Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Jimun Seo-saeng (1)
That evening.
As we headed north, the landscape of the villages changed. There were cities, but the floating population noticeably decreased.
Words related to terrorism were written on building walls and posters, and roads were broken in places.
We found a hotel among them and entered.
It was called a hotel, but it was at the level of an inn without even a parking lot. The hotel seemed surprised by the visit of Asians.
Moreover, So Iryeon received all the attention from the moment she got out of the car.
Not long after we checked into a room and entered the hotel, Cheong Ak-sal looked down and said,
"They're searching inside the car."
Several young men surrounded the car parked on the road.
"Abandon it."
There was no reason to obsess over something we couldn't protect anyway.
The time when the sunset was deeply set.
"Alright, let's go out."
"What are you going to do?"
"Draw attention."
I went outside the hotel with So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal.
"Now, So Iryeon. Start."
"What?"
"Do some missionary work."
"Ah! Which religion?"
"Christianity. Baria's first attack target is Christian facilities."
Baria's territory is right in front of us.
Doing missionary work for another religion in such a place is, generally speaking, suicidal.
If conspicuous Asians did such a thing, there would naturally be a reaction.
"Draw proper attention. Enough to get captured all the way to their headquarters."
"Ah, I understand now."
So Iryeon immediately started missionary work.
Her instinct for events was tremendous. Even without special equipment, she drew attention, and people gradually increased.
There was clearly little floating population, but people soon began to gather, and So Iryeon began to talk about Christianity in earnest.
People who showed interest in So Iryeon's beauty showed intense reactions to the story of a different religion.
Even if they couldn't understand, you could tell from their expressions alone that they were cursing.
'She's doing well.'
Regardless of the reaction, So Iryeon steadfastly continued her missionary work, and with Cheong Ak-sal stopping violent individuals, it continued until just before a riot.
We rested for about 30 minutes and repeated it once more, and when night came, an even more intense reaction came.
"That's enough."
After two rounds of missionary work, we returned to the hotel.
As expected, at midnight, the door was forcibly opened. Armed soldiers with rifles rushed in, subdued me and Cheong Ak-sal, who were sharing a room, and laid us on the floor.
We had already talked about it, so no one resisted.
Noise was also heard from the next room, and So Iryeon seemed to have been captured in the same way.
Eventually, we were dragged out of the hotel wearing black sacks and thrown into what seemed like a truck cargo hold.
Shortly after, soldiers sat on both sides, and the vehicle departed.
-How is everyone?
I checked on So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal's condition through telepathy.
-I'm fine.
Cheong Ak-sal answered immediately, but So Iryeon didn't.
-The guy next to me keeps subtly touching me. Can't I kill him?
-Endure it a little.
The movement continued for a long time.
Cheong Ak-sal interpreted everything they said and conveyed it through telepathy. Most of it was rough jokes about So Iryeon's appearance.
After about three hours of driving, the car stopped, and we were all thrown into a small room. Judging by the distance, it wouldn't be their headquarters.
But shortly after, someone came in and took So Iryeon separately.
-Cult Leader, should I endure again?
-No. Do as you please.
It was something we did to approach more quickly anyway. There was no reason to endure more than necessary.
About five minutes after So Iryeon was dragged away.
Bang!
I gave permission, but that's quite a quick reaction.
"Leave only the person in charge here and sweep everyone else. Don't kill civilians."
Tuk.
I broke the rope, stood up, and took off the black sack that had been pulled over me.
It was a small village with an abandoned warehouse and about twenty houses.
Tang! Tang!
Gunshots rang out loudly.
When I dealt with the guards watching the warehouse and went outside, So Iryeon had already spread out a hellish scene.
So Iryeon, who had been angry while being captured, became a demon and slaughtered everyone. Most of those who fell had their heads burst or bodies torn off in a gruesome state.
"Find the leader first."
Cheong Ak-sal ran to the cleanest building, and I joined the battlefield.
'Wind Dragon Palm.'
Kwang!
I burst open the person shooting from the watchtower with the energy wave of Wind Dragon Palm and immediately ran to the rooftop of the building Cheong Ak-sal had entered. It was because I saw one large man appear with an anti-tank weapon.
'That looks dangerous.'
Before the anti-tank weapon could spit fire, I grabbed the guy's neck.
The man who didn't even notice my approach had his neck broken and fell, and I went out to find another target.
There were guys sticking out their gun barrels from between the wooden houses.
At that time, So Iryeon had also dealt with all the guys who came out to the clearing and was running in the same direction.
Seeing So Iryeon's face, I stopped moving.
Kwang!
So Iryeon immediately penetrated the wall, and the house completely collapsed.
"Uah!"
"Ak!"
Screams burst out from inside the house, and soon, So Iryeon came out with an annoyed expression.
"Why are you so angry?"
I roughly guessed. But So Iryeon's answer was unexpected.
"Because one guy said I was ugly."
"Was that the reason?"
"I'm still not over it. Ugh."
Is So Iryeon a woman? Or a man?
Confusion comes again.
"They tried to hand me over to the person in charge here. All men are like that, you know."
"Good job."
I looked around. I could fully feel how angry So Iryeon was.
There wasn't a single intact corpse. The clearing was soaked with blood, and bizarrely twisted bodies were strewn about as if discarded.
This is the So Iryeon I know.
"Eh, my clothes are all torn."
"I think there are other people in the warehouse where we were held. Check it out."
So Iryeon went to the warehouse, and I headed to the building Cheong Ak-sal had entered.
Standing in front of the building, the smell of blood wafted strongly. When I entered inside, everyone had fallen with red lines drawn on their necks.
"Who are you guys?"
I saw a man barely continuing to speak while terrified. Cheong Ak-sal was holding a sword to his neck.
Cheong Ak-sal interpreted everything the man said in an emotionless tone.
"Find out about these guys' forces and deployment. Also, find out what kind of weapons they have."
I already knew the destination. It was because Drica, who had been our guide, was from there.
"I'll start."
Cheong Ak-sal stabbed a sword into the man's shoulder. I saw the scream burst out and went outside.
Early dawn.
Twenty women and children got on the truck.
"This is as far as we can help you. Each of you must find your own way to survive."
They were the people who had been captured in the warehouse.
We handed over the truck we had been captured in to them. Fortunately, one woman said she could drive.
"Depart."
We also loaded all the food and anything that could be money from the warehouse onto the truck.
After sending the truck off like that, the three of us remained again.
"Cheong Ak-sal, what's the information?"
"Their armament mainly consists of guns and bombs. They have about old-model armored vehicles, and it appears they have about 100 long-range artillery pieces."
The opponent is an armed force, but not a world-class army.
Like most terrorist organizations, the power that sustains them is not excellent weapons but guerrilla warfare, terrorist threats, and shields through hostages.
Living in Korea, I used to think of tanks, missiles, warships, and fighter jets when I heard the word ‘army’, but this was only possible in countries with high defense spending like Korea.
In fact, in Nigeria's case, the national army is evaluated to have only slightly superior combat power to Baria. On top of this, they wage guerrilla warfare and use civilians as shields, so a tense confrontation is taking place.
"Let's meet Jimun Seo-saeng first."
Their headquarters means the place where the terrorist organization leader is located.
The leader had headquarters in various places and moved locations, and only a few key figures knew the location.
Fortunately, Jimun Seo-saeng hadn't moved locations.
I unfolded the map in my chest. It was a map where Drica had marked the information she knew.
"Is it around here?"
I checked the longitude and latitude through my smartphone.
If you get too far from the city, there's no signal, but it was possible at the current location.
"We'll just have to walk."
The north had more dirt roads than asphalt or cement roads. There was no need to go there and stand out.
"Let's depart."
We simply gathered drinking water and started moving.
Three days passed, and we were steadily approaching the target point.
During that time, we discovered three villages.
The scale varied from 15 to 40 people, but they were all living in anxiety.
Contrary to my thoughts, just because it was Baria's territory didn't mean they managed every area.
'Well, they can't manage this vast land with 10,000 troops.'
Nigeria's territory is more than eight times that of Korea. If they manage 20%, it means 10,000 people are managing land larger than Korea with no police.
Perfect management is an impossible structure.
They chose a method of raiding villages according to need.
Unfortunately, the victims had no way to prevent it. It's because the public authority doesn't reach there.
Ultimately, the 20% territory meant a region where public authority had completely collapsed.
Within this territory, refugees were creating new villages and repeating their collapse.
Since Baria was guarding all the major routes, they couldn't even escape the territory. The cycle of hardship was repeated like that.
Chwaaat!
Rain pours down.
Northern Nigeria was in the middle of the rainy season, so heavy rain would suddenly pour without warning.
Late at night.
We were walking through a tropical rainforest.
"Two more days and we'll arrive."
While walking again, we discovered a destroyed village.
Most of it was lost to fire, but there was one log cabin that maintained its shape.
"Let's rest here."
It seemed okay since it was some distance from the road and located in the middle of a wide forest.
"I'll look around."
We entered the log cabin to avoid the rain.
"It looks like someone was living here."
I picked up a broken piece of wood, dried it with internal energy, and lit it.
The floor of the log cabin was earth, but there were household items with traces of use, like cloth or bowls.
Shortly after, Cheong Ak-sal stood in front of the log cabin with a girl.
"This child was living here."
So Iryeon approached the child who had been brought by Cheong Ak-sal's hand, skillfully soothed her, and listened to her story.
Her name was Ersi.
She was nine years old. She said she hid herself in a tree during the attack and survived, and has been alone until now.
Her eyes were dazed as if her soul had left, and her actions were more cautious than necessary.
"We'll leave when the sun rises. Tell her to feel at ease."
Without needing to drive her out, we entered rest together.
Early dawn.
It was just before sunrise.
Ersi woke up from sleep and left the log cabin. The rain had stopped, and her footsteps squelched away into the distance.
Ten minutes later, Ersi returned. And soon she entered the log cabin.
"Over here."
I was already out in the clearing. Cheong Ak-sal and So Iryeon entered the forest.
I had known from the beginning.
This is not an environment where a girl can survive alone. And looking at the traces of the village burned by fire, you could tell it had been attacked a long time ago.
But there were no traces of stored food inside the house. It means she's receiving help from someone.
The trap was very clumsy.
Ersi slowly turned around.
She was wearing a jacket with a bomb installed. In her dazed eyes, resolute will and fear could be seen simultaneously.
'She's scared but must do it.'
I can see Ersi's heart.
Yuna's face overlaps with this child's appearance. Ersi, who hadn't grown properly, had a similar build to Yuna.
Kwang! Kwang!
At that time, noise came from the forest.
Starting with screams and explosions, gunshots were heard. So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal had started their activities.
I quietly looked at Ersi in the clearing.
When I entered the Demonic Cult's training ground in my childhood, I probably looked like that, too.
One difference is that I did it to live, and Ersi is doing it to die.
Ersi approached. I didn't move.
Ersi, who had approached close enough, raised her head to look at me. A deep sense of fear is felt.
If I could save her, I would have. But there was no way I could do anything.
Kwang!
An explosion occurred.
Ersi was no more. Her small body couldn't withstand the bomb.
"Cult Leader, are you alright?"
I protected my body with strong energy and didn't receive even a small wound. Ersi's death had no meaning whatsoever.
Shortly after, even Cheong Ak-sal came to my side.
"Everyone has been dealt with."
I nodded my head as a substitute for an answer.
"It seems information has leaked. Either the civilians we let go were captured, or there was an informant among them."
So Iryeon was looking at the place where the bomb had exploded. Her whole body trembled as if she were suppressing anger.
Her appearance calmed my emotions.
"So Iryeon, we've just learned what kind of guys we're fighting against. Is there any other meaning?"
This is what I must do. Anger causes mistakes on the battlefield.
"I'm sorry."
"We're moving."
I immediately sorted out the situation.
I clearly knew what kind of operations the opponent could deploy. Then I just need to respond to it.
The important thing is that they know about our intrusion.
'I must hide our purpose.'
Until now, the opponent probably doesn't know that we're moving to rescue Jimun Seo-saeng.
Then it's necessary to make it look like we have a different intention.
"Since we received it, we'll return it."
So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal's expressions changed.
So Iryeon smiled with a cruel feeling as if satisfied with my order, and Cheong Ak-sal's eyes sank deeply.