Black Flame Dragon Who Quells the Chaos (2)>
‘Damn it.’
How had I not seen this coming?
For the heretical factions, time was more precious than gold.
Before anyone had a justification to intervene, before stronger forces arrived, the best outcome they could hope for was to settle things quickly.
“Young Master Jin, what should we do? It’ll be a while before the Changgung Corps gets here.”
Had Namgung Seonhwa joining us made them even more eager to hurry?
The moment the Namgung Family got involved, the pressure on the heretical martial world would only increase.
“Everyone, prepare for battle.”
I said that, then stepped onto one of Yujang Sect’s buildings and leaped into the sky.
Using the World-Solitary Divine Movement, I sprang more than ten jang into the air. Yueyang’s streets came into view at a glance.
I sharpened my vision and looked toward the sound of the battle cries.
“Charge!”
“Kill them all!”
A crowd like a swarm of black ants filled every alley and rushed straight toward Yujang Sect.
Even a rough count put them well over a thousand.
Mukhyul Gang had never planned to let the night end before destroying Yujang Sect.
I landed again and addressed my companions and the Academy students.
“Disciples of Taeul Sect, you two young ladies, take the east. Academy students, go support the west.”
“What about you, Young Master Jin?”
“I’ll face them at the main gate.”
“What? What do you mean …?”
“We’re out of time. They intend to wipe out Yujang Sect tonight.”
“Don’t get hurt. If you happen to be in danger—”
I paused and met each of their eyes in turn.
“Come straight to where I am. Don’t delay.”
“Yes!”
Their eyes had begun to show resolve instead of anxiety.
“And you three—Geum, Eun, and Dong!”
I stopped the brothers as they were about to rush out and gave them a warning.
“Show them no mercy.”
“ …!”
I meant those words for everyone, not just the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers.
There was no room for mercy in this battle.
“Yes!”
“Senior Brother, be careful, too!”
After hearing their replies, I headed straight for the main gate.
The warriors of Yujang Sect had not only barred it firmly but piled large pieces of furniture in front of it.
…
The battle was about to begin, but no one spoke.
Everyone had their mouths tightly shut and stared only at the gate.
Then—
Thud.
A tremendous impact shook the gate, jolting everyone to their senses.
Thump.
Like ripples spreading across a still lake, fear appeared on the faces of Yujang Sect’s warriors.
Boom!
The firmly barred gate shook, and the wood began to splinter.
Boom, boom, boom.
The furniture piled in front of it began to slide, too.
Crash!
With a tremendous explosion, the gate shattered, and the furniture flew inward like a bombardment.
“Arrgh!”
“Get out of the way!”
I spread my internal energy wide and used the Lotus Flower technique of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art to push the sharp wooden splinters to one side.
“It’s open!”
“Attack!”
Crack!
Palm force rained down in all directions, smashing the gate and furniture. Hundreds of men swept away the wooden wreckage without mercy and began pouring inside.
“Loose!”
Yujang Sect’s warriors fired arrows in unison, attacking the heretical fighters as they entered through the gate.
“You cowardly bastards!”
“Hey! They’re shooting arrows! Stop pushing!”
“Stop pushing!”
The tangled mass of Mukhyul Gang fighters began to fall one by one beneath the arrows.
But the heretical fighters didn’t just stand there. Using their fallen comrades as shields, they began throwing hidden weapons in retaliation. Their numbers were no match for the arrows fired by Yujang Sect’s warriors.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
“Gah!”
“Look out …!”
“Hidden weapons!”
Blindly thrown blades and hidden weapons flew at Yujang Sect’s warriors.
While they faltered, Mukhyul Gang’s fighters, having smashed the gate, began pouring into the sect grounds.
“Form the sword formation!”
Thirty Yujang Sect warriors formed a sword formation.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Their sharp blades blocked the enemy’s advance like a dam holding back a river. But Mukhyul Gang’s overwhelming numbers were enough to swallow even the formation whole.
“Arrgh!”
“Gah!”
“Help me!”
All around us, warriors from both Mukhyul Gang and Yujang Sect fell, bleeding.
For every Yujang Sect warrior who fell, their line was pushed back two steps. For every Mukhyul Gang fighter who fell, their side advanced four steps.
That wasn’t all.
“Damn it! What’s this junk?”
“You bastards, putting up something so pathetic …!”
Mukhyul Gang’s warriors climbed over the walls with pottery shards embedded in them and began striking the walls in frustration.
Their fist and palm force, imbued with internal energy, was enough to break the earthen walls.
Crash! Rumble!
The earthen walls and roof tiles collapsed all at once, creating another passage. Mukhyul Gang’s fighters began pouring through it, too.
I drew upon the Taeul True Scripture with all my strength.
In a battle this lopsided, the enemy wouldn’t retreat, no matter how much blood they shed.
A clear numerical advantage dulled their fear and filled them with the blind conviction that they were bound to win.
“Arrrgh!”
To break their morale, I needed an even more powerful blow.
Four swords, embodying ten thousand blades, rose into the air.
They moved slowly, scattering the Twin Heaven Sword Art.
“What? What is that?”
“Why are there so many swords?”
“They’re illusion swords! Ignore them!”
Mukhyul Gang’s warriors charged wildly, intent on killing and nothing else, like men intoxicated by poppy seeds.
I began imbuing the swords with sword energy.
My dantian, which held four jiazi of internal energy, suddenly felt as if it had been drained. At the same time, sword energy coated the illusion swords and true swords that had appeared all around us.
Whoooooom.
The swords hummed and sent faint vibrations in every direction. Then they all tipped their points downward.
“Hey … hey! A-are those really illusion swords?”
“Those are definitely illusion swords … Wait, what?”
“Wha—!”
Then they pierced their targets in unison.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
“Damn it! Fight back!”
“Out of the way, you bastards!”
Against the sword energy raining down like a sudden shower, Mukhyul Gang’s warriors swung their own sword energy with all their strength.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Cr-r-rash!
The collision of sword energy sent shockwaves through the air, filling the surroundings with thunderous impacts.
The Mukhyul Gang fighters, who had been charging wildly, covered their ears against the pain, as if their eardrums were about to burst.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Cr-r-rash!
The earth’s surface overturned, and broken bricks scattered in every direction.
Blades without owners flew through the air and plunged into their comrades’ abdomens. Mukhyul Gang’s momentum began to falter.
“W-what the hell?”
“No one said Yujang Sect had an expert like that!”
“Mukhyul Gang! You bastards! You deceived us!”
It seemed Mukhyul Gang had brought in even more men from outside, not just their own fighters.
I had a feeling this battle wouldn’t end easily.
If so, I needed to take it one step further.
A great surge of internal energy drained from my dantian again, and a heavy vibration rang in my hand.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The Mad Heaven Divine Palm, whose destructive power couldn’t be compared to any other palm art in the martial world.
Whoom, whoom, whoom.
It appeared once more—the technique that had always been most effective when fighting one against many.
A massive palm strike, taller than the gate, shot straight forward and swept away the Mukhyul Gang warriors rushing into Yujang Sect.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
The explosions were immeasurably louder than those caused by sword energy.
Mukhyul Gang’s warriors did everything they could to flee, but the Mad Heaven Divine Palm moved far faster than they could react.
“Gwaaaah!”
“Yaaaah!”
“Guh!”
The overturned earth sent clouds of sand and dust spreading everywhere, obscuring our vision.
As the desperate screams and groans from within the murky air began to fade with the dust, dozens of Mukhyul Gang fighters lay dead.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!
The fighting ground, once filled with excitement and heat, fell cold in an instant.
The men who had been intoxicated by the poppies seemed to come to their senses. Even their ragged breathing began to settle.
“Who are you? Who dares interfere with the affairs of Yujang Sect and Mukhyul Gang?”
A man holding a long sickle stepped forward, walking over the corpses as his sharp voice rang out.
His face was twisted with rage.
It was clear that everything he had planned had gone wrong.
I glanced at Yujang Sect’s warriors. Most of them were badly injured, and many looked unable to keep fighting.
I gave Jang Ujae a subtle signal to move the others, then stepped forward.
“I am Jin Sowoon of Taeul Sect.”
“Jin Sowoon? You mean the Bloodflame Dragon Jin Sowoon? Why have you meddled in this fight?”
“I happened to be visiting a friend’s home and got caught up in it.”
“Matters between sects should be settled within those sects. Don’t you know that? Get out of here.”
“Yet it seems Mukhyul Gang has brought in plenty of people from elsewhere, too.”
“This is Yueyang’s affair. It has nothing to do with you.”
“I’ll decide whether it concerns me. More importantly, do you plan to keep fighting?”
The man with the sickle growled.
“Today, Yujang Sect will be erased from the martial world.”
“People from the Iron Sword Sect and the Namgung Family are here, too—not just Taeul Sect.”
The man with the sickle barely concealed his startled expression.
“If anything happens to them, this won’t end as a mere Yueyang affair.”
“ …Do you think the mighty Mukhyul Gang is afraid of that?”
“You’d be wise to be. If the Namgung Family gets involved, the Martial Alliance will soon follow. Then Diancang, the former ruler of Yueyang, may return.”
“ …I’ll let you leave while you still can. Take your friends and get out of here.”
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“So you want to see this through to the end?”
“Why don’t we stop here for today?”
“What?”
I looked around.
The gate was already destroyed, and much of the wall had collapsed.
There wasn’t a place inside Yujang Sect that Mukhyul Gang’s fighters hadn’t occupied, and few of Yujang Sect’s warriors looked unharmed.
“Both sides have already suffered heavy losses. I’m saying we should take time to regroup.”
“Y-you’re the Bloodflame Dragon, they say, but you’re quite the schemer … You think you can slither away like a snake crawling over a wall?”
His tone was firm. He had no intention of giving up.
As expected, they planned to finish this tonight.
If they let the night pass, they’d have to worry about the Namgung Family and the Martial Alliance getting involved.
“You may have a decent trick, but do you think you can use a technique that only fools third-rate fighters against us?”
“Whether you fight or not is up to you. But I’ll tell you one thing.”
“ …What?”
“If you continue this fight, I will kill at least half the people here, no matter what it takes.”
“We’ve already figured out your trick …”
Whoosh.
I unleashed the Sacred Fire Demon-Subduing Hand with both hands.
The flames suddenly blazing from my palms startled not only Mukhyul Gang’s fighters but also the people of Yujang Sect.
After all, few yang-hard arts could be manifested so vividly.
“And I’ll burn them to death in the most painful way possible.”
“ …You bastard!”
“Until now, we’ve held back because we didn’t know each other’s circumstances. Keep that in mind.”
The man fell silent, apparently at a loss for words in response to my threat.
“Yujang Sect isn’t Mukhyul Gang’s ultimate goal, is it?”
I bluffed desperately, as if I were trying to swindle the Sojeong Unit.
“ …”
To my surprise, it worked. The man with the sickle couldn’t give the order to charge.
“Waaah!”
Just then, a cheer rose from the east.
I turned and saw warriors in familiar uniforms running toward us.
“The Changgung Corps?”
“Has the Namgung Family joined the battle?”
“They said the major sects of the Martial Alliance wouldn’t get involved …! You lying bastards!”
The heretical fighters who had joined Mukhyul Gang began to waver. The man with the sickle’s face twisted with alarm.
The Changgung Corps numbered only a hundred.
On its own, it wasn’t much of a threat, but the Namgung Family behind it was a formidable opponent.
I had to use this momentum to drive home the point.
“We’ve shed enough blood tonight. Let’s end this.”
“ …”
The man with the sickle ground his teeth.
“Jin Sowoon. If we withdraw now, you won’t be able to walk away from this matter.”
He pointed his sickle at me.
“Are you prepared for that?”
“ …”
“I’m asking if you’re ready to risk your life for Yujang Sect.”
Jang Ujae looked at me and shook his head, silently urging me not to do it.
I ignored him and answered calmly.
“I can bear that.”
Jang Ujae lowered his head and clenched his fists.
The man with the sickle glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, then spoke.
“Everyone, we’re leaving.”
“ …”
“Move! Get out of here, you bastards!”
Mukhyul Gang’s warriors began leaving Yujang Sect one by one.
Like the ebbing tide, they retreated, leaving behind only the corpses of the warriors who had risked their lives to defend Yujang Sect.
Thud. Thud.
Those who had barely held on sank to the ground one by one.
They’d fought against a thousand enemies and survived, but no one cheered.
The people they’d talked and shared meals with just two hours earlier were no longer breathing.
They couldn’t believe it.
“Sniff …”
A warrior whose left hand had been cut off clutched the body of his dead comrade and began to weep, instead of searching for his severed hand.
“Sniff, sniff …”
A warrior with a hidden weapon lodged in his right eye, blood running down his face, clutched the body of a younger man and wailed.
“Arrrgh!”
They had survived the merciless heretical fighters, but no one was glad.
No one.
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