Fate (5)
“What the hell?!”
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the air, and crimson blood sprayed like mist. Chunks of flesh scattered, shattered bones flew through the sky. A human body had been torn to bloody shreds.
Whoooosh! Bang!
It was an overwhelming force. Someone charging at blinding speed was mowing down the Hwarang Group bandits positioned to the south, dropping them like felled trees. It was as if a siege ram pulled by dozens of warhorses was smashing through everything in its path.
But it wasn’t a siege ram—it was a man.
A black shaft, a white axe blade. The divine weapon of black and white, etched with a roaring dragon, was sweeping through the bandits like autumn leaves in a gale.
BOOM! Bang!
No one could stop it. This was an endless charge that entertained no thought of retreat. The charge of the Western Great Emperor, the Ruler of Wind, White Tiger—it tore into and battered away every enemy in sight.
“Th-this!”
Hang Chun’s face drained of color.
Whoosh!
He still couldn’t even make out who the attacker was. All he could see in his vision were the chunks of his allies’ corpses flying apart in every direction.
And the killing intent. A destructive malice surged like a tsunami, intent on pulverizing every bandit here.
“Retreat! Fall back! Deeper inside!”
That was when it happened.
Twing! Thwack!
“Kuh!”
Hang Chun instinctively twisted his torso, but a chunk of muscle tore from his left shoulder.
An archer?!
Yes. The archer who had just slaughtered the bandits near the hostages was now joining the fray.
Damn it!
Hang Chun bellowed.
“Grab the hostages first! Wipe them out completely!”
Rumble!
Dozens of bandits hurled themselves toward the women. A few sneaking in might have been manageable, but this unified charge was another story. No matter how godlike the archery, it couldn’t block them all.
In truth, Muk Bi was caught off guard. She’d thought she’d instilled enough fear, but she hadn’t expected such reckless abandon.
Damn!
Twang-twng-twng!
She poured every ounce of her inner energy into a rapid volley, felling a dozen or so. But the remaining thirty-odd bandits were already upon the women.
She couldn’t kill them all—but she couldn’t stop either. Muk Bi quickly reached into her quiver.
……?!
No arrows.
She’d been so focused on guarding the hostages that she hadn’t noticed she’d emptied it. A first in Muk Bi’s life.
She cried out without thinking.
“No!”
Then, something astonishing happened.
Clank-rattle!
A long black-gray chain writhed through the air like a living thing.
BOOM!
The black-and-white axe, famed as the Mad Dragon, spun at high speed, indiscriminately cleaving the enemies ahead before slamming into the ground.
And then.
Bang!
The air exploded.
A ultra-short-range, hyper-speed flame step. The power of the Vermilion Bird, the legendary divine beast worshipped as the Sun God and Ruler of the South, whipped up a whirlwind around the youth gripping the chain.
Sizzle! Clang!
The chain, heated red-hot by the fiery energy, stretched out, coiling around the bandits’ necks.
Yeon Hojeong yanked the Jiao Dragon Chain with all his might.
Thwack!
The heads of the five lead bandits wrapped in the chain flew off.
But that wasn’t all. The moment their heads detached, he reaccelerated with uncanny agility, launching himself into the air.
Clang!
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes blazed with fiery light as he gripped the chain with both hands.
Thud-thud-thud!
The chain whipped around in a short spin, shattering and bursting the bandits’ bodies.
Yeon Hojeong roared.
“Hah!”
BOOM!
A thousand-jin drop. He twisted his body mid-fall at tremendous speed, swinging the chain.
Thud-thud-thud!
And that was it. Like wielding the Gwangryongbu, he swept the chain horizontally, ripping the remaining bandits from top to bottom.
Clank-rattle!
Left unchecked, the chain would swing back and endanger the hostages. Yeon Hojeong hardened it with exquisite inner energy, sending the tip soaring high into the sky before slamming it down vertically.
Splurt!
A burly bandit’s body split lengthwise.
Clang!
In one fluid pull, he slashed a diagonal line across another’s upper body. His mastery of the chain in real combat came naturally, as if it were an extension of his hand.
Yeon Hojeong shouted.
“Spearmen!”
Whoosh!
Ten spear-wielding Ami Pa soldiers in winged helmets charged through the path their commander had cleared, taking positions around the hostages.
Having weathered countless battles, the entire Myeol Sa Army moved in perfect sync. Among them, Song Yeon-gyeong and her Ami Pa spearmen were unmatched in forming formations.
The spear—a weapon of unity and perfect coordination.
“Protect the hostages!”
“Yes, sir!”
Their response speed outpaced even the Tang Ma Army soldiers. Yeon Hojeong’s orders were absolute. Without further commands, they would hold this spot until death.
Whoosh!
Yeon Hojeong shot forward in a single bound.
Thud! Thud-thud!
The Myeol Sa Army was never flashy. No one shouted battle cries. They knew all too well that raising voices in this chaos only bred confusion.
They simply killed. They slew the enemies before them and listened only to their leader, Yeon Hojeong. They knew precisely how to act in any situation.
This was why they could shatter black path sects despite lacking massive martial growth. The Myeol Sa Army was strong. Their organization, experience, and unbreakable spirit made it possible.
And the one who had forged them was Yeon Hojeong.
“Hwasan, take the west! Kunlun, hold the center! Everyone else, seal the northern retreat!”
Even small forces could turn the tide by leveraging martial specialties. Yeon Hojeong’s insight was unparalleled, his orders impeccably timed, and his own actions exemplary.
“Manho! I’m going left! Throw the axe!”
BOOM!
An explosive blade strike sent three bandits flying. It was Paeng Manho’s Paeng Family Blade Law Hun Won Byeok Ryeok Do.
Not a mere slash, but a blast. A bit more inner energy to halt the enemy’s momentum from behind.
All Myeol Sa Army soldiers fought this way. They didn’t kill indiscriminately. They read the flow of battle, adapting even the nature of their techniques.
Veterans of a hundred battles didn’t begin to describe their judgment. Their practical experience spanned mere months, but constant fighting without rest had ingrained this survival instinct.
Thud! Thud!
Paeng Manho battered bandits with his massive blade and felled close ones with his left fist. Reaching the spot where the Gwangryongbu had fallen with his immense breakthrough power, he hooked his foot on the shaft.
His thigh bulged massively.
“Army Leader!”
Twing!
The eighty-geun Gwangryongbu sliced through the air toward Yeon Hojeong.
Thwack!
Having repelled the bandits with a flashy chain sweep, Yeon Hojeong caught it seamlessly.
His eyes flashed.
Cling!
Finally, bound. He hooked the Jiao Dragon Chain securely onto the large ring at the Gwangryongbu’s shaft end and summoned his White Tiger Qi to its limit.
Yeon Hojeong intoned coldly.
“Gotcha, you double-damned bastards.”
Hang Chun’s eyes widened.
“D-dodge!”
Flash! Whoooosh!
Thud-thud!
The spinning Gwangryongbu, chained to the Jiao Dragon Chain, devastated the surroundings. The pinnacle White Tiger Qi, fueled by tremendous centrifugal force, boasted ultimate attack power, while his ninth-seong Bi-ra Jin-gyeol stabilized his body.
It was a calamity.
Yeon Hojeong became the eye of the storm himself, whirling the chained Gwangryongbu to conjure a bloody dragon twister.
Splurt!
Bandits caught in the ultra-fast spinning axe were ripped apart and flung skyward.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
A terrifying might. Yeon Hojeong was incredible for swinging that massive axe at invisible speeds, but the chain enduring its insane weight and power was equally miraculous.
Terror-stricken bandits scattered in all directions, but Yeon Hojeong didn’t let them.
Thoom!
Using Blood Wing Swing Heaven footwork, he darted everywhere, unleashing the axe storm. It was an unstoppable natural disaster.
The axe, swung with vast inner energy, became a peerless technique in itself, shattering the enemy ranks.
“Impossible!”
The blood of his subordinates, spraying into the air, formed a swirling vortex carried by the wind, rising high.
A bloody dragon twister.
His maximally refined inner energy hurled the bandits’ blood and flesh into the heavens amid the gale.
Clank!
Yeon Hojeong gripped the Gwangryongbu’s shaft, halting the spin.
Good.
Dozens of bandits lay dead from that brief Blood Wind Dance. Of course, Yeon Hojeong wasn’t unscathed. He’d dumped massive inner energy in an instant for a quick resolution, suffering severe internal injuries from the strain.
But that was all. Or rather, just that.
Azure Dragon!
Hummm!
A brilliant jade-green energy blazed around Yeon Hojeong’s body. Azure Dragon Qi.
Overriding the other three divine energies as his primary, it began rapidly controlling the strain and wounds on his body.
Whiiiine!
Liver function activated, channeling turbid qi to the kidneys. As it gathered, Black Tortoise Qi ignited automatically, vaporizing it all.
He couldn’t heal the fresh internal injuries instantly, but this was enough. His body was primed for another all-out strike.
BOOM!
Left hand on the chain, right on the massive chained axe, Yeon Hojeong’s charging form was the very incarnation of Yama, lord of hell.
“Gasp!”
Startled, Hang Chun turned to flee.
This superhuman had inflicted unbelievable damage with axe and chain. No frontal fight was feasible, and even with dozens of Hwarang Group bandits, survival wasn’t guaranteed.
I’ll die! No doubt!
Hang Chun sprinted toward the inner camp with all his might.
That was when.
“You moron.”
Hummm!
The Gwangryongbu flew from the right, arcing left. Hang Chun’s eyes bulged.
A black-gray chain had already coiled around his neck.
This can’t be…!
Crack! Splurt!
His neck snapped and tore clean off. The axe’s weight proved too much.
A brutal end, fitting for one who’d slain and defiled countless souls.
Yeon Hojeong surveyed the surroundings.
Good.
The battle’s flow had shifted. Numbers were even now. More crucially, his and the Myeol Sa Army’s arrival had crushed the Hwarang Group’s morale.
Time to end it.
“Tang Ma Army!”
Yeon Hojeong roared.
“Full counterattack! We take them all in one koku!”
His thunderous command echoed. Though not their direct superior, the Tang Ma Army soldiers charged as if they’d been waiting.
Their morale soared from the terrifying prowess Yeon Hojeong and the Myeol Sa Army had displayed.
“Kill them all!”
“Advance! Charge!”
“Raaah!”
The Tang Ma Army surged again with monstrous cries. The remaining three leaped into the fray as well.
Whoosh!
Ok Cheong spewed Taiji energy, shielding the Tang Ma Army vanguard. Cheok Gang felled bandits head-on with practical martial arts. And Muk Bi soared on divine steps, raining invisible qi bullets from the sky.
At last, the combined Tang Ma Myeol Sa Army unleashed its full might, beginning the extermination of the Hwarang Group.