Chapter 40: The Icebound Requiem.

The basement was filled with the musty smell of mold and damp cold that seeped deep into the lungs.

Moisture trickling down the walls left gloomy stains, and only the old incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered precariously, dimly illuminating the space. The long, drawn-out shadows swayed as if they were alive.

One table, two chairs. A simple space with only those items.

This was one of the many secret meeting places of the remaining forces of the Regional Alliance, who had been pushed out by the Allied Joint Government.

And now, two men were sitting face to face in that place.

In front of Seo Jin, a man in an unfamiliar but imposing military uniform was leaning deeply into his chair. The sharp eyes revealed under the sharply angled beret were like razor blades, and thick cigar smoke slowly rose from between his tightly closed lips.

On his shoulders were two star rank insignia that shone clearly even in the darkness.

Major General Leo, Commander of the Eastern Front of the Regional Alliance.

“So.”

Leo broke the heavy silence first. His voice, as if steeped in long wars and an uncertain future, was hoarse and low. Even a sense of ennui was evident in the gesture of tapping the cigar on the old ashtray on the table. He stared intently at Seo Jin’s face.

“How many years has it been… Contacting me so suddenly, what did you say you needed from me?”

Seo Jin looked at Leo’s rank insignia. And he saw the time beyond that. When they first met, he was a vigorous young captain. In the face of the surging offensive of the Encroachment species that seemed to devour the whole world, they shared the same despair and defended the line together, even though they belonged to different factions.

Countless people died, but they survived.

The fact that they survived together in that terrible war left a bond deeper and more enduring than any family.

“I need troop support.”

Seo Jin’s voice was calm, but the weight contained within was by no means light.

“Troops…?”

Leo asked back. One of his eyebrows twitched slightly. Was it interest, or blatant absurdity?

“In this day and age, when the war is all over?”

Cigar smoke surrounded his face, blurring his expression. With a sigh mixed with resignation and fatigue, as if drawn from the depths of his lungs, he looked up at the flickering light bulb on the ceiling for a moment. As if there was an answer there. He soon fixed his gaze on Seo Jin again.

His voice carried a deeper cynicism and the weight of an unavoidable reality than before.

“The war is over. The tiresome Encroachment War is over. Humanity has… at least won, and now it’s time to heal the wounds and focus on reconstruction. No matter how much I owe you my life….”

Leo’s voice faltered for a moment. The word ‘debt’ seemed to roll awkwardly in his mouth.

“I don’t know what kind of dangerous thing you’re trying to do, but that ‘strike team’, the risk is too great.”

Leo tapped the surface of the table nervously with his finger.

“As you know, our Regional Alliance is… a thorn in the side of the Allied Government. They are always looking for an opportunity to tear us apart as an example if we do anything that can be used against us. Moving the number of troops you requested… secretly is close to impossible. This is not a level of risk that can be handled with the friendship of an old comrade or a personal debt.”

His words were cold, but there was nothing wrong with them. The Regional Alliance, once revered as war heroes, was now branded as a potential rebel force. In this situation, mobilizing troops was no different from pushing the already precarious organization to the brink.

Seo Jin listened silently to Leo’s words. He had already expected his reaction. He already knew all the reasons for the refusal. Seo Jin was silent for a moment. It was a silence colder than the cold air in the basement. And, at the end of that silence, he threw a decisive word in a low voice.

“Compensation.”

At that moment, Leo’s eyes flickered slightly. A small crack formed on his face, which had seemed so firm until just now.

“Compensation…?”

“Yes.”

Seo Jin leaned forward slightly. His eyes shone brightly in the darkness. Like a blade that had been honed for a long time.

“The compensation I propose… is the collapse of the top echelons of the Allied Joint Government.”

The air in the basement seemed to freeze. Even the flickering light bulb seemed to hold its breath.

Leo’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe it. He barely managed to catch the cigar he was about to drop. The cynical mask was stripped from his face, and pure shock and disbelief were exposed.

“…What?”

Leo’s voice cracked. If someone else had spouted such words in this place, he would have unhesitatingly treated them as a madman, spat, and stood up.

The Allied Joint Government. A huge power group that led the war to victory and reorganized the post-war world order. The words that he would collapse its top echelons… sounded like the ramblings of a madman, or the last words of someone desperate to die.

But sitting in front of him was Seo Jin.

The Aegis may have been the most brilliantly shining heroes in the Encroachment War, but those who knew the real shadows hidden behind those dazzling achievements, knew the other side of that terrible battlefield.

Leo remembered that ‘real appearance’ of Seo Jin. Not a hero, but far from an ordinary citizen, a man who was sometimes incomprehensibly ruthless and daring.

Leo slowly put the extinguished cigar back in his mouth. The taste of the already cold ashes felt bitter. He stared intently at Seo Jin’s face for a moment, a very brief moment.

His eyes were still unswervingly directed at him.

In those deep, calm eyes, Leo read not mere bravado or madness, but a cold, meticulously calculated will… and a determination that seemed to be prepared for even destruction.

“…Ha.”

A short laugh burst from Leo’s mouth. He adjusted his beret and leaned back deeply in his chair again. The darkness of the basement seemed to hide his complex state of mind by casting a deep shadow on his face.

“Crazy talk. Really… crazy talk.”

He paused for a moment. He fiddled with the extinguished cigar in the silence, then opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind. His voice was even lower than before.

“But… I remember your real appearance, Seo Jin. I know what kind of person you are. So… alright.”

Leo’s eyes began to shine sharply again. It was no longer mere cynicism. It was the look of someone who might be participating in a dangerous game, or the look of someone who has decided to take a last gamble in despair.

“Let’s hear it. What on earth… how are you going to collapse the Allied Union on your own?”

Aegis Project.

In that game world that Seo Jin remembered, humanity had been constantly fighting against external threats, monsters called ‘Encroachment species’.

But among the various missions in the game, there were also scenarios dealing with internal conflicts among humans.

Civil wars with regional forces that rebelled against the Allied Government, suppressing riots in major cities, deterring rebels operating in the rear, and even missions to defend important facilities against terrorism.

Among those numerous missions in the game, there was one that was particularly deeply etched in Seo Jin’s mind. It was the mission to defend a facility that secretly housed magic ability users, especially those who had committed heinous crimes and had been sentenced to death.

In the game setting, magic ability users were extremely rare and powerful strategic resources. The Allied Government officially announced that these serious criminals were executed according to criminal law, but the reality was different. As a ‘secret weapon’ to prepare for a large-scale invasion of the Encroachment species that might occur again, they were preserved in a cryosleep state in a top-secret facility near the Arctic Ocean.

They were a kind of living strategic reserve. And in the original game scenario, a terrorist group found out about the existence of this facility and attacked it, and the player had to stop their terrorism.

But because of Seo Jin’s existence, the history of this world had changed.

As he intervened, numerous events changed in a chain reaction, and the terrorist incident that should have occurred in the game did not happen. The secrets of the facility were still maintained, and the facility hidden somewhere in the frozen lands of the Arctic Ocean was operating quietly, without anyone knowing its existence.

Seo Jin was now standing in a large underground hangar of a safe house provided by the Regional Alliance. On the cold concrete floor, troops of a company-sized force, fully armed, were lined up. It was the elite strike team specialized in guerrilla warfare that Leo had sent as promised.

Snow camouflage uniforms. The emotionless faces of the soldiers.

Seo Jin stood in front of them. Beside him, Cynthia, who had been manipulating magic for a while, was finally opening the gap in space.

“I’m ready. Teacher.”

She slowly brought her hands forward.

The magic flowing from her fingertips gathered in the air and gradually began to take shape. With an alien sensation as if space itself was distorting, a dark blue crack appeared in the air in front of the soldiers.

Seo Jin nodded and walked towards the dimensional gate first. In his hand, like the soldiers, he held a gun.

Then, heavily armed strike team members began to move in an orderly manner behind him. The dull sound of military boots filled the hangar. Soon, no one was left in that place.

Short and concise reports were heard one after another from the radio.

“Sector A cleared.”

“Sector B cleared.”

Only ten minutes after passing through the dimensional gate from the hangar.

The strike team led by Seo Jin was quickly infiltrating the target facility and seizing each area. The top-secret facility hidden under the Arctic glacier. Paradoxically, the external defense force was operated to a minimum to maintain thorough secrecy.

Either they did not assume the possibility of escape because the [inmates] inside were so dangerous, or because very few people knew of their existence.

The skills of the elite strike team supported by Leo were excellent, and the weaker-than-expected resistance made their advance even easier.

“Surveillance tower and control room secured. Internal system access available.”

“Good. Enter the final destination.”

Seo Jin led the strike team to the deepest part of the facility, the central prison area where cryosleep capsules were stored. A thick reinforced titanium bulkhead blocked the way. A final defense line that cannot be opened by normal means.

“Demolition team, ready.”

With a short command, the soldiers installed adhesive explosives on the bulkhead. As Seo Jin and the squad members retreated to a safe distance, a part of the bulkhead was dented inward with a loud bang and a low explosion. The interior space was revealed through the thick dust and smoke.

Seo Jin was the first to step over the broken bulkhead. A huge circular hall. Dozens of silver-white cryosleep capsules were lined up endlessly along the walls. The sub-zero cold filled the hall, and white frost covered the surface of the capsules.

Seo Jin immediately approached the central control panel. Complex buttons and levers. Without hesitation, he pressed the buttons in a specific order and pulled the emergency release lever.

Tssss-

A sharp steam discharge sound echoed throughout the hall. At the same time, white cooling steam began to pour out of all the capsules. The frost on the surface of the capsules melted, and the figures of the people sleeping beyond the transparent reinforced glass were revealed.

There were humans of various appearances in the capsules.

Men and women, young and old, of all races, their only common point was that all of them were powerful magic users of level 1 or higher. And at the same time, they were red-listed criminals whom the Allied Joint Government had officially announced to have been ‘eliminated’.

Serial killers, fanatical terrorists, researchers who performed forbidden magic experiments.

A collection of truly mad killers whose common sense and morality were completely destroyed.

As the locks on the capsules were released and the steam cleared, they began to open their eyes one by one.

In an instant, the air in the hall was filled with a magical surge that seemed to burst. As dozens of powerful magic ability users awakened at the same time, the chaotic and unstable magic they emitted collided with each other, shaking the entire space.

“Ugh!”

The strike team members lined up next to Seo Jin groaned and flinched. They were armed with bulletproof vests and combat helmets, but they couldn’t block the pure magical pressure that seemed to cut through their skin. Some reflexively raised their guns.

But Seo Jin didn’t move. He calmly faced the awakening monsters. As if dealing with old acquaintances, or looking at wild beasts to be tamed. His eyes were filled with cold calculation and conviction instead of fear.

Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on Seo Jin at once. Confusion, caution, and the sharp madness of those awakened from a long sleep. Among them, a woman with tousled red hair stepped forward with a bitter smile.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t a familiar face.”

Her voice was full of deep sarcasm. An elite magic ability user and the Witch of Conflagration who burned 7,000 civilians during the Encroachment Nest extermination operation, Sortie. She was arrested by Arciel and Seo Jin’s unit at the time and sentenced to death.

“Is this a dream? This is the face I’ve missed so much every night in my dreams.”

Sortie mumbled and flicked her fingers. The next moment, a blazing fireball bloomed on her palm and flew towards Seo Jin.

Whoosh! Just before the fierce flames exploded, a blue barrier blocked Seo Jin’s path. It was Cynthia. She stood silently in front of Seo Jin and stared at Sortie.

Sortie clicked her tongue as she looked at Cynthia.

“Tsk, tsk, are you still playing the gigolo? Still the same as ever.”

Seo Jin calmly said from behind the barrier where he could feel the residual heat of the flames.

“I don’t intend to antagonize you now. Rather, I came to release everyone.”

“…What?”

Sortie’s eyes narrowed. The other criminals also wore puzzled expressions.

“You, the one who locked us up, are going to release us? Ha! You’ve been killing nothing but monster tags all day long, did you finally go crazy too? Or did that disgusting sympathy of yours finally kick in?”

“Think what you want.”

It was then.

Weeeeeeeeee-!

A loud emergency siren began to sound throughout the facility. Red strobe lights flashed rapidly, illuminating the inside of the hall in a confusing manner. No matter how meticulously the attack was planned, it was only a matter of time before the government’s top-secret facility was discovered.

Immediate alertness appeared on the faces of the awakened criminals. They instinctively began to look for an exit. Being caught again and locked in that cold capsule was worse than death. To do that, they had to get out of here right now.

Sortie spat at Seo Jin as if spitting out venom.

“Humph, I’m sick and tired of being played by you, whatever your plan is. Farewell, Seo Jin.”

Before the words were finished, her body disappeared with flames. As a signal, other criminals also began to scatter in an instant with their respective abilities. Space movement, high-speed movement, stealth, wall penetration… In various ways, they disappeared from the hall in less than a minute. As if no one had been there from the start.

The hall, which had been crowded with dozens of dangerous people until just now, was instantly emptied. It was a scene that could have been quite disheartening, even though he had taken the risk of awakening them.

At that time, Leo, who had participated in the operation as the strike force commander, approached Seo Jin. His face was troubled.

“Will it be okay, Seo Jin? All the forces you were trying to secure have been scattered.”

Leo’s voice was still full of doubts.

Seo Jin looked around the empty hall and said.

“Didn’t I explain? It’s according to the plan.”

The world was turned upside down.

Heinous criminals, including the elite magic ability users who had escaped from the top-secret facility in the Arctic Ocean. As their existence became known to the world and accidents occurred one after another in various places, the city was instantly plunged into fear and chaos. The media poured out breaking news day after day, and citizens trembled with anxiety. It was as if the nightmare of the war that seemed would never end was raising its head again.

This was the biggest crisis since the end of the war.

The Allied Joint Government responded immediately. The Security Council was convened at an unprecedented speed. The location was the conference room located in the highest-level security area within the Government Central Headquarters.

Seo Jin faintly raised the corners of his lips upon hearing the news. His eyes were shining coldly.

The Allied Joint Government Security Council.

A place where most of the government’s high-ranking officials gathered in one place. The Minister of National Defense, the head of the Intelligence Agency, key permanent members, and… the Secretary-General at the top of the Allied Union.

Those who condoned Arciel’s death, or even directly planned it.

They were gathering in one place by themselves.

Something hot welled up in Seo Jin’s chest. Revenge. And impatience for the little time left. The fuse of this life was really running out. At best, a week? With that much time, an opportunity to bring all these culprits to justice at once. The first and last, the only opportunity.

On the face of Cynthia, who was standing next to Seo Jin immersed in such thoughts, was deep concern. She had just heard the outline of the plan. And she swallowed her breath at the boldness close to recklessness. It was as she said.

The conference hall where the Security Council was being held.

It was literally an impregnable fortress. Enormous physical security was basic. Strict security checks were conducted over a radius of several kilometers around the conference hall. The building itself was guarded tightly by a rotating special forces regiment.

Moreover… the preparation against magic was even more thorough.

Powerful magic interference fields were spread in layers around the conference hall, so not only space movement, but also detection or attacks by ability users from the outside, as well as unauthorized use of magic from the inside, would be immediately detected and blocked.

Even more, two elite mechanized divisions were always on standby within 30 minutes’ distance, ready to be deployed immediately in case of an emergency.

Above all, the building was located right next to the headquarters of the Otherworld Species Flood Damage Countermeasures Headquarters, that is, the headquarters where the heroes who led the Encroachment War to victory resided. Even if an accident occurred, the continent’s strongest elite magic ability users would rush into the conference hall in just a few minutes.

The world’s best security facilities. An absolute fortress that does not allow any intrusion.

Cynthia sighed.

“I can’t even get close with my space magic. The coordinates themselves are severely distorted due to the strong magic field. If I try to forcibly enter… I don’t know where I’ll be bounced off to.”

It was practically a declaration that it was impossible. No matter what means were used, whether head-on or surprise, it seemed impossible to reach that place itself.

But Seo Jin was calm. There was no agitation on his face. As if all the impregnable conditions Cynthia had laid out meant nothing.

“I knew it.”

He replied shortly.

And he thought again in his mind.

The fact that this world… was similar to the Earth of reality he knew, but completely different.

A world where magical abilities exist and the alien threat of the Encroachment species is real.

As a result, some important historical events that were natural in reality… did not exist at all in this world.

Right at that difference.

In the twist of history that no one knows, Seo Jin’s last plan was hidden.

“…It’s reckless.”

Cynthia’s voice trembled.

Seo Jin did not avoid the gaze that looked at him sadly. He just gave a faint, self-deprecating smile.

“I don’t have much time left anyway….”

It’s a fact that they both know.

The Hexa Virus infection that has already spread throughout his body, although suppressed by magic. A precarious heart that doesn’t know when it will stop.

The given time has almost run out. All that remains now is the obsession with revenge.

Knowing all that, his recklessness came even more painfully to the fore.

She slowly lowered her head. Tears flowed down her cheeks. But when she raised her head again, there was a strange smile on her face along with sadness. She was crying and smiling at the same time.

“…If that’s Teacher’s wish.”

Her voice still trembled, but it contained an unwavering determination.

“…Gladly.”

She didn’t even think about wiping away her tears as she stared straight at Seo Jin and whispered.

“I’ll die with you… together.”

Safety rules are written in blood.

In other words, no one properly recognizes the danger until a terrible accident occurs. Preparation was always made after the water had already been spilled.

And the threat that this world had prepared for was clear.

Most crimes, extremist terrorism, and major incidents that shake society… were committed by powerful magic ability users. All government defenses and strategies were naturally focused on them. Detecting, blocking, and suppressing magic. That was the core of security.

Therefore, there was one means that no one in this world had ever imagined yet.

Only the cockpit’s instrument panel lights shone dimly in the darkness. The low vibration of the engine was transmitted dully throughout the aircraft. Outside the window was an endless curtain of night. Above it, the silver plane was silently moving along a lonely route.

The captain briefly pressed the communication button to the control tower.

The familiar texture of plastic at his fingertips. His expression was marked with the fatigue of repeated flights.

“Control tower, this is Alpha Echo 703. Currently maintaining an altitude of 30,000 feet and passing through Point Delta. No abnormalities in the route.”

With a static noise, a slightly distorted response was heard from beyond the headset. A mechanical yet somehow human voice echoing from the ground.

[Alpha Echo 703, received. Maintain altitude and route. Will call again in the next sector.]

“Roger. 703 out.”

The communication ended concisely.
Only the sound of the engine and the sound of the air cutting through the aircraft remained in the cockpit again. The tranquility of a routine night flight…….

It was at that moment.

Something… an alien noise was heard from the rear of the cockpit.

Crackle-

“Huh?”

Just as the captain was about to reflexively turn his head.
Something hard struck his temple. With a dull sound, his consciousness went dark in an instant. Before the co-pilot next to him could react, Seo Jin’s hand once again slashed through the air.

Thud-.

The two pilots slumped powerlessly.

Cynthia approached the fallen pilots and stretched out her hand. With a faint light of magic, the figures of the two men disappeared as if melting into space. She transferred them to a safe coordinate on the ground that she had identified in advance.

Now, the only people left in the cockpit of the huge freighter… were Seo Jin and Cynthia. The cargo hold was empty, and there were no other crew members.

Seo Jin sat down in the empty cockpit. He checked the instrument panel familiarly and grabbed the control stick.

“How long until we reach the target?”

“…About 5 minutes to the closest location.”

Cynthia replied from the side. Her voice trembled a little, but it was full of determination.

Plane hijacking terrorism.

The people of this world had never even properly attempted such a terrible idea. The tragic history in which so many lives were sacrificed by that kind of terrorism did not exist in this world. In the face of the more immediate and powerful threat of magic, the old-fashioned method was a forgotten fear.

Right in that blind spot of history.

That was being used at this moment as the most certain means for Seo Jin’s last revenge….

A huge lump of steel weighing 400 tons.

The destructive power when it collides with a target on the ground at near the speed of sound… was well known. No matter how solid a super-sized building was, it was impossible to fully withstand the impact.

All security checks, strict security forces, and magic disturbance fields that were layered many times.

As if mocking all those defense systems.

The most certain means of ignoring them all and entering the target point, the very conference hall where the top officials were gathered.

Seo Jin’s hand moved slightly on the control stick.

The plane began to modify its route very slightly, but clearly.

Towards the final destination.