Chapter 78 – Left Azure Dragon, Right White Tiger

The Doctor’s combat style in the previous timeline had already deviated significantly from the general concept of a ‘healer.’

Since minor wounds could simply be healed, he chose a way of fighting where he didn’t hold back his own body.

He merely avoided fatal, one-hit-kill blows.

Furthermore, he didn’t need to pace himself; he could always fight at full power.

Even if his muscles were damaged or his energy depleted due to excessive exertion, he could just recover.

The result was as follows:

A martial artist who lacked explosive power but could relentlessly drive a battle forward with nearly infinite endurance.

That was the Doctor of the previous timeline.

But this time, he was different.

“I wonder if it works like this?”

Whoosh!

Perhaps because the battle at Baengnokdam Crater Lake had left a deep impression on him, he was constantly experimenting with ways to wrap his body in mana to produce explosive power.

Boom!

The result was astonishing.

Now in Hanam, a powerhouse capable of dominating an era was about to be born—someone who was already strong in endurance, could heal, and could occasionally unleash explosive destructive power.

‘I guess he actually learned something from me.’

I grinned as I watched him.

It was a desirable phenomenon.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Black Mage. The large-bodied man often called the ‘Reaper’ was absolutely shocked by the information he received from Baphomet, who had been dispatched to Hanam.

“Who the hell is that guy!”

A man had suddenly appeared and begun clearing out the monsters single-handedly. He had quickly sent Baphomet due to the man’s strength, but the result was even more appalling.

Baphomet, who had killed and tormented countless people until now, had been killed in a single blow.

“Th-this is crazy…”

The Reaper trembled in fear.

However, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

‘Fortunately, the guy is heading toward Hanam.’

To the Reaper, Hanam was merely a territory that didn’t hold much significance. No matter how strong the opponent was, he wasn’t an immediate practical threat to his own life.

‘I must eliminate him as quickly as possible.’

That didn’t mean he intended to let him live.

In fact, this might be an opportunity.

The man seemed to be alone for now, but if he were to collude with another faction or launch a coordinated attack later, he would be far more troublesome.

And the Reaper was cautious. He had no intention of sending mid-bosses one by one like some Great Demon King from mass media.

He commanded five of the remaining six demons.

And every monster in the vicinity.

‘Kill the man.’

His principle was to do a job cleanly.

* * *

Watching all the monsters and demons in the vicinity move through the Observation Ship, I grinned.

“They move exactly as expected.”

It wasn’t just my former comrades whose patterns I knew.

I also knew the way of thinking of the enemies who had relentlessly tormented humanity. Predicting their behavior was an easy task.

I decided to move to the next stage of the operation.

‘Now, I’ll provoke them with a moderate threat.’

If the threat was too strong, they would flee; if it was too weak, they would only send monsters.

It had to be a threat just right enough that it would be a waste to spend monsters on it, yet something they felt they could handle personally without any real danger.

‘This should be fine.’

I began moving a detachment composed of only a few Assault Cannons and Magitech Armor toward Namhansanseong Fortress.

* * *

The artillery barrages from the Assault Cannons arrived sporadically.

Boom—!

These shells were striking Namhansanseong Fortress directly.

Crash!

Thanks to the dense defenses built up like air-raid shelters, there was no major damage, but if they continued to be hammered over the long term, the damage would certainly grow.

Above all… this attack felt quite annoying.

“Why now of all times…”

They say bad things happen in clusters. With a sullen expression, the Reaper looked down at the attack site through the vision linked with the Observer.

‘That is definitely the Lord’s military.’

At first, his eyes snapped open in fear.

But soon, he tilted his head.

“What? Why is it only this much?”

The amount of troops was far smaller than expected.

He wondered if they were underestimating him, or perhaps testing the waters. After tilting his head for a while, the Reaper made his decision.

‘At this level, it would be better for me to fight them personally.’

As it was, most of his forces were deployed to defend Hanam.

He needed to preserve even this small number of troops to fully protect himself if something truly catastrophic happened.

“I’ll end this in an instant.”

As he set out from Namhansanseong Fortress, he possessed the aura of a great general.

* * *

Meanwhile, watching the entire scene, I burst out laughing.

“Puhahaha!”

I almost felt sorry that he was following my thoughts so perfectly. Hearing my laughter, Choi Yongjin approached as if he had been waiting.

“Is it going well?”

“Exactly as planned. I think we can head out.”

Upon hearing my words, Choi Yongjin said something strange.

“I’ll be back before the drinks get cold.”

“Drinks?”

“There’s such a thing.”

Choi Yongjin laughed boisterously, seemingly amused by his own joke.

And then…

A moment later, I was shocked to see his combat preparations.

Upon the One-Horned Dragon Special Individual, whose authority I had handed over to him…

He had climbed on top of it!

“Wh-why are you riding that?”

“Just… watch.”

Then, Choi Yongjin began to manipulate his mana.

Whoosh!

Seeing his mana envelop even the One-Horned Dragon, I finally realized his intention. He was using his Vehicle Enhancement Ability to strengthen the One-Horned Dragon as well.

“Wow…”

I was impressed.

It was an idea that even his previous-life self hadn’t thought of. Of course, the previous-life version of him, who had lost numerous subordinates including his fiancée, had a much darker personality.

Choi Yongjin spurred the One-Horned Dragon.

Bang!

Choi Yongjin took off.

In his hand was the spear-shaped artifact he had retrieved from raiding the dungeon last time; riding a dragon and wielding a spear, he looked like a knight from a fantasy world.

He ascended in a straight line toward the sky…

And soon disappeared into the clouds.

Then, silence.

He reappeared a short while later.

KABOOM!

Plunging toward the ground with a massive sonic boom… he was visible for only a split second.

“What?”

The moment the Reaper looked up at the sky, it was already too late.

Rumble— Crash!

The Reaper died instantly, his entire body completely shredded by the powerful impact, unable to even let out a final scream.

* * *

Watching that scene, I thought with a smile.

‘As long as the opponent doesn’t notice, it’s an ambush regardless…’

It was the optimal method for dealing with the Reaper, who loved to flee. After that, there wasn’t much for me to do. All that was left was to send the Aerial Mothership to sweep up the remaining remnants.

First, I rescued Yoon Sanghoon, who was struggling and gradually consuming his mana while surrounded by a vast number of monsters.

Then, I dealt with the monsters remaining at Namhansanseong Fortress.

Fortunately, no major damage was done to Namhansanseong Fortress, which was also a historical site. In fact, the Acid Slugs that had been stationed there had eaten away far more.

Once Hanam and the Villain were dealt with simultaneously…

The citizens within Gwak Sangyong’s Faction were incredibly excited.

“I heard he cleared Hanam single-handedly!”

“My goodness, my goodness!”

“He looks so pale and like a model student… how on earth!”

While they were amazed by Yoon Sanghoon’s abilities…

On the other hand—

“And I heard he caught the demon worshiper of Namhansanseong.”

“What does that mean?”

“That demon villain, the Reaper, is dead!”

“How? Did the man who cleared Hanam do it?”

“No, the Commander of the Volunteer Knights!”

“That fierce and rugged guy?”

“I heard he caught him while riding some kind of dragon this time!”

“A dragon? Like the dragons in fantasy?!”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

They were also shocked by Choi Yongjin’s new combat style.

But their admiration didn’t end there.

“But… who on earth is the person who commands both Mr. Yoon Sanghoon and Mr. Choi Yongjin?”

“Isn’t it that Lord?”

“Right… what does he look like?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“But you know, on one side you have the pale-faced Mr. Yoon Sanghoon… and on the other, a knight who rides a dragon… isn’t this exactly the Left Azure Dragon and Right White Tiger?”

“You’re right! Left Azure Dragon, Right White Tiger!”

It was the moment a new nickname was born for the two of them.

Meanwhile, speculative rumors about me, who commanded them, began to pour out…

Which meant Seoyeon had to suffer for a while.

As if in compensation, Seoyeon spent every day picking out the most scandalous rumors among them to show me and tease me.

“Oppa… can’t we just leave this one alone?”

“Please delete it immediately.”

But overall, the atmosphere was good.

Gwak Sangyong’s Faction, which had vaguely thought our factions were of similar scale simply by comparing occupied territories, was completely won over by me through this incident.

It made sense; they had been struggling for survival all this time, and in a single day, just a few people had cleared everything for them.

In the end, the emotion they felt toward my faction…

Or more accurately, toward me.

Moving beyond previous [Competition]…

It was now almost at the level of [Awe].

Thus, the situation was progressing very rapidly. According to Gwak Sangyong, unlike in the past when he actively persuaded the executives to join my faction…

Now, it seemed the executives were the ones more actively persuading Gwak Sangyong. Telling him to join under me as quickly as possible.

Gwak Sangyong seemed to agree, as he was processing things at a rapid pace, forcing executive meetings three or four times a day.

The biggest harvest among this was that they were establishing a plan to acquire and operate several factories in Incheon.

Their core industrial plan was aimed at restarting the manufacture of disposable feminine products, such as sanitary pads.

Considering that the women on the Shopping Mall 6th Floor all let out cheers of joy upon hearing the news first…

It seemed Gwak Sangyong’s executives certainly knew how to make money even in this changed world.

Furthermore, they planned to start a proper production business focusing on modern hygiene products that were gradually running out, such as soap, shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.

‘Then the prices of goods will be much cheaper… everyone will be happy.’

I was genuinely pleased.

Of course…

There was another reason behind that happiness.

* * *

That other reason was, of course—

[Analyzing Essence…]

The Villain’s Mana Stone of the Black Mage obtained this time.

[Analysis Complete.]

[Restoring Forgotten Knowledge of the Magitech Civilization. <2/7>]

“Oh, this again?”

It was the moment I frowned.

[New facilities and machinery are unlocked!]

“What?”

Unlike last time, two pieces of knowledge had been restored. And it seemed that from two onwards, new facilities and machinery were unlocked.

‘My god…’

I couldn’t help but be amazed. I realized that my ability could grow even further.

[Essence can be applied in a new way.]

‘I guess existing Essences can also be applied differently…’

This was also a very good improvement.

I was especially looking forward to a new application method for things like the Shadow Essence, which hadn’t shown a great effect.

But that wasn’t all.

[Booting Assistant AI…]

‘An assistant…?’

[Error: Insufficient knowledge. <2/7>]

[Booting in Safe Mode.]

[Successor, hello?]

My ability… had spoken to me.