The fourth day after the war began dawned.
In the meantime, the emergency was that a massive fleet was approaching Jeolla-do and preparing to land.
All the Awakeners of the Jeolla-do region, with the fire at their feet, rose up and moved to the coastline to prevent their hometowns from being trampled, and in response the government also broadly encouraged public participation, making clear that it had no room to spare.
No matter what, if the entire nation turned into a battlefield, there would be more than one or two problems, so they were trying somehow to minimize the scope of the front line.
And now, a phone call finally came to me.
“You’ve been contacting me often these days, haven’t you?”
-We have confirmed that you dealt with one Chinese fleet. There is a ghost fleet out on the sea. –
“I kept my promise. That means the request ends there. Recovering the fleet is something you can handle yourselves.”
-We do not have the room for that. Operating a fleet requires specialized personnel, and circumstances are not favorable. So I would like to ask one more favor of you. –
“The commission fee will be even more expensive this time.”
-Do not worry about the money. Everyone has seen your performance, and they had no choice but to acknowledge it. –
Even if they tried to ignore it, they would at least be able to grasp that more than ten thousand elites had died.
Moreover, I was aware that they were desperately trying to narrow the front as much as possible by urgently dispatching the elites who had gained room to breathe to Gyeongsang-do.
“This time, Go Yu-jin will be moving together with me as well, so you’ll need to account for her too.”
-If two high-level forces are willing to move, I have no reason to refuse. So I ask this of you. Save this country from crisis. If we can push them back once, I intend to move quickly toward ending the war through negotiation. –
If the war dragged on, enormous internal chaos would follow, including Gate Breaks.
Since he was not ignorant of that, it was Kim Dae-san’s answer as someone trying to secure practical gains thoroughly, and because I had confirmed what he wanted, there was no reason to hesitate.
There was only one warning I had to give.
“Black mages are also citizens who support this country. Do not think of wiping your mouth clean once the war is over. Understood?”
-Do not worry. Now the whole nation knows. –
Kim Dae-san’s approval rating was rapidly continuing downward.
Everything he had oppressed until now was beginning to come to light. But even so, the fact that more than 60% still supported Kim Dae-san showed just how well he had done until now.
After hanging up, I met the gaze of Go Yu-jin, whose expression was full of concern, and said,
“You heard it all, so let’s go together, shall we?”
“…Do I really have the right to do that?”
“The current Yu-jin is more than enough strength. And if the war intensifies, Yu-jin’s existence alone will become a powerful deterrent.”
“Thank you. For thinking that much of me.”
It was certainly true, so I held out my hand, and together with Go Yu-jin, who took it, I used levitation magic to pass out through the mansion window.
After that, we set our direction toward Jeolla-do and swiftly cut through the sky.
Liu Chang sensed that he had fallen into a grave situation.
“I had expected this to be no easy war, but it is more arduous than I imagined.”
“That is correct. It was not enough that they were prepared for Chantra; I did not expect them to even target the ordinary forces in the rear and make use of undead hordes.”
“The 1st Fleet has been annihilated, and the 2nd and 3rd Fleets are bogged down at sea. They are striving to break through the coastline by naval bombardment, but with large numbers of high-ranking Awakeners appearing, even that is no easy matter.”
“The death of Jungjang Ma U-yang is a painful loss.”
An 8th Circle Master-level mage had moved, and the fact that he had been annihilated alone was enough to show that an immense powerhouse was lurking on Korean soil, and Liu Chang found it frustrating that they were unable to properly obtain information related to that.
Indeed, if the force that had eliminated Ma U-yang were now to come up to the front, even they could no longer guarantee victory.
“It is fortunate that we secured a retreat route by driving back the black mage group. Reorganize the entire army. We will likely need to join up with the rear forces in a wide detour and push down again.”
In the end, Liu Chang decided to retreat.
If they forced their way down recklessly, they would surely be able to inflict enormous damage, and the black mage group currently causing disruption in the rear would also have no room to spare and would target their rear in order to stop them.
However, the reason he had ultimately decided to retreat by taking a detour was because the forces here were not troops to be carelessly thrown away and wasted in death.
Many generals wore grim expressions at that, but Liu Chang felt no less stifled by the fact that none of the means they had prepared were proving effective.
‘The Chairman will be frustrated. This has become troublesome.’
Even while thinking he could no longer avoid responsibility, he had become cautious with the thought that if he wanted to preserve his life, he had to somehow reduce the losses and achieve results.
Moreover, the fact that Japan’s advance was also faltering was working as another problem.
‘That Chief of Staff Matsuda failed to do his job properly, so the situation has become a complete mess.’
Liu Chang could only click his tongue.
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Matsuda, who had received an unearned curse from Liu Chang, was wearing a grave expression as he asked the other staff officers a question.
“At this rate, we may have to withdraw from Busan. Present me with an alternative.”
“As expected, I believe the problem is that Korea’s black mages are of a higher level than our own black mages.”
“It is also a problem that we were completely outnumbered in terms of 7th Circles.”
In truth, there were four 7th Circle black mages deployed on the Gyeongsang-do front that Japan had invaded.
And there were also more than twenty 6th Circle black mages besides. Considering that Japan had mobilized only two 7th Circle black mages, it was a point that showed just how far behind they were in strength.
They had at least been able to foresee a chance of victory because the Awakener forces they had mobilized were on a different level from Korea’s, but even that was being overturned as time passed and the Korean government committed its central army in an attempt to reverse the tide.
“The damage we have taken in just four days is not insignificant either.”
It had been combat that erupted over only a short time, but it was an extremely fierce close battle, and amid the endless march of massive undead hordes, large numbers of Awakeners of low skill had been killed, with more than thirty thousand now falling into the enemy’s hands and returning as undead.
“You must make a decision.”
“What is the situation with the warlord force that headed toward the Jeolla region?”
“The situation there is not good either. The 3rd Chinese Fleet, which was supposed to coordinate with us, is attempting to enter through Mokpo, but circumstances are unfavorable.”
“Then we should set our course toward concentrating our forces around Tamna and Tsushima first, and withdrawing.”
“Korea will not easily give up Tamna either. Didn’t something similar happen before?”
Indeed, the contest over Jeju-do had been fierce in the previous war.
In the end, Korea had no choice but to give up Jeju because Japan carried out an absurd operation, but Chief of Staff Matsuda spoke with confidence that a similar operation would not work this time.
“That is why we will deploy the Aegis fleet in the rear together with Tsushima. If we do that, then no matter how much it is Korea, they will have no choice but to give it up.”
Japan had made Tsushima Island a stepping stone for targeting Korea.
For a long time, because it had failed to seize Jeju-do, it had always suffered greatly at sea. Thus Japan sought to quietly secure Jeju while exerting influence centered on Busan, Geoje, and the southern coastline.
Moreover, if China’s 3rd Fleet managed to advance through Mokpo, it was a situation where they might be able to secure even more, so Japan had completely lost interest in things like the Chimera research data that had originally been the purpose of the war.
‘So long as we do not lose the war, that will be enough.’
If that were the case, there would be no need for reparations, and it could in fact lead to a smooth resolution.
In the end, there were signs that the situation would be tossed this way and that depending on how far China could go.
The war had made little progress and remained quite deadlocked.
Although the Korean government had mobilized forces decisively, the front had formed across too great a distance, making coordination difficult, and because if one side attempted a reckless operation and suffered defeat, the situation would become irreversible, they had no choice but to be cautious.
At least the black mages had become the breakthrough, allowing the northern front to seize the initiative and take gains, but the Gyeongsang-do front was stuck in a state of being neither this nor that.
“Evidence has been detected that large amounts of supplies are being moved to Japan.”
At the words of Guild Master Bak Yeong-cheol of the Yeongdo Guild, all eyes turned to the map.
“Because the evacuation lines continued while leaving most supplies behind, looting is continuing severely. If we keep dragging things out like this, nothing will be left.”
Japan were even the sort to set things on fire as they withdrew.
Supplies could somehow be procured again, but restoring a city district that had burned down would require tremendous effort, time, and money.
Moreover, the despair of those who had lost their homes would be greater than any other sorrow.
Was it not said that the greatest mental shock a human being can suffer comes when they lose their very home itself?
“There’s no breakthrough. I never imagined that as many as twelve elite Japanese corps would invade.”
After the Daegyeokbyeon and the Korean Peninsula War, Japan’s old establishment had fallen, and afterward the Awakeners had risen up in large numbers and begun establishing a kind of shogunate system.
Then, like in the Warring States period, strong Awakener factions ruled each region, and what was now called Japan was being run as a state closer to a single “federation,” and twelve of those powers had joined the war and invaded.
That was why the plundering was becoming a severe situation.
“At present, if one side in Japan collapses, the rest can naturally collapse more easily as well. As we saw in the previous war, Japan itself has degenerated into a collective made up of small states, and if one side loses strength, the others are structured to devote all their forces to swallowing it up. So I think it would be right for us to provoke that point well.”
After hearing Baek Da-gyeong’s words, Bak Young-min asked,
“In that case, what method is there?”
“If we destroy one of the enemy’s axes with a surprise attack, some of them will destroy each other on their own.”
In truth, Baek Da-gyeong was capable of secretly moving many people by operating a mobile Magic Tower.
Bak Young-min understood what she meant, but the problem was that the safety of the people mobilized for that surprise attack could not be guaranteed.
Moreover, even if ordered, there were none who would obediently go looking for a place to die.
If they were the regular army and a state order had come down, soldiers could follow that order, but most of the Gyeongsang-do Defense Force here were civilians.
It seemed unlikely that Baek Da-gyeong would not know that, and just then she made a proposal.
“In the past, there was an operation in which we launched a surprise attack on Tsushima and sank most of the ships the enemy had come over on. And I hear that some of the movement magic circles used at the time are still intact, so how about making use of those?”
“…You’re saying something like that still remains?”
Bak Young-min was surprised by the unexpected information and asked back, and Baek Da-gyeong nodded and said,
“As I understand it, some of those who had led the operation at the time did not participate, so the ones they were supposed to use were left behind unused. So rather than using them to sink every ship, even if we sank only about one-fifth of them, they would have no choice but to lose their room to maneuver.”
“…Heaven is helping us.”
If the surprise attack succeeded, Japan would truly lose all leeway. And those who had advanced here would have no choice but to struggle desperately just to return to Japan somehow.
As the people present began watching one another, as though it were now time to decide who would participate in the operation, Baek Da-gyeong spoke.
“Our guild will handle it. In exchange, we’ll have to take a lot of corpses.”
It was an unexpected statement, and everyone was somewhat surprised, but as their faces rapidly brightened, Baek Da-gyeong could feel no value in having to make that effort and sacrifice yet again for these people.
‘But…. everyone protected it through effort and sacrifice. One more time…. yes, it’s only one more time.’
Baek Da-gyeong ground her teeth at the sickening selfishness.
