Ch.7171. Chosen by the Dragon God (3)

When Baek Seol-hwa’s blue eyes—identical to Choi Yu-na’s—glared at Kim Tae-sik, Ha Jin-woo, and Seo Un-jae, the representatives of Pohang’s three major camps could feel a chilling sensation gradually cooling their bodies.

They could sense powerful strength and overwhelming energy emanating from Baek Seol-hwa.

That young girl—that child who hadn’t even lived half her life yet—was dominating Pohang’s three major camps with her presence alone.

‘I-I’m… I’m intimidated by a child who hasn’t lived even a quarter of what I have?’

‘D-don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t what I wanted!’

As if unwilling to admit they were being overwhelmed by mere presence alone, complaints soon erupted from Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo’s sides.

“I can’t believe this.”

“Indeed. Can we really believe that you are Baek Seol-hwa?”

From the beginning, they couldn’t believe that the Dragon Priestess before them was actually Baek Seol-hwa.

After all, she looked vastly different from the Baek Seol-hwa that Pohang’s three major camps knew.

Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo began attacking her using this as justification, while only Seo Un-jae quietly observed the situation.

If Seo Un-jae wanted to gain the trust of the two camps, joining their criticism and denouncing Baek Seol-hwa together would have been the best approach, but…

‘The tide has turned.’

Seo Un-jae chose to observe and remain neutral rather than joining Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo.

There was certainly a possibility that the unidentified girl before them wasn’t Baek Seol-hwa, but Seo Un-jae was convinced that the Balhut Cult, which desired stable governance of Pohang more than anyone, wouldn’t make such a poor move.

Although they called themselves a cult, the Balhut Cult that Seo Un-jae knew was a government organization with rational thinking rather than religious fanaticism.

In other words, the girl before them was indeed Baek Seol-hwa, and considering that Son Sang-hui was following her without any complaints, it further confirmed Seo Un-jae’s assumptions.

‘Then… I don’t need to maintain loyalty to Pohang’s three major camps.’

If it was impossible to puppet the Dragon Priestess contrary to the three camps’ secret agreement, Seo Un-jae had no reason to maintain loyalty to Pohang’s three major camps.

The priestess before them was the Dragon God Bahamut’s priestess, and she could be considered Bahamut’s representative ruling over Pohang.

The representative of Dragon God Bahamut!

With this title alone, Seo Un-jae judged that even the arrogant Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo couldn’t strongly oppose the Dragon’s priestess.

“Hmm, are Mr. Kim Tae-sik and Mr. Ha Jin-woo suspicious of me?”

“Of course! The Baek Seol-hwa we knew had black eyes and black hair, like a typical Korean.”

“Could it be that the Balhut Cult has ignored the agreement with Pohang and deceived us?”

When Baek Seol-hwa asked if they doubted her, Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo immediately described the characteristics of the Baek Seol-hwa they knew, arguing that she was completely different, and mentioned the agreement with the Balhut Cult.

They even suggested that the Balhut Cult might have ignored their agreement with Pohang and deceived them, but the two men were uneasy.

If the girl before them really was Baek Seol-hwa…

Then what would happen to the secret agreement they had made before coming here?

As the calculations became complicated, the first to open the dialogue was Baek Seol-hwa, who had been quietly listening to Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo’s complaints.

“Then for a simple proof… Bang.”

As if to demonstrate her specialty to the two doubting heroes, Baek Seol-hwa created a light explosion with a “bang.”

It wasn’t an explosion meant to kill someone, but rather one that showed only visual effects.

Compared to the explosions Baek Seol-hwa had shown to the zombie horde, it was pathetically small, but the problem came next.

“Freeze!”

“Ugh!”

“Cold.”

After raising the heat in the room with the explosion, she rapidly cooled the internal temperature.

In an instant, the room temperature dropped below zero, and everything around was covered in ice.

Feeling the intense cold throughout their bodies, Ha Jin-woo and Kim Tae-sik involuntarily muttered that it was cold.

“How about that? Have you already forgotten my abilities?”

“Ah, ah, ah, ahhh!?”

A light explosion followed by unimaginable cold.

Pohang’s three major camps couldn’t possibly forget the minor supernatural phenomena she was demonstrating.

After all, this was the power Baek Seol-hwa had shown in Pohang.

“Next, let’s instantly melt all the ice filling the room.”

As if the explosion wasn’t enough, she rapidly raised the temperature in the frozen room, melting all the ice inside, and as the ice melted, the entire room was covered in blue flames.

“W-what is this!?”

“H-hot… Huh? It’s not hot.”

However, the blue flames didn’t burn Pohang’s three major camps.

Without any hot sensation, only warm energy was embracing them.

But they quickly realized that if it became heated, they would instantly be reduced to ashes by the flames, and Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo looked at Baek Seol-hwa with pale expressions.

Ha Jin-woo and Kim Tae-sik no longer doubted that she was Baek Seol-hwa.

She had perfectly demonstrated Baek Seol-hwa’s specialties—explosions, flames, and ice—who would doubt her after that?

‘Haha. She’s a monster. I remember her abilities weren’t this powerful before. The fact that she’s grown stronger in such a short time… As expected, the Dragon’s contract shouldn’t be judged by human common sense!’

Seo Un-jae, who knew Baek Seol-hwa’s original abilities, realized that her powers had grown stronger and once again understood that the Dragon’s contract shouldn’t be judged by human common sense.

It was overwhelming.

Just by demonstrating her power, she could captivate and dominate the public.

Everyone gathered here was an Awakened, and at the same time, they were representatives and leaders of their factions.

Naturally, their strength was guaranteed to be at a sufficient level, yet the representatives of Pohang’s three major camps didn’t even dare to think of opposing Baek Seol-hwa.

‘If we’re not careful…’

‘This means we could burn to death or freeze to death!’

Above all, realizing that their lives were in Baek Seol-hwa’s hands, they finally understood what it meant to be the Dragon’s priestess.

Even during her time as Pohang’s strongest Awakened, Baek Seol-hwa had captivated the public with her overwhelming power and established herself as a leader candidate for a faction.

Despite her unfortunate downfall, many Pohang citizens still remembered Baek Seol-hwa’s name, and if she returned safely and demonstrated overwhelming power like this, there would be plenty of people in Pohang who would support her.

Moreover, with the title of Bahamut’s representative, Pohang would receive the Dragon’s protection, which would inevitably increase her supporters.

‘Can I win? Can I?’

‘I can’t win.’

At first, they had entertained thoughts of challenging Baek Seol-hwa with their own strength.

However, Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo didn’t want to be the first to enter a fight with no chance of winning.

Rather, they were just watching others, hoping someone else would step forward first and become their shield, but they didn’t have the courage to challenge Baek Seol-hwa with confidence and dignity.

‘The internal dynamics are working well. But I can’t say I don’t understand. That might actually be the normal reaction.’

Seeing the cowardly behavior of the two representatives, Seo Un-jae felt contempt, but at the same time, empathized with them.

If someone demonstrated such overwhelming power, one would prioritize finding ways to survive rather than opposing them.

“Then… shall we forget the past and unite with one heart and mind to serve Lord Bahamut?”

“W-what?”

“Let’s forget everything from the past, right here.”

And it seemed that Baek Seol-hwa’s side had no intention of bloodshed.

Instead of purging, she extended her hand, suggesting they forget the past and start anew.

It was the generosity of a strong person in an overwhelmingly advantageous position, and indeed, Baek Seol-hwa was pressuring Pohang’s three major camps as an overwhelming power.

She was creating psychological pressure, implying that if they didn’t take this hand, they might never get another chance.

“I… I…”

“I, Seo Un-jae, swear loyalty to Lord Bahamut and Lady Baek Seol-hwa.”

In response to that merciful offer, Seo Un-jae, who had been quietly observing the situation, swore loyalty to Baek Seol-hwa without any hesitation, kneeling and bowing his head.

It was an unseemly sight for a grown man to show his crown to a young girl and submit, but Seo Un-jae felt no shame for his actions.

It was a calculation made with the conviction that the bloody future of Pohang’s civil war had disappeared.

None of Pohang’s three major camps could oppose the Awakened before them, and even if they revealed their dark intentions and pushed back, they would quickly be crushed by Baek Seol-hwa’s power.

For Seo Un-jae, who had no loyalty left to maintain, throwing himself to the side with a clear victory was only natural.

“S-Seo Un-jae!?”

“And you?”

Seeing Seo Un-jae swear loyalty without hesitation, Ha Jin-woo was greatly shaken.

Should he follow Seo Un-jae’s lead? Or should he stick to the original plan of Pohang’s three major camps to make Baek Seol-hwa their puppet?

Ha Jin-woo briefly looked at Kim Tae-sik, but even looking at Kim Tae-sik’s face, he couldn’t find an immediate answer.

Kim Tae-sik was also sweating profusely with a troubled expression, watching Ha Jin-woo’s reaction.

Seeing this, Ha Jin-woo felt a sense of finality and bowed his head as he spoke.

“…I swear loyalty to Lord Bahamut.”

Pohang University Campus leader Ha Jin-woo also submitted.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no possibility of winning.

Thinking it was better to bow down when mercy was shown than to face a meaningless demise, Ha Jin-woo immediately knelt and swore loyalty to Baek Seol-hwa.

As two of Pohang’s representative leaders swore loyalty to Baek Seol-hwa, Kim Tae-sik stood up and shouted as if he couldn’t bear it.

“Are you insane! Swearing loyalty to fanatics and a cult led by such fanatics! Seo Un-jae, do you have no political convictions!?”

“The apocalypse has happened, and you still think we need partisan logic or ideological conflicts?”

“What.”

In response to Kim Tae-sik’s outcry, Seo Un-jae said that such things were unnecessary in the current situation.

Convictions? As a politician, Seo Un-jae certainly had convictions he wanted to uphold.

But in this apocalypse, what good would come from maintaining those convictions?

The power of ideology was certainly strong, but now survival was urgent, and ideological power couldn’t function properly.

Everyone felt deficiencies in their lives and had a strong desire for survival, so they had to prioritize survival over ideology.

The partisan logic and conflicts that were always noisy in South Korea had no reason or need to be mentioned in this apocalypse.

“You called them fanatics, but the Balhut Cult is truly a government directly ruled by the Dragon God. The Dragon God directly expresses his will and even negotiates with us. Can you really call those who serve such a Dragon God fanatics? They’re a legitimate government.”

Then he countered Kim Tae-sik’s argument about fanaticism.

Unlike typical cults, the Balhut Cult was truly a government ruled by the Dragon God, and that god directly expressed his will and even made proposals and negotiations with Pohang’s three major camps.

Could such a cult really be called a cult, and could its followers be criticized as fanatics?

“Fanaticism is about misinterpreting the words of a god and acting according to one’s own interpretation. Has the Dragon Priestess here misinterpreted Bahamut’s words and done anything harmful to Pohang? Has she forced the Balhut Cult’s doctrines on anyone gathered here?”

“No.”

“…Ugh.”

The Balhut Cult and the priestess who followed it had never misinterpreted the Dragon God’s words.

There were cases of expanded interpretation, but ultimately they went in the direction Bahamut wanted, making the most understandable and rational choices. All the actions the cult had shown in Pohang so far appeared rational and reasonable.

So Seo Un-jae’s words were quite persuasive, and Ha Jin-woo couldn’t refute them, nodding heavily.

Kim Tae-sik, who had suffered greatly from those rational actions, didn’t answer, but he didn’t argue against Seo Un-jae’s words, as if he couldn’t deny them.

“Then that should be fine. Dragon God Bahamut has kept his promise to us. From now on, Pohang is under the protection of the great Dragon. If we can live safely without the threat of death in this apocalypse, I’m willing to abandon any ideology or political conviction.”

So what’s the problem?

Bahamut kept his promise, and accordingly, Pohang is under the Dragon’s protection.

Being guaranteed safety in this apocalypse is a tremendous merit, and everyone would agree that they want to live safely.

If asked whether there’s any reason to destroy guaranteed safety for the sake of ideology or conviction, one can only tilt their head in confusion.

“Above all, those ideologies and convictions can only be considered after basic survival needs are met. They’re unnecessary in our Pohang, which needs urban reconstruction.”

Above all, Pohang is now poor.

The old glory that supported South Korea’s industry now has no meaning, and it was time to rebuild the city that had fallen to zombies.

So what Pohang needs now is just one thing:

“We only need the will to push forward with reconstruction projects with united strength and powerful force, so that people can live like people.”

“……”

No one could deny Seo Un-jae’s words here.

Thus, by unanimous decision, Pohang’s three major camps came under Baek Seol-hwa, which also meant that Pohang’s governing authority had completely fallen into Baek Seol-hwa’s hands.

As Pohang’s internal politics stabilized and with the help of the Balhut Cult, Pohang began reconstruction projects, and not long after, a welcome guest arrived in Pohang.

“Is this… the territory ruled by the Balhut Cult?”

An unidentified transport aircraft and fighter jets escorting it appeared in Pohang’s airspace and landed at Pohang Airport.

When the unidentified airship suddenly appeared in Pohang’s airspace, the Balhut Cult security forces stationed in Pohang rushed to Pohang Airport and were on alert against the suddenly appearing unidentified forces, who asked the soldiers guarding them in clear Korean if this was the territory ruled by the Balhut Cult.

“Who are you?”

“We’re from America.”

“The United States!?”

The identity of the mysterious visitors was none other than guests from the United States.