Chapter 95 :

Chapter 95. The Sharpest Blade in the Darkness (2)

“In a battle of this scale, the one who remains standing until the very end is the victor.”

The first person to notice something strange was Song Baek of the Huayang Escort Agency.

After Jin Sowoon stole his checkpoint plaques from both the first and second checkpoints, the incompetence of the senior brothers from his main sect caused him to lose track of them.

Unable to sleep from anxiety, he had finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief today.

“There are nearly a thousand people here. Since every one of them is a martial artist, not even the Namgung Family or the Iron Sword Sect has any chance of surviving.”

The man speaking confidently had once served as a military officer on the front lines.

He came from a military garrison and had extensive experience commanding thousands of soldiers.

Since he had also experienced large-scale battles, his words carried even greater credibility.

“I will place my trust in Captain Yeom.”

As someone who valued strict hierarchy, Captain Yeom had never stepped forward during their previous encounters.

However, after Song Baek lost his checkpoint plaques and became dazed upon watching the senior brothers of the Diancang Sect drown, Captain Yeom finally began displaying his true worth.

He caught up in Suqian with the people they had lost at Zhenjiang.

By the time they reached Sinhyeon, he had already moved ahead and was waiting for them.

Such a feat would have been impossible without knowing how to organize their forces like an army and march efficiently.

Now all they had to do was observe the battlefield after it descended into chaos, then ambush whoever managed to seize the checkpoint plaques belonging to the Taeul Sect, the Namgung Family, and the Iron Sword Sect.

After that, they could proceed to the third checkpoint.

That was what Song Baek had been thinking.

“What is that?”

The battle began, and the torches lit by nearly a thousand people made the Fuyang Plains look as though a festival were being held.

“What is wrong?”

“That over there…”

The place Song Baek pointed toward was covered in darkness, as though a hole had been torn through the field of light.

“Is it not strange that there are no torches only in that area?”

Captain Yeom stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

“It is only natural that people unaccustomed to warfare would fail to maintain their formation.”

“Is that so…?”

Captain Yeom had shown himself to be reliable until now.

Song Baek no longer had the confidence to insist on his own opinion as he had before.

“Huh?”

Another large hole suddenly appeared within the great wave of torchlight.

“C-Captain Yeom! Look over there! Another hole appeared!”

Captain Yeom frowned as Song Baek pointed.

“Young Master, remain quiet if you know nothing about warfare. Torches going out during a night battle is perfectly normal.”

However, that place was not even in the center of the fighting.

In terms of the battlefield, it was not much different from where they were currently standing.

At that moment, Song Baek’s eyes widened.

The darkness emerging from the enormous hole began moving.

Like countless candles being extinguished by a sudden gust of wind, the torches went out one after another, creating a road of darkness.

“O-Over there!”

“Young Master!”

“Look over there, you bastard!”

“…!”

The road of darkness was heading directly toward Song Baek’s group.

“Hup!”

Realizing something was wrong, Captain Yeom immediately snatched a torch from the warrior beside him and charged forward.

Whoosh.

However, Captain Yeom was swallowed by the darkness without leaving even a trace behind.

“Wh-What in the world…”

Before Song Baek could finish speaking, darkness descended all around them.

Only then did the screams begin.

“Aaaargh!”

“S-Save me…”

“Eek! A g-ghost!”

It was the first time Song Baek had ever heard the sound of flesh being pierced so clearly.

Overcome by fear whose source he could not understand, he forgot even the thought of running away.

He reached inside his clothes and seized a signal flare.

It was the most instinctive action possible, driven solely by his desire to escape the darkness.

Fwoosh.

The signal flare that should have shot into the sky and illuminated the night flew into the darkness and exploded.

Song Baek opened his mouth wide, unable even to scream at what the flare revealed.

“…!”

Within the darkness stood a monster whose skin had been completely stripped away, exposing the movements of its organs and heart.

A sword-like bone abruptly protruded from the monster’s hand.

“A corpse… is moving…?”

Before Song Baek could complete the thought, the darkness swallowed him entirely.

“When darkness appears, send sword energy or fist energy into it. You cannot fight them with an ordinary sword.”

Namgung Seonhwa thought about those words as she cut down what might have been her thirtieth or thirty-second enemy.

As though it were that easy.

Her dantian was already beginning to run dry.

She had attempted to resist alongside the members of the Azure Dome Corps using the Azure Dome Sword Formation.

However, even the formation they had proudly considered invincible could not withstand the endless tide of torches and people.

“Young Lady!”

The Azure Dome Sword Formation shattered, and the members of the Azure Dome Corps were scattered in every direction.

Dozens of wounded people covered the ground wherever she stepped.

Even so, it felt as though the people still charging toward her with swords and torches had not decreased at all.

“Young Lady! Enter the sword formation!”

Gang Seopyo, who had insisted on following despite his wound, shouted desperately.

“Captain Gang! The Azure Dome Corps has already collapsed!”

“Then form another one!”

“What?”

Another sword formation?

Was he referring to the Imperial Sword Formation?

She had not learned that one yet.

“The White Tiger Sword Formation!”

Only then did Namgung Seonhwa remember the sword formation she had learned simply because she wanted to eat one warm meal.

“But there is no one nearby…”

“I will do it!”

When she turned her head, she saw Dongryong standing there, covered from head to toe in blood.

“When did you…”

“Young Lady! Quickly!”

Before she could ask when he had arrived, Gang Seopyo and Dongryong positioned themselves around her.

“Activate the formation!”

At Dongryong’s shout, Namgung Seonhwa and Gang Seopyo began swinging their swords.

Shing, shing, shing!

They barely deflected the swords launched by their enemies and thrust their blades into vital points.

The wounded enemies collapsed to the ground.

More enemies immediately surged through the openings.

Following Dongryong’s guidance, they changed positions and gained brief moments of rest.

It was remarkable.

The formation lacked the destructive power of the Azure Dome Sword Formation, but it was flexible and required less strength.

Once a sword formation collapsed, reforming it was ordinarily almost impossible.

However, since this formation used only three people, dissolving and reforming it was as easy as turning over one’s palm.

Dongryong was even more remarkable.

Although he possessed less than twenty years of internal energy, once the formation was established, he displayed skill comparable to the members of the Azure Dome Corps.

In fact, he was currently leading the White Tiger Sword Formation.

“Where are Geumpyo and Eunho?”

Even in the middle of the desperate battle, she thought of the children who had become like younger brothers to her.

After enduring such a difficult journey together, she had developed an affection for them as strong as if they were her real siblings.

“Eldest Senior Brother said that since we cannot use sword energy, we should form sword formations with the others.”

“Ah…”

Amid the chaotic battle, she had forgotten about those dangerous beings.

Part of her had also wondered whether they could truly intervene in such a disorderly battlefield.

Moreover, the instruction to attack empty air had not sounded particularly trustworthy.

“Over there!”

At that moment, Dongryong stopped swinging his sword and pointed to one side.

Darkness descended roughly ten jang away and began approaching in a straight line.

As though water had been poured only over that area, the torches went out and the crowd disappeared.

“Young Lady!”

“I see it!”

This time, Dongryong moved to the rear while Gang Seopyo and Namgung Seonhwa stepped forward.

The unbelievable thing Jin Sowoon had described was actually happening.

Namgung Seonhwa scraped together what little internal energy she had left.

“Now!”

At Gang Seopyo’s shout, she drew out all her remaining strength and released sword energy.

She ignored techniques and forms entirely.

The sword energy she sent forward possessed only the raw destructive power of sword energy itself.

It did not contain even the slightest sharpness.

However—

“Kieek!”

The rapidly approaching darkness stopped, and the scream of a beast came from within it.

“Eek!”

What emerged from the darkness resembled a corpse whose skin had been completely stripped away.

The sight of its organs moving within its rib cage made it even more horrifying.

The monster, which had revealed itself only briefly, attempted to wrap itself once again in the shell-like covering it had spread out and hide within the darkness.

However, both Gang Seopyo and Namgung Seonhwa had already reached their limits.

They despaired at having to let such a terrifying enemy escape before their eyes.

“Haa!”

At that moment, Dongryong shot forward like lightning.

“Dongryong! No!”

Dongryong forced his way into the darkness and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the exposed monster.

Clang! Clang! Clang, clang!

They were only ordinary attacks without sword energy.

However, every time Dongryong struck the monster’s bones, the black shell that had been regenerating unfolded again.

“How is he doing that…?”

Moreover, Dongryong’s attacks were astonishingly precise and contained no wasted movement.

He targeted only the vital points.

He stabbed the heart and organs.

He stabbed the eyes and inside the mouth.

Each attack caused the monster to react in confusion.

“Captain!”

“Yes, Young Lady!”

No lengthy conversation was necessary.

Determined not to waste the opportunity Dongryong had created, they launched relentless attacks.

For the first time since the battle began, they felt hope.

Their attacks were affecting an enemy whose physical form they had not even been able to grasp until now.

“Huh?”

The atmosphere among the examinees and hired warriors who had charged in pursuit of the checkpoint plaques suddenly changed.

Namgung Seonhwa instinctively turned her head, and her eyes widened.

Darkness had appeared once again and was rushing fiercely toward them.

Even the examinees already engaged in battle realized that something was wrong and began fleeing from it.

However, a battlefield crowded with hundreds of people was not a place one could escape from easily.

“M-Move!”

“What is that?”

“No one told us about this!”

Dozens of warriors were swallowed by the darkness in an instant.

Just as it was about to consume Namgung Seonhwa, Gang Seopyo, and Dongryong all at once—

Slash!

A shining whip flew in from somewhere and wrapped around the darkness.

Within the darkness, where nothing should have existed, a human-shaped figure was caught by the whip and dragged across the ground.

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

“Well done!”

It was none other than Jin Sowoon.

With the shining whip wrapped around his left hand, he poured fist energy into the darkness he had subdued.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

The attacks were so rapid and powerful that the ground caved inward in an instant.

Soon, the darkness made a sickening crunching sound, flattened completely, and began pouring out streams of red blood.

The monster being fought by Dongryong, Namgung Seonhwa, and Gang Seopyo appeared to witness the scene.

It hurriedly attempted to kill all three of them and escape.

However, because it had focused entirely on attacking, it could not shake off Dongryong.

Slash!

The radiant whip extending from Jin Sowoon’s left arm wrapped around the monster’s neck.

“Keeek!”

Like a beast caught in a trap, the monster was dragged forward until its neck was severed.

Dongryong watched the bone that had felt as hard as steel beneath his own attacks get severed in an instant.

He could not even estimate how much internal energy Jin Sowoon was pouring into his attacks to fight that monster.

“Young Master Jin.”

“Huff, huff… Are you all right?”

As expected, Jin Sowoon looked like the one who should have been asked that question.

“Young Master Jin, what in the world are you doing right now…?”

His face had turned pale, and every blood vessel throughout his body had swollen as though it were about to burst.

These were symptoms that appeared when internal energy was drawn out beyond its limit.

He had already gone far beyond the stage where qi deviation became a serious threat.

One small mistake could leave him permanently crippled.

“Do not move any further.”

Namgung Seonhwa grabbed Jin Sowoon’s arm, but he took her hand instead.

“I still have to move.”

“What are you saying, Young Master Jin? If you keep moving, you could truly die.”

“Fortunately, I have not used my innate true energy yet.”

The corners of his mouth trembled violently as he forced a smile.

Namgung Seonhwa suddenly remembered Seong Moran repeatedly calling him a madman.

“I have killed eight. I only need to kill one more.”

Namgung Seonhwa spoke desperately.

“You will die!”

Jin Sowoon released a short, heavy breath.

It seemed he had only just managed to recover enough to breathe properly.

He looked steadily into Namgung Seonhwa’s eyes and spoke.

“If I do not move… other people will die.”

“I do not want to see that.”

The words, “What if you die instead?” hovered at her lips before she swallowed them again.

Before she could say anything else, Jin Sowoon continued.

“Please hold out a little longer. The examinees gathered here are also beginning to realize that something is wrong because of those creatures, and they are withdrawing. The battlefield will clear soon.”

“Young Lady Namgung…”

All she could do now was ease his worries, even if only slightly.

“…All right. I am sorry that I cannot be of any help.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“…What?”

Jin Sowoon smiled warmly, a smile that seemed impossible in the middle of a battlefield.

“I will be back soon.”

“Are you all right?”

“He said… he would come back to me soon, did he not?”

Gang Seopyo tilted his head.

“…I do not think that was what he meant…”

“I heard him clearly. He said he would return to me soon…”

“…Young Lady, you appear exhausted. Please rest for a moment.”

“No. I am perfectly fine. I have recovered.”

For some reason, Namgung Seonhwa felt as though half of her depleted internal energy had been restored.

“…Please stay alive.”

Just as Namgung Seonhwa was about to answer, Jin Sowoon kicked off the ground and threw himself back into the darkness.

The golden light of the whip in his hand stretched behind him like the tail of a shooting star.