Comments came pouring in about the national referendum.
-There are nations that were wiped out by the demihumans, so isn't it better to ally with the Ryuhan Empire now?
└We'd given up on reunifying with North Korea in the first place. And now they're saying they'll clean it out for us.
└Korea gets 70% of North Korea handed over without committing a single soldier. Isn't that the best possible outcome? Can Korea right now handle the spirit race in the south and the beastman race in the north at the same time?
└They say anomalies were detected on Jeju. Even with USFK stationed here, they're not much help against demihumans. And the spirit race can fly.
└Not all of them can fly. Still, over 10% supposedly can.
└Japan's in no position to help anyone right now either.
└China won't help either. If anything, they'll watch Korea fall and then annex the peninsula as Chinese territory.
-The Korean Peninsula is Korea's sovereign territory. We must never hand it to otherworlders.
└Can't we lease it to them instead?
└The Ryuhan Empire wants an outright cession.
└The nerve, honestly.
└But Korea's situation isn't exactly great either. We can't even use North Korea's current territory anyway.
└Once the spirit race invades the peninsula, the beastmen will come down from the north too.
└Only Korea gets sandwiched and screwed.
└Even so, ceding the western part of North Korea is a big loss.
└What loss? What benefit are we getting from North Korea right now? Or do we even have a plan to occupy North Korean territory? With the whole world in chaos, gobbling up even 70% of North Korea is a win.
└They say neither Korea's military nor its Hunters will be committed to reclaiming North Korean territory. Aren't these decent terms?
And so, while the referendum announcements and ads ran for a month, word came that a large-scale fleet had been assembled off Jeju.
The people of Korea were left trembling in fear.
The warships positioned off Jeju numbered in the thousands.
As footage of spirit-race forces packing Jeju's coastline was broadcast, a national state of emergency was declared.
With the referendum looming, the media reported the spirit race's movements en masse.
"Th-Thousands of warships alone......"
"They really mean to attack the peninsula, don't they?!"
"They say the Ryuhan Empire's army has plenty of forces on par with S2-rank Hunters!"
"We'd be better off just signing an alliance with the Ryuhan Empire——!"
The spirit race's movements dramatically swung the tide of the vote.
And so, as the voting began and the count got underway, the warships massed at Jeju finally moved.
"They're coming up north through the Yellow Sea!"
Meaning they were headed for the peninsula, not China.
The President hurriedly moved the military.
The navy and air force deployed, and missiles were even fired at the spirit-race fleet.
This was no time to wait for the enemy's attack.
To minimize their own losses, they had to blunt the enemy's assault in advance.
The spirit race didn't so much as flinch at the countless missiles raining from the sky.
"Raise the barrier!"
CRASH! Ka-ka-krash! Kaboom—!
Korea was not a nuclear power.
Which was why it had striven to possess firepower on par with nuclear weapons.
Enormous explosions bloomed over the spirit fleet one after another, but the fleet took almost no damage.
With USFK moving as well, Korea grew frantic.
Fwoom—! Fwoom-fwoom!
Korean naval warships raised barriers and fired their guns and torpedoes at the spirit-race fleet.
Then the air force dropped bombs and launched missiles at the fleet, pouring in every bit of firepower.
With USFK helicopters committed too, the situation grew dire.
KABOOM! Ka-ka-ka-krash!
Under the combined firepower of the Korean military and USFK, the barriers on the spirit-race warships were finally shattered.
Shhhing!
"Counterattack!"
The spirit race, which had held to defense, finally struck back.
The Korean warships and fighters activated their magic tools and wrapped themselves in barriers.
With most of the vessels shielded save for the gun barrels, they finally engaged the spirit-race fleet in all-out battle.
CRASH! Ka-ka-krash!
Struck by shells from the spirit fleet, a Korean warship rocked violently.
"Th-The spirit race is taking to the sky!"
The soldiers hurriedly turned their heavy machine guns on the enemies above.
As the military's Hunters joined in, unleashing spells of every kind, the spirit race wielded their spirit arts in return, raining attacks down on Korea's air force and navy.
And so the battle in the Yellow Sea was carried to the public through the media.
The anxiety only grew fiercer.
"C-Count the votes faster!"
With the war underway, the counting picked up speed.
This referendum wasn't about an alliance with the Ryuhan Empire per se.
It was to amend part of the constitution so that, while the Korean Peninsula remained Korea's sovereign territory, a portion could be ceded to the Ryuhan Empire.
Once the cession was approved, the alliance would be signed at once.
Even citizens who'd voted against watched the TV and social media with anxious faces.
The battle unfolded in the sea off Gunsan.
"D-Don't tell me they mean to land at Incheon and attack Seoul?"
The problem was that the forces stationed in Jeolla and Gyeongsang had begun advancing north as well.
The military and Association Hunters on the defensive line began waging war against the spirit race.
Fwoom! Fwoom-fwoom!
"Fuck! Just how many of them are coming?!"
"Keep firing!"
The soldiers pulled their triggers at the sky.
The damage was incomparable to any Raid.
The soldiers and Hunters stationed in Busan gripped their weapons with tense faces.
"T-Team Leader, wouldn't it just be better to ally with the Ryuhan Empire? I hear the Ryuhan army numbers over a million."
"Once the count's in, the President will make the call."
The count was proceeding rapidly.
The 1st Legion Commander, Harian, was watching the count broadcast on his smartphone too.
The army was already prepared for war.
Before the count began, they'd educated the newly summoned Homunculi, supplied Inner Cores to raise their mana, and grown them to lowest- to low-grade Expert in the dungeons.
They'd be capable of at least minimal combat.
"Are the vehicles ready?"
"Yes. The fifty buses GH Guild sent, a hundred buses secured from the cities, and 1,700 private cars — all can move the moment you give the order."
The problem was that some of the enemy could fly.
The only weapons that could respond immediately were the rifles secured from military bases.
Not rifles received from the Korean government.
Merely those secured from bases the spirit race had destroyed.
The spirit race had, for the most part, left the bases' weapons untouched.
If the Ryuhan army — with their reinforced physiques — used those rifles, they could at least mount some kind of counterattack.
"Right now, the 'yes' vote is holding in the 70% range. The count is 70% complete. If it holds, the alliance will be signed at once."
The alliance was all but certain.
Even so, the government had to wait until the result was final.
To avoid any second-guessing, it was worth waiting until the count reached 80%.
"Commander, they say Korea's southern defensive line has been breached."
"And Busan?"
"Busan isn't under attack. It seems they mean to push all the way to Seoul......"
"How's the war in the Yellow Sea going?"
"The Korean military and USFK are being pushed back. The spirit fleet is...... headed for Incheon."
The residents of the islands near Incheon had already evacuated to the mainland.
Incheon's residents, too, hurriedly began to flee.
Even among Seoul's citizens, some, trembling with anxiety, finally evacuated to Gangwon Province.
"Count the votes faster!"
"It's almost at 80% — just sign the alliance already!"
"They say the spirit race has already pushed into Chungcheong! And in the Yellow Sea we're getting pushed back——!"
A short while later, a report broke that an aircraft carrier had appeared off Jeju.
The spirit race on Jeju possessed technology beyond Earth's.
And as a vast nation ruling an entire dimension, of course they'd have aircraft carriers.
They overwhelmed the Korean military in warship numbers, too.
As all-out war with the spirit race erupted, the U.S. moved its forces stationed in Okinawa.
Japan balked at supporting Korea.
The moment the spirit race launched their all-out war, the demon race had begun expanding their territory.
The number of demons rampaging across Japan was estimated at over 500,000.
And they, too, began advancing on Tokyo all at once.
In the end, U.S. Forces Japan had no choice but to turn back for the Japanese mainland.
"Fuck, USFJ turned around for the Japanese mainland too!"
"And USFK is fighting the spirit race in Chungcheong——!"
On top of that, an anomaly appeared in North Korea, too.
"It seems the beastmen are massing near the border! And a large-scale fleet has gathered off the coast near Nampo, west of Pyongyang——!"
Korea had, quite literally, descended into chaos.
Even those who'd opposed the cession desperately hoped for the Ryuhan army's help.
When the count reached 80%, the 'yes' vote at last crossed the 80% mark.
A majority was secured.
The President hastily pushed the constitutional amendment through and decided to sign the alliance with the Ryuhan Empire.
At that, the U.S., China, and Russia voiced their displeasure.
Because the U.S., China, and Russia all coveted North Korean territory.
But China had already lost Manchuria to the beastmen.
Russia had lost the Primorye.
And even the U.S. lacked the room to occupy and govern North Korea.
So all they could do was signal a strong protest against Korea's constitutional amendment.
Of course, the Korean government couldn't accommodate their protests.
A crisis on which the nation's very survival hung had arrived.
Only once the nation was preserved could they entertain any protest.
As the amendment was pushed through at breakneck speed, the President hurriedly gave an address.
[......With this, we shall proceed at once with the alliance with the Ryuhan Empire.]
At last, they signed the alliance treaty with the Ryuhan envoy who had remained in the capital.
[We of the Ryuhan Empire strongly condemn any force that threatens our ally, the Republic of Korea, and shall enter the war.]
At last, the 1.8 million Ryuhan soldiers stationed in Jeolla and Gyeongsang began advancing north as one.
The spirit race that had broken through the southern line and were heading for Seoul now took damage from the Ryuhan army bearing down on them from behind.
And some of the Ryuhan forces piled into vehicles and hurried up to Incheon.
The capital's Hunters, too, gathered at Incheon to await the spirit race.
"Haah, I hear the beastmen are raising hell trying to come down from the north......"
Woo Seong-hyeon, master of Goguryeo Guild — a black-haired man in his forties — let out a small sigh.
"The Ryuhan Empire has committed some 1.8 million troops. In sheer numbers, they already overwhelm the spirit race. And the Ryuhan Empire's Legion, Division, and Brigade Commanders are all forces on par with S2-rank Hunters. The Legion Commanders especially have reached high-grade Sword Master and can loose slashes......"
Information on the Ryuhan army had been made public through the media the moment the alliance was signed.
"With this war...... Korea's economy is going to get absolutely wrecked."
"For now, I believe we should focus solely on protecting the nation."
"That's true enough."
Forget the economy — the very nation was in danger of vanishing.
Right now, Korea could receive support from no one.
The Ryuhan Empire was the only alternative.
Seong-hyeon prayed they would play a great part in defending the peninsula.