Chapter 122: Cyber Joseon Part 10

Amon organized the information he had gathered.

One, the crown prince was currently participating in the Hunt Legion.

Two, the youngest prince had joined forces with the Sword Guild.

Three, Sunhwa had followed Amon out of concern for her younger brother.

And four.

“Do they think this is some kind of hunting ground? These humans need to get the hell out of here… No, I mean, I’d prefer it if they left.”

Every single one of them was shockingly useless.

From now on, they wouldn’t be facing humans but ghosts.

What was needed here wasn’t overwhelming firepower but exorcism knowledge accumulated over thousands of years.

Because of that, Amon found all the humans gathered at Geumgang to be utterly unsatisfactory.

But what could he do?

The world didn’t always operate rationally.

If this were the Vatican, he would have gone on a rampage to establish order, but in Joseon, Amon’s influence was limited.

So he had no choice but to suppress his frustration.

‘Just don’t get in my way.’

Whether they were here to boost the prince’s military achievements, impress a love interest, or even just to gather material for SNS posts—Amon didn’t care.

All he hoped was that they wouldn’t end up trolling the mission.

‘The next week is going to be a nightmare…’

The mere thought of stopping an army of ghosts while dragging along these dead weights already made him sigh.

***

“They’re coming.”

The catastrophe they had been waiting for erupted suddenly.

With no warning, like an explosion, ghosts poured out from the peak of Geumgang.

They had gathered in such great numbers that even those untrained in ghost-seeing could now perceive them.

Feeling the chill creeping into his body, the squinting priest pulled on an extra coat and muttered, “It’s as if the gates of hell have opened.”

Amon nodded silently in agreement and activated his relic.

The Hunt Legion always lunged toward those who could see them, seeking to possess their bodies first.

Desperate to claim a host, the ghosts tripped over each other’s feet as they charged toward the humans.

“Hoo…”

Amon took a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly.

Throwing it immediately was an option, but the number of ghosts they had to face was overwhelming.

Unless it was an emergency, conserving his weapon was the wiser choice.

As he watched the swarm of ghosts rushing to possess him, he murmured under his breath, “The dead defy the natural order—”

BOOM!

“Huh?”

Before Amon could even finish his words, a deafening explosion echoed through Geumgang.

Even the ghosts that had been lunging at Amon as if to devour him froze in place.

All eyes turned to a single direction.

The source of the explosion—

The crown prince’s camp.

BOOM! BOOM!!

Another thunderous blast shook the air.

People finally realized that what they were hearing wasn’t just explosions—it was artillery fire.

The prince’s army was bombarding the ghosts with cannons.

“Fire!”

At the crown prince’s command, the army unleashed another barrage upon the ghosts.

The most shocking part?

The ghosts were actually fleeing in terror.

The sight was so beyond comprehension that the exorcists stood frozen, staring at the military force in disbelief.

“What is this…?”

Among them were the squinting priest, Sonia, and Cassie. Even Sunhwa, a Joseon native, was baffled by the army’s bizarre tactics.

“What… are they doing?”

Regaining his senses, the squinting priest turned to Amon for an explanation.

Unlike the others, Amon didn’t seem fazed.

It was as if he knew exactly what was happening.

And he did.

“Aah… This is a traditional Joseon exorcism technique.”

“What???”

“Just accept it and move on.”

Amon had no choice but to revise his opinion from a few hours ago.

The prince wasn’t here to rack up military achievements.

He wasn’t here to impress a woman.

Nor was he here to collect material for social media.

They had come here to exorcise ghosts.

‘Ghosts are weak against the yang energy of gunpowder.’

This was recorded in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

Not as a joke—this was written in the Annals of King Seongjong and the Diary of King Yeonsangun.

Of course, gunpowder couldn’t completely destroy ghosts, only drive them away.

But the army knew this well.

They had surrounded the ghosts.

Each time the soldiers fired, the overwhelming yang energy and deafening blasts forced the ghosts to retreat toward the center of the encirclement.

Their goal wasn’t to exterminate the ghosts—

It was to prevent them from escaping and possessing civilians.

At the same time, the artillery fire kept the ghosts from possessing the soldiers.

Amon silently acknowledged the prince’s brilliant strategy.

‘I can’t fall behind either.’

He leaped into the mass of ghosts.

Sonia and Cassie, finally snapping out of their stupor, hurried to follow him.

With a weary sigh, the squinting priest trailed after them.

“Haa… We are not an assault unit…”

Naturally, no one paid attention to his complaints.

The only one who hesitated was Sunhwa.

If she ran off with them, she wouldn’t be able to protect her younger brother.

‘I’m sorry.’

It was heartless, but a promise was a promise.

She remained where she was, choosing not to follow Amon’s group.

***

“Aaah! Mom!! Why did you do that?! Please don’t hit me!!!”

Thanks to the prince’s efforts, very few ghosts had managed to slip past into civilian areas.

However, the inner depths of Geumgang had turned into literal hell.

“A female! I need a female body!!”

“You inferior monkeys!”

Some exorcists and shamans, who had stepped up to protect people, were possessed.

Whenever that happened, their companions or even unfamiliar exorcists helped expel the ghosts from their bodies.

But the sheer number of ghosts was overwhelming.

Sometimes, the rescuers ended up getting possessed instead.

“Save me… Please, save me…!”

Some exorcists, unable to withstand the terror, crumbled in fear, falling to the ground.

It was a natural response, given that anyone who witnessed the march of ghosts was at risk of possession.

Some even resorted to scattering salt around themselves, hoping to survive alone.

He had come here of his own will, yet when danger loomed right before his eyes, he clung desperately to his life.

It was a pathetic sight.

However, no one blamed him.

It was disgraceful, but at the same time, deeply human.

A scene unfolded that could only be described as a battlefield.

And in that battlefield, Amon’s party was overwhelming.

“AAAHHHH!!”

As Amon roared his war cry and forged a path forward, Sonia bombarded the enemies with divine magic to cover him.

Meanwhile, Cassie swung her sacred spear, supporting Amon by his side.

While everyone else was busy filming Saving Private Ryan, they were shooting The Avengers.

And beneath their dazzling display of heroics, the squinty-eyed priest was off filming an entirely different movie.

“In the name of the Saint, I command you! Leave that place and enter this pig!”

The priest pointed at a wild boar that had been living peacefully in the mountains.

At his command, spirits burst out of the priests they had possessed and were forcibly crammed into the boar.

Then, loading the boar onto an all-terrain mountain bike, the priest rode up the mountain.

Finally, he exorcised the spirits completely by tossing the boar off a waterfall.

“Huff… huff…”

Unlike his comrades, who looked triumphant, the squinty-eyed priest looked utterly miserable.

Gasping for breath, he turned to Amon and shouted.

“Why does it feel like I’m the only one being treated so poorly, Amon?”

“Fighting.”

That was all the encouragement Amon could offer.

Amon, Cassie, and Sonia could exorcise spirits that were outside the human body, but they had no way of extracting spirits that had already possessed someone.

That meant that the only person who could save the priests here was the squinty-eyed priest.

“Wow, Dad, you’re amazing.”

Sonia whispered her support, though completely devoid of any emotion.

Yet, it seemed to be enough.

The priest got back on his feet and resumed helping the possessed priests.

Watching him work, Cassie couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Wow, they weren’t lying when they called him a world-renowned exorcist.”

Amon and Sonia nodded in agreement.

Though he wasn’t as flashy as the others in dealing with spirits, his sheer experience and expertise were undeniable.

He sprinkled salt at just the right places to guide the spirits’ movements, Covered himself with a sacred stole whenever he was in danger of being possessed,

And even used Eastern incense and beans when necessary.

Desperate, yet experienced.

There was no better way to describe the squinty-eyed priest.

“This looks like Hacksaw Ridge.”

Amon remarked as he watched the priest save the other clergy.

Then, shaking off the thought, he refocused on the battlefield and resumed fighting the spirits.

***

From there, they continued repelling the waves of enemies smoothly.

For a while, it seemed as though they could maintain this momentum without any major casualties.

But that was a mistake.

“Damn it! The Black Blades have betrayed us!”

No sooner had the wave ended than the warriors of the Black Blades, their faces obscured by deep black hoods, suddenly turned on them.

But their targets weren’t the exorcist priests.

They were attacking the soldiers who had been keeping the spirits contained.

“Draw your swords! Cut them down!”

At the field commander’s shout, the soldiers responded, clashing blades with the Black Blades.

Yet, as the battle unfolded, a dreadful realization dawned upon them.

“Cease fire! Rescind the kill order!”

The Black Blades were not attacking of their own will.

Their bodies reeked of rot, their eyes rolled back completely white.

Some foamed at the mouth, while others moved their limbs in ways no human should.

And most importantly, the exorcists and shamans confirmed it.

“They’re possessed. The Black Blades have been possessed!”

Even the squinty-eyed priest nodded in agreement.

“I can’t say for certain, but possession seems highly likely.”

Clicking his tongue, the Crown Prince gathered their testimonies and let out a sigh.

“Damn it. They’ve ruined everything.”

But even if they were a nuisance, they were still his people.

Instead of ordering their execution, the Crown Prince commanded their capture.

Hearing this, Cassie whispered to Sonia.

“Doesn’t this make him a great ruler?”

“Yeah, pretty rare in this world.”

But Amon didn’t share their sentiment.

“There’s a reason for it.”

“What reason?”

“If he kills the Black Blades outright, his faction will never be able to use mercenaries again.”

“Oh.”

The truth was, the Crown Prince wasn’t acting out of moral integrity.

It was all political calculation.

“If it had been civilians who were possessed instead,” Amon smirked coldly.

“He wouldn’t have hesitated to turn the cannons on them.”

Hearing Amon’s blunt assessment, the girls felt a wave of despair.

“That’s too cruel, Amon…”

“My faith in humanity…”

Amon let out a bitter chuckle as he drew his sword.

“I’ll handle the Black Blades. You guys keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Got it.”

And with that, Amon broke away from the battlefield and headed towards the Black Blades.

***

There, he found Sunhwa standing back-to-back with her precious younger brother, Sunwoo, both of them facing off against the Black Blades.

“Sunwoo ! Sunwoo!”

At Amon’s shout, Sunhwa snapped her head toward him.

Then, without warning, she yelled back.

“This isn’t possession!!”

“Huh?”

“It’s an AI infection! They’ve all been infected at once!”

Amon was stunned by her sudden declaration.

So, to erase his doubts, she provided undeniable proof.

“The nape implants!”

And in that instant, Amon understood everything.

Not a single Black Blade warrior had escaped possession.

Except for the siblings.

And both of them had already removed their implants.

The meaning was clear.

A mass AI infection.

And Amon knew of only one entity capable of such a feat.

“Super AI…!”

As the stench of corruption filled the air, Amon gritted his teeth.