D.I.O

Chapter 213

‘It’s suspicious. Are the Noblesse setting up a chess board with a bigger play in mind, or are they restricted by some unknown constraint?’

To Yongno, the Noblesse’s behavior was far too passive. If their identity were still hidden, he’d understand their cautious approach, but they had revealed themselves as aliens to the whole world. Thus, they didn’t need to be so careful.

Even if they didn’t use their transcendent powers, with DIO, the Noblesse could control Earth both economically and politically.

‘Also, I don’t understand what objective or purpose the Legion and Grotesque have in mind with their attacks.’

Terrorism was a guerrilla tactic aimed at achieving a high degree of political and military effects, using small-scale forces to accomplish a specific goal.

Of course, there were terrorist groups that were created as a way to survive. Such groups could be found in the Middle East, for instance, due to the difficulty of making a living there. Yet, that was an exception rather than the rule. Terrorism was usually conducted as a means of propaganda or resistance.

However, the Legion and Grotesque had no apparent purpose. DIO’s service wouldn’t be terminated or stopped due to their trivial acts of terrorism, and it was unlikely that the Noblesse would halt DIO’s operation upon human request. After all, the Noblesse didn’t care about human life.

“I’m sorry for what happened. It seems the minister didn’t know about Mr. Yongno, as your identity has been kept confidential.”

With his eyes closed, Yongno recalled the image of the Korean president, who he had met a month ago.

In the past, after reconciling with Merlin, Yongno traveled around the world and manipulated many influential figures’ minds once he became convinced that DIO’s management was unaware of his ability to use mana in real life. He had made himself a major global figure and performed actions that bolstered his importance in the minds of those influential figures.

Even now, though he couldn’t run mental interference and otherwise manipulate people’s minds, the memories he previously instilled remained. However, unlike before, these influential figures were no longer entirely subservient to Yongno’s requests.

‘In other words, the range of things I can request is limited.’

Furthermore, the president and other high-ranking officials [remembered] that Yongno was their benefactor and had provided outstanding service for the Republic of Korea, but they tended to request more of him because of that rather than giving Yongno leeway or prestige.

As the saying went, today’s enemy might become tomorrow’s ally, so there was no guarantee that today’s benefactor would not become tomorrow’s enemy in the world of politics.

“We’ve arrived.”

As he felt the van stop, Yongno opened his eyes. For Yongno’s safety, Youngmin got out of the car first and opened Yongno’s door.

“By the way, what do they want today?”

“They’re probably going to whine about this and that again. It is likely that they will request that I become subservient to the country or support a particular political party. The members of the National Assembly are playing more tricks and political games these days; it’s become more of a headache dealing with them recently….”

Masters were originally as famous as celebrities, and once they gained political and practical power, even whole nations couldn’t easily approach them. The power that Masters could wield was one reason, but another was that, as the Masters’ existences became revealed, they started attracting public attention.

Since time immemorial, people have longed for the existence of superhumans - those who were able to exert absolute power. Heroes such as Superman and Batman were the manufactured manifestations of such desires. In one sense, DIO’s Masters fit this superhero image, as they were often seen as [superheroes who acquired power by training to the limit] rather than [idiots who just happened to gain strength].

Just then, a man in a suit who had been waiting on the side walked over to Yongno. The man bowed politely and gave a respectful ‘Welcome.’

“The President is waiting. Enjoy your dinner. We’ll be taking some pictures, so-”

“Who else will be joining us?”

“There is the First Lady, Shin Gil-Soo, and Rep. Han Myung-Jin.”

Yongno sighed inwardly after hearing the man’s calm explanation.

‘The ruling party and opposition leader will both be present. They sure know how to create an awkward and annoying atmosphere.’

In particular, Rep. Shin Gil-Soo, the representative of the ruling party, was someone who persistently irritated Yongno. She employed any means she had at her disposal to get a Master like him to support her party’s causes. Moreover, Rep. Shin Gil-Soo didn’t have a high opinion of Yongno as a person and a Master. With these factors, Yongno couldn’t help but be annoyed that he had to spend dinner with her.josei

Beep! Beep!

Just then, the smartphone in Yongno’s pocket started ringing. The smartphone was a satellite communication device he received from the director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

[Emergency! Emergency! Legion’s hordes are approaching from the West Sea! Their numbers are overwhelmingly greater than any force that has appeared before!]

“Where are they heading?”

[They’re rushing directly towards Seoul! At this rate, they’ll soon pass Incheon and Bucheon!]

The suited man’s expression became deeply contemplative and concerned after hearing the message, but Yongno remained unperturbed.

After several attacks, the Korean military’s response system became more structured and effective, and the Republic of Korea was one of the countries with a high ratio of Masters to the general population.

“I’ll have to go and see what’s going on.”

“But the dinner with the President….”

Yongno shrugged at the pale-faced suited man.

“Do you think I can sit around and have dinner when there’s a war unfolding? Soldiers might die. Furthermore, public opinion would turn for the worst if it became known that we were enjoying dinner at such a time. There’s no way the president is ignorant of this. He’ll likely move to his secure bunker and command the national forces; after all, he’s the commander-in-chief of the Korean military.”

Since Yongno was dreading the dinner, he got back into his car without any regret or hesitation and soon spoke to the driver.

“You know where to go, right?”

“… Yes. I’ll take us there now.”

The driver, dispatched from the NIS, smiled bitterly before stepping on the accelerator. The vehicle, carrying Yongno and Youngmin, wildly sped down the road.

***

On Yongyu Island, where Incheon International Airport was located, armed infantrymen and tanks began lining up and getting into formation. Dozens of warships were in the sea, and fighter jets were seen circling the sky.

Among the aircraft located at the airport, each flight-capable vessel was on the runway, waiting for its turn to take off and enter the battle zone. The citizens living nearby were also hurriedly evacuating from Yongyu Island.

It wasn’t just the military that was impacted by the existence of aliens and the dangers they posed. The general public was affected as well.

The number of casualties suffered under the attacks numbered in the hundreds of thousands in Korea alone. In the past, domestic catastrophes with hundreds or thousands of casualties would have been significant events that would later be listed in public textbooks. So, it was clear that Korean citizens couldn’t just push aside the Legion’s and Grotesque’s attacks as [something far away that has nothing to do with me].

Moreover, since the Legion and Grotesque targeted densely populated areas, the number of people moving from metropolitan areas to the countryside increased tremendously.

“This is your division commander! If the aliens show up, you can fire without any preauthorization! Do not let them pass the battle zone! Eagle, did you spot the enemy?”

[This is Eagle. The enemy is still not visible. They’re not even showing up on our radar. They should have already reached us by now… perhaps they’ve switched directions?]

“That can’t be. The information we have states that the enemy is still advancing towards us.”

The Noblesse had provided Korea with a wide range of shields to prevent space-based attacks and space infiltration, as well as items to check where enemy attacks were coming from. The only problem was that these devices were given as [rentals], but what was important right now was that they were being used and were providing critical information.

Since the broad-spectrum blocker prevented space penetration in a 500-kilometer radius from where it was installed, the Legion or Grotesque could only appear outside this area. As such, South Korea, which installed a blocker near Gapyeong, could cover the entire country except for parts of Hamgyeongbuk-Do with a single blocker. Even so, a broad-spectrum blocker couldn’t do anything against an enemy force that appeared outside the effective area and advanced inwards.

Therefore, a sensor that identified the location of an enemy force within a radius of 800 kilometers was needed. Thanks to a broad-area sensor located next to the blocker, Korea could identify enemy forces and defend itself before the enemy entered its territory.

‘Recently, the enemy forces have mainly appeared on the southern side near Jeju Island, but it seems they’re now retargeting our capital! Why don’t they just keep attacking China with their relatively poor defenses!’

A war against alien forces was a series of crises; nothing could be guaranteed.

Basically, regardless of whether it was Legion or Grotesque, the enemy alien forces possessed enough firepower that no military could properly handle such an attack. No matter whether a nation was thoroughly prepared or not, there were bound to be victims.

The division commander had entered the military academy with the goal of becoming a soldier and serving his country from a young age, but he never thought he’d be engaging in a life-or-death battle like this in Korea. If he had known, he would have thought twice about becoming a soldier. Anyway, while the division commander was fuming with resentment and regret, which was subtle enough to be heard in his tone of voice, a flat saucer-shaped flying object, not unlike a UFO, suddenly appeared in front of an airborne fighter jet. With some sort of stealth mode, the object had appeared right before the gathered forces without being caught on the radar.

[T-target spotted! Launch-]

Boom!

The fighter jet’s pilot was startled by the sudden appearance of the enemy and tried to fire the jet’s missiles, but a beam hit it, and the vessel exploded. There was a distinct difference in mobility between the two forces. Moreover, the fighter jet couldn’t respond properly due to the enemy’s abrupt appearance.

Whoosh!

At the same time, huge robots started appearing here and there. Once the enemy forces engaged in battle, their Stealth Mode no longer needed to be maintained and was released.

“Damn it! Hurry!”

“Why is the road so congested!”

Countless vehicles filled the road Yongno was traveling down. Although an evacuation order was issued, the air raid started just 30 minutes later, so there wasn’t enough time for the residents to escape the island.

Of course, they continued to hurriedly escape the area even now, but the problem was that the Legion was targeting the civilians, not the gathered soldiers.