The Only Spirit King Is Being Conquered

The clouds parted at my command. A low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky as the rapidly shifting clouds clashed, but the heavens soon cleared, bathing the ruined city in calm moonlight. The monsters’ corpses became far more visible, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft gasp of awe.

“Whoa…”

It was beyond my imagination. The monsters struck directly by lightning had turned into pitch-black ash, while the icicles I’d haphazardly conjured had punched holes through their vital points that were much larger than I’d expected. I looked down at my palm. It was still a stubby little hand, undeniably cute. But it no longer looked fragile.

“Is this… really me?”

I liked it enough that I even muttered the words with a touch of dramatic flair. The problem was that I’d gone way overboard. I couldn’t help firing a beam at the sudden giant monster—it had been terrifying—but that final ‘Thousand-Fold Lightning’ had been completely unnecessary. The noise and the flash would have reached the neighboring city for sure… What if people found out I was the one who did it?

I recalled the lifestyles of S-class awakeners I’d seen while browsing the internet. Their daily lives were dazzling and luxurious, but the responsibilities and workload were so brutal that I couldn’t possibly envy them. Of course, there were a few who ignored all that and lived like villains. But I couldn’t do that.

“They say even the courage to be hated is a kind of talent…”

Unfortunately, I was a complete nobody in that department. Besides, the moment the Divine Tree died, I had made a vow.

“In this life, I’m going to live for myself.”

I was a being born from eating the last leaf of a plant. Wasn’t it only right to live like a plant? Lazy. Comfortable. That was exactly the kind of life my previous self had wanted too. So the smart thing would be to leave this place immediately if I wanted to stay unnoticed… but wouldn’t that be a waste?

I had roughly confirmed my combat ability with that last defense. But I hadn’t yet tested my detection, stealth, or escape capabilities. In most Gates, I’d probably struggle to find anything worth using as a measuring stick anyway. After thinking it over carefully, I made my decision.

‘I’ll just check who’s coming.’

Confirming which group was currently South Korea’s fastest and most efficient fighting force seemed like a fairly important piece of information. Plus, I could keep web-surfing in the meantime. Win-win.

Humming cheerfully, I returned to my room and immediately opened the gallery. Ten new popular posts had already been uploaded. Filled with anticipation, I scanned the titles one by one…

Yangmok City? Same name as here? No way—this was about me. I frantically opened every popular post in new tabs. In a state of hyper-focus that activated on its own, I skimmed through them at lightning speed and pieced together the situation. After reading everything, I froze for a moment. I poured every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brain cell I had into analysis, organizing my thoughts, and finally…

“Phew—”

A sigh of relief escaped me. Almost every post was nothing but baseless gossip that didn’t match the facts. The photos that had been taken were decent, but all the angles were from below the rooftop. My figure hadn’t been captured at all. The rumor that had formed as a result was that this was “the achievement of an anarchist group made up of unregistered awakeners.” It sounded completely off-base to me, but surprisingly, a lot of people agreed with it.

Thanks to that, I learned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a few things.

“So they’re calling them the Free Guild these days.”

Fifty years ago, there had been plenty of guilds that weren’t registered with the Association or the state. But they were only “self-proclaimed” guilds. Unless you belonged to one, no one actually called them guilds. The politest term was “thugs,” and the rest were basically insults. That was how vicious the people known as the Free Guild had been. Even the guilds officially registered with the state or Association were only slightly better; fundamentally, awakeners didn’t see ordinary people as equals.

That was why soldiers had enjoyed such massive popularity. Ordinary citizens who had trained themselves to possess real power, who could talk back to awakeners and still protect the public—it was only natural. It was easy to empathize with them and feel close to them.

…And now an awakener was the President. The world really had changed for the better.

For some reason feeling a bit sour, I logged into one of the communities where ordinary people gathered.

Obviously my grades suck too. Average rank around 7. The Free Guild sounds good—should I apply?

Even here they were talking about the Free Guild. It felt suffocating. My mood had turned extremely sour. I didn’t know exactly why, but I couldn’t enjoy web-surfing like this anymore. So I closed the browser and stood up—

“Perfect timing.”

They were faster than I expected. Fifty years ago, even after a Gate appeared, they would have wasted at least half a day just figuring out the situation. But now, only two hours after the incident, a battalion-sized force had already been deployed.

The humans who had just begun entering the mountain foothills. From their movements, they looked like they were from the military… but fifty years had passed, so I couldn’t be sure. Even back when I was active, the Association had been trying to adopt military-style command structures.

That aside, the resolution of my detection skill was worse than I thought. Wait, no—had I even used the skill yet? What I’d been feeling until now was simply the ‘presence’ carried by the wind and mana. The scent, temperature, and the natural mana that had changed properties after touching biological mana. I had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unconsciously analyzing all of that.

If I wanted to call it a proper skill, I’d need to at least…

The status window really was an explanation junkie. I had simply tried something that felt like it might work. Anyway, now I could see clearly. The armament status of the 312 people entering the mountain foothills.

***

Chungmugun. A unit created after South Korea nearly perished fifty years ago, formed by awakeners who had turned patriotic. Every member was at least B-class, with 120 A-class awakeners. And with the addition of Kwon Hye-in, it now included a full three S-class awakeners. It could rightly be called the strongest fighting force to appear since the Gates first opened.

The reason South Korea currently held the title of “the most intact nation remaining” was precisely because of the Chungmugun. Their morale was as high as their skill, and every morning when they stamped their attendance they would shout their rather childish motto:

The unit that greeted Kwon Hye-in, who had just arrived on the battlefield, was the same.

““Loyalty!””

Hye-in waved at the soldiers who saluted in perfect unison without the slightest error, then immediately began the briefing.

“There will be targets that must be killed immediately mixed in with targets that must not. The latter are likely to be allies, so it’ll be even more confusing. But there’s no need to hold back. They’re the group that crushed the wave. They won’t die from a few holes in their bodies. Same goes for you guys. So just shoot. Avoid the vital points and you’re good.”

She added the advice she always gave.

“Whether you’re a citizen or the nation, the correct answer on the battlefield changes every second. Make sure you never get it wrong.”

It was her way of saying that when it was time to run, run properly. Since this was the standard signal for deployment in Hye-in’s unit, the soldiers immediately scattered. Left alone, Hye-in pulled out her phone and stared at the screen. It was synced with the computer in her office. Displayed on it was the internet usage log of someone who had been web-surfing until just moments ago.

‘They stopped using it the instant the advance team entered. That means they’ve already detected us, but there’s no report from the observation team…’

“What the hell is going on here.”

She scratched her head irritably and pulled her weapon from the transport vehicle. It was a massive axe that would require four grown men to even lift. A treasure designated as ‘mythic-grade’ under the current government’s revised national treasure system.

The axe began emitting a red glow in Hye-in’s hand as she swung it with tremendous force. A crimson arc naturally formed, but something was off. The size of the trajectory stretching toward the sky was far too large. A blood-red crescent that covered half the city. And it was brighter than the moon. The ceiling created by the axe bathed the entire city in a soft crimson light.

Hye-in lowered her stance. Then she leaped diagonally upward like a howitzer. A crater formed where she had stood—boom! Her body shot three hundred meters into the air in an instant. The moment her ascent stopped, she activated the radio in her ear. As she began falling toward the building wrapped by the Divine Tree, she spoke.

“Alpha, entering Point A. Ten seconds until arrival.”

Her unit members reported the revised operation details with zero emotion.

“Beta Team, changing route. Green line.”

“Theta Team, matching Beta Team.”

“Delta Team, joining Gamma Team to replenish sniper energy.”

And the instant Hye-in slammed down onto the rooftop—

“Spatial distortion reaction detected at Point A!! Alpha! Please retreat!!”

Hye-in, who had already arrived at the location now being called ‘Point A,’ didn’t need to hear the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rest of the report to understand.

“Captain! Get out of there right now! The opponent is a Demon Lord-class monster!!!”

The person she had been chatting with was a monster that transcended human comprehension.