32. Extermination Order (3)
Naturally, Jo Sun-do's movements had long since been spotted by the Balhut Cult's reconnaissance team, and the intelligence they'd gathered was promptly relayed to the main extermination force.
"Lady Yu-na. We've received a report from the reconnaissance team."
"It looks like they've finally made their move. Then let's deploy the detachment."
"Understood."
Since Jo Sun-do's advance was something they'd fully anticipated, the Balhut Cult began executing their plan with calm, unsurprised expressions.
Jeong Dong-gun signaled the detachment leader without any resistance, and upon receiving it, the detachment linked up with the reconnaissance team and slowly advanced.
Now all that remained was for the main extermination force to lure Jo Sun-do's gang as planned.
"Then, shall we head to a spot perfect for battle? From Jo Sun-do's perspective, of course."
"Yes, sir. All units! March while singing our marching song, loud enough for Jo Sun-do's rabble to get a good look!"
With that, they deliberately moved toward the most advantageous terrain for Jo Sun-do's side to fight in.
Thanks to the marching song and their flashy parade, Jo Sun-do's group quickly grasped the Balhut Cult's movements and route.
"They're heading straight for our main base, boss."
"Don't worry. This is our turf."
The advantage for North Gyeongju's side was that it was their territory—they could fully exploit the lay of the land.
They'd been able to observe the Balhut Cult's parade precisely because of this geographic edge, using it to predict their path in advance.
While monitoring the cult's route through binoculars from a perfect ambush position, Jo Sun-do's plan was to strike Yu-na.
"Perfect. The road to our base has some ideal spots for an ambush."
Spotting the Balhut Cult's extermination force heading for his base to topple North Gyeongju's king, Jo Sun-do had pre-positioned himself in prime ambush terrain and now waited for them to arrive.
Soon, the ground-shaking footsteps and booming marching song reached Jo Sun-do's ears.
"She's right up front."
"Yeah. Clear as day."
What luck. From the ambusher's viewpoint, it was ideal—Yu-na herself was leading the vanguard.
Unlike Jeong Dong-gun and the others, who wore identical combat uniforms, Choi Yu-na donned ornate priestess robes emblazoned with dragon motifs.
With her shining platinum hair crowned by a tiara and veil, anyone seeing her would think of a saintess straight out of a fairy tale.
"Wow."
Jo Sun-do's underlings, catching sight of her, felt vile lust and an overwhelming desire to claim her surging within them.
Whoa, now I get why the boss has to have her.
For the first time, they felt they understood why their boss insisted on capturing Choi Yu-na.
"Damn, she's even prettier now."
Jo Sun-do himself wasn't much different. Licking his lips, his twisted desires churned at the thought of filling that beautiful face with agony.
Dyeing such a lovely girl in his own colors would surely be pure bliss.
Even better, the situation looked overwhelmingly favorable for him.
"What a fucking idiot. The one who needs the most protection just parades herself out there."
"Good for us, right, boss?"
The mere fact she'd come unprotected in those flimsy-looking priestess robes screamed vulnerability.
If she planned to move like that, she should've hidden among the ranks like some high-and-mighty noble or fat-cat nouveau riche.
Of course, Jo Sun-do despised those types and believed they all deserved death—but right now, even he thought Yu-na should've done the same.
Her failure to do so gave scum like him the opening he needed.
Jo Sun-do sneered at her folly this time, signaling his men.
"Alright. Time to hunt. Snipers, get ready."
Dreaming of the rosy future ahead, he prepared the ambush.
Pre-positioned mages and snipers took their marks, aiming for Yu-na's vitals.
If they could snipe and subdue her, capture her, North Gyeongju's king Jo Sun-do would become Gyeongju's true ruler.
As the real king of Gyeongju, he'd seize the Balhut Cult entrenched in South Gyeongju, that damned dragon, and Yu-na's luscious blonde locks along with her ripening young body.
"Damn, such a waste."
The only gripe was needing to snipe her, which meant his men's shots might mar that perfect flesh—a slight pity.
But no worries. Rumor had it Choi Yu-na was a healer who could mend her own wounds. As long as it wasn't fatal, he could just bark at her to fix herself after capture.
"She's an awakener anyway, boss."
"Aim for the vitals for sure."
"Hell yeah."
Trusting that, his snipers and mages targeted not just arms and legs, but head and heart too.
She was an awakener; she'd survive this much.
"Fire! Fire! FIRE!!"
At Jo Sun-do's signal, bullets flew alongside spells aimed at Yu-na.
Explosions and gunfire echoed across North Gyeongju, throwing the marching army into chaos.
The once-proud procession halted abruptly.
"Charge, you bastards! Eat 'em up!"
Chaos erupted. Assuming Yu-na had been sniped and the main force thrown into disarray, Jo Sun-do ordered his men to charge without even confirming her status, eager to seize victory.
As if declaring checkmate on the Balhut Cult he'd fought endlessly against, loud and clear.
"All units. Counterattack."
But the ones checkmated were Jo Sun-do's ambushers, not the cult.
The true commander, Jeong Dong-gun, stayed ice-cool despite the attack on Yu-na and directed the extermination force flawlessly. The soldiers, already briefed on the plan, showed no panic or hesitation even as she was targeted. They loaded special rounds, leveled their guns at Jo Sun-do's gang from the encirclement, and fired mercilessly.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The 500 awakeners, maintaining perfect formation, shifted to phalanx and firing stance in an instant, unleashing volleys on Jo Sun-do's surrounding forces.
Far from the chaos Jo Sun-do expected from their commander's fall, the Balhut Cult counterattacked with chilling ferocity.
"The justice of this battle belongs to our Balhut Cult!"
"Ooooh!!"
Under Jeong Dong-gun's command, Jo Sun-do's ambushers were hit with a devastating reversal.
Nearly equal in numbers, but spread thin to encircle the cult—that sparsity became their poison.
Jo Sun-do's forces couldn't withstand the cult's disciplined volleys and began getting picked off one by one.
"Don't pussy out, you fucks!"
"B-Boss! Their bullets are weird!"
But something was off. Jo Sun-do and his awakened underlings shouldn't have been hurt easily by normal bullets.
High-caliber rounds might bruise or tear flesh badly, but low-stopping-power ammo? They could tank dozens.
The cult used standard K2 rifles—nothing with the power to stop them. That's why they'd ambushed so boldly.
Yet the cult's bullets were different. Despite being the rifles they knew, their shots dropped his men one after another.
The fallen convulsed like they'd been electrocuted, foaming at the mouth, bodies twisting in agony.
"Shields over there! Concentrate fire!"
"Gaaahhh!!"
A tough underling with a massive shield tanked upfront to let the charge through, but dozens of cult members zeroed in with rapid fire. Even the tankiest fell.
"First time using these rounds. Power's whatever, but suppression's top-notch."
"Yeah. We need them alive for capture. Non-lethal for awakeners."
The rounds were the cult's new weapon: coins from Gyeongju's ironworks melted down into ammo.
Etched with lightning motifs, they delivered a paralyzing high-voltage shock on impact—potent even against awakeners, short-circuiting nerves.
Useless on undead zombies, so expeditions skipped them, but security used them for riot control.
Mass-produced in Gyeongju for this war and distributed to the extermination force—a trump card.
"Hah. What a remarkable person."
"Agreed."
"Then let's wrap this up and capture Jo Sun-do."
Jeong Dong-gun gave a wry smile toward the divine watcher of this battle, marveling at the rounds' ruthless efficacy against rogue awakeners and Jo Sun-do's crew alike.
Did you predict even this? He wanted to ask, but the fight wasn't over.
Taking his adjutant's cue, Jeong Dong-gun bellowed to hasten Jo Sun-do's downfall—for his followers, really—in a booming, merciless tone.
"Look! The Balhut Cult's new weapon works even on awakeners! See now, Jo Sun-do? You have no chance! You've failed!"
"U-Uwaaaah!"
"I wanna live!"
It was a brutal proclamation of reality.
Awakeners who'd ruled North Gyeongju were dropping like flies to the cult's mystery rounds, unable to counter.
Whatever dirty tricks made them, Jo Sun-do and his gang deemed them deadly and lost all will to resist.
No loyalty or reason to die for their "king"—once the lines broke, no reforming them.
Jeong Dong-gun's shout hammered home Jo Sun-do's doom. The moment it ended, his forces deserted or fled outright.
"F-Fucking traitors! Hold the line! Wanna die by my hand?!"
"Then all units, advance and squeeze 'em."
As his mob scattered for survival, Jo Sun-do raged at the deserters while Jeong Dong-gun exploited the gap.
Jeong advanced slowly, tauntingly, the thunderous march and song stabbing Jo Sun-do's ears.
Unable to endure the tightening noose, Jo Sun-do grabbed his loyalists and fled the field.
"Hold! We'll hole up at base!"
"Boss! Don't abandon us!"
"Shut up!"
Realizing no hope, he bolted with his mobile remnants.
That ended the war.
Had Jo Sun-do stood and fought, he might've rallied some; but with the leader fleeing in terror, no reason to follow.
Save his direct subordinates, the rest fled to Gyeongju city for self-preservation or got rounded up by the extermination force.
"The living gotta live, right?!"
"Y-Yeah!"
Amid the collapse and captures, Jo Sun-do justified his retreat to base with "survival of the fittest."
Pathetic as it was, fleeing the cult's army, he trusted his stronghold's defenses.
He'd lost many men, but the base was fortified to the max against contingencies, stockpiled with resources for a South Gyeongju showdown.
Betting on those walls, he figured he could hold out; his scattered men might regroup outside, hit the cult with his inside support—forcing their retreat.
His foolproof plan, in his mind.
But the pity for Jo Sun-do? His own base was no longer his.
"Get lost!"
The walls built for a final stand against the cult now barred him—a massive iron barrier.
Did that bastard I left in charge betray me?
The moment that thought hit—
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Proud members of the Balhut Cult, obviously!"
Too bad for him: not betrayal by underlings, but cult occupation.
While Jo Sun-do fixated on Yu-na, the detached force linked with recon and struck the base.
Knowing its value, he'd posted trusted men as guards.
"Come on in!"
"Free pass!"
But he'd only guarded against underling betrayal—forgot the slaves entirely.
The base's slaves opened the gates for the detachment, who stormed in, subdued the guards, and seized it effortlessly.
They armed the slaves as insurgents from Jo Sun-do's stockpiles, readying for his arrival after the main force rout.
"Looks like your reign of evil ends here, Mr. Jo Sun-do."
"Ends? Don't make me laugh!"
And behind Jo Sun-do stood his reaper: the Balhut Cult's pontiff, smiling faintly unscathed despite the sniper fire, delivering the finale to Gyeongju's self-proclaimed foolish king.
But Jo Sun-do gnashed his teeth, refusing his end, roaring defiance.
"I am Gyeongju's king!"