Chapter 702: Before the Barrier

“Like my comrades and I said when we parted ways...... we were wandering around searching for the cause that made this world become like this. We had some results of our own.”

We boarded the boat.

And crossed the sea, rapidly heading somewhere.

“Results?”

“A person of your caliber might already know this, but on the day this destruction began.......”

Kwak Changsu pointed toward the sky with his finger.

“Someone intentionally opened a ‘hole’ in this world.”

“......!”

“Through that hole, destruction began flooding into this land.”

At those words.

I recalled the memories that had originated from that “flesh.”

The day of destruction.

Right before the awakenings of the awakened began.......

The worms gnawing away at the barrier of the world.

“After learning that fact, my comrades and I searched places where traces connected to the ‘outside’ could be felt, in order to learn who the being that opened that hole was, and what its purpose was.”

At his continued words.

Honestly, I had no choice but to be greatly surprised.

“I don’t know why that being opened a hole in our world. But that being is definitely somewhere ‘outside.’”

Even I had only learned about that “hole” not long ago.

Even within the Legion, only a very small number of people had grasped that level of information.

Even then, most of that information had originated from me.

‘People who devoted everything to finding the cause of why this world became like this.’

The result of that obsession was precisely this.

“After that, we searched for traces of that outside.”

However.

His words did not end there.

“Regardless, this world already had a hole opened in it and became connected to the outside. But then a thought occurred to me.”

“......?”

“Could it really be that the only thing outside that hole...... is the being that opened it?”

He had even.

Guessed the existence of those ‘beings outside.’

His eyes shone with a strange light.

“I started thinking there was no way the only thing out there was the bastard who opened a hole in our world. If so, then perhaps one of them might know who that son of a bitch who opened the hole is.”

Stories that even I might never have properly understood until now had I not met Mirinae and heard the explanation.

Changsu had figured those things out through his own efforts.

“This world already has a hole connected to the outside. I don’t know the exact reason that hole was opened...... but it surely wasn’t a meaningless hole. I thought there might be beings peering inside through that hole.”

“.......”

“So we searched for traces of them. And as a result.......”

The rapidly moving boat.

Beyond the sea, a certain sight became visible.

“We reached this island.”

A black barrier in the distance, emitting tremendous heat.

And near it...... a small island.

“And there we met your unit member. Mr. Wonjun.”

Kwak Changsu and Choi Wonjun.

Two men who had been operating with different objectives reached the same place simultaneously.

“Baengnyeong Island.”

Stepping onto that island.

Choi Wonjun muttered.

“The contractors who had been pushed back by the monsters near the coast headed here while dragging along their remaining servants. It seems they somehow used the power of those servants to deal with the monsters occupying the military base on this island.”

An island that had originally even housed a military base.

Perhaps even the island beyond the coast had not escaped destruction, as traces of fierce battle could be seen.

“And here.”

And deeper inside that Baengnyeong Island.

On the rough ground of the coastal harbor.

“They communicated with the ‘outside.’”

A gigantic magic circle had been drawn there.

***

A gigantic and complex red magic circle carved in blood, incomparable to the one seen in that old building.

“It’s an extremely complex formation. It’s not something those weaker fools compared to the ones I led could have created on their own. Which means.”

“An outside being...... they received help from a demon.”

“There’s a high probability of that.”

Looking at the formation, I spoke.

“What is this formation for? Is it some kind of formation for summoning a powerful demon servant...... no, or perhaps even a demon itself?”

“As if. Even if they received help, at most they were probably only taught knowledge. It would’ve been impossible for people weaker than us to accomplish something that grand.”

“Then?”

At my question.

Walking along the outer edge of the massive formation, Choi Wonjun spoke.

“I heard that after the battle in Seoul, Commander, you were forcibly transferred somewhere else.”

“That’s right.”

“This is probably something similar to what happened to you.”

Something similar to what I experienced.

That meant.

“......A spatial transfer formation?”

“Yes.”

He had once been a demon contractor.

Because he retained all the knowledge of a contractor, he could understand the language used by demons and interpret the formation.

“This is far from something that summons someone. To be precise, it’s actually closer to the opposite.”

“A formation meant to send someone somewhere else.”

Spatial transfer.

Hearing that, I could not help but feel puzzled inwardly.

‘He said something as grand as demon summoning was impossible...... but spatial transfer is no easy feat either.’

When my guards and I were sent flying to China, it had essentially been the result of the enormous mana contained within Luca’s “body,” a monster comparable to a navy-grade mana creature, going berserk.

‘And even after that, we had to prepare an enormous amount of mana just to return from China.’

There was no way these people possessed that level of mana.

Nor would it have been possible for a demon from before the barriers opened to support something like that.

Long-distance spatial transfer was absolutely impossible unless it was at least an organization on the level of the Church.

“However...... compared to what the Commander experienced, the transfer distance was extremely short.”

In that case.

What they used was short-range transfer.

A distance manageable somehow even with the mana gathered by nothing more than a contractor faction.

And.

If one were to consider a nearby destination from this Baengnyeong Island.

“Jangsan Cape.”

Staring at the magic formation, Choi Wonjun and Kwak Changsu raised their heads and looked far into the distance.

“A short distance only 14 kilometers away from Baengnyeong Island, an island belonging to Incheon.......”

What existed where they were looking was.

A black wall emitting tremendous heat.

No, to be precise.

“The territory of North Korea.”

It was the land beyond it.

“We don’t know what’s lurking beyond there.”

“But Commander, one thing is certain.”

They looked at me and warned me.

“[Demon] is calling its servants into North Korea.”

***

After finishing that brief outing, I returned to the unit.

And while doing so, I thought.

‘Demons.’

The reason the contractors in Incheon headed toward Baengnyeong Island was obvious.

Incheon was land connected to Gyeonggi Province in the north and south, and Seoul in the west.

There was no direct land route connected to North Korea.

Which meant that Baengnyeong Island was the place within Incheon closest to North Korea.

-Considering the timing, it was probably...... right after we were defeated by the Commander. Before that, it seems they were trying to grow stronger even while being pushed back by other monsters, but at that point, they suddenly relocated.

According to what Choi Wonjun had discovered.

They began moving immediately after Choi Wonjun’s faction lost to me.

In other words, right after the demon recognized my existence.

After the unification of Gangwon Province was achieved, the barriers dividing the regions of South Korea opened.

Once the barriers opened, Legion members led by Choi Wonjun would uncover the contractors and exterminate them using the Legion’s power.

So before that could happen, they evacuated as much of their force as possible.

‘......Was it only Incheon?’

No.

The landmass of South Korea was not very large, and the number of survivors was not especially high either.

Yet in such a place, demon contractors had appeared in both Gangwon Province and Incheon.

In the post-destruction world.

The people living in that world were far too vulnerable to the temptations of demons.

‘Even in Gyeonggi Province.......’

Perhaps people like me or Choi Wonjun simply failed to discover them.

The possibility that even more contractors existed within the Korean Peninsula could not be ignored.

Gyeonggi Province was connected to North Korea by land, so just as I crossed the barrier, the contractors in Gyeonggi Province may also have fled into North Korea.

‘Perhaps even from China.’

At the very least.

There was a high probability that all contractors from countries bordering North Korea had gathered there.

I recalled the battle against the contractors led by Choi Wonjun.

They were certainly strong, but.

Aside from the demon servants, they had not posed much of a problem.

The issue was.

[The barrier weakens.]

That was only.

A story from before the Occupation War ended, before the “barrier” weakened.

As the Occupation War progresses, the barrier protecting this world weakens.

The more land one occupies to strengthen the power of the “System,” the more actively outside beings can interfere as well.

Hadn’t I already witnessed the result of that in Seoul?

‘The Matron’s power was overwhelmingly immense.’

The Legion headed to Seoul not long after the barriers opened.

What the Matron showed in Seoul had been the result immediately after the barriers opened.

Even if they had initially been driven back by other monsters and fled in fear of extermination by the Legion.

The contractors gathered in the north would have grown while receiving support from demons, beings similar to the Matron.

And they would have had far more time to grow.

Moreover, now.

[The Beginner Protection Zone is being lifted.]

With the successful unification of South Korea.

Another layer of Beginner Protection was about to disappear.

If it opened this time, even the boundaries between nations would probably vanish.

‘If the barrier opens this time?’

At that point, how much more the outside beings would be able to interfere.

Honestly, I could not even properly imagine it.

‘Is this the identity of the enemy the Grand Duke was wary of?’

I had to hope so.

Because if there were even more threats beyond this, it would be utterly grim.

“.......”

I closed my eyes and calmed my consciousness.

At times like this, there was someone who would drag me somewhere and give me advice.

I intended to allow that person to pull my consciousness away, but.

‘.......’

Unfortunately.

No matter how long I kept my eyes closed, nothing happened.

‘Contact from Mirinae has been cut off.’

Now was precisely the moment when I needed advice.

But despite the distance not even having grown farther like before, no contact came from it.

There was a high possibility that the threat lurking in the north was even more dangerous than expected.

I wanted help, but for some reason the being capable of helping was not contacting me.

Still, I could not simply remain idle.

[You have succeeded in eliminating the evil that infiltrated long before the birth of humanity.]

[You recovered the power that evil had stolen and accomplished countless miracles.]

[This is an achievement rarely seen across all myths!]

“So I too.”

[A reward for the great achievement is granted.]

“I’ll need to...... prepare as much as possible.”

Staring at the system window floating before my eyes.

I muttered quietly.

***

And so time passed quickly.

“All troops have been deployed!”

“Support forces from allied and subordinate guilds have all arrived as well.”

Before long.

A month had passed.

[Time remaining until the Second Protection Removal...... 00:05:05]

The Legion’s forces.

Gathered before the black barrier.