130. The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Ally
“Whoo…”
Ko Byeong-gap drank half a bottle of water and handed the remaining half over to Seo Si-hee, who fumbled as she accepted it.
“You must be having a hard time.”
“…”
Seo Si-hee’s head trembled briefly. Only after a few seconds of delay did Ko Byeong-gap realize that it meant she nodded. The skill she showed was a novelty. He couldn’t believe she had changed the world’s landscape in just five minutes. Compared to Seo Si-hee, the fastest airplane in the world wasn’t even as good as a snail.
Ko Byeong-gap decided not to bother Seo Si-hee for a while and looked around. They were in a vast canyon.
“Damn, where are we?”
“…Grand Ca-”
“What? What did you say?”
Seo Si-hee continued to speak with difficulty.
“It’s the Grand Canyon.”
“Grand… Canyon? So you mean we’re in America?”
“I guess so. The Grand Canyon isn’t in Korea or Romania.”
“Thanks to you, I’m finally traveling abroad.”
“Yeah.”
Seo Si-hee tried to stand only to fall back on her butt. Ko Byeong-gap stopped her, clicking his tongue.
“Why don’t you just sit down? No matter how strong he is, he won’t be able to follow us all the way here.”
“I hope so.”
She gave up easier than he thought she would and sat down.
“It’s him. It’s just like what I saw in my previous life.”
“You must be talking about the Holy Warrior.”
“Holy Warrior?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you.”
Ko Byeong-gap briefly explained the Holy Warriors. Seo Si-hee pretended to understand.
“To stop Madmut, we need to defeat the six Holy Warriors… I can’t even think about it when I look at this situation.”
Seo Si-hee nodded.
“You must’ve fought with them in your previous life. You even defeated Madmut. Do you have any special know-how to beat them up?”
“Of course I do.”
“You do? What’s that?”
Ko Byeong-gap grew excited as he asked. Seo Si-hee answered with her characteristically dry tone.
“First of all, pick the 40,000 strongest hunters on Earth, and let them fight while distributing an indefinite supply of narcotic analgesics and stimulants.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s no trick in dealing with them. There are only huge and absolute sacrifices. Honestly…”
She hesitated.
“It felt like my sense of reality returned when I met him again. I don’t know how to fight against them with the disorganized troops you collected.”
Ko Byeong-gap swallowed the bitter taste on his tongue. There was no point in saying things like, ‘Goblins are the natural enemies of God.’
“Rather… maybe it’s better to surprise Go Geon-ryong once again.”
“Let’s take a break and go back. Even if we cry here, nothing will change.”
“Okay.”
Night fell over the Grand Canyon. Seo Si-hee, her energy recovered, flew up with Ko Byeong-gap. Instead of returning to Brazil, they headed to the portal that Seo Si-hee had drilled in the United States. Fortunately, it was in good shape. However, it wasn’t connected to Hanam. Beyond the portal was a private house in Samcheok, Gangwon-do.
As soon as they crossed the portal, they found a monster. It didn’t attack Ko Byeong-gap since he was wearing an Illumination ring. However, when Ko Byeong-gap attacked, it rushed them with flashing eyes.
“Keeek!”
It was a low-level monster, so he dealt with it swiftly. Ko Byeong-gap thought about whether to feel relieved or discouraged at this point.
‘There are no presences around. Now, even low-level monsters are walking on the street.’
Were all those people dead? Perhaps those who had fled to the lower part of the country were still fighting together? He considered conducting a refugee rescue operation in the lower region with the help of Seo Si-hee. However, Ko Byeong-gap soon abandoned the thought.
The problem was Ashvilam’s capacity. Currently, Ashvilam was overwhelmed to cover their little more than 12,000 residents. Hadn’t they only barely found stability after suffering from near famine until recently? In that situation, how many thousands more would be added? Ashvilam would surely be run dry. Ko Byeong-gap wanted those people to hold out on their own.
The two returned to Seoul diligently and from there to Ashvilam. Those who were desperately waiting for them to return were relieved to see them safe.
“Lord, I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. I guess everything was okay.”
“Yeah, we’re okay, as you can see. Did anything happen here in Ashvilam while I was away?”
“A swarm of Gruggles tried to raid us, but we joined forces with the humans to repel them. There were some injuries, but no deaths.”
“There were some injured? By the Gruggles?”
Dorma responded with an apologetic look.
“Yes, there weren’t that many, but they were powerful.”
“God… the monsters outside are already disgusting, and there’s even Gruggles here. I’m glad no one died, though. Great job.”
“It’s nothing.”
Ko Byeong-gap convened a meeting. He gathered all his trusted advisors and told them the information he had uncovered. After that, discussions on defeating the six Holy Warriors continued, but no clear answer came out.
“We can’t even control Illumination in Korea. How are we going to beat the monsters in Argentina? Realistically, it doesn’t make sense.”
It was just as Han Chang-hoon said. The current reality was that it was difficult enough to put out the fire in their front yard.
***
Illumination clearing work continued. They slew their enemies and vanished into the wind like ghosts. When Ko Byeong-gap and his party headed to Earth, their enemies gathered like an angry swarm of bees within minutes. Their battles intensified day by day, and the number of wounded and dead increased. In the meantime, eight of the twelve bases they discovered were destroyed.
Seo Si-hee and the twenty-three S-class hunters contributed greatly to their advance.
“Evade, everyone!”
“Yeah!”
At Ko Byeong-gap’s instruction, the Goblins scattered. Soon, a nearby building in Seongbuk-gu collapsed with a roar. The people and monsters underneath it were crushed by the rubble while Ko Byeong-gap and his party fled to Ashvilam. Illumination suddenly found their quarry vanished, and those who returned to Ashvilam immediately began a headcount.
They were accompanied by about a hundred and twenty A-class or lower hunters, but seventeen died in this operation alone. There were also a lot of heavily injured.
“Damn it!”
Jeong Seon-kyung was upset that people had died.
“Those bastards. They’re getting stronger and stronger.”
“Well, a lot of theirs have died, so they must’ve risen to spite us.”
“If we add up all the dead so far, there are more than seventy people. If we continue like this, our people below S-class will dry up soon.”
“It’s too much for us to do… but there are only three places left.”
On the other side, the hunters were soothing their exhausted bodies. It was then…
Doong! Doong! Doong!
A loud drum rang from the western wall.
“This…!”
Ko Byeong-gap sprinted toward them, the eight Goblins following immediately. There was no reason to ring the drum unless it was an emergency. And when it came to emergencies in Ashvilam, nine out of ten were caused by the Gruggles.
Ko Byeong-gap shouted as he climbed the fortress wall.
“What’s going on?”
He couldn’t see who, but someone answered from above.
“The Gruggles are coming! There… there are a lot!”
His voice trembled. Ko Byeong-gap finally reached the top wall. There was a dark line on the horizon. Ko Byeong-gap tried to think positively that it was a trick of the eye. However, it was growing closer as he watched.
Thousands? Ridiculous. Tens of thousands? Even more ridiculous. Estimating how many there were was terrifying. It was common for Gruggles to flock to Valtadren. However, they were usually weak, and at most, there were only hundreds of them. Ko Byeong-gap felt his mind slipping from him as they marched across the horizon.
Kunta ran to him.
“You’re here! I hope you understand the situation even if I don’t tell you.”
“Oh my god, how many are there?”
“There’s no way to count. What are we going to do? If they continue at that speed, they’ll reach Valtadren in an hour or two!”
Ko Byeong-gap bit his lip. The hunters reached the wall a bit later, stopping breathing as they looked out at the advancing army. Their varied sighs disturbed his ears. Ko Byeong-gap almost screamed with annoyance but managed to close his mouth.
It was a waste of time to be annoyed.
“Hurry up and treat the injured! Gather all those who can fight without exception! Gather all the troops in Valtadren! Send the Harpy to Somnium! Tell them to gather at Valtadren, leaving only a few in their camp!”
“Yeah! Got it!”
The Goblins moved quickly. Ko Byeong-gap spoke to the humans next.
“Bring everyone but the non-awakened! Let them know there’s going to be a battle.”
Ko Byeong-gap pressed hard on his temples.
“Also, let them know that anyone who does not cooperate will be deported. Everyone has to work together.”
“Okay!”
“Hey, Byeong-gap, you…”
“It’s okay, so go ahead and call the people together. It’s urgent.”
“Oh, yeah. I understand.”
After sending off the humans, he turned to lord Kunta.
“Kunta.”
“I know! I’ll bring all the Spirits together. Why do those small things keep coming up?”
After giving everyone instructions, Ko Byeong-gap turned to watch their approach. Why did they keep on coming?
‘It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Those Gruggles are weak. Seo Si-hee is also here, and we have several SS-class powers. We won’t fall to those bastards.’
He tried to calm himself down. Valtadren was busier than ever. Humans, Goblins, and Spirits alike were all pale-faced but ready for battle. Contrary to his initial concerns, the humans were ready to cooperate. That was how it should be. Shouldn’t they pay for the price of their food and accommodations?
Even after opening the arsenal, there weren’t enough weapons. Some gathered in the square with farming tools such as shovels and hoes instead of proper blades for 7,000 soldiers. Teamwork was the power of the low-level awakeners, and even the non-awakeners helped with chores. They boiled water, picked up rocks, and so on to help prepare for battle.
In the meantime, The Gruggles came closer. The Spirits of light created luminous objects to reveal the battlefield. There were so many Gruggles, and just looking at them tired him. Their appearance was spine-chilling. Some of them were comparable enough in size to Titan, whom he only defeated with the help of the Spirits.
Their troops gathered and went out to the field. Those who could attack from a long distance stepped back to the rear, and the close-range warriors stepped forward.
“That’s a lot of disgusting monsters.”
“Assimilate with the souls.”
“Yes!”
Ko Byeong-gap gritted his teeth and drew his sword.
“Everyone, get ready for battle!”
He shouted, his voice echoing out over the plains. The Goblins and humans rallied with their weapons raised.
“You have to act. Please.”
Just before the battle broke out, Ko Byeong-gap spoke to Seo Si-hee, who stood beside him. She nodded solemnly.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you.”
Ko Byeong-gap looked forward again and shouted with all his might.
“Everyone, charge!”
“Aaah!”
“Hah!”
Seven thousand soldiers crossed the field. The ground trembled as the army marched. Ko Byeong-gap vowed to run in the lead and cut down 30% of the Gruggles.
But a minute later, Ko Byeong-gap had to change his mind.
“Huh?”
“Me… what about me?”
“What are you doing?”
“What is this…?”
Their army stopped running and instead looked ahead with blank expressions. The tens of thousands of Gruggles were raising their hands as one to make an ‘X.’
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