Chapter 137
Late at night, in northern China, Qinhuangdao City.
In the past, it was one of the prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province, northern China. But after the great cataclysm, it bordered territories of monsters called kings and transformed into a major military city and fortress of China.
In fact, Qinhuangdao City was a naturally blessed fortress that had never fallen to the onslaught of monsters for decades.
The soldiers stationed there were veterans who wouldn't even blink at ordinary invasions, having defended the fortress for decades.
However, considerable confusion was evident on the faces of these veteran soldiers.
"They keep advancing!"
"They, they won't die!"
"Fire! We must stop them even if we have to pour all the firepower of the fortress!"
At the order of Tan Zents, the fortress commander and an SS+ rank hunter, the soldiers moved quickly and launched attacks.
Boom!
Self-propelled artillery and guns installed in the fortress spewed fire incessantly, and attacks launched by standby hunters rained down on the heads of the corpse piles.
With successive explosions, monsters had their arms and legs pierced or limbs shattered, rolling on the ground.
Normally, they should have immediately died, becoming cold corpses.
However, the advance of the monsters approaching the fortress still did not stop.
'Damn, what the hell are those things!'
Tan Zents was inwardly cursing roughly, but it was an understandable reaction.
From the start, the monsters marching towards Qinhuangdao City were a legion of corpse piles.
They were an immortal army that had already transcended death once.
'With the current forces of the fortress... we absolutely cannot stop them.'
At first, they were able to slow down the advancing corpse piles through overwhelming firepower, but now even that was reaching its limit.
'We're almost out of ammunition, and the hunters are at their limit too.'
As it was a sudden invasion without any prior warning, there was no way they could have prepared a proper response.
The fact that they had held out this long was only possible because of the veteran soldiers.
Naturally, a dark shadow fell over Tan Zents' face.
'It's over...'
With the current strength of Qinhuangdao City, there was no way to stop this immortal army that had already overcome death.
It was a battle without even a glimmer of hope, but they couldn't give up.
Within 50km of the fortress, there were numerous urban areas where countless civilians resided.
If this fortress, Qinhuangdao City, were to fall, it would mean incalculable loss of life.
'...We need to buy as much time as possible.'
They had quickly relayed the situation to nearby urban areas, so if they could hold out a little longer, all civilians would be safely evacuated, and Chinese hunters would be able to establish a defense line.
'One hour. No, even if it's just 30 minutes, we must hold out.'
While it was impossible to completely eradicate the corpse piles, there was enough possibility to simply hold out.
After all, there was a reason Qinhuangdao City was called a naturally blessed fortress.
The walls surrounding the fortress were made of mana stone, boasting considerable defensive power.
They weren't walls that could be easily breached by the attacks of corpse piles.
'We can stop them. No, we must stop them.'
It was then, as Tan Zents was burning with determination, his eyes blazing.
Whoosh-!
A streak of gray light passed over the fortress walls.
The soldiers who raised their heads at the sudden situation saw something and widened their eyes.
"That's...!"
Above the Death Knight that had landed in the middle of the fortress was the name 'Rage'.
A named monster, an existence on a different level from ordinary monsters, had entered the fortress interior.
"I'll take care of that Death Knight, everyone focus your firepower on the corpse piles trying to cling to the walls!"
As Tan Zents shouted and hurriedly moved, Rage, who was looking around, quietly opened his mouth.
"How dare such trash block the path of His Majesty the Emperor... You shall pay for your sins with your lives."
Dense magical energy erupted from Rage's entire body as he furrowed his brow.
Woong-!
Simultaneously, the energy that was rising like a heat haze all condensed into the sword he was holding.
It meant he had manifested his power.
'...He's a supreme-level powerhouse or beyond.'
The named monster before him, Rage, was a calamitous being with power equal to or greater than SSS-rank, considered the strongest among hunters.
'Damn it...! What kind of monster is this...'
With his own power of merely SS+ rank, Tan Zents had no way to stop this monster.
Due to the continuous advance of corpse piles, he couldn't even request help from nearby.
It was truly the worst situation possible.
But there was no other option.
'...We must stop them.'
Just as Tan Zents was about to grip his sword tightly once again, remembering the civilians behind him, it happened.
Screech-!
Suddenly, a sound like tearing through the air pierced his ears.
Tan Zents' eyes widened as he stopped speaking and turned his head.
A black meteor - that was the only way to describe the concentrated energy that was rapidly cleaving through the air, flying towards the fortress walls.
"Wh-What...?!"
As Tan Zents was uttering a confused voice, it happened.
Boom-!
The rapidly approaching black meteor destroyed the towering fortress walls.
The walls, which could be seen as the only glimmer of hope, were instantly obliterated.
However, what drove Tan Zents to despair was something else entirely.
"Kuhehe."
Beyond the collapsed walls, a snow-white skeleton harboring an enormous evil, a Lich, revealed itself with a chilling smile.
"Tourakonu, krudomerub."
At the same time, unintelligible, bizarre, and eerie language echoed at length.
Finally, as that voice put a period to its utterance.
Crack-!
The ground of Qinhuangdao City, praised as a naturally blessed fortress, began to split.
The walls that had barely maintained their form collapsed in an instant, and as corpse piles began pouring into the fortress interior, screams of soldiers could be heard from all around.
It was a scene like a tremendous calamity, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Krudoturak."
As the Lich, floating in the air, once again uttered bizarre sounds and spread its arms wide, it happened.
The soldiers who had met their deaths at the hands of the corpse piles rose to their feet in grotesque postures and began attacking their comrades who had been fighting alongside them until just moments ago.
"Kieeek-!"
"Kyaaaa-!"
The fortress, which had boasted robust defense, transformed into a scene of hell in an instant.
"Damn it...!"
Just as Tan Zents was about to raise his voice to awaken the surrounding troops who were paralyzed with fear, it happened.
Slash-!
Rage's form, which had become a gray flash, severed Tan Zents' neck.
And so, Qinhuangdao City, once called a naturally blessed fortress, fell to become a land of the dead.
* * *
Even after conquering Qinhuangdao City, a military city, the advance of the corpse piles continued.
They turned all the cities in sight into lands of the dead.
They seemed to know no stopping.
They didn't rest either.
They advanced recklessly as if they were going to destroy the world in a matter of days.
As it was an event sufficient to make the world tremble in fear, it spread quickly through various media channels.
Thanks to this, Lee Seong-jun was also able to hear the news immediately after waking up in the morning.
'...What are they doing?'
Lee Seong-jun's brow furrowed as doubts naturally arose in his mind.
Urban areas that could be considered human territory were falling one after another, and tens of thousands of lives were lost.
The scenes shown on TV right now were too tragic.
The situations in places that couldn't even be captured by cameras must be far more horrific.
It was one of the largest-scale invasions in the history of the current Earth, which had entered a period of stability after the great cataclysm.
'Why didn't they ask for help?'
To be more precise, it seemed they hadn't prepared at all.
Except for the military city of Qinhuangdao, cities were falling like dominoes, unable to even buy time.
As a result, the confusion among citizens grew even greater, and naturally, all administrative functions were paralyzed, causing the damage to escalate further.
This couldn't be considered a proper response from humanity, which constantly monitored the movements of kings through satellites.
It was as if they hadn't heard the news at all.
'What were they thinking?'
Although questions kept arising in his mind, what mattered now wasn't China's thoughts.
'What should I do...?'
In truth, he, Lee Seong-jun, didn't particularly like China.
However, his relationship with the Dragon Subjugation Guild wasn't bad.
It could even be said to be good.
Even when Kang Yi-ryeong and So Su-mun tried to pull dirty tricks, the Dragon Subjugation Guild had shown goodwill by sending words of warning.
No, even during the recent Red Gate incident, the Dragon Subjugation Guild was one of the few guilds that voluntarily offered to send support.
'At the current rate of the corpse piles' advance... they'll reach Tianjin, where the Dragon Subjugation Guild is located, by today.'
Although relations between countries weren't good, he wasn't a cold-blooded person who could callously abandon the Dragon Subjugation Guild that had shown goodwill.
'...Kindness should be repaid with kindness.'
Moreover, the army of corpse piles was something that needed to be eliminated anyway.
'It's too vast and powerful to be dismissed as just simple corpse piles.'
While they were currently marching towards China, no one could know where their next destination would be.
It meant they could invade Korea at any time as well.
It meant they could pose a danger to his family too.
The mere thought was horrifying.
Such a danger couldn't be left unchecked.
As Lee Seong-jun finished his thoughts with a nod, he was about to pick up his smartphone to contact the vice-chairman, Ko Tae-hyun, when it happened.
Ring-!
Just then, a call came in from Ko Tae-hyun.
Although they hadn't directly exchanged contacts, given the nature of the situation, he could immediately guess why the call was being made.
"I've heard the news. Is the plane to China ready?"
It would consume too much internal energy to leap across the sea to reach China.
In a situation where he would obviously have to engage in battle as soon as he arrived, he wouldn't do something stupid like wasting his strength.
That's why government assistance was desperately needed.
"If Hunter Lee Seong-jun wishes, we've completed all preparations for you to depart right away."
"I'll be at the airport within 30 minutes."
"Understood. We'll have everything ready for takeoff as soon as Hunter Lee Seong-jun arrives."
Lee Seong-jun's eyes gleamed as he quickly moved towards the exit of his house.