Chapter 77 :

Chapter 77. The Black Flame Dragon Leaping Over the Gate (5)

Autumn mountain fires are nothing unfamiliar.

Especially after a summer drought, when autumn leaves pile thickly on a mountain, even a slight wind can cause a mountain fire.

To prevent this, people from nearby villages prepare winter firewood in advance and create firebreak roads so the flames do not spread widely.

“But Twin Curtain Stronghold didn’t allow the villagers to climb the mountain.”

For bandits to hide themselves, there was nothing better than a dense forest.

For that purpose, Twin Curtain Stronghold had not only forbidden logging, but even the gathering of medicinal herbs. And now, that dense, dried-out forest was not hiding them, but strangling them.

The moment the bandits, who had been fiercely charging down the mountain, flinched before the pit of fire that exploded instantly because of the oil, the flames spread even farther in every direction.

The thousand or so people tried to turn back up the uphill road, but that was even more difficult.

“Kraaaak!”

“Move!”

“Ah, hot!”

They became tangled with one another, fell over, and the procession quickly collapsed.

The bandits who left the road and tried to flee by climbing the mountain were swallowed by the flames that had surged up violently in the meantime. Unable to endure the heat, they rolled in every direction, causing the mountain fire to spread even more easily.

“This makes no sense.”

Eunho stared blankly at the sky, which was filled with pitch-black smoke.

The fierce wind quickly pushed the black smoke away, but thanks to that, the flames blazed even more fiercely, as if they had consumed an elixir.

All thousand or so of them had learned martial arts, but even among them, there were clear differences in achievement.

Those with low internal energy could not hold their breath, inhaled the smoke, and soon began fainting.

“Lord Sowoon, did you perhaps predict that the wind would come?”

Yang Gunbaek asked while brushing back his hair because of the raging wind, and I drew the Black Dragon Sword without giving any particular answer.

“Prepare yourselves.”

At my words, the three brothers each drew their swords.

“They won’t be able to flee toward the mountain because of the flames. But they’ll come down the road where the oil was poured.”

“We’ll go too.”

Yang Gunbaek stepped forward with the Haomun disciples.

“We have to drive them back while they’re disoriented after coming through the flames.”

No sooner had my words ended than a huge rupturing sound rang out.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

The Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe had joined forces to gouge into the ground and scatter heaps of soil in every direction.

“The flames have weakened! Pass through as quickly as possible!”

Along with the thunderous voice, the bandits who had been searching for an escape route began pouring out onto the road.

Those whose clothes had caught fire here and there tried frantically to put out the flames, only to be trampled to death by the bandits running behind them.

Craaaack!

The giant trees that had not been cut down so they could be used for ambushes on both sides of the road caught fire and collapsed onto the path.

“Kuaaak!”

“A-avoid it!”

“Save me!”

In the end, the bandits who gave up on following the two stronghold chiefs began running toward another road beyond the mountain.

Even as the bandits scattered in all directions, the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe had no room to control them.

That was because the two of them had to join forces again and scatter soil in every direction to create a path.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

As fierce internal energy scattered in every direction, soil and chunks of rock flew everywhere and suppressed the flames to a certain extent.

After the two men passed through like that, the bandits followed behind them and burned to death.

“These damned bastards!”

The Golden-Faced Buddha Saber, whose poison energy had risen to the extreme from the repeated deaths, no longer even cared about the One-Eyed Blood Axe and began rushing down while pushing his movement technique to its limit.

“Listen well.”

“Suddenly?”

“If they survive, the tragedy of the village will repeat itself.”

“...Yes.”

“Only remember the scene we saw on the hill.”

It meant not to show any mercy with our hands.

As if they understood my words, the three brothers clenched their mouths firmly.

“Go!”

At my shout, the three brothers and Yang Gunbaek’s group began running.

Unlike their initial appearance, when they had feared the bandits’ momentum, they now looked full of courage.

“Jin Sowoon!”

The Golden-Faced Buddha Saber, who had been charging like a boar with its tail on fire, discovered me and rushed at me with even greater speed.

I also stepped with World-Solitary Divine Movement, increased my speed even more, and confronted the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber.

Bang.

“I’ll kill you!”

The moment the saber containing saber energy came down to split my head, I unfolded Lotus Flower and threw the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber into the pit of fire.

Puh-puh-puk!

With a roar that made it hard to believe it came from a human body, the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber broke several trees and crashed into the flames.

“Kraaaaak!”

In the meantime, I unfolded the breaking form of the Small Heaven Sword Technique and began cutting down the bandits who had run out in order to breathe.

“S-save...!”

“Kuhuk!”

The sword form that targeted vital points scattered blood everywhere and caused even greater chaos.

Taking one life with each technique, the bandits began dying each time my sword was swung without hesitation.

Even as their comrades died like that, the bandits could not stop their feet.

The breath that had already risen to the tips of their chins paralyzed their reason and only made them run endlessly. If they fell, they crawled forward instead.

Bang!

While I was swinging my sword frantically, a huge impact suddenly struck, forcing me two steps back.

When I raised my head, the One-Eyed Blood Axe was emitting thick killing intent.

“You’re quite an insolent brat.”

“How was this junior’s move?”

“You made the wrong choice!”

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Each time the Blood Axe and the Black Dragon Sword clashed, explosive sounds spread in every direction.

Even the bandits who had been charging madly sensed danger and detoured around us.

Retracting the breaking form of the Small Heaven Sword Technique, I immediately began unfolding the Twin Heaven Sword Art.

The Black Dragon Sword began creating illusions like the ribs of a fan spreading open, and they shot out while aiming for vital points.

“You bastard! You were hiding your skill!”

The One-Eyed Blood Axe’s single remaining eye blazed.

At times, his Blood Axe tried to strike illusion swords and cut through empty air, and at other times, by coincidence, it struck the true sword and blocked an attack.

However, because of the subordinates constantly surging in from behind and the internal energy he was using to stop the flames, his hands were becoming unbearably complicated.

“You bastard!”

A lion’s roar burst from within the pit of fire, and the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber, charred black, sprang out.

“I’ll strip your flesh and bones and chew them all up!”

I stepped back two paces and began releasing the Ten Thousand Seas and Heaven-Earth Sword Art.

*

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers had been unable to come to their senses after the battle began.

They formed a sword formation and faced the enemy, but the enemy had no intention of dodging or blocking the swords the three brothers extended. They only wanted to flee madly from the flames.

“Eunho! Dongryong! Keep maintaining the sword formation! Nothing else matters!”

“Brother! There are too many!”

“Just maintain the sword formation! Then..·•·· then.·····.”

Geumpyo felt like he had to say something, but he did not know what he should say.

Would this battle even have an end? How long would they have to fight?

Even if the enemy had lost their senses and were fleeing from the flames, could they truly handle them with just themselves?

The martial arts of the two chiefs of Twin Curtain Stronghold were clearly at a level they could not even approach.

“Then what!”

When Eunho shouted angrily, Geumpyo snapped back to his senses and simply blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Senior Brother will come! If he thought we were going to die, would Senior Brother have started the battle?”

“Isn’t Senior Brother thinking of us too much based on his own standards?”

There was nothing he could say in response to that.

From the start, receiving a mission to subjugate a mountain stronghold and deciding to subjugate the strongest force among the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds was already far beyond ordinary.

“Kuhuk!”

“Uaaak!”

“D-dammit...”

While his attention had slipped for a moment, the sounds of bandits dying came from beside him. When he turned his head, Dongryong was dealing with the bandits using a sword form he had never seen before.

All the techniques were things they had learned at the Taeul Sect, but the trajectory itself was different. It was unbelievably fierce, as if it followed the most efficient sword path for killing.

Moreover, even though they were unfolding a sword formation, the killing intent extending from Dongryong chilled them to the bone.

“Dammit!”

With a curse, Geumpyo met Eunho’s eyes and nodded.

Eunho, who knew Dongryong’s state, did not have a good expression either.

The Heavenly Slaughter Star was an innate nature that craved blood.

As Senior Brother had said, if the Heavenly Slaughter Star bloomed before Dongryong’s mental cultivation deepened, something terrible would happen.

“Brother!”

“Yeah!”

Though they did not speak, Geumpyo and Eunho’s thoughts had already connected.

“Kraaak!”

“Kuhuk!”

The number of bandits falling to the two men’s swords began increasing little by little, and Dongryong’s killing intent was gradually decreasing as well.

“Brother! There are too many enemies!”

Thanks to Taeul Moving Circulation, their internal energy was barely being maintained, but there were still many bandits alive.

Moreover, those who gradually came back to their senses either detoured around the three brothers or took defensive stances to buy time.

The fifty Haomun disciples were guarding the well and blocking the bandits from approaching, but their numbers were so great that the situation was gradually turning into one where they were being surrounded by the bandits.

Furthermore, they could not hope for Jin Sowoon’s help either, because Jin Sowoon was facing the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe at the entrance of the mountain while cutting down escaping bandits.

At this rate, they might die before Jin Sowoon came.

“Stay sharp! Right now, think only of the enemy before your eyes!”

Geumpyo shouted desperately like that and swung his sword.

At that moment, thick dust rose from outside the village, and the sound of battle cries began to be heard.

“Let’s go!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Village Chief Heo and the villagers who had avoided the area were beginning to charge in while carrying farming tools.

“Save the children first!”

“Don’t leave the exhausted bastards alive!”

There were sickles and hoes, of course, and even axes and people who had sharpened bamboo into points.

Those who had never learned even a shred of martial arts began approaching the exhausted bandits and using ruthless hands.

“S-save me!”

“My son starved to death because of you!”

“Have you forgotten how you violated my little sister!”

“Kill them!”

The hands of the people, filled with deep resentment, were no less fierce than those of people who had practiced martial arts their entire lives.

*

Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chaeng.

Puh-puh-puh-puh-pung!

The sword forms extending from the Ten Thousand Seas and Heaven-Earth Sword Art swept in every direction, cutting the bandits’ necks and dealing with the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe.

The two men’s entire bodies were already covered in wounds, but facing two men who had reached the peak expert realm at once was still too much for me.

If not for the Ten Thousand Seas and Heaven-Earth Sword Art and the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist, which used the principles of myriad transformations to create the effect of making the opponent face more than one enemy, I would not even have dared to endure.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!”

“Die!”

Moreover, the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe had abandoned defense, narrowly avoiding only important vital points as they charged in recklessly, making them even harder to deal with.

“Even if I die, I will definitely take you with me!”

“I have no desire whatsoever to go with you.”

“Hmph!”

Puh-puh-puh-puh-pung!

Saber energy extended in every direction, causing explosions without distinguishing friend from foe.

The bandits dying to the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber’s saber energy looked at the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber with eyes full of betrayal, but the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber did not care and merely continued firing saber energy at me.

“Your movement technique is quite excellent!”

The One-Eyed Blood Axe spoke through gritted teeth toward me, whom he could not catch.

“That is because it was created by two of the greatest people of all time.”

“Yes, with such fine martial arts, how bitter must it be to die by our hands?”

“I’ll say it again, but I have no intention of dying by your hands.”

“That is not for you to decide. It is for us to decide.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the Blood Axe was swung, flaming chunks of wood shot out like hidden weapons.

The moment I unfolded the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps and narrowly avoided the wood, the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber swung his great saber.

At this rate, I would eventually become exhausted first.

“This is the end!”

“Haaat!”

I also drew up the Taeul True Scripture with all my strength and unfolded the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist, lifting my body into the air.

And the moment the One-Eyed Blood Axe and the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber were about to swing their weapons at me!

Shweeeeeek. Puh-puk!

“Hiiik!”

“Dammit!”

A house-sized boulder flew toward the two men, and both of them scattered in panic to dodge it.

After landing on the ground, I looked behind me and spoke.

“Why are you so late?”

“Wasn’t it you who sent me to the opposite side in the first place?”

“I thought you would understand that much on your own.”

It was Bang Duchil and his group, who had dealt with the bandits that had fled to the opposite side in that short time and then run along the road.

“If you’re tired, rest. I’ll handle the rest.”

He looked quite different from how he had acted all along, unable to trust my strategy and showing hostility.

“I’m fine. I have to go help my junior brothers.”

“Then let’s deal with them quickly and go.”

At our conversation, the faces of the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and the One-Eyed Blood Axe turned bright red.

“These damned bastards!”

“How dare mere brats!”

As if he knew that they could not drag this out for long, Bang Duchil immediately gathered both palms and drew up his internal energy.

His martial uniform swelled as though it would burst, and a powerful wave of energy erupted.

“As expected of the Heavenly Astral Boundless Body!”

The One-Eyed Blood Axe turned pale at a wave of energy he had never felt in his life.

“What kind of internal energy is•••·•”

The moment the One-Eyed Blood Axe, who had been charging in, kicked off the ground and changed direction to flee, with a current that made the air ring loudly, Bang Duchil’s unique martial art, the Gale Divine Palm, poured from both his palms.

Bbeooooooong!

As the air exploded in succession, the Gale Divine Palm, which even extinguished the blazing flames for an instant, ground all the bones in the One-Eyed Blood Axe’s body to powder.

“Insane••••..”

The Golden-Faced Buddha Saber, who had been charging at me, stood with his mouth wide open.

“This isn’t the time to look over there.”

I also fired the Mad Heaven Divine Palm at the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber.

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pang!

The Golden-Faced Buddha Saber hurriedly changed direction, but he could not escape the Mad Heaven Divine Palm, whose range had been raised to the maximum.

At the same time as air and flame exploded, the Golden-Faced Buddha Saber’s body burst apart.

Whoosh.

In the space where all the air had vanished in an instant due to the effects of the Gale Divine Palm and the Mad Heaven Divine Palm, even the flames died down.

“.......”

And within it, Bang Duchil was looking at me with his eyebrows trembling.

“What is it?”

“......”

Instead of Bang Duchil, who did not answer, Baek Soryeong approached from behind while swinging her soft sword.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with stronger internal energy than my darling.”

That seemed to be the reason Bang Duchil was shocked.

He had probably never seen someone among his peers with stronger internal energy than himself since he was born.

“Truly..•••• you dealt with Twin Curtain Stronghold. And relatively easily, at that.”

Mountain fires were rising all over Mount Tianmu, and below them, bandit corpses were piled up like peaks. Though there were still many remnants below the mountain, now that the two stronghold chiefs had become wandering souls, Twin Curtain Stronghold was as good as finished.

“It was thanks to you.”

When I lightly cupped my fist and expressed my thanks, Baek Soryeong and Bang Duchil’s subordinates cupped their fists in return.

“.......”

While Bang Duchil stood there blankly, looking at me as though I were some strange animal, Baek Soryeong struck him once with her elbow, and he flinched before cupping his fist.

“I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“That can happen. In any case, it isn’t over yet, is it? Let us finish this properly.”

“Good.”

Just as we were about to go down the mountain to deal with the remnants, Eunho, who should have been forming the sword formation below the mountain, came all the way up here, panting.

“Senior Brother! Something terrible has happened! Please save Dongryong!”

Before those words had even ended, I drew up all the internal energy I had left and unfolded World-Solitary Divine Movement.