Watch the Fire, Even When It's Out
Watch the fire even when you're asleep or awake. Even a dead fire needs checking again. The adjutant soared gracefully through the sky. Whether by astonishing coincidence or heaven-ordained fate, the adjutant—who had successfully achieved unassisted flight—crashed with a heavy thud right in front of the general.
“Ugh!”
“Hmm. Are you alright?”
The general caught his adjutant. In response, the adjutant let out a explosive gasp.
“Haaah, yes. I’m fine. Wait… why am I fine?”
“You’re making sounds like you’re not fine at all. Well, even though it looked flashy, it seems he had no real intention of harming you. He pushed rather than kicked, so you should be unharmed.”
Indeed, despite the loud impact, he had used the recoil of his knee to shove more than kick. The red aura had spread across two squares, and with evil karma in the double digits, he had shown mercy in his hands—no, his feet—and merely pushed. That was why the adjutant survived, though the exact reason remained unknown. Still, it was clear the push had been deliberately restrained.
“It looks like he took the flag with him too.”
“Ugh. He could have at least caught it nicely.”
No matter how much it had been a push, the shock of flying through the air and then slamming into the ground left every part of his body aching. There wasn’t a single spot that didn’t hurt.
“If he enters my command, I can scold him properly then. Though if he’s carrying injured people, I suppose he might be in a hurry.”
“Even then, it makes it hard to scold him properly…”
Meanwhile, Cheong’s feet slammed back onto the ground as she resumed running. In her hand was the flagpole. Something had been flapping wildly, so she’d grabbed it. What the hell? Her harness was already fastened across her chest anyway, so climbing uphill didn’t particularly restrict the use of both hands.
Cheong looked at the unfamiliar pattern on the flag. A military standard? It looked like one. Maybe carrying this would stop people from attacking her?
She shoved the flagpole down the back of her neck, right against her nape. Thanks to that, cool air rushed in from behind, instantly refreshing her sweat-drenched back. Her overheated body felt a sudden rush of relief as her breathing opened up.
And now the crest of the hill was right in front of her. Would things be okay once she crossed this?
Since Cheong didn’t slow down at all, the cart flew straight over the top of the ridge. The view suddenly opened wide, and like a carriage hitting a speed bump at full speed, the cart launched into the air.
Thud!
The cart slammed back onto the road. It began hurtling down the steep downhill slope. The direction that had been aimed at the sky suddenly plunged toward the ground below, rolling violently down the descent.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“We’re falling! We’re falling!”
The passengers screamed their lungs out, as if riding a cutting-edge amusement park attraction at least five hundred years ahead of its time. One of them, unable to handle the terror, even jumped off and rolled across the ground. It could be said that the consciousness level of people from the Central Plains was far too primitive to enjoy the recreational culture of the future.
The Northern Army troops, who had been preparing to withdraw from their camp at the bottom of the ridge, watched the rickshaw barreling down the slope at insane speed. However, a flagpole stood tall behind the rickshaw puller. The flag unfurled wide enough to nearly tear, flapping wildly. It bore the famous emblem of the Great Shun Army—specifically, the banner of the Great Shun Thousand Tigers.
There wasn’t a single unit in the Northern Army that hadn’t received help from the Great Shun Tigers, so they all cleared the path out of respect.
Of course, that respect only went so far. Mainly, they got out of the way because getting hit by that thing looked like it would separate bone from flesh.
Cheong shot through the gap like lightning. After passing the downhill, she continued her rampage between the military tents lining both sides of the road until she slipped through an open gap in the wooden fence. From there, she entered a deserted mountain path.
She had finally escaped the soldiers.
Only then did Cheong begin to slow down gradually, no longer pulling the cart at full speed.
Successfully escaped the military encirclement.
The cart and its passengers are now entering the mountain trail.
Leading the way was a man wearing a rooster-head helmet. Flanking the road on both sides, the Imperial Guard warriors in their silk uniforms marched in formation. Every single one of them wore a helmet, each adorned with a bird head decoration at the front, all stretching their long necks forward.
To Cheong, these ridiculously tacky “bird-head helmets” would have been utterly appalling. Yet in reality, they were the most coveted item among all military officials in the Central Plains. Only high-ranking officers were permitted to wear them.
Among them, the most prized bird head was the rooster head. In the Central Plains, a rooster head was surprisingly considered an extremely auspicious symbol, said to bring scholarship, wealth and honor, bravery, and good fortune—in that order of significance.
Therefore, a rooster-head helmet was something only the imperial inspectors of the Guard could dream of possessing. It was also a powerful symbol of authority.
The only helmet higher than this was the phoenix helmet, reserved exclusively for when the Emperor personally led campaigns. No commoner would dare even imagine wearing one. Thus, among helmets an individual could wear, the rooster-head helmet was the most glorious of all.
Cheong would have been horrified by its tackiness, but she didn’t need to know the cultural significance. Just looking at them was horrifying enough.
And so, Cheong was indeed horrified.
Because countless bird heads were stretching their necks out, all staring straight at her.
What the hell? Is this the fashion level in the Central Plains? Aren’t they embarrassed to walk around wearing such tacky helmets?
The warriors who had been withdrawing along both sides of the road all turned their attention to the rattling, rolling rickshaw. Naturally, the bird heads attached to each of their helmets also ended up facing the same direction.
The warriors themselves were equally bewildered.
What is this? A rickshaw? A falling rickshaw?
This was the Namryeong Mountain Range, where the terrain sloped downward toward the east, creating a continuous downhill mountain path. A single rickshaw was hurtling down it with ferocious speed.
The man in the rooster-head helmet was utterly dumbfounded.
He had given the order that every last one of the “bandits” who had dared set fire to the Emperor’s mountains and rivers and plundered the common people must be killed without exception.
Yet here was one of those bandits, boldly running down the center of the road pulling a rickshaw full of other bandits. And on top of that, that flag. The man in the rooster helmet ground his teeth as he recognized the Great Shun Tigers’ banner.
It belonged to someone he absolutely despised.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Was this bastard disguising himself to escape alone?
He had left the man to die in enemy territory, yet he dared slip away like this?
Pure hatred blazed in the rooster-helmet man’s eyes.
From the general’s perspective, it might seem unfair. To develop such intense loathing—bordering on pure hatred—over just a couple of instances of defiance seemed excessive. But that was simply human nature. It didn’t even take a single word for one human to hate another. Sometimes people just instinctively found someone unpleasant. And if that person started doing well, they would hate them as if they were the murderer of their own parents. That was simply how humans were.
Compared to Cheong’s homeland—the civilized world of the future—the rooster-helmet man was actually quite pure-hearted. At least he had a reason to hate her.
In the future civilization, people would spew every curse imaginable and pray for someone to die in agony over nothing more than a single meaningless phrase that rubbed them the wrong way, even if they knew nothing about the person’s face, name, personality, or occupation.
Anyway, the rooster-helmet man stepped forward to block the path and roared with inner energy infused in his voice.
“Stop right there!”
Cheong’s mind spun rapidly.
The guy with the tackiest helmet was telling her to stop, and his expression was so venomous that he wasn’t even trying to hide his intention to never let her go. His evil karma had spread into three digits. The bird-head-wearing bastards on both sides had completely different footwork and movement styles—they were properly trained martial artists. Their evil karma numbers were also in the triple digits.
Then?
They all had to die. No, right now she needed to get Jayu to safety first.
“No way!”
“Wh-what?!”
“If you don’t want to die, get out of the way, you chicken-head bastard!”
Cheong drew her Wolgwang-geom (Model 10, extra-large) and pointed it forward. It was a sight reminiscent of Western knights charging with their lances!
“You wench!”
In response, the rooster-helmet man let out an angry roar and crossed his arms in front of him. His stance suggested he intended to block the charge with his own body. One could say this displayed the same bold courage as that mad old Westerner suffering from paranoid delusions who tried to fight a giant windmill.
However, the rooster-helmet man had something he believed in. In an instant, flame-like strong energy erupted, turning his forearms a blazing red.
At that moment, Cheong gripped the handle of her Wolgwang-geom with both hands and pulled it far back over her shoulder. The spinning demonic flame appeared in her eyes, and the vibrating sunset-colored strong energy drew a crescent arc.
A horizontal slash aimed at the waist, disguised as a thrust.
The instant the rooster-helmet man hurriedly lowered his arms in shock—
Boom!
A massive sound erupted from the collision of strong energy against strong energy. The rooster-helmet man, bent sideways like a scythe, was sent flying by the overwhelming force.
Cheong also let out a sharp exhale. Normally, swinging a sword to slice cleanly produced no impact, but when blocked, a portion of the thrust force would rebound. The academic term used only by the tiniest fraction of humanity’s greatest intellects called this “reaction.” It was such a difficult concept that ordinary people couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.
Since the rooster-helmet man had been knocked flying from the impact, it wasn’t a complete reaction. Still, it was more than enough to send a violent, side-splitting pain through her already throbbing flank.
Goddammit, why won’t this heal already! If her side had been torn open, she would have been so dumbfounded she’d want to explode.
It needed time to heal, damn it.
“Lord Inspector!”
One of the warriors leaped forward and caught the rooster-helmet man. Even then, the force carried them sliding backward. The rooster-helmet man checked his aching forearm, which had been deeply gouged and was now streaming with blood.
Other people’s blood was nothing special, but his own was worth its weight in gold. The rooster-helmet man’s eyes rolled with fury.
“How dare you! Kill them! They are rebels!”
The warriors all kicked off the ground at once. They unleashed their light footwork, charging toward the moving cart.
It was said that Cheong’s light footwork was unrivaled under heaven, and no one could possibly keep up with her. But that was without dragging a cart loaded with a bunch of people behind her.
The lead warrior who charged first leaped high into the air, casting his shadow over the cart. In that instant, a spear infused with true energy flew out and struck him squarely in the abdomen. The warrior who was hit mid-air tumbled disgracefully, rolling dozens of times before tripping up one of his comrades. The two became tangled and fell in a heap.
“There’s a master on the cart too!”
“Stop it first! Aim for the wheels! The wheels!”
“What are you idiots doing! Protect the wheels!”
Yeon Pa shouted nervously. In response, the nameless soldiers seated on both sides swung their bandit weapons wildly through the air, threatening the warriors trying to approach the wheels.
However, how long could mere soldiers possibly hold out against properly trained martial artists? Even if Yeon Pa blocked one side, what about the other?
Cheong grew desperate. Jayu was inside the cart. If the cart was destroyed, he would be finished. Since it was a downhill slope, it would probably roll down on its own even without pulling. For now, she needed to get out of this harness.
Cheong hurriedly grabbed the harness fastened across her chest. But it was a harness that had been gradually tightening as she pulled the heavy cart. It was already cinched so tightly that it dug painfully into her armpits, biting into her flesh.
She grunted and strained with all her might, but above the massive mounds of flesh on her chest, it was blocked by her shoulder blades and refused to budge. She couldn’t get it off.
Just as Cheong was about to forcefully tear it apart—
“You wench!”
The rooster-helmet man, who had somehow caught up, moved with dazzling footwork and appeared right beside her. He thrust out his left arm, extending a palm blazing with strong energy.
Cheong had no choice but to thrust her sword out to meet it. At that moment, the rooster-helmet man’s eyes flashed as he grabbed her sword with his bare hand.
Look at this bastard? He’s grabbing it?
Cheong’s eyes turned fierce. The demonic flame blazed up in her pupils.
Kiiiiiiiing—!!
A sound like scraping iron plates rang out as sparks flew from the rooster-helmet man’s grip. His palm stung sharply, causing him to reflexively shake his hand off in surprise.
In that opening, the Wolgwang-geom drew a furious arc and slammed into the rooster-helmet man’s shoulder with a heavy thud!
Damn it, this guy’s tough. Because she was running at full speed, she couldn’t put proper power into the strike. Even so, to hit someone with a sword wrapped in sword energy and only produce a “thud” instead of a clean slice or crack was ridiculous.
The rooster-helmet man, struck in the shoulder with the strength of Xiang Yu, staggered. He tripped over his own feet, flew into the air, and rolled across the ground.
Yet, as expected of a so-called expert, he sprang back up immediately. He charged forward again, closing the distance as he shouted.
“Jeonryun Mageop! You cursed demonic practitioner!”
“Who are you calling a demonic practitioner! You’re the one using flame demonic arts, you bastard!”
Cheong yelled back without yielding. She had seen this kind of technique before—strong energy rising like flames and turning the hands red. If he had the confidence to grab a sword wrapped in sword energy with his bare hand, it had to be flame demonic arts.
At that, the rooster-helmet man screamed at the top of his lungs.
“It is not flame demonic arts! It is the Imperial Grace Flame Divine Technique!”
“Another fake Imperial Grace knockoff! Mine isn’t Jeonryun Mageop either, it’s the Space-Time Hero Divine Calamity! Who are you calling demonic arts!”
A vein bulged on the rooster-helmet man’s forehead.
A fake Imperial Grace? How dare she utter such blasphemy! And what the hell was a “divine calamity”?! How could the word “divine” be attached to “calamity”?!
Even a vein bulged on Yeon Pa’s forehead as she listened.
This wretched girl! After I went through the trouble of giving her the manual!