Ch.3232. Subjugation Order (3)

As expected, Jo Sun-do’s movements were detected by the Balhut Cult’s reconnaissance team, and the information they gathered had long since been reported to the main subjugation force.

“Lady Yu-na. We’ve received a report from the reconnaissance team.”

“So they’re finally making their move. Well then, let’s deploy our detachment.”

“Understood.”

Since Jo Sun-do’s movement was already anticipated, the Balhut Cult began to calmly follow their operational plan without showing much surprise.

Jeong Dong-geon also sent a signal to those who had joined the detachment without any particular resistance, and upon receiving the signal, the detachment joined with the reconnaissance team and slowly began to move.

All that remained was for the subjugation force to lure Jo Sun-do’s gang.

“Well then, shall we head to a location favorable for battle? Ah, favorable from Jo Sun-do’s perspective, of course.”

“Understood. All troops, march while singing military songs so Jo Sun-do’s gang can see us clearly!”

So they deliberately began moving toward a location that would be most advantageous for Jo Sun-do’s side.

Thanks to their marching while singing military songs in a flashy manner, Jo Sun-do’s side was able to quickly identify the Balhut Cult’s movements and route.

“They’re heading straight for our main base, brother.”

“Don’t worry. This is our territory.”

If there was an advantage for North Gyeongju, it was that North Gyeongju was their domain, and they could fully utilize the geographical advantage.

The reason Jo Sun-do’s gang could observe the Balhut Cult’s parade was because they used this geographical advantage, and using this advantage, they could predict the Balhut Cult’s movements in advance.

Jo Sun-do’s gang’s plan was to monitor the Balhut Cult’s movements through telescopes and wait at the perfect position for an ambush to surprise Yu-na.

“Good. There’s a perfect spot for an ambush on the way to our base.”

Having spotted the Balhut Cult subjugation force heading toward their base to eliminate the king of North Gyeongju, Jo Sun-do secured a position in terrain perfect for an ambush and waited for the Balhut Cult to arrive.

Before long, the sound of footsteps that seemed to shake heaven and earth and a magnificent military song began to reach Jo Sun-do’s ears.

“She’s at the front.”

“Yes, I can see her clearly.”

It was truly fortunate.

From an ambusher’s perspective, Yu-na was conveniently showing herself at the front, making her perfect for ambush.

Unlike the others including Jeong Dong-geon who wore identical combat uniforms, Choi Yu-na was wearing an elaborate priestess outfit adorned with dragon patterns.

With a tiara and veil on her shining platinum blonde hair, most people would be reminded of a saint from stories when seeing Yu-na.

“Wow.”

Indeed, Jo Sun-do’s henchmen who witnessed Choi Yu-na began to feel vile lust and an intense desire to possess her.

‘Wow. I understand brother’s argument now.’

He finally felt like he understood why his brother insisted they needed to capture Choi Yu-na.

“My, she’s become even prettier.”

The gang’s leader, Jo Sun-do, wasn’t much different.

Licking his lips, he felt a twisted desire surge within him at the thought of filling that beautiful face with pain.

The process of dyeing such a beautiful girl in his own color would undoubtedly be immensely pleasurable.

Above all, what made him happy was that the current situation seemed very favorable to Jo Sun-do.

“What a stupid woman. The one who should be most protected is showing herself like this.”

“That’s good for us, isn’t it, brother?”

Just by the fact that she was wearing a priestess outfit with seemingly no protective capabilities and no visible defenses, they could tell Yu-na was in a vulnerable state.

If she intended to go around like that, she should have hidden herself among people like high officials or wealthy upstarts.

Of course, Jo Sun-do was someone who genuinely despised such types and thought they all deserved to die, but just this once, he thought Yu-na should have hidden herself behind a human shield like those hateful pigs.

Because she didn’t, people like him had the opportunity to seize her.

Jo Sun-do laughed mockingly at Yu-na’s foolishness and signaled his subordinates.

“Now, let the hunt begin. Prepare to snipe.”

And he began preparing for the ambush, thinking about the rosy future ahead.

The mages and snipers who had been prepared in advance were positioned at sniping points, targeting Yu-na’s body.

If they could snipe Yu-na, subdue her, and capture her, Jo Sun-do, the king of North Gyeongju, could become the true king of Gyeongju.

As the true king of Gyeongju, he could get his hands on everything—the Balhut Cult settled in South Gyeongju, that damn dragon, Choi Yu-na’s luscious blonde hair, and her slowly ripening beautiful body.

“Hmm, what a shame.”

The only regrettable thing was that Yu-na’s beautiful body would be damaged by his subordinates’ sniping.

But there was no need to worry.

According to rumors, Choi Yu-na was a healer capable of healing her own wounds, and as long as the wounds weren’t fatal, they could just subdue her and then force her to heal herself.

“She’s an Awakened anyway, brother.”

“Let’s aim for the vital points to be sure.”

“That’s good.”

Believing this, there were snipers and mages targeting not only her arms and thighs but also vital points like her head and chest where the heart would be.

They believed that since Yu-na was an Awakened, she wouldn’t die from this level of attack.

“Fire! Fire! Fire!!”

And with Jo Sun-do’s signal, bullets were fired and magic was cast targeting Yu-na.

Loud noises and sounds of destruction spread throughout North Gyeongju, and the marching army became disorderly due to the explosions and gunfire.

The army that had been marching proudly just moments ago had stopped.

“Let’s devour them, boys!”

Chaos ensued.

Jo Sun-do, judging that the army had stopped marching because Yu-na had fallen from the snipers’ shots and chaos had broken out in the main force, ordered his subordinates to charge even before confirming Yu-na’s condition, as if to seize the advantage.

As if declaring he would end the tiresome fight with the Balhut Cult once and for all, Jo Sun-do openly declared checkmate against the cult.

“All troops, counterattack.”

However, it wasn’t the Balhut Cult that was in check.

It was Jo Sun-do’s group that had launched the surprise attack.

Jeong Dong-geon, the actual commander, calmly directed the subjugation force despite Yu-na being attacked, and the soldiers who had already been briefed on this plan showed no hesitation or wavering despite Yu-na being sniped, pointing their guns loaded with special bullets at Jo Sun-do’s gang.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The 500 Awakened who had been maintaining rows and columns suddenly formed a phalanx formation, took firing positions, surrounded the area, and mercilessly fired bullets at Jo Sun-do’s group who were attempting to ambush them.

Contrary to Jo Sun-do’s expectation that there would be great confusion due to the commander Yu-na falling, the Balhut Cult launched a fierce counterattack that felt almost cold-blooded.

“The justice of this battle lies with our Balhut Cult!”

“Ooooooh!!”

Under Jeong Dong-geon’s command, Jo Sun-do’s forces that had launched the surprise attack were counterattacked.

Despite being similar in numbers, the fact that they weren’t concentrated in order to surround the cult became a disadvantage.

Jo Sun-do’s group couldn’t withstand the Balhut Cult firing bullets in formation and began to be picked off one by one.

“Damn it, stop exaggerating!”

“B-boss! Their bullets are strange!”

But there was something odd.

Jo Sun-do and his subordinates, who had awakened as Awakened, couldn’t easily be wounded by ordinary bullets.

High-caliber bullets could cause severe bruising or tear flesh, but they had the toughness to withstand dozens of bullets with low stopping power.

The guns used by the Balhut Cult were commonly known as K2 rifles, and they had confidence that such stopping power and firepower couldn’t stop them, which is why they had launched the attack.

But the bullets used by the Balhut Cult were different.

Despite clearly being the rifles they knew, they couldn’t withstand the bullets fired from the Balhut Cult’s rifles and were falling one after another.

The fallen gang members all foamed at the mouth and began twisting their bodies as if electrocuted.

“There’s a shield bearer. Everyone, concentrate fire!”

“Aaaaargh!”

A tough subordinate was holding a large shield at the front, enduring the Balhut Cult’s bullet shower so that the gang could charge, but when dozens of cult members aimed and fired rapid shots at such shield bearers, even the tough subordinate couldn’t withstand the cult’s attack and collapsed.

“This is my first time using these bullets. They might not have much firepower, but they’re excellent for subduing!”

“Yes. We chose non-lethal weapons by Awakened standards because we need to arrest them all alive.”

The identity of the bullets they used was none other than the cult’s new weapon made by melting the cult’s coins at the Gyeongju ironworks.

The bullets, marked with lightning patterns, emitted a strong voltage inside the target that was sufficient even by Awakened standards, paralyzing the nerves.

Since they wouldn’t be effective against zombies that were already dead but moving, the expedition team didn’t use them, but they were bullets mainly used by the security force to subdue Awakened for internal security.

For today’s war, they were a secret weapon mass-produced at the Gyeongju ironworks and distributed to the subjugation force.

“Haha. He really is an amazing person.”

“I agree.”

“Well then, it’s time to arrest Jo Sun-do.”

Jeong Dong-geon could only smile bitterly toward the god watching this battle as the bullets showed their merciless effect not only on wandering Awakened criminals but also on Jo Sun-do’s group.

Although Jeong Dong-geon felt like asking directly if even this had been anticipated, the battle wasn’t over yet.

Receiving his adjutant’s words, Jeong Dong-geon shouted loudly in a gallant and stern voice to the soldiers, or more precisely, to Jo Sun-do’s group, to hasten Jo Sun-do’s downfall.

“Look! The Balhut Cult’s new weapon is effective even against Awakened! Do you understand now? Jo Sun-do, you have no chance of winning! You have failed!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“I want to live!”

It was a declaration revealing the cold reality.

Even now, the Awakened who had been ruling all over North Gyeongju were falling one after another to the cult’s new weapon without being able to properly respond.

Whether the weapon was completed using some vile means or not, Jo Sun-do and his gang, judging it dangerous if hit, had no will left to resist the cult.

Since there was no loyalty or reason to fight to the death for Jo Sun-do who claimed to be king, the once-broken formation would never be restored.

Jeong Dong-geon’s shout only made Jo Sun-do’s downfall more apparent, and as soon as his shout ended, Jo Sun-do’s group began to desert the formation or flee from the battlefield altogether.

“D-damn it! Maintain formation now! Do you want to die by my hand?”

“Then, all troops, advance as if tightening the noose.”

As the group began to scatter for their own survival, Jo Sun-do raged at those fleeing, and Jeong Dong-geon seized the opportunity.

Jeong Dong-geon slowly advanced his troops as if taunting Jo Sun-do, and the resounding marching sound and the loudly sung military song began to pierce Jo Sun-do’s ears.

As the Balhut Cult’s offensive gradually closed in on him, Jo Sun-do finally couldn’t hold out and fled the battlefield, leading only the followers who still remained with him.

“Hold on! We’ll fortify ourselves at the base!”

“Brother! Don’t abandon us!”

“Shut up!”

Realizing there was no more chance of winning, Jo Sun-do fled with only the subordinates who could still move.

With that, this war was over.

If Jo Sun-do had not fled and had decided to fight the Balhut Cult, he might have been able to maintain his group, but since the leader Jo Sun-do had fled in fear, there was no reason for the subordinates to follow him anymore.

Except for his direct subordinates, the rest began to flee into Gyeongju city to find their own way to survive, or they were subdued and captured by the Balhut Cult subjugation force.

“Those who can live should live!”

“Th-that’s right!”

However, as the group collapsed and subordinates were captured, Jo Sun-do fled to his base with the logic that those who could live should live.

Although Jo Sun-do and his gang were fleeing shamefully from the cult’s army, he was internally confident that he could withstand the cult’s attack at his base.

Despite losing many subordinates, Jo Sun-do had maximized the defensive capabilities of his main base in preparation for any contingency and stored large amounts of resources and food inside the base for a confrontation with South Gyeongju.

Trusting the defensive walls of his base, if he could hold out as much as possible, the scattered subordinates outside could regroup and ambush the Balhut Cult.

If he responded from inside, the cult would no longer be able to hold out and would return to South Gyeongju—this was his own version of a winning strategy.

However, there was an unfortunate fact for Jo Sun-do.

“Get lost!”

His own base had already become someone else’s.

The defensive walls he had completed for a confrontation with the Balhut Cult had now become a massive iron wall blocking Jo Sun-do.

Just as he was thinking, “Could it be that the subordinates I left at the main base betrayed me?”

“Who are you?”

“Of course, I’m a proud member of the Balhut Cult!”

Unfortunately for Jo Sun-do, it wasn’t his subordinates’ betrayal but the Balhut Cult members who had occupied it.

While Jo Sun-do was focusing on the big fish Yu-na, a detachment separated from the main force had joined with the reconnaissance team and attacked Jo Sun-do’s base.

Of course, knowing the importance of the base, Jo Sun-do had placed several trusted subordinates to prepare for any contingency.

“Come right in!”

“Free pass, I see!”

However, unfortunately, Jo Sun-do had only considered the betrayal of his subordinates and hadn’t thought about the betrayal of slaves at all.

The slaves who remained at the main base opened the way for the cult’s detachment, and the detachment used that path to quickly subdue Jo Sun-do’s subordinates and successfully occupy the base.

Afterward, they took out weapons from Jo Sun-do’s warehouse, armed the slaves as rebels, and prepared to fight before Jo Sun-do would arrive here after being defeated by the subjugation force.

“It seems your evil deeds end here, Mr. Jo Sun-do.”

“The end? Don’t make me laugh!”

And behind Jo Sun-do was a reaper who had followed to finish him off.

Despite being sniped, the leader of the Balhut Cult, who was smiling gently without any wounds, announced the end to the foolish clown who had claimed to be the king of Gyeongju.

However, as if unable to accept that end, Jo Sun-do gritted his teeth and screamed.

“I am the king of Gyeongju!”