Chapter 73

42. Paradise (6)

"Still alive."

I shouted into the radio.

"There will be a bombing. If it's around the US base, I'll just wish them well."

"Don't bomb the airport."

"Why?"

"The warhead hasn't been loaded yet."

I said quickly in a low voice, glaring at the periscope.

"Really? For real? Oh, it is."

At the airport where we, the woman, and other soldiers were watching, another jet engine roared like a beast.

Wheee---

It was Park Chul-ju's plane.

Who was piloting it?

A pilot? Did he buy the pilot?

No.

Among the fallen was someone in a pilot's uniform.

The elegant plane moved its rudder back and forth.

"Could it be...?"

Park Chul-ju himself?

Is the chairman of Seokju Group piloting the plane himself?

Come to think of it, Goo Jung-joon said that Park Chul-ju had a pilot's license.

"Crazy old man! Stop it! Hurry!"

Amid the roar of vehicles, the plane slowly moved toward the runway.

Bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Sharp gunshots echoed between the airport and my territory.

It seemed they were firing warning shots.

But the plane didn't stop.

Even as bullet holes appeared on its elegant surface, it boldly took off, accelerating with a roar.

Wheee---

Amid the roar, the radio emitted a clear male voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Seokju Group Flight 1, heading from South Korea to Japan. The current time is 12:22, the temperature is 15 degrees, and the weather is clear..."

The owner of the voice, received over the airwaves, was none other than Park Chul-ju.

"Our destination is Paradise~."

The plane took off.

At the same time, the jets above scattered in all directions, having detected several anti-aircraft missiles slicing through the air from the east.

While the fighters performed dazzling evasive maneuvers, spraying chaff, the beautiful passenger plane, with its silver fuselage gleaming, took off toward the sky.

Seeing this, I clenched my fist without realizing it.

Perhaps it was the absurd beauty that moved me.

Maybe it was envy.

Perhaps it was jealousy at the freedom to leave this tiresome land of death and go somewhere.

Perhaps it was the drowsiness from earlier, but I felt a dreamlike daze.

"Skeleton!"

A frantic voice snapped me back to reality.

"Skeleton!"

It was Defender's voice.

The communicator was ringing.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"You're alive? What's going on? What's happening there?!"

"Well, a small conflict has erupted?"

"You? Are you safe? Are you under attack?"

"Hmm."

What should I say?

Should I be honest?

But I don't think it's necessary.

"Just a moment."

"What?"

"Just a moment."

I put down the communicator and glared at the entrance of the bunker.

A man was slowly descending the stairs.

In one hand, he held a heavy bulletproof shield, and in the other, a blunt Chinese dao.

Kim Pil-sung smiled at me.

For a moment, I recalled the bald-headed boy from my student days.

That boy seemed to be saying something to me.

Let's have a rematch.

I stood up.

Leaving behind countless traps of death, I picked up two axes.

Thud

Kim Pil-sung threw the shield and closed the bunker door.

"Is this locked?"

I nodded.

Now, only two hunters with the same past remained in the bunker.

The gunshots and missile explosions from outside, the shouts and indistinguishable roars, were now irrelevant.

Because two classmates who had graduated from the same school, received the same education, and shared the same fate, were now facing each other with the same thoughts.

Kim Pil-sung smiled.

The moment I saw that smile, I smiled too.

This friend.

He really wanted to fight me once.

So, this must be the true desire he had been suppressing.

After all, defeats in childhood leave a lasting mark.

While the one who defeated him soared and became half-legendary, the sense of defeat only deepened.

But he never seemed to have lost faith in his skills.

As evidenced by the characters mixed into the blade of the dao.

Strongest (최강)

Kim Pil-sung suddenly took a step back.

"What, what...?"

"What?"

"Why is there a toilet there?"

"Why? Are you complaining?"

"By the way, you've really well-furnished this bunker."

Kim Pil-sung entered my territory, lifting the grenade net with his hand.

His gaze fell on the two Claymore mines that crossed.

"Just now, Sergeant Kwon suggested pushing the shields, but if we had, we would have been wiped out."

He nodded, acknowledging it.

"Indeed, the top student."

Almost simultaneously, we wiped the smiles from our faces.

Kim Pil-sung picked up the dao inscribed with "Strongest."

I also picked up my axes.

"Senior? Senior?"

The radio crackled.

Kim Pil-sung immediately recognized the voice.

He said nothing.

Instead, he charged at me with the dao.

His speed was like a leopard, and his momentum like Mount Tai.

Clang!

The two axes and the dao clashed in mid-air.

Through the clashing weapons, Kim Pil-sung's eyes glared at me.

After a moment of struggle, he nimbly stepped back and launched another fierce attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three exchanges of attacks and defenses followed in an instant, each time sparks flew.

"Ah."

U Min-hee's voice came from the radio.

"Senior seems busy right now?"

A cheerful whistling followed.

A bright, cheerful tune.

In an instant, the bunker was enveloped in a strange atmosphere.

Amid the gloomy yet cheerful and slightly deranged humming, the two hunters began to display the deadly dance they had honed their entire lives.

Kim Pil-sung took the upper hand first.

Clang!

One of my axes was caught by his dao and flew in a parabolic arc.

Kim Pil-sung immediately thrust the dao at my left side, which was now defenseless.

I added a bit of flair.

Stepping as if to dodge to the left, I quickly retreated when he twisted the dao to pursue me.

The sharp blade of the dao narrowly grazed my neck.

Beyond it, I saw the regretful yet fierce look in Kim Pil-sung's eyes.

The moment the attack ended, I casually threw the axe I was holding with a flick of my wrist.

Thud!

The axe embedded itself in his knee.

A shallow wound, but in a critical spot.

"Ugh!"

He spun around, recovered the axe he had lost earlier, and charged again.

Like an injured tiger, Kim Pil-sung fiercely swung the dao, but the more skilled a swordsman, the more their power comes from their lower body.

Thud!

The axe buried itself in his elbow, bending his joint in the wrong direction.

"Ugh!"

Clang!

The dao fell.

I glanced at my wristwatch out of habit.

30.7 seconds.

The time it took to disarm him.

His skills had definitely improved.

But his dirty temper hadn't changed at all.

"Park Gyu!"

Kim Pil-sung threw off his shirt, revealing the bombs hidden inside.

His hand reached for the detonator, but—

Snap!

My axe struck his head first.

His hand, deprived of orders from the nervous system, flailed but soon fell to the cold floor with his body.

Thud

Another hunter fell.

The whistling from the radio stopped.

"Who won?"

With a hint of annoyance, I replied to U Min-hee's question.

"Sorry. I survived again."

I pulled the axe out of Kim Pil-sung's head, wiping the blood and brain matter on his clothes, and sighed.

"I was cheering for you, senior?"

"By the way, can't you spare him?"

"If you have bait, use it."

U Min-hee mimicked my voice.

Her tone was exactly like the stern and merciless one I used to have in China.

She laughed and said,

"Isn't it the way you taught me, throwing Chinese meat shields?"

"..."

"Hide for a moment. Don't move. A helicopter will come soon, and they'll be ordered to kill everything that moves."

The sound of artillery fire came from a distance.

They must be bombing.

Probably the National Assembly faction's fighters are destroying the Legion faction's artillery.

Using the settlers as bait to identify the enemy's strength and major threats, then silencing them with the main force.

A good strategy.

Soon, helicopters appeared from the west.

They tore, smashed, and burned everything that moved, just as U Min-hee said.

After the helicopters left, I came out of the bunker and checked the surroundings.

"..."

Everything was destroyed.

There were probably no survivors.

Sitting astride the blackened bunker, I put a cigarette I had taken from a dead body in my mouth and lit it.

"Phew..."

What a long day is coming to an end.

I glanced south.

A long, white, innocent contrail stretched southward.

*

None of the Legion faction members sent to the airport survived, except for Ji Young-hee and the technician who left the airfield the previous day.

The combat helicopters not only destroyed the ones in my territory but also tracked and turned the fleeing vehicles into fireballs.

After everything was settled, they collected the nuclear warheads and calmly left north.

I also searched the area to see if any survivors were hiding, but found nothing new except for a body that had fallen off a cliff.

"Shouldn't you have called me?"

Defender said with a disappointed look.

"I didn't think it was necessary to call you."

I didn't use the Defender summoning card.

Still, I called Defender.

I couldn't handle all the bodies alone, especially in the season when they start to rot.

Defender showed dissatisfaction at not being called but soon helped me collect the bodies silently and efficiently.

Indeed, as they say, those who have eaten meat know how to eat it. Defender's body collection skills were top-notch.

He knew how to grab and transport the bodies for convenience and how to clean and dispose of the remains of bodies in poor condition.

Thanks to him, I could clean up my surroundings more easily.

Thud

The last body, Kim Pil-sung's, was loaded onto the truck.

"Call me if you think it's dangerous next time."

"This time, it was on a war scale. It's not a simple matter that you alone can change."

"I understand the situation, but it's a bit annoying, isn't it?"

"Sorry. This is my usual way of speaking."

"You must not have been popular, huh?"

"I won't deny it."

Defender waved.

I thanked him with a few gifts.

The beef and fuel given by Ji Young-hee.

"Thank you."

I bowed to him.

Sincerely.

"Really, thank you. I won't forget this favor."

How many people in this terrible world would clean up bodies for me?

"Call me next time."

Defender accepted the gifts and got on his bicycle.

"Sure. Call me if you're in danger."

That day, our bulletin board was abuzz with various speculations and rumors about the roar of planes and the sound of artillery that had been heard all day.

At the center of it was our journalist.

gijayangban: (with photo) Intense battle between the Legion and National Assembly factions at the US base?!

The journalist's post included photos of the battle scene, likely taken from a combat helicopter.

The photos were filled with burned trucks and debris, a combat helicopter crashed into a paddy field, a fighter