Attacking Japan

Karma.

Something that is neither material nor immaterial, which has no substance, cannot be observed, and can barely be perceived only by transcendent beings or special existences.

Though not an exact analogy, if one had to compare it to something, karma is like light.

Just as everyone knows about the existence and concept of light but observing the photons that make up light is a completely different matter, while people may know karma exists, observing it through ordinary means is impossible.

‘If these light clusters are really karma, couldn’t I modify the Sun-Moon Ritual?’

The Sun-Moon Ritual can never succeed except at the moment when celestial cycles align.

But if karma could be observed, even if the ritual fails, there would still be something to gain.

One could learn the principles of handling karma by observing how the Sun-Moon Ritual gathers the essence of sun, moon and stars, and how it converts the gathered essence into divinity.

‘And if I understand the principles, I can use and apply them.’

Perhaps instead of using the essence of sun, moon and stars, other karma could be used to perform the Sun-Moon Ritual.

Though it’s just a hypothesis, it’s not entirely impossible.

No, rather the chances of success seem quite high.

Eye of Truth that can see karma, Sun-Moon Ritual that will teach the principles of handling karma, wisdom approaching 3000, knowledge and inspiration gained from the Outer God’s thoughts – combining all these gave him a strong premonition of good results.

“Looks like I’ll be busy for a while.”

Yuseong immediately returned to Dragonia using the power of the crest.

A faint smile played on Yuseong’s face as he disappeared.

* * *

After monsters appeared, the world was divided in two.

One side consisted of countries like Korea, China, Japan, India, and America that successfully blocked monster attacks.

These countries succeeded in blocking monsters by leveraging advantages like excessive military power relative to their area, geographically isolated terrain, population, cutting-edge equipment, etc., and except for a few issues, weren’t much different from before monsters appeared.

The other side was naturally countries that failed to block monster attacks.

These countries failed to block monster attacks and as a result, their governments collapsed, nations were destroyed, and countless people died.

Monsters swarmed everywhere from cities to mountains, rivers, plains, and even underground.

Of course, not all humans died.

Some hid in small groups in places so secretive even monsters couldn’t find them, or formed communities living in villages or deep in the mountains.

Among these, one village in Jalisco State, Mexico was somewhat special.

“Fascinating.”

“What is?”

“That so many people are alive here.”

Lucifer, an Asian youth in a black suit, looked around with a fascinated expression.

Unlike East Asia overflowing with people, Mexico had so few people you could count them on your fingers.

The largest group he’d seen on the way here barely numbered thirty people.

But this place was different.

Just those visible numbered in the thousands, and his senses picked up at least twice that many people.

Changwei beside Lucifer answered calmly.

“Of course there are many survivors in a city where a hero lives.”

“Carlos? Hadn’t he stopped his activities?”

Just as there were heroes like Bruce, Kasim, and Kang Changseok working hard to save Earth, there were also heroes who weren’t.

Carlos, Mexico’s hero and Dark King, was a prime example.

Though he was praised as a national hero despite being a cartel boss thanks to his decent activities when monsters first appeared, at some point he completely stopped his activities, and not long after Mexico was destroyed.

“He stopped his activities, but he’s not dead, I think? Though fighting monsters daily is bothersome, he probably periodically cleans up around his home at least.”

“I see.”

Convinced, Lucifer started following Changwei.

People’s gazes focused on the two well-dressed Asians who suddenly appeared.

They had been living in poverty for a long time and held guns in their hands.

Though gunfire could have erupted at any moment, they ultimately couldn’t pull their triggers.

Instincts honed by surviving in this dying world warned them not to mess with these two Asians.

Though some people continued following, they finally gave up and retreated when approaching the mansion at the top of the village.

Bang!

The moment Changwei and Lucifer approached the mansion, a bullet flew without warning.

Of course, the bullet didn’t even get close to piercing their bodies, instead getting deflected.

“Tell your master Nirvana has come.”

“I don’t know which chink bastards you are, but do you know where this is…”

Crunch!

Changwei stared at the man pointing the gun.

That was all.

The previously arrogant man trembled before spewing blood from his mouth and dying.

“I’ll say it once more. Tell your master Nirvana has come.”

After a moment of silence, one of the guards whispered something into a radio.

And after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the closed iron gate opened.

“Please follow me.”

The mansion’s walls and floors were made of gold, with countless statues and paintings densely displayed on the walls and spaces.

The very epitome of luxury.

However, contrary to this, the mansion’s atmosphere was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Passing through the central hall to reach the deepest room, the guard bowed and withdrew.

“…Come in.”

A hoarse voice as if full of phlegm.

Changwei opened the door without hesitation

The first thing visible upon opening the door was smoke so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead.

Lucifer, who recognized the smoke’s identity by its smell, gave a sardonic smile.

“Drugs, how interesting.”

“…What, you didn’t come alone?”

Strong winds arose, making the smoke filling the room start flowing outside.

A man lay on a bed in the middle of the room as the smoke cleared.

His appearance was wretched.

His hair and skin were extremely dry, his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles underneath.

Most striking were the drugs.

Colorful pills and powders by his headboard.

Unknown liquid-filled IV bags in both arms, thin rolled cigarette-style drugs between his fingers, and water pipe hoses containing drug components as well.

“Heroin, fentanyl, the cigarettes seem to be fairy dust, and judging by the color, the IV fluid looks like deep sea whale extract. Don’t you value your life? You could die like that.”

“Mind your own business. This absurdly tough body won’t feel anything unless I pour in this much.”

The man, Carlos, pulled out a bottle filled with rainbow-colored liquid from thin air and poured its contents into his mouth.

Naturally, that liquid was also a powerful drug.

“So what brings the great Chinese hero to such a humble place? About not being properly active? No, if it was about that, Bruce or Kasim would have come. The European undead incident is too late to bring up now, but who’s that Asian beside you? Could it be that guy who became a user instead of Kim Myung-hun? Name was Han… what was it? Ah, want to enjoy something while you’re here? This is quite a rare item…”

Carlos, heavily intoxicated by drugs, rambled with unfocused eyes.

Watching this, Lucifer muttered in a small voice.

“Do we really need this guy’s help?”

“You’re the one who said we need to divert people’s attention elsewhere.”

For Lucifer to become a transcendent being again, various preparations and rituals are needed.

The problem was that no matter how thoroughly the Chinese government controlled information and censorship, given the scale of the ritual, they couldn’t help but be discovered doing something.

Being discovered was inevitable, but they needed to delay that timing as much as possible.

To divert the attention of users and governments, they needed to cause a major incident, and in the current world, only users were capable of that.

“True, I did say that, but looking at this guy, he doesn’t seem capable at all.”

A severe drug addict focused only on inhaling smoke, ignoring them talking about him.

He really doesn’t seem helpful at all.

“Though he’s like this now, he was once quite fearsome. If not for that incident, he might have been not just Three Weak but Three Intermediates, maybe even Three Strong?”

“Three Strong?”

Lucifer, who had heard about users from Changwei, lit up.

“What exactly was that incident?”

“Nothing special. He just got too immersed in roleplaying.”

“Roleplaying?”

At that moment, terrifying killing intent burst from Carlos.

However, Changwei continued speaking calmly without the slightest intimidation.

“It was a quest about helping elves win a war, wasn’t it? How ridiculous. Who would have thought Mexico’s worst drug lord would fall for an isekai elf queen. You brought rifles, machine guns, tanks, planes trying to help her somehow, then later missiles and biochemical weapons, and finally even asked me to get nuclear weapons.”

“Did you come to mock me?”

“No, I came with a proposal. The elf queen. Want to cure her?”

Carlos stared at Changwei with blank eyes before muttering in a small voice.

“…She can’t be cured.”

“What if she could be?”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Swoosh!

Pulling the needles from his arms, Carlos threw a bag of drugs at Changwei.

“I tried every method to cure her! Magic pills! Divine arts! Nanomachines! Angel’s blessing! I even used elixirs but there was no improvement at all, and you’re saying you can cure her?!”

“To be precise, not me but my friend here will do the curing.”

“Ha! A novice who hasn’t even been a user for a year can cure what other users failed to?”

“You seem to misunderstand something. I’m not a user.”

Lucifer revealed part of his true form that he had been hiding.

A pure white halo above his head, six pairs of wings on his back, holy radiance gathering on his whole body.

“I am the brightest star, Lucifer.”

Carlos’s eyes shook violently before the massive divine power.

Not missing this, Changwei spoke with a subtle smile.

“Purifying and restoring a high elf who fell and became a dark elf is nearly impossible. But what if an archangel directly exerts their power?”

“……”

After a long silence, Carlos pulled out a new cigarette from thin air and put it in his mouth.

However, what he took out this time wasn’t drugs.

A refreshing coolness and subtle medicinal fragrance touching the nose.

With each inhale of smoke, luster returned to his dry skin and hair, and his clouded eyes began growing clear.

And when the cigarette disappeared, a completely different person stood there.

“What’s the proposal?”

“Nothing much, so don’t be so tense.”

“Just tell me what this supposedly minor proposal is.”

“I’d like you to attack Japan.”

The corner of Carlos’s mouth lifted slightly.

“…Really is nothing much.”