Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Mission Allocation
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“Does that mean the evaluation won’t be a walk in the park either.”
“Indeed, as a clan that pursues hegemony, they seem coldly pragmatic about gauging our full strength in this regard.”
The purpose of this entrance exam wasn’t just to assess the examinees’ skills.
It also came with an evaluation of squad leaders like me and Yi Cheolsan.
To check if we truly had what it took to become the new heads of the Gale Force, if we possessed the insight, and if our abilities measured up.
The Dark Venerable trusted his own judgment, but he never proceeded on that alone.
He’d tap the stone bridge a dozen times before crossing. That’s how he’d risen to his current position.
This time, we were the stone bridge.
At that moment, Yi Cheolsan raised his hand.
“This is Yi Cheolsan of Heavenly Sword Forest. Mind if I ask one thing?”
Dang Gon nodded.
“Of course.”
“Is there a specific criterion for the rankings?”
“There is. The assigned missions are all based on each squad’s strength from a month ago.”
A month ago.
That meant the point when we’d first joined was the benchmark.
“‘Low’ is something you can handle without much trouble, ‘Medium’ is difficult without mastering the Gale Formation, and ‘High’ is the kind where even fully comprehending the Gale Formation and not going all out could lead to total annihilation.”
A level that could result in total annihilation.
The weight of those words hung heavy.
“This is...”
“How do we even calculate this?”
“Guess we have to bite the bullet anyway?”
The five squad leaders standing behind showed two main reactions.
Some sank into deep thought before their writs, while others immediately went to consult their squad members.
But Yi Cheolsan, Dang Ye-won, and Yong Geomguk drew their writs without hesitation. I remained silently still.
“Heavenly Sword Forest, High!”
“Phoenix Hall, High!”
“Unyielding Fame, Medium!”
Medium?
The gazes of me, Yi Cheolsan, and Dang Ye-won turned to Yong Geomguk.
The man from the righteous faction, bearing the unusual moniker of Demon Bow among the Later Eight Stars, showed no reservations about his choice.
Even Dang Gon looked mildly intrigued.
“I heard Unyielding Fame has the most members and trained the most diligently. Unexpected to pick medium?”
Yong Geomguk carefully tucked the writ into his bosom and shook his head matter-of-factly.
“Training diligently and the strength gained from it are entirely separate matters, aren’t they? Unyielding Fame still has a long way to go. So rather than getting greedy now, it’s time to build experience and solidify our foundations.”
Just from those words, it was clear.
This was a cool-headed judgment.
I’d thought the Gale Force leader positions were just between Yi Cheolsan and Dang Ye-won.
Later Demon Bow. This guy wouldn’t be easy to underestimate either.
“Even if it means missing a chance to fully demonstrate your strength and potentially producing dropouts?”
Dang Gon asked slyly, but Yong Geomguk didn’t waver.
“I don’t think a leader’s duty is to ensure zero dropouts. The key is taking as many comrades along as possible.”
“As many comrades as possible... Fair point. Very well. Give it your all.”
Yong Geomguk gave a light nod and returned to where Unyielding Fame was gathered.
The central plains folk stood in a tight circle, quietly examining the writ. No hierarchy was visible among them.
Everyone holding equal say while being led smoothly without chaos—that seemed to be Yong Geomguk’s hidden talent.
In contrast, Heavenly Sword Forest and Phoenix Hall showed no discontent with what their leaders had drawn.
If anything, it was as if it was only natural.
Even for a high-rank mission, who else could complete it but them? Their confidence oozed thickly, laced with absolute trust and loyalty toward their leader.
However.
“Uh...!?”
“T-This is!”
The moment they checked their missions, their faces stiffened.
Dang Ye-won hurriedly turned to Dang Gon.
“Is this mission really assigned to us?”
“It is.”
“But this—”
The writ Dang Ye-won held out had just one line written on it.
—Assassinate the Heartless Blade.
It was an order to eliminate one of the Ronin Kings.
A hegemon who’d reigned supreme in the outer reaches for over twenty years, no less.
“Isn’t the Heartless Blade the captain of the Heartless Legion?”
“Excluding the Wanderer, he’s the strongest ronin who’s held the top spot for over twenty years. Jeez—”
“Heaven and Earth Phoenix is exceptional, sure, but taking rookies to pierce the Heartless Legion and reach the Heartless Blade? That’s no easy feat.”
The Heartless Legion was a faction from the seventy-two evil sects, a mercenary band mainly operating around the Great Desert.
They dabbled in kidnapping, extortion, blackmail, assassination, even human trafficking—every dirty trade imaginable. Back in the day, they’d fallen out of my favor and nearly been wiped out.
I’d spared them in the end for reasons similar to the Black Bone Ghost Valley.
The Demonic Cult needed them.
They took on any job that paid, no matter what.
Honor meant nothing to them.
The only “honor” they upheld was the contract with their client.
If it suited them, they’d backstab even long-time business partners without mercy.
That made them perfect for sowing discord between enemies when needed.
Just pay them, and they’d handle it.
And at least they never challenged the Demonic Cult’s authority.
They knew to watch my mood.
But after my death, they’d apparently gone wild like unleashed colts again.
Rumor had it they’d reared their heads in the Great Desert alongside the recent Heavenly Mountain unrest, and now they’d pissed off the Dang Clan.
“Assassinate the Heartless Blade...”
“Is that even feasible...?”
“Finding him in the outer reaches is one thing, but dealing with his escorting followers? That’ll be tough.”
“Hey, even getting to the outer reaches is hard. With the Demonic Cult’s civil war just ending, things are getting fishy out there, right?”
Like the specters, the other examinees wore shocked expressions.
Some gazes turned toward Hyun I-jin.
As a Ronin King himself, he’d long been compared to the Heartless Blade.
Of course, pure skill-wise, he wasn’t on the level of a pinnacle master like the Heartless Blade, but of everyone here, he’d know the most about him—maybe he could offer some help.
Yet.
“......”
For some reason, Hyun I-jin’s eyes were trembling.
His unconscious grip tightening on his sword sheath suggested a deep-seated grudge.
In the end, Dang Ye-won’s gaze returned to Dang Gon.
But it didn’t faze him in the slightest.
“I did tell you, didn’t I? To coldly assess your organization’s strength. I warned that high-rank could mean total annihilation.”
“This isn’t ‘could mean’—it’s ‘brace for’—”
“Did you enter this exam without that resolve?”
“......”
“If you don’t like it, hand back your tally and declare withdrawal.”
“......”
“What’ll it be?”
Dang Ye-won clamped her lips shut.
Quitting the enlistment here would crumble everything she’d built.
Her position as vice commander of the Green Standard Army would vanish like smoke.
But if she played this chance right...
Her eyes blazed with fire once she’d thought it through.
“Is there a set timeframe?”
“Half a year.”
“...Fine. That might be enough. We’ll do it.”
Dang Ye-won tucked the writ into her bosom and turned away.
Phoenix Hall looked troubled, but they soon read her mood and silently followed her out of the grand training ground.
Yi Cheolsan also neatly folded his writ and pocketed it.
“Annihilate River Lord Stronghold. They’re the most prominent among the Yangtze River Eighteen Strongholds lately, so it won’t be easy, but we’ll see it done safely.”
The River Lord Stronghold was a bandit group entrenched in the Doggang Rapids area near the capital.
As the name suggested, they wielded such fearsome power that they dared invoke the River God, Lord of the Waters.
Their stronghold lord, the Capital River Water God, held the rank of Second Elder even among the Yangtze River Strongholds of the seventy-two evil sects. He was a pinnacle master.
With such a figure planted right in the Doggang Rapids, not far from the capital, all flow of goods heading down the Yangtze to the Sichuan Basin was inevitably disrupted.
That’s why the Dang Clan’s outer territories had suffered greatly of late.
The outer territories were massive resource sinks in their own right.
Cut off from the outside, they’d take a huge hit.
Anyone could see this was the Yangtze River Strongholds—loyal to the Demonic Cult amid their war with the Dang Clan—manipulating the River Lord Stronghold for a proxy war.
Naturally, the Dang Clan had no choice but to draw their blades.
With Sichuan’s top young genius and a Ronin King on the move, the River Lord Stronghold would be on high alert.
The problem was that the Doggang Rapids weren’t an easy target.
The stronghold sat in the midst of the Yangtze’s upper reaches, infamous for its fiercest rapids.
A mission as tough as assassinating the Heartless Blade.
That’s why many examinees eyed Heavenly Sword Forest with concern, but Yi Cheolsan and his swordsmen couldn’t care less.
Their eternal banner was valor.
Even without this mission, they’d planned to subjugate the River Lord Stronghold someday.
With the outer territories even offering support, they had zero qualms.
“Other squads, select your missions!”
After that, squad missions were revealed one after another.
All targeted black道 sects stirring trouble or notorious figures in the martial world.
They were the Demonic Cult’s tentacles gnawing at Sichuan.
The Dang Clan seemed intent on swinging this new Gale Force sword wide to clean up Sichuan’s martial scene and claim it as their domain.
But.
“......”
I didn’t draw a writ until the end.
Dang Gon and the instructors shot puzzled looks my way. Even the tally bearers seemed flustered.
“What’s he doing all of a sudden?”
“I figured he’d grab a high-rank first—”
“No way he doesn’t trust us... right?”
Dang Gon tilted his head.
“Any issue with Half-Evil Punishment?”
I stared silently at Dang Gon.
No—precisely at the presence behind him.
Someone had sneaked in unnoticed by all.
Pfft.
I chuckled lightly and shook my head.
“Just got curious about something.”
“Curious?”
Dang Gon tilted his head again.
I drew a high-rank writ and unfurled it wide.
—Exterminate Dark Sky Squad.
As expected.
The mission for Half-Evil Punishment deviated not an inch from what I’d predicted.
The Dark Sky Squad was the shadow force representing the South Palace Dark Thunder Division’s third front line.
An assassin unit specializing in kills and strikes rather than espionage or intrigue.
Their mention meant the South Palace lackeys hiding in Joint Mountain were these guys.
“If we achieve results far superior to this mission, how’s the evaluation? Just a pass? Or straight to final admission without the third exam, maybe even snagging the Gale Force leader spot for me? Or... could we aim even higher?”
“!!”
No one had asked such a question, so Dang Gon and the instructors’ eyes widened.
Just as Dang Gon was about to reply, a Six Harmonies Voice Projection boomed from the sky.
『The rewards will vary by the achievements. What kind of achievements do you mean?』
It was the Dark Venerable.
The instructors all turned rearward and bowed in respect. The tally bearers hastily lowered their heads.
Only I grinned while facing that direction.
“Well, that’d depend on the situation and environment too. But there’s plenty to discuss, no?”
Fortunately, matters involving the South Palace and Demonic Cult—top secrets just days ago—were now declassified.
So I could set the board as I wished.
“For instance, the death of the Dark Thunder Division commander—”
Dang Gon and the instructors’ eyes bulged.
The corner of my mouth twisted.
“Or taking down the Phantom Sect leader, say.”
“!!!”
“!!!”
“!!!”