Chapter 86 - The Ones Who Grew Stronger After Deserting

Secrets.

We forget the weight of that word all too easily. We say we don't understand why people keep so much hidden. Some might grumble that if they'd just been honest from the start, things wouldn't have gotten any worse.

But honesty is a method of communication that only works when the situation can actually be resolved.

Humans aren't as strong as they imagine. They cannot remain steadfast. They scream at the absurdity directed against them, and when a rational, logically calculated outcome puts them at a disadvantage, they cannot accept it.

It's the same reason we've forgotten that, only a few centuries ago, when the Black Death swept through, humanity survived by locking up everyone suspected of infection, nailing the doors shut, and leaving them to starve.

Humanity can never accept an unpleasant truth. The truth that we aren't special. That we cannot survive these monsters morally, killing no one and protecting everyone.

Facing the secrets in the folder Captain Kim Ho-un had handed out drove that home to me once again.

The three main points indicated by its contents could be summed up as follows.

First: Why were they so calm about the report of anomalies in the Han River?

Major General Jeon Min-ho kindly explained.

"Our last reconnaissance attempt inside the Restricted-Access Zones was on January 3. Circumstantial evidence gathered during that operation established the presence of countless unidentified species. We also obtained eyewitness accounts of monsters jumping into the Han River. Your testimony, Mr. Baek, will serve as important evidence offering a glimpse of how the river has changed."

They'd also conducted reconnaissance using unmanned drones. Apparently, underwater drones that had been functioning perfectly would suddenly suffer interference and break down the moment they entered a certain stretch of water, so all they could conclude was that something was there.

My testimony had given them a powerful sense of certainty.

The American generals, too, seemed impressed as they recalled how I'd given my testimony.

Lieutenant General Royce clasped his hands together and offered a quiet prayer. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Thatcher, the sleepy-looking white man with black hair, was muttering as he busily wrote something on his folder.

"Next time nukes are on the table, we need a kill plan for that entire river. Boil it. Irradiate it. Total eradication. We'd better have a contingency plan ready."

General McKinsey, who had been listening quietly, chuckled and looked at Thatcher.

"Easy, Thatcher. You want nukes, take it up with Congress. Maybe remind those fine senators who's been funding their campaigns—they seem to have forgotten."

"..."

Thatcher nodded reluctantly. Wondering what that meant, I looked at Captain Kim Ho-un, but it was no use. He simply kept his lips pressed shut and shook his head.

Was this a private conversation between generals? Well, I did have to respect their privacy.

I lost interest and focused on the next question instead.

Second: Who was that damned [Prophet] who'd been involved with Reality Survival Command's predecessor organization?

Only the generals could answer that question. We Supreme Mages waited in subdued silence for a direct explanation from the military leadership. Hearing it was faster than reading all that convoluted text.

The generals let out low groans as they skimmed the folders they'd been given. Eventually, Major General Jeon Min-ho placed his folder on the folding table and calmly summed it up.

"We currently suspect the Prophet was a dissident attempting to mobilize outside forces because of a power struggle within the Society of 66, or a disagreement over methods. You will know that, during this first Seoul expedition, separate from the follow-up force that included Aphorism, special forces advanced along Line Three."

"They did?"

I deliberately played dumb before anyone could put their foot in it. I meant the information Shin Na-in had obtained through ear magic—for instance, that some seventy men had been deployed and escaped after nearly half were killed. I didn't think we should rashly expose our intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Lieutenant General Royce, the black soldier with the scar beside his mouth who'd been watching from behind Jeon, burst into hearty laughter and waved a hand.

"Kimchi Spam. Don't worry. We already know about the Stage One auditory. Keep it between us, and you've got nothing to worry about."

What the fuck was he saying?

I'd never scored over 400 on the TOEIC. I couldn't hold a conversation in English at all. If Captain Kim hadn't tactfully explained, I'd have just sat there frowning and racking my brain.

"He's saying that even if you learned about the Line Three special forces while communicating with the communications officer at the Seongnam cordon, there won't be a problem as long as you keep it confidential."

"How do you know that?"

"The booklets distributed even to you reservists contained the military's existing knowledge of magic. And after several months of employing civilian Operators and specialist soldiers, we've developed some understanding of the heart, eye, and ear branches up through Stage Two. However, information about the hand and tongue branches, and the concepts of inverted-type and ritual-type magic, are among the most valuable results Aphorism brought back from this expedition. The generals will give you more praise later, so please focus on the conversation for now."

Captain Kim's eyes added an unspoken please.

This was the first time today I'd seen his cheekbones twitch that much. Still, I had no choice but to nod. The generals' expressions changed once they were certain we knew about the special forces.

That was when Jeon, who'd been watching quietly, continued in a weighty atmosphere.

"If you're familiar with the special forces situation, this will be easier to explain. The special forces deployed on this expedition were not ordinary special forces."

"Well, sure. If the ROK–U.S. Joint Command sent them, they must be incredibly strong, wouldn't they?"

Pastor Park Yo-han raised his eyebrows, looking unimpressed.

Most of us felt much the same, though we didn't say it. What else could you say when someone told you special forces weren't ordinary because they were special?

I, Baek Je-min, put effort into giving satisfying reactions, but I hadn't reached the level of applauding every statement of the obvious.

In that odd atmosphere, Shin Na-in tilted his head, Lee Se-jun gave a small yawn, and Hamza kept looking around.

"They were tier-one special forces. Given the different characteristics of each nation's forces, direct comparison is difficult, but these men could nonetheless justifiably be called the very best. Seventy-six were deployed in this operation. I cannot disclose their personnel breakdown or their units' exact official names, but you should recognize the commonly used names."

Jeon spoke with a grave expression.

"Every one of them was Delta Force or Special Mission Unit."

"...!!!"

Among the Supreme Mages, only Lee Se-jun made a fuss. While everyone else looked at Jeon as if to ask what those were and why he was acting so solemn, Se-jun shoved his chair back and sprang to his feet, eyes wide.

Then, apparently realizing he was the only one making a fuss, he stared at the indifferent Supreme Mages in shock—and more shock.

"Seriously, none of you know? Delta Force! Special Mission Unit!"

"What the hell are those, you fucking nerd?"

After my jab, Shin Na-in clicked his tongue disapprovingly and chided Se-jun too.

"Se-jun, nothing is remarkable before the Lord's love. Why are you so surprised? Read the Bible. Then you will witness the wonder of faith in every verse."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Unable to take any more, Se-jun dropped into his chair and covered his face with his enormous right hand.

The pastor idly scratched his chin, wondering whether they were really that impressive, while Hamza blinked with an expression that said he knew nothing.

Jeon gave a hollow chuckle, sounding deflated, and kindly added an explanation.

"In short, humanity's finest. People humanity today could confidently proclaim its best soldiers."

"Humanity's finest, eh? If you'd said that from the start, we'd have understood right away. Isn't that right, Baek Je-min? You too, Na-in? What about you, Islam Boy?"

"Absolutely."

"Amen."

"I don't know anything."

Only then did the pastor straighten up again and adopt a serious expression. I had to adjust my posture too.

See? That description was far more intuitive than names like Delta Force or Special Mission Unit, which meant nothing to me.

For some reason, though, every general was either chuckling hollowly or shrugging as if there were nothing to be done. Jeon sighed with the air of a man who'd aged another ten years and continued.

"While you succeeded in acquiring a wide range of knowledge about magic, monsters, and the Society of 66, the special forces deployed along Line Three advanced as far as Dogok Station, engaging repeatedly along the way. This is the information they gathered. Please look at the later pages."

Which brought us to the third point.

Third: Why had humanity's finest special forces retreated with more than half their men killed or wounded?

The answer filled the later pages of the folder.

There were clear printed images that looked like action-camera footage. At first, I couldn't tell what was strange about them. They simply looked like ordinary soldiers who'd been shot dead and fallen.

Even comparing them with the ordinary soldiers I'd seen at the cordon, it was hard to spot a difference. A helmet, gas mask, backpack, and K2 rifle. A grenade and an old canteen on the belt. Combat fatigues stained with blood and dust. With chemical-protection suits in short supply and ponchos being used instead, there was nothing strange about not wearing one.

I'd never have noticed if Shin Na-in hadn't pointed it out.

"The bandages here, on the backs of their hands and around their left shoulders. Please check the numbers written on them."

Only then did the odd details in the images catch my eye.

"Oh, come on. How do people who don't even know Delta Force or Special Mission Unit spot this stuff so easily?"

"Quiet, Lee Se-jun. Good catch, Na-in. Why have these fellows wrapped bandages over their uniforms? They don't even seem to be bleeding."

"There is blood on the bandages. But it's odd. It looks like it was applied, not seeped through."

Se-jun grumbled, the pastor adjusted his glasses, and Hamza looked puzzled.

I was the only one who immediately focused on the number, as Na-in had suggested.

"...55."

Only then did the dense text beside the images come clearly into focus. Jeon and the other generals finally explained, apparently noticing that we were starting to pay attention.

"The special forces returned with concrete evidence confirming what had previously been no more than rumors."

"Rumors?"

"It isn't that the military hadn't sent separate reconnaissance teams before. After the critical-threshold breach, as that strange fog and various hostile conditions developed inside Seoul, we deployed limited numbers of troops several times. Their objective was to inspect communications networks and attempt radio contact with military units inside Seoul that we'd lost contact with. But most operations ended in annihilation or disappearance. Only rumors of engagements with humans near the cordon hinted at these people's existence."

Jeon held his own folder out toward us, pointing precisely at the white bandages on the soldiers' hands and wrapped around their left shoulders like epaulets.

"We believe these are private troops employed by the Society of 66. Our men testified that they were commanded by a mage belonging to the Society and displayed an uncanny degree of coordination, unlike the rudimentary training expected of former conscripts. We estimate their ranks consist of active-duty soldiers who failed to escape Seoul during the critical-threshold breach, or deserters..."

He was pointing to the scabbed number 55 carved into the back of a hand, and the number 55 written in blood on a white bandage.

"Their provisional designation is Unit 55. We believe their objective is to restrict reconnaissance by people from outside Seoul and preserve the Society of 66's influence within the city."

* * *

We watched the action-camera footage recovered by the special forces on a tablet Captain Kim Ho-un hurriedly brought over.

An unexpected person proved enormously useful here: Shin Na-in. He'd reached Ear Branch, Stage Three, and had already been capable of past sight through Eye, Stage One. The moment the footage started, he frowned hard.

As the special forces in the video cautiously advanced through a subway passage, Na-in began inserting his own narration.

"They're lying in ambush."

"Hey. No spoilers."

"The ear mages are talking among themselves. Seven at Ear, Stage One, three at Eye, Stage One, and one heart mage. They've been trained systematically."

"What?"

Shin Na-in had reached a level where he could even hear the thoughts of people recorded in a video.

Was this what Ear, Stage Three could do?

Meanwhile, the footage changed.

Gunshots rang out as the engagement began. Despite the special forces' overwhelming training and skill, a wholly unexpected outcome started unfolding.

Unit 55, presumably composed of mere former conscripts, was fighting on equal terms against special forces equipped with all manner of cutting-edge tactical gear and optics that let them see through the darkness. Even with the terrain advantage and the circumstances of an ambush, that was remarkable.

Hearing Na-in, Jeon narrowed his eyes and pressed him for details.

"Please elaborate, Mr. Shin. Your talent and magic could provide an opportunity to save many more lives in the future."

"In the name of the Lord God. For those who fight against Satan and his demons, I will gladly do so."

Thanks to him, we could eavesdrop on the tactics Unit 55 used against the special forces' calm, overwhelmingly capable response in the footage.

The special forces' extraordinary prowess drew admiration as their astonishing marksmanship killed members of Unit 55. But what passed for Unit 55's tactics, as relayed by Na-in, was no easy thing to face either.

Jeon desperately sought to understand their tactics, practically interrogating Na-in.

"What role do the ear mages play? What are their abilities?"

"The seven ear mages serve as communications soldiers. Users of ear-branch magic at the same level can communicate telepathically with one another, though there appears to be a range limit. Je-min and I have actually spoken that way. Since they can exchange messages instantly through telepathy, they act as squad riflemen while assigning one or two each to the three eye mages and the one heart mage to coordinate their actions."

"The eye mages... What role do Unit 55 members trained in eye-branch magic play?"

"They serve as tracer rounds. Most have abilities such as infrared detection or overcoming darkness, but nothing as overwhelming as Je-min's. Instead, they aim and fire at what they've seen, or throw objects to guide friendly fire with the sound."

"Then the heart mage..."

"Is the machine gunner."

Just as the special forces in the footage attempted a proper counterattack, a metallic clatter came from the subway tunnel, followed by a torrential curtain of fire.

They had no defensive position, and the fighting had been fierce from the opening ambush, so one special forces soldier suffered a critical wound. But they truly were humanity's finest. They withdrew expertly without taking any further casualties.

Unit 55, meanwhile, had lost three men.

The problem was Unit 55's tactics.

"They're beginning to retreat. No... They've all switched to magazines enhanced with Hand, Stage One. This..."

Bizarre cries and screams came from the wildly shaking action-camera footage as the special forces evacuated their wounded comrade.

The cries of the monsters we'd seen far too much of during nearly eleven days in Seoul filled every corner of the subway tunnel.

Everyone could understand why the monsters had appeared at that moment. The difference was whether we'd grasped what Unit 55 intended.

Na-in watched the shaking footage, the special forces soldier's final field of vision beyond the screen. Its last moments showed him gripping his rifle, muzzle aimed into the darkness.

"... Suppression."

Just as he was about to fire at the monsters approaching through the dark, a fierce curtain of fire poured in from behind.

While the rest of us Supreme Mages fell silent, Na-in calmly explained Unit 55's intentions.

Unit 55's heart mage fired his machine gun relentlessly, restricting the special forces' movement and firepower. He didn't care if monsters died in the process, because he knew the gunfire would attract even more of them in overwhelming numbers.

Unit 55's eye mages acted as spotters to direct the machine gun's curtain of fire. At the same time, they identified monster packs that might target them in advance and secured escape routes.

Unit 55's ear mages, acting as riflemen, maintained covering fire for their squad's escape and killed enemy soldiers who made unexpected moves.

And then there was their final, most important mission.

Near the end of the footage, as the soldier aimed into the darkness even under the torrential fire, pouring bullets into the charging monsters and killing them, an eerie voice echoed at the edge of his final field of vision.

The recording captured a voice so hoarse it was impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman, scraping out of its throat.

["Bring me the bastards who ordered the cordon."]

One of the special forces soldiers in the video turned toward the voice. The soldier whose perspective we were watching couldn't turn; he was busy aiming at the monsters and holding them back.

Surrounded on both sides on the tracks, they shouted countless orders that sounded like screams over the falling cartridge cases.

Then, at some point, the soldier firing toward the voice stopped pulling the trigger. The action camera caught several special forces soldiers slowly lowering their muzzles in stunned horror.

That was when a voice that sounded like the commander shouted:

["Break through the rear!"]

Complex hand signals passed back and forth, and a fierce chase began. Amid the thudding impacts and ricochets of bullets, steady approaching footsteps pursued the special forces soldier from behind.

Then the footage ended with a brief pop.

Na-in turned to the generals waiting for an answer and to us Supreme Mages, left speechless by the overwhelming footage.

"The true mission of those demonic lackeys is to follow and protect a mage belonging to the demonic group called the Society of 66."

The generals didn't seem ready to take Na-in's words at face value. But having already heard the explanation of the magic system, they were quick to accept it. Above all, now that they knew Stage Three ear magic could even affect people in recorded footage, its value had skyrocketed.

Jeon summed things up, looking impressed with Na-in.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Shin. The military's conclusions are similar to yours. We consider the Prophet a dissident within the Society because his actions contradict its policy. The Society of 66 is deliberately restricting the military and the outside world's access to information, has repeatedly acted against the reconnaissance teams we sent, and has killed them without mercy. Its intention to leave Seoul as unknown territory is clear. We also judge that the small-scale engagements near the cordon and the efforts to draw monster packs toward it reflect the Society's wishes."

"Couldn't the local survivors in Seoul be acting on their own?"

"Even if they are, given the Society of 66's various forms of influence within Seoul, it must at least be tacitly approving or standing by."

The answer to my question sounded pretty plausible.

Failing to act meant standing by. What simple, clear-cut logic.

Meanwhile, the American generals, who'd heard Na-in's narration show interpreted in real time, also seemed quite impressed. General McKinsey, the military's highest-ranking leader, was the first to respond, turning to Royce and Thatcher.

"Hard to wrap my head around. Even accounting for variation between stages, these folks seem to be in a league of their own. Do we have anyone on our side who can match them?"

Royce answered first with an awkward smile.

"First thing I checked when I took over, sir. We don't. The scale supposedly goes up to Stage Five, but the vast majority of ours are Stage One. Stage Two—we're talking a few hundred, across the board. Stage Three? This is the first report we've ever received."

Thatcher, meanwhile, rattled off some long bit of bullshit in a stiff, soldierly tone.

"The rescued civilian is reportedly Stage Four, and according to these operators, most of the hostile practitioners inside Seoul are estimated at Stage Two minimum. Factor in Unit 55 providing fire support and additional manpower, and future expeditions into Seoul are going to be significantly harder."

Unable to stand it any longer, I asked Captain Kim:

"What are they saying?"

Realizing I was on the verge of adding a fuck to that question, he hurried over and whispered in my ear.

"They're assessing your abilities right now."

"Oh. What are they saying about us?"

"Well..."

Na-in stepped in for the faltering captain.

"I'll explain instead."

"Wasn't your ear magic blocked?"

"Je-min. Not everyone needs magic to understand a foreign language."

According to Na-in's explanation, it went like this.

Marshal McKinsey: Hard to imagine. Even allowing for differences between stages, their abilities seem far superior. Do we have any mages better than them?

Lieutenant General Royce: I checked as soon as I took over, but we don't. Supposedly it goes up to Stage Five, but the vast majority of ours are Stage One. A few hundred have reached Stage Two, and this is our first report of Stage Three.

Brigadier General Thatcher: I heard the rescued local is Stage Four, and according to them, most hostile mages inside Seoul appear to be at least Stage Two. If Unit 55 acts as a weapons team to bolster their numbers and firepower, reconnaissance inside Seoul will become harder.

Once again, I couldn't help being impressed.

Shin Na-in. Was this guy ridiculously useful even as a translator?

The world must have made him a Christian nutjob to keep things fair.

Then General McKinsey turned toward us and offered a short remark, somewhere between a hollow chuckle and a hearty laugh.

"Best of the best. They weren't kidding."

Whatever the rest meant, I'd caught the most important part. With my atrocious English, I nodded and smiled proudly.

"Yes, sir. We are best of best."

That was when Se-jun, who'd been quietly covering his face, snapped at me.

"Je-min, stop. This is fucking humiliating."

"Don't you know the saying about an awl in a bag? An awl has to poke through the bag before people can see it."

"I don't think that's what it means..."

Delta Force, was it, earlier?

Just like a guy who'd treated us as idiots for not knowing some nerdy shit like that, he picked the strangest things to give me grief about.

That was when Jeon cleared his throat and addressed us.

"Beyond this, there is a great deal of information, knowledge, systems, experience, and operational capability that Aphorism, the ROK–U.S. Joint Command, and its subordinate Reality Survival Command need to share."

"Well... If the American generals are doing it, we ought to help."

"I'm glad you feel that way. Then..."

Pastor Park Yo-han regarded us as pathetic and nodded at the major general's words.

Drawing courage—or whatever resolve he needed—from the pastor's response, Jeon continued.

"I believe it's time we began a full discussion of Aphorism's deployment and the support the military will provide."