Death Is Fair to All (7)
The dark crimson blood flowed freely from Mak Won's mouth.
‘As expected, it was still too much.’
The Heavenly Armory Divine Art was a supreme divine technique passed down through the ages.
His master had taught him only a single core mental method, then forced him to devour countless martial arts manuals. On top of that came daily training that drew blood, and beyond the martial texts, he had been made to master scholarship at a level that would allow him to rise as a literary official.
It was training meant to cultivate both civil and martial excellence. But the instruction had not been given merely to broaden his horizons.
The single mental method that represented his master’s teachings revealed vastly different forms depending on the practitioner’s talent and perspective.
Mak Won had thoroughly studied countless books according to his master’s teachings, fought with fierce intensity, dissected martial arts manuals, and ultimately decided on the path he would walk.
What he had completed was the Heavenly Armory Divine Art. Though it had diverged completely from his master’s original mental method, it had blossomed into a genuine divine supreme technique.
Yet even with such a divine art, it was not enough to purge the poison from his body.
‘My internal and external injuries are severe. The environment is terrible as well.’
He had been circulating energy while riding at full gallop. A master of Mak Won’s caliber could perform comfortable energy circulation in any situation or posture. But when the body was this ravaged, concentration would inevitably falter and the circulation would become unstable.
What he needed now was a safe environment, proper treatment, and the chance to draw out the self-recovery ability of his divine art to its fullest.
‘No choice, then.’
The silver lining was that even with only a thread of internal energy left, he could somehow contain the poison. At least for the time being, it would not run wild. How long that “time being” would last, however, he could not say.
“Are you all right?”
Hwang Seok-tae, who had been running with relaxed footwork, asked the question.
Mak Won nodded.
“I’m fine. I’ve caused you unnecessary trouble because of me.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Given Hwang Seok-tae’s personality, those words did not come easily. It was a sign of just how much he respected Mak Won as a martial artist.
It was then.
BOOOOOOM!
Even though they were twenty li away from the battlefield, the explosive sound still reached them.
The destructive power was tremendous. At such a distance it was difficult to feel the shockwave or the aura, but the sound alone was enough to let them imagine how ferocious the battle must be.
“I’m worried,” Mak Won muttered, his expression dark.
He had every reason to be. Yeon Hojeong and Pae Yul were astonishingly powerful, but in the broader sense they were also his juniors.
Those juniors were currently staking their lives to block the enemy’s assault. Guilt, gratitude, helplessness, and bitterness all churned uncomfortably inside Mak Won’s chest.
Hwang Seok-tae glanced backward.
Nothing was visible. The distance was simply too great.
Still, he too had heard the explosion.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“Of course those two are strong, but…”
“I haven’t known them for very long either. I don’t fully understand the extent of their abilities.”
“Then shouldn’t we reinforce them? To let talents of their caliber die just to save a single life like mine…”
“There were orders from above. Live by command, die by command—that is the Iron Cavalry. And for the time being, those two also belong to the Iron Cavalry.”
“……”
“Right now, focus only on moving to a safe location.”
Mak Won gave a bitter smile.
“What else can I say?”
Thududududu.
The Iron Cavalry’s speed increased as time passed.
As they rode, Hwang Seok-tae thought to himself.
‘Cannons, an uncountable number of assassins, and even a supreme peak expert. That supreme peak expert was said to be heavily wounded, yet he still traded blows on near-equal footing with the Hundred Weapons Divine Lord. That alone is incredible.’
Why were legends called legends?
The reason was simple. They existed on an entirely different dimension.
The Sacred Heavens Thirteen Seats were masters on a completely different level from those who had reached peak or supreme peak. They were monstrous beings who had attained the realm of Limitless and then spent countless years refining their own unique domains.
What they saw was different. Where they stood was different. The fact that they could single-handedly produce a force so overwhelming that even the Nine Great Schools or the previous generation’s top experts would struggle to stop it already placed them beyond the category of human.
In other words, the enemy Yeon Hojeong was fighting was at the very least a master on the verge of the Limitless realm. Anything less, even if heavily injured, would have found it nearly impossible to block a single move from Mak Won.
‘Will they really be able to hold him off?’
The journey from Hunan to Guizhou had taken a little over ten days. Before that, he had barely spent ten days around the man. And of those, five had been spent seething with rage as a hostage rather than having any real conversation.
Less than a month of acquaintance. There was no particular reason for him to worry about Yeon Hojeong. The man was an important figure to the Black Dragon Department, but if he died here, it could not be helped.
Yet Hwang Seok-tae could not easily imagine Yeon Hojeong’s death.
‘He’s an insufferably arrogant bastard, but…’
Yeon Hojeong’s words came to mind.
His overwhelming martial prowess and that transparent confidence that showed not a single impurity.
‘He’s a guy who has the right to be arrogant.’
If he could, he would have fought alongside him. Not for Yeon Hojeong’s sake, but for the pride of the Iron Cavalry commander.
The Iron Cavalry was a unit that crushed, destroyed, and conquered. It was not a unit specialized in rescuing key personnel.
But the situation had come to this, so there was nothing to be done. Right now, completing the mission through flexible judgment took priority over pride.
‘Don’t die. If only we make it back alive, it’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth.’
“You would do well to stop.”
Beon Jak warned the two men who were approaching.
Pae Yul let out a snort of laughter.
“We’ll do whatever the hell we want, so you can keep yapping however you like. I’ll allow you that much freedom.”
“If you wish to lose your lives, come at any time.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
With a half-hearted reply, Pae Yul strode boldly toward Beon Jak.
Whoosh!
Golden flames erupted from Beon Jak’s hand as he pressed it against the ground.
The temperature of those flames was truly terrifying. Pae Yul unconsciously stopped in his tracks.
“Fucking hot. Even half-dead, you’re no small fry, huh?”
Pae Yul glanced sideways at Yeon Hojeong.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Stop. Getting any closer will be dangerous.”
“Looks that way.”
Pae Yul took three confident steps backward. His pride and battle-lust were strong, but he wasn’t the type to throw his life away for nothing.
Yeon Hojeong aimed the White Dragon Axe at Beon Jak.
Beon Jak’s eyes trembled slightly. An agitation he could not suppress with willpower alone appeared in his pupils.
“Hey, Yellow Flame.”
“……”
“You know the guy called Cheon Gang, the Second Martial General, right? Did you know he’s locked up in the Martial Alliance’s prison?”
“……!”
Beon Jak’s gaze deepened.
He had suspected it. But he had not expected them to have kept him alive until now.
Still, he wasn’t overly worried.
He knew Cheon Gang very well. The man sometimes acted frivolous and thoughtless, but his loyalty and venom were truly exceptional.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Would you rather be torn limb from limb, or join hands with that guy and cooperate with us?”
Beon Jak scoffed.
“What a ridiculous bastard. Even if I said I would cooperate, you don’t seem like the type who would believe me.”
Yeon Hojeong nodded readily.
“I wouldn’t. Would you believe someone like you?”
“Then why are you spouting this nonsense?”
“Who knows.”
Yeon Hojeong stroked his chin.
Honestly, even he didn’t fully understand why he had said such words. He had simply felt that killing the man right now would leave a bad aftertaste.
‘Something about this feels off.’
After sinking deep into thought for a moment, Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“Fine.”
In that instant—
BOOOOOOM!
“Ugh!”
He had tried to dodge somehow, but Yeon Hojeong’s Flying Axe Technique was simply too fast.
Beon Jak’s face twisted in agony. The White Dragon Axe had embedded itself in the thigh of his previously uninjured leg, tearing through the muscle fibers.
Spluuuurt!
The artery in the area pierced by the spear had already been torn. He had used the Golden Suppression Purification Energy to cauterize the severed artery and stop the bleeding, yet now it had happened again.
Fwoooooosh!
He hurriedly split his energy and directed it toward the thigh where the axe was lodged.
Hoo.
The swirling flames in Beon Jak’s hand lost their momentum.
His internal injuries were already severe, and now both legs were crippled. He had to seal the newly torn artery and prevent the blood vessels from curling upward toward his upper body.
On top of that, the bleeding was heavy. His already pale face now looked faintly bluish.
No matter how powerful the Fire Essence was, it could not restore blood that had already been spilled.
If he suffered another massive hemorrhage here, even the great Beon Jak would not be able to survive.
“While you’re organizing your thoughts, I have a few more questions.”
Yeon Hojeong squatted down as if to taunt him.
His posture was perfect. Ever since being dispatched to the Black Dragon Department, he seemed to be slowly reverting to the man he had been while living in the back alleys of the Dark Faction.
“You seemed to be acquainted with the Hundred Weapons Divine Lord.”
“……”
“Well, I can ask him for the details later. What I want to ask you is something else.”
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
“You weren’t only aiming for that gentleman, were you?”
Beon Jak did not answer.
Yeon Hojeong simply ignored the silent reaction.
“Whether you’ve occupied the imperial palace or taken control of the government offices, that’s your Shinhwa Sect’s business.”
“……”
“The remaining Four Yin Sect and Mad Blood Cult need to join forces to overturn the entire martial world.”
“……”
“Of course, I know you have quite a few Sacred Heaven-level experts on your side. I know that. But war isn’t just about clashing soldiers, is it? You need strategy, you need to manage supplies, and sometimes you have to sacrifice your own pieces to capture the opponent’s. That’s how it works.”
“……”
“In other words, from the perspective of you invaders, it’s best to eliminate our side’s strongest forces as much as possible. You need to remove variables, and you can’t afford a victory that leaves you too crippled to enjoy it.”
That was the basics of war.
Those who knew nothing said that when two armies clashed, one side had to be completely annihilated for the other to win.
But in real war, such things almost never happened. When massive armies collided, if one side suffered twenty to thirty percent losses or more, it was considered total annihilation.
The dictionary definition of annihilation and the military term for annihilation were different.
In military and wartime terminology, annihilation referred to a state where continued combat was impossible.
If the enemy’s forces remained largely intact while your own had lost twenty to thirty percent?
Retreat was mandatory. Continuing to fight would be meaningless.
If, in that meaningless fight, one side pursued the enemy to the end with the goal of completely destroying their combat capability and slaughtered them all, only then was the term “devastation” used.
That was the difference between annihilation and devastation.
That was why even when the opportunity to devastate an enemy unit arose, it was often avoided. The moment war turned from a contest of victory and defeat into a life-or-death struggle of mutual destruction, both sides would walk the path to ruin.
That was why wars did not break out easily. And even when they did, unless the difference in power was overwhelming, neither side would try to completely uproot the other.
That was war. That was politics.
“No matter how I think about it, the Hundred Weapons Divine Lord doesn’t seem like your first target.”
“……”
“No matter how it started, you chased and cornered the Hundred Weapons Divine Lord with perfect naturalness. That’s something impossible without experience.”
“……”
“Now for the real question.”
Yeon Hojeong asked in a chilling voice.
“The Ten Immortal Emperors and the Three Lords. How many have you won over, and how many have you killed? How many remain?”