Chapter 15: Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad-5
Chapter 15: Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad-5
It was a moonless Sakwol night.
It happened to be the night our squad had night patrol.
Even for veterans who had spent years on the front lines, night patrol was always an unending stretch of tension.
Demons like owl fiends lurking in the pitch-black darkness, and Blood Cult demon heads who occasionally targeted squad members for essence absorption or carnal lust — even for peak-level masters, they were sufficiently threatening.
Our squad, however, was a little different.
Because we had Squad Leader Seolpung with us.
"Hold."
When Squad Leader Seolpung, who was leading us at the vanguard, muttered in a low voice, we all halted in place and scanned our surroundings.
He murmured.
"It's an owl fiend."
The moment his words ended, a demon leaped out from the darkness without a sound.
Pak!
It was an ambush that would have been incredibly threatening if we had been caught completely unaware.
But the creature that had flung its body toward us had its head burst apart mid-flight.
Puh-seok!
It was because Squad Leader Seolpung's kick technique, launched at a speed far greater than the owl fiend's, had shattered its skull like a watermelon.
Having killed one owl fiend in an instant and returned, Squad Leader Seolpung spoke to us.
"Situation resolved. There are no more."
He was a reliable figure every single time I saw him.
He was to the point that even I, a man, could have fallen for him.
For Squad Leader Seolpung, who trained with his eyes covered even during ordinary times, night patrol was nothing but a routine task, no different from any other patrol.
Na Seo-yu Sojeo and Cheon Ju-eun Sojeo smiled brightly as they spoke to him.
"You worked hard again today, Squad Leader-nim."
"Squad Leader-nim is truly the best! You're so cool, Squad Leader-nim!"
At their words, Squad Leader Seolpung became visibly flustered and waved his hands dismissively.
"Ah, ah, no. W-what do you mean cool? It was nothing. L-let us continue on quickly!"
When Squad Leader Seolpung, having said that, fled back to the vanguard as if running away, Na Sojeo and Cheon Sojeo giggled. In truth, we all knew he hadn't just gone as if running away — he had actually run away.
It was a bewildered sight that completely erased the incredibly cool image from just moments before.
At any rate, if it weren't for that phobia of women, Squad Leader would truly have been perfect.
Having trained only in the mountains since childhood, Squad Leader Seolpung found dealing with women exceedingly difficult.
No, 'terrified by them' rather than 'finding them difficult' seemed to be the more accurate expression.
At any rate, he was a person who made you confused as to whether you should regret his imperfection due to such behavior, or be thankful that it at least made him human.
Suddenly, a memory from the past surfaced.
In my previous life, that habit of his had only been fixed after one person had died.
Having briefly recalled a bitter memory, I shook my head.
Because in this life, I simply had to make sure it didn't turn out that way.
To do that, I first had to deal with that bastard who had been the cause of it.
I glanced toward Ju Tae-gyeong, the Jeomchang Sword Viper, and his cronies who were following far behind us.
Ju Tae-gyeong, who didn't acknowledge Squad Leader Seolpung, always acted separately like that, taking his own cronies.
On top of that, if he truly had confidence, he ought to go ahead of us, but he always just followed behind from the rear like that.
Indeed, he was nothing if not a snake-like bastard.
Of course, that didn't mean the danger had completely disappeared.
Before Cheongyeon Sojeo and I arrived, I had heard that two people got taken out by a demon precisely because they acted that way and were ambushed from the rear.
As I was looking at them, Bi Sa-yeong asked me.
"Anyway, in just two weeks' time, it will be time for your duel with that bastard. Are you confident?"
"Well. Would I be confident? I'll just work hard at it."
"Hmph! What kind of talk is that? You absolutely have to grind him into paste. I will believe in you."
At that, Squad Leader Seolpung, who had been walking at the vanguard, chimed into the conversation before we knew it.
"If only his internal energy were on equal footing, Jin's skill would naturally be superior. The internal energy is the problem. It would have been good if he at least had a half-gapja so he could use sword qi."
"Hmm."
He was right; internal energy was indeed the problem.
My current internal energy was roughly between twenty and thirty years. Considering that the minimum internal energy required to use sword qi was a half-gapja — thirty years — it was a difficult problem to solve within just two weeks.
Suddenly, Na Seo-yu Sojeo asked with a worried face.
"That aside, isn't it true that not everyone with over a half-gapja of internal energy can use sword qi? You have to gain enlightenment and surpass the wall of Sword Energy Harming first, don't you?"
Her words were also correct.
Just as the wall of first-rate was Sword Energy Harming and the wall of peak-level was Energetic Force Solidification, there were those who, depending on the person, said manifesting sword qi was harder than manifesting energetic force.
Of course, for me, who had already surpassed the wall of Sword Energy Harming in my previous life, it was an irrelevant concern.
Cheongyeon Sojeo answered for me.
"That should be fine. Seonu Gongja is a strange person whose spirit has already surpassed the first-rate realm, but whose internal energy is not yet first-rate."
...Sharp as always.
At that, Bi Sa-yeong asked again, as if frustrated.
"From what I see, it looks like you have some hidden card you're trusting in. Can't you just tell us straight out? We're the only ones listening, anyway."
Hmm, would it be alright to say it first?
It's something everyone will find out in two weeks anyway, and I could certainly trust the people here.
Having briefly deliberated, I finally decided to tell them.
"Actually, before coming here, my father gave me one spirit medicine. It's a spirit medicine that can yield about ten years of internal energy."
It was actually two, but I decided to conceal one for now.
Hearing this, Bi Sa-yeong's face brightened instantly as he asked again.
"Oh, that's great. Then why not eat it now?"
At that moment, Squad Leader Seolpung spoke.
"There seems to be an issue of purity. Does it contain a lot of external energy?"
At his sharp question, I answered bitterly.
"Yes, that's correct."
"How many tenths?"
"If I ingest the spirit medicine, it seems it will be around five-tenths."
"Hmm."
When Squad Leader Seolpung closed his mouth with a serious face, Cheon Ju-eun Sojeo, who couldn't follow our conversation, asked.
"What are you talking about? Am I the only one who didn't understand?"
As Squad Leader Seolpung put on a slightly troubled expression at her words, Cheongyeon Sojeo answered in his stead.
"If external energy, such as from a spirit medicine, exceeds five-tenths of your total internal energy, the risk of qi deviation increases. It seems Seonu Gongja is saying that will be the case if he ingests the spirit medicine now."
"Ah, qi deviation."
That was it.
This was the reason I was delaying ingesting the spirit medicine until the very end.
Of course, since I was still rapidly purifying the internal energy in my body with the outstanding capability of the Primordial Infinite Art, I intended to ingest it after it became a bit safer.
Because with a little more time, unless that Ju Tae-gyeong bastard climbed to the upper tier of first-rate, at his current middle tier of first-rate, I figured I could somehow handle it with that much.
Cheon Ju-eun Sojeo put her finger to her lips and murmured.
"Hmph, I thought eating spirit medicines was all good, but there really are problems."
When Cheon Ju-eun Sojeo, who was short and had a baby face, made such a gesture, she looked unbearably adorable.
Just as everyone was grinning at her cute appearance, Bae Jong-gwan, who fatally adored cute things, couldn't hold back and cut in.
"I-I have never eaten such a thing either, Cheon Sojeo."
At Bae Jong-gwan's words, Cheon Sojeo smiled bashfully and replied.
"Ah, I see. Gongja-nim is the same as me."
"Keu-euk!"
When Bae Jong-gwan clutched his chest at her cute appearance, we all turned our heads away and ignored him.
Na Seo-yu Sojeo suddenly changed the subject.
"Anyway, it looks like it will be busy for the time being. There's Seonu Gongja's duel, and right after that, there will be the summit between the Alliance Leader and the Blood Demon. It feels awkward. We only ever fought demons after coming to the front lines; we've never experienced events like these."
Come to think of it, there was that as well.
About a month after the sparring match with Ju Tae-gyeong ended, the formal summit between the Murim Alliance and the Blood Cult was held, of all places, in the Thirteen Squads.
It was a summit where the Murim Alliance Leader, Hyeopwang Mo Yong-geom, and the Blood Cult's leader, the Slaughter Blood Demon Jeon Mu-gwang, would meet. There were many who worried that instead of a summit, a second Great Blood War might break out.
However, from what I had experienced in my previous life, they had surprisingly met very peacefully, only talked, and then parted ways.
Bi Sa-yeong suddenly grumbled.
"Tsk, it's terrifying to think about how Vice-Leader Heon will throw a fit trying to look good. Why does it have to be held in the Thirteen Squads, of all places?"
At Bi Sa-yeong's words, everyone nodded their heads.
That was because Vice-Leader Heon Yeong-bo, whose head was already filled only with thoughts of impressing his superiors to get out of this place, had been making a huge fuss about organizing the unit and cleaning.
At that moment, Cheongyeon Sojeo, who never considered the flow of the surrounding conversation when something piqued her curiosity, abruptly asked.
"But isn't it strange? If the risk of qi deviation increases just when external energy exceeds five-tenths, how on earth do the demon heads of the Blood Cult, who accumulate most of their internal energy through essence absorption, stay alive?"
"Huh?"
"Is that... so?"
Usually, when Cheongyeon Sojeo asked such questions, the atmosphere would grow chilly, but this time it seemed she had succeeded.
In fact, I was also a bit curious.
Right.
Those bastards mostly built up their internal energy by absorbing others' essence. How were they just fine?
We all racked our brains, but unfortunately, no one knew the answer.
***
The next day, while the other members of Squad Seven were gathered and training, the Jeomchang Sword Viper, Ju Tae-gyeong, was also absorbed in his training.
"Haaaap!"
Swhuaaak!
A hazy sword qi extended like the tip of a spear and pierced the atmosphere.
It was a sight truly befitting a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects.
Squad Leader of Squad Four, the Jeomchang Sword Eagle Ma Yu-gyeom, who was observing his training, nodded his head and spoke.
"Indeed, having a goal accelerates improvement. You've clearly grown. Now I can confidently say you're a first-rate upper-level warrior."
At his praise, Ju Tae-gyeong cupped his fist respectfully and answered.
"Thank you, jangmun sahyeong. It is all thanks to your guidance."
In the annihilated Jeomchang Sect, there officially was no sect leader. Yet neither Ju Tae-gyeong, who called Ma Yu-gyeom jangmun sahyeong, nor Ma Yu-gyeom, who heard it, found it the least bit awkward.
That was because Ma Yu-gyeom was the third strongest among the countless Jeomchang disciples fighting at the frontline to avenge their sect, and also the son of Jeomchang Sect Leader Ma Won-ung, who had been killed by the Blood Cult.
Had the Jeomchang Sect remained intact, he would naturally have become the next sect leader.
With such background and skill, and even a face as handsome as carved jade, Ma Yu-gyeom's influence within the unit was immense.
It was known that he commanded numerous followers not only within the Thirteen Squads but in other units as well.
Ma Yu-gyeom spoke again.
"Lately the squad members have been babbling about that bastard, calling him Diamond Flying Star or Iron Body Meteor, but I don't think you'll lose to someone who's merely second-rate. However, don't be satisfied with simply not losing. You must show the overwhelming presence befitting a Jeomchang Sect disciple. Understood?"
"Yes! Jangmun sahyeong!"
Ma Yu-gyeom suddenly recalled his first meeting with that insolent Seonwoo Jin.
When Seonwoo Jin, Cheongyeon, and Cheon Ju-eun first came to the Thirteen Squads, all squad leaders had gathered to arrange their squad assignments.
At that time, Ma Yu-gyeom had actually tried to bring Seonwoo Jin into his own squad.
Contrary to the first impression that made him frown due to excessive weight, upon hearing that Seonwoo Jin and Cheongyeon had caught an owl demon just the day before, Ma Yu-gyeom immediately took interest in him.
"Men with no experience whatsoever caught an owl demon?! Is that true?!"
But Seonwoo Jin had smiled awkwardly and tried to humble himself.
"The one who caught that blind demon was Lady Cheongyeon beside me. With me being merely second-rate, I couldn't do anything."
In truth, Seonwoo Jin had wanted to avoid Ma Yu-gyeom's attention, but even that demeanor could only appear humble in Ma Yu-gyeom's eyes.
It was undeniably a highly favorable impression.
At that moment, Lady Cheongyeon beside Seonwoo Jin had also spoken thus.
"I may be superior in martial arts, but it was Young Master Seonwoo Jin who struck that demon immune to sword qi with a chair to save my life, and who pried open the demon's eyelids to make it open its mouth. All I did was simply thrust my sword qi into the demon's mouth as instructed by Young Master Seonu."
Hearing this, Ma Yu-gyeom could not help but admire him.
A man who had never even encountered a demon, and a martial artist at merely the second-rate level at that, had risked his life to approach a demon and pry its eyes open.
Moreover, when people asked how he knew that owl demons were weak to light, did he not answer that he had gathered intelligence in advance to prepare for coming to the frontline?
Considering that frontline intelligence was not leaked to the outside due to information control, one could guess how much effort he must have expended to gather that intelligence.
There was no reason to hesitate further.
He judged that despite still being second-rate, this was a fellow well worth nurturing.
Ma Yu-gyeom spoke with a satisfied expression.
"Knowing that owl demons are weak to light and actually prying open a demon's eyelids are entirely different matters. Your preparedness is excellent, and your courage even more so. I am pleased. Daeju, I will take him to the Fourth Squad. We happen to have a vacancy in my squad, so that should be acceptable, yes?"
It was when even Grand Master Pung Yang was about to nod at Ma Yu-gyeom's request.
That bastard suddenly shouted.
"I cannot!"
At his sudden refusal, Ma Yu-gyeom furrowed his brow deeply and asked.
"What? You cannot?"
In an instant, Ma Yu-gyeom's mood turned exceedingly foul.
That he would dare refuse an offer from himself, who would have become the successor to the sect leader had the Jeomchang Sect been intact, and whose influence within the Thirteen Squads was thus no less than a grand master's—this was utterly unforgivable.
Ma Yu-gyeom scowled and asked fiercely.
"Are you saying you won't join my squad?"
Seonwoo Jin, who had shouted, had actually been flustered as well.
Though he disliked Ma Yu-gyeom, making an enemy of him from the start, when he had so many followers, was too burdensome.
After staring at him in apparent bewilderment for a moment, Seonwoo Jin suddenly whipped his head around and shouted toward Seventh Squad Leader Seol Pung, who sat leisurely in a corner.
"You are Squad Leader Seol Pung, aren't you?! Ever since I first encountered frontline intelligence, I've thought I absolutely must join Squad Leader Seol Pung's squad! Please, accept me!"
At that, the flustered Seol Pung instead widened his eyes and pointed at himself with his finger, asking.
"M-me?"
Seonwoo Jin nodded vigorously and shouted once more with fervent eyes and voice.
"That's right! To be able to crush the heads of monsters immune to sword qi with fist and foot techniques! From the moment I heard that, I resolved that I absolutely had to join Squad Leader Seol Pung's squad and learn fist and foot techniques!"
Of course, it was a lie.
Because in his past life, Seonwoo Jin had refused to learn even when Seol Pung had offered to teach him fist and foot techniques.
Back then, he had thought fighting demons with bare hands and feet was too brutish and terrifying.
But Ma Yu-gyeom, who had no way of knowing this, sneered, thinking he couldn't let someone like Seol Pung snatch away a fellow who had caught his eye for the first time in a while.
"Ha! You dare refuse my offer, the son of the great Jeomchang Sect Leader, to go to the mere Seventh Squad? They say you're the third son of the prestigious Guizhou Seonwoo Clan, yet you wish to go where there are only castoffs from minor sects and fellows who trained in external arts like quacks?"
The Seventh Squad, which had only recently been formed, was indeed a gathering of castoffs, whether in terms of martial power or status in the martial world.
Thus Ma Yu-gyeom had thought that if he spoke of his own background and the reality of the Seventh Squad, Seonwoo Jin would change his mind.
But those words instead made Seonwoo Jin flare up.
Because they were insulting the Seventh Squad, which had been his squad in his past life.
The enraged Seonwoo Jin began to recklessly throw out whatever words came to mind.
"External arts! I absolutely wish to learn that as well! I truly want to compete with the Blood Cult's demons to see whose skin is tougher!"
This was a blatant lie.
After all, Bae Jong-gwan, who had only ever pursued external arts, was the one friend from his past life that Seonwoo Jin had considered even more pathetic than himself.
But fortunately, the desperate gambit of Seonwoo Jin, who felt he had no choice, worked well.
For while Ma Yu-gyeom's eyes widened in astonishment, Seol Pung's eyes instead lit up as he sprang to his feet.
"A magnificent spirit! To beat demons to death with fist and foot techniques! Splendid, Young Master Seonwoo Jin! Join me! I shall make your body stronger than a demon's!"
At that, Seonwoo Jin answered with a thunderous voice as if he had been waiting.
"Yes! Squad Leader Seol Pung! Sir!"
At the sight of those two fools in perfect sync, Ma Yu-gyeom had ultimately no choice but to give up on him.
Clinging to that bastard any further would wound his pride.
Yet even having given up on Seonwoo Jin, his pride was bound to be wounded in the end.
Because he had suffered the humiliation of being refused as well by Lady Cheongyeon and Lady Cheon Ju-eun, whom he had tried to take in his stead while pretending indifference.
It was truly a day that made his blood boil just to recall.
Moreover, had that fellow he'd had his eye on not already shown splendid achievements despite not even being long at the frontline?
And it was even more valuable not merely for his own achievements, but because he was simultaneously raising the combat capabilities of castoffs he had dismissed, like Bi Sa-yeong or Bae Jong-gwan of the Seventh Squad.
As expected, he should have brought him into his squad back then, even if it meant forcing the issue.
As the thought of that time made his fury surge anew, Ma Yu-gyeom shouted at Ju Tae-gyeong.
"You must make that bastard taste bitter defeat! Carve into his very bones what sort of place the Jeomchang Sect is!"
"Yes! Do not worry! Jangmun sahyeong!"
Ju Tae-gyeong inwardly thought that Ma Yu-gyeom's orders were needless words. Because he had no intention of letting Seonwoo Jin live in the first place.
How dare a second-rate castoff insult him, a disciple of the prestigious Jeomchang Sect.
What way was there to repay that but with his life?
Ju Tae-gyeong's eyes gleamed dangerously as he harbored such thoughts.
But Ma Yu-gyeom, who had been about to leave, abruptly stopped and instructed him once more.
"I say this out of an abundance of caution, but do not kill him or seriously injure him regardless."
Startled by those words, Ju Tae-gyeong asked.
"Wh-what?!"
At that, Ma Yu-gyeom looked at him with cold eyes and asked.
"Why are you so surprised? Surely you weren't thinking of killing a comrade with whom you must fight the Blood Cult's demons together?"
"N-no, sir. I merely, even so... to properly teach him a lesson..."
At that, an immense aura suddenly erupted from Ma Yu-gyeom's body.
Hwaaaak!
Then he looked at Ju Tae-gyeong with eyes tinged with killing intent and spoke.
"Ju Tae-gyeong, our supreme task is to defeat the Blood Cult and reclaim our headquarters. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"Yes! Of course, jangmun sahyeong!"
"For that great cause, we must cooperate even if the other party is castoffs from the evil faction. How much more so for comrades fighting alongside us against the Blood Cult's demons? No matter how snake-like a fellow you are, I will trust that you won't do such a mad thing. Do you understand?!"
"Y-yes! Of course, sahyeong!"
Before Ma Yu-gyeom, who watched him coldly, Ju Tae-gyeong could only break out in a cold sweat.
The capacity of Ma Yu-gyeom, who would become the leader of a sect, and Ju Tae-gyeom, who bore the epithet Snake, was thus worlds apart.