Chapter 339
Chapter 339
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 339
Chapter Title: From Now On, It's Counterattack (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The riverside as they exited the Crown Prince's Palace.
Three people were watching over the Crown Prince's Palace, where flames were rising here and there.
One was the Grand Inner Official of Prince Yeon's Palace.
Another was the Valley Lord of Gi Yeom Valley.
And the last was Ha Gwang, the inner spy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, who had come to Heung-an under orders from the Rogue Demon General Song Gil-joon.
'...This is a disaster.'
Ha Gwang narrowed his brow at the sight of the Crown Prince's Palace turned into a field of reeds.
It was only natural.
Song Gil-joon's original strategy had no plan to reduce the Crown Prince's Palace to this state.
The initial plan was to exploit the imperial family's dynamics to oust Crown Prince Cho, who could be considered an ally of the orthodox martial world.
'In that process, we planned to lure Eon Yong-un to the capital and turn him into morning dew in the prison...'
It was a calm and cold Tea Poison Murder Scheme, not something that butchered the Crown Prince's Palace like this.
'It wasn't a flaw in the plan.'
The fact that Crown Prince Cho, who had deep ties with the Martial Alliance Leader, had secretly invited Eon Yong-un, the darling of the orthodox martial world.
If packaged well, this could be used as a trigger to make the Emperor suspect Crown Prince Cho's loyalty.
Of course, who and how it was packaged was extremely important.
'That's why Young Master chose Prince Yeon.'
Prince Yeon, who was politically cornered by successive mistakes in the fief of Yo-ryeong and already harbored rebellious intentions.
He would make the most use of this opportunity out of anyone.
He himself had no rebellious heart.
The real one with rebellious ambitions was Crown Prince Cho.
Using this coldly and rationally, allying with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was the best move for both Prince Yeon and the Cult right now.
'But Prince Yeon pulled out a completely different card.'
Ha Gwang recalled the moment he had met Prince Yeon on behalf of Song Gil-joon at the mountain lodge in Gwangdong.
'...Eon Yong-un, huh. That guy's got a lot of enemies, right? Things got weird in Yo-ryeong after he strutted around. Frankly, the irritation isn't just a little. There must be more than a few who want him dead. Your Heavenly Demon Divine Cult probably feels the same, yeah?'
'......'
'Guys who want Eon Yong-un dead hire assassins, and in that process, something horrific happens at the Crown Prince's Palace. Turns out Crown Prince Ju Heum-sun had rebellious intentions. That should work nicely.'
Prince Yeon's hatred toward Crown Prince Cho ran deeper than his own rebellious heart, and his confidence and greed were immense.
Advice that trying to catch two rabbits at once would lose both, or that Eon Yong-un was no pushover, fell on deaf ears.
Prince Yeon, who had lived his life as the only child, stubbornly pulled out Gi Yeom Valley as his means.
And the result was this visible situation.
'If the outcome had been good, fine... but they let the Crown Prince, Crown Princess, and the Prince escape, leaving the palace like a beehive poked full of holes.'
As the situation reached its worst.
The Grand Inner Official of Prince Yeon's Palace, watching the scene alongside, bellowed.
"To miss even the Prince in that situation! We expected it might be hard to get the Crown Prince's head, but we had to catch the Prince!"
The Grand Inner Official of Prince Yeon's Palace pointed with his long nails.
Ha Gwang swallowed his rising anger and spoke.
"As this lowly one said, it wouldn't be easy."
In response, the Grand Inner Official's voice turned to the blind man standing between them like a staff.
"Gi Yeom Valley! What does 'already shrouded' mean?! Can you still call yourselves the world's best assassins?!"
He was Jo Beom, the Valley Lord of Gi Yeom Valley.
Despite the Grand Inner Official's shouting, Jo Beom merely smiled.
"We didn't call ourselves the world's best assassins. When the Thousand Death Veil vanished, people just started calling us that."
"Smiling? Can't see, so you don't grasp what's happening?"
But he didn't keep smiling.
Jo Beom exhaled his energy and slammed his staff on the ground with a thwack! before speaking again.
"I remember clearly warning of the difficulty when we accepted the commission. Don't you?"
"...Ahem."
"If you don't remember, I'll repeat it. Touching a powerful imperial like the Crown Prince requires years of preparation at minimum. Good pretext, but success chance below one in ten. Since Prince Yeon's Palace knew the palace layout precisely, we raised it to two in ten."
"......"
"Yet you insisted on proceeding, so we agreed to play the role of the blade only. Can't return the deposit for our valley men's lives... As time drags, failure looms. Where do we strike now?"
At Jo Beom's words, Ha Gwang unfolded a map and spoke.
"With Crown Prince's troops swarming everywhere now, we can't search every house. Split remaining forces besides those engaging guards: one to the north side here, one to Hajungdo here."
The Grand Inner Official furrowed his brow.
"The warhorse stable is fine, but the second spot is the ancestral shrine, right?"
"Yes."
"No defenses there, poor cover? Wouldn't they hide in a house instead?"
"In a situation where they can't trust anyone, unlikely they'd enter a house."
At Ha Gwang's retort, the Grand Inner Official reluctantly nodded.
Jo Beom vanished with a curt reply.
"Understood."
Thus, only the Grand Inner Official of Prince Yeon's Palace and Ha Gwang remained.
The Grand Inner Official said to Ha Gwang.
"This is your incitement. Even if it fails, Prince Yeon's Palace knows nothing. Your Heavenly Demon Divine Cult takes responsibility and cleans up."
"......"
"If even a spark flies to our Prince Yeon's Palace, the Cult won't have a place in the world. Remember that. I'll head to the mountain lodge in Gwangdong where His Highness is. Report when it's wrapped up."
Finishing, the Grand Inner Official of Prince Yeon's Palace boarded a prepared boat and departed east.
His words meant shifting all blame to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult if cleanup failed.
"Shameless and cunning to boot."
Probably, Prince Yeon's Palace planned that from the start, stirring things freely.
Ha Gwang let out a dry laugh.
'Since it's happened, we'll clean up as best we can... but Prince Yeon's Palace can't be left like this.'
Prince Yeon's rebellion would greatly aid in sowing chaos in the world, and for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with many failed plans, such a base was absolutely necessary.
'We once played along with his tantrum to use his noble blood...'
Normal alliance with such types was impossible.
'Arrogance aside, their cunning will be a variable in the Cult's grand scheme.'
Ha Gwang thought they needed to turn Prince Yeon's Palace into perfect puppets and stepped into the darkness.
* * * The Prince's group was hiding in the ancestral shrine on Hajungdo.
This was the Prince's stratagem, inverting "the darkest place is under the lamp" by hiding where there were no defenses.
The idea worked brilliantly; half a day passed uneventfully.
But then—
Boom!
Kaboom!!
As sunset fell and darkness fully descended.
Sounds of destruction nearby began, accompanied by dying screams.
"Gah!"
"Keurk!"
Alert rang out among those guarding the Prince at close range.
"You lot, go block the fiends' approach!"
"Yes!"
"You, block the entrance!"
"But there's nothing suitable here..."
"Grab spirit tablets, anything! We've been dead silent to avoid noise, but no time for that! The late kings will understand! Hurry!"
The Prince had feigned composure since the chaos erupted, but he was still a child.
Hearing his loyal retainers' death cries and seeing shrine furnishings hastily dismantled.
The Prince squeezed his eyes shut.
"Chief Beom. Was my choice wrong?"
"No, Your Highness. In this crisis, we've bought much time."
"...Father and Mother are safe, right?"
"Yes. Thanks to Your Highness's ingenuity, both are unharmed. The fiends hunting us proves it."
"...Then it's fine. As long as Father and Mother, who gave me this body, are safe. I don't care what happens to me."
"Don't say that. From East Palace to here, loyal troops are likely driving out fiends everywhere by now."
"Chief Beom is right, Your Highness! Steel your heart!"
At the loyalty of those resolved to die by his side, the Prince opened his eyes.
"Won't the Monster Dragon Your Highness admires come rushing upon seeing the beacon fires?"
At the mention of the Monster Dragon, he clenched his small fist tightly.
"Think so?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Never lose hope."
"...Got it!"
* * * Using the guard unit's secret passage to escape the Crown Prince's Palace, we raced toward Hajungdo with its ancestral shrine.
"This way!"
We boarded a small boat at the ferry landing.
Then Yang Jin-mu and Eun Ha-seong gripped oars and rowed madly.
Splashhh!
On the boat slicing through the water, I urgently spoke.
"They say assassins are half concealment, half patience. In this melee, barring a few, our side has superior individual skill. But no complacency. They're elite assassins."
Having started, I continued with precautions.
"Remember: they move only for the kill, ignoring self-preservation."
Seeing the shrine's position.
We seemed close enough to dash across water.
I quickly divided into vanguard and support.
"Halfway there. From how they danced on Mujegang cliffs, Jeong-hyeon, Woo So-ryeong—you can water-step, right? Come with me first."
"Yes! Eon young hero!"
"Yeah! Eon, Eon bro!"
"Rest, follow as fast as possible."
Wrapping Heaven-Splitting energy around my legs.
Bam! Bam!
Papapapabam!!!
I kicked off the water surface and dashed.
Arriving on Hajungdo with light steps, I leaped into the shrine.
Shrine rooms torn apart everywhere.
Black-clad figures clustered at the leftmost spot.
Clang! Creeeang!!!
Beyond them, East Palace maids, blood-soaked, blocking assassins' swords with their bodies.
"There!"
I formed a triangular formation with Woo So-ryeong and Jeong-hyeon, charging as I wrapped a spell from my upper dantian around my left hand.
I raised the scattered corpses.
"Rise!"
The cooling bodies obeyed, aiding the Crown Prince's maids.
Kraaa!!
At the assassins unflinching at corpse soldiers, Master commented.
- Regardless of cultivation high or low, most panic at first sight of your necromancy. These don't?
'They probably knew I was at the Crown Prince's Palace.'
- Then...
'Not just Prince Yeon—heavenly Demon Divine Cult's influence too? Only they'd hunt me so relentlessly.'
If assassins panicked, it'd be easy to seize control.
Anyway, corpses blocking assassins bought a moment.
Slash!
Slaaash!!!
In that gap, we three—caught up to their necks—swung our swords.
Slaaash!
Slaaash!!!
At that instant, one pillar of the Prince's final defensive line by his maids collapsed.
"!"
"!"
Gi Yeom Valley assassins and we spotted the gap.
They whirled, lunging at me and my two junior brothers.
Three assassins bolted into the shrine toward the Prince.
"Eon young hero!"
Jeong-hyeon, seeing it, called my name, drawing a large taiji to deflect their swords right.
In the gap, Woo So-ryeong surged like lightning, offering himself as a foothold.
"Eon bro!"
As I stepped on him, he pushed with all his might.
Leaping off Woo So-ryeong, I flew into the shrine, hurling Regret at one assassin.
Whiiiiiish!
"Gurk!"
I smashed another's spine with my shoulder, sending him flying.
Baaaam!!!!!
One assassin remained, sword thrusting at the Prince.
'...Too late!'
I dove between without hesitation, taking the sword with my body.
Kaang!!!
Grabbing the blade blocked by Dragonscale Armor with both palms, I wrested it away.
Then slit his throat with it.
Slaaash!
Immediately, the Prince shouted.
"Monster Dragon! Are you alright?!"
"That's my question to you, Prince Highness."
"But you took a sword with your body—how could you be?!"
"Didn't you hear the metallic clang? Wearing armor under my robes."
"Ah! Thank goodness! Everyone suffered for me—if even you... "
"Why's it your fault, Your Highness? Blame these bastards."
After a word to the Prince, I caught my breath briefly.
"...Hoo. Never in my life has my heart pounded like this while darting around. Thanks to you bastards, great heart training. From now on, it's counterattack. Think up any last words in advance."
I said, staring down the Gi Yeom Valley assassins.