Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Legion
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“Haah, haah—”
Ha Hu Jeongmun spat out ragged breaths, his body soaked in sweat and fatigue.
Just moments ago, the last resisting member of the Dark Phantom Unit had fallen.
Not a single one among them had surrendered.
They had all cried out for desperate resistance to the death, and even if they had offered surrender, the Anti-Vice Corps had no capacity left to accept them, so they chose total annihilation.
Yet even after the battle ended, a strange heat refused to leave his body.
His heart pounded madly, and his head burned so hot that his vision seemed to narrow.
‘My first kill... I did it. With these hands.’
He had vaguely anticipated a day like this would come someday.
From the moment he boldly stepped out the door with grand ambitions of reviving his family.
From the moment he courageously submitted his application to join the corps, driven solely by the desire to become a legendary Stormwind member.
From the moment he was selected for the Anti-Vice Corps and assigned his mission—it was something he had steeled himself for.
But the reality was far too different from what he had imagined.
He looked down at his hands.
Blood still dripped steadily from his reddened hands and blade.
It felt utterly unreal.
Ha Hu Jeongmun still felt as if he were dreaming.
“Haah, haah, haah—”
But the funny thing was, it wasn’t like the revulsion or guilt that the more experienced corpsmen had described.
His heart simply raced wildly.
He was merely curious about this heat filling his entire body, this emotion, this ecstasy—what it all meant.
Then, belatedly, he realized.
‘This is... the weight of the battlefield. The overwhelming pressure. I was immersed in it.’
Ha Hu Jeongmun hurriedly averted his gaze elsewhere.
This air enveloping the battlefield.
At its center was undoubtedly.
‘...Corps Leader.’
There stood Un Hwi.
Just then, Un Hwi appeared, having slain the final Dark Phantom member and retrieving his bloodied dagger.
In this chaotic battlefield reeking of charred flesh, smoke, and dust, he was the only man clad in pristine white robes.
Standing without a speck of dirt, the first thought was that he seemed noble and aloof.
At that moment, their eyes met.
In an instant, Ha Hu Jeongmun’s heart pounded even more fiercely.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump...!
Ha Hu Jeongmun thought to himself.
He wanted to stand forever behind that fluttering white robe.
And charge like the stormwind alongside him.
* * *
“Report.”
“Nine dead, sixteen wounded. Twelve minor injuries, four severe. The severe cases should probably be left at the nearest branch.”
“Twenty-five casualties in our first battle?”
“Considering the target was the Dark Phantom Unit, it’s still a great victory.”
“Uncle, what I want isn’t some evaluation. It’s survival.”
“......”
“We still have a long way to go.”
Gong Son Beom nodded gravely.
It was his way of agreeing with me.
But he hesitated to voice it aloud, probably fearing it might demoralize the other members.
I understood.
Even so, it made me keenly feel the limitations of the Anti-Vice Corps.
No matter how renowned each corpsman was as an elite among Szechuan’s martial world.
Expecting them to become a perfect force after just a month of training seemed to be mere wishful thinking on my part.
「Still, haven’t we confirmed that the Anti-Vice Corps are fine raw gems?」
「A few more battles like this, polishing them here and there, and they’ll become beautiful jewels.」
「The Young Leader has every reason to take pride in his achievements!!」
The spirits gathered to console me, but the lingering unease in my heart didn’t fade.
Probably because the dead were those who had trained to the brink of death alongside us for a month.
Whether back in the cult or now, I still couldn’t get used to the deaths of those within ‘my people.’
‘Fifteenth, Sixteenth.’
「Yes sir! Fifteenth reporting!!」
「Yes sir! Sixteenth here, standing ready to carry out any order from the Young Leader!! Just give the command!!」
「Fifteenth here! The Young Leader needn’t trouble his lips with direct orders! A mere glance will suffice! This loyal servant will understand perfectly and carry it out!!」
「Sixteenth needs no glance at all! I’ll handle whatever’s needed before the Young Leader even realizes!!」
「What? Handle it preemptively? You worm! How dare you, as a subject, presume to read the sovereign’s mind in this place? Young Leader! Punish this traitor who dares probe your thoughts and twist them to his liking!!」
「Wh-what nonsense!? No, Young Leader! I had no such intent! Recognize this servant’s loyalty! Don’t listen to that eunuch-like scum trying to blind you!!」
「What? Eunuch? Eunuch?! Did you see that? Did you?!」
「I don’t need to see! You couldn’t even do that stuff when alive, you zombie! What’s the difference from a gelding?!」
「You woooorm!」
Fifteenth and Sixteenth grabbed each other by the collars and tumbled noisily, as usual.
Why were these two still like this?
In the end, I looked up at the nearby On Ma and said.
‘You’re still training the new recruit spirits, right?’
「Yes. So I believe.」
‘Toss those two in with them and roll them hard.’
「Your will be done.」
「Y-Young Leader!?」
「H-how can you lump a loyal servant like me with mere recruits—」
At that moment, Fifteenth and Sixteenth snapped their heads up.
‘Keep indulging them, and you’ll end up rolling with them too.’
「...I shall monitor them mercilessly—no, even more strictly—to remake their attitudes!!」
‘Good work.’
「Your will!!」
「Young Leadeeeeer! Hear me oooout!!」
「Please! Please, mercy pleaaaase!!」
Fifteenth and Sixteenth lunged to grab even my pant leg, but On Ma’s bellow came first.
「What are you lot doing?! Don’t chew them to bits already!!」
「Kuhehehel! Justice Peak’s been bored lately—perfect timing! Slurp!」
「Knew it from when they bickered in front of the Young Leader. Tsk tsk. After all that experience with him, how do you still not get his temperament?」
「Sometimes a good beating wakes the mind right up.」
The spirits swarmed Fifteenth and Sixteenth, starting a thorough thrashing.
Crash! Bang!
「Kweeeek! Young Leader! Young Leadeeeeer!」
「Let go of me! Do you know who I am, laying your filthy hands on— Kekekeuk!」
Recently with the Wandering Sword Emperor, and now the Yin Thunder Divine Sword we just slew.
With battles coming nonstop for a while, the number of captured spirits would surge.
I was sorting the jade from the stones bit by bit.
Cooperative ones: jade. Defiant ones: stone. Culling numbers like that, steadily building my own spirit legion.
Once complete, the possibilities would be endless.
Spirit arts were the starting point of authority as the Ghost King.
—Legion.
Living or dead, I still needed far more reinforcements.
“Gong Son Beom.”
“Yes, Corps Leader.”
“When deploying the Annihilation Palm next time, alter the internal energy flow from inner core through Dragon Spring and Great Stream to a light wave form, twisting it spirally two or three times.”
“!?”
“That should make a difference.”
At my offhand remark, Gong Son Beom suddenly seemed struck by insight and fell into contemplation.
Muttering to himself incomprehensibly while fiddling with his right foot—it looked like it might bring good news soon.
“Ha Hu Jeongmun, you put too much unnecessary force when swinging downward. Handle the sword feeling like you’re tensing from your right latissimus to external obliques, and cycle energy from Heavenly Pivot through Great Sway, Spirit Pivot, Supreme Yellow, Heavenly Surge, Bladder Hollow—”
“W-wait a moment! The energy cycle—”
“Bae Hye-in. Your energy climbs toward the upper dantian but stalls midway, breaking the flow. Like membrane rupture—inner power mustn’t interrupt. Especially the ascent to the upper dantian; blockage risks qi deviation. So use the flow from the Assembly Hall burst—”
“Yes!”
“And—”
What mattered to me was completing the legion.
A legion that could be my hands and feet, my spears and blades, my arrows and shields anytime.
As the battle wrapped up, I pointed out deficiencies to the corpsmen and suggested fixes.
If their arts were lacking, fixes for the arts; bad habits, corrections; lacking courage, encouragement.
The still-hot post-battle air cooled swiftly.
The corpsmen were absorbed in mastering their new assignments.
“There might be Dark Phantom spies hidden nearby. Search the area thoroughly.”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
Those without immediate tasks were ordered to scout the vicinity.
Word was the Dark Phantom Unit was tangled in complex political webs. Third-party eyes might be watching from afar.
With spirits dispatched too, anything suspicious would get caught quick.
I planned to conceal this battle’s outcome as long as possible.
That way, we could keep stabbing at the South Palace Clan’s blind spots.
「This incident will sow seeds of doubt about Bi Cheon Village within the South Palace too.」
‘Yeah. So squeeze every last drop of use out of it before then.’
Right then.
Flutter!
A swallow burst powerfully from the forest edge overhead.
Clarion Red Swallow.
A spirit bird the South Palace Clan secretly handled during intelligence contests.
‘On Ma!’
「Leave it to this servant!!」
On Ma, circling above, folded wings and dove.
But then.
From the opposite sky where On Ma flew, something streaked in like a beam of light.
“…What’s that?”
Immense momentum.
Subtle, yet packed with feral savagery.
My gaze whipped toward it.
The sensitive Gong Son Beom and Three Arrow Assassins paused meditation, eyes snapping open to stare.
If it was South Palace, we needed full defense.
But the beam meant to guard the Clarion Red Swallow instead pierced it and hurtled straight at us.
“!?”
“Everyone, fall back!”
“No. No need.”
Gong Son Beom moved to pull back the corpsmen.
But I stopped him.
As the beam neared, I recognized its owner.
Whoosh.
A smile crept to my lips.
This uncle—looks like he’d devour a mountain beast raw, yet pulls off such cute stunts?
The beam slammed down before my feet in an instant.
Boom!
It plunged deep into the ground.
At its tip hung the skewered Clarion Red Swallow corpse and a limply fluttering letter.
The golden glow faded.
Revealing a snowy blade and lion-headed polearm hilt.
Fierce Lion Blade.
The cherished weapon that should be far in southeastern Guizhou manifested.
And.
Thud!
Atop the embedded Fierce Lion Blade’s haft, a massive figure landed lightly, belying his bulk.
A man embodying the lion’s ferocity and gold’s brilliance.
He grinned roguishly at me.
Lightly shaking his gourd.
“Kept my promise to drink with brother—brought the priciest, tastiest brew from Guizhou. Grateful to this Wu Xing, eh?”
Slosh slosh—
‘Travel safely. Next time, I’ll visit Lion Gate.’
‘Sure thing. Though we’ll meet before then.’
‘?’
‘Anyway, next time we meet, I’ll treat you to Guizhou’s finest.’
‘Looking forward to it.’
‘Hahaha! Expect the best. I’m eager to see you too. Off I go!’
His words from departing Tang Family Castle resurfaced.
I’d wondered then. So that’s what he meant.
Seems the evaluator for the Anti-Vice Corps inspection was this fellow.
I said.
“Didn’t I say I’d visit Guizhou this time?”
“Waiting quietly for brother had me itching. So I just bolted out.”
“And your sect?”
“The underlings’ll handle it fine, no?”
His brazen attitude unchanged.
Lion Gate Lord Lion Blade King Wi Ji Hu-myeong flashed a toothy grin.
“Been well, brother?”