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[ Base Camp ]
If Lee Cheol-jun was alone, he would get information It wouldn’t have been easy.
But Li Hongdan, who followed him, told a different story.
“Kid.”
The great man squatted down in front of Li Hongdan.
The startled boy looked at him with a frightened face.
“From now on, I’m going to ask you various questions. “If you know how to understand the situation, it would be better to answer honestly, right?”
“town! Eupeup!!!”
Ri Cheol-jun, with a gag in his mouth, raised a blood clot in his throat and shouted. ‘Don’t open your mouth!’ That was what I was saying, but it didn’t come out as words.
The great man smiled and stroked the skinny boy’s head. Li Hongdan was even more scared of that sight.
“As long as you answer well, you won’t get hurt. I also feed him plenty of food. “Are you very hungry?”
“Ugh…”
Li Hongdan trembled. No matter how smart and quick-witted he was, he was only a thirteen-year-old boy.
Moreover, even Lee Cheol-jun, the person he trusts and relies on the most in the world, has been caught.
As the great man gently coaxed and soothed him, Li Hongdan blew on things that were not even asked.
Li Hongdan said with tears streaming down his face.
“Please save me. “If we don’t go back, our comrades will all starve to death.”
“Where are your comrades?”
“Uuuuuuup!”
After a while, Daein learned of their situation and looked around.
Team 7 members had serious expressions on their faces.
I only heard about it through rumors, but I had no idea that the situation in North Korea was this serious.
A tragedy that occurred after the collapse of the North Korean regime.
North Korean residents scattered all over the world were hiding in caves, tunnels, and coal mines to avoid monsters, living like animals.
Daein said to his teammates.
“Let’s get ready and leave right away.”
The place they headed was a cave on the side of the mountain where Ri Cheol-jun and Ri Hong-dan’s comrades were waiting.
***
The great man looked around the inside of the cave. He clicked his tongue softly.
“Tsk…”
Dozens of North Korean residents were crouching. They had no intention of resisting and looked at the intruders with eyes filled with fear.
They were naked and starving, almost like mummies, and some of them were in such critical condition that they could not survive more than a few days.
“Quickly bring a first aid kit!”
Cheon Il-nam, head of the medical support team, worked with the medical team members on the critically ill patients. The great man came out of the cave without saying anything else.
Outside the cave stood Li Cheoljun and Li Hongjun, gagged but with their arms and legs bound.
Lee Cheol-jun glared at Daein as if he were going to kill him.
“What are you going to do with us?”
“What can I do? “You should take your comrades in the cave as hostages and pamper them to your heart’s content.”
Ri Cheol-jun and Li Hong-dan’s faces turned pale.
Li Hongdan screamed loudly.
“Aren’t the words different? “I won’t harm my comrades…!”
“I said it won’t hurt you if you listen to me carefully, right?”
Sigh.
The great man smiled wickedly. Li Hongdan trembled with a sense of betrayal.
The great man continued.
“We will use this as our base camp and search all the caves nearby. So you guys, don’t think about anything else. “Did you understand what I said?”
At the end, I deliberately imitated North Korean language, but no one laughed.
Lee Cheol-jun asked with a stern expression.
“Are you saying you will harm our comrades if we don’t listen?”
“I know. “If you run away or do anything foolish, I will kill you all.”
Behind the evil-smiling Dae-in, Wang Gu-ho and Sirutdeok looked at each other and laughed “tsk tsk tsk tsk.”
They laughed because they knew that a great person would never harm an innocent person.
However, Ri Cheol-jun and Ri Hong-dan took that appearance with a different meaning.
‘Those bastards. ‘Are you laughing happily at the thought of killing people?’
‘South Korean bastards are really scary…! He’s so big… Oh my…!’
It was as if he had unintentionally broken their will to resist.
Lee Cheoljun lowered his head and said.
“…I get it. “I did as I was told.”
“Abai!”
“Listen to me.”
The great man untied the ropes tied to the limbs of the two men.
Daein decided to split the team into two from now on.
“Wangguho. Sirutdeok. You and the support team will stay here and wait.”
“yes!”
Wang Guho and Sirutteok, who were relatively heavy and slow on their feet, stayed behind to guard the base camp.
“kid. You come with me. “Can you carry up to four people on the shield?”
“Is it okay if it slows down a bit?”
The great man nodded. Then he turned his head and looked at Abraxas.
Before he could ask, Abraxas spoke.
“I’m going to take a look at that.”
Her eyes were facing the same direction as before.
Oooooh!
A huge magical barrier spread out in a variety of colors.
As I climbed halfway up the mountain, the sight became clearly visible.
This is the image of Pyongyang being eroded by the spirit world.
It was the decisive cause of the collapse of the North Korean regime and a disaster that fell upon North Korea.
It was the first time I had seen it with my own eyes.
‘North Korea was more unlucky than South Korea.’
At the time of the First Gate, part of the spirit world appeared in Pyongyang, causing dimensional erosion.
When the place where they lived suddenly changed, the spirits ran wild and ran wild. At the same time, it was polluted.
Modern weapons did not work against the spirits, who were impervious to physical attacks, and the superhumans who had barely begun to awaken could not stop them.
In the end, Pyongyang was taken over by polluted spirits and has now isolated itself in this way.
Oooooh!
A huge magic barrier surrounded the city. It was like a solid fortress, completely blocking off the inside and outside.
‘Strictly speaking, it’s not completely blocked.’
The monsters that lived there, neither humans nor spirits, were able to travel through the magic barrier at will.
There was no way Abraxas would ignore this strange phenomenon.
The great man said.
“It’s dangerous to get close, so take a look around and then come back.”
“I’ll try.”
Just by looking at it, I could see that he was barely listening. Abraxas, unable to control his curiosity, was the first to leave.
Daein looked at Pyongyang for a moment and then turned his head.
I had no intention of caring about the disaster that befell another country.
That’s not what I came here to do in the first place.
“Then shall we go too?”
After a while, Lily flew into the sky with Li Cheoljun and Li Hongdan on the shield.
“Ugh! This Eminai! “You can’t fly!”
Li Hongdan, who was hanging on Ri Cheoljun’s waist, screamed that he was scared.
*
*
*
Three days have passed.
Daein, who was investigating the forty-first cave, suddenly felt Danjeon’s magic react sensitively.
Sssssssut!
The Pacheonshingong reacted like a hedgehog with thorns and automatically increased its magic power.
‘Why all of a sudden?’
The great man was soon able to guess the reason.
Pacheonshingong is a martial art created by Geomwang solely to defeat the Heavenly Demon.
In other words, one has no choice but to react sensitively to the energy of the opposing Heavenly Demon God.
Those words…. A smile formed on the great man’s lips.
“It’s here.”
The great man walked into the cave with great strides. When Lily and Li Cheoljun and Li Hongdan tried to follow, Daein stopped them.
“Wait outside. “I will go and come back alone.”
From here on, I had to go alone.
He left the group outside and went into the cave alone.
How long did you walk? Daein was able to discover the stone statue of the first Heavenly Demon.
The 3-meter-tall stone statue was lying halfway against the wall, with dark magical energy flowing out of it.
Ssssssut.
The appearance of a man staring straight ahead with a sword drawn in his hand. Even though it was just a stone statue, I could feel its powerful force.
And in front of it was a huge bear guarding the stone statue.
Crrrrr….
It wasn’t an ordinary bear. Its fur was as black as coal, and its eyes were bloodshot and as if they were about to drip blood. Every tooth visible in the wide-open mouth was sharp like a fang.
-Whoa!
The bear stood up, balancing itself on its hind legs. Its height was approximately 4 meters.
A dark demonic energy similar to that flowing from a stone statue was flowing over the man’s body.
A monster bear that guards the stone statue of the Heavenly Demon Patriarch.
Daein remembered reading about that guy in an article some time ago.
“Is it said that your sword is an elixir of heaven for warriors who have mastered magic arts?”
Big!
Instead of answering, the monster bear swung its front paw. The speed was as good as that of a peak expert.
Whoa!
The great man lowered his head. An eerie sound was heard overhead. The great man pulled out his sword and turned his body.
Whilick!
The great man immediately entered the bear’s arms and cut the bear’s chest diagonally.
Fuwaaaaaaa!
Blood poured out like a fountain. The great man swung his sword one after another.
Wow! Wow!
If left alone, it was a bear that would have torn apart the dozens of warriors who would discover this place a few years later, but it was no match for the great man.
The great man jumped up and finally cut off the bear’s head.
-Cow!
The bear’s huge body weighing hundreds of kilograms fell backwards.
“I’m planning to remove the gallbladder after a little while.”
The great man walked over the bear’s corpse towards the stone statue of the Heavenly Demon Patriarch.
From a while ago, the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was stimulating him.
Tsutsutsutsu!
The great man recalled a story he had heard before about this stone statue.
‘A monster that can drive even the highest expert into a state of despair.’
There were dozens of warriors who first discovered this place. Half of them were torn to death by a monster bear, and the other half went crazy and killed each other because they could not bear the magical energy of the stone statues.
After that, this place was banned for a while.
Until the masters of the Demonic Cult later retrieved the statue.
The great man continued walking towards the statue.
Tsutsutsutsu!
The closer I got to the statue, the darker the demonic energy it gave off.
As if testing a great man, Magi tried to invade his insides at will.
At that moment, the energy of Pacheon Shinkong arose spontaneously and protected the great man’s body. Pacheon Shingong did not allow any intrusion of demonic energy.
Tsutsutsutsu!
Like water and oil, the two energies collided and repulsed each other. The great man continued walking towards the stone statue of the Heavenly Demon.
Honestly, I couldn’t help but be amazed.
“This human. “How strong were you?”
The first Heavenly Demon is a master from more than hundreds of years ago.
Through the demonic energy he planted in the stone statue, the great man was able to guess the other person’s state.
No, I couldn’t guess.
“I think he was stronger than the Sword Emperor in his later years…”
It was a statement that would make the dead Sword Emperor jump out of his grave if he heard it, but in Daein’s mind, the first Heavenly Demon was placed above the Sword Emperor.
“Master. I also can’t take revenge. “Do you understand?”
Of course, I had no intention of doing it before, but the more excuses I had, the better.
“Instead, I will definitely win this time.”
Daein raised the breaking skill with all his might. A bright blue energy emanated from his whole body.
Tsutsutsutsu!
If I took the statue outside like this, other people would be consumed by the demonic energy, so I was thinking of getting rid of all the demonic energy at this point.
After a while, the cave was filled with the heavenly magic energy emitted by the stone statue and the pacheon energy emitted by the great man.
-Kwakwakwakwakwa!
It looked like the black dragon and the blue dragon were entangled and trying to eat each other.
The game was gradually decided. The Pacheongi created by the Geomwang’s tenacity and poisonous energy persistently bit into the Cheonmagi and tore it to shreds.
On the other hand, the Cheonmagi weakened at a low point and soon completely dispersed.
The statue no longer radiated demonic energy.
“Whew…”
The great man wiped the sweat from his forehead. I was more tired than if I had been swinging a knife for hours.
Even if he won this fight, it could not be said that Pacheon Shinkong was superior to Cheonma Shinkong.
Because the other person was not a person, but just the energy he had left behind. Even that was a good match, so I was barely able to win.
“Anyway, a win is a win.”
The great man approached to put the stone statue on his shoulder.
Now that all the demon energy has been removed, there is no problem taking it outside.
That was when the problem occurred.
Googoo googong!
The Heavenly Demon statue began to vibrate on its own. The great man was surprised.
“I guess… it won’t break, right?”
If the statue breaks here, you have to go all the way to China to get a replacement. It was when Daein looked at the statue with worried eyes.
Wow!
The statue’s mouth opened of its own accord. And then the internal organs started working and spit out something.
“huh?”
It was rolled up parchment. The great man unfolded it.
It was a single map.
A map pointing to a place in the old martial arts forest.
“Is this possible…”
The word ‘Jangbodo’ appeared in Daein’s mind.
***
The great man came out of the cave with the stone statue over his shoulder.
“done?”
Lily, who had been waiting with Li Hongdan while drawing on the floor with a stick, suddenly got up.
The great man was smiling too brightly.
“uh. “I found my stuff, so let’s go back.”
“Great Abai. “What good is there?”
Li Hongdan, who had become quite friendly with the two over the past three days, asked Daein.
The corners of the man’s mouth were raised too high for him not to ask.
Ri Cheol-jun was still wary of Daein, but the boy often asked various questions about South Korea.
The great man said with a grin.
“Can you tell that you like me?”
“yes! “There’s a lot left!”
“Because I found what I wanted. And now I’m happy to go home.”
At that moment, Li Hongdan’s expression darkened. Although it was slight, Lee Cheol-jun’s expression also frowned.
“I see. “You’re going to go now…”
It was funny to think like this, but Li Hongdan hoped that Daein and Lily would not go back.
The last three days were truly paradise.
The people from South Korea fed their comrades well, made them warm clothes using animal skins, and healed their sick comrades.
Who in the world would treat a hostage this well?
And… Li Hongdan glanced at Lily.
Lily, who sensed her friend’s regret, said as she held the boy’s hand.
“I’ll come back next time. “Let’s play again then.”
“Why is this Eminai like this! “Let go of this!”
Li Hongdan, startled, jerked away Lily’s hand. The boy’s face was as red as a crimson.
On the other hand, Lily pouted her lips at the unexpectedly harsh reaction.
“I won’t play with you anymore!”
“Oh, that’s not it… It’s not because my heart is fluttering because you keep smiling!”
Lily didn’t even understand half of what he said.
“Don’t use dialect!”
“This is straight cultural language!”
“Phew.”
It was Lee Cheol-jun who burst into laughter at the two children’s bickering. The great man looked at him with a sly expression.
“Do you know how to laugh too?”
Lee Cheol-jun immediately turned around with a straight face.
“Let’s go back.”
Because of the weight of the statue, it could not fly, so the group came down on foot.
The way back was leisurely and peaceful.
Even though Lily and Li Hongdan were bickering, when they found a squirrel, they sat side by side and watched, and Li Cheoljun scolded them and urged them on their way. The monsters that appeared often posed no threat.
Daein also went down the mountain path in a good mood. The great man told everyone.
“Let’s take out all the leftover meat and grill it for dinner tonight.”
“You’re the best!”
“Long live Abai!”
“…….”
The atmosphere was so bright that even Lee Cheol-jun’s expression softened a little.
That atmosphere ended when they arrived at base camp.
Lee Cheol-jun, who led the way at the front, ran with his eyes wide open.
“What is this…!”
A half-wrecked vehicle and blood stains left everywhere.
Traces of battles were spread all over the place.
There was no human figure to be seen.
There was not a single person left inside or outside the cave. There was not even a body.
thud!
It was when the great man, who had put down the statue, looked around with a stern expression.
“Team leader….”
A thin voice was heard.
[Base Camp] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
