109. Declaration of Holy War (2)
The sudden explosion threw the evacuation procession into chaos, and the captured spies—taken without a single casualty—ended up dying before they could even be interrogated. The soldiers overseeing them were caught in the blast, suffering severe wounds or, in the worst cases, losing limbs entirely. It was a major incident that cost them combat strength, but Son Sang-hee had already anticipated something like this and requested reinforcements from Balhut Cult headquarters.
"Wh-what happened here?"
"Y-you're alive! Thank God you showed up at the perfect time!"
Thanks to that, Balhut Cult's Pontiff Choi Yu-na arrived right on cue with her support forces, just as the allied troops—many missing arms or legs—were clinging to the brink of despair. To them, her appearance was nothing short of salvation. The allies gathered the severed limbs scattered across the ground and begged Yu-na for reconstructive healing. Sensing the urgency, she didn't ask a single question about the situation and simply got to work, silently tending to the wounded.
Using her holy magic, she healed every injured person here in an instant. And at the same time...
"Turn Undead!"
She cast Turn Undead across the entire area where the allies were holding out, preventing any more undead from rising. No one knew how long it would hold, and for Balhut Cult, this was their first real clash with necromancers— the total lack of intel was terrifying. At least for Jin A-yeon, who had led the resistance at Ulsan Airport against the Immortal Cult...
"They never pulled suicide attacks like that when they fought us."
"Figures, right?"
She just shook her head, saying it was a tactic they'd never seen before. Truth be told, the Immortal Cult held all the advantages—why bother with a suicide bombing against Ulsan Airport? They could've just overwhelmed them with numbers, putting the airport at a severe disadvantage without wasting valuable mages on self-destruction.
"Still, impressive."
"Right?"
"Yeah. Honestly, when I saw all those limbs hacked off, I thought we were done for. Even healers struggle with reconstruction."
Jin A-yeon, sprawled on the ground nearby with her own grievous injuries, watched in awe alongside Son Sang-hee as Yu-na treated the allied troops. The sight of her wielding sacred magic to heal the wounded and purify the undead felt straight out of a legend—like a true saintess. And as A-yeon beheld it...
"Whoa, it's way more effective than I thought! Thanks a ton, Sister!"
"Hee-hee. Please take better care of yourself next time. Life isn't something you throw away."
She was the last one Yu-na treated, standing tall and full of vigor once more. Despite the minor scratches here and there, Yu-na had healed her perfectly, without a single scar. A-yeon stared in genuine admiration, but Yu-na couldn't resist a little scolding about being more careful.
"Hah, that's impossible? If I don't do it, someone else has to. I can't just pass off a strong person's job to others, you know?"
Despite the nagging, A-yeon shot back with a wistful grin that it was unavoidable—she was strong, after all, striking a cocky pose. It might've looked like bravado at first glance, but her exploits had saved countless lives, letting her followers fight without the weight of dread. If she hadn't stepped up when she did, Ulsan Airport might've seen far more casualties by now.
"Thank you for the healing, Lady Yu-na."
Son Sang-hee, who had apparently been healed too—her scars gone without a trace—thanked her by name. Hearing it jogged A-yeon's memory at last, and she gawked at the beaming Yu-na in shock.
"Yu-na... You mean the Pontiff of Balhut Cult?"
"Yes. Pontiff of Balhut Cult and Dragon Priestess, Choi Yu-na."
"No way? For real? A faction leader's okay just waltzing into a hellhole like this?"
Son Sang-hee confirmed it matter-of-factly, explaining that the girl right in front of Jin A-yeon was none other than Balhut Cult's Pontiff. A-yeon, stunned by the sudden appearance of the cult's ruler, alternated wide-eyed stares between Yu-na and Sang-hee. The Pontiff of Balhut Cult was Gyeongju's ruler, the highest authority in the organization—shouldn't someone like that be shielded in the safest possible place, not charging into danger like this?
"Hee-hee. I'm the strongest Awakener in the cult, you see."
"R-really? Uh... guess the rumors don't do you justice. You're the total opposite of what people say."
Amused by A-yeon's awkward reaction, Yu-na puffed out her chest and declared proudly that she was Gyeongju's top Awakener. She struck the most impressive pose she could muster, but given her petite frame—one head shorter than mine—it came off more like an adorable kid mimicking a cool stance than anything majestic. As the tiny Yu-na posed and proclaimed, A-yeon nodded in a daze, still circling her skeptically, not quite buying it.
"Well, in Japan they say you're this young girl like now. But around here? Some ancient hag or creepy pervert. No fact-checks anywhere—who's the real deal?"
"Oh, I know all about that. Greedy pig, old crone... all sorts of stories. I search the communities a lot and check my name sometimes too."
"Th-they're not exactly flattering, are they...? I bet the communities aren't saying anything nice."
Yu-na grinned, clearly aware of the rumors, rattling off the community gossip. A-yeon looked flustered, pointing out it was hardly positive press. After all, Balhut Cult had swallowed Gyeongju and even Pohang—other regions feared their expansion and wanted to curb it, so even now they badmouthed the cult's growth, spewing baseless critiques and wild rumors.
"What can internet trash do at this point? Probably just spreading lies from their homes."
"Still, as your ally now, it's weird for me to say it, but... you're getting called a cult."
Just like pre-apocalypse fake news, cyberbullying, and sensationalism had thrived back then, this world let malicious exaggerations erode any group's credibility. Outside communities controlled by the cult, info was cherry-picked and twisted for advantage, making Balhut Cult public enemy number one. And since it was an unheard-of "cult" before the end times, the label alone bred malice and fear without any effort.
"I hear that one a lot!"
"If you hear it so much, aren't you gonna fix it?"
Choi Yu-na, the Pontiff herself, had the worst reputation of all—vilified as the ultimate villainess or distorted into something unrecognizable. No good word anywhere. Her community threads overflowed with hate and slander, but she brushed it off as "something I hear a lot." It was so breezily dismissive that A-yeon couldn't even counter—it left her oddly refreshed.
"People only hear what they want to anyway, right? Even if we post nonstop about Balhut Cult's legitimacy, no-believers won't budge."
Even if Yu-na or her cult claimed innocence online, people were stubborn fools who heard only what suited them. Camps needing an external enemy to boost internal unity would twist her pleas into proof she was the Korean Peninsula's foe, no matter what. Why bother convincing them?
"Besides, all this infamy? Prove it with strength and results, and it's solved. Works in the apocalypse, anyway."
"Can't argue there."
This was a world where strength fixed most things. A-yeon couldn't deny Yu-na's brutal logic. She'd reclaimed Fukuoka with her own power and earned her leadership role from Han Seong-geun here in Ulsan. In this era, feats and might turned any slander into hero worship. That's why Yu-na stayed confident despite the hate.
"Oh, thanks for the heal. I'm Jin A-yeon, leader at Ulsan Airport."
"Jin A-yeon? Ah! I've heard all about you, A-yeon. Fukuoka's hero, right?"
Better late than never, A-yeon wrapped up with thanks and a self-intro. Hearing her name, Yu-na realized this was Fukuoka's liberator—proof A-yeon's fame had spread across the peninsula.
"Haha, no need to hype me up like that. Well, I did heroic stuff, yeah. Hey, since we're here, should I go full Kim Su-ho from Seoul and claim I'm the peninsula's rep Awakener?"
"That wouldn't be bad at all!"
Yu-na played along, hyping her fame, and A-yeon flushed with pride at her achievements, puffing up with a "that's right, this is me" grin. Yu-na found her entertaining and wanted to chat more, but...
"I'd love to talk more with A-yeon, but first..."
"Work comes first, yeah?"
Assessing the scene took priority over chit-chat, so Yu-na turned to the waiting Son Sang-hee for a briefing.
"Yes, Sang-hee. What happened here? Why call for reinforcements?"
"The Immortal Cult attacked the evacuees."
Sang-hee's report chilled Yu-na's expression to ice as she surveyed the traces left by the Immortal Cult, her voice turning frigid.
"An attack from them, huh. Guess that means they're picking a fight with Balhut Cult."
The tone screamed dare to strike Balhut first? Sang-hee nodded and began explaining.
"Yes. Not sure if it was some low-ranker's rampage or orders from above, but..."
"No, it's fine."
"Pardon?"
Yu-na cut her off before she finished, insisting it didn't matter. Because the moment they struck...
"I don't want to share the sky with scum like the Immortal Cult either."
Balhut Cult and Immortal Cult were fated never to coexist under the same heavens. It might've been a casual jab to them, but to Balhut, it was a line crossed—they were now marked for extermination.
"Ah."
"Time to sweep every heretic out of Ulsan. Purge them with fire."
"Huh?"
Yes! Yu-na was thinking religious war—a holy war. Striking the lambs of the Dragon God was punishable by death, but harming her precious soldiers? Unforgivable. No negotiations in her mind; they were mortal enemies now. Heretics die. No mercy!
"To think false gods have believers even with the Dragon God here. And right when we're about to claim all of Ulsan? Absolutely intolerable. What the—jealous? No, I mean dangerous."
Especially since they held Ulsan, Balhut's prize. Yu-na spoke gravely of their threat, vowing no forgiveness. Though a slip revealed her true glee to A-yeon.
"...Um, can I rethink this? Kinda feels like Immortal Cult and Balhut are two sides of the same coin?"
Watching from the side, A-yeon sighed, tempted to switch sides again. That scheming look? No real difference from the Immortal Cult. Just a vibe, right? The "pitiful saintess" plotting murder with a sinister grin was hard to unsee.
"On Dragon God and faith matters, there's no compromise. Normally she's casual... and flexible."
"Oh, really?"
Sang-hee chimed in with context, barely holding back A-yeon's doubts. But...
"And now?"
"Now... only Dragon God Bahamut could stop her."
"God is dead! Wait, always has been!"
Only Bahamut could rein in this rampage? A-yeon just sighed.
"Ahem. Sorry for the display. Anyway, let's escort the evacuees. What're your plans now, A-yeon?"
Snapping back, Yu-na beamed innocently—the polar opposite of her earlier menace—and asked A-yeon her intentions. Two choices: join the evac to Gyeongju, or hand off to reinforcements and return to the fierce fighting at Ulsan Airport.
"I'll head to Gyeongju too. Gotta see the evacuees settled safe."
Han Seong-geun's request was to get them to Gyeongju, and it wasn't done. Plus, hadn't he told her to judge Balhut firsthand? A-yeon decided to tag along and observe.
"Understood. We'll treat you as a guest. Sang-hee, depart once we're sorted. I'll handle the wounded."
"Yes, Lady Yu-na."
Yu-na nodded reliably, promising guest treatment, and ordered Sang-hee to resume. Her powers meant any wounded could recover fast and return to the front. With the internal spies purged, nothing else should snag the evac—but...
"And I'll declare holy war to Jeong Dong-gun..."
"Consult Bahamut first."
Yu-na's earnest holy war push unnerved her.
"Oh, almost forgot. Should've asked God first."
Is she really okay?
...Beats me.