8.

On a day when despair and screaming filled the world, a man appeared like a messenger of God. It was a sight that anyone could not help but remember for life.

"Who is the leader?" There was no such thing as resistance to Kim Tae-hoon after he appeared in such a scene.

"I, I am the representative."

The same was true of Baek Jung-joon, a leader of the survivors in Incheon, the priest. He stood in front of Kim, with no resistance, no dust rebellion, and a blank expression that he had never had before.

Kim's left eyebrows rose slightly in the appearance of the priest.

'A priest?'

Compared to the leader he had been imagining in his mind, the priest in front of him was so weak that he could not be the leader. Even the big silver cross around his neck seemed hard for him to carry.

However, Kim did not ponder the question for a long time. Whoever the leader was, was not important to Kim. In addition, he was not here simply to give blessings and joy.

"This is Kim Tae-hoon, the head of the Mac Guild, who manages Bucheon City."

"I'm... I'm Paik Jung-joon, the priest who leads the survivors."

"I'll make one thing clear before I talk to you." With those words, Kim looked at the crowd.

The crowd was staring at Kim with blank expressions, and it was hard to believe that their eyes had been colored with fear and despair a while ago.

Kim looked at their faces one by one and said, after confirming the condition of Kim Yu-ri, "All the plunderers who attacked this place were removed." The news was what everyone here wanted to hear.

"By my hands."

Now, it was time for the crowd gathered at the news to cheer and shout. However, Kim did not allow their joy to spread.

"So, everyone here owes me their lives." With that short notice, his eyes turned bloody. No, from the beginning, his eyes were like that.

It was just that everyone was in a fantasy, and now was time to wake up from the fantasy. Those who woke up from such fantasies realized that the man in front of them was not an angel, a savior, or a messenger of God.

"Is there anyone who is dissatisfied with this?"

And now it was time to realize that the man in front of them was not a charity businessman. The reason he came here was not to get the price of saving the lives of those here.

9.

On the roof of the building, Kim, who had climbed up there, was drinking coffee in a thermos bottle and looking down at the Ganseok Ogeori.

Survivors were busy moving around the overpass, which had been ruined by shell fire. It was like ants moving, but that was not a disparaging expression.

Rather, there was no desperate and systematic activity to survive as did the ants, among the myriad things he knew.

It was an expression of admiration for him to compare them to ants. In fact, those who survived here were miracles to be alive.

'Lee Jin-sung was right. The city of Incheon… is actually gone.'

The first question Kim asked Baek, the leader of the survivor group, was about what they had seen and heard.

At that question, Baek talked a long time: what kind of despair and fear Incheon city faced after the monster appeared.

'He had never imagined this much.'

The story of the priest Baek made the days he had spent in Bucheon City laughable.

'A monster with two heads.' Especially the existence of a green-grade monster, a Twin-head Ogre that appeared in Incheon City, was terrible.

The Twin-headed Ogre, ten meters tall, with muscles like armor, showed incredible ferocity and violence.

As a man stepped on a can of beverages, it could step on a car and crumple it, and tear down a huge building with a body check. It was a monster that did not even allow the idea of ​​running away, let alone than fighting back.

'In addition, there is a group that the Ogre leads.'

The most terrible thing was that the Twin-head Ogre was not moving alone. It always moved with the Orcs. There were always a lot of Orcs at the scene of its slaughter.

The Orcs were not an ordinary horde, either. Their headcount was over a thousand, and inside the horde were Mutant Orcs, such as an orange-grade Black Orc. It was a mix of two nightmares.

'If it had not been for God's sake, they would have been annihilated.'

In that situation, Baek Jung-joon and other survivors were able to settle in the Ganseok Ogeori thanks to the relic Baek wore.

Kim took a smartphone out of his pocket and pulled up a photo file on the liquid crystal. It was a picture of the big cross that was hanging on the neck of Baek. There were translucent letters in the picture.

[The Cross of a Saint]

- Relic Grade: Grade 3

- Relic Value: Special

- Relic Effect: The cross left by the 103rd martyr. It emanates a powerful force that prevents monsters from approaching.

The Cross of a Saint was a cross received from the bishop who Baek served, a cross that one of the 103 martyrs carried all his life. That was why the cross survived.

It was God's favor. Of course, Kim was not surprised at the fact that it was God's favor, and he did not overly appreciate the existence of God.

'There are many relics that prevent monsters from approaching, as well as the Sunsubi of King Jinheung.'

What mattered to him was the fact that there were relics that prevented monsters from approaching.

'If one Cross of a Saint covers the Ganseok Ogeori… is the Vatican actually a calm and safe place?'

That fact would have an impact on the world situation in the future.

The Cross of a Saint was not common; in the Vatican, only a few people in history were recognized as saints, and even the popes were not often recognized as saints. But the Vatican would have many relics, including the Crosses of Saints.

'In fact, it would not be strange if the Vatican itself has become a relic. If so, Italy will form a pretty powerful force around the Vatican.'

The Vatican would be a base for survivors, and a power would be created around it.

This was all right. There was nothing wrong with a lot of people surviving.

The problem was next. 'Italy was… a country for war.'

The Vatican would of course be the base of the country of Italy, and Italy would start a struggle to survive from its base.

If so, would they go out to save the world? Or would they want to be a new order in a world where everything had collapsed?

'If Italy was next to China…?'

One thing was clear. In the past history, they chose the latter rather than the former, even if they did not know the future yet.

'If there is a God, he wants to see me die somehow.' Kim laughed bitterly.

At that time, a woman appeared on the roof of a building where he was located. It was Sergeant Kim Yu-ri. He closed the lid of the thermos bottle at her appearance. She, who understood his expression, swallowed.

He said to her, "Did you finish talking to Sergeant Park Il-sun?"

Sergeant Park Il-sun. He was a member of the 35th Commandos and was currently being protected by the survivors of the Ganseok Ogeori.

"Yes."

He was also an Awakener, with a mark on the back of his right hand.

"Now it's time to talk to me."

Of course, there was a question.

Why was an Awakener, a member of the 35th Commandos, barely keeping his life in Incheon, losing his legs and left arm, as if he were a corpse? There had to be a reason.

"Was Sergeant Park Il-sun a member of the rescue team, sent to rescue Kate Kennedy?"

"To be exact, the mission that was given to the rescue team and Sergeant Park Il-sun was to confirm the lives and whereabouts of not only Kate Kennedy, but also VIPs of various countries who were trying to depart the country through Incheon International Airport."

"What was the starting date?"

"... it was January 22."

On January 22, the Capital Defense Command had dispatched rescue teams to Yeongjong Island, where Incheon International Airport was located. The purpose was to identify the lives and deaths of the family or officials of the Ambassadors of the United States and other countries.

At that time, the Capital Defense Command, which did not know the situation abroad, could not ignore the demands of the Ambassadors. If the emergence of monsters only happened in Korea, Korea would have to get help from the whole world, and the Ambassadors' voice and influence would grow.

The problem was that it was impossible to move a powerful weapon, such as a large-scale force or tank, from Seoul to Incheon, in a situation where social infrastructure had collapsed.

"What about the members of the rescue team?"

"There were twenty-one."

So, the rescue team was composed of a small number of elites.

"What was the number of Awakeners?"

"They were all Awakeners."

In addition, it needed to be composed of the Awakeners with superhuman abilities that had appeared with the monsters.

"How many relics did they have?"

"That's—"

And unlike guns that were easily supplied, powerful relics needed to be provided to the rescue team.

"How many national treasures were given to them?"

Among them were national treasures. There was no choice in the matter.

"The national treasure—"

The task of rescuing VIP's must be successful during the first attempt, because success rates go down exponentially after the first attempt fails.

Of course, there was a clear reason for Kim Tae-hoon to judge that the national treasures were given to the rescue team.

"There were two national treasures."

"That's why they were going to give me a national treasure for this mission."

When the Colonel first said that he would receive a national treasure relic from Kate Kennedy's rescue mission, Kim hypothesized that the position of the US Ambassador to Korea was bigger than he had thought. So, his daughter, who could pressure the US Ambassador to Korea, had a national treasure ransom. But he could not have confidence in the hypothesis.

"The national treasure is her ransom, so they have to give me a national treasure."

Even if Kate Kennedy's ransom was worth as much as a national treasure, there was no reason for the Capital Defense Command to pay the fair price.

That was the way of the world. The strong do not make an even scale against the weak.

In the view of the Capital Defense Command, they themselves were strong, and the Mac Guild and Kim Tae-hoon were weak. They wouldn't pay fair prices.

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. That's what the government or the army does. I was wrong because I did not notice it."

Nevertheless, giving national treasures in return for the mission would be worth more than national treasures. That was the background which convinced him that a national treasure was given to the rescue team.

The rescue team was given national treasures, and the rescue team failed. Of course, the national treasures paid to the rescue team in Incheon City had been lost.

If he collected them, it was not strange to be paid with national treasures.

"What are the names of the national treasures?"

"They are the national treasure No. 91, Horse Figure Type Earthenware, and the national treasure No. 87, Gold Cap of Gold Crown Tomb."

"Where are the two relics now?"

"We don't know where Gold Cap of Gold Crown Tomb is, but the location of the national treasure No. 91, Horse Figure Type Earthenware is… Sergeant Park knows."

At her answer, he opened the lid of the thermos bottle.

"I think that the reason you easily revealed the information you have hidden in the meantime is not to confess…"

Then he said briefly before taking a drink, "What do you want?"

"I want to negotiate with Major Kim Tae-hoon."

At her words, he drank coffee and his silence began.

At the same time, the story of Sergeant Kim Yu-ri began, "There's a traitor inside."

10.

==[Horse Figure Type Earthenware]

- Relic Grade: Grade 2

- Relic Value: Special

- Relic Effect: Injecting Mana can move the mounted doll. The amount of Mana injected determines the amount of time you can move.]==

Horse Figure Type Earthenware was a very familiar relic to Koreans, because if they had ever opened a history textbook once, they would have seen more than one picture of this relic in the chapter on the period of the Three States.

A relic that should be kept in the glass tubes of the National Museum of Korea, was now in his hands.

'Grade 2, that's great.' He was looking at the relic with black eyes.

Kim Yu-ri's face, looking at him from his side, was stiff.

'The dice are thrown.'

The fact that a national treasure was passed on to his hands meant that she had failed her mission and committed disobedience and rebellion.

'There's nothing to say if I am sentenced to immediate execution.'

There were two duties for her.

One was surveillance of Kim Tae-hoon. The other was to go to Incheon City along with him and collect the relics left by the rescue team who had failed to complete the mission, as he expected.

In fact, the latter was much more important than the former. Of course, she should not have revealed clues or information about national treasures from him even if she was tortured.

"How powerful is this relic?"

"It's powerful to buy time against a green-grade monster."

"Explain in more detail."

"If the Awakener of Mana rank B injects Mana, we can fight for eleven minutes, and during that eleven minutes we stood up to the green-grade monster, the White High-footed Spider. While the earthenware doll was gaining time, Major Oh Se-bum jumped onto the body of the White High-footed Spider, and was able to kill it."

However, rather than hiding the fact, she revealed it to him.

"... you kept it."

"Sergeant Park Il-sun saved the national treasure with his life."

It was because of what Sergeant Park had said.

"He said he could never give it to a traitor who had betrayed his fellows."

Park Il-sun, a member of the rescue team, said the reason for the failure of the rescue team was because of the inside traitor. In addition, the traitors' goals were relics, and Sergeant Park said he had been able to barely hide the relics at the sacrifice of his companions.

At the moment of hearing the story, she could no longer trust the Capital Defense Command. When she decided that she could not believe the Capital Defense Command, she negotiated with Kim Tae-hoon: she would give him the relics and let him know the truth. The price was, of course, to find and dispose of the traitors.

"Thank you." He took the deal for granted. When the deal was concluded, he told her the information he had obtained by torturing the plunderers who had attacked the Ganseok Ogeori.

"Is all that true, Major?"

"It is highly likely that the traitor you speak of, or the person involved, will remain in Incheon, and the traitor behind the plunderers is likely to be the traitor." The information was that there was a person who controlled the plunderers from the shadows.

"It makes no sense for the plunderers to use tanks."

The beginning of doubt was the fact that the plunderers operated the tanks themselves. So far, the plunderers had not been able to properly loot the survivors. There were many reasons, but it decisive that they did not have the firepower to overwhelm the survivors.

Otherwise, if the plunderers had possessed the knowledge and circumstances to operate the tanks, they would have operated the tanks.

"Someone taught the plunderers how to operate a tank."

A tank was not a weapon that could be driven after a few times, like a car. They had received minimal training and education from those who had proper knowledge of tank operation and shell shooting.

"Who the hell..."

It meant that there was a person who trained and educated the plunderers in the operation of the tanks. In Incheon, there were not many people who had the knowledge related to such a military specialty, and who could do the mean work.

Accordingly, he revised his plan: what he needed to do right now was to dig into the back of the plunderers.

"I will ask directly who he is."

Kim Tae-hoon began to infuse his Mana into the Horse Figure Type Earthenware.