Chapter 70
In any case, Bahamut’s promise will be fulfilled with this.
A new Priestess of the Dragon, who would be responsible for Pohang, has been born, and with this as a symbol, Bahamut will also protect Pohang.
With that, Baek Seol-hwa and Son Sang-hui ended their meeting with Bahamut and returned to the Balhut Cult’s main hall.
“Then, Sister Sang-hui. Let’s go back to Pohang.”
“Yes, Lady Seol-hwa.”
In the main hall of the cult, Baek Seol-hwa donned the priestly robes prepared for the Priestess of the Dragon and returned to Pohang with Son Sang-hui.
“She’s… far more impressive than I imagined.”
“Yes. The contract with Lord Bahamut seems quite special.”
“What do you mean by that?”
On the way back, Baek Seol-hwa received reverent gazes from numerous high-ranking members affiliated with the Balhut Cult.
Especially Park Cheol-gon, who knew of Baek Seol-hwa’s former hideous state before her contract with Bahamut, was even more astonished and expressed that he felt the contract with Bahamut was truly extraordinary.
Just moments before, she had been a blind girl unable to move without someone’s help, but suddenly, she had gained sight, legs, and displayed immense power.
“It seems miracles do exist.”
“Hah. Isn’t ‘miracle’ just an overused word at this point, given the apocalypse?”
“Well, you have a point there.”
Even if they didn’t want to feel awe, it was hard not to, as it was a scene like a miracle unfolding before them.
Speaking to Hwang Geun-chul, who had now become his comrade, Park Cheol-gon quietly bid farewell to Baek Seol-hwa, who was heading for Pohang.
“So now I’m the mayor of Pohang and the Priestess who serves Lord Bahamut, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. In terms of the cult’s internal hierarchy, you could say you’re just below Choi Yuna.”
“Hmm! It’s a bit daunting. I never imagined I’d come to hold a position responsible for everything in Pohang, not even in my wildest dreams.”
As they were heading toward Pohang, Baek Seol-hwa asked Son Sang-hui, who was driving her, if she was now considered the mayor of Pohang.
To that, Son Sang-hui responded with the information she knew, and upon hearing it, Baek Seol-hwa expressed her surprise at finding herself in a position responsible for everything in Pohang.
At that, Son Sang-hui smiled wryly.
“Still, Pohang’s Three Camps will pull the strings. To avoid civil war, they installed you as a puppet.”
“Haha. Well, it can’t be helped. To them, I’m still just a pitiful blind girl.”
Worried about being manipulated by Pohang’s Three Camps, Baek Seol-hwa admitted it couldn’t be helped and regarded herself as still being an incapable girl in their eyes.
“That’s why I need to make it clear this time! What it means to have a contract with the Dragon God.”
“Yes?”
“Then, upon arrival, please summon Pohang’s Three Camps!”
“Ah, yes.”
Thus, she declared that she would clearly demonstrate to Pohang’s Three Camps what it means to have a contract with Bahamut.
Though surprised by her bold words, Son Sang-hui faithfully executed Baek Seol-hwa’s wishes, and the Three Camps promptly responded to the mayor’s summons.
“Hmm. So she arrives in Pohang today? But she’s meeting with us first. It seems even our dear mayor is in quite a predicament, having lost her legs, her face, her eyes, and even her voice. We’ll need to assist her well.”
Despite questioning the sudden summons, Ha Jin-woo, the representative of the Pohang University Campus Survivor Camp, expressed satisfaction with this meeting, mentioning the mayor they would be serving.
However, his words carried more of a tone that treated her as an easily used tool rather than true respect.
Blatantly referencing Baek Seol-hwa’s physical condition, Ha Jin-woo implied that they intended to make her their puppet under Pohang’s Three Camps.
“Even so, I absolutely won’t concede? Everyone here knows our Marine Division suffered the greatest losses in this conflict.”
While Ha Jin-woo seemed content, Major General Kim Tae-sik of the 1st Marine Division was filled with complaints.
Even though he could acknowledge the Balhut Cult’s rule, the fact remained that the Balhut Cult had been the primary force behind retaking Pohang, reducing his division to mere assistants in the effort.
Moreover, the post-war negotiations themselves were utterly disadvantageous for Major General Kim Tae-sik.
“More than half of the Marine forces have now fallen under the Balhut Cult’s control.”
Although the Balhut Cult had made many concessions to Pohang, they seized the right of the victor and the cult’s dominance by absorbing Pohang’s military power.
Thus, the only military force maintained in Pohang, Kim Tae-sik’s division, was taken under the pretext of the victor’s right, and the Marine Division he led was now under the cult’s control.
Essentially disregarding the authority and power of a South Korean division commander, Kim Tae-sik felt humiliated by the Balhut Cult’s arrogant actions, yet, disappointingly, the Marines under his command felt differently.
“We’re saved! Finally, we can live like human beings!”
“Ramen… it’s been so long since I last had it…! I’m glad to be alive…!”
“No more surviving on just fish!”
To be frank, his division only maintained the semblance of a military structure; internally, it was already half-destroyed.
Since they hadn’t secured Pohang, they naturally couldn’t procure military supplies from Pohang.
After retaking Pohang, it was the Balhut Cult that provided supplies to the Marines, and as the cult ensured the soldiers’ basic needs were met, they quickly abandoned Major General Kim Tae-sik and aligned themselves with the cult.
Kim Tae-sik harbored resentment toward the Marines who had defected to the Balhut Cult, wondering what had happened to the honor of South Korean Marines. But, fundamentally, an army moves only when it’s well-fed.
Present-day South Korea lacked the means and government to uphold that basic understanding, and only the Balhut Cult guaranteed the Marines’ shelter, food, and treatment.
Therefore, with a commander unable to provide for their needs and an organization that offered support even during the apocalypse, the Marines naturally chose the latter if they were of common disposition.
As they weren’t volunteers but conscripts in the Marine Corps, they had more reason to focus on their self-preservation rather than loyalty to the military and its leaders.
The Balhut Cult, which guaranteed survival, shelter, food, and decent treatment, offered significant advantages to the Marines.
‘This is maddening. I should have risked greater sacrifice to seize Pohang before the cult arrived!’
Kim Tae-sik was aware of that reality, but he still couldn’t entirely abandon the hope that South Korea hadn’t yet met its end.
Even if it was false hope, he clung to the hope that South Korea wasn’t over yet and harbored resentment toward the Balhut Cult, who had brazenly taken away his military authority.
In defiance, he formed a secret organization within the Marines, gathering those discontented with the cult’s rule.
Some of his loyal officers, now abandoned like himself, made it easy to establish the secret organization within the military.
“If you’ve got something to say, why don’t you spit it out, Seo Un-jae?”
“I have nothing to say to Major General Kim Tae-sik.”
Thus, as his secret organization grew, it became a force that couldn’t be taken lightly, even by the other camps in Pohang.
Originally, he had the justification that it was due to Seo Un-jae’s failed negotiations that their treatment had worsened.
Kim Tae-sik urged Seo Un-jae to speak up if he had anything to say, and Seo Un-jae, provoked, bowed his head, unable to respond.
In terms of justification, Seo Un-jae was overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.
‘If those two fight, I can take advantage of it.’
Under such circumstances, Ha Jin-woo, the third party, could have stepped in as a mediator, but he chose to remain a bystander, watching from a distance rather than attempting any mediation.
After all, it was those two factions who would suffer, not his own.
Perhaps Ha Jin-woo was hoping that the two great men, Seo Un-jae and Kim Tae-sik, would loathe each other to the point of mutual destruction.
If the two main factions in Pohang destroyed each other, Ha Jin-woo’s faction would be the only one left standing, securing full control over Pohang.
“I believe I secured as many rights for Pohang as I could.”
“But we weren’t satisfied at all. On the contrary, our rights were taken by Gyeongju, while only your faction’s rights were firmly guaranteed, weren’t they?”
“I apologize for that. However, doesn’t our Pohang Three Camps deserve some merit that the Balhut Cult should honor? Even if we lost power, I’ve at least ensured you’ll be well treated as elders.”
“That’s that, and this is this.”
Seo Un-jae tried to persuade him, saying he negotiated with everything he could, but Kim Tae-sik countered, claiming that was to his advantage, not to the advantage of Kim Tae-sik’s faction.
In conclusion, the ones who benefited the most were Seo Un-jae and Ha Jin-woo, who gained from the conflict.
In response, Seo Un-jae apologized, explaining that he had tried to secure treatment for them and that, at the very least, they would be treated as elders.
Unfortunately, people tend to dwell on what they’ve lost rather than what they’ve gained.
“Don’t try to change the subject. That negotiation was indeed a loss for us. In this apocalypse, you know very well that fists speak louder than words, don’t you, Lord Seo Un-jae?”
“Hmm.”
Moreover, in this apocalypse, fists spoke louder than words, and fists were the law.
A visible fist was a sure sign of credibility, allowing Kim Tae-sik to gain immense support and benefit from the Pohang residents.
However, in this one meeting, Kim Tae-sik’s faction had lost their footing, and it was understandable that he would resort to such aggression.
“So when will our little puppet lady arrive?”
“She’s a disabled girl, after all. And now she’s the mayor we serve.”
“Only in title, not in power.”
Yet, Kim Tae-sik’s faction was the first to support Seo Un-jae’s proposal to make Baek Seol-hwa a puppet and seize the real power in Pohang.
Ha Jin-woo also supported the idea, as long as the Priestess of the Dragon served as Pohang’s puppet rather than Gyeongju’s.
They had already heard through Seo Un-jae about Baek Seol-hwa’s severe disabilities, but in these apocalyptic times, such disabilities weren’t uncommon.
Although her age troubled them a bit, they figured that Seo Un-jae would take the brunt of the criticism, and eventually, people would stop talking.
‘If I could be the absolute leader of Pohang, I could compensate for the losses suffered under the cult. Perhaps I could even reclaim the military authority I lost.’
‘Leader of Pohang… I find that appealing.’
‘Do they not realize this will all come back as karma someday?’
Ha Jin-woo and Kim Tae-sik expressed their desires openly, not hesitating to reveal their dark intentions.
Before the apocalypse, they would have held back, bound by morals, ethics, face, and honor instilled through education.
But with five months into the apocalypse, their patience had reached its limit, and morals and ethics had long been discarded.
Ironically, only Seo Un-jae, who still had to care about the public’s gaze as a politician, continued to uphold his conscience and morals, even in the apocalypse.
“The mayor is entering.”
“It’s Son Sang-hui.”
“Ha, at least that young lady has some sense of loyalty.”
When Son Sang-hui knocked and entered the meeting room, the two representatives regarded her with a rare moment of respect.
Since she had joined the Balhut Cult, they hadn’t expected to see her face again, yet here she was, honoring her loyalty to Baek Seol-hwa by coming to this place.
‘This is the end.’
Seo Un-jae lowered his head and closed his eyes, sensing that once Baek Seol-hwa appeared, he would be publicly humiliated by Ha Jin-woo and Kim Tae-sik.
He had already informed them of the situation, and the internal negotiations were complete, but those two would never miss the chance to shame him in public.
It was practically no different from a rigged WWE match, yet Seo Un-jae, expecting his camp to be overshadowed by theirs, awaited Baek Seol-hwa’s entrance.
“Huh?”
“Who is that?”
“Is that…?”
But when they saw who actually entered, the three leaders of Pohang held their breath.
And rightly so.
The Baek Seol-hwa entering the meeting room, guided by Son Sang-hui, was not the Baek Seol-hwa they knew.
“Wasn’t she supposed to be blind and have her face melted? Then who is this?”
“I heard she had a leg disability as well. Seo Un-jae, did you deceive us?”
“How could I? Didn’t you also confirm it yourselves?”
Initially, they were suspicious.
They’d heard that her face and eyes were destroyed, and her legs were crippled.
That’s why everyone agreed to make her the mayor and proposed to turn her into a puppet.
Kim Tae-sik and Ha Jin-woo immediately shot questioning looks at Seo Un-jae, wondering if he had betrayed them, but Seo Un-jae felt just as wronged in this situation.
He had shared all the information and made sure they confirmed it.
Since she had gone to the Balhut Cult, this matter was out of his hands, and he had no intention of taking responsibility for anything beyond that.
“Well, it seems I’ve surprised you all.”
But they hadn’t forgotten the voice of Baek Seol-hwa, the strongest Awakened in Pohang.
With a brazen smile, Baek Seol-hwa entered the meeting room confidently, standing tall against Pohang’s Three Camps.
Though her appearance had changed, her demeanor was exactly as they remembered from her days as a Survivor Camp leader.
“Today, I stand before you, elected by Pohang, as Bahamut’s Priestess and the mayor of Pohang.”
Baek Seol-hwa, wearing the same priestly robes as Choi Yuna, greeted the Three Camps of Pohang calmly.
Her youthful face, sky-blue ponytail, and radiant blue eyes were striking.
“As Bahamut’s Priestess, I will do my utmost to bring paradise to Pohang.”
‘So that’s what he meant!’
Only now did Seo Un-jae grasp the meaning behind Park Cheol-gon’s words.
Contracting with a dragon was beyond what any ordinary human could endure.
‘Why do they call him God Bahamut! It’s because he wields an overwhelming power that defies human comprehension!’
It made sense why the cult worshipped Bahamut as a god.
Even the cult members acknowledged that Bahamut possessed godlike power, hence why they revered him as such without hesitation.
And now, humans had dared to judge the Dragon God by their own understanding, and naturally, there was a price to pay.
“Wasn’t it said that her injuries were beyond healing magic?”
“All of this is thanks to the grace of Lord Bahamut. Once again, I have gained eyes to see the world.”
For an ordinary person, those wounds would have been fatal, yet they meant nothing to Bahamut.
Fully healed, and returning as the strongest Awakened in Pohang, she opened her mouth slowly, her rare blue eyes glistening.
“And no deception will ever work on me again.”
Her piercing blue gaze was fixed sharply on Pohang’s Three Camps.
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