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Yeon Wi’s eyes flashed.
Far away in the east, the sun was slowly beginning to rise. It had already been well over three shichen since Mo Yonggun had left.
Even so, Yeon Wi did not lower the senses he had opened to the extreme. Thanks to that, he was quite tired, but he was able to hear the sound of horse hooves ringing from far off.
PAAK!
Yeon Wi charged toward the place where the sound of hooves had come from at a frightening speed.
A short while later.
“Entire force, halt.”
The person who stopped his horse at the front was a young man with a neat appearance.
He looked young, but the intelligence and wisdom in his eyes revealed that his age was not as low as it appeared.
A martial artist clad in heavy armor and mounted on a famous steed under heaven. At his waist hung a military longsword, longer and broader than most swords of the Central Plains.
It was the appearance of Mo Yong-woo, Commander of the Demon-Sweeping Corps.
“You have come.”
Chwaruruk.
Mo Yong-woo dismounted and clasped his fist with discipline.
“I am Mo Yong-woo, Commander of the Demon-Sweeping Corps. I greet the Clan Lord of the Yeon Clan.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes flashed.
I felt it before, but he truly is an outstanding man.
His eyes, his presence, his speech, his conduct—every part of him felt close to perfect.
He contrasted far too much with the eldest. If Yeon Hojeong carried the beauty of the unconventional, then Mo Yong-woo was a man who lived while carrying the beauty of orthodoxy. If Yeon Hojeong was hot and dangerous like blazing fire, then Mo Yong-woo was dignified and stable like still water.
Two young men who had reached the peak of the younger generation despite possessing completely different temperaments.
That such a young man is the younger brother of Clan Lord Mo Yong... Truly, there is no knowing.
He could not understand how they could be so different despite sharing the same blood. Even looking at his own two sons, their temperaments were entirely different, but both of them fundamentally lived while carrying the value of “uprightness.”
In that sense, Mo Yonggun and Mo Yong-woo were so different that one could suspect whether they truly did share the same blood.
“You have gone through much hardship coming all the way here.”
“Not at all.”
“I heard the sound of the Demon-Sweeping Corps’ hooves from the encampment far away. I thought if you moved any farther, the enemy might hear you, so I came to find you first.”
“I see. I was also thinking of stopping around here.”
“Is that so.”
“However......”
Mo Yong-woo looked around.
“Where has Service Lord Mo Yong gone? I cannot sense his presence.”
If Mo Yonggun had heard the sound of horse hooves, he would have come to find them before Yeon Wi. It was only natural for Mo Yong-woo to find it strange when he was nowhere to be seen.
Yeon Wi spoke with a serious face.
“I have something to tell you separately regarding that.”
He relayed the operation he had discussed with Mo Yonggun to Mo Yong-woo.
Mo Yong-woo’s eyes wavered.
“......Is that truly possible?”
“To be honest, I cannot be certain. But Clan Lord Mo Yong said it was entirely possible. We are in a position where we must ask for something regrettable, but considered another way, Lord Yeo is also an enemy that must be repelled somehow. If so, I believe there is a possibility.”
“I see.”
“The problem is all of you.”
Yeon Wi asked in a somewhat worried voice.
“It is an operation I thought of on the spot...... Have you perhaps trained separately for tactics like this as well?”
It was a question he asked without much expectation.
Astonishingly, Mo Yong-woo nodded.
“Of course.”
“Hah! Truly?”
“Yes. The Demon-Sweeping Corps is different from the Evil-Smiting Corps. If the Evil-Smiting Corps is suited to special assault, then we of the Demon-Sweeping Corps excel in full-scale battle.”
“Then is that not even stranger? I could understand it if the Evil-Smiting Corps had trained in such things, but......”
“No. The Demon-Sweeping Corps faces the enemy head-on anytime and anywhere. We must push through with overwhelming power and combat strength, but at times, the enemy’s bizarre methods may cause our fighting strength to drop sharply.”
“Mm.”
“We have trained extensively in preparation for such situations. The two Service Lords need not worry too greatly.”
Yeon Wi nodded.
“If you are that confident, then very well. I will trust you.”
“Thank you.”
Mo Yong-woo gestured toward the Demon-Sweeping Corps with his hand.
“I will go and relay the operation for a moment.”
“Do so.”
After giving a short bow, Mo Yong-woo called over the squad leaders and relayed the operation.
Watching that sight from a distance, Yeon Wi smiled before he knew it.
He is a fine young man.
A short while later, the troops each led their horses and scattered here and there. They fed hay to the horses and rested comfortably in their own ways, but the eyes with which they looked around remained sharp.
Mo Yong-woo approached.
“I will take charge of this place. When Service Lord Mo Yong returns, perhaps we should meet again then?”
“Of course we should. We must also keep watch on the situation over there.”
“Yes, understood. Ah!”
“What is it?”
Mo Yong-woo asked as if curious.
“What happened on Commander Yeon’s side? Has there still been no contact?”
Yeon Wi shook his head.
“The battle likely ended several shichen ago.”
He did not put the result of that battle into words. Of course, he believed Yeon Hojeong, Tang Gwan, and Mookbi would have done well, but one never knew when it came to human affairs.
Seeing the trace of unease that had appeared on Yeon Wi’s face, Mo Yong-woo smiled and said,
“Please do not worry too much. If it is Commander Yeon, he will have done well enough. Moreover, Clan Lord Tang went with him, so they will soon send news of victory.”
“I hope so.”
“Even if they did not win, everyone will be safe. The Commander Yeon I saw is not the sort to cling to a battle he will lose, so he will surely act wisely.”
Yeon Wi smiled.
“It seems you know my son well.”
Mo Yong-woo smiled back.
“Of course I must know him well. I must know even a little more if I am to follow even at Commander Yeon’s heels, must I not?”
“What was that? Haha.”
At Mo Yong-woo’s words, Yeon Wi burst into laughter. He knew it was something said to soothe his heart, but even so, hearing those words seemed to lessen his worries considerably.
Time passed like that.
Mo Yonggun, who had said he would return within two days, arrived where the group was only after two and a half days had passed.
Dawn, past the hour of the Ox.
“I have returned.”
Yeon Wi said calmly,
“You are later than expected.”
“My apologies. I tried to contact you midway, but I was extremely busy.”
“Mm?”
“Let us gather first.”
Mo Yonggun called Mo Yong-woo.
“How is the Demon-Sweeping Corps?”
“There will be no problem no matter when we enter battle.”
“Good.”
Yeon Wi asked,
“So, what did Lord Yeo say he would do?”
Mo Yonggun smiled.
“It succeeded. Within one shichen from now, he will send the items here.”
“......That is fortunate.”
It was fortunate, but now was the time to truly grow tense. The battle would begin the moment those items arrived.
At that moment, Mo Yonggun said something meaningful.
“In any case, I think the fight will become easier.”
“What do you mean?”
“The people bringing those items will become our allies.”
“Mm?”
Mo Yonggun grinned.
Yeon Wi and Mo Yong-woo, who did not understand what he meant, could only tilt their heads.
*****
Two days earlier.
PABABABABAK!
Tang Gwan’s hidden-weapon techniques were terror itself.
It looked as though he was scattering them at random, yet every time he did, people died. Even excluding Seok Gyeong and Mu Seong, there was not a single person there who could be called weak even as empty flattery, and yet people kept dying every time.
Seok Gyeong ground his teeth.
“What kind of dogshit is this?!”
Poison and hidden weapons.
He had not let down his guard, but honestly, he had thought such studies would become utterly useless before the sacred flame.
It was a natural confidence. No poison art or hidden-weapon technique scattered across the Central Plains would be able to exert its full power before the Divine Flame Cult’s heat-yang arts.
But if the one using that poison and those hidden weapons was on Tang Gwan’s level, then the story changed.
If the elders of the Tang Clan had rushed him in a group, it might actually have been easier. But Tang Gwan was a supreme master who used poison arts the elders could not use, and handled hidden weapons the elders could not handle as naturally as breathing.
The threat of death spread by that single man was, astonishingly, completely blocking the advance of the Divine Flame soldiers. Of course, if they threw away their lives and charged, they could somehow break through the barrier, but that would be like killing dozens of hunting dogs just to catch one wolf.
No matter how important orders were, he could not do that.
That was why the battle had grown stagnant. They tried to find some way to attack, but they simply could not approach Tang Gwan.
In that case, there was only one way through.
JJEOOOOOEONG!
At last, Mu Seong vomited blood from the axe strike that had swept upward in a great arc from the lower line to the upper right.
Even a qi-art shield had limits. Mad Dragon’s weight was not something one could block merely by blocking it. The accumulated shock kept triggering internal injuries.
“HOOF.”
Yeon Hojeong’s face had also grown somewhat pale.
It was because he had fully opened the Yeon Clan Divine Core and dragged out all of the Four Spirit Qi to engage in battle.
No matter how much he had an internal core, if he drew out this much output, he was bound to suffer depletion of internal force. If he had not strengthened his cardiopulmonary capacity through extreme physical training, his breathing would have begun to falter by now as well.
PAAK!
Seok Gyeong, who had been watching Tang Gwan, suddenly charged at Yeon Hojeong.
JJEOOOEONG!
Yeon Hojeong vomited blood and retreated. He had blocked the palm force with Mad Dragon’s shaft, but the penetrating force driving in was shaking his insides.
WOOOOONG!
Black Tortoise Qi surged up and blocked the penetrating force of the Fire energy. But even though it blocked the penetrating force, it could not stop his five viscera and six bowels from being shaken.
At that instant, Tang Gwan’s eyes flashed.
WHOOM! BOOM!
Seok Gyeong stepped three or four paces back at exactly the right moment.
He knew that if he attacked Yeon Hojeong, Tang Gwan’s attack would surely follow. Because he had prepared for it, he could offset the shock by retreating three or four steps. If he had not, he would have been poisoned by the poison palm.
At that moment, something astonishing happened.
PAAAAK!
Mu Seong, who charged in while spraying blood, grabbed Yeon Hojeong by the collar and pushed him back just like that.
Seok Gyeong’s eyes widened.
“Mu Seong!”
“Uaaap!”
Mu Seong swung his fists like a madman.
BOOM! BOOM!
Along with explosive sounds, Yeon Hojeong’s body shook.
THUD! CRUNCH!
Yeon Hojeong also swung his arms and legs like a madman. Mu Seong’s face became a complete mess under his knee strikes and elbow attacks.
However, neither of them was attacking with full force. They were too close, and if they loaded power beyond a certain degree, both of them could lose their lives.
The two men seemed to catch their breath for a moment, then began swinging their fists madly at each other again.
THUD! BAM-BAM-BAM! PUHWAAAAK!
It was a dogfight that had broken out without warning. At the sight of Mu Seong, a side he had never once seen before, Seok Gyeong could not hide his confusion.
Mu Seong shouted,
“Fall back! We lost the first battle!”
Seok Gyeong’s eyes shook as if struck by an earthquake.
That one sentence was impossible to believe, and he did not want to believe it.
That was right. Even though the difference in fighting strength was this great, they had been unable to break through Yeon Hojeong and Tang Gwan.
It was because Yeon Hojeong’s martial arts were more ironclad than expected, and Tang Gwan’s poison and hidden weapons were terrifying beyond imagination. If it had been a one-on-one duel, it might actually have been easier, but in a “war” using terrain and geography, they had lost.
“Cough! I will hold these bastards here, so hurry and retreat to the entrance! First put distance between us and them, then reorganize......!”
It was then.
PAAK!
Yeon Hojeong struck away Mu Seong’s arm, seized him by the collar, and slammed him straight into the ground.
“Guh!”
It felt as if his entire back, which had been driven into the ground, would break apart.
Mu Seong instinctively kicked upward.
THUD!
Blood sprayed from Yeon Hojeong’s mouth. Before anyone had noticed, Yeon Hojeong’s face had also become as bloody as Mu Seong’s.
But Yeon Hojeong did not retreat.
Crack, crack!
“Grrrk!”
Yeon Hojeong strangled Mu Seong’s neck with Mad Dragon’s shaft, buried his head against Mu Seong’s back, and shouted,
“Mookbi!!”
At that instant, Seok Gyeong saw a streak of light flash from atop the distant cliff.
“No!”
BOOOOOM!
One long iron coin blew Mu Seong’s head away.
Seeing that sight, Yeon Hojeong grinned. With his face swollen all over, he was exulting in victory.
“You held back well all this time. From now on, you are joining the fight.”
PAAAAAK!
Mookbi soared up like a bird and nocked five iron coins to Red Lotus Bow.
Seok Gyeong shouted before he knew it.
“Retreat! Everyone, retreat!”
TITITITING!
