Chapter 181 – The Former Hero Party (2)

That day, after activating the magic circle and standing guard, what we discovered was not the Demon King’s army.

“It’s a person, a person with superpowers.”

It wasn’t Nana or Zahina who found it, but Irene who noticed it first.

Of course, that was to be expected.

When it came to finding people, Irene was the best, unless it was a knight using mana, a mage, or an undead emitting malice.

In fact, there were survivors in the ruined city of Jeonju.

The people Irene found numbered only a few hundred in total across Jeonju.

It was heartbreaking that only that many people survived in such a large city, but I didn’t seek them out.

This safe zone was a place where battles had continued and would continue to do so in the future.

It was better for those who had survived by hiding to remain hidden for now.

However, the superhuman was different.

It was the first superhuman discovered in Jeonju.

Moreover, it was someone who hadn’t been there until yesterday.

“They’re coming here from the north.”

A superhuman was heading towards the safe zone.

“What should we do?”

“I’ll check it out.”

If it was a human from the north, and a superhuman at that, I had to verify it myself.

In response to Hoffman’s question, I picked up my sword and left the safe zone.

As I descended the mountain, I muttered softly, maintaining the feeling of conveying a message to someone.

“Can you hear me?”

[Yes. Don’t worry about communication.]

As always, I could communicate with Zahina.

Although the magic circle had tied Yelena’s hands, Zahina, who could use telepathy, was also in the safe zone, so there was no need to worry about losing contact.

I ran as fast as I could in the direction Irene had indicated.

I sprinted down the road, leaped over low buildings, and dashed forward at full speed.

‘Could it be…? Was there someone alive?’

A superhuman heading straight for Jeonju’s safe zone from the north.

If it was an Earthling who knew about the safe zone, and a superhuman at that, it might be someone from Daejeon.

After Daejeon fell, I tried my best not to think about the people, the Earthlings, who had been there.

Remembering them would inevitably bring back memories of past lives.

Of course, after the apprentice knights and priests woke up, I had asked them first about what had happened to those people.

“…Before we left, while the knights and mages held them off, we let everyone escape.”

“Did anyone cross the gate?”

“No. We only confirmed that everyone fled in all directions.”

However, I had to let go of the hope I had placed in the apologetic words of the apprentice knights and priests.

Almost all the knights and mages who hadn’t crossed the gate had died, so it was unlikely that they had survived.

They were people I had reunited with from past lives, and it ended like this.

Once again, it was a shock.

But I didn’t show it outwardly.

There had been too many things happening to dwell on each one with anger and sorrow.

Comrades I had fought alongside had died, and villages I had stayed in had disappeared.

I had seen innkeepers I was close to being devoured by monsters, and comrades turning into undead and attacking me.

After going through such times, my insides had already rotted away.

Other knights and seniors who had spent longer on the battlefield than I had said it was a time for hardening the heart, but they and I both knew.

It wasn’t hardening; it was a time of crumbling and breaking.

And I, who had spent a similar time, was already rotten inside.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t feel emotions at all. And I couldn’t stop hoping, even if it betrayed me every time.

I couldn’t forget the curse of “hope.”

And this time, that hope didn’t betray me.

“Ah, you’ve returned.”

Because I met her at the southern bank of the Soyang River after running as fast as I could.

She was someone I knew, a superhuman I was familiar with.

A woman who had awakened her telekinetic powers after seeing me in Hanam and followed me to Daejeon.

A bold superhuman who had escaped from Pyongyang with the new hero and saint.

And now, she had crossed the river using her telekinetic powers and landed in front of me.

Seeing her pale face and tired smile, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Did you survive alone? Or, what about the others…?”

At my question, she burst out laughing.

It was an odd reaction, but she seemed grateful that I had asked about them first.

“At least there’s someone who still thinks of us. Not everyone, but many survived. Mr. and Mrs. Jaeha too.”

I let out a sigh of relief at the news that Seo Eun, my past lover—no, my past connection—had survived.

Feeling relieved, I then felt a doubt.

It was hard to believe that ordinary people had survived amidst the Demon King’s army’s onslaught.

“It’s all thanks to what Seo Eun prepared.”

Sitting down on the riverbank, she told me how they had escaped.

“Actually, after the people from that world created a new safe zone, we who were just tagging along couldn’t rely solely on the safe zone.”

Indeed, as she said, the Earthlings who had settled in the base were helping with the base’s work, but in the end, they were just tenants.

If the expeditionary force told them to leave, they had to leave.

Since Yerim and I were busy moving around outside, we couldn’t pay much attention to them, so it was only natural they would worry.

“So Seo Eun suggested we prepare an additional hideout just in case.”

Of course, it was Seo Eun.

A woman who never settled for the present and always did her best.

As I smiled and nodded, Seung-ah looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I quickly hardened my expression, and she tilted her head before continuing.

“When the skeletons and monsters rushed in, we fled to the place we had prepared.

Many died while escaping, but the knights and mages covered our rear, and since they didn’t pay much attention to us, many survived.”

It seemed that being weak had actually helped more survive.

Even so, less than a third had survived, but in this world, that was still a lot.

“We made a hideout to take shelter, but there’s no way to escape. Daejeon has become a den of undead, and moreover, there’s not much food prepared in the refuge.”

The hideout Seo Eun had prepared was the city railway in Daejeon’s underground.

The city railway that ran through Daejeon’s underground.

People had used the subway to hide.

They had taken advantage of the Demon King’s army’s lack of knowledge about Daejeon to hide underground.

It was a brilliant preparation and the best possible evacuation, but unfortunately, there was no way out.

“When we left the safe zone, someone mentioned escaping to Jeonju, so I came to ask for help. I was hoping Yerim or the knight might be here.”

The reason Seung-ah had come here was not for a new safe zone or the apprentice knights and priests, but for our party.

At her cautious words, I couldn’t immediately say I would help.

I wanted to help and had the intention to do so, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the right situation.

Mana was still erupting from Donggosan.

Right now, we had to protect the safe zone and the gate.

As I frowned, Seung-ah quickly added, as if she had just remembered.

“Ah, right. I should have mentioned this first… On my way here, I saw an enormous horde of zombies moving south. That’s why I rushed here to warn you.”

No, you really should have said that first.

Still, I couldn’t blame her for delivering the news so diligently.

I immediately relayed the news to Zahina and told Seung-ah to stay in the safe zone.

“Yerim and our party are at the Donggosan safe zone in the south. Go there.”

Having seen me several times before, she followed my instructions.

After quickly recovering her mana, she flew off towards the south. I headed north to confirm the undead horde she had mentioned.

After crossing the Soyang River, which Seung-ah had crossed using her telekinetic powers, I crossed the Soyang River north of Jeonju and climbed to the top of a high-rise apartment next to the Wonju City Hall to survey the northern plains.

Beyond the wilderness that had once been rice fields, I could see the abandoned factory complex that had once been a brewery.

After spending some time there, I began to see something squirming on the horizon.

The dead.

Thousands of figures filling the empty plain.

When I focused mana into my eyes, I could see that they were undead.

They weren’t skeletons, as Seung-ah had said.

They were all moving corpses, zombies.

‘Zombies? Not the Demon King’s army?’

The Demon King’s army did use zombies, but their main force was skeletons.

However, what filled the plain was mostly zombies.

Only a few undead in the center looked like the Demon King’s army.

Undead clad in armor and robes.

The undead were protecting a female zombie as they walked.

I couldn’t help but frown.

Because the ones at the front were all people I knew.

They were knights and mages I had respected, and even a saint I had been grateful for.

I had heard that the former hero’s party had turned into undead, but I never thought I’d see it with my own eyes.

As I watched the undead, the party members who had received my message arrived one by one beside me.

Yerim arrived first, cradled in Zahina’s arms, followed by Hoffman, who had been out scouting, climbing up to the rooftop.

Hoffman’s expression darkened first as he saw the horde of undead filling the plain.

Then, Yerim and Zahina also hardened their expressions as they realized who was leading the undead.

“The undead horde led by the former hero’s party has come to find us. It’s a good thing we came out here beforehand, right?”

We had decided to intercept any Demon King’s army or undead far from the safe zone and the gate to minimize damage.

At the time, we hadn’t known that the Demon King’s army would be them, and even now, I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision.

But there was no turning back now.

The enemy had noticed us and halted the undead horde.

As the Eger Knights watched the former hero’s party from the apartment rooftop, the Saint of Death also observed them with her enhanced vision.

“Huh, I thought it was strange, but the real hero party is here.”

A mage with pointed ears, a saint dressed in this world’s clothes, and a knight who seemed to be the hero.

Even if you excluded the old soldier, they were a much more proper hero party than the hero and saint who had invaded Pyongyang.

“No, judging by the knight’s lack of divine power, he must still be a reserve hero. Well, since the former hero isn’t dead yet, he can’t be the real hero.”

If he had been the real hero, it would have been troublesome, but since he was just a reserve, there was nothing to worry about.

“Well, seeing the new hero who invaded, even if he were the real hero, there’d be nothing to worry about.”

The Saint of Death spoke with a regretful expression.

She seemed to be reminiscing about the hero she had been with while alive, then let out a sigh.

“The proper hero is dead, so now it’s time for the fake heroes to die too. Let’s go. Kill them all.”

At her words, the halted undead horde began to move.

The Death Knights beside her also started running, and the Lich rose into the air.

The battle had begun.