Chapter 41 : A turtle carrying a volcano on its back

“Everyone’s written their wills in advance, right?

I’ll say it again—objectively speaking, the odds of dying on this mission are higher than the odds of surviving.

Even so, what I can promise is a one-rank promotion, a magic pistol, and my oath that I’ll always be at the front line and the last to retreat, no matter what.

So I’ll ask again—are you all ready?”

“Yes, Instructor!”

The elite special forces handpicked by Commander Han Moosung responded in unison, as if they’d made a pact beforehand.

But even soldiers—how could they not fear losing their lives?

No doubt they were all afraid inside, but doing their best not to show it on the surface.

That’s why Han Seongryeong resolved to put everything on the line and swiftly eliminate the Demonic Gate in one decisive strike.

To be honest, it wasn’t like the Demonic Gate posed an immediate threat that could cause Seoul to fall right away—but the real problem was that Earth was now clearly following the typical Red Belt trajectory.

A Red Belt region referred to a planet where the native population had been defeated by Devil Dolls, resulting in most of the planet being overtaken by demonic energy.

Simply put, Earth had already fallen.

There were extremely rare cases where a planet in the Red Belt state managed to reclaim their homeworld, but for Earth, that was a distant dream.

“My father, the citizens of Seoul, even the Pantheon Peacekeeping Force… they’re all being far too optimistic.”

The Pantheon Peacekeeping Force did protect cities, but under no circumstances did they ever take care of Demonic Gates themselves.

That meant the natives had to form their own subjugation squads to eliminate the Gates—otherwise, the influence of the Devil Dolls would keep spreading, eventually isolating the city completely.

While the Peacekeeping Force would provide support up to a certain point, the moment they judged that the natives no longer had the will to defend themselves, they would abandon them without hesitation.

That’s why, normally, a native student who graduated from the Pantheon Academy would return to their home planet and serve as the core figure of the subjugation squad.

They were usually referred to as Peacemakers.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single student from Korea who could take on that role yet.

Kim Sunghoon, the perennial last-place student, was out of the question, and while Park Minwoo had shown some promise in sniping, he was still a lower-tier student who hadn’t formed a contract with any constellation.

Of course, Han Seongryeong had no intention of blaming them.

As someone from Earth herself, she knew better than anyone how hard it was just to survive at Pantheon Academy.

“Which is why… I should’ve been the one to take on the role of Peacemaker…”

Unfortunately, when Han Seongryeong graduated, she had racked up a massive debt from purchasing a magic gun.

Because of that, she had no choice but to change her path and take the instructor track in order to pay it back.

Even if she could go back in time, she knew she wouldn’t change that decision.

Without any magic or martial arts training, she wouldn’t have survived the academy at all if she hadn’t had that magic gun.

As Han Seongryeong recalled the past and steeled her resolve, the transport helicopter finally reached the location of the Demonic Gate.

The sight of a swarm of walking piranhas—Grade 3 Devil Dolls—crawling over the area like an army of ants would terrify anyone.

But Han Seongryeong jumped out first, without even a parachute.

“I’ll clear the path. Jump exactly 100 seconds after me.”

The constellation she had formed a contract with was the Machine God, also known as The One Who Rewinds the Cog of Truth.

Its authority allowed her to turn parts of her body into cyborg components—jet boosters suddenly burst out from her shoulder blades.

This was exactly why she didn’t want to show her stigma to her younger sister, Han Hyeryeong.

How could she explain to her own flesh and blood that she had replaced nearly 50% of her body with machines just to endure the violent recoil of a magic gun, all while being in a woman’s body?

But that sacrifice of her humanity had made her combat power exceed even the standards of non-Earthlings.

She drew her minigun-style magic gun and began spraying mana bullets in the air, and within seconds, dozens—hundreds—of walking piranhas turned into nothing more than splashes of blood.

“3, 2, 1! Prepare to drop!! Cut your parachutes upon landing and support Instructor Han immediately!”

Having cleared a foothold with a mountain of Devil Doll corpses, Instructor Han paved the way, and the special forces followed right behind.

Some of the special forces members who had secretly looked down on her for being a woman were now chilled to the bone.

Even if she was the daughter of Commander Han Moosung, when she first declared that she’d take care of the Demonic Gate with only a single squad, they thought she was out of her mind.

But now, they realized that if they didn’t pull themselves together, they would become the burden.

The special forces gathered here had real combat experience against Devil Dolls and could manipulate mana to some extent.

However, their only experience with magic guns was the brief one-hour crash course Instructor Han Seongryeong had given them.

Their recoil control and zeroing accuracy were far from perfect.

Despite that, thanks to Instructor Han’s overwhelming firepower and her solid performance as the vanguard, their advance was getting faster and faster.

And finally, when they reached the location where the Demonic Gate was supposed to be, Instructor Han could do nothing but stare in disbelief.

Because where the Demonic Gate had been clearly visible on satellite imagery, now there was only a massive crater left behind.

***

“Alright, now line up—these students from another world brought supplies as a form of volunteer service.

Anyone who tries to cut in line is going to meet my fire poker in the ribs!”

At the nun grandma’s shout, the people who had been trying to sneak to the front quickly backed off in a panic.

As for me, I hadn’t bought these supplies like the wall-gok pills or purification capsules to distribute them—I bought them for my own use.

But caught up in the mood, before I knew it, I was handing them out to the villagers.

Han Hyeryeong actually spat out the wall-gok pill because she said it tasted disgusting, but the villagers eagerly grabbed handfuls.

To them, it was a precious item—it filled their stomachs quickly and could be stored for a long time.

On top of that, since they didn’t have the luxury of visiting hospitals, medicine like antipyretics and antibiotics were insanely popular—so much so that fights broke out among the villagers over them.

Fortunately, the nun grandma actually smacked them on the backs with her fire poker and ended the fight—otherwise, it might’ve turned into a bloody brawl.

Anyway, after safely distributing the supplies, a wave of exhaustion hit me all at once.

So, we were assigned a space inside the church’s confessional area, where we each took out our sleeping bags and set up a place to rest.

It was cramped, and the musty smell made it impossible to call it livable even as a compliment, but still—it was better than sleeping outside.

“Let’s get some rest first.

Once the sun rises, Lady Marianne will treat the head nun, and we’ll return to the city.

With Instructor Han Seongryeong not here, staying outside the barrier isn’t the right move.

Thank you all for quietly joining me in what was practically a selfish whim.

I promise to repay this kindness once we’re back at the Academy.”

“Hehe.

There’s no need to talk about kindness.

As a devoted follower of the Pure White Dawn Society, helping others is simply what we do.

If there’s one regret, it’s that you all already have your own faiths, so I can’t try to convert anyone—what a shame!”

Lady Marianne chattered away as if we were on a picnic and soon fell into a deep sleep, even snoring lightly.

It might be a bit rude to say about a young woman, but she had that “simple but sweet village idiot” vibe you often find in small towns.

Anyway, about an hour after we all started resting in our sleeping bags.

Iris suddenly sat up and quietly left the room.

Wondering what she was up to, I activated the Constellation’s consciousness and followed her—she had climbed to the church’s rooftop and was sitting cross-legged in meditation.

“So, you’ve come, Nameless King.”

Why are you not resting like the other students?

“I came out to practice the Moonlight Heart Technique and stand watch.

I was the one who insisted on coming outside the barrier, so it’s only right that I take responsibility in Instructor Han Seongryeong’s place and protect the other students, isn’t it?”

So, you were aware that coming outside the barrier was dangerous.

I was about to lecture you, but I held it in.

Now that things have turned out this way, I’ll lend a hand too.

If you truly want to protect the other students, Iris, then rather than forcing yourself to stay up all night, you should at least get one hour of proper sleep.

Human willpower is not an infinite resource.

“Understood. Then I’ll trust you, Nameless King, and sleep for just one hour before coming back up.”

Once Iris climbed down from the roof, I expanded the Constellation’s vision to monitor the entire surrounding area.

I don’t know if it was because my karma had significantly increased from the Martial Arts Festival incident, but I felt like the range I could expand my vision to was much wider than usual.

It was kind of like using a mouse wheel to zoom out in a third-person game—except this time, it felt like the zoom kept going without a limit.

Wondering how far it could actually go, I kept expanding my vision… until I literally froze in place when I spotted something the size of a mountain.

Wait a second—that’s a Grade 1 Devil Doll, the Vulcanic Turtle!!

Why the hell is that thing here!?