Chapter 204 – Panam Subway Station (1)

The place where the locals had taken refuge was Panam Station, located at the southeastern edge of Daejeon.

When we first left the highway and entered Daejeon, we had seen the subway station beneath the road.

For them, it was the farthest place they could flee to escape the undead, and it was a perfect hiding spot, so they had stayed there.

“But since it’s still within Daejeon, they wouldn’t have been able to come out.”

After the Demon King took control of the gate, countless undead had crossed over to Ea through the Daejeon gate.

Given that, it was easy to imagine just how many undead were in Daejeon.

The fact that Seung-ah had managed to sneak out was already a remarkable feat.

“And now we have to go in there……”

Even now, Daejeon was filled with undead.

The energy emanating from the central part of Daejeon, where the gate was located, was so intense that it could be felt even from outside the city. The road above Panam Station, where people were hiding, was also swarming with undead.

Of course, our party could easily wipe out all those undead and enter the station, but we couldn’t do that.

It was certain that all the undead in Daejeon would swarm us if we did.

Moreover, there was no way only ordinary undead were guarding the gate.

There was no need to provoke them and raise their alertness.

Just from our observation from the top of a hill beyond the Tongyeong Highway on the western side of Daejeon, it was clear that Daejeon was a field of undead that even we couldn’t easily approach.

Just by sensing the energy, there were tens of thousands of undead swarming the area.

On top of that, there were several powerful energy signatures scattered throughout Daejeon.

They must have been the subordinates created by the Demon King.

To break through that and destroy the gate……

In this state, even if the knights and mages who came with us attacked together, it would be impossible.

“Clearly, we need a diversion to destroy the gate.”

The undead and the Demon King’s army in this area needed to be drawn north, or at least thrown into enough chaos to create an opening.

“So, it’s not a pointless sacrifice after all……”

The Empire, created by the descendants of the Hero, wouldn’t sacrifice the Hero, the Saint, and even the princess for no reason.

But sacrificing children……

It still didn’t sit well with me.

“No, let’s think about that later. First, to meet the survivors, we need to enter the subway station without alerting the undead…… Is there a way?”

At my words, the party members who were watching Daejeon with me made troubled expressions.

“I might be able to sneak in alone…… but I can’t guarantee it.”

“It’s difficult for me too. Unlike the last city, there are too many undead here.”

Zahina and Hofmann, who were the most stealthy in our party, shook their heads, leaving us with no options.

Getting to Daejeon wasn’t difficult, but entering the city was a completely different matter.

“If we can just get into the subway, it shouldn’t be too hard to reach the gate……”

If the subway tunnels hadn’t collapsed, we could have moved through the subway tracks to the former safe zone where the gate was located.

Of course, there might be undead inside, but it would still be much easier than fighting through tens of thousands of undead to reach the gate.

That’s why I volunteered to scout.

It was partly to rescue the people I knew, and partly for other reasons, but to ensure the success of the operation, we needed to meet the people hiding in the subway station.

As I stared at Daejeon with a troubled expression, Yerim hesitantly raised her hand.

“Um, maybe……”

“Go ahead.”

Yerim, who had raised her hand with a doubtful expression, but at this point, any suggestion was welcome.

“From what I know, that warehouse-like building next to the highway over there is a subway train maintenance facility.

I heard they repair subway trains there. If it’s a place that repairs subway trains, wouldn’t it be connected to the station?”

As she said, there was a large building that looked like a warehouse, or rather a factory, standing alone next to the highway.

“Ah, so that’s a railway?”

But without Yerim’s explanation, I wouldn’t have known that the building was a train maintenance facility.

“That thing’s all broken down.”

As Hofmann said, the northern area of the building was completely overturned for some reason, making it hard to tell that there were railway tracks connected to the building.

“Well, the building itself is fine, so as long as the underground is intact, it should be fine.”

Even if it was a bit collapsed, Zahina could handle it.

Fortunately, perhaps because it was a bit away from the city, there were almost no undead around the train maintenance facility.

The undead currently filling Daejeon were those pushed out by the undead swarming from the north to cross the gate.

There was no reason for the undead to come all the way to this building outside the city.

With the decision made, it was time to move.

We quickly ran through the withered trees.

When we had come before, the trees still had brown leaves clinging to them, but now the mountains around Daejeon were filled with nothing but dead trees.

Clearly, all the visible trees were dead.

All the trees in the city were filled with energy.

‘I wonder if the people are okay.’

It was fortunate that they were underground, but staying in a city filled with such energy for over a month would be hard on anyone.

As I descended the mountain, I clicked my tongue at my own indifference.

Even though she was my lover in a past life, I had become so indifferent.

At that time, I had mentally sorted out all my past life connections, but I never thought I would become this detached.

Even now, I find my own indifference strange.

The subway train maintenance facility was next to the highway toll gate, where we had passed through before, filled with abandoned cars.

The highway exit didn’t have as many undead as the city, but there were still more undead than before.

And occasionally, ghouls as well.

In the past, I would have struggled, but now ghouls didn’t feel much different from ordinary zombies.

A ghoul that leapt out from between cars was cut down by my sword before it could fully emerge.

Zombies trapped in cars or crawling under them were turned to ash by Yerim’s holy power.

Without stopping, we cleared the undead and passed through the highway exit, entering the train maintenance facility.

Fortunately, the facility was empty.

A few passenger cars that seemed to be under repair were inside, and one of them had a zombie trapped inside, which we had to put down, but other than that, there were no other undead.

However, the railway tracks connected to the building, as we had seen from the hill, were all destroyed.

“These are battle scars…… and not from a sword.”

“Not from magic either.”

“Then it must be an ability.”

The ability to destroy railway tracks and overturn the ground.

If it wasn’t done by an undead, there was only one person I knew who could do this.

Seung-ah, the awakened telekinetic.

It seemed she had fought here.

“She’s gotten stronger than before.”

I didn’t know why she fought here, but the traces of battle were deeply etched.

“Could something have happened after that?”

But the fact that there were traces of battle here wasn’t a good sign.

Moreover, the railway leading underground seemed to be buried along with the overturned ground.

It seemed we would need Zahina’s help after all.

Just as I was about to ask Zahina for help, Yerim, who had been inspecting the facility, called out to us with a bright face.

“There’s a staircase here!”

Fortunately, there was a staircase leading underground inside the train maintenance facility.

And after descending the staircase for a while, we found a railway connected to the subway.

A different railway from the one above ground.

Was it for emergencies? Or for wartime use?

But why this railway was in the basement of the train maintenance facility was something we would never know.

In any case, Zahina didn’t need to dig through the ground separately.

The subway tunnel was shrouded in darkness.

The two mages each floated a light source in the air, and we began walking along the railway.

But we didn’t get far before we had to stop.

“Ah, it’s blocked.”

Just a little further and we would have reached the subway station, but a collapsed wall blocked our path.

It wasn’t a wall placed as an obstacle, but one formed from the collapse of the tunnel.

This didn’t bode well for the subway station beyond.

“Could it all be collapsed?”

At my words, Yerim shook her head.

“That’s unlikely. The surface was fine, wasn’t it?”

True, if the subway station had completely collapsed, the road above wouldn’t be intact.

“Then it’s just this part that’s blocked……”

Could it be the aftermath of the battle we saw above ground?

I didn’t know the exact reason, but with the wall blocking our path, we needed Zahina’s help.

As I looked at her, Zahina approached the wall and raised her hand.

Mana flowed from her hand, and Zahina nodded.

“Fortunately, it’s not too badly collapsed. I can break through it quickly.”

That was a relief.

Now that Zahina said she could break through immediately, we needed to prepare.

“Just in case, everyone, get ready to fight.”

If the people were still in this station, it would be fine, but there was a chance they weren’t.

At my words, everyone nodded, and Zahina muttered softly.

“Open the path. Don’t let it collapse.”

As she spoke, vibrations began to emanate from the wall.

Soon, the wall blocking our path began to sink downward.

Normally, debris would continue to fall and block the tunnel, but now the remaining debris was returning to the wall, reinforcing it and the ceiling.

As the wall was breached, we could see people on the other side.

People with tense faces, staring at the disappearing wall.

Most of them were holding guns, makeshift spears, and pickaxes, and many of them were familiar faces.

“Ah……”

One of them.

A woman standing among them with a tired face looked at me in surprise.

“Long time no see.”

I greeted her, my lover from a past life.

Along with her, the people who recognized us let out sighs of relief and lowered their weapons.

I could finally relax as well.

It seemed my bad luck hadn’t struck this time.

“Is everyone here?”

The number of people on the subway platform wasn’t large.

Surely, they couldn’t all be dead.

“Only those who can move are standing guard. Many are too weak from lack of food to move.”

Now that I looked, the people here also looked famished.

“Before anything else, take this.”

I took out food and supplies from my spatial expansion bag.

The food we had packed for ourselves, and the grains, vegetables, and meat we had gathered from the Imperial capital.

Though the ingredients were different from Earth’s, the way to prepare them wouldn’t be too different.

As I took out the food and supplies, the people dropped their weapons and rushed toward what I had brought.

Watching the people carry the food, I asked Seo-eun.

“Are your husband and Seung-ah here?”

“No. They went to find food. There are only a few people here who can move…… But they’re late. They’ve never been this late before. That’s why we were gathered here, waiting.”

At Seo-eun’s words, I sighed inwardly.

‘Of course.’

It seemed my bad luck wasn’t going to let me off this time.

I shook my head and spoke to the party members.

“I’ll go find them. The rest of you, guard this place, and Yelena, take care of the portal.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

Everything except going to find people had been planned from the start.

Once we arrived at Daejeon Subway Station, Yelena was to create a portal connecting to Jeonju.

Portals weren’t something a mage could create alone, but Yelena was a spatial mage who could create gates by herself, and in Jeonju, there were Imperial mages who could stabilize the gate.

With mages like these, there was no way we couldn’t create a portal connecting Jeonju and Daejeon.

And there was one more thing I had prepared.

“Can you confirm the target from here?”

“Yes. It’s confirmed. It should be possible.”

A few days ago, I had asked Yelena to mark the spatial coordinates of a certain person.

It was the same magic used to open the gate when we first came to Earth.

A spell to mark the coordinates of a specific target.

I had set those coordinates for the Hero.

Yelena, who had created the gate to another world.

Moving within the same world, to Pyongyang, should be more than possible.