New Humanity (1)
Yeomra, the imperial citadel of Jincheon, still had countless lights burning even as midnight approached.
Jin-gang had summoned Shirone.
"I'll come in."
When Shirone entered the emperor's audience chamber, Jin-gang sat alone, tilting a porcelain wine bottle.
"Come in."
The door closed and Shirone took a careful seat. Jin-gang lifted the bottle.
"Looks like you've been busy."
"Jincheon is vast. Thanks to your help, many matters have been handled quickly."
Jin-gang was Shirone's active ally, and that would be a great help at the Temple General Assembly.
Breaking the awkward silence, Shirone began to speak.
"As for the current situation at the Temple—"
"Don't get me wrong. That's not why I called you. If you make a promise, a man should keep his word and wait."
Curiosity aside, Jin-gang was not the sort to judge state affairs by personal feelings.
"The people of Jincheon are grateful. If not for you, the damage from the Demon Realm would have been far worse."
The Blue Dragon Mountain Range, which Bassago had opened to the Demon Realm, was now completely sealed off.
"I only did what was necessary. Fortunately, the range of the psychic emission wasn't that wide."
A radius of 300 kilometers wasn't small, but compared to Jincheon it was localized.
Jin-gang got to the point.
"Have you ever heard of the New Humans?"
"Yes. It's what the sentient mutated beings among the Blue Dragon Range call themselves. They're isolated for now, but once the hell is contained there should be a way."
"They've revolted."
Shirone narrowed his eyes.
"I only just received the intelligence. They broke out of the area the Imperial City had designated and annihilated the garrison. The range's north and east gates were breached, and the mutants are attacking nearby towns."
"That… is that even possible? The north gate is under Yu Cheong and the east gate under Hwang Iseong."
They'd dispatched the Oryongjang personally because the risk was that great.
"The scale of the rebellion seems enormous. I don't know how they increased their numbers. But for them to erupt like this so suddenly, it's one of two things: either it was planned a very long time ago… or an unexpected variable appeared."
"Either is possible. In any case, the New Humans are not the same as ordinary humans."
They were, indeed, different from humans.
"Put down the rebellion. If they expand, there's no guarantee they won't march on the Imperial City."
"Understood. I'll go in person."
For Shirone, Jincheon's imperial authority had to be maintained for the Temple to be able to fight.
It was urgent, so he packed at once and left the citadel.
Earth-Dragon Gaitan and White Dragon Asraiker were waiting.
"Shall we depart immediately?"
"Yes. We're heading to the Blue Dragon Range. Let's set a pace so we arrive by tomorrow morning."
Shirone launched into the sky, looked toward the mountain range, and spread his radiant wings.
'Biological mutation.'
A considerable time had passed since the Demon Realm opened; these beings would be nothing like what one imagined.
"Go."
Pushing with his radiant wings, Shirone surged forward, with the apostles close behind.
Dawn paled beyond the Blue Dragon Mountains.
"The sun's coming up."
What lay below was far worse than Shirone had expected.
A wall built by sheer labor had collapsed like teeth, and corpses blanketed the fields.
Asraiker's expression changed.
"Shall we enter immediately?"
If they had revolted under the banner of the New Humans, there must be ringleaders.
'Decapitate them quickly and decisively.'
It made sense, but seeing the scale of the devastation on the ground made Shirone change his mind.
"Let's assess the situation first. My gut's bad. There's something we don't know."
They flew to the north gate, where the damage was worst, and landed among the ruins.
"O Daeseong!"
Soldiers tearing through collapsed buildings for survivors bowed in unison.
"Where is the general?"
"He's resting in the medical ward. He sustained severe injuries, but we've been told his life isn't in danger."
"Severe injuries?"
Was the Oryongjang's great-sword tiger, Yu Cheong, the one who'd been struck?
"Gaitan, stay on site and gather information. From last night onward, thoroughly."
"Understood."
Asraiker couldn't be spared for that.
Led by a soldier into the medical ward, they found Yu Cheong struggling to sit up.
"General."
Bandages wrapped from his chest to his abdomen.
"Just lie down."
"No. For a warrior, an injury like this is—ugh!"
He tried to keep his pride, but a groan escaped.
'What a disgrace.'
Asraiker stood in the corner of the ward, head bowed and silent. Since Shirone had scolded her, she avoided meeting people's eyes whenever possible.
Still, Yu Cheong's heart belonged to her.
'She's truly beautiful. It pains me that I cannot be her lover.'
Even the ragged wound across his abdomen felt distant.
"Who did this to you?"
But the moment Shirone asked, the sense of strolling through a flowerbed flipped into nightmare.
So terrifying it even eclipsed his feelings for the White Dragon.
Yu Cheong trembled all over.
"It wasn't human…"
The image still haunted his eyes.
"No—its outward form was human. But the feeling was different. It was neither animal nor human nor plant nor insect. I can't explain it…"
"Was that creature the instigator of the rebellion?"
"I don't know. At some point they'd infiltrated the gate. Then they revealed themselves and began killing indiscriminately. When I came to, the soldiers had been torn apart like paper."
As Yu Cheong clenched his fists, blood slowly soaked the bandages.
"My sword didn't even graze them. Of course it didn't. It hadn't come close."
"Then how did you get this wound?"
"My eyes—changed."
Yu Cheong's face drained of color.
"Not just a feeling—the pupils turned completely black. That was it. When I came to… I was lying there with my belly split open, limbs spread like some dissected frog."
- Aaaaaaaah!
His own scream tore free from the veil of memory; Yu Cheong curled in on himself.
"Guhk! Damn it! Fuck!" As the truth he'd desperately tried to block rose to the surface, his mind began to fray.
"I don't know how I'm still alive! I didn't even feel pain then. Damn it, what did they do to me!? That thing, that thing—"
Understanding Shirone's cue, Asraiker patted Yu Cheong's back.
"It's all right. You did your best. Leave it to us and get some rest."
"Ah… ahh…"
Tears of relief streaming, Yu Cheong's heavy eyelids began to close.
Asraiker gently laid him down, but the blood seeping through the bandages required further treatment.
"New Humans, huh."
While the physician dressed the wound, Shirone sat in the infirmary corner deep in thought.
Asraiker approached.
"Messiah, ocular techniques affect the mind, but they can't produce physical effects."
That was the point Shirone was suspicious of.
"Yes. Simply looking at someone can't cut their belly open. If that were possible—"
A technique of the heart.
"Are they using quantum signaling?"
"I don't know. There were demons in Hell with mutant abilities. In the fourth-generation cataclysm they gained transcendent intelligence, but to use quantum signals you'd need at least seventh generation, I think."
Even if all humanity mutated for a thousand years, that evolution would be rare.
Gaitan returned.
"Messiah, there's a report."
"Yes. Speak."
"The New Humans' mutants moved east at dawn. According to the maps, the nearest city is Bukjeon, which has roughly 700,000 residents."
Shirone nodded.
"Then we'll go to Bukjeon. First confirm the New Humans, then establish a base."
"Yes. But—"
Gaitan added.
"The administration says Jincheon Emergency Bureau called in experts. They should have reached Bukjeon by now. I thought you should be informed first."
Shirone frowned.
"Experts? Even the Oryongjang's general couldn't handle them—what kind of experts?"
"Well…"
Gaitan's expression turned awkward.
"They're people you know, Messiah."
Residents of the Ivory Tower had arrived at Bukjeon's gate.
"Hahaha! It's been a while since I've been on the road. Nothing beats the thrill of being on the front lines."
A hulking man over two meters tall in a judge's robe waved a fan and called out.
He was Tanjura, a First-Rank Grand Judge of the Law Department.
"Getting some fresh air like this clears the mind. Don't you think so, Borbor?"
A thin woman, like a toothpick, dressed entirely in black walked beside him.
Her half-open mouth and unfocused eyes proved she genuinely seemed to have no thoughts at the moment.
Morai Borbor.
A Second-Rank resident of the Balance Department, nicknamed the Mollusk.
"Borbor?"
Borbor snapped her head around. Staring blankly at Tanjura's smiling face, she suddenly burst into laughter.
"Uahahaha! Uahahaha!"
"Heh heh heh! Isn't that right? Puhahahaha!"
The laughter cut off as sharply as it began, and Borbor turned her gaze forward as if nothing had happened.
'Creepy. Creepy.'
Her nickname came from a mental fluidity that transcended human limits.
Tyrant, murderer, siren—there was no mental flavor she couldn't match.
"Stop. Who are you?"
The gate guards halted them. Tanjura waved his fan and boomed.
"We're merchants buying local products. We came to look at Bukjeon's specialties. May we enter?"
"Merchants?"
The guards exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"Bukjeon is under security control. The prefect ordered no one admitted. Turn back or camp until the control is lifted."
"Hmm, security control, is it?"
While Tanjura clicked his tongue, Borbor's eyes suddenly focused.
'They've already been taken.'
It seemed an internal takeover had been attempted, just like at the north gate.
'To seize a specific area, destroying the command structure is most efficient. That they'd bother with such a thing despite unknown forces…'
It's because they can't tolerate inefficient methods.
'New Humans, huh.'
"Look, actually we—"
When Tanjura reached for an Ivory Tower token, Borbor raised a hand to stop him. She approached the guard and, with an exaggeratedly pitiful expression, whispered something in his ear.
"Hmm."
The guard's eyes wavered. He turned to his comrade and spoke, and they stood trembling for a long while.
"All right. We'll check them out."
The two guards escorted Borbor to a temporary sentry post beside the gate. As Tanjura shifted his feet, muffled giggles leaked out.
"What are those two doing?"
Then an enormous noise burst forth, turned into a howl, and quickly became wrenching sobs.
A moment later the two guards walked out with heads bowed, wiping tears.
"Let them in."
Wordlessly, the guards opened the gate as if stripped of personality, looking like they wouldn't even be themselves tomorrow.
Tanjura followed Borbor and asked, "What did you do to them? I'd believe it if they said they were going to kill themselves."
"Nothing."
Borbor's focus relaxed again.
"They simply realized what kind of people they were."