Chapter 698: Aftermath Processing

“There are monsters here too!”

“They’ve captured quite a lot. First, determine whether communication is possible.”

“Yes, sir!”

The monsters inside the Church’s internal facilities.

Armed Legion soldiers advanced against them.

“This wall... I’m certain of it. It feels like there’s something beyond it as well.”

While battles between Church believers and monsters unfolded in one area—

Elsewhere, an engineer muttered those words while running a hand along a wall.

Legion soldiers carrying specialized equipment approached it.

BOOOOOM!!!

The moment a hole was blasted through the wall—

A dust-covered hidden space was revealed beyond what had appeared to be nothing but solid stone.

“Does anyone know anything about this place?”

“......No. Most likely this place as well.”

“So it’s another hidden space secretly built by that System. Proceed carefully!”

The underground temple was vast and unbelievably complex.

The underground temple had not been constructed by the Church leadership, but according to the System’s own design.

Its structure was so complicated that not only ordinary believers, but even the awakened beings who helped construct it—and even the Church’s leaders themselves—had failed to fully understand it.

“They built an absurd amount of this crap. We’ve been exploring for ages already, and new spaces are still showing up.”

Corporal Lee Minjae, who was managing the troops, approached me with a sigh.

I shrugged and agreed.

After the battle against that “System” ended—

The Legion had been devoting itself to searching through and processing every part of the Church’s facilities.

“It almost feels busier than the actual battle.”

“Normally, postwar cleanup isn’t this complicated... but this time, the enemy was a human-built organization.”

Not only had it been an enormous faction—

Unlike ordinary monsters, it had been a force created by humans, making it difficult to investigate because of how complicated everything was.

Even the aftermath alone had become a task requiring a tremendous amount of time.

'Normally, we wouldn’t have needed to work this frantically....'

I looked at the system window before my eyes.

[Occupation War]

[Large Region - ROK]

[Steel Legion - 99%]

Right now—

Most of the Korean Peninsula had become territory controlled by the Legion and allied forces under the Legion’s influence.

The system was surprisingly flexible in certain areas, so it recognized the territories of subordinate allies as belonging to the Legion as well.

Even the territories that had originally belonged to the Church were no exception.

After defeating that System and subjugating the Church—

The territory occupied by the Church... nearly one-third of all South Korea, had become ours.

'Except for this place.'

According to the system’s judgment, the true core of this land was that underground temple.

And since we still had not fully grasped the structure of the temple itself, it apparently did not consider us true occupiers yet.

Because of that, we were currently forced to focus our efforts here.

'A task that’ll consume at least several more days.'

The soldiers and I continued devoting ourselves to that work.

And while we were doing so—

“Sergeant Shin?”

“Hm?”

“There are some people who said they wanted to meet you, Sergeant.”

I had visitors.

When I looked past the soldier who had spoken—

It was easy to recognize who they were.

Ears attached not beside the head, but on top.

Long tails and strangely fluffy hair.

“Looks like the situation requiring us is more or less over now.”

“So we’ll be returning to the Martial Hall.”

The five beastkin who had assisted the Legion.

They had come to see us before departing.

***

“You’re already leaving?”

“Senior Sister is right. There’s no need for you to rush back so quickly.”

As the five beastkin announced they would return to the Martial Hall—

Two people stopped them.

The beastkin martial arts instructors, Miho and Seohwan.

“If you return now, it’ll probably be a very long time before you come out again.”

“You should stay a little longer while you’re already here.”

Fundamentally, they were fellow disciples trained beneath the same master.

And beyond that...

They were among the very few survivors who shared the same homeland that had already been destroyed.

The attachment and emotional bonds between them likely went beyond imagination.

The two instructors who had left the Martial Hall to assist the Legion clearly wanted their fellow disciples, whom they had not seen in a long time, to remain a little longer.

“Mmm... hearing even Senior Sister say that does weaken my resolve a bit....”

The figure who appeared to hold the highest position here—

The woman with sheep horns, Miyang, spoke.

“But I still think we need to go back.”

“Why?”

“It’s not because we dislike spending time with Senior Sister or Junior Brother. It’s just...”

Scratching her cheek awkwardly, she continued.

“There’s... something we need to deal with at the Martial Hall.”

“......?”

The two martial arts instructors looked surprised.

No—not only them.

'There’s a problem at the Martial Hall?'

Even I, listening nearby, widened my eyes.

“Actually, Junior Brother Ujin recently discovered a small problem....”

Ujin.

Wasn’t that the man who had looked kind of horse-faced?

From what I remembered, he had simply seemed like a fairly calm and refined person.

“Senior Brother U...!?”

“Is that truly alright?”

Seohwan and Miho’s reactions after hearing that name were strange.

They looked genuinely worried, as though any problem discovered by Ujin could not possibly be trivial.

'...Come to think of it, I don’t really know the roles people in that Martial Hall hold.'

Even Miho herself was like that.

Her combat strength was not especially high, yet for entirely different reasons she held an extremely elevated position within the Martial Hall.

Since that was true for Miho, these people likely were not judged purely by combat strength either.

Judging by their reactions...

That man named Ujin whom I had met before might also hold some important role.

“We had originally been trying to resolve the problem before General Kim Hyeon-seok’s request arrived.”

“We came because it concerned our benefactor’s troubles, but... the reason we left Ujin and Jeochil behind at the Martial Hall was because of that issue.”

“Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok originally requested the assistance of all martial artists in the Martial Hall, but the situation there made it impossible to completely abandon it.”

At those words—

Naturally, the two instructors looked at them with concern.

“A problem... Is everything alright?”

“If it’s serious enough that we also need to return to the Martial Hall—”

“We were managing somehow among ourselves, so there’s no need to worry excessively. More precisely....”

But at that moment—

The dog beastkin man who had been speaking with a friendly expression—

Gyeonsul’s gaze shifted toward me.

“......Mm.”

And then—

The man closed his mouth again.

After briefly falling into thought, he smiled lightly and said to Miho:

“Anyway. We’ll explain the details later if you visit the Martial Hall.”

“Later?”

“Yes. By then, the problem may already have been resolved.”

At their attitude—

I quietly looked at the beastkin.

[Seohwan]

[Lv.51 Martial Artist]

[Miho]

[Lv.56 Martial Scholar]

The two martial arts instructors.

They had chosen to help humanity on this land.

That was why, when I rewrote the system’s settings, they too had become awakened beings.

Right now, both of them had become far stronger than before thanks to the system’s stat support, various skills and traits, and all the enhancements granted by the system itself.

[New Race]

[Beastkin of the Myriad Beast Realm]

Their names had appeared in the “Patch Notes” as well.

The Myriad Beast Realm was probably the name of the homeland they said had already been destroyed.

Meaning beastkin were absolutely capable of existing in an environment where awakening was possible...

[Miyang]

[Beastkin, Sheep Human]

[Shin Jong]

[Beastkin, Monkey Human]

[Sarin]

[Beastkin, Snake Human]

But those five beastkin still had not awakened.

...The reason was fairly obvious.

'The condition I set for becoming awakened was “those who wish to live together upon this land.”'

They held no attachment to this land.

They had no intention of living alongside us.

Nor any will to continue living here.

Within the tiny remaining fragments of their ruined homeland—

They wished only to spend time with their fellow disciples while excluding everyone else.

And eventually grow old and die there.

That was why they had not become awakened.

'...I should probably just be grateful that Miho and Seohwan awakened at all.'

Originally, those two had held the same outlook as the others.

Even teaching martial arts to us had merely been repayment for a favor.

But it seemed that while teaching the Legion soldiers, their thoughts had gradually changed.

'What a shame.'

The beastkin’s physical abilities were fundamentally nerfed by my cooking.

I had lowered their stats as much as possible without the world itself “sealing” them...

And since the standard applied equally to everyone, their basic physical abilities had become mostly similar.

The thing determining their true strength was literally skill.

Their abilities likely did not fall short of Seohwan’s at all.

It was simply unfortunate that talents of that level had no intention of joining the Legion.

“Well... anyway, we came by to say goodbye before leaving.”

Then—

They looked at me and spoke.

“Somehow, it feels like we spent most of our time fighting you.”

“But it’s still true that you are our benefactor. We couldn’t very well leave without saying goodbye, could we?”

It certainly was regrettable that they were leaving.

But then again...

'Even if this involved someone they considered a benefactor, they still risked their lives to help us despite having no desire to live alongside us.'

They could easily have ignored the request.

Yet they honored the Legion’s call.

Even while dealing with problems of their own, they prioritized repaying a favor over resolving those issues.

Thanks to their assistance, the Legion had managed not to lose while I was acting as the Pope.

And at the same time, I had been able to return as Commander once again.

Their loyalty and integrity truly were admirable.

“Thank you.”

“Haha. Then our debt is settled.”

Here, offering sincere thanks was the only proper response.

And at my gratitude, the dog beastkin Gyeonsul accepted it on behalf of the group.

“Then we’ll be going—”

Just as they turned to leave—

The Legion was hardly in a relaxed situation either.

Once they departed, chances were high we would not see them again for a long time.

And while I was thinking as much—

“...Ah. Come to think of it.”

One of them—

Shin Jong turned back and addressed one of the soldiers.

“You. Was it Private First Class Jeon Gwangsang?”

“...It’s Corporal Jeon Gwangil.”

“Ahh, right. Corporal Jeon Gwangil. I primarily use a staff myself, but I’ve always had an interest in fist and kicking arts too.”

He looked at Gwangil and said:

“What you showed back then was incredible.”

“......?”

“If we meet again someday, I hope we can at least spar lightly.”

Leaving behind those words—

The group turned and walked away again.

“What he showed back then?”

Watching their backs, I spoke.

“What exactly did he show them for those people to call it incredible? Their stats are weakened right now, but originally they were monsters.”

“Ah... it was probably the left hand thing from when he fought you, Sergeant Shin.”

“When he fought me?”

...Left hand?

When I first heard that, I had no idea what he was talking about.

“You know... the ‘left hand’ advice you gave him.”

“...Ah.”

Something that had made absolutely no sense to me.

So I had just tossed the vague advice at Gwangil and told him to figure it out himself.

“If it weren’t for that advice... restoring Sergeant Shin to normal would’ve been impossible.”

“...Seriously?”

I was the one who had been punched back to my senses by him.

Yet I hadn’t even realized that had only been possible because of my advice.

Which made sense.

Because the punch Corporal Jeon Gwangil used at the end of that fight—

Had reached a realm that someone with my level of “martial arts” couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

“Now that I think about it, I should ask.”

Unlike me—

Corporal Jeon Gwangil looked at me with shining eyes.

“How exactly did you give me that advice back then?”

“Huh...?”

“Neither I myself, nor the two martial arts instructors, nor even those five beastkin ever pointed out anything about my left hand while watching me fight. Sergeant Shin was the only one who noticed and advised me.”

Those five beastkin were undoubtedly supreme martial artists.

Even if their physical abilities had declined, their knowledge remained intact.

And beyond that—

Our martial arts instructor Miho.

Though weak in direct combat, she possessed extraordinary knowledge in the academic study of martial arts itself.

Yet even people like them had failed to notice the flaw in Corporal Jeon Gwangil.

And somehow I had identified and pointed it out.

'How would that even be possible?'

This guy’s martial arts had surpassed mine long ago.

There was no way someone like me could point out flaws in someone stronger than myself.

“It wasn’t me.”

“......?”

Even so, the reason I had been able to give him that advice—

Was not because I had personally noticed the problem.

“Mirinae...”

I abruptly shut my mouth.

Even if I said that, he would have no idea what I meant.

And if I wanted to explain it, I’d first have to start with an old story—

“...Just now.”

Right as I was thinking that—

“You just now.”

“What... did you say?”

The ones [N O V E L I G H T] who had been walking away to return to the Martial Hall—

The five beastkin—

Had turned back toward me with expressions of complete shock.