BRDM 84

chapter 84

Crackle.

『Luckily, it seems there are no enemies at the entrance. No mobs… everything’s been cleaned up.』

Through a separate channel, only Kim Min-jung’s voice reached Lee-hyun’s ears.

He didn’t stop her.

Though her tone sounded so casual, he knew she was more thorough than anyone in maintaining rear security.

『Our Lieutenant Yoon Baek-jo… hits harder than I expected, senior?』

『Come to think of it, wasn’t the person in charge of this operation in the White Night Unit Baek-jo?』

『Yes, exactly. A rookie, Yoon Baek-jo. Can you believe he’s the leader?』

『Maybe it’s proof of how much older we’ve gotten.』

『Must you hit me with the facts so sharply every time?』

Lee-hyun chuckled softly.

In fact, he was as surprised as Kim Min-jung.

All of Cheongroe’s members participating in this mission were the same.

‘No wonder the faces in the footage the General showed looked so familiar. The eyes were sharp, so I hesitated, but…’

Lieutenant Yoon Baek-jo had been the last rookie to join Cheongroe.

They had high expectations, as he graduated top of his class in history, but he got flustered easily.

Even during operations, seniors had to constantly cover for him, which often led to scoldings.

Still, he was persistent and mild-tempered—once he gained experience, he would be fine.

After Cheongroe disbanded, he remained in the military and became a senior officer in the newly formed White Night Unit.

And now, he was even the leader.

It seemed impossible in just four years, but he had clearly endured immense hardship.

He had become a ranked officer.

‘Awakened units usually prioritize skill and merit. Rank follows accordingly. That’s how I became a leader at a young age too.’

Time had changed a lot.

The rookie had grown into a formidable fighter.

• Actually… our leader spoke about you a lot, senior.

• Yes. We heard it so often that it stuck in our ears…

• He always said he wanted to be a leader like you. He encouraged us to consult him whenever we had concerns.

The soldiers’ evaluations were very favorable.

Most were about Lee-hyun, which was slightly embarrassing.

『But it feels good, right?』

『Well… yeah.』

『Listening to the juniors, it’s almost like they’re fanatics for you, senior.』

Lee-hyun scratched the bridge of his nose.

『Isn’t it nice to have someone believe in you so fervently? Ah… I hope one day I can be that person for someone, too.』

『You know Um-ju, right?』

『Senior, have you never been headshot? And it’s painful when hit by a sniper rifle. Want to experience it this time?』

『Sorry, that’s a bit…』

『If you mention Um-ju even once more, I won’t forgive you, senior.』

At that moment,

Thunk!

Lee-hyun’s steps abruptly stopped.

『Are you listening to me?』

Crackle.

The frequency switched to general broadcast.

『Attention, Cheongroe. All units, stop movement.』

The voice was cold and steady.

『There’s something here.』

『Alpha, stop movement. Check situational awareness.』

『Beta, confirmed. Begin surrounding search.』

『Gamma, standby for orders.』

Lee-hyun checked the radio while scanning the surroundings with a sharp gaze.

A fishy smell wafted to his nose.

The metallic scent of blood.

‘Above!’

He lifted his head.

Something was hanging from the skeletal, dry branches of a giant tree.

But the air was hazy with volcanic ash, making it difficult to discern its shape.

[Activating Du-eok-shi-ni’s Trust!]

Whoosh!

Lee-hyun kicked off the tree a few times and reached the top.

And then,

“Damn it!”

He cursed unconsciously.

Crackle.

『What’s wrong, senior?』

Lee-hyun’s face hardened as he held what he had found and landed on the ground.

From a distance, his teammates let out the same curses.

『F*cking bastards.』

『How could they do something like this…』

What Lee-hyun recovered was a corpse.

The body of a White Night Unit soldier, covered in pain.

A dagger had pierced his heart.

『…At first glance, it seems death was caused by the dagger to a vital spot, but actually, it’s due to massive blood loss or internal bleeding from damaged blood vessels. Both arms show binding marks behind the back.』

『Wait, senior, you mean…』

『They didn’t kill immediately. They tortured and slowly murdered him.』

『…!』

Through the radio, one could hear shallow gasps.

Crackle.

『It seems something has happened to the White Night Unit.』

Lee-hyun’s eyes sank deep.

『…』

『…』

『…』

While moving to the rendezvous point with the White Night Unit,

Lee-hyun discovered three more corpses.

And each corpse shared two traits:

One, all had died from massive blood loss or internal hemorrhage.

The other,

‘There were traces of frostbite or freezing.’

And the magical scent was familiar.

[<Snow Queen> shows extreme displeasure at using her power unhonorably.]
[<Snow Queen> insists her power should only be used to protect her subjects and vassals.]

The bitter cold effect.

Not as severe as the major curse that had tormented him, but still similar to skills he had seen in the <Ice Palace>.

‘Did Seo Chang-woo come? No. Too weak for that. He only had the Snow Queen’s relic… What happened?’

His teammates sensed something related to the Snow Queen and stayed silent.

‘Also… the closer we get to the forest, the weaker the firepower becomes. Cold wind is rising.’

That the firepower weakened near the crater meant a large event involving ice-type magic had occurred.

Moreover,

‘Despite this urgent situation, we couldn’t call for external help. Was there interference? Or some reason we couldn’t?’

[‘Relic: Geongoa’ rotates to accelerate.]

At the rendezvous site,

『Please re-confirm the location.』

Nothing was there.

No White Night Unit.

No encampments.

Crackle.

『This is the correct location, senior. The operations officer marked it.』

『Then… where did everyone go?』

Traces of fierce battles indicated a rushed conflict.

Crackle.

『After scanning the surroundings, it seems a battle occurred just hours ago. They evacuated northwest in haste.』

Beta team reported.

Lee-hyun spoke into the radio again.

Crackle.

『Alpha team, maintain position and focus on situational awareness. Beta and Gamma teams, search for survivors in the area.』

『Alpha, confirmed.』

『Beta, confirmed.』

He decided to first check for stranded survivors.

[Activating Relic: Hwa-An-Geum-Jeong to track traces related to <Snow Queen>.]

Flash!

Blue footprints and handprints appeared in his vision.

「Looks like they had to move urgently. The enemy poured in, maybe causing magical surges?」

[<Snow Queen> might be commanding her vassals, it explains.]

‘Vassals?’

Lee-hyun’s eyes glimmered.

The loyal knights and guards he had encountered in the <Ice Palace>.

The damage Cheongroe suffered then was immense.

[If the Snow Queen is using her relic…]

He paused when he faintly heard whimpering nearby.

“…Re…scue…”

“…!”

[Combat Sense (S) sharpens all senses!]

Flash!

He rushed toward the sound.

Not far away, he found a man leaning against a rock, gasping for air.

A familiar face.

Lieutenant Yoon Baek-jo.

“Baek-jo!”

“…Hah… dying… I… see… illusions… Why, Captain…”

His body half-frozen, succumbing to necrosis. Frozen blood pooled around him, skin pale.

Most of his lower body was completely ‘destroyed’.

Organs were torn, visible through the frozen sections.

“Explain what happened. Why are you like this?”

Lee-hyun quickly drew the Flame-Heat Magic Rod from his inventory and placed it on Yoon’s body.

Du-eok-shi-ni’s power was too strong; it shattered the frost rather than gently thawing.

Now, the priority was slowly recovering him from frostbite.

[Hwa-An-Geum-Jeong checks the condition.]
[Severe injuries detected.]
[At risk of death due to excessive blood loss and internal bleeding.]

…

[Cursed Incantation: Slow Wounds, Instrument Absorption]

Lee-hyun poured all the large potions he had and used the cursed incantation, but

“What… the Captain is really hit…? Huh. My past life karma… wasn’t bad, I suppose… I can even meet someone I wanted to see…”

Strangely, all healing attempts failed.

Everything was repelled.

As if the healing itself was being refused.

Lee-hyun had seen this many times before.

‘…Exactly like four years ago.’

When infected by the Bitter Cold effect.

His expression stiffened.

[If the Snow Queen is using her relic to command vassals, the Bitter Cold can manifest in various forms.]
[The Snow Queen laments that the Bitter Cold isn’t originally a curse-type.]

‘Not a curse-type?’

Lee-hyun wanted to ask what that meant, but

“Captain… have you endured this much pain until now…? Incredible… How could you survive four years… Seo Chang-woo… this bastard…”

Yoon Baek-jo rasped.

“Don’t waste strength talking. Let’s move. It’s unsafe here…”

Lee-hyun tried to support him, but Yoon pressed his hand over Lee-hyun’s, shaking his head.

“No… I’m fine. I’m done for…”

“What are you saying—”

“As a Captain… you understand, right? In this state… I can’t go anywhere. I’d die along the way…”

Lee-hyun wanted to shout at him to stop talking nonsense, but Yoon forced out his words first.

“You… must avoid this place… It’s… dangerous. Filled with them… The White Night Unit… fell because of this.”

Yoon stared at empty space.

Though he spoke to Lee-hyun, his eyes were unfocused, frozen.

A familiar sight to Lee-hyun.

“Your eyes…”

“Everyone… became ice-spirits… Like the knights and guards of the Ice Palace four years ago… They killed us all. This place… is already an <Ice Palace>…”

“Baek-jo.”

“Captain.”

Yoon shouted bitterly.

“Seo Chang-woo… is back.”

“…!!”

“Still, there are surviving soldiers. If you save them… Captain, you can… no, please… avoid…”

Haa…

Yoon’s rambling ended with his last breath. His exhalation dissipated into the air.

Then, shshshsh-

His body was instantly covered in frost.

“….”

Lee-hyun pressed his lips tight, forced Yoon’s unfocused eyes closed, and slowly rose.

Yoon had warned him about Seo Chang-woo, yet he also begged for the surviving soldiers to be saved.

In the end, he had two hearts coexisting.

Concern for Lee-hyun.

Concern for his soldiers.

Thus,

Lee-hyun had only one course of action.

He had to eliminate Seo Chang-woo and rescue the imperiled White Night Unit.

Grip.

His hand clenched tightly around his axe.