Chapter 175 :

The Black Flame Dragon Who Swallows the Sea of Blood (5)

"Are you all right, Young Master Jaehwa?"

Moyong Jaehwa was panting.

His face was bright red, and his hands and feet trembled.

The blood vessels all over his body stood out as if they might burst.

It was proof that he had pushed his internal energy to its limit.

"Miss Eun, I'm sorry, but could you cool my face down?"

Seeing Moyong Jaehwa's lips crack as he spoke, Eun Seollan drew upon her Peerless Divine Art and cooled him with its chill.

Moyong Jaehwa briefly closed his eyes. He looked ready to collapse and fall asleep at any moment.

But then—

Whoosh!

At the sound of an arrow slicing through the air, Moyong Jaehwa's eyes flew open. He shoved Eun Seollan aside and fell over.

"Are you all right, Miss?"

Eun Seollan tensed at finding Moyong Jaehwa sprawled over her and managed to answer,

"Yes, I-I'm all right."

"They're starting again."

Moyong Jaehwa quickly got up and nocked an arrow.

Eun Seollan had gone out and retrieved the arrows the enemy had fired.

They had already been used, so their shafts were bent and their tips misaligned, but they were still much better than using broken branches.

Whoosh!

The arrow released from Moyong Jaehwa's bow shot across the encampment toward the blood-robed men.

Compared to the dozens of arrows they had fired, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

Even so, the blood-robed men couldn't take their eyes off Moyong Jaehwa's arrow.

Thwack! Thud!

One man at the front, holding two shields together, blocked the arrow.

The impact drove him far backward and disrupted their formation.

"Grrk!"

"Grrk!"

The advancing blood-robed unit retreated behind the rocks again in the blink of an eye.

Watching them, Moyong Jaehwa let out a long sigh.

Half a day had already passed.

He had spent it fighting the blood-robed men with the academy students who had collapsed behind him after being caught in the illusion formation.

Ilgak was waking them one by one, but even those who had barely regained consciousness were too battered inside to move easily.

The only good news was that after they fired a few Demon-Piercing Arrows toward the sorcerers' position, the illusion formation had stopped appearing.

"Can I even call that good news?"

The Demon-Piercing Arrows were keeping the blood-robed men at bay, but by now, they were surrounded on all sides.

They could advance neither forward nor backward.

No—if they failed to stop the encirclement from closing in, everyone here would certainly die.

Rustle. Rustle.

At the first sound of footsteps behind them, Eun Seollan gathered cold energy in both hands.

A chill colder than the winds of the high mountains clung to her palms.

She immediately slammed both hands down toward the sound.

Shraaak!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground in the nearby forest, aiming for the blood-robed men's ankles.

Moyong Jaehwa lowered his bow for a moment, grabbed a sword—he didn't even know whose it was—and charged at the blood-robed men.

Clang-clang!

He killed two of them at once, but because he wasn't used to the sword technique, the other two kept him engaged.

And he slowly began to lose ground.

"Damn it... Fighting with swords is a dirty trick!"

If the enemy had been someone who would listen to "Let's settle this with archery," they wouldn't have attacked them with sorcery in the first place.

Cursing the enemy's cowardice inwardly, Moyong Jaehwa began to struggle against their swords.

"Young Master Jaehwa! Duck!"

As soon as he heard Eun Seollan's warning, he ducked like a bolt of lightning.

Ice spikes pierced the blood-robed men through the chest.

"Grrk."

"Grrrk."

The blood-robed men collapsed, spitting blood.

Behind them, Eun Seollan was panting, her face pale.

"Are you all right, Miss Eun?"

"Hah... hah... hah. I-I'm all right."

Her skin had always been so clear that her veins seemed visible.

Now, her face had gone completely white.

Anyone could see that she had pushed herself to her absolute limit.

"Damn it."

He had learned from Jin Sowoon how to fight when outnumbered, yet he still couldn't put it to use.

Their bent arrows kept missing, and the enemy had realized that the arrows they fired could be turned against them.

Now, instead of arrows, they were throwing spears and stones.

"If only I could use the Thunderbolt Arrow..."

Moyong Jaehwa had never resented the weakness of his martial arts.

Now, more than ever, he desperately wished he had a stronger technique.

If he had only completed the Thunderbolt Arrow, he could have reduced the academy students' casualties.

If he had only had the Thunderbolt Arrow, he could have helped Eun Seollan escape.

Since dawn, there had been countless moments when he'd wanted to use his unfinished Thunderbolt Arrow.

But he hadn't dared to try.

Creak—

Every time he drew the bowstring, he heard the horn and wood joints pulling apart.

The Thunderbolt Arrow had broken even sturdy bows in the past.

Trying it now, when his bow was on the verge of breaking, would be no different from throwing the bow away.

With his own life, Eun Seollan's life, and the lives of the academy students behind them all depending on a single attempt, he couldn't risk it.

"Phew..."

There was no way forward, and no way back.

Moyong Jaehwa looked at Eun Seollan.

Her once-pristine face, as delicate as a snowflake, was covered in soot.

Her clothes were stained with dust and grime.

The aftereffects of the sorcery and lack of sleep had left her eyes bloodshot, and her hands trembled from using her martial arts to their limit.

"At the very least... Miss Eun..."

As he briefly weighed that possibility—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ilgak approached, beating down the blood-robed men.

"Benefactor Jaehwa, Benefactor Seollan...! Are you all right?"

Ilgak, who was asking after them, didn't look well himself.

The flawless image of Ilgak, one of the Martial Academy's most renowned fighters, was nowhere to be seen.

"As you can see, I'm not exactly all right."

Moyong Jaehwa forced a smile as he replied.

Ilgak immediately understood what he meant.

"We can't go on like this."

Ilgak looked at the two of them.

"You should circulate your energy."

"Hm?"

In this urgent situation, Ilgak's suggestion that they practice energy circulation sounded absurd.

Still, he continued as though it were perfectly reasonable.

"Even a handful of internal energy will do. Gather just enough to use your movement techniques."

Moyong Jaehwa understood Ilgak's intention and shook his head.

"But..."

Ilgak cut him off, his voice firm.

"This is no time to argue. We have to inform the Martial Alliance immediately."

Moyong Jaehwa nodded and turned to Eun Seollan.

"Miss Eun, circulate your energy."

"What? What do you mean...? What about you, Young Master Jaehwa?"

"I'll stay here."

"Benefactor Jaehwa!"

Despite Ilgak's urging, Moyong Jaehwa spoke without wavering.

"If getting the message through were so important, we should have done it yesterday."

"..."

Ilgak pressed his lips together at the pointed reminder of his mistake.

"If we leave now, everyone over there will die. Are you all right with that?"

Ilgak turned and looked behind him.

His fellow Shaolin disciples, the disciples of its affiliated sects, and the dozens of people with whom he had built ties through the Righteous Path Association.

They would all die here.

Without realizing it, Ilgak clenched his fists.

He absolutely did not want to see that happen.

"..."

"I'm not all right with it."

Who would want to see such a thing?

But right now, at least one person had to survive.

And the people who deserved to survive were those who bore no responsibility for this.

Whether he understood Ilgak's feelings or not, Moyong Jaehwa continued,

"Besides, if I think about Brother Sowoon arriving soon, I don't want him to see me running away."

Ilgak wanted to argue at once.

Did he still believe Jin Sowoon would come here?

"..."

He couldn't come.

It was something no one could easily accomplish. It was wrong to expect him to do it at all.

But Ilgak suppressed those thoughts and managed to ask,

"Even if that faith is betrayed... do you think you still won't regret it?"

He asked heavily, his own doubt weighing on the words.

And—

"Yes."

Moyong Jaehwa answered without the slightest hesitation.

"...!"

Without a trace of doubt, he met Ilgak's gaze and said again,

"Yes."

"..."

A faith without conditions.

So pure it seemed almost noble.

At this point, Ilgak found himself wondering where that faith came from.

Was it Moyong Jaehwa's innocence?

Or the result of Jin Sowoon's sense of responsibility?

"I understand. Then at least Miss Seollan should—"

Ilgak and Moyong Jaehwa looked toward Eun Seollan.

But Eun Seollan answered with a sullen expression,

"Brother Jin is coming, isn't he? Why would I do something dangerous and leave?"

Ilgak and Moyong Jaehwa nodded at the same time.

"She's right."

"That's true."

Without realizing it, Ilgak had started believing in Jin Sowoon, just like Moyong Jaehwa.

While the two men were realizing how foolish they'd been, Eun Seollan pointed ahead.

"They're coming!"

Ilgak turned and frowned.

"They've prepared a countermeasure against Benefactor Jaehwa's arrows."

The blood-robed men had realized ordinary shields couldn't stop Moyong Jaehwa's arrows.

Now they were approaching with iron plates reinforced with pot lids and large rocks balanced over their heads.

Moyong Jaehwa cursed when he saw the sight he least wanted to see.

"Damn it..."

Knowing the Demon-Piercing Arrows would no longer work, he desperately circulated his energy and gathered a handful of true energy.

"Then we have no choice but to fight them at close range."

At Ilgak's words, Moyong Jaehwa looked behind him.

None of the academy students were ready to fight yet.

This wasn't Changban Bridge. The idea that just three of them could hold back hundreds was absurd.

"No other choice."

He took out a proper arrow, one he had been saving until the very last moment.

"It's unfinished, but this one shot should deal serious damage to the unit ahead. If I fail... then..."

Moyong Jaehwa couldn't finish.

He didn't even want to imagine that terrible future.

He placed the arrow on the bowstring and began to draw it, his heart full of desperate hope.

Creeeeak.

The bow, already at its limit, groaned.

"Just once... Hold out just once!"

The power of the Moyong Family's Heaven and Earth Wave-Splitting Sword gathered at the arrowhead.

The arrow, held steady between both his hands, trembled violently.

The bow shook just as much.

Krrrreeeek.

The moment he carefully released the smallest possible amount of power from the Heaven and Earth Wave-Splitting Sword and let the arrow fly—

Crack!

The bow, finally pushed past its limit, split apart.

The broken bowstring hung limp.

"Damn it!"

As soon as the blood-robed men saw Moyong Jaehwa's bow break, they dropped the rocks and shields and began charging.

Ilgak and Eun Seollan didn't even have time to console him.

The blood-robed men were charging like mad, as if furious that they'd been forced to hide from Jaehwa's arrows all this time.

"Benefactor Jaehwa, fall back!"

Ilgak pressed his palms together, then thrust both fists forward, golden light flickering around them.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The blood-robed men were knocked away by the Dragon King Fist, which struck more than thirty times in a single second.

But the empty spaces were soon filled by more blood-robed men charging from behind.

"Haaah!"

Shraaak!

The Peerless Divine Art Eun Seollan scattered froze the blood-robed men's bodies.

But with her energy nearly spent, her ice arts weren't much of a threat.

Moyong Jaehwa picked up his sword again and wielded it clumsily.

They had no way to defend themselves.

The blood-robed men surrounded them on all sides, and the three were about to meet their end—

"Aaaaaaah!"

Green radiance fell in every direction, crushing the blood-robed men's heads and caving in their chests.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The violent explosions sent clouds of dust flying everywhere.

Ilgak, Moyong Jaehwa, and the others had instinctively shut their eyes.

Now they managed to open them just enough to see who had arrived.

"Hah... hah... hah!"

The enormous figure looked utterly pale, as though he had spent all his mental strength and spiritual energy.

He was also covered in large wounds.

It was hard to imagine how he had even made it here.

The giant looked at Moyong Jaehwa and said,

"Hah... hah... You... You're Moyong Jaehwa, right?"

Moyong Jaehwa stared at the giant, stunned.

"N-Nam Hwaseong? Why are you here...?"

"Hah... hah... I'm glad you're alive. I'm so glad!"

Nam Hwaseong trembled with emotion, as if he had just found a younger brother he'd thought he'd lost.

Moyong Jaehwa, the person he was talking about, was completely bewildered.

Why had Nam Hwaseong suddenly appeared here?

And why was he relieved that Jaehwa was alive?

Nam Hwaseong swallowed with difficulty, his face contorted with pain, and managed to speak.

"...Jin Sowoon. Jin Sowoon sent me."

"Ah! Of course!"

Nam Hwaseong tossed the bundles he was carrying toward Moyong Jaehwa.

Moyong Jaehwa wanted to hear what had happened, but with the blood-robed men surrounding them and Nam Hwaseong in such a state, there was no chance to talk.

As he examined the bundles he had caught, Moyong Jaehwa noticed the long iron staff sticking out and tilted his head.

"...What's this?"

The small notches at either end.

The grip in the middle, wrapped in leather.

The bundles of arrows and even Celestial Silkworm Thread packed inside.

There was no way he wouldn't wonder why Jin Sowoon had sent him these things.

Then, suddenly, an idea took shape in his mind.

"D-don't tell me..."

Moyong Jaehwa's gaze moved between the Celestial Silkworm Thread and the iron staff.

"A-an iron bow?"

"What is this...?"