Alertness (3)

A massive clash occurred in France.

It was a tremendous battle, enough to devastate an entire city, and it was such a large clash that even the Cultists of Ruin and monsters that had been forcibly occupying that area swallowed their fear and fled.

“Ben, are you all right?”

Marcelo asked while looking at Ben, who had been injured quite badly, and Ben also looked around at the other comrades and let out a sigh.

“I never imagined it would be this strong.”

Their comrades were scattered here and there, but no one was dead.

However, it was impossible to estimate how much time they would have to spend healing their injuries.

Robin had suffered such a serious injury that his leg was nearly cut off, and the light swordsman Cain was in a state where even moving was difficult from the impact that had left fine cracks throughout the bones of his entire body.

On top of that, Clemens, the inquisitor of Zodiac, Ariana, the Saintess of Arcsect, and even the bard Chloé had barely maintained their lives after suffering serious injuries that were by no means minor.

The confrontation with Beral, which could have led to massive casualties, had ended in a draw.

“It is damnably strong. Still… We cut off one of its arms, so for now, its loss of combat power will not be insignificant.”

After hearing Cain’s words, Marcelo apologized.

“This is all because of my inadequacy. If I had not gotten worked up and stepped forward, would we not have been able to use more strategies?”

“It is not your fault. It is proof that we are still lacking.”

After hearing Ben’s words, everyone nodded as though they agreed. And because Ben’s words were decisive, Marcelo lowered his head.

“I will summon every member of the Sea Sun Brigade. It was a battle that gave me certainty that Beral must not exist on this land.”

Because Ben declared that he would issue a full mobilization order for the Sea Sun Brigade, Marcelo had no intention of letting Beral live in their second confrontation.

‘There will be no next time.’

The clash between the Sea Sun Brigade and Beral became known two days after the fierce battle took place.

The news that the Apostle of the Calamity God had fled to Britain immediately after clashing with the Sea Sun Brigade, which was known as humanity’s strongest group, struck the entire world.

At first, no one believed this fact.

They were shocked that the Sea Sun Brigade had failed to deal with Beral.

Looking at the composition of the Sea Sun Brigade, powerful Awakeners who would not be lacking even if called absolute beings were gathered together, so the shock people received was beyond words, and it drove all of Europe and East Asia into fear while increasing the chaos.

However, it became known that the Sea Sun Brigade had issued a full mobilization order to its members spread all over the world, and an announcement was made that the failure had been inevitable because only a small number of members had moved for the sake of “revenge” during the clash.

Only then did the chaos begin to turn somewhat into a topic of interest, drawing people’s attention, and amid that, Saturn’s movements came to change drastically.

“It is not coming to our country?”

Kim Dae-san had no choice but to be surprised after receiving the report.

That was because they had already gathered all the elites of each faction, including at the West Sea, and were preparing.

No, it was something they had done because they had to, but Saturn had suddenly changed its behavior, throwing them into confusion.

“They say it has changed direction and is heading somewhere. Based on the estimate, it is heading toward a Red Gate.”

“A Red Gate… Certainly, Beral also moved while targeting the closest Red Gate, and after that, they say it moved from one Red Gate to another inside Britain and France…. There is something there. Certainly….”

Anxiety swept over him.

It was the kind of anxiety that made him feel as though it would be disastrous if they could not do something about it right now. This instinct was similar to the sensation he had felt when he lost his family to an 8th Circle black mage Lich.

At the time, he had ignored it and had run around in every direction to save the country.

He had trusted them because his family was being protected by his wife, who had awakened powerful strength, though less than his own at the time.

But what returned was nothing but despair, and now, he was struggling desperately because he could not let go of what he had protected back then.

‘I need to find the answer. I cannot let something we thought was the answer become a variable like this….’

The behavior patterns and power Saturn had shown so far only slightly exceeded the assumed range in “ordinary cases.”

That was why he had judged that it would be worth trying if Saturn came with determination.

On top of that, he could sense that the Worst had also become absurdly strong, so he had been planning to somehow hold onto him and push him into the battle.

But if the situation changed, that would be troublesome.

“Where is he?”

“Master Geum Seong-chan is understood to be at the Black Magic Academy.”

“I must meet him. Set up an appointment.”

The aide moved after saying he understood, and Kim Dae-san also pictured in his head the reason he had no choice but to move busily and pondered how he should persuade Geum Seong-chan.

Meanwhile, the clash between the Sea Sun Brigade and Beral had become known, and I was examining the satellite photos that showed the aftermath of that clash.

“The terrain itself changed. Is this really a miracle created by people?”

An So-mi had a shocked expression.

I was also quite surprised.

It was surprising that Beral had survived.

No matter how powerful the monster was, it was alone, and the people it had to face were a group that could be called the pinnacle of humanity, so I had expected the Sea Sun Brigade to overwhelm it.

That was because, after reaching the 8th Circle, I had been able to estimate just how incredible the realm of 9th Circle white magic would be.

But even though a person capable of performing miracles had participated in the battle, and comrades who stood shoulder to shoulder with him had fought together, albeit in small numbers, the fact that they had no choice but to let Beral go was simply puzzling.

‘It did not feel that strong. If so, perhaps it is correct that it found some method and became stronger within a short period of time.’

That was the conclusion I could reach, and if I thought back to Beral’s early behavior pattern when it had moved around searching for Red Gates, I could tell that there was something inside Red Gates.

‘What could it be?’

When I thought about it, it was the egg where “negative power” had been condensed.

If that caused the transformation into a Yellow Gate and performed the role of a kind of “seed” that nurtured an Apostle, then I thought the thing Beral would do after going to a Red Gate would be something like cannibalizing its own kind.

‘I see. It must have devoured all the eggs that were supposed to hatch and become Apostles. That was why it had been getting stronger, and it must have moved once it had built up enough power.’

In many ways, it was clear that the Sea Sun Brigade had stopped Beral well.

‘What about Saturn?’

Until now, Saturn had shown linear movement toward our country.

It had carried out massacres and had shown emotional behavior.

Its appearance resembled a human girl, so perhaps it was acting according to its appearance, but perhaps it had also become arrogant and thought of us lightly.

‘Could this perhaps be an opportunity?’

“Huh?”

At that moment, I heard An So-mi’s short exclamation, and when I asked what was wrong, she showed me a piece of news.

“Saturn changed direction. It seems like it is trying to go somewhere else.”

We had expected it to cross over from Nanjing to the West Sea.

That was why many troops had been deployed near the West Sea, and they were filling the coast with various kinds of curses and magic.

It was a large-scale operation involving more than three hundred master-class powerhouses alone. But when I saw the news that it was heading south toward Hangzhou instead of Nanjing, my expression crumpled at once.

“Is there a Red Gate near Hangzhou?”

“Just a moment….”

After a while, An So-mi, who had searched through a few things, turned to me and nodded.

‘My prediction is correct. Perhaps Saturn changed direction after learning that Beral clashed with them and was pushed back. This is the worst.’

Because I had become certain that Red Gates strengthened the Apostles of the Calamity God, my head became complicated, and at that moment, Go Yu-jin asked.

“What is wrong?”

When I told them the hypothesis I had thought of, the two of them fell into serious thought.

“If what you said is true, is this not a serious situation?”

“It would be right to see it as an extremely serious situation. Moreover… since China has chosen the Church of Ruin as an official religion, they may carry out things like human sacrifices demanded by the Church of Ruin without hesitation.”

Even now, there were many regions in China where the value of humans was thought of as no more than a tool or a lump of meat.

In such a situation, if the Church of Ruin began to gain power, those lumps of meat would come to look like “money” or “relics,” and the result was obvious.

The worst kind of country would be born.

“What is happening with the expedition team?”

“Look it up yourself!”

Perhaps because I had kept asking her for one thing after another, An So-mi shouted at me, but even so, she searched for it herself and told me.

“They say they will come over to Korea soon. Hoo, it seems they are on Tsushima.”

I thought it was truly fortunate that Japan had not disgracefully held them back, and at the same time, I judged that perhaps we would have to assemble the very best elites and raid Saturn in advance.

‘Nearby would be Hangzhou, and farther away would be Tianjin?’

They might create Red Gates nearby as well, but I was certain that it would swallow Hangzhou and head toward Tianjin.

Since there was a high chance it would take such a large detour and enter the Korean Peninsula, I came to think that perhaps we had to deal with Saturn before it absorbed the Red Gate in Tianjin.

“You are thinking something strange, right?”

At An So-mi’s sharp question, Go Yu-jin also looked at me with a sullen expression.

“When you say something strange, what specifically do you mean?”

“For example, that you are trying to go on an expedition… something like that.”

“If there is a possibility, would it not be right to move toward the side where we can survive?”

“Hoo, no one will follow you.”

“If they will not follow, then I can just move with only the people who do follow. You know that, do you not?”

It meant, when had we ever moved while weighing such things? And Go Yu-jin, who read my thoughts, answered.

“That is not wrong, but that does not mean we have a reason to shoulder it ourselves. I think it is right to announce this fact to the government and obtain cooperation.”

“Do you think that Kim Dae-san fellow would move for something that is not immediately beneficial?”

“You never know. In fact, he is struggling desperately, saying he will protect the country, is he not?”

That was certainly true. But the problem was the place where we would have to fight.

It was none other than China. If we fought a war in another country, many problems would be raised regarding that part afterward.

It meant this was not a problem that would end simply by going there and killing only Saturn.

Moreover, China had already been branded an “enemy of the world,” so there was no telling whether China itself might move to stop us.

We were becoming a relationship where we would kill and be killed by each other, or where we had to kill in order to live.

“We will know if we wait and see.”

After hearing my words, the two showed sullen reactions.