114. Internal Cleanup (1)
"A stalemate, is it?"
The news of the front lines grinding into deadlock reached the Balhut Cult swiftly. After all, the cult was the backbone supplying provisions and training soldiers to sustain the front. There was no way they wouldn't know the current state of the Ulsan lines. Naturally, with the allies pushed into a defensive posture, the cult's leadership had no choice but to grapple with heavy concerns.
"It seems the allied forces have fallen into quite a bind."
"Yes. The allies are holding defensively at Ulsan Airport, transporting refugees."
"It'd be best to maintain the defense until all the refugees reach safety."
Even Bahamut, the Dragon God who usually only intervened in matters the cult couldn't handle, was now voicing his thoughts directly on the Ulsan front. Until now, Jeong Dong-gun had flawlessly executed every mission, so this first taste of defeat and retreat naturally drew Bahamut's attention.
This feels dangerous, doesn't it?
With the situation unfolding, Bahamut's innate cowardice kicked in—though it was also the first time the vanguard under Jeong Dong-gun, who had advanced relentlessly under his orders, had hit a wall. He couldn't help but care, and that led him to assert his views within the cult... or so he hoped that was how it appeared.
"What do you plan to do now?"
"Should we keep up the expedition like this?"
The cult's leadership was pinning great hopes on the fact that Bahamut had spoken first. All the executives seemed to be waiting eagerly for his decision.
Lord Bahamut himself brought up the Ulsan front first!
From the executives' perspective, Bahamut had always only resolved the cult's irresolvable issues. Now he was offering opinions directly and even leading the strategy meeting. It was as if the Dragon God, who had reigned like a constitutional monarch—ruling in name but not governing—had declared personal intervention for this one case. They interpreted it as Bahamut sensing something invisible to their eyes.
"Lord Bahamut, please give us your answer."
No, I don't have some brilliant idea either.
As Choi Yu-na spoke on behalf of everyone, imploring the Dragon God for guidance, Bahamut racked his brain in bewilderment. Frankly, even from his standpoint, the crisis had come too suddenly, and since he didn't know the solution himself, he'd called the meeting to solicit the executives' input.
I'm no Zhuge Liang or Han Xin! There's no way I can devise a scheme to win in one stroke!
To be blunt, his past advice had always been mere encouragement for foreseeable safe plays, never any prophetic hints about the future. Even the counsel he'd given Jeong Dong-gun before the Ulsan push had boiled down to something like, Well, zombies, so this might happen—nothing he'd seriously agonized over. He could proudly say he'd never delved deep. It was more like, Similar monsters exist, so let's assume that one!
No fool like him could possibly have a trump card to resolve this snag in an instant.
"In conclusion, it seems a tedious battle will drag on."
"Ah."
That was the best Bahamut could muster after wracking his brains: the stalemate was an inevitable force that couldn't be stopped. The Balhut Cult executives let out disappointed sighs at his declaration. At the same time, it gave them a chance to recognize that even the Dragon God couldn't resolve this battle swiftly, and fighting the Immortal Cult would never be easy.
"If the Dragon God descends, wouldn't it be over in a flash?"
Still unwilling to abandon hope of the Dragon God's full deployment, a few executives mentioned his descent. Given the current battlefield, the moment Bahamut appeared, the power gap would overwhelmingly favor the allies. Recapturing Ulsan with that advantage would be straightforward.
They're not wrong. Pohang was only retaken quickly because I descended there too.
Frankly, hadn't Pohang been reclaimed thanks to Bahamut's descent? Many executives thought the same for Ulsan—if the Dragon God descended and displayed his majesty, the Immortal Cult couldn't hold.
Bahamut found the idea agreeable, but...
"Impossible."
He dashed their hopes with a flat refusal. Raising his hand, he extended three fingers and spoke calmly.
"Three reasons. First, we haven't secured a suitable area in Ulsan to deploy me. Second, the freak cold snap has forced the allies into pure defense rather than offense. And finally... we don't yet grasp the true nature of the Immortal Cult we're facing, or the trump card they hold."
"Indeed."
It was a perfectly reasonable response, full of logic. The cult's ace, the Dragon God, was undeniably powerful—capable of overturning the battlefield—but that very strength required conditions for deployment. They could summon him ignoring all conditions, but that would mean abandoning Ulsan entirely, no different from failure.
Jeong Dong-gun and his army had been dispatched precisely to meet those conditions, but with the allies pinned down by the cold wave, establishing a summoning site anytime soon was no easy task.
Above all, what Bahamut worried most about was...
"Do you see the Immortal Cult as a formidable force?"
"Yes. Controlling zombies is something a necromancer could manage, but... that 'Lord' they speak of. That entity's nagging at me."
"'That Lord.'"
It was the Immortal Cult's hidden ace. Among the intel from Han Seong-geun, there was mention of an existence the cult revered so highly they dared not utter its name.
Bahamut suspected this was their trump card, while also...
If there's another like me, that would make sense.
...considering the possibility of another like himself. Having become a dragon and blindly chased his bucket list in this apocalypse, Bahamut had finally realized there must be other special beings transformed into something extraordinary, just like him.
No reports of such beings rampaging or being spotted yet, but he fully accounted for the chance most were lurking or hiding their nature, like him.
So, could I beat that one? That's the issue. If I face an enemy of similar power under equal terms... can I guarantee victory?
Yes—if such a being appeared, the best would be to build rapport and ally. But they'd already clashed with the Immortal Cult before talks, and now skirmishes raged into outright war.
They were still probing with small engagements, but if that 'Lord' descended to Ulsan? Could Bahamut win?
Hmm. No idea. I absolutely can't claim certain victory. Outcomes will vary by circumstance.
That was his honest answer: no confidence in triumph. Unable to guarantee a win, Bahamut couldn't rush into decisive battle.
This coward's three reasons convinced the Balhut Cult partly from fear of the unknown 'Lord,' but one could also see it as cool-headed realism.
If I lose, it's game over for real. If the allies fall now, it's just a failed Ulsan push—refugees escaped, so we have a fallback.
Jeong Dong-gun's defeat ended with him personally, but the Dragon God's would doom the entire cult. Weighing returns against risks, Bahamut should remain the final weapon, a last resort.
"In any case, we hold the line until the cold snap passes. Once the brutal freeze lifts, soldiers regain full combat strength, and counterattack chances arise."
"Yes. No helping it. Torrential snow's hitting Honam and elsewhere. One wrong move, and if it blankets Yeongnam, paths to Ulsan Airport get cut."
Especially in Honam, reports of survivor camps collapsing under blizzards. They tried forecasting via Pohang Observatory, but it couldn't match pre-apocalypse meteorological precision.
So, perhaps striking post-cold wave was safest.
"Thus, at minimum, we go on the offensive after this freeze ends. Install barricades at key chokepoints and observation posts overlooking South Ulsan—then we won't yield an inch."
"Yes. Precisely."
Bahamut reassured the cult: with barricades at vital spots and outposts monitoring the Immortal Cult, no disadvantages remained. The hellish urban combat was mutual, and countless buildings en route to Ulsan Airport already served as natural barricades.
Hold those chokepoints and centers with outposts and barricades, and the attacking Immortal Cult would suffer the urban inferno. The cult needed South Ulsan; they needed North Ulsan—equal footing.
"Conveniently, trade with America is ramping up. Any major shortages?"
"No, supplies are pouring in. Too much, even—that's the issue."
The allies' edge was America's overwhelming logistics. Goods once bound for China now flooded through Pohang across cult lands, thanks to the apocalypse. That deluge over-supplied the expeditionary allies. Weapons, food, ammo—all ample.
With grit to endure three months, they could hold indefinitely.
"Haha. They're begging for Bahamut coins imports—must feel like a boon."
"Heard Bahamut coins are all the rage in America."
Demand for Bahamut Bullets surged too, so trade boomed unrelentingly. Pohang boomed massively; Gyeongju, the cult's heartland, enjoyed unprecedented prosperity.
"Per the ambassador, consumption spiked suddenly. They're demanding up to our own stockpile—demand's exploding stateside."
"And we've made a fortune off it."
The hitch: America's orders rivaled the cult's own needs. But in defense mode, they could spare coins for weapons, handing them over.
"No need for pessimism. Things are improving; once the cold breaks, our counterattack comes. Hold firm with hope till then."
"As the Dragon God wills."
With the Ulsan debate closed...
"Next... ah, yes. This is from administrative bureaucrat Lee Su-ah, but what the hell's going on in Daegu? Lee Hyun-ah."
"That..."
Now it was time to address the Balhut Cult's internal issues. Bahamut turned to the silently seated Lee Hyun-ah with an incredulous look, demanding to know just what she'd been up to.