The Humiliation of Paradise (8)
There is a saying that battle is about momentum.
It emphasizes the importance of morale. A unit buoyed by momentum can exert two or three times its original power, but a unit that has lost its momentum cannot even display half its original strength.
Units are made of people. In other words, the same principle applies to individuals as well.
The four masters facing Yeon Hojeong’s group could not hide their shock at this unbelievable outcome.
And they felt fear.
Even when the first battle began, they had only been startled by the enemy’s ambush—they had never thought they would lose.
But now? Less than a tenth of their allied forces remained.
Yet not a single enemy had died. The young master who appeared to be the enemy’s left-flank commander was the most injured, but judging by the momentum he radiated, he looked capable of fighting for another half-day.
The result was clear.
Defeat.
A force of fifty—eleven peak masters and thirty-nine first-rate masters—had been crushed by a mere four people.
This was an upheaval worthy of being recorded in Sichuan’s martial history. They—especially Myeongjin—still could not accept the outcome.
“Now then.”
Yeon Hojeong slung his twin axes at his waist and flexed his hands.
“Let’s leave that half-baked nun alive and kill the rest.”
Whoosh!
The first to charge was Kang Liang.
Kang Liang’s body was also drenched in blood. Much of it belonged to the enemy, but he himself bore numerous wounds.
Even with exceptional combat instincts, the fundamental gap in skill was obvious. He had fought valiantly, leaping from place to place, yet he too had sustained considerable internal and external injuries.
Nevertheless, the moment the words fell, he rushed forward. His blazing momentum and the soul of the Ghost Sword—the greatest blade of the Black Path—hungered for the enemy’s lives.
Clang!
The Qingcheng master was driven back by the powerful downward strike.
Kang Liang had broken through the Wall of No Return; he was a master who could look down upon him.
Yet he was being pushed back. Even accounting for Kang Liang’s dense killing intent and fighting spirit granting him strength beyond his usual level, the Qingcheng master’s helplessness was excessive.
This was the difference in momentum. When psychological shock is severe, even a weaker opponent can prevail in a contest of skill.
Pae Yul and Hwang Seok-tae moved next.
Clang! Clang!
Each took on one opponent.
Their skills far surpassed Kang Liang’s. The tide turned decisively in their favor in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions and shockwaves swept the surroundings.
And through the chaos, Yeon Hojeong walked forward.
Myeongjin, mouth agape as she stared at him, pulled a horn from her robes and blew it with all her might.
Peeeeeep!
It was clearly a sound beyond human hearing, yet it could be faintly perceived.
Myeongjin’s urgency in calling the first and third squads bled through the volume of the sound.
Yeon Hojeong frowned and rubbed his ear.
“It’s useless.”
“What?”
“The forces you’re trying to summon have already been annihilated.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“You should have kept your senses sharp. Why do you think I pushed that red-spear wielder’s power to the limit even at the cost of internal injuries?”
“……?!”
“Because there’s no one left to fight besides you lot. If that weren’t the case, I would have been more cautious even if it meant wearing down my stamina.”
Yeon Hojeong smiled.
Whooooom!
The White Tiger’s wind gathered around his fist.
“You probably won’t listen, but kneel quietly.”
Myeongjin looked around in panic. ……?! She could not tell.
She possessed remarkable senses, but not enough to detect the presence of the first and third squads from this distance.
No one could. Even Yeon Hojeong would have struggled to read the auras of the hidden Black Eyes at this range if they were deliberately concealing themselves.
Of course, he knew how to read the air rather than auras to detect enemies, so it made no difference.
“Damn it!”
Myeongjin faltered and began retreating.
There was no way to verify whether the enemy’s words were true. But seeing that no one came despite her blowing the horn, it seemed his claim was correct.
If so, that meant there was not a single person here who could help her.
In the end, Myeongjin had only one option left.
Whoosh!
She spun around in an instant and unleashed her movement technique.
Myeongjin’s footwork was astonishingly fast. She poured every ounce of her inner energy into fleeing at full speed. This cannot be happening. Myeongjin gritted her teeth. This cannot be happening!
Then—
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, Myeongjin’s body was hurled back toward Yeon Hojeong.
She could not even scream. Blood streamed from her nose and mouth as she flew, her mind unable to focus amid the shock that felt as though her entire body had gone numb.
But she understood one thing. I-I’m going to die?!
She had fallen from the cliff.
Yet her body would not obey. Her inner energy was unstable, and even if it had been full, plummeting with limbs that refused to move would be fatal. Aaaah!
At that moment, her descent slowed.
Whoosh. Thud!
“Gah!”
Even though her fall had slowed, the impact of slamming into the ground was tremendous.
Myeongjin’s mouth fell open. One leg was broken, and cracks ran through her ribs and collarbone.
Her eyes would not open properly. She seemed conscious yet not. She had suffered a concussion.
Yeon Hojeong gave a bitter laugh.
“I told you to kneel quietly.”
Swish.
Atop the cliff.
A figure rose from the darkness and soared into the sky with light, effortless movements.
Thud.
Even landing from midair produced almost no sound. His movement technique had reached the pinnacle.
“……”
The two men faced each other.
The first to speak was Dang Gwan.
“Quite the spectacle, you rude brat.”
Yeon Hojeong grumbled.
“Enjoying the show? If you were going to help, you should have done so sooner.”
“I wasn’t watching.”
In truth, Dang Gwan had come here immediately after destroying the first and third squads.
No matter how much he trusted his allies, minimizing casualties required lending a hand as quickly as possible. Dang Gwan was not ignorant of that fact.
Dang Gwan looked down at Myeongjin with cold eyes.
“Emei?”
“Yes.”
Staring at her for a moment, Dang Gwan stepped on her lower abdomen.
Thud!
“Ghk!”
Myeongjin trembled violently before losing consciousness. Her dantian and Qihai acupoint had been destroyed.
It was fortunate she had not died.
“Your methods remain as ruthless as ever.”
“And you’re one to talk? You’re the one who hacks people to pieces.”
“Stop treating me like some dismembering murderer.”
“Shut up.”
Yeon Hojeong sighed as he gazed at Dang Gwan.
“What about your son?”
“……”
Dang Gwan gave no reply.
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“You’ll need to steel your heart.”
“……”
“I’ve thrown him into the dungeon. With my own hands.”
“……”
“The time for such advice has passed.”
“I see.”
Yeon Hojeong turned away.
“Let’s go.”
Swish.
The moment the words left his mouth, Dang Gwan’s figure appeared before Hwang Seok-tae.
Hwang Seok-tae was startled.
Boom!
Dang Gwan neutralized the terrifying piercing force of the Red Dragon Divine Spear with a single punch.
It was truly astonishing power. Hwang Seok-tae staggered backward, then raised his spear warily.
But Dang Gwan had his back to him.
He was looking at the man Hwang Seok-tae had been fighting.
Dang Guk.
“……!”
Dang Guk’s expression was pure shock.
“P-Patriarch?!”
“……”
“Patriarch, you say?”
Dang Gwan smiled.
“Am I the patriarch?”
“……!!”
“I asked if I am the patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Family.”
Dang Guk could not speak. His face, utterly consumed by terror, looked on the verge of collapse.
The smile on Dang Gwan’s face vanished, replaced by an expressionless mask.
He raised his left hand and flicked his index finger and thumb.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the Qingcheng swordsman Kang Liang had been facing and the Emei fist master Pae Yul had been facing collapsed like broken dolls.
“Huh?!”
Splash!
The swordsman could not retrieve his blade in time. His body was cleaved diagonally by Kang Liang’s sword.
Thud!
Pae Yul’s opponent fared no better. The Emei fist master’s head was blown clean off by a single strike of the Sun-Piercing Art.
“……!!”
It was a chilling sight.
The atmosphere of the battlefield, once burning with the heat of combat, froze over like a winter ice field.
They soon realized that the two masters had fallen due to Dang Gwan’s poison.
That was what made it so terrifying. None of them had seen or sensed when or how Dang Gwan had administered the toxin.
Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes trembled. Terrifying!
This was the power of Dang Gwan, the apex of the Tang Family and the ruler of Sichuan.
It was not merely because he used poison. Even when employing it openly, no one could tell how he had done it, what poison he had used, or where in his movements the inner energy formula that triggered the toxin’s activation had been hidden.
Whoosh.
The wind that blew felt especially cold.
Dang Gwan asked Dang Guk,
“How many?”
“……”
“How many more are there?”
Dang Guk could not answer.
In fact, he could do nothing at all. He seemed frozen in place. The true qi he had gathered in both hands had vanished completely without him noticing.
He merely stared blankly at Dang Gwan, as though his mind had broken under the weight of an unbelievable reality.
Dang Gwan nodded.
“Even my own son was bewitched. It won’t end with just you.”
“……”
“I will strip the Tang surname from you.”
With those words, Dang Gwan turned away.
Hwang Seok-tae hesitated. Dang Gwan was looking at him.
After scanning Hwang Seok-tae from head to toe, Dang Gwan’s eyes gleamed.
“Your completion rate is impressive. Are you from the Black Dragon Department?”
“……Yes.”
“So there was talent there as well.”
Dang Gwan asked Yeon Hojeong,
“Is it all right to bring him in?”
Yeon Hojeong chuckled.
“The Black Dragon Department even took in someone as extremely dangerous as me.”
Dang Gwan frowned.
“Don’t equate the Black Dragon Department with my family.”
“Think of it as gaining one more hand for the cleanup.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Even if you don’t, we still have to start cleaning, don’t we?”
Dang Gwan looked at Hwang Seok-tae again.
At some point, Hwang Seok-tae had regained his usual expressionless face.
After gazing at him for a moment, Dang Gwan spoke.
“Don’t resent me even if you die.”
Hwang Seok-tae shook his head.
“I already have someone to resent. Don’t worry.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
Dang Gwan looked up at the sky for a moment.
“……”
This silence lasted longer than usual.
After staring at the sky for some time, Dang Gwan lowered his head.
“Let’s go. Tonight’s drinks are on me.”
“As you wish.”
Yeon Hojeong followed behind him.
Kang Liang sidled up to Yeon Hojeong and asked,
“Brother.”
“Hm?”
“What about that guy? Are we just leaving him?”
Kang Liang’s gaze was fixed on Dang Guk.
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“Leave him. And carry that unconscious nun on your back.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kang Liang tilted his head in confusion as he hoisted Myeongjin onto his back. Even then, Dang Guk continued staring blankly ahead. What’s wrong with him? Has he completely lost his mind? Still, was it really all right to leave such a dangerous man behind?
Kang Liang soon set aside his doubts. There must be a reason.
A short while later.
Just as the group reached the entrance of the street—
AAAAAARGH!
Dang Guk’s horrific scream echoed all the way there.
Only then did Kang Liang realize that Dang Guk had already been poisoned by Dang Gwan.
Most likely, Dang Guk would suffer hellish torment for a long time before dying.
Until the moment his breath left him, he would find no release from the pain.
Dang Gwan glanced at Yeon Hojeong.
“If you start complaining about cheap liquor again, I’ll make the same sound come out of your mouth.”
Yeon Hojeong gave a bitter laugh.
“Buy the expensive stuff, then. I’m scared, really.”