Chapter 62

Chapter 62. Reversal (2)

<The Republic of Korea has occupied Chinese territory.>

The Voice of the World.

Everyone truly heard it.

I'd heard it a few times myself back when I was a non-Awakened.

'Back then, most of it was about Jesus…'

Performed some miracle.

Brought heaven to the present world.

Oh, and there was one about the Patriot reclaiming Dokdo.

But now—

<Occupier: Shin Si-woo.>

The protagonist was me.

It had happened several times before, but an announcement about 'occupying' a foreign nation's territory was — to my knowledge — a first.

And I had become the one who occupied Chinese land.

This wasn't simply a matter of South Korea occupying China.

'Did the Patriot set me up?'

My head tilted involuntarily.

Wondering if I was overreacting, I turned to look and…

"Si-woo, what are you going to do?"

Seol-a noona was staring at me with an equally bewildered expression.

I honestly didn't know what to do.

"What's the Patriot's angle? He can't seriously just be handing me the reward…"

"Well, according to my father's theory—"

Noona offered an unexpected explanation.

The argument Senior Prosecutor Kang and the President had been making.

"The truth might be that Lord Patriot is afraid of openly becoming China's enemy."

Noona — proving herself the flesh and blood of Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin — believed in the Patriot-is-strong-against-the-weak-and-weak-against-the-strong theory.

'I'd been half-skeptical until now, but…'

After what had just happened, it was starting to sound plausible.

The rewards hadn't appeared yet, so I didn't know how things would shake out.

'But if…'

If the occupation reward truly was something incredible?

Then the Patriot-strong-weak theory held water.

The reason the Patriot had insisted I be the one to occupy this land was because my contribution had been overwhelming.

But that probably wasn't the only reason.

'The Patriot is the only one who's ever planted a flag on foreign or disputed territory.'

Mid-Gate crisis — specifically after the Voice of the World appeared and humanity's survival came under threat — the Patriot was the only one who had directly engaged in acts resembling warfare.

Normally, everyone was too busy warding off their own catastrophes.

For reference, Dokdo was our territory, but in the immediate aftermath of the Gate crisis, from a global perspective, it had been [neutral] territory — claimed by both Korea and Japan.

'The Dokdo flag incident was the first.'

If the Patriot hadn't told me?

I wouldn't have even known rewards existed.

Yet he'd told me everything.

'Whether he's scared or not, at minimum he doesn't want to be on bad terms.'

All of this felt like very good news for me.

"Why are you smiling?"

"There's something I need to push the Patriot on, a bit firmly."

"What?"

Before invading North Korea, I had met the Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a.

Of the three cards drawn then, the second card had contained a prophecy about the Patriot.

"What prophecy?"

"Well—"

I gave noona a brief explanation.

First, about the card itself.

[A picture of me holding two swords to the Patriot's throat.]

It depicted me with two Ego Swords drawn, pointing them at the Patriot's neck.

"You held two swords to Lord Patriot's throat?"

"Coincidentally, yes."

"Does it mean you should kill Lord Patriot? No, wait — that Saintess was the one the Patriot tried to execute!"

Noona was startled.

The gambling Saintess's image was that bad.

'Well, it is that kind of picture.'

But the Saintess of Fate, Im Ji-a, had offered a completely unexpected interpretation.

"Two swords means the number 2."

"Then does the sword at the throat mean I should build rapport or something?"

I'd attempted my own interpretation, recalling the cases of Iris and Muratan.

"No. In cases like this, you interpret it as it appears. It means to coerce."

A rough-and-ready interpretation.

But Im Ji-a's accuracy rate stood at 100% to date.

So I relayed her interpretation verbatim.

"Two swords mean 2, and I'm supposed to coerce? What does that even mean?"

"Literally, 'coerce the Patriot into 2.'"

"What's 2?"

"I don't know either."

I'd asked the Saintess the same question.

I hadn't gotten the answer I wanted, but.

"If I told you, the Patriot would be devastatingly destroyed."

If I learned the true meaning of '2,' the Patriot would crumble.

That must never be allowed to happen.

While I was lost in these deliberations.

"Si-woo, the person you need to persuade is getting further away."

Noona pointed at the sky.

Slowly but steadily receding — twelve aircraft carriers.

A somewhat absurd sight.

Was he fleeing after dumping the China-occupation blame on me?

Or was there a true meaning I didn't know?

Could someone who was strong-weak really have publicly executed tens of thousands?

Every possible thought crossed my mind.

But if there was one thing I could be certain about regarding the Patriot—

"What are you going to do?"

"Just let him go."

The Patriot must not be harmed.

The Patriot must never crumble.

Having Transcended, I could see that now.

Without the Patriot…

'I'd be working myself to death alone.'

I was certain.

The psychological and physical burden a Transcendent bore was no joke.

Just the 170,000 in Jeonju had weighed heavy on my heart, and now scaled up to a national level, it was dizzying.

Without a Transcendent, the world couldn't exist.

Coming to North Korea had driven that home.

'Of course, if I abandoned everything, the job would get easier.'

Leave South Korea and live alone.

Or wipe out every human on Earth faster than the Dark Gods could.

Then survival would be guaranteed.

"You're thinking something terrifying, aren't you?"

The razor-sharp perception of Seol-a noona.

"Nothing like that."

I shrugged and played it off.

At the same time, I gained one certainty.

'I could never do something that insane.'

Letting everyone die and living alone.

That wasn't my style.

Justice. Salvation.

The reason my swords in the later stages had skewed in that direction.

Barring Iris, most had managed to save the world somehow.

Each in the best way that suited them.

'But this much is clear.'

Calmly organizing my thoughts, I shared one truth with noona.

"At the very least, the Patriot hasn't caused me any harm."

The messages cascading before my eyes confirmed it.

And…

'Well, this is something.'

Coincidentally.

I realized that this act called 'occupation' was truly enticing.

Paat!

[Ownership of the occupied territory is transferred.]

[All territorial authority is granted to Sword Master Shin Si-woo.]

[Authority to alter the region using Mysteries.]

[Right to designate territorial boundaries and declare independence.]

[Territorial tax collection rights.]

[Power of life and death over residents.]

︙

An endless stream of messages poured in.

* * *

[Northern Republic of Korea: Ruler — Shin Si-woo.]

Was I supposed to become some kind of Northern Grand Duke?

I'd received something preposterous.

'Sovereignty over the territory.'

Gwanghwamun in Seoul came to mind.

An underground bunker with spatial expansion capable of housing 45 million people.

Water and air purification facilities, plus an enormous quantity of Mysteries to sustain them for five years.

A location that current Mystery technology couldn't replicate — wasn't that Gwanghwamun Square?

'Gwanghwamun's owner must be the Patriot.'

I also roughly understood the church — Grand Canyon — in America.

The axis of a barrier that protected the American mainland 24/7, and the focal point from which Jesus cast world-class Authority.

Most likely, each government had ceded these to their most powerful Transcendent.

One fact became clear from this—

'The territory changes depending on how you use it.'

I could reshape North Korea to my liking.

Recreate the worlds my swords had lived in, or gather the things my swords loved and create a livable environment.

'Perhaps…'

Within my territory, my swords might be able to manifest in their true bodies.

This was, quite literally, an enormous possibility.

Just as that thought struck me.

Hwiooooo———.

A single aircraft carrier slowly flew toward me.

Then a portal abruptly appeared.

Crossing the portal into the carrier's [operations room], the Patriot greeted me with a fuss.

"Took you long enough."

"Junior, you said we're hitting Baekdu! I flew ahead, did recon, and cleared the whole path."

I'd seen him just circling around for thirty minutes with bombers launched. Every bit of it.

"Ahem."

"Hrm."

I glanced around — the President and his entourage gathered in the operations room had turned their heads away.

Only the Patriot was talking to me.

"I ran the radar over the Baekdu area — those bastards are vicious! Can't see a thing."

Normally I'd have thought 'Figures!' but…

'Why does it sound like an excuse?'

Something about the Patriot's gaze and every little action kept taking on meaning.

I kept fixating on the strong-weak theory.

'I really hope it's not true.'

Because this was the Patriot.

The unhinged superman who had kept South Korea alive.

As an ordinary citizen before Awakening, I'd had a love-hate relationship with him — that was why the feeling hit harder.

"How's the reward?"

"Genuinely incredible. Gwanghwamun, and then Dokdo too… Senior, what exactly did you do?"

The carrier moved at a leisurely pace for some reason.

Thanks to that, I got a vivid explanation of territorial mechanics.

"You make your imagination real. That's exactly the feeling. It's amazing. Just think it, pay the price, and it's done."

Into Gwanghwamun he'd poured the obsession: 'Korea must NEVER fall!!!'

Into Dokdo he'd poured the hatred: 'If Japan ever invades, I'll massacre every last one!!!'

For each territory, the Patriot had embodied his own brand of justice and implemented it thoroughly, he said.

"Then…"

There was a reason I'd boarded the carrier before even testing my territorial powers.

Priorities existed.

"What on earth did the Chinese do here?"

I was the occupier of this land.

But it was China that had consumed the fallen North Korea in the early days of the Gate crisis.

Back before anything like the Voice of the World existed.

"Those bastards are always the same."

The Patriot's face twisted viciously.

The expression practically screamed 'I could devour them alive and it wouldn't be enough!'

He said nothing more, but I roughly understood.

And now, the time for idle talk was over.

Paat!

[Catalyst for the World Quest — find the Fragments of Impurity.]

[Condition met.]

Mt. Baekdu was growing larger in view.

An enormously vast greatsword lodged in Baekdu's Heaven Lake.

The message had appeared the instant I focused on it.

'Fragments of Impurity.'

The same thing I'd absorbed when killing the British Doctor.

That fragment's name had been 'Shard of the British Empire.'

And a message had appeared then saying the World Quest was in preparation.

It seemed those preparations were now complete.

"No wonder the carrier radar wasn't working. Vicious bastards."

The aircraft carrier hovered above Mt. Baekdu.

A position looking down on the Chinese border.

But nothing was visible.

"Junior, is that the legendary Great Wall of China?"

A jet-black barrier that soared to the sky's very edge.

I doubted it was actually the Great Wall, but…

Anyway, the Patriot continued.

"That one's yours to deal with."

The source of that barrier was unmistakable.

Paat!

[Fragment of Impurity.]

A greatsword lodged in Baekdu's Heaven Lake — as colossal as Jamsil Lotte Tower, as massive as a dragon's lair.

Clearly the exterior of a radiant holy sword, yet the blade was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

On top of that, a grotesquely sinister name had been affixed to the sword.

'The size goes without saying, but the balance and aesthetics are perfect.'

Just like the swords I had designed.

If freed from that darkness, the greatsword would reclaim its original, magnificent form.

"Junior, we need to be careful. Pulling that sword will probably collapse the barrier."

The black barrier dividing China and North Korea was most likely an effect of the [Fragment of Impurity].

"The Chinese Red Army could come pouring in the second it's gone!!!"

I knew.

Even so, I would pull it.

"I trust Lord Patriot to hold China."

That's what I said.

Honestly, the Patriot was a little unreliable.

"If you've seen North Korea's horrors, you can't even fathom how bad China must be!!!"

"I'm leaving the rear to you."

Even so, I would trust the Patriot.

'I'm going.'

A lonely sword driven into the mountain like an iron stake.

Yet its presence blazed so vividly that it was clearly crying out for someone to save it.

* * *

'Hopeless.'

The Patriot watched Shin Si-woo.

That lunatic — leaping from the carrier, gliding through the sky.

Look at the maniac grinning as he dove toward the colossal sword-stake.

'Has feeding time for the demons passed?'

He was clearly brimming with anticipation for war against China.

China had insane population numbers, whatever else you said about them!

That was the problem, and Shin Si-woo didn't understand.

'What if they've got tens of thousands of Necriba-whatevers lined up and waiting?'

The Patriot had fought the Korea-China war hundreds of times.

Every single time, he'd struggled against their 'overwhelming' volume.

China's 'overwhelming volume' was beyond what an ordinary mind could imagine.

'People, weapons, supplies — everything exceeded imagination.'

Armies in the tens of millions.

Tanks lined up by the hundreds of thousands.

Those bastards had absurd quantities even in nuclear war.

There had been times when China fired ten thousand nukes and he'd nearly lost.

'I bought as much time as I could, but three hours was the limit…'

The water was already spilled.

Shin Si-woo's pace was insanely fast.

It seemed to be about feeding the demons, so the Patriot couldn't push back too hard.

'What if the demons miss a meal and he flips out and feeds our citizens instead?'

Paranoid worrying.

Anyway, pulling that stake-sword didn't look like it'd be quick—

"Huh?"

He'd been so sure.

But the instant Shin Si-woo touched the greatsword, change occurred.

"Wh-what the— why did it just vanish?!"

The Patriot asked Yi Sun-sin.

"Unknown. A bizarre object that doesn't even register on radar…"

Yi Sun-sin, Yulgok Yi I, Cheok Jun-gyeong.

The most intellectual beings the Patriot knew couldn't comprehend the phenomenon.

In the seconds it took to exchange those few words, the change grew even more vivid.

Saaaaaaaaaa———.

A bright-yellow wave washed over the jet-black greatsword.

As though being reborn.

A grotesque demonic sword transformed into a sacred holy sword.

Then, suddenly!

Kuung───.

The sword Shin Si-woo had been carrying blazed with wild light.

Red, gray, gold, blue.

The jewels shone in five-colored brilliance.

An utterly overwhelming power could be felt.

Pa-jik, pa-jijik———.

Fractures appeared across the enormous greatsword lodged in Mt. Baekdu.

The cracks widened until the sword finally shattered.

Then it simply vanished.

Jjeong────!!!

"Th-that massive sword just crumbled?"

The axis of the black barrier blocking China had been the greatsword Shin Si-woo had destroyed.

With it gone, the barrier was changing too.

The Patriot shifted his gaze.

"The Great Wall!!!"

The barrier dividing China and North Korea was slowly disappearing.

The first change was the carrier's radar readings.

[1,341]

[3,053]

[10,660]

[31,246]

[101,349]

[303,987]

"Patriot, the enemy count is quite substantial."

"There's a high probability these aren't human entities."

A demonic hellscape.

This had been North Korea's reality.

Then what about China?

Enormous tentacled monsters everywhere, and horrifically transformed undead roaming the continent — that was a given.

"Battle formation for engagement with the Chings!"

The Patriot commanded.

Instantly, the carrier fleet moved.

Wiiiiiiiing———.

The carrier's gun batteries swiveled toward China.

Every bomber launched toward the breach in the barrier.

Beyond that, Yi Sun-sin moved one carrier to the forward position.

"Patriot, authorization!"

"Granted!"

A Constellation's request and the Patriot's authorization — the exercise of overwhelming force.

That was—

<Self-destruct sequence initiated.>

An overwhelming strike that consumed one carrier.

'We need to slash their numbers hard from the start.'

One carrier took 24 hours to regenerate.

Considering the number of bombers each carrier produced, a 24-hour gap was an enormous loss.

Even so, China was an enemy deserving a carrier sacrifice.

'Hundreds of thousands of ultra-massive polluted beasts. Or something even worse.'

Just as the Patriot's tension peaked.

Kurururung-!!!

The barrier shattered and scattered.

Simultaneously, the sky beyond it was revealed.

Past it was…

'A grotesque demonic hell—'

The Patriot swallowed hard and narrowed his eyes.

Because he'd witnessed a profoundly shocking sight.

That place — China — was…

Jjaeng———.

Warm sunlight.

A vivid, clear sky.

Green grass swaying in the breeze — an impossibly natural, perfectly intact landscape stretched out before them.

"How is this possible?"

The Patriot blinked in bewilderment.

He gazed at the Chinese territory visible below Mt. Baekdu.

"Wh-why does it look like that?"

It was an utterly ordinary…

A landscape as beautiful and natural as South Korea's own.