The invasion had begun.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese Awakeners had started pouring in.
It was around 2 a.m., and the offensive had been launched with more than a full day still remaining before the scheduled time of the declaration of war.
But as if he had expected it, An Sang-ik fired countless illumination flares to secure visibility, detonated Claymores and other explosives that had been buried in advance, alerted every front to the emergency, and at the same time began pulling back as though following a prearranged plan.
They had to retreat quite a long distance, but the movement prepared in advance was systematic and extremely fast.
“Buy as much time as possible, put up the magic barriers, and activate the explosive traps!”
“Move, move! If we’re late, we’ll get cut off! Hurry!”
The actions of the Awakeners moving swiftly and the advance of the Chinese forces rushing to catch them were both urgent and fierce, as though allowing not even an inch of prediction.
“They’re faster on their feet than expected. At this rate, our rear will be caught. Execute the second operation.”
“It is too early. If we’re careless, our own forces could get swept up….”
“It’s fine. We trained them to handle it well enough. Let’s trust the troops.”
No sooner had An Sang-ik finished speaking than the order was transmitted, and the dark night was instantly swallowed by white light as an enormous amount of brilliance burst outward.
The light was directed toward the position the Chinese army was charging from, and although some allied forces were also in danger of being exposed to it, they seemed focused only on somehow getting clear and running.
And while the Chinese vanguard, having been commonly “flashbanged” by the light, lost their vision and faltered, fighter jets that had been urgently called in tore through the sky.
Even though the existence of flying-type monsters made aircraft difficult to operate, the inland skies had been maintained as much as possible, so fighters and inland aircraft could still be deployed, and thus explosives made using monster byproducts and the like were dropped on the target area, causing massive magic explosions.
However, the Chinese forces had no intention of taking it lying down either, and led by high-ranking mages, they targeted the aircraft with light-element magic that emitted intense heat, such as “Sun Ray,” and with neither side willing to yield an inch, the fierce clash rapidly began to pile up casualties.
The alarm blared out.
It was the alarm announcing that the war had begun.
Since missiles and other conventional military power could still be effective, evacuation orders had been issued.
It was sudden bad news delivered at dawn, and to reassure the citizens thrown into confusion, the government continued its briefings and made every effort to improve the situation before it worsened into the worst-case scenario.
Meanwhile, unlike the chaotic northern region, the southern region was observing the situation in a comparatively calmer state.
“The country’s really in great shape. We said we’d join the war too, but if this is how things are going….”
Several guilds whose main area of activity was Busan were watching the situation with grave expressions at the Busan branch of the Awakener Association.
Because the alarm had been issued, they had no choice but to gather urgently.
And just then, Representative Bak Young-min, who had come down to Busan and was on standby, entered the Association and shouted.
“The situation is turning urgent. We cannot sit here feeling secure like this, and since we may have to go support the upper regions at any time, make sure you are fully prepared.”
“Hyung-nim, do we really have to go that far?”
In response to the question from Bak Yeong-cheol, the master of the Yeongdo Guild, who had called Representative Bak Young-min “hyung-nim,” he pointed to several locations on the map and spoke.
“These are the places we promised to support for now. At the very least, we need to move enough to make sure no problems break out there.”
It meant they should act with discretion, and Bak Yeong-cheol gave a faint grin, muttered, “Figured as much,” and turned back to the news.
“But hyung-nim, do you think the Japanese bastards will really stay quiet?”
“What can those punks do from across the sea?”
“Still, we can’t just ignore them, can we?”
In reality, they had let their guard down once before and suffered a surprise attack, which caused them to lose Busan.
Many Awakeners still gnashed their teeth when they thought of the effort and toil it had taken to recapture Busan, and Bak Young-min, also one of them, pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Let’s station some kids who are good at scouting out at sea.”
“You’re uneasy too, right?”
“Yeah. There’s a saying that you shouldn’t let something unsettling slide, so let’s station them.”
At those words, some Awakeners were mobilized and ultimately began watching the coastline.
Meanwhile, at the same time that news came in that the war situation was rapidly being pushed back, an explosion rang out at the docks.
Kwaaaaang!! It was a tremendous roar, and realizing that something had gone seriously wrong, Representative Bak Young-min hurriedly led everyone and started running toward the place the sound had come from.
As he did, he looked at the guild leaders following behind him and shouted.
“Call in all the kids, put every other region on alert too! It’s dark magic. Damn it….”
From the chilling sensation he had experienced enough times to make his teeth grind, and from the countless presences surging upward, he instinctively realized that the intruder was no ordinary bastard.
‘Damn it, I should’ve known from the moment they started talking shit about telling me to go get some comfortable rest.’
It was a regret that came too late.
Japan had entered the war.
Another urgent report that came at dawn was Japan’s surprise attack, and with chaos erupting across both the upper and lower parts of Korea, talk began pouring out that this really was the end.
Then, in the midst of all that, unexpected news broke.
[Among the domestic black mages, a large number of 7th Circle Master-level experts head to the battlefield….]
It was a short breaking-news bulletin, but perhaps because of that, an enormous number of people began showing interest in that part, and detailed lists of who exactly was joining the war spread around, drawing public attention.
“We have received news that Han Sang-gil, the great mage who commanded all black mages in the last war, his colleague Jeong Do-gil, the Chairperson of the Black Mage Association, and Cheon Jong-un, the Tower Master of the Black Tower, have each been urgently dispatched to different locations.”
In addition, it was reported that two more great black mages would accompany Han Sang-gil, and news spread that the place they had headed to was Suncheon, meaning they would be able to respond directly to Japan, which had begun its invasion across the Gyeongnam region.
And the story that the Chairperson of the Black Mage Association, the master of the Black Tower, and many high-ranking black mages from both groups had been urgently moved north and launched surprise attacks to begin a counteroffensive made the dawn noisy all over again, and in turn the government also announced that it would urgently dispatch large reserve forces and quickly stabilize the two fronts, continuing to broadcast the pressing developments and pouring effort into calming the citizens’ anxiety somehow.
“The situation doesn’t look very good.”
Go Yu-jin and An So-mi nodded grimly after hearing my words.
Then Go Yu-jin looked at An So-mi and spoke.
“Go see your parents. Before it’s too late.”
“Yeah…. I think I should. Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for? Go on. Hurry.”
In the end, An So-mi left the mansion, pushed along by Go Yu-jin’s actions. After that, only Go Yu-jin and I remained in the large mansion, now filled with the anchor’s voice delivering the urgent situation.
Then she looked at me and asked.
“I hope the anxiety Seong-chan 씨 spoke of doesn’t really come to pass.”
I also truly hoped that Go Yu-jin’s concern and worry would not come to pass, but when I thought about whether China would invade through only one location, I focused on the fact that there was absolutely no way that would be the case and said,
“The government said it’s responding too, so we’ll know if we wait.”
In the end, Kim Dae-san had not sought me out even during the full day of leeway.
I understood well enough what was in his heart. It might have been that he hesitated until the very end at the thought of handing over what people commonly called the initiative to me.
However, China had a record of deploying its forces into the country through the Yantai region.
Since they had profited quite well from it before, it was certain they would deploy elites again this time too, but in the end it felt as though they had steeled themselves to watch over the sea with domestic forces alone.
“Shall we go for a walk?”
It was a subtle question that sounded sudden, but there was a reason behind it.
Judging by the atmosphere right now, it was her way of putting it lightly.
Whatever the case, I did not particularly want to watch my country be trampled by bastards from another nation either, so I lightly answered, “Sure, let’s go,” and it was precisely then.
The phone rang, and after confirming that the call was coming from a private number, I answered it.
-I…. lost. Please help me. –
It was Kim Dae-san’s voice, sounding exhausted.
The war had only just begun, but he told me that so much of their forces had already been pulled away to various places that they had no room to spare.
“I’ll protect only that section from Incheon to Kaeseong.”
A considerable amount of force had also been deployed to protect the capital. So if I took charge of just this area, it would give them much more leeway, and since the forces that would infiltrate through the rear could not be ignored either, even just dealing with them would certainly ease the burden on the defensive line, so Kim Dae-san answered, “I’m asking this of you.”
“As for the price, I’ll receive double what we discussed before. I’ll have the list sent separately.”
-…Very well, I give you my word. –
“If you try to brush it off with lies, things will get troublesome. You might end up experiencing Hell Fire containing 8th Circle dark magic inside the Blue House.”
-Let the enemy get a taste of it before I do. That’s all, then. –
Kim Dae-san quickly hung up.
It was enough to show just how much he had swallowed his pride to ask me for help.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
I held out my hand, and Go Yu-jin, wearing a bewildered expression, took it.
After that, the place we headed for was Jangbong-do of Ganghwa-do.
Since we moved using flight magic, it took less than thirty minutes, and because of that, we were able to notice the military forces urgently leaving their positions.
“It seems they really don’t have much room to spare.”
“To guard the sea, they’d have to be fairly powerful people. If they can be redirected elsewhere, there will be more room on the front lines.”
Since it looked to be a force of well over roughly five thousand, I felt I understood why Kim Dae-san had shown such confidence.
That was how important the capital was, and that was why such force and deployment were necessary.
Afterward, we went to the place they had vacated, looked out over the night sea, and I asked Go Yu-jin,
“If the moon were out, I think this would have been a truly nice view of the sea, don’t you?”
“Really. It’s exactly…. the perfect night for a surprise attack.”
“That is probably why they forced the timing like this. The sea hides more than one might think, but the moon can also reveal it.”
“That’s frighteningly romantic.”
It was an amusing thing to say. So I looked at the sea and began releasing my mana over a vast area, and having reached the 8th Circle, the influence of my mana had increased by at least tenfold, so I spread it as though embracing an enormous domain and said,
“I still haven’t used 8th Circle magic even once. But today, I’m planning to do that.”
“What kind of magic is it?”
Judging that showing her once would be better than a hundred explanations, I decided the attribute of the mana and then transformed it as if crafting a form upon which to engrave a pattern.
Then, naturally engraving countless mana patterns and magical words, I continued to change it into something splendid, and the mana, filled with such brilliant radiance that it could be seen with the naked eye, shimmered as though embroidering the night.
“It’s beautiful….”
“They say the Melody of Destruction is the pinnacle of aesthetics.”
As the patterns carefully carved one by one like the making of a painting shone like a giant image and like stars in the sky, I sensed countless presences and said to Go Yu-jin,
“For winter in February, snow is just right. It may get a little very cold, though.”
I pulled Go Yu-jin, who had been standing a step away, into my arms and cast the spell.
“Hell of Frost.”
The materialized magic circle shattered with a crashing sound and poured down into the sea, and in that instant, the sea froze over in an instant with a cracking, splitting sound.
Because the sea had frozen over so vastly, an immense chill surged up that made the winter cold itself seem pale in comparison, but Go Yu-jin and I shared each other’s warmth in the darkness and savored the frozen sea, now sunk into silence.
