare for a new war.

In a world more accustomed to fighting than avoiding conflict, Jeong Dong-geon entered war preparations without question, and before preparing for war, he first dispatched Hwarang to Yamato Union to strengthen the front lines.

As Seorabeol announced its full participation, the morale of Yamato Union forces began to rise, while the news of Seorabeol’s participation made the calculations for this war more complex for the opposition.

“So, you’re saying the main force will land on the Japanese archipelago?”

“Yes. If you give permission, Seorabeol’s army will land and destroy the Anti-Yamato Alliance.”

“That sounds good.”

Until now, Seorabeol had not directly participated but had fought indirectly by dispatching Hwarang and fleets. If Seorabeol’s army landed on the Japanese archipelago, the Anti-Yamato Alliance established there would be as good as annihilated.

Seorabeol’s army, which had driven out even the Cult of Immortality that had occupied Seoul, was a powerful force filled with battle-hardened veterans. Its officers and staff were high-level Awakened who had followed Kim Su-ho, and it included experienced soldiers who had been together since the days of the Balhut Cult.

It was practically the strongest Awakened army in East Asia, well-adapted to the current apocalyptic warfare style, with each individual armed with magical weapons and Bahamut Bullets.

“Y-you madman! You already fought a war with the Cult of Immortality, and now you’re going to war again?! Aren’t you worried about bankruptcy?!”

“We have Bahamut currency.”

“Ah.”

The enemy was so alarmed they even worried about bankruptcy, but Seorabeol, with its overwhelming capital power in the form of currency money, had enough resources left to wage another war.

Moreover, the enemy was, at best, the Anti-Yamato Coalition, but in essence, it was merely a collection of warlords, most of whom were irregular troops or warlords unable to mobilize national capabilities.

Even if Seorabeol’s army deployed, it wouldn’t be the entire army, and just deploying a first-line army would be enough to subjugate them. Plus, with the help of the Yamato Union forces already on the ground, the required budget wasn’t as large as one might think.

“All forces, subjugate the rebels threatening Yamato Union.”

Thus, Seorabeol’s army landed on the Japanese archipelago and began breaking through each front line, showcasing the unique mobile warfare style introduced by Kim Su-ho.

At the same time, while Seorabeol’s army attacked the front lines, Yamato Union forces regrouped, planning to join with Seorabeol’s army afterward to deliver despair to the enemy. However…

“Gaori-bread eaters are overstepping their bounds?”

“You dare try to unify Japan behind our backs?”

With Seorabeol’s army’s full-scale participation, China—specifically Chu, Wu, and Yue—claimed that Seorabeol was an evil army trying to plunder Eastern Japan and began participating as allies of the Anti-Yamato Coalition.

They felt threatened by the East Asian hegemony led by Seorabeol, and above all, they were displeased with Seorabeol’s rising prestige as the “country of the Dragon God.”

To them, Seorabeol was nothing more than a small country, and their distorted Sinocentric worldview demanded Seorabeol’s submission.

However, these mere “provincial kings” found it difficult to submit to Seorabeol, which had unified South Korea, so they chose to harass Seorabeol in this way.

In other words, it was behavior carried out under the confidence that a small country couldn’t possibly defy a great power.

“Insane. Chu, Wu, and Yue are invading?”

“Those Chinese bastards have gone mad!”

“Japanese people, let’s unite under Yamato Union!”

This was, in fact, the perfect external invasion to unify Western Japan, which Yamato Union had occupied.

Although Yamato Union had occupied Western Japan, they hadn’t completely won over public sentiment. However, the Chinese invasion played a decisive role in unifying this public sentiment.

It was the manifestation of Yamato nationalism, and thus Western Japan could unite under Yamato Union.

Inadvertently, they had solved Shiro’s concerns, but…

“How far will this battle line stretch?”

“That’s how the international community is.”

As the front line seemed about to expand across all of East Asia, both Seorabeol and Yamato Union began to watch future developments with a sense of difficulty.