Seoul Station’s Necromancer Chapter 96:
Chapter 96 - Dismay
Too-too-too-too-too .
Above the burning battlefield, two US army helicopters were in the air .
The government made a big deal about deciding whether to attack the rebel's stronghold or not, but the US had been carrying out a small scale guerrilla attack on the insurgents for a while now . Moreover, the A team had rescued countless hostages, and destroyed numerous key infrastructures . They had completed numerous missions .
The men wore sunglasses, and an inner-ear mic . The noisy rotor of the helicopter didn't interfere with their conversation .
“Wow . What the **** are we seeing right now?”
“It's surprising . ”
“Leader . I guess we have nothing to do?”
A Team leader Bron surveyed the battlefield, where the winner had already been decided . He shook his head from side to side .
The infrastructure was destroyed . There were fallen buildings, and craters had formed on the road from the bombardments . It displayed how fierce the battle had been .
The creepy part was there weren't a single corpse of the enemy or allies on the field .
All of the enemy's corpses were used as medium to summon the Skeleton Soldiers . Moreover, Kahng-woojin was very careful about who he considered to be an ally, so he had been alone .
“It was possible for a single person to settle all of this by force . It's surprising . ”
“Doesn't it kind of make you depressed thinking about how long we had trained? I should have just raised my Roused Rank . ”
This US Special Forces unit was composed of Rank D and above Roused .
Their battle capability and ability to the carry out a mission was on par with a Rank A Roused . However, when he saw the unbelievable result accomplished by the Rank AA Kahng-woojin with his own eyes, his own efforts seemed very trivial in comparison .
“Isn't he really a one man army?”
“Korea could give their entire defense budget to Kahng-woojin for his pay . ”
“Hahaha . They could seriously do that . ”
“It kind of makes me feel the futility of it all . What the **** were we doing in the battlefield up until now?”
“It isn't as if we **** . That guy is just extraordinary . ”
“It's hard to even call him a person now . ”
One after another Kahng-woojin sent the Death Knights and the Skeleton Soldiers under their command into the Summoning Room .
“Well, since the long battle is over, let's go in to close this . ”
“Let's head down . ”
At the leader's word, the helicopters started to slowly descend .
When the helicopters landed, Woojin sent back in all the Skeleton Soldiers under his command . Unfortunately, he had to cancel his summoning on the Skeleton Magicians .
If no one controlled the Skeletons, they would revert back into being monsters .
The grand sight of over 1000 Skeleton Magicians falling to the ground was witnessed .
“You guys did well . ”
“I've recovered a lot of my power-ahong . In a little while, I'll be able to be summoned with my real body-ahong . ”
“That's great . You suffered a lot . ”
While she was maintaining her cat form, she was capable of using her Nightmare and Hallucination without any problem . However, there was a gap in power .
If Bibi was summoned in her real form, her power was quite fierce . She'll be able to use Mass Hallucination .
Bibi had leveled up, and she had slowly built up her power until she was close to being able to materialize her true form . However, it also helped that the ambient Mana level of earth had increased .
“Ooh-ha-ahm . Then I'll see you at the next battlefield-ahong . ”
Bibi let out a yawn . She turned into black smoke, and it scattered into the air . Woojin turned to look at Dolsae .
“You should also go in . ”
[Goo-goo-goo-gook . ]
With the sound of steel snapping, Dolsae's shook his messed up body . The steel armors surrounding him started to fall off one by one . Soon a scrap heap was formed . Dolsae's heart popped out of the pile, and it disappeared .
The helicopters had landed earlier, but the media vehicles were the first to approach . When they were by Woojin's side, the A team was also on their way towards him .
“May you do an interview?”
Reporter Tom's voice was cautious, and it was shaking from nervousness .
“No . ”
“Yes . All right . ”
Tom didn't ask any further . He turned the live broadcasting camera over to the battlefield . He announced the birth of a messiah, and the end of the terrorists . He babbled on about the birth of a guardian of world peace .
After ending the live broadcast, he quickly came over to Woojin, and he lowered his head .
“Where are you going to go now?”
“I'm going back to Korea, so you don't have to follow me any more . ”
“Ah…!”
Tom let out a sigh . He had thought Woojin would continue his fight to completely eradicate the terrorists, but it seemed he planned to go back to his home country . However, Tom couldn't carelessly block Woojin from doing so .
“Thank you . The people of the world and the people here will never forget about Kahng-woojin-nim . ”
“You guys did well . I'll see next time . ”
“…… . ”
Woojin waved his hand towards the reporters, then he walked towards the A Team, who were walking towards him . Tom felt his heart tremble as he watched Woojin's back get farther away .
He thought he wouldn't feel such a sense of anticipation even when he was lying down in a same bed as the most beautiful woman in the world .
“Next time… . ”
Woojin's last word gave him a weird sense of anticipation . Moreover, it felt as if Tom had been given recognition by Woojin, so he didn't move from the spot for awhile .
Woojin left the reporters, then he headed towards the A team .
It was a very strange battlefield where only the one victor was alive . A Team's leader Bron respectfully requested a handshake .
Woojin was acquainted with the A Team . The A Team had helped him come up with the plan of getting captured by the insurgents .
“I must congratulate you for this unbelievable result . ”
“Well, why are you guys here?”
A human killed other humans, so why would he need praise?
Death was merely a curse . Only the living could be blessed by the victory . As a Necromancer, nothing made him more uncomfortable when someone praising a murderer .
Woojin immediately changed the subject as he asked his own question .
“We've come to get you . ”
“I never called for you . ”
“What?”
Bron was taken aback, but he eventually caught on Woojin was making a joke .
“The government has yet to approve a direct conflict, so only the A Team was sent in as support . ”
“So you just watched me from afar . ”
“…… . ”
Bron couldn't dispute Woojin's blunt statement . Truthfully, the A team's orders from Rogers was to, 'save Kahng-woojin if the battle was progressing unfavorably . '
The US government never thought a single person could end a war that they didn't even dare to start .
“Let's leave it at that . Let's go . ”
“Yes . Let's return . ”
At the leader Bron's order, the A Team surrounded Woojin as if they were an **** . Then they ran towards the helicopters . The reporters wanted to capture this image, so they were busy pressing down on the shutters .
“Do you think he'll be ok?”
“What are you talking about?”
The British reporter Jonie asked Tom a question .
“Over 20 thousand people have lost their lives . ”
“Mmm . ”
“Kahng-woojin killed so many people by himself . ”
“What are you trying to say?”
Tom replied with an uncomfortable expression on his face . Was Jonie trying to imply Kahng-woojin was a mass murderer? Tom worked himself up as if his idol had been insulted . Jonie took a step backwards, and he waved his hands .
“This was a war . I'm just worried about Mr . Kahng-woojin . ”
“What about him?”
“Look at the soldiers, who returned from war . They suffer from PTSD . ”
At Jonie's words, Tom immediately put on a worried expression . . He summoned Skeleton Soldiers from the corpses to fight, but in the end, Woojin was mainly responsible for their actions .
He had killed countless number of people by himself . Wouldn't his heart be wounded?
The act of killing didn't only harm the victim . It also made the perpetrator sick .
Woojin was putting the burden of killing tens of thousands of lives on himself . He couldn't help but worry about Woojin's mental state . He was sure Woojin had received some trauma to the mind .
He had been fooled by the tough exterior shown by Woojin .
Woojin was a savior sent by the heaven to end the war on terror .
However, in the end, he was human . He was the same as them .
“My **** . ”
Tom's face turned serious .
Woojin’s stress level must have reached an extreme level . What would happen if he heard negative comments in his current state?
Wouldn't it be like a person saving someone and the rescuer being hit with an assault charge?
“We've got some work to do . ”
They had to stop any negative public opinions from forming . This man was not a murderer . He was a war hero . Each of them had varying career length as war correspondents, but all 30 reporters had resolutely determined expressions .
They had to help him .
From now on they had to fight for the man, who had save them . It was for Kahng-woojin, who'll be having a hard time .
*
Too-too-too-too .
The rotor sound rang in Woojin's ear . He had folded his arms, and his eyes were tightly shut .
As soon as he got on the helicopter, Woojin didn't move from that posture . No one from the A team dared to converse with him .
Woojin mediated with his eyes closed, and he relaxed his tightly wound heart . He let go of his nervousness, and his consciousness became fuzzy as if he had given himself into the care of the world .
He was in a dreamlike state . When his self-control became weaker, the evil spirits inevitably started to crawl around him .
The evil spirits clung to Woojin's body .
They stuck to Woojin's body as if they were poltergeists, who couldn't leave because of deep resentments .
‘I'm sorry . ’
Woojin looked at the soul, which was a lighter shade of black . He sent his intent towards the evil spirit of the nameless girl . The evil spirit trembled, then it started circling around Woojin in harmony with the other evil spirits .
He had apologized .
That was the end . Now he didn't care if she decided to haunt him . . .
‘It's been awhile since I run amok . ’
Woojin's thoughts deepened as he looked at the evil spirits .
If he wanted to save someone, then he had to kill someone .
He wasn't a god, so how could he decide who lived and who died?
When souls became evil spirits, they swore, cursed and resented him . Ironically, it allowed Woojin to hold on to his sanity .
It was an appropriate punishment for his actions, and it lowered his sense of guilt .
‘It feels dirty . ’
Woojin frowned with his eyes still closed .
His past had been too brutal for him to be afraid of killing people .
‘My adolescence has already passed . ’
He had lived a really rough and brutal life . He would become lost in such thoughts . The soft high schooler had become the Immortal, and he was still alive .
He just killed those, who had to be killed .
His mind was unaffected, but he couldn't help but feel dirty .
Woojin opened his eyes at Bron's call .
“We've arrived . ”
“…yes . ”
Woojin focused on his consciousness, and he ordered his mind . After a brief amount of time, the evil spirits in front of his eyes disappeared . Then the sight of the Bagram Air Force Base came into view .
“Are you doing some kind of sports meet? Why are all these people gathered outside?”
“…hooot . ”
Bron couldn't help, but laugh at Woojin's words .
He was a hero yet how could he lack so much self-awareness on what he had accomplished?
Too-too-too-too .
The helicopters landed on the landing pad . The soldiers were on parade with the landing pad at center .
Every soldier in the air base had shown up here . It didn't matter if one was on duty or on a patrol . Everyone stopped what they were doing, and they had come out here .
They came to greet the hero, who had ended the war .
Too-too-too-too .
When the helicopter landed, Woojin got off .
General David stood foremost in front of the soldiers on parade . He was standing being buffeted by the wind made by the helicopter . The staff, the Special Roused Division's Rogers, and the other officers stood a step behind him .
“What?”
Woojin approached general David with a playful smile on his face . Soon, the helicopters powered down, and the A team followed behind Woojin .
[Attention!]
Chwa-chahk!
At Roger's voice, all the soldiers came to parade rest . Woojin's eyebrow rose at the energy of their synchronized movement . Then he put on a playful expression .
[Put your respect into your salutes!]
“Sir!”
Their hands rose at the same time .
Their shouts filled the runway .
Wooijn smirked as he looked around his surrounding . Everyone gathered there was raising their hand in salute . The members of the A Team, the intelligence officer Rachel, the pilots of the helicopter, the non-combatant military personnel and even the military engineers . . .
General David, who had lived for the past 30 years going from one battle to another, was also saluting towards him .
It was filled with respect and thanks… .
“This… . ”
Woojin awkwardly raised his hand and he placed it next to his right eyebrow .
“Am I doing this right?”
The members of the A Team smiled . General David, who was facing them, laughed .
He thanked the hero, who had ended this damnable war .
“They are welcoming you back with a hero's welcome . ”
David spoke, and he gave a slight gesture with his hand as if he was guiding Woojin . Then he turned around . With them at the center, the soldiers in parade rest parted to make way for them .
“Well, this is a bit embarrassing . ”
Well, this wasn’t too bad .
When Woojin started to walk, the US soldiers all clapped, and they cheered to greet the hero .
“Thanks to you I'll be able to go back to my family now . ”
“I've lost 5 of my mates to those **** . Thank you . ”
“Thank you . . ”
“I will be able to go back home now . ”
Whenever Woojin took a step, he heard dozens of people talking to him . His ears were numb, but it wasn't a bad feeling .
The tail end of Woojin's lips lifted a little bit .
‘Well, I guess this isn't too bad in its own way . ’
This was the first time .
These people were welcoming him without fear and worship .
Woojin reached the end of the road opened by the soldiers . When Woojin stopped, the Holy Maiden was standing in front of him .