Chapter 144
Translator: uly
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Fog, Darkness, and Terror (2)
They were members of the Wind Corps.
“Th, those are the enemy!”
“Enemy!”
A member of the Second Corps bellowed.
“That’s right. We’re your enemies. Kill them!”
Dong Pung shouted coldly.
“Kill them!”
The Wind Corps members leaped forward all at once.
“K-Kill!”
Even Hwang Don gripped his weapon and roared.
“Waaah!”
“Waaah!”
The Second Corps members let out a unified battle cry.
“Gasp!”
“Ugh!”
“Heok!”
But before the cries could fully fade, groans escaped their lips. The charging Wind Corps members had vanished like shadows.
“They’re using stealth techniques! Be careful…….”
Swish!
“Kraaak!”
A head rose into the air amid a wretched scream. The first to fall was Captain Hwang Don. He hadn’t even swung his gripped weapon before he was slain.
“Aaak!”
“Kraaak!”
“Aaaak!”
Screams soon erupted from all directions.
The Wind Corps members, hidden in the chaotic fog, revealed themselves right before the enemy and slashed their throats with halberds. In a single strike, they eliminated over eighty men. Having completed their attack, the Wind Corps members immediately deployed the chaotic fog technique and vanished again.
“They’re gone.”
The Second Corps members scanned their surroundings with terrified faces.
Swish!
The Wind Corps members reappeared and swung their weapons in unison.
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
“Kraaak!”
Wretched screams burst from every direction.
Even a commander might have rallied their ranks, but that was impossible here. The Wind Corps members repeated their pattern of vanishing and appearing, steadily thinning the enemy.
“R-Run!”
When about a hundred remained, the Second Corps members scattered in all directions.
“Kill them!”
A murderous shout exploded from the darkness, and figures springing up from the shadows cut down the fleeing Second Corps members. They were the Forest Guard Squad. Another fifty fell, leaving only fifty to escape alive. The Wind Corps and Forest Guard Squad did not pursue.
“Where’s the Captain now?”
Dong Pung asked So Pung.
So Pung pulled a large sheet of paper from his bosom. It was a map depicting the entirety of the Horim Forest.
“He should be here.”
So Pung pointed to a spot in the west.
“What’s the situation there?”
“The north has Myriad Demon Poison Clan warriors, and the south has the Western Xia Alliance’s Five Divisions, First Corps, and Fourth Corps.”
“Not surrounded, then?”
“With the elders there too, it should be fine.”
“Probably. Where do we go next?”
“Region Seven here.”
So Pung pointed to a spot in the east this time. The number seven was marked there.
“Good. Let’s go.”
“Moving out.”
At So Pung’s shout, the Wind Corps members soared upward. They rose five jang high and landed on the tree branches. Just like that, the fog-filled world vanished, revealing a clear one.
Surprisingly, ascending to the treetops dispelled the formation. Four jang up was the formation’s life gate. The Forest Guard Squad warriors also climbed the trees.
“Let’s go.”
The Wind Corps and Forest Guard Squad members kicked off the trees and leaped forward in unison. They moved from tree to tree like monkeys.
* * *
The Western Xia Alliance warriors led by I Yang advanced while vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
This group numbered around a thousand: the First, Third, and Fifth Corps.
The Second and Fourth Corps hadn’t returned yet, so they couldn’t link up. Unable to wait indefinitely, they had set out first. The group pressed on, tense and glancing about. For those who lived in the Demon Realm, Horim Forest was no stranger.
Yet even those who had visited multiple times felt as if it were their first.
“The fog…….”
I Mu-gwang clutched at the fog with his hand.
“What is it?”
I Yang asked.
“If it’s fog created by a formation, it should have defined boundaries.”
“We’ve traveled hundreds of jang, but haven’t found a spot without it.”
“That’s the ground level, but up there might be different.”
I Mu-gwang pointed to the trees.
“Up there?”
I Yang’s eyes widened.
“Yes.”
“Go check.”
“Understood.”
I Mu-gwang immediately climbed the tree.
“I can see.”
I Mu-gwang shouted down.
“You can see?”
I Yang flew straight up into the tree.
“Oh!”
I Yang’s face lit up. It was just as I Mu-gwang said. At four jang high, the fog was gone. He leaped higher still. Reaching the top, he could see everything. They were in the center of Horim Forest.
It felt like a decade’s worth of phlegm had been spat out. If one person climbed and directed the way out from the treetops, that would suffice. No—all of them could climb up and leap tree to tree.
“Can you hear me?”
I Yang shouted downward.
Swish!
Thud!
“Keuk!”
A low scream came from right beside him. I Yang turned his head. I Mu-gwang was plummeting downward. I Yang quickly descended four jang and hid behind the trunk.
“Can you hear me?”
He shouted downward again.
“Yes!”
A nearby corps member replied.
“Right now…….”
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
“Enemy.”
“Enemy! Kraaak!”
Wretched screams erupted from the right.
“What……!”
I Yang looked to the right with a puzzled face.
In the fog and darkness, he couldn’t tell who had come.
“First Corps, move right!”
Chak Jeok-gi’s shout rang out.
The First Corps warriors charged rightward.
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
“Eeak!”
In the fog and darkness where visibility was nil, unidentified screams continued nonstop.
“Form up!”
“First Corps to the north, Third Corps to the south!”
“Waaah!”
“Kill!”
Clang! Clang clang! Clang clang!
“Aaaak!”
“Euaak!”
“Kraaak!”
Unable to distinguish friend from foe, the two sides clashed chaotically. They couldn’t even identify the enemy.
Weapons clashed against weapons, screams against screams. The frontline widened, but neither side’s commanders grasped the situation. Tactics were impossible.
“Kill them all! Wipe them out!”
I Yang bellowed furiously.
“The bastards are hiding and attacking!”
“They’re using stealth techniques.”
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
The battle between the two sides was fierce.
No time to check the fallen. Whether the one you killed was truly enemy or ally couldn’t be discerned.
When a vague shape shot toward you, you swung your weapon immediately. To survive, you had to strike first. Enemy or ally didn’t matter.
Survive first.
Those who did then sought the next opponent. The cycle continued: they die, or you live.
Commanders were no different.
Even in daytime visibility was poor; now it was pitch-black night. Tense from not knowing where the enemy might emerge, they walked until something flickered ahead—then struck to kill or were killed.
Swish!
A dark shadow flickered, and I Yang swung his weapon instantly.
Sword force surged from his blade.
Slaaash!
“Kraaak!”
Amid a wretched scream, the bisected figure crashed to the ground.
Swish!
The sound of air splitting came from behind.
He gripped his sword in reverse and thrust backward. Sword force from the tip pierced the body of the attacker charging from the rear.
“Keueok!”
He swept the reverse-gripped sword horizontally, spinning once.
Clang! Cha clang!
A weapon flew first, followed by several torsos severed. Only after clearing the surroundings did he check the fallen.
“Gasp!”
His eyes widened.
“N-No way.”
He muttered in a daze.
Those he had eliminated weren’t Forest Guard Squad. The dead were the Myriad Demon Poison Clan warriors who had come with them to wipe out the Forest Guard Squad.
“How…….”
Swish!
A black silhouette burst from the fog.
In the fog and thick darkness, distinguishing ally, enemy, or Myriad Demon Poison Clan was no easy task. Only when the distance closed to half a jang did the sneer reveal it as Myriad Demon Poison Clan.
Claaang!
“I’m not the enemy!”
I Yang shouted as he blocked the opponent’s weapon.
In that instant, a chilling aura shot from behind.
“Heok!”
I Yang shoved the locked weapon leftward and urgently shifted right.
Swish!
“Keuk!”
But he couldn’t fully evade, taking a gash on his left waist. In an instant, it turned red around the waist.
“I’m I Yang!”
I Yang shouted again.
“Chaa!”
But the attacker ignored him and charged. I Yang was helpless now.
He thrust straight at the incoming foe. Sword force erupted from the tip piercing empty air.
Puk!
The sword force burrowed into the man’s body.
“Keueok!”
The man screamed and looked at I Yang.
“I said I’m the Alliance Lord of Western Xia.”
He swung his sword leftward.
The sword force that cleaved the man’s torso burrowed into the waist of another leaping in from the left.
“Kraaak!”
The man let out a wretched scream and collapsed in a heap.
‘I have to stop this. We’ll all die fighting each other.’
“I’m I Yang! We’re Western Xia Alliance!”
I Yang bellowed with all his inner power. As if his shout got through, the sounds of battle abruptly ceased.
“Good.”
Relief washed over I Yang’s face.
“I’m I Yang! We’re Western Xia Alliance!”
“Kraaak!”
“I’m I Yang! We’re Western Xia Alliance!”
“Aaak!”
“It’s a t-trick! They’re not Western Xia…… Aaaak!”
“They’re disguising as Western Xia warriors. Don’t fall for it! Kill them all!”
Another shout rang out.
“Kill…….”
Murderous intent oozed from I Yang’s entire body. The one who had just bellowed was surely a Forest Guard Squad warrior. The bastards were hiding in the fog and darkness, sowing discord between Western Xia Alliance and Myriad Demon Poison Clan.
The problem was knowing it yet having no way to counter.
Neither Western Xia Alliance nor Myriad Demon Poison Clan had drunk a sip of water in three days, nor slept properly.
Worst possible condition. In such a state, halting attacks to verify incoming identities was unrealistic. Kill first, check later.
“Chaha!”
“Taha!”
With shouts, Myriad Demon Poison Clan warriors burst from the fog again.
“Don’t blame me.”
I Yang had no choice. He eliminated the charging foes while advancing.