“WE CANNOT FALL BACK! WE MUST PROTECT LOWN PEAK!”
“We will protect this place! But you must retreat, Your Majesty!”
“STOP! I WILL FIGHT! I AM THE EMPEROR! I WILL FIGHT WITH ALL OF YOU, HERE!”
Joonbum shouted as the monster quickly approached. Its giant body slammed into the wall and an enormous tremor jolted everyone on the wall.
‘The wall is going down!’ Joonbum thought. The monster was wounded, but it did not stop. As its two giant arms began pounding on the wall, it began to crumble.
“It’s falling!”
A part of the wall came crashing down like a sand castle, and the soldiers that were on top of it fell.
“AARGH! I don’t want to die!”
People shouted in pain as middle to top-grade potions were used to save them from dying.
“I-I’m alive!”
“My arm is back!”
“It’s a top-grade potion. However, you are discharged from service.”
“What! I can still serve, sir!”
A soldier shouted to the medic as he recovered immediately with the potion.
“NO! No potion can bring you back from fatal wounds anymore! All soldiers who cannot be healed by potions are automatically discharged!”
“B-but…!”
“You have served the empire once. You are honorably discharged.”
Similar incidents happened on all sides.
“It’s moving again! RUN!”
“Fire the poison ballista!”
A steel stake over six feet long, coated with special poison on the tip, was fired at the monster.
“WUGGGG!”
The monster stopped smashing the wall as the stake penetrated it.
‘It’s powerful.’ Joonbum frowned. This monster was stronger than any other he had faced.
‘Retreat…’
He then turned to face the sky. But the others, such as Jinpok, Doral, and all the soldiers turned towards the unusual sound in the sky.
“W-what’s that?”
“Monster?!”
“What is that?!”
Everyone was shocked as a never-before-seen thing approached from the sky, making weird sounds. Some even readied their bows to fire at it.
“A chopper?! They even brought a helicopter here?”
“Huh? Isn’t that a Cobra?”
Joonbum mumbled in disbelief and Jinpok responded in amazement. Doral realized what it was and narrowed his eyes.
“That’s a helicopter, right?”
He was familiar with that as he had studied a lot about Earth before.
The helicopter then fired two missiles at the monster.
“WHAT?!”
Joonbum and Jinpok were shocked. The power of the explosion and shockwave from the missiles were more than what they expected. The shockwave even destroyed part of the wall as blood began to stream down the monster’s head.
“Whoa, it’s amazing. It just destroyed the head!”
“So, is that a weapon from Earth? It’s different than watching it in the movies.”
Jinpok nodded to Doral’s question. Joonbum was also astonished.
“Yeah, it’s my first time seeing a military helicopter.”
-Khalodian Empire! We are reinforcements that are here to help!
“WHOAA!”
“They are here to help!”
Soldiers shouted excitedly as the monsters began fleeing. The helicopters turned and chased the monsters as they fled.
“Oh? Maybe they’ve fought against those choppers before.”
Jinpok was amused as he saw the monsters frantically running away from the helicopters.
“It’s over.”
The fight was over, but there was a lot to do.
As people tended to the wounded and repaired the walls, the helicopters slowly landed.
“Wow, one of these should be enough to unite the entire world,” Jinpok commented and Doral nodded. The helicopter in front of them was that powerful. The door to the helicopter opened and a man who seemed to be in his mid-fifties appeared from within.
Jinpok gritted his teeth, but Joonbum smiled. It was a face he had longed to see for a long time.
“STOP!”
The Ainos Guards stopped the man. He stopped and raised both hands, but he was looking beyond the guards.
Park Taesoo was much older than how Joonbum remembered him, but so was Joonbum.
“Back off,” Joonbum ordered and the guards backed away from Taesoo. Joonbum slowly walked up to Taesoo and spoke.
“Taesoo, it’s been a long time.”
“This… this really… wow.”
Taesoo was speechless by what he just experienced. It was Jinpok who broke the silence.
“Can’t you see me?”
Taesoo flinched as the giant man approached him. However, his expression was that of confusion as he looked closely at Jinpok.
“W-who are you?”
Jinpok smiled and shook his head. “Hah, I can’t even be angry if he can’t remember me.”
Taesoo didn’t seem to remember Jinpok at all.
“He’s Jinpok.”
“Jinpok?”
Taesoo frowned at that name, but he still didn’t seem to remember.
“Remember the one that I asked you to take care of? It’s him.”
“Take care? Who are you… wait. WHAT?!”
Taesoo was shocked and turned to Jinpok again.
“B-but, that man was much younger and…”
“Hah.”
Jinpok frowned as Joonbum smiled.
“It seems that time runs differently through the gates. He arrived in this land years earlier than me.”
“What?”
Taesoo was shocked, but Joonbum just continued smiling.
“It’s been 10 years since I arrived. How long has it been for you?”
Taesoo then came back to his senses and replied calmly.
“It’s been 13 years… oh.”
He moaned and glanced over at Jinpok again.
“We’ll talk elsewhere.”
Joonbum then moved.
End of Chapter
