Fated Encounter (3)
Fated Encounter (3)
The situation is escalating beyond control.
I had heard about the current state of North Korea from Shin Su-ah before; according to her, most of North Korea's land is currently occupied by monsters.
Due to poor Gate management, numerous Gates suffered Break events, and the monsters that emerged were not in numbers that North Korea's Awakened could handle alone.
North Korea had requested help from China and Russia, but China and Russia are among the countries with the largest territories in the world.
They were too busy looking after their own affairs and ignored North Korea's request. Left without support from anyone, over 90% of North Korea's territory is now occupied by monsters.
And those countless monsters are currently being slaughtered.
The Valkyries, who departed from Asgard as it floated into the sky following a Gate Break, spread across various parts of North Korea, flaunting their power as they hunted monsters.
I am using my magic power to expand my vision, watching the monster slaughter happening in various places in real-time.
"Do they intend to take over North Korea completely?"
"Yes, their goal is first to secure a safe and firm territory of their own."
As if they had already decided how much to clear before moving, the Valkyries are thoroughly slaughtering only the monsters within North Korean territory.
They are completely ignoring the monsters that, terrified by the Valkyries' might, are escaping outside of North Korean territory.
[Nidhogg-nim. A request for cooperation has come in from the Association.]
"...Because of the large-scale movement of monsters?"
[Yes. It seems they've judged that it's impossible to block the monster swarms coming down from above with their current forces.]
Some of the monsters fleeing from the Valkyries are naturally heading down toward South Korea.
And that 'some' amounts to as many as tens of thousands.
It's understandable that the Association, which had barely made any requests until now and instead mostly complied with my demands, is asking for help.
I accepted their request.
I have to go that way anyway to face Asgard.
[Then I will see you at the Association.]
"Yeah. I'll leave right away."
I ended the call and stood up to head to the Association.
Yoo Da-eun also stood up to follow me, seemingly intending to go along, and it was just as we were about to leave the living room.
Kkiik—
Through the gap of the cautiously opened room door, I saw Haeryeong's eyes.
Even though she had just gone inside in a huff a moment ago, she was now peering this way with a worried look, as if she had never been upset.
She must have been listening to our entire conversation to know what was happening outside.
When our eyes met, Haeryeong flinched and trembled, then slowly opened the door and faced me.
And she cautiously spoke.
"...Are you going to fight?"
In the eyes of a girl who had lost all her family and friends to the war with monsters, anxiety was visible.
"Can't you just not go?"
"It's okay. I'll be back soon."
"...Liar."
Tears welled up in Haeryeong's eyes as she spoke softly.
With tears that looked like they would fall at any moment, she spoke as if vomiting out her emotions.
"My mom, my dad, and my brother all said the same thing!"
"Sigh..."
I wanted to explain that I am different from them, but I didn't think Haeryeong would understand, and since there was no time for that, I approached Haeryeong, picked her up, and put her on my back.
"Then let's go together."
"Eh?"
"Come with me and see for yourself how strong this Nidhogg-nim is. Then it'll be fine, right?"
"Oh my. Are you giving her a piggyback ride? Then me too."
"You have a car."
"Ayy, how could I compare a car to Nidhogg-nim's back?"
"You... never mind. Let's just go quickly."
With Haeryeong on my back, I ignored Yoo Da-eun, who was clinging to my waist, and stepped out of the house.
And instead of going down, I went out the window and expanded my body.
In an instant, my size became massive, incomparable to the apartment building, and a light flap of my wings brought a wind like a typhoon.
"Hold on tight."
"Ye-yes!!"
"Yahoo!"
I said that, but since I was carrying the two of them, I flew through the sky while adjusting so they wouldn't fall.
Nevertheless, I crossed the sky at a speed that easily surpassed any car and arrived at the Association in no time.
The Association was thrown into chaos by my sudden appearance cutting through the night sky.
I slowly descended while looking at the Awakened who had rushed out without even properly grabbing their equipment.
Since there was no suitable ground to land on, I lowered my altitude sufficiently and then simply reduced my size.
As my size shrank, I caught Yoo Da-eun, who was about to fall, with my foot at the last second and landed on the ground.
"Ke-heuk!"
"I told you to be careful."
"Cough! You're too much..."
Since I caught her at the last second, I must have grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
As I was patting the back of Yoo Da-eun, who was coughing and catching her breath as soon as we hit the ground, two people approached through the crowd that had gathered around.
One was Baek Yeon, whom I had contacted before coming to the Association, and the other was the Branch Manager, Gu Do-han.
"We have been waiting for you, Nidhogg-nim."
"Thank you for coming like this. And that person is... Yoo Da-eun-ssi."
"Do you know each other?"
"Yes, Truth's Eye and the Association are in a cooperative relationship."
Then there's no need for separate introductions.
Before having a conversation, I first looked around.
Because of my sudden appearance, it was a chaotic situation with startled Awakened, Association agents, and civilians all mixed together.
It wasn't a good place for a conversation.
"Let's go inside for now."
"Yes. I will escort you to the Branch Manager's office."
As Gu Do-han led the way, the crowd parted, and we passed through them to enter the Association building.
Before the scattered crowd could gather again, Shin Su-ah appeared, breaking through the wall of humans.
"I'm sorry. I'm late because I had to ask someone to handle the aftermath."
"You've come at the right time. Let's go together."
Including Shin Su-ah, who joined the group, we moved to the Branch Manager's office.
We finally arrived at the Branch Manager's office.
No refreshments were served to entertain the guests, but as the matter was urgent, we got straight to the point.
"How many monsters are coming down from above?"
"Since the number is still increasing, we couldn't grasp the exact figure. However, when I last heard the report, the number had already exceeded 30,000."
"30,000?!"
30,000. And that's 30,000 and still increasing.
It seemed this was a number rarely seen even before her regression, as Shin Su-ah was startled.
At her reaction, Gu Do-han, who had personally stated the number, also looked as if it felt surreal and just nodded with a grim face.
While everyone had serious expressions, Baek Yeon alone maintained her usual face and spoke.
"We have Nidhogg-nim's support. In the face of Nidhogg-nim's power, the number of monsters is merely a decoration."
"Right. What we should be worried about now isn't the disposal of the monsters, but what to do about that island behind them."
As Baek Yeon said, as long as I personally step in, the number of monsters means nothing.
It's not like I haven't faced that many monsters before, and I'm confident I can suppress them even with the power my avatar possesses.
Despite this assurance, Gu Do-han's face showed no signs of brightening.
Is it because he hasn't seen my true body in person?
In cases like this, it's better to show it once than to say it a hundred times.
"If you're that worried, let's go together to where the monsters are coming from. I'll show you directly why there's no need to worry."
"...Understood. I will join you as well. It's been a while since I stepped back from the field, but I will be of help."
Gu Do-han was unnecessarily steeling his resolve.
At this point, I'm almost curious to see what kind of reaction he'll have when he sees my power firsthand.
We headed to the front line where they were blocking the monsters, including Gu Do-han.
"Wait. Are you taking that child along too?"
"She said she wanted to come, and I'll protect her, so don't worry about it."
Gu Do-han worried just by looking at Haeryeong's appearance as she joined us, but he should worry more about himself, who's planning to fight, than Haeryeong, whom I'll be protecting.
We boarded a transport plane prepared by the Association and moved to the front line.
Even before we arrived, the front line, which was dealing with the swarming monsters, had become a mess.
Awakened and soldiers belonging to the military, as well as Awakened who had gathered after receiving cooperation requests from the Association, were holding the line and facing the monsters without retreating. However, the swarming monsters were endless and their numbers were increasing, making it a precarious situation that could break at any moment.
If left like that, it looked like it would collapse before we could even land...
Thinking it would be faster to just fly, I ordered the transport plane's door to be opened before landing.
"Open the door. I'm going straight to the front line."
"Nidhogg-nim?"
Gu Do-han didn't understand why I wanted to get off in mid-air, but Shin Su-ah, who quickly caught onto my intention, pressed the opening button for the entrance.
As the door opened, a harsh wind buffeted my body.
But without backing down, I stepped forward and took a posture to jump.
"Nidhogg-nim! You must be careful!"
"Don't worry. I'll finish everything before you land."
I kicked off the floor and soared into the sky.
My body began to descend rapidly according to gravity, and I increased my size and flapped my wings.
As a wind like a gale scattered, my body defied gravity and rose.
I crossed the sky at a top speed I couldn't achieve while carrying Haeryeong and Yoo Da-eun, arriving at the front line.
Considering the monster swarm had gathered, the situation at the front line wasn't that critical.
Of course, it was still true that it could be breached at any moment, but since the monsters' purpose was to escape the Valkyries, they didn't care much about humans.
And if the monsters fled here to escape the fear named Valkyrie...
It would be enough to just teach them that there is an even greater fear on this side.
I inhaled to the limit.
And then.
—■■■■■■■■■
Spreading my momentum explosively, I let out a roar mixed with magic power from my throat.