Chapter 150

In ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍truth, after nations expanded to the scale of entire galaxies, there was once a rather optimistic prediction that future battlefields would exist only in outer space.

It ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍wasn't an unreasonable idea.

Whether ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍in media or countless science fiction stories, the romance had always been massive fleet battles fought across the stars, where the age of giant warships and overwhelming firepower had returned.

Reality, ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍however, was different.

With ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the discovery of Hyperspace, the operational range of each fleet expanded dramatically.

At ‍​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the same time, the cost of constructing even a single warship and the increasingly fierce competition over colonial worlds ensured that ground warfare remained the true center of combat.

Because of that, military historians often summarized the nature of modern warfare with a simple phrase.

—Naval warfare of the past has merely moved into the sea called space.

...That was how they put it.

Of course, if one examined it in detail, the two weren't completely identical.

In any case, because of that, even without traveling all the way to the border between the Holy Galactic Empire and the Human Composite State, front lines always existed on planets Outside the Defensive Line.

The reasons varied.

Some planets still harbored stubborn remnants of terrorist groups waging guerrilla warfare.

Others remained divided between forces loyal to the Governor-General's Office and local warlords after prolonged civil wars.

Some had become buffer zones against the Imperial Army, forcing everyone to maintain a fragile balance.

Others had no choice because swarms of space beasts—whether they were Creatures or something else entirely—periodically descended upon them.

「Lumbini Front」

Strictly speaking, the Lumbini Front had originally been established to prepare for the Dawn Church's invasion of Pure Land.

Now, however, its role had been reduced to stopping the scattered Creature attacks.

After all, no one would have constructed a defensive line stretching five kilometers merely to fend off wild beasts.

Not just the Lumbini Front.

Many of Ju Planet's front lines had originally been built during the period when the Dawn Church had still posed a genuine threat.

In other words, their importance had greatly diminished.

At most, only a single battalion—around five hundred soldiers—was stationed across the five-kilometer front.

Some outposts weren't even manned.

The enemy they expected wasn't intelligent life.

It was merely space beasts.

There was neither the capability nor the reason to invest significant resources.

To the colony planets, Creatures were nothing more than slightly troublesome alien animals.

No matter how much the Ministry of National Defense raised the hazard level and urged preparations...

The only Creatures that ever appeared on colony planets were Mutants and the occasional Pawn.

Hmm... Is that all?

That was why most of the people who dismissed the Ministry's actions as overreacting came from colony planets.

The soldiers of Ju Planet were no different.

The things they truly feared weren't beasts...

But the fanatics of the Dawn Church charging toward them while wearing bomb vests blessed by the Dawn.

“...Shit.”

Yes.

That was what they had believed.

But they paid the price for that complacency in the worst possible way.

WEEEEEEEEEE—

As urgent sirens blared, the officers and noncommissioned officers on duty rushed toward the front.

The soldiers resting in the barracks hurriedly threw on their uniforms before taking cover inside the trenches and bunkers.

“What is it?”

“Why did the alarm suddenly...?”

“Huh?”

Amid the bewildered murmurs...

Someone let out a quiet gasp.

Because the silhouettes slowly emerging along the horizon were unlike any Creatures they had ever seen.

“C-Creatures?”

“Those? S-Something's different...”

Their reactions might have seemed exaggerated.

But they weren't.

Running through the hazy curtain of the moonlit plains shrouded in darkness were purple exoskeletons.

Hundreds of crimson eyes glowed in the night.

What could one even call such a sight?

—Grrrrrrrr!

—KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Even the most seasoned soldiers instinctively tensed.

Accompanied by horrifying roars...

The gigantic bodies towering well over two meters radiated a primal terror that had nothing to do with their numbers alone.

“W-Why now...?”

Some soldiers had grown familiar with the occasional Pawn.

But the beings following behind them were utterly unknown to everyone stationed on the front.

Their enormous bodies were covered in purple exoskeletons resembling medieval armor.

No matter how one looked at them...

They were terror incarnate.

Perhaps because of that...

Realizing something was terribly wrong, the field officers and noncommissioned officers immediately called over the communications soldiers and began issuing frantic orders.

“Request reinforcements from the rear!”

“Where's the Battalion Commander?”

“W-We can't reach him!”

“A-And because of the large-scale reward leave the Battalion Commander authorized a few days ago...”

“Damn it! Of all times... He's useless when it matters most!”

But the situation had already begun racing toward disaster.

The field commanders, finally regaining their senses, desperately struggled to regain control.

Unfortunately for them...

Everything had already begun spiraling toward the worst possible outcome.

A massive Creature invasion with virtually no intelligence.

One-third of the battalion absent due to the sudden reward leave.

Not only Battalion Commander Myo Cheong, but numerous Special Operations officers and noncommissioned officers—including Staff Sergeant Myo Seol-rin—were also absent.

Yes...

If someone said it looked as though everything had been scripted for defeat...

Would that merely be paranoia?

Whether it was paranoia or reality...

The roughly three hundred and fifty soldiers and ten Special Operations officers standing on that battlefield had only limited choices left.

“Hold your positions!”

“No matter how big they are, they're still beasts! Open fire!”

In the end...

They made the noblest...

And most foolish...

Choice a soldier could make.

BOOOOOOM!

The obsolete artillery batteries already scheduled for retirement from the Federal Army opened fire simultaneously.

A barrage of shells crashed into the advancing Creatures.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amid the deafening explosions came the pained cries of the monsters.

The Special Operations officers, who had already been preparing themselves for the worst, couldn't help but sigh in relief.

“Did it work?!”

“I knew it!”

No matter how enormous they were...

They were still living creatures.

They genuinely believed that.

Or perhaps they simply refused to acknowledge that planets Inside the Defensive Line could ever be devastated by “mere beasts.”

Perhaps because of that...

Even the Captain temporarily commanding the battlefield shouted with renewed hope.

“Don't let your guard down! Continue the bombardm—!”

Or rather...

He tried to.

Because at that very moment...

A Pawn burst through the lingering flames and thick dust of the explosions and landed directly before him in a single leap.

“—Ah?”

The Captain wore nothing more than an ordinary brown uniform.

He wasn't even capable of sensing Psionic Energy.

Overwhelmed by the Pawn's enormous shadow filling his vision...

He could only let out a faint gasp.

“Guhk—!”

Together with his dying scream...

The Captain directing the artillery was impaled upon the Pawn's lance-like arm and lifted into the air like shattered glass caught on a spike.

Crushed organs and streams of blood poured from the mangled hole in his abdomen.

As blood flooded his half-destroyed lungs...

He drowned in it while staring directly into those sinister crimson eyes.

“Uh... Aah... Ugh...”

Clack. Clack.

His teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Not because of pain.

Not because of rage.

—Grrrrrrrr.

The only thing the Captain felt as he looked into the Pawn's terrifying eyes...

Was endless fear.

The overwhelming terror that every living creature instinctively experienced.

And...

That was the last thing he ever saw.

KRAAAAAK!

Unable to withstand gravity while hanging from the long spear, his abdomen stretched apart like barely melted cheese before tearing completely in half.

His upper and lower body separated...

And fell into the dirt like discarded trash.

“...Ah.”

Only then...

Did the Special Operations officers finally understand.

Why Instructor Jin Crow had worn such a grim expression during his inspection before leaving without another word.

Why...

The Ministry of National Defense feared those beasts so greatly.

—Grrrrrrrr.

“S-Save m—”

KRAAAAAK!

They...

Were death itself...

Slowly approaching from the far side of the galaxy.

“...Do you have any idea what you've done?”

“......”

Myo Jin-cheon, Myo Cheong's adjutant and a Staff Sergeant, stared at him with veins bulging across his rigid face.

The Myo Clan were naturally sensitive and short-tempered.

However, unlike most of his clan, Myo Jin-cheon possessed remarkable self-control.

The elders of the family had personally assigned him to remain by his younger relative's side to keep his reckless behavior in check.

For someone like him to be grinding his teeth in grief and fury...

Only proved just how utterly unforgivable Myo Cheong's actions were.

“......”

Ignoring the rebuke completely, Myo Cheong calmly continued sipping his tea.

But Myo Jin-cheon had noticed.

Though he desperately tried to appear composed...

The teacup trembling ever so slightly in his hand betrayed him.

...Instinctively, he knows it.

He knows he's completely screwed.

He had accepted this adjutant position only because the family elders had practically forced it upon him.

They had even compensated him with money and land.

There had been a reason he resisted until the very end.

From the outside, Myo Cheong appeared handsome and capable.

But to someone who had known him since childhood...

He was nothing more than an immature fool.

Impulsive. Delusional. Greedy. Completely incapable of understanding his own limitations.

Yet somehow convinced he's some brilliant strategist.

The perfect description for him was the useless noble-born villain from one of those Human Composite State dramas.

To the point that even the officers and NCOs who had once supported Myo Cheong eventually came to Myo Jin-cheon—his own relative—to complain behind his back.

After Myo Seol-ah broke off their engagement, Myo Jin-cheon had thought the shock had finally matured him.

He had been mistaken.

Rather than becoming a better person...

He had regressed into something less than human.

“You gave the Dawn Church a route of advance to weaken the Governor-General's forces, and in the process intended to reduce the Governor-General's influence to increase the Ju people's political power? Since the Dawn Church would lose in the end anyway?”

“...Yes, Staff Sergeant.”

“Ha... Fuck...”

He didn't even know where to begin criticizing him.

“So that's why you handed out massive reward leave? To the field commanders, NCOs, and veteran soldiers?”

No.

A normal person couldn't even imagine such narrow-minded, self-serving reasoning.

He gave up trying to understand.

Along with the last shred of patience he had been desperately holding onto.

“You insane bastard!”

“Guh!”

Myo Jin-cheon lunged forward and punched Myo Cheong squarely in the face.

Startled, Myo Cheong tried to fight back.

But unlike him, who had neglected training while indulging in his own vanity...

Myo Jin-cheon had mastered every martial art taught by the National Army.

BAM!

Leather cracked beneath his fist.

Myo Cheong's cheek instantly turned crimson.

He didn't even have time to retaliate.

Though currently his subordinate because of the elders' arrangements...

Myo Jin-cheon had practically been Myo Cheong's childhood bully.

“Guh... Cough!”

After driving several more punches into his face...

Only when ugly bruises finally blossomed across Myo Cheong's handsome features did Myo Jin-cheon barely regain enough composure to stop.

Pressing bloodstained fingers against his temple, he finally abandoned all attempts to remain polite.

“This will come to light no matter what. No—I'll be the one to expose it. I won't let the entire Myo Clan be cursed because of your damned childish pride and inferiority complex!”

“H-Hyung? Just wait a little longer. Everything will work o—!”

“Shut your damn mouth before I rip it off! This is treason! Insurrection! Collusion with the enemy!”

He had always known this worthless idiot would eventually cause a disaster.

The only things he'd ever possessed were his bloodline, indulgent parents, and endless greed.

To the point that he had even manipulated his parents in an attempt to obtain Myo Seol-ah, who had never been interested in him...

“Ha... Forget it.”

It was already over.

He didn't like that Myo Seol-ah had ended up with that filthy member of the Lang Clan.

But at least her younger sister, Myo Seol-rin, had grown into a respectable member of the Myo Clan.

Even she was a hundred times better than Myo Cheong.

“...Damn it.”

Looking down coldly at Myo Cheong, who still had no idea what he'd done wrong and was now crying in humiliation...

Myo Jin-cheon's hand unconsciously rested upon the revolver holstered in his military harness.

The cold steel brushed against his fingertips.

If it were up to him...

He wanted nothing more than to give this vermin—lower even than those Lang Clan mongrels—a lead bullet straight through the skull.

But in the end...

He couldn't bring himself to draw the revolver.

Instead, he spoke quietly.

“Don't think your parents' influence will save you this time. Neither I nor the rest of the clan will stand by your side anymore.”

He looked at Myo Cheong one last time with nothing but contempt and disappointment.

Then he walked toward the door, intending to salvage what little he still could.

Or rather...

He tried to open it.

Creeeak.

At that very moment...

Before the old hinges could fully groan open...

A familiar voice reached his ears.

“Oh my, where are you going, Staff Sergeant Myo Jin-cheon?”

“Seol-rin?”

The cold sensation pressing against his temple.

Click.

Had he not heard the heavy, chilling sound of a hammer being cocked...

“—Ah.”

His mind, still frozen in rage, failed to react to the sudden ambush.

BANG!

That...

Was the last thing he ever saw.

Thud.

Myo Jin-cheon's body collapsed like a balloon that had lost all its air.

“You couldn't dodge it, Jin-cheon Oppa.”

Squatting casually before his corpse, Myo Seol-rin playfully poked his cheek several times with the pistol that had just killed her own clansman.

Then she waved cheerfully toward the dumbfounded Myo Cheong.

“Nice to meet you, traitor.”

At that very moment...

A shadow well over two meters tall fell across Myo Seol-rin.

“So this is Myo Cheong?”

A woman's husky voice echoed through the room.

The overwhelming presence stepping out from the shadows of the dark hallway caused Myo Cheong's shoulders to tremble and his mind to go completely blank.

Yet Myo Seol-rin merely fell to the floor in rapturous devotion.

“You've arrived, Heavenly Immortal.”

It was a voice that was both haunting...

And intoxicating.

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