Chapter 148

“Cough! Cough!”

Black smoke, thick with the stench of blood and burning flesh, overflowed through the narrow alley, barely wide enough for three grown men to stand side by side.

“Is everyone alright!”

Lecom Ging irritably smacked the left arm joint that was creaking from the impact before roughly brushing back his blood-soaked bangs.

Soon, voices came from beyond the smoke.

“......Cough! Captain Myo Seol-ah. I'm alright.”

“Captain Lang Wei. My heart has been wounded.”

“......Are you alright?”

“Ah, uh? Well... Yeah.”

At Captain Lang Wei's melodramatic complaint, Myo Seol-ah hurried over to him.

“Eek. Instructor, I'm injured. My PTSD is acting up.”

“Is everyone alright?”

“......Ptoo. Other than swallowing a little blood, I'm fine.”

“No abnormalities.”

Jin Crow casually ignored Obia's whining and instead checked on the Military Police.

Watching the scene, Lecom Ging unconsciously let out a dry chuckle while irritably wiping the blood trickling down his chin.

Nor was he the only one.

Beyond the gradually dispersing smoke, everyone else was equally drenched in blood.

At least those wearing black military uniforms didn't look too bad.

The blood simply flowed along the contours of their heads and faces, while the black uniforms concealed most of the stains.

But Obia and the Military Police wore white uniforms.

Completely drenched in blood, they looked grotesque beyond words.

No one is injured.

The blood covering them all belonged to the Dawn Church fanatics who had turned themselves into human bombs.

Even after everything he had witnessed over the years, it was still a madness he couldn't understand.

No matter how important one's faith or doctrine was...

To willingly strap on a bomb vest and throw away one's life...

Bastards are insane.

He had never liked them to begin with, but after experiencing the attack firsthand, he found himself despising them even more.

Nor was he alone.

Whether it was Lang Wei joking around to calm Myo Seol-ah...

Or Jin Crow silently checking on the Military Police before drawing his sword...

Every face carried unmistakable tension.

Naturally so.

Even if it was only the nightlife district...

An attack directed at them was no different from an attack on the Governor-General's Office itself.

An assassination attempt on the Vice Governor?

This was on an entirely different scale from tossing a few bombs onto a platform.

Because of that, they all met each other's eyes at once, arriving at the same conclusion.

First...

Return to the Governor-General's Office.

Whether it was the famous local restaurant or dinner no longer mattered.

Anyone could figure it out after a moment's thought.

A terrorist attack had been carried out against the Human Composite State's Vice Governor and an instructor from the Central Special Operations Academy.

Did they really think the Dawn Church had left the Governor-General's Office untouched?

Cats would sooner give up fish.

Having spent over five years on this planet, there was one absolute truth Lecom Ging had come to understand.

Whenever the Dawn Church started a fire...

They made sure it became an inferno.

Of course, this was the first time that inferno had been directed straight at both himself and the Governor-General's Office.

—Wh-What's happening?

—It's a terrorist attack! The Dawn Church!

—Aaaah!

Right then, a series of explosions echoed from beyond the alley, accompanied by terrified screams.

Without another word, they all left the alley with grim expressions.

Meanwhile, Obia did not immediately follow.

Instead, she poked one of the Dawn Church terrorists' mangled corpses with her finger before quietly muttering,

“When a priest explodes... that's a priest bomb.”

“......Haa.”

Watching her, Jin Crow let out a sigh filled not with irritation anymore...

But resignation.

Then he grabbed the back of her head and dragged her away.

Why is the Dawn Church this powerful?

The very first thought that entered Baek Hwi-young's mind after arriving at the platform and overhearing the passing soldiers' conversation was exactly that.

Ju Planet was a place he had visited without fail in every previous regression.

As such, despite the memories of past regressions gradually fading, his recollection of this planet remained exceptionally vivid.

The Dawn Church had always been in the same condition.

On the verge of collapse due to the power struggle among the Immortal-class High Priests.

Outwardly, they continued carrying out terrorism and sabotage.

But over time, they had increasingly been suppressed by the Governor-General's Office precisely because of that.

Their forces were already shrinking rapidly...

Yet they insisted on fighting among themselves for power.

How could the organization possibly function properly?

Whether it was a Divine Relic or anything else...

Without internal unity, they would never be able to recover it.

Thanks to that...

He had always obtained his beloved weapon, Gae Assail, without much difficulty.

...But now, a variable had emerged.

Standing in a back alley beneath the night sky, Baek Hwi-young viciously chewed on the end of his cigarette while reviewing the information.

The Dawn Church's civil conflict has ended, and they've even completed internal reforms.

The unauthorized watch on his wrist displayed information purchased from a local informant at an exorbitant price.

They've realized Gae Assail's true nature.

Originally...

It should have remained inside a certain researcher's warehouse of stolen goods.

However, because his arrival had been delayed...

The researcher died.

The Gae Assail the Dawn Church had attempted to steal had instead fallen into the Governor-General's Office's hands.

And Instructor Jin Crow had somehow been dragged into the entire affair.

Suddenly, Dokgo Ran's words resurfaced in his mind.

—Surely the Instructor won't get caught up in another incident, right?

Baek Hwi-young scratched his characteristic ash-gray hair and let out a bitter chuckle.

What exactly did you get dragged into this time, Instructor?

After thinking that far, he casually flicked the cigarette that had burned to the filter onto the ground and crushed it beneath his combat boot.

Then he shifted his gaze toward the final page of the report.

—Pause.

His indifferent eyes froze the instant they landed on the words.

Quietly, he read the line aloud.

“Suspected involvement of the Red Hand. Evidence of Black Iron smuggling.”

Removing the cap pulled low over his head, he lit another cigarette to ease the suffocating feeling in his chest.

Others might dismiss it as merely fragmentary intelligence.

But Baek Hwi-young knew all too well the sort of atrocities the Red Hand was capable of.

To him...

Those words carried an entirely different meaning.

They're mass-producing Special Operations equipment. Preparing for the large-scale coup that never existed before.

It was a goal that had failed in every previous regression.

Whether he had intended it or not...

He himself had always prevented it.

But in this regression...

Too many things had changed.

Even he could no longer be certain.

Was the Red Hand's coup still nearly impossible...

Or would they become yet another enemy of humanity this time?

...One thought led to another.

There was no benefit in overthinking it.

So Baek Hwi-young decided to focus only on the immediate objectives before him.

Recover Gae Assail. Kill Ean Yung.

The first was the primary objective.

The second was merely an additional goal.

To begin with, with everything having gone this far off course...

He wasn't even certain Ean Yung was currently on this planet.

Thinking that far, Baek Hwi-young casually exhaled the cigarette that had burned all the way down, scorching his lips, before disappearing into the crowd.

If Gae Assail has been recovered, it's most likely inside the Security Division's classified vault.

Opening the vault itself wouldn't be difficult.

In the past, Captain Lang Wei had personally told him the password.

The infiltration route was no different.

He also remembered Lang Wei personally explaining the weaknesses in the Governor-General's Office's security.

Obtain a military uniform. Scale the wall after midnight and infiltrate.

Ironically...

Obtaining the uniform might prove the hardest part.

It didn't have to be perfect.

It only needed to look convincing enough that anyone encountering him in the corridors would pass without suspicion.

Search the Governor-General's Office first. Finish everything within two days and leave this planet.

Gae Assail more than deserved to be called a Divine Relic.

No matter how many regressions passed...

It was virtually the only existence that always remembered him.

Even if he were stopped during platform inspections...

It would hide itself within subspace of its own accord.

As for Ean Yung...

Even the phrase if possible was too generous.

He must die.

Not only because of his abilities...

But because a man with an unknown past like his was a vengeance-driven monster beyond redemption.

Ean Yung hated the Human Composite State.

No...

Hate wasn't enough.

Absolute loathing.

Utter rejection.

To Ean Yung...

The fate of the galaxy held less value than the life of a passing ant.

Wasn't that precisely why...

Despite possessing strength on the level of a Penta Gear, he stubbornly clung to the rank of Sergeant?

...Baek Hwi-young couldn't understand it.

It differed from Major General Kim Cheol for an entirely different reason.

As though that period had been the brightest and most glorious chapter of his life...

Ean Yung never once let go of the rank of Sergeant.

Perhaps...

It was nostalgia.

Once I obtain Gae Assail... I can kill him.

Quad Gear against Penta Gear.

The difference between them was overwhelming.

But with Gae Assail in his hands...

It was possible.

Ean Yung knew nothing about Baek Hwi-young.

But Baek Hwi-young knew Ean Yung all too well.

Step. Step—

Lost in thought, he walked onward without purpose.

Before he realized it...

His footsteps had carried him to the front of the Governor-General's Office.

Lifting the brim of his cap slightly, he looked up at the Governor-General's Office building, its architecture blending local and modern influences.

And then—

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

A blinding flash erupted from the lobby, followed by a deafening explosion.

That wasn't all.

—GAAAAAH!

—S-Save me!

Terrified screams echoed from inside.

“Wh-What's happening!?”

“The Dawn Church!”

“Shit! Move inside!”

The guards hurriedly sealed the Governor-General's Office's main entrance before rushing inside.

Creeeak—

Beyond the massive doors closing with a heavy groan...

The scene was nothing short of hell itself, where madness and carnage intertwined.

Shattered glass from the explosion, soaked in blood, drifted over the Governor-General's flowerbeds like crimson petals.

Chunks of human flesh lodged in the shattered trees swayed like fruit before dripping hot, scarlet juice.

“......This is.”

Watching the horrifying spectacle, Baek Hwi-young failed to even notice his cap being blown away by the blast.

All he could do was murmur quietly,

“Hell Screen.”

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Another explosion erupted from the building directly behind it.

—For the Dawn!

That fanatical cry...

Was exactly the same as the one he had once witnessed with his own eyes.

At that same time...

Standing atop a high hill overlooking the entire Lumbini Front was a white-haired man dressed impeccably in ceremonial robes of deep golden color, resembling the Dawn itself.

Staring at the eerily quiet Lumbini Front, he slowly flicked his long tongue as his white pupils gleamed.

“How beautiful the nightscape of Pure Land is. Our lost holy land.”

The corners of his mouth were stained with saliva and white powder.

Yet not a single member of the Dawn Church found the sight unsightly.

Naturally.

“Huuu—.”

That powder...

Was undoubtedly the medium that connected the Dawn with the frail Ju people.

As proof...

The white-haired man surveyed the battlefield where the holy war would soon unfold with clearer reason and sharper eyes than ever before.

“How tragic. That we must rely upon hideous, vulgar, pitiful beasts to reclaim Pure Land.”

“But there is no helping it. This too is our original sin. A necessary evil to fulfill the great work the Dawn revealed for the future.”

After speaking those words, he respectfully and almost sorrowfully addressed the red-haired Sergeant standing one step behind him.

“Please show them our goodwill, Sergeant.”

“......Tsk.”

Naturally, Ean Yung's dark eyes twisted in disgust upon seeing him.

Nevertheless, he simply nodded toward the platoon's deputy commander beside him.

Creeeeak—

At that moment...

The locks on countless containers secretly transported beneath the hill clicked open.

Then, a horde of creatures emerged.

—Grrrrrrrr...

There were well over several hundred of them.

—Grrrrrrrrrr...

Knights and Pawns.

The Creatures briefly surveyed their surroundings before turning their attention toward Pure Land, where explosions continued to erupt.

—GROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

Without a commanding individual, Creatures were nothing more than beasts driven by boundless hostility toward humanity.

As though proving exactly that...

They bared their greedy fangs without a moment's hesitation and charged straight toward Pure Land.

Watching them quietly...

Ean Yung turned away with complete indifference before addressing the white-haired man—

Immortal-class High Priest Sa Hyeong-rang.

“As agreed, we will interfere no further. I will pursue my own objective.”

“Of course.”

Sa Hyeong-rang smiled brightly at the departing Ean Yung.

Then, before every Dawn Church believer silently bowing behind him, he spread both arms as wide as possible before quietly declaring,

“At last... the Holy War begins!”

It was...

A madness from which there could no longer be any return.