“I’m sorry it seems to have taken too long.”
It weighed on my mind that it had taken a little over three hours.
On top of that, dawn was breaking, so my concern came first, but Go Yu-jin shook her head and informed me of the war situation she had been checking on her phone.
“They say Busan failed to completely stop the surprise attack and everyone is retreating, and that Han Sang-gil and the other great mages are buying time in Jinju. It seems they’re somehow keeping the Japanese army, which has split toward Uiryeong and Hadong, from getting past Jinju.”
“The war situation isn’t very good. How many Japanese troops came?”
“They say the estimate goes up to 500,000.”
It was a number beyond imagination. Even so, it was not as though I could go there immediately.
That was because there was no way to know when the situation here might worsen.
Besides, there were several troubling points in the process of dealing with Ma U-yang.
‘It bothers me that only a single aircraft carrier seems to have been operating.’
Since it was a strike group, there had been quite a few surrounding ships, so I had dealt with all of those as well, but the problem was that even after doing so, I could not shake the unease.
It seemed right to approach it from a somewhat different angle, which was why I had collected Ma U-yang’s soul, but for now, I had no intention of stirring that up.
Because I had consumed too much mana, there was a chance I might call forth a strong soul and take damage.
“Your complexion doesn’t look very good. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“The sea wind was too cold. I’m just a little tired.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”
At Go Yu-jin’s words, I shook my head.
To be honest, one of the reasons I had been able to leave Jangbong-do without worry was because of Go Yu-jin’s presence.
Even if those I had somehow missed approached belatedly, I was certain that Go Yu-jin would be able to stop and deal with them alone, which was why I had been able to go so far away.
There was no way Go Yu-jin would not know that, but it seemed she felt sorry that nothing had happened.
“When we have a bit more room to breathe, please cook me something delicious.”
“Have the meals I’ve made for you lately not been good?”
“Yes. I was too busy looking at you, Yu-jin, to know whether the food was going in through my nose or my mouth.”
“You’ve gotten slick, haven’t you?”
“I think so too.”
After loosening the mood with that light joke, we focused on the war situation and spent a brief moment of respite on Jangbong-do.
On the third day after the outbreak of war, a massive victory report struck Korea at dawn.
A small group of black mages that had launched a surprise attack on the rear of the Chinese army had achieved a victory against millions of Chinese troops without being pushed back even an inch.
The enemy’s losses were said to be beyond prediction, while allied losses were extremely minor, producing such an enormous result that it felt hard to believe this was truly possible as a military achievement.
Since the situation against Japan had continued to worsen, with Korea being pushed back across quite a wide area from Gyeongju and Daegu to Geochang and even Suncheon, the great victory wrested from China felt all the more precious.
Moreover, the Chinese Awakener forces had also suffered tens of thousands dead due to their failure in their initial response, to the point that the battlefield, which had pushed deeply past the border, had to be driven back outside the border, and thanks to this direct offensive, the government regained far more room to breathe, urgently dispatching the elite corps that had been deployed to defend Incheon and the outskirts of Seoul to Gyeongsang-do, where they began directly controlling and observing the war situation.
As a result, countless guilds in the Gyeongnam region that had boldly stepped forward in the initial response were harshly criticized and suffered from public backlash, and just then the black mages who had helped one million citizens evacuate from Busan appeared in the media and explained the circumstances.
“The forces that Japan urgently deployed were their elite as well, and it was already difficult enough just to buy time. I don’t think those people, who are now being criticized and watching the public mood while moving together with civilians in the rear, are greatly at fault. After all, it’s also true that those people helped the evacuation lines, whether openly or quietly.”
That was because it was true that they had prevented the Gate crisis from growing beyond control by actions such as being deployed into Gates that were close to breaking and destroying the cores before returning.
Besides, lost territory could simply be reclaimed later.
The most important point was that the damage had been minimized, but contrary to Baek Da-gyeong’s intention in appearing in the media and defending the actions of many people, the guilds in Gyeongsang-do ended up being provoked by it.
They felt ashamed by Baek Da-gyeong’s words and actions in taking their side.
As a result, pride began to take over their brains, and the consequence led to an unexpected situation.
“We will participate in the war as well.”
“Do they think our country is some pushover, you sons of bitches!? I’ll beat them all to death!”
“Ma, aren’t we all in this together! Hurry up and get moving!”
Countless lines of Awakeners began heading toward the border regions Japan had invaded.
That short interview moved everyone.
And perhaps because it also became known nationwide that Han Sang-gil and the others, who should originally have been deployed to Suncheon, had bought an entire day in Jinju against more than 100,000 Awakeners with only 200 elites, all the ways the government had persecuted black mages up until now began to be reexamined, and it also became known that the current government regarded them as little more than expendable cards to be used and discarded, causing turmoil to swell both inside and out.
“It must feel like the fire’s reached their feet.”
Now that the worry of enemies invading through the West Sea had disappeared, many forces began scattering across the entire country.
Moreover, although the government was moving quickly with briefings and such in order to put out the fire, black mages had begun displaying major activity nationwide, and more and more people were starting to remember, little by little, the memories of the last war.
It was satisfying to watch the government’s enormous efforts of a short period turn to nothing, and then Go Yu-jin, having received contact from An So-mi, brought something up to me.
“They say other countries don’t think this war is anything all that serious.”
“Why is that?”
“They say this war wasn’t started by pulling in their real reserves.”
It was somewhat unexpected.
Tens of thousands were dying and millions were suffering damage. And yet they were treating it as though it were no big war at all. That was absurd.
It made me wonder whether the real war situation had even been properly conveyed.
“They speak far too lightly, simply because it isn’t their problem.”
Just looking at the damage China had suffered this time, it was enough force loss to shake an entire nation.
That was because more than 10,000 had died at sea alone.
In such circumstances, the way they treated it as nothing important only irritated me.
But Go Yu-jin merely shrugged, shifted her gaze from the news, and spoke.
“The government doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting the war drag on either. Maybe that’s why?”
Lost territory could be reclaimed, and the damage suffered could be dealt with by seizing and processing the relics or artifacts attached to the bodies of those who had been killed.
Relieving the anxiety was admittedly not an easy problem, but even that would be resolved if victory reports continued to follow one after another.
In the end, since Gyeongsang-do too was expected to have little difficulty pushing Japan back onto its islands thanks to Awakeners rising up on a massive scale from other regions, I found myself thinking that perhaps the war situation as seen by the businesspeople might actually be the correct view.
“Thinking of it as merely a conflict is ridiculous, but ending the war quickly before the damage grows any worse may also be one way.”
I thought that those in power would resolve it somehow, in whatever form.
“But will the others be alright?”
If by the others Go Yu-jin meant anyone, then it would surely be those three.
“Old man Han Sang-gil is probably overexerting himself. The other two are likely fighting difficult battles as well. They were thrown into battlefields where massive numbers had been mobilized, and they’re old too, so I doubt it will be easy.”
“Would it be right for us to help?”
It was something many black mages were considering.
The group that represented them, and most of the members who made up that group, had gone out onto the battlefield.
What could be gained on a battlefield where it would not be strange to die was nothing but honor.
“It’s a burden they chose to carry themselves. We don’t need to lighten it for them. But if someone asks for help, I intend to accept the deal.”
The someone I was referring to was Kim Dae-san.
I wanted to drive him into as much of a corner as possible and shake him.
When I thought of all that we had gone through, the emotions and hardships Kim Dae-san was feeling now were trivial.
So I was counting the moments, waiting only for his call to come.
Because it would mean the appearance of a card more powerful than any he had held until now.
“I’m old now, truly old….”
Han Sang-gil clicked his tongue and lamented the mana that was not replenishing quickly.
“Of course you’re old. Did you think you’d stay full of vigor forever?”
Han Sang-gil gave a hollow laugh at Gong Baek-jin’s words.
“What do you think is the minimum condition for reaching the 8th Circle?”
“Are you talking nonsense out of nowhere?”
“Ah, one fellow I know found a clue to it.”
“…Damn it? Are you saying an 8th Circle has appeared right now?”
“I don’t know either. But at the very least, it seems you need more than ten times the mana of a 7th Circle beginner just to touch the door of the 8th Circle.”
“…There’s no way that could be a possible figure, is there?”
At Tae Young-su’s question, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between the two, Han Sang-gil shook his head and said,
“That paper Baek Da-gyeong published the other day may actually have been correct.”
“Th-that one saying even a core can be counted as undead?”
Han Sang-gil nodded at Tae Young-su’s question.
Then he spoke seriously to the two of them.
“If I happen to die, make sure to take my corpse with you no matter what.”
“…Don’t talk such useless nonsense. And don’t even think about reviving as a Lich.”
Many high-ranking black mages had come back as Liches in the midst of war. But the aftermath had always ended badly.
They lost their reason and rampaged.
In the end it had always been an ending where they were exterminated with nothing left behind, which was why he said that, but Han Sang-gil continued because of it.
“You can absorb the mana possessed by undead, can’t you? A Lich is, in truth, also undead.”
“If you’re telling us to absorb your mana and raise our realm, then don’t even say it!”
Gong Baek-jin and Tae Young-su snapped angrily.
The three of them were close enough to address one another like brothers.
They jumped in outrage, saying it was all the more impossible, but Han Sang-gil was serious, and even went so far as to say that if he died, they should recover the Necronomicon and deliver it to Geum Seong-chan.
At that, the two immediately realized who the black mage Han Sang-gil had been talking about was, and the two old men came to think that if it were Geum Seong-chan, he might already be heading toward the 8th Circle.
Thus the three old men, aged and exhausted in body, struggled desperately as they tried somehow to protect the country.
