Chapter 178 – The Second Safe Zone (1)

We divided into rubber boats and made our way up the Mankyung River. Along the way, we switched to a tributary called the Jeonju Stream and continued heading south.

As we moved upstream, the river’s water level decreased, and there were places where dams blocked our path. However, with two mages in our group, these obstacles weren’t too difficult to overcome. We used magic to move the rubber boats over the dams and reduced the boats’ weight with magic when the water level was too low.

Occasionally, we were attacked by corpse mermaids or undead wandering near the river, but with Irene, who could sense our surroundings in advance, we easily dealt with them.

In this way, we were able to enter Jeonju City without much difficulty.

Jeonju City was famous for its traditional culture, but the view of the city from the Jeonju Stream was nothing but ruins. The sparse apartment buildings visible from the river showed signs of being burned, and the low houses with only their roofs visible were mostly in disrepair. In fact, the city seemed even more devastated than others.

“The Demon King’s army passed through here.”

If it had simply become an undead nest, the houses wouldn’t have been so destroyed. It seemed that the Demon King’s army, which had recently attacked Busan, had swept through this area as well.

The situation looked worse than expected, so I expanded my mana detection and sensed mana and death energy coming from the east. The source was a low mountain on the eastern side of the city. That mountain was likely the Donggosan that the U.S. military had mentioned.

“We need to hurry.”

“Huh?”

My sudden statement made the party members look at me.

“We’re under attack.”

Unlike before, I didn’t need to explain in detail. As soon as I said we were under attack, Irene immediately activated her abilities. Thanks to Yelena’s continuous training, Irene had become quite skilled at manipulating mana.

“There are skeletons gathered at the base of the mountain. They seem a bit weak, but there are knights on the mountain, and people with a similar aura to Yerim are with them.”

Irene had a clearer grasp of the enemy and allies than I did. She accurately identified the positions and types of both the knights and the undead, and even noticed the presence of priests. Fortunately, it seemed that the apprentice knights and priests had managed to escape here safely. The fact that they were holding off the skeletons with just the apprentice knights and priests suggested that the safe zone had been properly established.

But that didn’t mean we could relax.

“I’ll go ahead. Follow me slowly.”

“I’ll come with you.”

As I prepared to move, Zahina also stood up. She was the only one in the party who could keep up with me.

Unlike before, with Yelena here, I didn’t need to worry about the rest of the party following. I nodded and leaped out of the boat. Zahina followed close behind.

We crossed the narrow river in one leap and landed on the riverbank, then continued running east along the river. While I ran along the bank, Zahina ran across the water. Her figure, gliding over the river as if it were flat ground, looked like a water spirit.

As I ran along the empty riverbank, I couldn’t help but notice the undead. From zombies wandering the city to skeletons attacking Donggosan, undead were everywhere. They came at me from all directions.

Undead blocked my path, but that was exactly what I wanted. I cut through the zombies in front of me and kept moving forward.

*Splat!*

Heads and fragments of undead flew into the air, and shattered undead bodies rolled down the riverbank. Dozens of undead were wiped out in an instant, but their numbers were quickly replenished. There were more undead than I had expected. In the past, I would have had to dodge rather than push forward, but now I didn’t slow down even as I swung my sword.

I wasn’t using all my mana to brute force my way through. Instead, I used just enough mana to stop the undead blocking my path. As a result, the fight didn’t look as flashy as before, but it was much more intense. Still, I felt more at ease cutting through the horde of undead than I had in the past.

‘It feels less like a life-or-death battle and more like a sparring match.’

Of course, the result of this “sparring” was a pile of shattered undead.

As I mowed down the undead, I reached the entrance of Donggosan. Donggosan was a low mountain located on the eastern side of Jeonju City. It was a typical hill with walking paths, but it was somewhat famous in Jeonju.

At the entrance, I saw the Jeonju Stream flowing beside the mountain, and a broken signpost lying next to the path leading up the mountain. The names remaining on the signpost gave me an idea of why this mountain was famous and why the priests had fled here.

The two remaining names were “Donggosa Temple,” a Buddhist temple, and “Chimjangja Mountain Martyrdom Holy Site,” a Catholic holy site.

“This mountain has both Buddhist and Catholic holy sites?”

I looked up at the mountain. Beyond the walking path, I could see a translucent barrier halfway up the mountain, filled with holy energy. It was the barrier of the safe zone.

The path leading to the barrier was lined with skeletons instead of hikers. The skeletons, which had been attacking the barrier, had come down the mountain due to the commotion I had caused.

I infused my sword, still covered in flesh, with mana to shake off the gore and swung it at the approaching skeletons.

*Slash! Slash!*

The mana-infused sword cut through the death-tainted bones like a hot knife through butter. The skeletons charging at me weren’t the usual undead that attacked with their bare hands. These were proper soldiers of the Demon King’s army, equipped with old shields, swords, and armor.

I had fought these types of enemies countless times in Ea. Unlike regular skeletons, these undead knew how to fight properly, but that actually made them easier for me to deal with.

The skeletons blocking my path were skeletal soldiers, created from soldiers who had died fighting the undead. Unlike other undead that moved on instinct, these skeletons fought using the same tactics they had used in life, just like human soldiers.

They fought like human soldiers, using shields to block and spears to thrust through the gaps. They even used their own bodies as shields to kill their enemies. These were the kinds of tactics that made anyone who had fought the Demon King’s army shudder.

But after years of fighting the Demon King’s army, we had learned how to break through these tactics. Moreover, a knight who could use sword aura didn’t even need to use such methods. If they blocked with a shield, I could pierce through it. If they used their comrades’ bones as shields, I could cut through both the shield and the bones.

*Thud!*

My sword aura pierced through the shield and embedded itself in the skull, causing the death-tainted bones to crumble. The skeletons that had formed a wall and the undead trying to thrust spears from behind were all swept away by my sword aura.

The walking path was now covered in bones. As I dealt with the skeletons, I began my ascent up the mountain.

Hiking with skeletons was slower than walking along the riverbank. Although the skeletons failed to stop me, they did manage to slow me down, unlike the zombies on the riverbank. As a result, the zombie horde caught up with me, but I wasn’t worried.

I wasn’t alone.

“Bind them.”

Zahina’s voice echoed from a distance, and the trees, tainted by death energy, extended their branches toward the zombies chasing me.

*Groan!*

The zombies climbing the path were entangled by the tree branches. They tried to break free, but the branches held them firmly.

*Crack!*

The branches began to crush the zombies’ bones. Of course, unlike humans, zombies wouldn’t die just from having their bones broken, but it was enough to immobilize them.

The path, which had been covered in bones moments ago, was now a trail of undead entangled in vines. The sight reminded me of what had happened in New York not long ago, but I pushed the thought aside and continued forward.

As I smashed through the skeletons, with the groans of the zombies behind me serving as background music, I continued my ascent. A little further up, I reached the faintly glowing barrier.

The translucent barrier was cracked and shaking. It was on the verge of breaking. Behind the barrier, young knights were fighting burning skeletons.

Apprentice knights, following the lead of full-fledged knights, were assisting in the battle. The young knights, with severed arms and covered in wounds, were fighting the skeletons, which were weakened by the holy energy, within the barrier. However, the apprentice knights were even more weakened than the skeletons.

The priests behind them were in a similar state. The few remaining priests, their faces pale, were barely maintaining the safe zone. They were too exhausted to heal the apprentice knights.

If I had been even a little later, they would have all died.

The young knights, who had looked despondent before seeing me, suddenly changed their expressions when they noticed my presence.

“It’s Sir Jansen!”

“He’s alive! Sir Jansen is really here!”

They shouted as if a savior had arrived.

‘They’re all so young. But why are they calling me “Sir Jansen”?’

It was unusual for a free knight, not a noble, to be addressed as “Sir.” If any nobles were here, they would have scolded them for using such an honorific. But there was no one like that here.

As I clicked my tongue at the sudden formality, I quickly moved to the inside of the barrier.

“Hey, don’t lose focus just because I’m here!”

One of the apprentice knights, perhaps overwhelmed by my arrival, collapsed to the ground. It wasn’t intentional, but it put him and the priest behind him in danger.

Burning skeletal soldiers were closing in on them.

In a hurry, I poured all my remaining mana into my sword.

*Hum!*

The mana extended the blade, making it longer. Although the sword trembled as I filled it with mana, it held up.

‘It was worth taking this sword all the way to the imperial capital.’

I thanked the blacksmith who had made the sword and swung it with all my might.

*Whoosh!*

The mana-infused blade swept across the inside of the barrier. Inside the barrier, besides the skeletons attacking the priest and the young knight, there were also knights and undead locked in combat. But I didn’t care. I swung my sword without hesitation.

Not long ago, swinging my sword like this would have cut down allies as well, but now I was confident I could target only the enemies. And the sword aura moved as I intended.

The extended sword aura shrank and expanded in real-time, precisely avoiding allies and cutting down only the skeletons.

The sword aura swept through the barrier, knocking down all the skeletons inside. As the skeletons crumbled, everyone turned to look at me.

The young knight who had collapsed, the priests maintaining the safe zone, and the apprentice knights who had been frantically swinging their swords—all of them stared at me in awe.

They couldn’t help it. Just emitting sword aura was impressive enough, but adjusting the length of the sword aura mid-swing? Only one type of knight could do that.

“A Sword Master?”

Only a Sword Master, known as a “Master,” could perform such a feat.