Chapter 103
Dokdo, the lead ship of the Dokdo-class amphibious transport ships.
Seven helicopters lifted off from the deck of the Dokdo in the East Sea near North Hamgyeong Province and began flying in formation toward the border area along the Tumen River.
Of course, seven helicopters could carry only a hundred or two people at most, so the remaining 3,000 would land from the landing ships and slowly join them overland.
In other words, the Hunters aboard these seven helicopters were the elite of the elite.
Along with me, Senior Choi Kang, and Mr. Lee Seong-hyeok... Zephyros, the NIS Director, had also obtained the President's approval to join this operation after making a strong request.
Most of the rankers competing for the title of South Korea's strongest had joined as well.
Just as you'd expect from helicopters carrying a group like this.
The atmosphere was completely calm.
Until the cabin lit up red amid an urgent warning beep!
“SAM! SAM!”
Unlike the pilot shouting in alarm, most of the passengers were rather calm.
One of them stood up and slowly walked toward the already-open ramp.
They took out a bow and nocked three arrows.
Pfft! Without putting much force into it, they loosed the arrows, which pierced three missiles streaking toward us in an instant.
The surface-to-air missiles exploded in midair.
A barrage of magic from the neighboring helicopter rained down on the SAM sites.
KABOOM! Several SAM sites vanished in an instant amid explosions like a massive bombardment.
“Phew,” Senior Choi Kang said, shrugging.
“Looks like we don't even need to lift a finger?”
“Those people are rankers too, in name if nothing else.”
“Hmph, they're all weak.”
“You're just absurdly robust.”
After returning to active duty thanks to me, Senior Choi Kang quickly made up for the growth he'd fallen behind on.
His official ranking was lower, but according to Zephyros, only someone at our level could even stand a chance against him, or something like that.
In any case, before the pilot could even deploy flares or take evasive action, it was already over. He let out a breath of relief and said in disbelief,
“We'll reach the LZ in thirty minutes. If landing proves difficult, rappel down.”
Fortunately, there were no further attacks from SAMs or the like.
The North Korean side was in the middle of a coup, after all, so they probably couldn't take control of the military nationwide.
Their plan must have been to overcome that limitation by relying on China—in other words, a foreign power.
About thirty minutes later, the Tumen River came into view.
Once we crossed that shallow, not particularly wide river, we'd be on Chinese soil.
It felt a little strange to think of it as a route to the continent, somewhere we couldn't reach from South Korea.
Fortunately, there were no particular threats at the landing site, and the seven helicopters touched down in a row on the broad stretch of land and let the Hunters out.
I spotted Chinese soldiers waiting on the opposite bank of the Tumen River, blinking as they watched us.
Had those Five Emperors or whoever not arrived yet?
That's when it happened.
Speak of the devil. Helicopters landed on their side, north of the Tumen, raising clouds of dust.
Zephyros checked their faces through binoculars and nodded.
“They are the Five Emperors.”
“You've been keeping a close watch on the crossing points, right?”
“Yeah. We're going all-in here, even if it means burning through the lifespan of one of our country's few satellites.”
If we had as many reconnaissance satellites as the United States, we could use them in rotation. But for South Korea, with only a handful, to maintain constant surveillance without blind spots, we had to keep adjusting their orbits with their thrusters.
Since a satellite's fuel and propellant couldn't be replenished, they were effectively the same as its lifespan.
It meant cutting the lifespan of satellites that should have lasted at least another ten years to under five, but President Kang Min-guk had been firm.
“We're definitely outnumbered.”
And the Five Emperors weren't all they had.
There were tens of thousands of soldiers alone.
And judging by their clothes, there were also several thousand Hunters who didn't look like soldiers.
Of course, we'd mobilized around three thousand Hunters on our side, too...
But for now, there were only a hundred or so of us here.
It was true that even the highest-ranking rankers couldn't ignore the advantage of numbers.
“And it's not like they don't have top-tier rankers on their side, either...”
Just then.
A woman in a robe stepped forward from their side, raised her staff, and chanted something.
CRACK! She froze the Tumen River solid.
She wasn't on Frost's level, but... I think she was more versatile than Frost.
“Liu Xiaoxiao, also known as Li Soso. She's famous for wielding every kind of elemental magic at a high level.”
The river was fairly wide, even if it was shallow, and I had been wondering how they planned to cross without boats... So that's one way.
Then, across the frozen Tumen River, a soldier carrying a white flag slowly approached.
... A messenger, I assume?
“You take it.”
“... Me? Why? Shouldn't Zephyros take it?”
“You're number one. That's just how it works.”
With Zephyros practically forcing the matter, I had no choice but to step forward to meet the messenger.
He carefully handed me a letter, then turned and left.
Don't tell me they sent it in Chinese...?
Fortunately, it was written in Korean, so they must have had someone who knew the language.
The gist of it was...
“At the request of Marshal Ri Jeong-chun, Supreme Commander of the Republic's Armed Forces, we are marching south to Pyongyang. Do not interfere. If you do, we will force our way through. You have one hour to decide?”
I handed it to Zephyros and Lee Seong-hyeok as well so they could read it.
Then Lee Seong-hyeok raised his hand.
“... I have a question.”
“A question?”
“Who exactly is Marshal Ri Jeong-chun, Supreme Commander?”
How would I know if you don't?
“The only general in the People's Army named Ri Jeong-chun is Lieutenant General Ri Jeong-chun, commander of the Special Forces.”
“That's the guy.”
“... You mean that guy is calling himself a marshal?”
“He took control of Pyongyang yesterday, killed Kim Jo-eun, and was appointed by the Supreme People's Assembly. A mere two-star...”
Oh, right. In the North Korean military, a lieutenant general was a two-star general, right? They had no brigadier generals, and the ranks started with major general.
A two-star general launches a coup and seizes power? Déjà vu...
If they win, it's a revolution; if they lose, it's a coup?
Lee Seong-hyeok, who'd been standing there with his mouth agape in disbelief, suddenly said,
“Do you have paper and a pen?”
“Yeah, here.”
Using the paper and pen Zephyros handed him, Lee Seong-hyeok swiftly wrote something down.
It didn't take long for him to fill the page with...
“A traitor who falsely claims to be Supreme Commander of the People's Army has no authority whatsoever to allow your troops to cross the border. Do not be deceived by a fraud's honeyed words; I urge you to turn back. ─ Supreme Marshal Lee Seong-hyeok of the Republic's People's Army.”
It was short, but...
That was one hell of an impact.
“... You were Supreme Marshal of the People's Army?”
“It was only an honorary title, but yes.”
“It's still officially yours.”
Zephyros chuckled as he said,
“Kim Jo-eun never officially announced this guy's defection, claiming he wanted to prevent unrest among the people. Since the Supreme People's Assembly hasn't yet gone through the process of stripping him of his title... that means he's a Supreme Marshal of the People's Army who went on leave in the South for a while and is now returning.”
“Good grief.”
He could just... wing it like this?
“... So this is a showdown between a Supreme Marshal who defected to the South and a lieutenant general who staged a coup, violently suppressed the Supreme People's Assembly, and assassinated Kim Jo-eun?”
Is this for real—a runaway marshal versus a coup-plotting lieutenant general?
Man, this is getting my blood pumping.
“Does that mean we have the advantage in terms of legitimacy?”
Even so...
Legitimacy was still just legitimacy.
They weren't going to back down quietly just because they had less legitimacy... and their own claim wasn't entirely baseless nonsense, either.
“Looks like we'll have no choice but to fight.”
“Right.”
Unless one side had absolutely no claim at all, neither side would be likely to back down when both had some basis for their position.
“Please... I hope they think this through.”
If they really brought all those forces south.
I wouldn't have any options, either.
I'd have to add my numbers to the fray.
Just counting heads, it would be a hundred against tens of thousands, but...
If I added my numbers, it'd be tens of trillions against tens of thousands.
Even if I could do that, was I really going to turn tens of thousands of people into powder?
I might be fighting the enemy, but I wasn't a psycho.
And when I checked the message brought by another messenger from their side a little while later,
I couldn't help being dumbfounded.
─One-on-one duel (一騎鬪).
... Do these bastards think we're living in the Three Kingdoms era or something?
**
I was so dumbfounded that at first I didn't even think to check the details...
But the contents were even more ridiculous.
“It's a winner-stays-on series, but they're saying you, Segyun, can't participate.”
“What the hell kind of bullshit is that?”
“They say their forces are overwhelmingly superior, so the one-on-one duel would be meaningless unless they accepted that kind of handicap. Besides, if you came out, Segyun... would it even count as a competition? It'd basically be a one-man gauntlet.”
Senior Choi Kang and Lee Seong-hyeok nodded, too.
“Those cunning Chinese bastards. To think they'd try to tie down our great Comrade Segyun!”
“If we accept, they'll obviously send out the Five Emperors.”
“Then we need to pick two from among the rankers to join the three of us.”
“There's no reason to even consider it.”
It was insane.
“Tell them to come down. I'll wipe them all out.”
At my words, Zephyros took my hand and shook his head.
A faint smile played on his lips.
“I know that's not what you want.”
“... If necessary, I have to do it.”
“If we can avoid it, it's better to avoid it.”
“But I can't just let you and everyone else...”
“Hey!”
Zephyros smirked and said,
“Don't you trust us?”
“......”
“I might not be as strong as you, but I'm Zephyros Ryu Hyeonsu. Sword Emperor? Saber Emperor? I'll beat them all.”
“... If you get in danger, I'm barging in, one-on-one duel or no.”
Better to take some abuse for it.
And so...
It looked like a localized conflict would be decided by one-on-one duels, of all things, in the twenty-first century.
**
Since it was a series of consecutive matches, we had to choose the lineup carefully.
The ideal lineup was...
“Senior Choi Kang should face the Fist Emperor... and Mr. Lee Seong-hyeok, another holy knight, should face the Saint Emperor. That leaves the others.”
“I'll handle the Sword Emperor and Saber Emperor. Lee Seong-hyeok can take the Demon Emperor and Saint Emperor. Kang, you can take the Fist Emperor, right?”
“I can take two without a problem.”
That was what he said, but Senior Choi Kang had only recently returned to active duty, so objectively, he was the weakest of the three. We decided he'd take one opponent, while the other two took two each.
For appearances' sake, the fourth- and fifth-ranked Hunters were added to the lineup, but the three of them had no intention of letting the contest reach their turns.
The Demon Emperor had instantly burned away the lush grass on a midstream island in the Tumen River.
This midstream island, straddling the border, was where the battle would take place.
Senior Choi Kang stepped forward as our vanguard.
From the opposite side, a huge man of roughly similar build to Senior Choi Kang stepped forward, wearing gauntlets.
“Senior Choi Kang.”
“Yeah?”
“Come here for a second.”
All over his body...
[Individual, ‘Pride,’ transforms into ‘Gluconacetobacter Xylinus.’]
I spread the transformed individual evenly over him.
A bacterial individual that forms cellulose, a natural polymer.
It was an individual that formed a new material that was elastic, had excellent biocompatibility, and could perfectly dampen physical impacts thanks to its layered structure.
It was an individual we were researching as the next-generation product for our company.
Naturally, it was the work of our Imtki, Ms. Im Gyu-seon.
It did feel like cheating, but...
As long as we don't get caught, right?
If you've got a problem with it, you should've done the same.
And when the battle began.
The two men...
KABOOM!
Without any hesitation, they each drove a fist into the other's jaw...
No, they punched each other square in the face.
What a pair of brainless idiots.
I never thought there'd be a Chinese counterpart to Senior Choi Kang.
Of course, the result was...
“Kraaagh!!”
The Fist Emperor was sent flying a long way, spewing a fountain of blood, while...
“... Why don't I feel a thing?”
Senior Choi Kang scratched his head and muttered, a stark contrast to his opponent.