Chapter 80

〈Chapter 80〉 Part 1, Chapter 5 (13)

Late into the night. Sixty thousand Seoul citizens had completed their resident registration. The government planned to organize this list and release it at 9 AM the next morning via official government websites.

New Seoul was in an uproar—but for good reasons. Could my family, friends, or lovers who might’ve perished actually have survived in Seoul?

With only a mere 0.6% chance out of a population of ten million, people still clung to that sliver of hope, desperate to get their hands on the list as soon as possible.

Even raw data would do; they just wanted confirmation first.

Eventually, those who had been working in Seoul wrapped up by 8 PM and prepared to return to New Seoul immediately. Along with the list of sixty thousand registered residents, they departed from Seoul.

Among them, only about a thousand refused to register. A very small portion decided against restoring their South Korean citizenship.

Separately, around two hundred individuals never even showed up to register. All of them wore uniforms primarily colored blue, openly chose the path of criminality, and were not part of the underground refugee population.

The Blue Wind Sect.

A mysterious organization rumored to have defeated Princess Seoyea, symbolized by burning blue flames, inspired by unknown superhumans.

The government classified them as an A-Rank dangerous organization and placed them under special surveillance.

And their leader…

* * *

“Congratulations on becoming Vice Leader, Mr. Ji Hwa Kim.”

Kim Ji Hwa seethed with anger. His rage surged without a target, but no one here could soothe his frustration.

Deokbae said, “I’m not even an officer—do you think I want to be considered the boss?”

Cheon Gaeul added, “You and I greeted the special envoy together, didn’t we? I thought you were considering me the second-in-command.”

Ryu Cheonseong chimed in, “Please take care of monster extermination in Seoul from now on, Great Leader! Hehehe!!”

James Lee remarked, “Only three of us are publicly known: me, you, and Sky Castle. But both me and Sky Castle received pardons. You’re about to get a bounty on your head. Lighthouse.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Ji Hwa lost it. Once just a regular corporate rookie employee, he now found himself as the head of a criminal organization. I silently reviewed the criminal registry sent secretly by Yun Yuhwa.

– <Lighthouse> Kim Ji Hwa. Villain. Bounty: 200,000,000 won. Presumed leader of the criminal organization <Blue Wind Sect>.

“Congratulations. Hope you work hard.”

“Wha… What?! This is ridiculous! How could anyone mistake someone like me for the boss?!”

“It makes sense.”

Deokbae interjected.

“I’m irrelevant. Cheon Gaeul is deceased, Phantom’s identity is unclear—who knows if mentioning him isn’t taboo in New Seoul right now? A villain who defeated Princess Seoyea leading the Blue Wind Sect—it sounds plausible.”

“…This’ll cause chaos.”

Soon, they’d likely be branded as national insurgents and become global enemies.

Yun Yuhwa proposed using public misconceptions to their advantage.

“Lighthouse and Sky Castle collaborate. Lighthouse gives up Guro in exchange for conquering the underworld, while Sky Castle goes legit and becomes Blue Wind Sect’s backing force.”

“Why are you making me out to be such a terrifying figure?!?!”

I pointed at Ji Hwa’s glowing eyes and laughed.

“Leader, maybe you should check yourself in the mirror? Anyone can see you’re the Dark Lord of Middle-earth!”

“But these eyes—you made them like this, Leader!”

“You said you liked it last time when it tingled.”

Deokbae’s remark left Ji Hwa speechless. A fist swung aimlessly through the air. I patted Ji Hwa’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Kim. Sure, you lack experience now, but you’ve got potential. With some refinement, you could even go toe-to-toe with Association Commanders.”

“…Really?”

Lighthouse’s eyes wavered. I put strength into my shoulders and raised my thumb.

“Remember what you showed during the Seoul Reclamation Operation? In the past three weeks, you’ve taken down villains and leftover monsters alike. If you keep this up…”

“If… if I keep this up…?”

Ji Hwa swallowed hard.

“In the battle to assault the snake at City Hall, I’ll entrust command to Lighthouse.”

“Yes! I’ll work hard!”

Kim Ji Hwa—a timid, indecisive man prone to gossip but weak to compliments, with a surprisingly flexible mind honed from landing a job at a major corporation.

“Great. Now let’s move on to the main topic before you fully realize the bounty on your head.”

Fortunately, Ji Hwa hadn’t caught on yet.

“May 9th, midnight. The operation’s name is <Durahan Night>.”

“…Isn’t that name a bit…?”

Gaeul scratched her neck. Everyone’s gaze naturally shifted to Yu I-shin standing behind her.

Yu I-shin quickly typed on her smartwatch, which read aloud via AI voice:

[I think <Blue Feather Knight> sounds better.]

“That’s not the issue right now, Yu!”

Gaeul pulled her hair in frustration. Especially among ex-Special Forces heroes, Yu I-shin stood out as uniquely detached from reality.

“Do you even know what you think of your commander?”

[She seems like a good person. Unlike us, she was personally chosen by the Spirit.]

“Wow. Does that mean that guy could become the Pope of the Phoenix Church?”

“Hmm, even I find that a bit much.”

I waved my hand, causing Yu I-shin to freeze in apparent shock. Honestly, among all the monsters, nothing’s more embarrassing than the Blue Feather Brigade’s so-called ‘commander.’

Why do I always try creating monsters in private places? Tera’s sensitivity is too lethal for modern humans.

“Hem. Anyway, the backbone of this operation will be the old Special Forces Unit, now known as <Blue Feathers>. As soon as ‘Countdown’ ends, create chaos and make yourselves visible.”

“If we die, can I secretly recover cores?”

When Gaeul raised her hand to ask, I nodded affirmatively.

Monsters don’t truly die. If their core survives and returns to me, I can resurrect them.

They’ll lose accumulated magic power like Deokbae did, but for expendable units like Blue Feathers, it’s not a big deal.

After all, these are people who committed crimes and killed others to become what they are. They should be grateful we’re giving them another chance as monsters.

“Proclamation? How will we handle that?”

“I’ll set the alarm.”

I snapped my fingers, producing a flame.

5.9.

“May 9th.”

“Yes. We originally considered doing it tomorrow, but settled on the 9th. Originally, we wanted to act immediately, but…”

Yun Yuhwa opposed. Today being May 7th, attention would likely focus on Seoul’s residents rather than making a significant impact. The 8th was skipped because it was Parents’ Day.

Yun Yuhwa strongly argued that it wasn’t a day to pin carnations on parents’ chests, nor to place white chrysanthemums at graves forevermore for Seok Harang.

Reluctantly, I agreed. Even though it was just a day’s difference, it seemed to be an unyielding line for Yun Yuhwa.

“Fortunately, Princess Seoyea has already promised to take care of herself, so I only need to worry about Busan.”

“Seriously, the Boss is going alone?”

Architect’s voice carried concern. I shrugged one shoulder.

“At Guanak, I’ll draw aggro, and in Busan, I’ll face off 1-on-1 with Light Blade. That’s the key plan, right?”

“The Blue Feathers will attack Anyang like dimensionally influenced zombies, get repelled, and while the heroes focus on Seoul, the Commander eliminates Light Blade.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Ji Hwa’s summary.

Yun Yuhwa suggested attributing everything to the Dimensional Gate’s influence. Since research is incomplete, anything involving Chang-yeom will temporarily be blamed on the Dimensional Gate and Fire Dragon.

“Thanks to reviving Hellhounds as zombies, Seoul will expect anything strange to happen. They’ll think, ‘Oh, it’s just residual effects from Shadow and the Fire Dragon.'”

“Research institutions might raise questions, but that’s a future concern.”

“So the remaining issue is one…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it cleanly.”

I clenched my fist and struck a fighting pose. The monsters collectively sighed.

“To send off Korea’s hero like this…”

“…Commander, may I ask something?”

“Yes, feel free.”

Ji Hwa hesitated before speaking.

“How strong is that spirit, Rusalka of Settling Snow?”

“Hmm. I’m curious too. Are you six roughly equal in strength?”

Spirit hierarchy? Haven’t really thought about it.

“They’re all pretty average below me…”

Fundamentally, spirits derive from ‘magic power,’ so there’s little variation in strength despite elemental advantages.

The differences arise due to elemental superiority:

Earth > Water > Fire > Wind > Earth

Light > Darkness > Light

Illusion Magic operates separately, so it’s an exception.

Still, based on the original story…

“After me?”

“…If you mean combat power, second strongest? Then I’m relieved.”

Ji Hwa breathed a sigh of relief. Deokbae clicked his tongue, agreeing with Ji Hwa.

“After Light Blade dies, we’ll need to conquer Seoul and drive out the Chinese army. That level of strength will definitely help.”

“Right. Individually, SS Rank.”

“…What’s that unit again?”

Gaeul gave me a suspicious look. I conjured a flame briefly to illustrate.

“If affinity above 90 equals S Rank, then within that range, there are levels up to 99. 90~95 is standard S, 96~99 is SS. Most current Round Table members fall within S and SS.”

“So new fighters are at Round Table level? Sounds good.”

The monsters relaxed. I carefully held back further comments.

‘Might have to fight that water element power someday.’

Whether she awakens as a spirit or a Dark Legion officer, I might end up battling her.

‘Telling them would just lead to interference.’

Especially Cheon Gaeul would overthink it. Approaching her, I gently petted her head.

“…What are you doing?”

Gaeul grabbed my wrist with a tentacle. Smiling, I smoothed her hair.

“Just admiring how impressive you are.”

“…”

Her gaze hinted at dissatisfaction, but Gaeul didn’t outright reject it. As I tidied her slightly tangled hair with both hands, I addressed the officers.

“Alright, everyone, fulfill your roles until the operation. Start time is May 8th, 23:00. Prepare thoroughly until then. Understood?”

In exactly 24 hours,

Korea—and perhaps world history—would witness a pivotal event: the start of <Kill Light Blade>, marked by a flickering candle.