33. Subjugation Order (3)
Even backed into this corner, Jo Sun-do couldn't admit defeat to the Balhut Cult or Choi Yu-na. Perhaps it was just a hollow cry, an attempt to escape the absurd reality of his own downfall.
"Yes, you're a king. Just a naked one without a single follower, though."
Yu-na regarded him with cold eyes, as if he were truly pathetic, laying out the harsh truth for Jo Sun-do. Even if he called himself king, could he truly claim the title without anyone to follow him? Having lost all power, his powerless shouts rang empty—and so Yu-na dubbed him a naked king.
"That's right... I am the king! The king! This throne I seized with my own strength... Wait. How are you still alive? No—how are you moving around unscathed?"
In a near-delirious state, refusing to accept defeat, Jo Sun-do finally noticed Yu-na in his field of vision. He stared at her like he'd seen a ghost. He had definitely sniped her to take her down. Even putting all his power into it, she bore not a single wound.
He'd used magic too, striking her vitals dead-on. Since she was an awakener, he'd targeted her weak points with spells and bullets that would be fatal even to ordinary people. Yet why wasn't she hurt at all? Why were there no traces of the attack? Why was she standing there so brazenly before him, the king of Gyeongju, with that arrogant look?
"What? Is there a problem with me being alive?"
"Not a scratch on you. What sorcery did you use, you witch?!"
Yu-na replied as if it were no big deal, while Jo Sun-do frothed at the mouth, demanding to know what trickery she'd employed. At his outburst, Yu-na proudly introduced the outfit she wore.
"Nothing special. No sorcery involved. Well, if you call it sorcery... it's thanks to the awakener with the tailoring skill who made my clothes."
Just as the subjugation force, including Jeong Dong-gun, had received uniforms and protective gear, Yu-na—as the cult's pontiff—had been given the cult's equipment. And since she was the most vital figure in the Balhut Cult, it wasn't ordinary soldier gear but priestess robes crafted with utmost care.
Yu-na's priestess robes, enchanted lavishly with Bahamut's coins, granted defensive power tantamount to invincibility at this point in time.
"Thanks to the priestess robes' defense and the great Dragon God Bahamut's blessing, I emerged unscathed. That should suffice as an explanation."
'Even I, who knew in advance, am shocked the Pontiff is unharmed.'
Having heard this from Yu-na beforehand, Jeong Dong-gun and the subjugation force weren't surprised by the ambush and responded coolly to Jo Sun-do's attack. Of course, humans couldn't be entirely emotionless—Jeong Dong-gun was inwardly stunned that Yu-na was fine.
To be blunt, the attack Yu-na had allowed was the full-force strike from North Gyeongju's top awakener. Any ordinary awakener would have suffered a fatal wound, or died on the spot if things went wrong. Yu-na was a healing sorceress, and she'd insisted on this plan herself, but from the perspective of her escort, Jeong Dong-gun, it was practically a failure of protection—a grim situation.
"Now look. Does the king have anyone following him? Ah, of course, that gang behind you is still hanging on. But will they follow you now? You, who are nothing but a naked king? You, whose true colors are exposed in defeat?"
"Of course they will! I'm the strong one! The strongest awakener in North Gyeongju! In this world, it's natural—it's the law—to follow the strong!"
Yu-na mocked him as a naked king, forcing him to face the situation: no one followed Jo Sun-do anymore. The slaves exploited at his base glared at him with bloodshot, hate-filled eyes at the sight of their fallen tyrant. His gang deeply resented him for pushing this reckless operation.
As Yu-na said, no one followed Jo Sun-do now... but he dismissed the weak's feelings entirely, insisting it was only natural to follow the strong in this world.
"If it weren't for that insidious new weapon of yours, my men wouldn't have broken! I wouldn't have had to flee!"
Yes, if not for that unknown new weapon, he wouldn't have fled so miserably. He wouldn't have lost so disgracefully. It was all the cult's vile weapon's fault. Jo Sun-do himself was blameless.
"Even your group crumbling was only possible because that damned dragon helped you! In the end, you're the weak ones compared to me!"
'Can't deny that.'
Surprisingly, Jeong Dong-gun didn't refute Jo Sun-do's near-delusional claim. Objectively, Jo Sun-do and his direct gang were far stronger than any Balhut Cult awakener except Yu-na. They looked pathetic now after the war's defeat, but having monopolized North Gyeongju's resources, Jo Sun-do's abilities were at least twice those of any other cult awakener.
Inevitably, the Balhut Cult—for safe governance and balanced awakener growth—didn't concentrate support on specific individuals, which meant their executives' growth felt somewhat sacrificed.
"You're right—you and your gang are strong. Stronger than me, who yielded growth to consider my subordinates. I won't deny that."
But conversely, the cult's method balanced quality and quantity of forces. In the war, the cult's average level had been higher, allowing them to swiftly overwhelm and subdue Jo Sun-do's underlings—excluding his direct gang—without even letting them approach.
Even his "direct" gang, bolstered by his investments, had been crushed under Jeong Dong-gun's command and concentrated fire through sheer overwhelming numbers.
"But you're the losers, and we're the victors. So no need to debate whose method is right anymore. We won."
"Without the dragon's help, you're all just cowards who can't do a thing!"
Thus, whose growth method was correct was already decided. Jo Sun-do was the loser, making pathetic excuses without admitting defeat. The Balhut Cult were victors, holding the right to decide the loser's fate.
"You're the coward who fled."
"I only fled because defeat loomed! If I'd held the base, we could've won!"
No matter how many facts Jeong Dong-gun threw at him, it meant nothing to this beast in human skin. Jo Sun-do claimed he'd only fallen for the cult's vile scheme and that victory would have been his if he'd defended the base as planned.
Watching their pointless argument, Yu-na smiled brightly and drove a spike into Jo Sun-do.
"You only fled because you couldn't bear to leave your base's treasures behind, right?"
"Lies! Me, the king of Gyeongju, flee?!"
To be frank, he couldn't flee because he hated abandoning his base's wealth. When Yu-na hit him with recon intel facts, Jo Sun-do spat excuses that weren't excuses.
"Losers don't get excuses. From the start, you were just a coward too scared of Bahamut to fight head-on."
But Yu-na's smile shifted from bright to icy, slowly pressuring Jo Sun-do's psyche. Labeling him a coward, invoking the Balhut Cult's god, she gradually exposed his lowly heart.
"If I hadn't been bait, would you have faced us boldly, Jo Sun-do? No. You'd have fled Gyeongju like the coward you are—taking your precious base treasures!"
Yu-na's words rang true. Without her as bait drawing his eye, Jo Sun-do likely would've abandoned Gyeongju without hesitation. No matter his base there, defeat meant death—and a wolf like him knew it well. His vast wealth hurt to leave, but grabbing key valuables and fleeing would've let him rebuild elsewhere, a decision he could've made after deliberation.
"You're no king of Gyeongju. Just a gambling addict lost in vain hopes!"
"Shut up! Shut your mouth!"
Thus, the awakener before them had no right to the title. Merely a gambling addict who'd thrown himself into a hopeless fight on false hope.
"So, gambling addict, I'll give you a chance."
"A—a chance!?"
Mercifully, Choi Yu-na offered such a one a shot. At her words, Jo Sun-do's demonic scowl vanished, replaced by eager glee. If it meant surviving alone, he'd crawl under her feet in an instant.
"A duel. A clean 1-on-1. Against me, of course."
A duel—even a 1-on-1 with the famed healing sorceress Yu-na. Naturally, it heavily favored Jo Sun-do, the close-combat warrior.
"Ah... ahahahahaha! The gods haven't abandoned me! Fine! Perfect! I accept those terms—hundreds of times over!"
His face lit up as he eagerly agreed.
And so the 1-on-1 between Jo Sun-do and Yu-na was set. Surrounded by Balhut Cult soldiers, he clung to vain hope that capturing her would reverse the tide.
"You'll regret that arrogance dearly!"
Thus, striking first before she could scheme was only natural—but.
"Hahaha. Arrogant? Me?"
Yu-na laughed brightly, slowly pointing her index finger at Jo Sun-do's solar plexus.
"Guhk!?"
"I'm several times stronger than you from the start, you know?"
A single beam shot from her fingertip, piercing his solar plexus clean through.
"Thoroughly crushed."
Jeong Dong-gun thought it decisive as Jo Sun-do collapsed without resistance. No pity stirred, though—just that this fool of a self-proclaimed king of Gyeongju had earned his end through stupidity.
"So, do you lot want to challenge the Pontiff too?"
"No, sir!!"
Jo Sun-do's gang shouted surrender the instant he fell. Futile resistance.