Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: Cornered (3)
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We had reached a decision among ourselves, but we still needed to inform Palace Lord Dam.
'We can't let the command structure get tangled if they think we're isolated here.'
I quickly sent a transmission.
[Brother Dam. We're thinking of pursuing the enemy main force down at the base of the mountain from now on.]
[You've figured out where the main force is?]
[No need to figure it out. The Demonic Cult bastards always position their main camp in places where they can easily grasp the battlefield situation while also having a good escape route. That ferry landing visible below fits the bill perfectly.]
[...The North Ferry Landing. Then I'll come with you.]
But after hearing my thoughts, Palace Lord Dam insisted on joining us himself.
[You too, Brother Dam?]
[With all these corpse puppets filling this place, doesn't that mean the traitors from the North Sea Ice Palace are with their main force?]
I immediately understood Palace Lord Dam's thinking.
The ones who had sided with Palace Lord Dam's faction were those who agreed with his claim that all Central Plains folk were enemies.
'If we go alone, blood is bound to be spilled.'
But if Palace Lord Dam came along, there was a chance they might surrender peacefully.
Palace Lord Dam knew how to persuade and soothe the North Sea Ice Palace warriors.
And the situation had completely changed since the disturbance first erupted in the main hall.
'The corpse puppets controlled by the fiends have trampled the sacred Ice Blood Mountain of the North Sea Ice Palace, and the skeleton soldiers and Palace Lord Dam's warriors fought back against them.'
Who wouldn't be shaken after witnessing that scene?
[You're right. With you there, Brother Dam, there might be less bloodshed.]
[You understood the moment I brought it up.]
[It'll be dangerous.]
[That's exactly why I must go. I can't leave matters that risk our lives solely to Brother Gwae and my friends from the Central Plains. And only if I go can the Ice Palace rise again after this chaos ends.]
[In that case, let's go together.]
I nodded, and Palace Lord Dam handed command of this place to one of his deputy palace lords.
Then he assembled a detachment to follow behind us.
"Uncle."
"Follow close, everyone!"
With thirty men forming a crane formation, we descended Ice Blood Mountain behind Uncle Jae-hyeok at the vanguard.
The descent was smooth.
Swaeak!
Swaeaeaeak!!
Uncle Jae-hyeok's massive black sword whipped through the air like a dancer.
The corpse puppets blocking our path were swept away as if shredded by a great tiger's paw under the forms of the Five Tiger Sword School.
Chwaak!
Chwaaak!!!
Behind him, my younger brothers, I, and the North Sea Ice Palace warriors lent our support.
"Brother So-cheon! Skeleton soldier on the tree to the right!"
"Got it."
The skeleton soldiers also pitched in at key spots.
Krrrarrr!
Chwaak!!
We shot down the mountain like a swift boat slicing through waves.
In the midst of it, Yin Ha-seong called out to me with a wry chuckle.
"Heh. Brother Yong-un."
"What?"
"Those ones, I mean, those folks."
"Skeleton soldiers?"
"Yes. The more I look, the more amazing they seem."
"Didn't you see something similar when you came with me to Mount Magan? Ghouls."
"Ghoul? Ah! Those were amazing too. But these ones use martial arts. Are they borrowing your internal energy, brother?"
"How else could I be running and fighting like this?"
I pointed to the black magic circle hanging in the sky as I answered.
"Even if I explained in detail, you wouldn't get it anyway. Just think it's possible thanks to that thing up there and Ice Blood Mountain's Cold Ice Formation."
As I spoke,
one skeleton soldier sliced through a corpse puppet and passed by.
Chwaak!!!
"Whoa, that last one was a perfect strike."
Yin Ha-seong marveled again, and Tang Ok-gi grinned at him.
"Haseong, aren't they stronger than you?"
At Tang Ok-gi's words, Woo So-reung nearby nodded.
"Maybe even stronger than the two of us together?!"
"Little sister Woo! You still have to say that brother Yin would win no matter what!"
Just as we were descending smoothly like that.
Ppak! Ppak!!!
Ppakagagak!!!
Crimson corpse puppets burst out, smashing skeleton soldiers, and charged at us with roars.
Kraaaaa!!
I'd been wondering where the five blood corpse puppets we'd faced in the main hall had gone.
With the tide turning, they'd redeployed their reserves.
- ...But weren't there five of those earlier?
'Yeah? Why are there only four now?'
The question lingered, but dealing with the threat right in front of us came first.
I said to Uncle Jae-hyeok,
"Uncle, take that one."
"Got it."
I left the one made from an elder of a different caliber to Uncle Jae-hyeok.
"We'll handle the two on the right. Brother Dam, please take the one on the left."
"Understood."
The North Sea Ice Palace detachment split left and right with us to engage the remaining blood corpse puppets.
It wasn't difficult.
"Jeong-hyeon, Namgung Yun, Jegal Seol-ji, you three hold that one over there for a bit!"
"Yes, Young Master Eon!"
"Got it."
I sent the three who could pin down a blood corpse puppet briefly to one side.
"Everyone else, stick to that one! While it's dealing with you, I'll finish it off!"
"Yes!"
While the other kept my younger brothers busy,
Kraaaaa!!!
I seized an opening with agile movement and stamped the 'Traitor's Brand' on the corpse puppet's forehead.
Whiric!
Puk!
"Freeze."
The corpse puppet halted abruptly.
I swiftly severed its neck without hesitation.
Chwaak!!!
Yin Xia Lian spoke up at my actions.
"...It seemed to hear Young Master Eon's words just now, but you cut off its head anyway?"
"It's too much to operate both the spell circle in the sky and these at the same time. Making it unusable for the Demonic Cult sorcerers is the best option."
We dispatched the one Jeong-hyeon was facing the same way.
By then, the North Sea Ice Palace side had just finished off their blood corpse puppet.
Uncle Jae-hyeok was in the midst of an intense exchange with the elder-turned corpse puppet.
Kang! Kang!!
Kakakakang!!
We caught our breath and moved to assist Uncle Jae-hyeok.
"Brother Eon? The lanterns on the boats at the North Ferry Landing are suddenly going out."
Then I noticed the lanterns on the dock's boats extinguishing.
"...Looks like they're trying to flee. They're putting out the lights so we can't tell where they're heading."
As I furrowed my brow, Paeng So-jin spoke up immediately.
"Then let's finish off the corpse puppet Uncle's fighting the same way and hurry down."
"The one made from the elder is a Mara Corpse Puppet, infused with the resentful thoughts of the deceased. That method won't work. Its body reached the Flower Realm in life, so its caliber is entirely different. We can't dispatch it quickly like that. We might need to split into teams..."
It was then that Yin Xia Lian spoke.
"Then let's split up. We'll take the Mara Corpse Puppet. Young Master Eon, Professor Paeng, and the North Sea Ice Palace detachment go down ahead."
"...Can you handle it?"
I hesitated, thinking it wouldn't be easy, but Jegal Seol-ji said,
"The elder was a Flower Realm master in life, but this corpse puppet can't truly be called one. We can manage among ourselves."
...True enough.
I hadn't raised them to be weak.
I nodded and said,
"It's no easy opponent, so don't get careless. And if you get an opening, target the seam on its right hand. When we first encountered it, I noticed the skin tone was different there, like they grafted on a severed arm from somewhere."
Leaving the Mara Corpse Puppet to them, I resumed the descent.
* * * Eon Yong-un's words were spot on—it was no easy opponent.
The Eon brothers were breaking a real sweat against the elder reborn as a Mara Corpse Puppet.
They weren't being careless or fighting haphazardly.
Kang! Kaaaang!!
While Jeong-hyeon and Namgung Yun drew the Mara Corpse Puppet's attention with joint attacks, Jegal Seol-ji coldly observed for an opening.
"No talisman visible, so like the armless corpse puppets Young Master Yong-un captured before, it's probably inscribed somewhere on the body. No sorcerer nearby either... It seems to judge the enemy's position by sound, energy, breath, and scent."
Swaeaeaeaeak!
Swaeaeak!!
Even so, despite their skill, they hadn't found a proper opening even once and were becoming drenched in sweat.
In that situation, Eon Yong-myeong thought,
'We're holding for now, but if this drags on, we'll tire out and someone will die or get hurt. I need to do something.'
The Pearl Eon Family's fist technique was a heavy hand method infused with the principles of exorcism.
Thus, from ancient times, the Eon Family's fist masters had been known as the natural predators of corpse puppets and their manipulators.
'...The problem is getting close.'
With Eon Yong-myeong's current attainment, he couldn't properly track the Mara Corpse Puppet's movements.
His internal energy and physical toughness were naturally outmatched.
Approaching it with his level of martial prowess was suicide, plain and simple.
'...If Big Brother were here instead of me, he'd find a way somehow.'
Even at a mere Eon Yong-myeong's level, Eon Yong-un would have overcome this situation.
'What would Big Brother do?'
He mulled it over briefly.
Then Eon Yong-myeong reached a conclusion and called out to nearby Cheon Jang-ho.
"Hey, Jang-ho. Looks like we need to step up."
At Eon Yong-myeong's words,
Cheon Jang-ho smashed a Dragon Subduing Palm into the gut of a leaping corpse puppet and replied.
Swaeaeaeak!
Peng!
"Aren't we already fighting?"
"Not these. That Mara Corpse Puppet over there."
"...What's that?"
"A corpse puppet's instincts are inferior to a human's, and the Eon Family Fist contains exorcism principles..."
"Anyway, cut to the chase. What do you want to do?"
"You charge from the front, I'll follow from behind. When you create an opening... I'll land a fist technique, and that should turn the tide."
Cheon Jang-ho scowled as hard as he could at Eon Yong-myeong's words.
"...Damn it. Should've never tagged along."
But his eyes remained fixed on the Mara Corpse Puppet.
Cheon Jang-ho ripped off his remaining sleeve with a puff, steadied his breathing, and said,
"Wouldn't want to become a ghost and miss out on ancestral rites. If I croak here, the Pearl Eon Family will hold them for me, right?"
"At least the North Sea Ice Palace would."
Eon Yong-myeong grinned and replied, then said again,
"Ready? Let's go."
Cheon Jang-ho nodded, wrapped his hands in energy, and kicked off the ground during a brief moment when the attack team fell back.
He bellowed at the top of his lungs as he charged the Mara Corpse Puppet, unleashing the palm power in both hands.
"Twin Dragons Emerging from the Sea!!"
Swaeaeaeaeak!!
Swaeaeaeak!!!
In response, crimson palm power erupted from the Mara Corpse Puppet's hand.
The two forces collided immediately.
Peng!!!!!
Cheon Jang-ho spat out a bowlful of blood amid the flying dust and was flung back.
"Cough!"
In that short opening created,
Eon Yong-myeong, hidden behind Cheon Jang-ho, planted his stance firmly and poured internal energy into his thrusting fist.
Swaeaeak!!!
Only then did the Mara Corpse Puppet notice Eon Yong-myeong, its hand descending to crush his crown.
In that split second.
'I could die.'
Flashes of life's final moments he'd heard about crossed Eon Yong-myeong's mind upon facing death.
But among those flashes was Eon Yong-un's figure.
'If it were Big Brother!'
He would step forward even amid fear.
Eon Yong-myeong couldn't perfectly match that step, but he could imitate it.
'I'm an Eon Family man too!'
Geolpyo Baek-san.
The Eon Family Fist's technique to shatter the outer shell and disperse the soul unfolded from Eon Yong-myeong's fist at that moment.
Puuuung!!!!!!!
The Mara Corpse Puppet's body stiffened as if electrocuted from Eon Yong-myeong's thrust.
Though they hadn't coordinated a detailed strategy, the Eon brothers didn't miss this moment.
Kang!!!!!!!
Jegal Seol-ji wedged her sword into the Mara Corpse Puppet's left hand that had been falling toward Eon Yong-myeong.
Kang!!!
Namgung Yun's sword sliced through the seam on the right hand that Eon Yong-un had targeted.
Swaeaeaeaeak!!!
Puk!
Jeong-hyeon thrust her sword, wrapped in sword energy, into the exposed severed surface.
Kung!!
As the elder-turned corpse puppet's body toppled,
Swaeak!
Swaeaeak!
Paeng So-jin's sword and Paeng So-cheon's saber crossed like scissors, severing its neck.