Chapter 64

Mount Daeseong’s Red Star First Battalion.

The place where Kim Jong-un’s loyalists, who had been honing their skills through intense training and real combat, once stood was now engulfed in crimson flames.

Sixty casualties.

Kang Yuseong gazed at the burning site and nodded.

“A beacon, burning itself to signal distress… Not bad.”

To be precise, it was an arson committed by Kang Yuseong and Kim Do-jin, but Kang Yuseong had no intention of correcting that.

Mount Daeseong had few homes nearby, and the North Korean army outposts had disappeared after the Mega Shock. With this, they surely would have realized something was amiss.

If North Korea had infiltrated Seoul with a stealthy surprise attack, Kang Yuseong intended to march in openly and crush them.

“Is this truly alright?”

Even Kim Do-jin, standing beside him, asked with a slightly stiff expression, taken aback by Kang Yuseong’s audacious demeanor.

Kang Yuseong let out a faint chuckle.

“Why? Scared?”

Kim Do-jin frowned, but Kang Yuseong continued, unconcerned.

“I set the stage. There’ll be no repercussions, naturally. Just run wild without a second thought. Like before.”

Kim Do-jin felt the scale of the operation was growing too large, but Kang Yuseong was a being he simply couldn’t comprehend.

‘Hmm…’

Kim Do-jin, for all his capabilities, wondered what good could come from provoking North Korea like this.

Even if Seoul had suffered a surprise attack, this act of destroying everything in their path and setting it ablaze…

‘War.’

It was as if they were declaring war, the scale had become too immense.

Yet, Kang Yuseong remained perfectly calm.

Could he not know this?

No. He genuinely had something planned.

“Let’s go.”

Kang Yuseong turned his back on the burning barracks and moved on.

Their destination: Pyongyang.

Audaciously, Kang Yuseong was making his way there.

The hounds were on their trail.

That was to be expected.

It would be stranger if no hounds pursued them, given how openly they were massacring and setting fires.

“Roughly fifty.”

Kang Yuseong and Kim Do-jin lay in ambush in a nearby thicket, silently observing the troops passing below the cliff.

It was a very rough, stony path, but those pursuing Kang Yuseong and Kim Do-jin navigated it skillfully.

Meaning they were quite skilled.

Such individuals would likely increase in number as time went on.

Thump-thump-thump—

A helicopter must have taken off somewhere, as the loud whirring of its propellers echoed.

“Should we deal with them here?”

Kim Do-jin asked.

But Kang Yuseong shook his head.

“No, let’s lead them. To Pyongyang.”

Kim Do-jin frowned.

“To Pyongyang…? Won’t that put us at an increasing disadvantage…?”

“For now, it’s easier to let those bastards walk on their own.”

“Huh…?”

Kim Do-jin tilted his head, perplexed by the incomprehensible words.

Kang Yuseong grinned.

“Let’s get going too. With them in tow.”

At this point, it was hard to tell who the pursuers even were.

What on earth was Kang Yuseong thinking?

No matter how much Kim Do-jin racked his brain, he couldn’t figure it out.

They crossed another ridge.

Even with pursuers on their heels, Kang Yuseong continued to destroy barracks and outposts at opportune locations.

Kim Do-jin couldn’t help but be astonished by his movements.

He chose routes through truly unexpected places, and any outpost along those routes was inevitably obliterated.

As if to inform someone.

‘So this is what it means to set the stage!’

In truth, Kang Yuseong’s full intentions still eluded him.

However, he could vaguely discern what Kang Yuseong was trying to do now.

He was throwing out bait.

To the pursuers hot on their heels.

The pursuers would follow the bait Kang Yuseong had laid out.

Of course, a siege would be forming around them, but Kang Yuseong possessed the knack for rendering such encirclements ineffective.

All the outposts they were currently destroying were on the western side, along the path leading towards Gaeseong.

And the hounds chasing them grew in number as time passed.

Since Pyongyang was just a short distance north of Gaeseong, the pursuers continued to swell in ranks.

After that, Kang Yuseong struck yet another location.

It was utterly baffling behavior to Kim Do-jin.

‘What is he doing…!’

Kim Do-jin frowned, watching his actions.

‘Why isn’t he heading straight for Pyongyang… Why is he wasting time here? What on earth…?’

He’d strike here, then strike there…

His route shifted from east to west, then west to east.

Meanwhile, the number of pursuers was increasing, and the encirclement would be tightening.

‘Pursuers…?’

Then, Kim Do-jin noticed something strange.

Kang Yuseong wasn’t trying to shake off the pursuers.

Instead, he was constantly luring them in, throwing them bait.

‘Gathering them? Why?’

Was there any advantage to gathering the pursuers?

Why would he want to gather them?

Indeed, if they had been ordinary humans, they might have collapsed from such a forced march. The distance they were covering was immense.

Within that vast expanse, Kang Yuseong was drawing out the pursuers, as if weaving a tight net.

Kim Do-jin recalled what Kang Yuseong had said before.

— We don’t infiltrate. We walk in openly and crush Pyongyang.

Even recalling those words, he still couldn’t understand.

Gathering pursuers would only put them at a disadvantage…

As time passed, the number of hounds taking the bait would only increase.

That would make their situation even more precarious.

But then, at a certain moment, Kang Yuseong grinned and spoke.

“Alright. We’ve gathered enough; now we go to Pyongyang.”

Kim Do-jin wore a puzzled expression.

“Gathered enough, you say? What do you mean?”

“Exactly that. Chess pieces. I needed them.”

‘Chess pieces?’

Kim Do-jin frowned.

Chess pieces, he couldn’t immediately grasp the meaning.

An ordinary person wouldn’t have created such a chaotic situation, yet Kang Yuseong had thrown all of North Korea into disarray and wore a calm expression.

‘What is this man thinking?’

Kim Do-jin frowned as he looked at Kang Yuseong.

Even for someone as intelligent as himself, Kang Yuseong was an enigma.

His skill, the unknown powers…

And most unfathomable of all were Kang Yuseong’s thoughts.

Just then, Kang Yuseong grinned and pointed a finger at a spot on the map.

“This place, this will be the grave of the hounds who took the bait.”

It was a plain located right at Pyongyang’s doorstep.

To be precise, a place that had become a plain due to the Mega Shock.

“The hounds’ grave…? You intend to gather them here?”

Kang Yuseong nodded.

“Looks like you’re finally catching on. That’s right. We gather those bastards here.”

“Hundreds… of pursuers, you mean?”

“Yes. And those bastards…”

The corner of Kang Yuseong’s mouth twisted upwards.

“They will open the gates of Pyongyang.”

“What…!”

“You’ll see when the time comes. Alright, let’s move. Hide-and-seek is over.”

Watching Kang Yuseong compare their pursuit so far to hide-and-seek, Kim Do-jin shook his head.

“Hmph…”

He let his gaze cool, his eyes sharpening.

But there was nothing he could do now.

He followed behind Kang Yuseong, who was walking ahead.

Though there were hundreds of pursuers, in Kim Do-jin’s estimation, they weren’t much of a threat. Of course, highly skilled individuals might be hidden among them, but both Kim Do-jin and Kang Yuseong were beings optimized for combat against humans.

Kang Yuseong, in particular, possessed unfathomable skill.

So much so that he probably would have achieved this level of success even if he had come to North Korea alone.

Yet, not knowing his thoughts still made him just as uneasy.

To engage in a battle against hundreds of pursuers right at Pyongyang’s doorstep.

Moreover, hundreds might not be the end of it.

There could be hundreds, even thousands, of troops behind them…

And Kang Yuseong stood tall on a hilltop, looking down.

The bait had already been cast.

Below, an outpost was blazing fiercely.

And the pursuers were gathering.

Their actions—guarding all sides, inspecting the outpost, requesting reinforcements—were all clearly visible.

Thump-thump-thump—

Helicopters were taking off, and conventional troops were also converging.

“Kim Do-jin.”

As Kim Do-jin looked at him, Kang Yuseong pointed at the helicopters.

“Get rid of those. And those bastards too.”

He pointed at the conventional troops after the helicopters.

“Then…”

“I’ll handle those bastards. They need a delicate touch, you see.”

Kim Do-jin frowned, noticing the deep smile on Kang Yuseong’s lips.

“I’m counting on you.”

Leaving those words, Kang Yuseong launched himself down the hill.

It was quite a high hill, but he showed not the slightest hesitation.

Thud—

And then, his comms crackled as he smoothly landed below.

— Don’t die.

Kim Do-jin let out a short laugh.

“Your jokes are getting out of hand.”

A cold aura began to settle in his eyes.

Don’t die?

For anyone else, perhaps, but for Kim Do-jin, that was truly a joke.

It meant Kang Yuseong was that confident.

Even with hundreds of pursuers before him.

Watching Kang Yuseong disappear into the distance, Kim Do-jin took a deep breath.

“Hoo…”

And the moment he exhaled again, crimson flames erupted from his entire body.

“You too, then.”

A massive aura coalesced around Kim Do-jin’s body.

“Don’t you die either, Kang Yuseong.”

CRASH!

And that massive aura split into several strands, surging into the air.

BOOM—

Simultaneously, flames erupted from the five helicopters hovering in the sky, and they exploded.

Fire Missile.

A skill that exerted immense power, especially in anti-air combat.

Boom-boom-boom!

The moment the helicopters crashed, a massive firework display, resembling a true spectacle, unfolded in the sky.

Countless small fire arrows, scattering like explosions!

WHOOSH!

Those arrows plunged straight into the ground.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRASH!

The armor of the armored vehicles crumpled, wheels flew off, and the surrounding infantry soldiers were helplessly pierced and killed by the rain of fire.

WHOOSH!

Flames shot up everywhere, and soldiers, panicking from the unexpected ambush, shrieked and ran around frantically.

Kim Do-jin calmly watched it all, then raised his hand.

Boom-boom-boom!

WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!

Another volley of fire arrows swept across the ground.

It was a terrifying rain of explosions, unleashed with such immense power that one wondered if anything short of a tank could withstand those fire arrows! Soldiers’ bodies were torn to shreds and incinerated, a sight that conjured images of hell.

And at the forefront.

Someone was sprinting rapidly.

Shing—

As a cold silver light spread, the soldiers in front of him were sliced in two, their bodies falling everywhere.

But he sprinted forward with undiminished momentum, as if he had no business with them.

Before his eyes stood another group of ‘them.’

Clang—

‘They’ were drawing their weapons and charging towards the unexpected assailant.

Seeing them, Kang Yuseong wore a peculiar smile.

Then, gripping his sword, he soared straight into the air.

WHOOSH—

In an instant, the surroundings lit up brilliantly, and countless meteors rained down.

Chakra, Meteor Stab!

That formidable sword skill descended upon the pursuers.