Hell's Army and the Savior Scheme

A Holy Relic is an unfathomable object. The prevailing interpretation is that it's a symbol containing a fragment of the constellation Anubis's power.

One thing is certain. It's a dangerous item.

It shakes up gate currents and serves as the key to realizing Necrophilia's grand scheme in the future—a veritable catastrophe.

No world leader is unaware of it now. However,

Japan's Defense Minister Tanaka Mitsuo is a man who sees several moves ahead. Even with his multifaceted view on dangerous objects.

That must have enabled the decision to recover the Jackal Mask for his country.

The air was razor-sharp, far beyond any soccer rivalry match. He'd devised a way to instantly reverse public opinion that was choking the livelihoods of the Defense Minister and the Management Bureau in real time.

The premise of the document was as follows.

1. Korea lacks the technology to analyze the Holy Relic.

2. Japan can do it—and even destroy it.

From there branched a clever gambit.

Japan analyzes the Jackal Mask, then destroys their own Holy Relic, the Reverse Cross, as originally planned. Keep it top secret so no other country—especially Korea—finds out.

Claim they "only" finished the analysis, share the results, and return the Korean Holy Relic.

'But they can't destroy the Holy Relic.'

Korea, which had been unable to destroy it from the start and was just storing it, won't be able to handle the Jackal Mask later.

By the time Korea faces a catastrophe-like ordeal, Japan publicly announces the destruction of the Reverse Cross.

Proceed with the deal with Korea.

That cunning old man Baek Moon-seong tries to invoke international hunter union clauses to return it, but Japan demands them instead.

But Tanaka Mitsuo has no intention of stopping there. The more agreements exchanged, the more clauses pile up.

'China moved too rashly. You have to use your head.'

......Unregistered might end up coming to Japan.

No one could fully grasp what Director Baek was thinking by so readily handing over the Holy Relic. He even left a top-secret document establishing the "basis for lending the Jackal Mask."

If it was just a calculation treating it as a "dangerous object," that would be disappointingly naive.

'Disqualification. Director Baek.'

.

.

.

Onmyoji Suzuki Hiroshi now stood on the cusp of becoming his nation's savior.

"It only failed to be destroyed, but the stability is outstanding. That wench Yoon So-i has some insane holy power, you know. Thanks to her, we've got such high-quality, safe research material delivered straight to Japan—truly a loyal Joseon bitch."

With only Tanaka and Suzuki left, there were no restraints on their speech. Even the Defense Minister Tanaka kept his words sparse in such moments.

Then, twenty Japanese B-rank holy hunters assembled in the special research lab. Pooling their holy power for a final review, they concluded that the Jackal Mask's stabilization guaranteed safety within the one-month window needed to destroy the Reverse Cross.

"Well then, shall we begin?"

It was time for Suzuki, the top jujutsu master, to truly shine.

It had been a full day since returning to my one-room shelter.

I was doing maintenance inside.

"That one was pretty scary."

It had been an intense sniping session. With high-rankers there, I hadn't planned to intervene much, but seeing the purple barrier, I decided to help with a dispel shot.

I definitely felt the effect of the Savior title I applied then. The biggest perk of ally designation is ignoring mutual damage. There's also a 10% all-stats boost, but it didn't hit me much.

'With this, I can definitely reduce friendly fire accidents in combat.'

Ally count scales with my level, so plenty of slots, and the details said ally judgment lasts a full hour. A pretty attractive title.

Wrapped it up safely with dispel shots and chain-piercing shots. That was help enough.

From the ops room, Jeju's top-tier currents were gone too. That nameless guy must've been the gate boss.

For now, the Management Bureau said the Jackal Mask Holy Relic was handed to Japan for analysis. At first, I couldn't understand why they'd pull such a sucker move and wondered if I should intervene.

- That thing's gonna blow up again soon! Might be better to just let Japan take it!

Ollie added his "I don't know much about this either......," but he basically said the Bureau's call was right, so I decided not to worry for now.

Anyway...

Lately, Ollie had picked up a weird hobby.

- We need stuff like this to highlight the good work and gloss over the screw-ups!

I'm not big on the internet, so I don't really get it. In Ollie's worldline Decad, the net basically is real society.

Anyway, membership was skyrocketing like crazy. Why the hell are they so obsessed with me? It's not like I can do anything for them.

The cafe's just set up, and the chair is some random C-rank hunter I've never met. Name's Paeng Chang-won, a mage hunter. What the hell did I ever do for him?

Nothing on the Jackal Mask Holy Relic since it's state secret—regular hunters and public have no clue.

Seoul gargoyle vid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too. Minotaur one has a pixelated short clip of the rescue.

Criper and Cartibes fights especially set comments on fire. Chimera too.

"What the hell is this?"

Crazy bastards.

"It's all just for fun-money! They're enjoying it! Just watch and laugh! Fun means they spend cash too, right?!"

Ollie seemed to share their vibe.

"Captain...! I don't understand what they're saying...!" Jenny couldn't keep up with modern stuff.

......Better stop digging.

I grabbed my dizzying mind and focused on sniper duties.

Experience from killing Skeleton 'Nameless' applied.

"Leveled up again?"

"Congratulations, Captain!!!" Jenny clutched her hands, eyes on the rainbow light pouring from me.

Ollie, who couldn't analyze it system-wise either, cheered beside her: "Lucky break!"

We figured maybe since we puzzled over it together, the rehashed Gangneung/Seoul gate and first-time Jeju gave the exp.

Whatever, it seemed definitely tied to the Holy Relic. That skeleton Nameless being the relic's gatekeeper was evidence too.

The tedious 'growth review' that used to eat time checking one by one was now neatly tabulated.

No big anomalies in shelter stuff. Skill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked good as always, so check that first.

Non-lethal like Warning. Details suggest not truly eternal sleep, but a top-tier debuff skill.

Test-fired in training room on an aerial bot: Hit silently, no explosion like Warning.

Warning pops a '!' overhead; Sleep shows 'ZZZ...' and it plummets. Sleep persists post-crash.

Watched a while—no wake-up. Training room no consumption, so dispel shot: Wakes, flies back up.

'Got the feel.'

"Gasp! If insomnia hits, Captain's sleep gun! Perfect! Use it on Ollie who games till dawn!!!"

"Jenny. No."

Stopped her innocently dangerous idea, moved to next plan.

Holy Relic on hold, so domestic defense at lull except last Gimhae Gate. What's left?

'Deeper church probe.'

Bought 3 more Mini Drones (Advanced).

- Whirrr...

Via Jenny's warp magic, scanned all remaining five churches. Worshippers/priests there, but tiny silent drones evaded detection.

But, "Uh, the rest seem normal. Sorry!" Ollie slumped hard. Yeah, others were just regular churches.

'So the fifth one I saw is the only hit.'

Best to re-enter then. One more check first.

Checked ops room for spy nano-chip on that villain. Weird.

"Still in that church?"

Yeah. Zero movement, stuck in place.

Made the church worth investigating from my angle.

"Re-entry." "Yes, Captain!" Jenny reformed warp point. Ollie's godly piloting sent 3 drones in tandem.

- Whirr...

- Whirr...

Split screens for multi-angle scan: Memories matched perfectly. Definitely the spot.

But no sign of the villain who nabbed the drone before. No people at all.

♠ confirmed inside church. Only one possibility.

"Side room."

Got ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠busted by villain at side room door last time. Still padlocked outside. Gotta be in there.

"Gold's overflowing anyway—drones are expendable! That lock? Self-destruct it!"

"Do it." "ROGER!"

Landed one drone at lock.

- Charge...

BOOM! Lock and door sparkle blown off. Room for 2 mini-drones easy.

"No villain!"

"Hm."

Prepped 3 expecting bust, but empty—feels like a bust.

Inside: Prayer side room, nothing odd on sight. Then,

- Beep. Bleep.

Ops room ♠ proximity alert. It's here.

"But nothing's there."

"Yeah... shouldn't be..."

Then Jenny: "Captain, what's that?!" Pointed to corner stone. Not standard church fare. Big rock, weird engraving,

That ominous purple lately.

"Zoom in." "ROGER."

- Whirr...

1m focus: Tiny status pops. 【Legendary】 【Warp Stone of Another World】.

Legendary item—like my Requiem, needs Cartibes-level boss.

Then,

- Whooooosh!

"!!!" "!!!"

Two drones' views drowned in purple.

Drones sensed crisis, alarms blaring self-destruct prep.

"W-what is this?"

"First time for me too!"

All three of us in ops room panicked.

Alarm droned on; one drone self-destructed. Last one.

- Whirr...

Survived no-explode, view no longer purple. Just static-crackled broken feed.

Yellow [Weak Signal] center screen. Drone refocused cam, buffered choppy to ops.

"...What. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Is. This."

"???" "What is this...?"

All three stunned.

Drone feed on ops screen:

- Kieeeeeek!

- Grrrruk! Grrrruk!

- Grrrrrr...

Pure hell.

Monsters each mid-to-high boss-tier, countless—blob count alone...

"Myriad grand army."

That priest bastard meant this?

Then our drone warped into that Hell Gate. ♠ proximity beeps nonstop.

"......"

Overwhelming hellscape left me speechless. If that army hit Korea?

Then,

- Fizzle!

Like massive energy surge inside, drone lost function sans self-destruct. Connection cut.

"Again. Send another."

Bought one more, tried entry—but

Warp stone gone.

High-rankers dispatched to countries accepting agreements.

Cheon Seung-hyuk, Yoon So-i, core team staying domestic to regroup. Gimhae Gate imminent.

Then, pipe in Japan—holy hunter Yoon raised as spy—reported.

Baek Moon-seong got rough 'Japan's stance.' 【Korean Savior Plan】......

Pretty intriguing title. Read details.

Japan's tech... Return relic to Korea... Blah blah... Renegotiate agreement...

Ends with 'Unregistered' naturalization to Japan...

Baek Moon-seong perusing 【Korean Savior Plan】 amused, Yoon So-i said,

"The Jackal Mask will break soon. For real. This okay?"

She knew it wouldn't fly.

Baek had originals/copies/digital-registered top-secret doc: 'Return anytime. We warned it's dangerous—you took it, be careful.' Legal basis set.

......Dead serious.

Then, Baek's eyes widened, clapped sharply.

"Oh!"

Yoon, inscrutable, asked,

"What is it?"

"Thinking of adding a clause to future agreements! Forgot this! Lucky it hit now!"

"Gotta differentiate first-movers from laggards, right?"

"Do it. Go all in."

Kim Chun-gyu chimed from side.

"Yeah. Gotta look after Korea's joker, 'Unregistered.' Am I really that incompetent director?"