Chapter 58
Certainly, the concerns of the Three Camps in Pohang were concerns for them alone, but the Balhut Cult’s plan to reclaim Pohang Airport continued undeterred.
For the Balhut Cult, the campaign to reclaim Pohang Airport was a prime opportunity to absorb—or rather, subordinate—mid-sized survivor camps that were not part of the Three Camps, and a rare chance to elevate the growth power of their awakened members.
Though they currently had to go on expeditions to ensure the growth of their awakened, Pohang was filled with zombies capable of fostering such growth.
Especially, mutant spider zombies yielded an immense amount of experience points, so it was beneficial for the Balhut Cult if their awakened could handle these creatures and level up before Bahamut descended.
“That’s what happened.”
“Heh. Of course, we wouldn’t let anything stop our operation to reclaim Pohang Airport.”
After concluding the talks and returning to the forward base, Jung Dong-gun arrived near Pohang Airport via Yeongilman-daero, secured by the cult.
There, he met Son Sang-hui, who was supporting the awakened of the cult, and relayed what had happened in the talks.
The cooperation wasn’t guaranteed, but at least an internal communication network had been secured, said Jung Dong-gun, to which Son Sang-hui responded with a simple acknowledgment, “So that’s what happened.”
The meeting had concluded too smoothly to find any fault.
In response to Son Sang-hui’s calm statement, Jung Dong-gun joked that even if there were further meetings, the campaign to reclaim Pohang Airport would not be halted.
“You’ve already taken most of it, haven’t you?”
“We haven’t yet breached Pohang Airport itself, so the reclamation of Pohang Airport isn’t over yet.”
Son Sang-hui, with an indifferent gaze, simply responded that they had nearly completed the campaign.
Though they hadn’t breached the airport itself, Jung Dong-gun and the cult’s soldiers had long since captured the civilian and industrial facilities around Pohang Airport.
Having seized most of the civilian zones around Pohang Airport, all that was left was to sweep through the zombies within the airport, and it would be over.
Of course, there were still some zombies left that the cult hadn’t dealt with, but they could easily be managed through security activities.
The Balhut Cult had already claimed a portion of Pohang.
“Wouldn’t it be more important to understand the movements of the Three Camps in Pohang?”
“Well, they’ll move with their own motives in mind. There’s no need for us to scrutinize their actions.”
“Even so, don’t you think we need their cooperation to reclaim Pohang?”
Instead of focusing on Pohang Airport, which was nearly reclaimed, Son Sang-hui suggested that it would be more important to understand the movements of the Three Camps in Pohang.
That observation was not wrong.
With Yeongilman-daero secured, there were only two paths left for the Balhut Cult to advance.
In fact, it was odd for Jung Dong-gun, who had always approached the reclamation of Pohang with seriousness, to now dismiss the need to monitor their movements.
“We do need them. To govern Pohang in the future, we’ll need the support of the local powers, the Three Camps.”
“Then, shouldn’t we be moving together? If they think only of their own interests, it could bring significant losses to the cult.”
Of course, considering the future, the assistance of the Three Camps would indeed be necessary for governance.
However, if the Three Camps harbored ulterior motives, it could result in significant losses, and they would need to act accordingly to mitigate that risk.
Son Sang-hui’s point was valid.
“I understand their concerns. I acted similarly when I first started.”
“Pardon?”
But on the contrary, Jung Dong-gun sympathized with the sentiments of the Three Camps.
It was as if he understood their potentially selfish actions, even justifying them in a way.
“Does that mean… you were once a leader of a survivor camp as well?”
“Yes. Before joining the cult, I was a survivor camp leader of considerable influence in Gyeongju. By Pohang’s standards, it would be fair to say I was akin to one of the Three Camp leaders.”
“You must have been quite prominent.”
At Son Sang-hui’s question, Jung Dong-gun gave a bitter smile, explaining that he, too, was once in a similar position to the Three Camps.
If he had been such a successful leader, why was he now acting as a soldier of the Balhut Cult?
Son Sang-hui found herself puzzled by Jung Dong-gun’s remarks.
“That’s why I understand the actions of the Three Camps. If the Balhut Cult were to fail, they would be the ones left to bear the consequences. We have the fallback of Gyeongju and could retreat behind the walls of our forward base if things went awry, but they have no such option.”
“Ah.”
Until now, the Balhut Cult had only seen victories, so this perspective had been overlooked. But the possibility of the cult failing was indeed something they needed to consider.
If the Balhut Cult were to fail and retreat from Pohang back to Gyeongju, the full brunt of the aftermath would fall upon the Three Camps.
The Balhut Cult could rely on their forward base and retreat to Gyeongju, but the Three Camps did not have that luxury.
It was a distinct difference between the cult, with its fallback base in Gyeongju, and the Three Camps in Pohang, who had no such support.
“Besides, the one we serve wouldn’t be overly concerned with their treasonous acts.”
“You mean Lady Yuna?”
“Yes, her as well as the God Bahamut whom we serve.”
Above all, there was a belief that neither Lady Yuna nor Bahamut would overly mind the actions of the Three Camps.
Initially, Son Sang-hui thought he was referring to Lady Yuna, but Jung Dong-gun clarified that he was speaking of both Yuna and God Bahamut.
“…Does that deity you speak of truly exist?”
“Yes, He does.”
But since she had never seen the deity herself, Son Sang-hui could only question the reality of Bahamut’s existence.
Though she had heard Bahamut’s voice, she had never seen his form, so it was only natural for her to doubt.
Still.
“If you say so, Mr. Dong-gun, I’ll believe you.”
“Hmm. You’re saying it so confidently that it’s a bit overwhelming.”
Son Sang-hui, trusting what she had seen of Jung Dong-gun so far, said that she would believe him.
Perhaps feeling a bit burdened by that trust, Jung Dong-gun blushed and stepped back.
But that discomfort lasted only a brief moment.
“The time has come. Instead of focusing on Pohang Airport, turn the telescope toward the area near Jeokgye Pond.”
“Sorry? Isn’t that farmland? I thought most of the crops there were abandoned since they missed the harvest season…”
The promised time was approaching.
Jung Dong-gun told her to point the telescope toward the area where Bahamut was set to descend, and Son Sang-hui, puzzled as to why he would mention such a seemingly meaningless farmland, turned the telescope in that direction as he instructed.
There was only a pond and farmland in that area, and as Son Sang-hui had noted, it was a barren land with crops abandoned after missing the harvest.
“Yes, right there. Though it’s winter and the land has lost much of its value for reclamation, it’s a perfect open space to facilitate His descent.”
“To facilitate Him? Do you need a large space for that?”
“Yes. If you zoom in on the area near Jeokgye Pond, you’ll see Lady Yuna.”
Just how big must something be to require such a large area?
Son Sang-hui looked at Jung Dong-gun with a puzzled expression, and he merely smiled lightly and said that if she increased the magnification of the telescope, she would see Yuna of the Balhut Cult.
With a skeptical expression, Son Sang-hui followed Jung Dong-gun’s confident instructions and increased the magnification on the telescope.
“Oh. It’s true.”
Sure enough, as Jung Dong-gun had said, there was Yuna, standing alone in that area.
She was standing in the middle of the wide farmland, appearing calm, and there were no guards around her.
It was a perilous situation where the leader of the Balhut Cult could be at risk of being captured by unbelievers if things went wrong, or so Son Sang-hui thought at that moment.
“What… what is that?”
“Lady Yuna called it an ‘Attention-Attracting Spell.’”
Yuna raised one hand and shot a flame toward the sky.
That flame began to illuminate the entire region of Pohang, drawing Son Sang-hui’s gaze upward, and she asked Jung Dong-gun what it was.
In response, Jung Dong-gun explained that it was a spell Yuna had cast to attract attention.
“An attention-attracting spell?”
“Yes, it’s a spell that forcibly generates what is commonly known as ‘aggro.’ With it, she intends to draw the zombies from within the city to that location.”
Hearing this, it didn’t seem too unusual.
If one wanted to reclaim the city without destroying it, it made sense to lure the zombies outside.
“Yes, that makes sense… but the range…”
“It’s the entire city of Pohang.”
“Sorry?”
However, the range of this spell was what seemed odd.
At first, Son Sang-hui thought she might have misheard.
If the range was the entire city, why had they been fighting within the city all this time?
More importantly…
“Are they planning to wipe them out in one shot? If I recall, you mentioned the Bahamut Round. By using that, could they eradicate everything at once?”
Did the cult have the power to fight all the zombies within the city?
Of course, if they were using the Bahamut Round, which the Balhut Cult prided itself on, it would likely be enough.
Knowing that there were rounds capable of high-powered shots, Son Sang-hui assumed they had a similarly powerful weapon.
“Heh heh. It’s true that we intend to wipe them out in one go, but we’re not using the Bahamut Round. Each round is quite expensive, after all.”
However, they weren’t going to use the Bahamut Round.
While the Bahamut Round was powerful, each one was extremely costly, so they conserved them whenever possible.
“Then how…?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Ah, look, the zombies in the city are responding to Lady Yuna’s spell and heading toward the farmland near Jeokgye Pond.”
During their conversation, the zombies from across Pohang, affected by the spell, started rushing toward where Yuna was.
Even the ordinary zombies hidden near Pohang Airport, where Son Sang-hui was stationed, appeared to be drawn by Yuna’s magic and began to walk toward the farmland.
Observing this, Son Sang-hui thought to herself that even hidden zombies could be affected by the spell.
“Hmm. It doesn’t seem to work as well on the intelligent mutant spider zombies. Only the weaker creatures are being drawn in.”
Jung Dong-gun remarked that the spell didn’t work well on the intelligent mutant spider zombies.
Through the telescope, he examined the mutant spider zombies within Pohang Airport and noted that only the weaker ones were responding to the spell.
Of course, for the Balhut Cult, who needed to level up their awakened members, it was fortunate that these zombies, which granted abundant experience, were left untouched.
“Perfect. To aid in the growth of our awakened, it’s best if the mutant spider zombies remain. We could even use their webs to craft new equipment.”
“Um, but… there are no forces deployed near Lady Yuna?”
However, Son Sang-hui noticed something odd and pointed out that there were no forces stationed near Yuna.
In reality, not only was there no one around Yuna, but there wasn’t a single soldier of the Balhut Cult in the vicinity.
“Yes. The main force is currently at the forward base, likely watching this scene from the observation posts.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
In response to Son Sang-hui’s concern, Jung Dong-gun explained that the main force was stationed at the forward base, and most were likely observing the scene from a safe distance.
Son Sang-hui, concerned for Yuna’s safety, asked if it wasn’t dangerous for her to be alone.
“Dangerous?”
To be honest, the safest person in this world was Yuna.
“Look at that grand sight in the sky and tell me if you can call it danger. As I’m watching, I can’t see it that way.”
“Huh?”
Would anyone dare call it dangerous to witness the descent of the Great God Bahamut from the sky?
Looking up at the massive, comet-like descent of the deity, Jung Dong-gun proudly proclaimed his thoughts to the world.
And finally, upon noticing the divine figure descending in the shape of a meteor from the sky, Son Sang-hui was left speechless.
—
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