Chapter 403
Chapter 403
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 403
Chapter Title: Dyed (2)
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At the appearance of the rogue demons, No Sam and Do Jung-gwang, who were leading the White Army, thrust out their spears and crescent blades.
The members of the Red Army also drew their own weapons.
Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
Among us, the only ones who hadn't drawn blades were Duggo Cheol, masquerading as the Ghost-Faced Elder, and me.
At that moment, Sa Gyeom, who had raised his great sword, opened his mouth.
"...Cult Protector King, ranked first: Rat King."
Even though Sa Gyeom wore a ghost mask, Rat King recognized him instantly and sneered.
"Heh heh heh, High Priest. Long time no see. How is it? Is the bone your new master tossed you sweet enough?"
"......"
Despite Rat King's jeer, Sa Gyeom silently stared at him.
Then, No Sam spoke up.
"Where does this dog get off?! My fists won't rest until I smash the demon who crawled in here on his own two feet!"
As if to unleash the Eon Family Fist, heat waves coiled around both his hands.
I quickly reached out and stopped No Sam.
"Professor. We should hear him out first."
No Sam reluctantly lowered his arms.
Then, Master asked through telepathy.
- That rat-faced old geezer is the Blood Cult's Cult Protector King? Wouldn't it be a gain to kill him?
'Not necessarily. As you just saw, he's an old man with incredible lightness skill.'
- His footwork isn't ordinary. Is that why they call him Rat King? Because he escapes like a rat.
'...Anyway, if he decides to flee in earnest, it's hard to say if we could catch him. Moreover, the fight with the Blood Cult ends only when we uproot the Blood Demon himself.'
- You're saying chopping off branches and sprouts like that old man just leads to more growing back.
'Yes. Besides, the Blood Heaven Asura Palace is right around the corner, reachable in half a day. If Rat King came alone, there must be some scheme. Even if we strike him down, we should at least figure out what it is first.'
While answering Master's question.
Rat King glanced over me and Duggo Cheol, then stroked his thin goatee and spoke.
"Are you the infamous Monster Dragon? And this one is the Ghost-Faced Elder?"
"......"
"Hmm. I've never seen anyone like you among the old folks in our cult, so who exactly is behind that mask...?"
I tossed a question at Rat King.
"Poking around like that won't get you anywhere. Spare us the lip service and get to the point. What's this about the Cult Leader waiting?"
Rat King mocked me in return.
"Heh heh. Must be all the hype from the world at your young age, but your manners are quite refined."
"I've never been big on manners."
I shot back at his mockery with a snort.
"Is the Blood Heaven Asura Palace's intelligence that lacking? Well, thanks to it, you made it here easily enough."
"......"
"And aren't we all enemies here? The moment I said we'd hear you out, that's plenty of guts shown, no?"
"......"
"So, more verbal sparring? Or shall we get to the main topic?"
"As rumored, the Monster Dragon's silver tongue is no joke."
At my words, Rat King furrowed his brow in displeasure.
But soon enough, he got to the point as I demanded.
"What I said earlier is exactly it. The Cult Leader wishes to meet you all."
After opening with that, he eyed the True Blood Unit members forming the Red Army.
"Our cult has operated in compartmentalized cells to break away from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. That made it inevitably insular. The Cult Leader fully understands the gap between the upper and lower echelons."
He glanced at me and the White Army before concluding.
"And he views positively the fact that you orthodox folk are joining forces with the True Blood Unit. If you're willing to ally with us so-called demonic folk, why not talk with the Blood Heaven Asura Palace too?"
As those words ended.
Do Jung-gwang bellowed.
"Hey, Monster Dragon! You're not buying this lunatic's crap, are you? It's a trap a hundred times over!"
Rat King narrowed his eyes and sneered at Do Jung-gwang.
"You must be the bandit leader. No place for small-time black path riffraff like you to butt in. Lucky to have survived—now crawl away and die quietly like the worm you are."
"What?!"
As veins bulged on Do Jung-gwang's forehead.
I grabbed the hilt of his crescent blade and held him back.
"That's bait to rile you up, Senior. Stay calm."
That was when Rat King spoke again.
"Didn't you see the branches we cleared on the way? You must have some sense of our intentions. Even if it's a trap, what do you have to lose? You're already at our doorstep. Fighting tomorrow or a few days later—what's the difference?"
Among those words, I latched onto one I couldn't ignore.
"A few days later?"
"You'll be weary from the journey, and we need time to prepare for sudden guests. You wouldn't balk at entering the Blood Heaven Asura Palace, would you?"
"...Hmm."
"The eastern side of the Blood Heaven Asura Palace—which is west for you guests. There's a place called the Northern River. We'll set up the meeting site there by four days from now."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Having finished speaking, Rat King turned away without lingering.
"Then I'll take my leave."
The Blood Heaven Asura Palace's proposal wasn't bad for us either.
Instead of pursuing Rat King, we set up camp.
And pondered the Blood Demon's invitation.
"...Four days."
Among my siblings gathered there, Yin Xia Lian spoke up.
"...A tricky timeframe. Have they caught on to the Orthodox Alliance's movements?"
Orthodox Alliance's movements.
It was the encirclement strategy we'd prepared for the moment our southward march to Namyong was exposed, despite our best efforts to hide it.
'One army departing from Beast Palace to the west.'
One army coming down from Hebei Cheonjin via sea route to the south.
The strike team waiting at Prince Chu's Residence to support us up to the north.
In other words, completely sealing off all directions so the Blood Cult couldn't escape.
"Unlikely. They only just realized the Blood Wind Corps was fake. No way they'd know about that meticulously cautious strategy."
"I thought the same, but four days feels too perfectly timed. Even the strike team from Prince Chu's Residence is five days away from us."
"How long for the others?"
"The sea route group said in their last report they'd reach Noeju in two days... so about seven days total. For the Beast Palace group, our only contact is via messenger birds, and they're with us."
"Right. So first, send a messenger bird that way. Seon-ah. Paper and brush."
After conversing with Yin Xia Lian, I wrote the situation on a leg scroll and sent off the messenger bird.
"When you flew here, they said they'd wrap up at Beast Palace and head this way. So they're probably somewhere west of Manyap Mountain now... Smart bird, it'll find them."
Holluk!
After that, my mind cleared.
"We need to buy some time. Looks like we have to accept the Blood Demon's invitation."
At my words, Dang Ok-gi furrowed her brows and spoke.
"Accept? What if it's a trap like the bandit guy said?"
"Our offensive has shrunk the Blood Cult's forces drastically. The troops gathering at Blood Heaven Asura Palace are basically their last reserves. If those get wrecked, they're done. Sure, there's a scheme, but not a full trap."
"R-Really?"
"Yes. The offer to talk is genuine. We can buy at least half a day off that."
That was when Jeong-hyeon asked.
"But isn't that scheme the real issue? What are they thinking, wanting to talk?"
"Obvious. Trying to sow discord. To them, the Red and White Armies marching together must look like dogs and cats sharing a boat temporarily."
As I answered.
Suddenly, Sa Gyeom's self-mocking image flashed by—complaining bitterly about the stench of blood on himself.
"We won't be shaken by such tricks. I trust the unit members."
It wasn't blind faith.
"At first, the rally point leaked, drawing the Blood Wind Corps. But this time, no one leaked that Cheol is the Ghost-Faced Elder."
Rat King didn't know the Ghost-Faced Elder's identity.
With that, I set aside thoughts of the True Blood Unit and refocused on the Orthodox Alliance's forces.
"The Alliance's remaining forces are rushing here in urgency too. If we can just hold for half a day, we're good. The sea route group's the problem..."
Then, Eun Ha-seong tilted his head and spoke.
"Huh? Won't Family Head Eon push them harder than anyone since he's commanding?"
"You wouldn't know since you didn't join Silver Radiance Fleet, Ha-seong. Sea routes don't speed up just because you hurry."
"...But Jeokryong Palace and Hae-nam Sect are helping, right?"
"Both know the seas well, but one's expert on the open ocean, the other's Hae-nam Island area. The seas near Naman are different. Especially that bitch of a weather—pure force majeure."
"...Ah. True, even we suffered when sudden downpour hit at No-ga."
Wu So-reung spoke up then.
"Suffered? We nearly died, brother Eun and I!"
"Hey, So-reung. If you don't know, stay quiet. When talking about surviving near-death, downplay it to 'suffered'—that's what makes it cool."
At Eun Ha-seong's banter, the tension in the tent eased into laughter for a moment.
I looked at my siblings and spoke.
"Anyway. We need to take measures. I'll handle it. Everyone else except So-reung, focus on getting in top condition. The Blood Demon is just beyond."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The messenger bird departing the tent swiftly crossed Manyap Mountain.
Holluk!
At first, Blood Cult crows swarmed to interfere with its wingbeats.
But they were no match for the successor of Chagan Songhol, savior of the Great Khan.
Kwaak! Kkwaaek!!!
Holluk!!
After repelling the flock of crows and escaping Blood Heaven Asura Palace territory.
Heavenly Demon Divine Cult hawks attacked,
Pyaak!!!
But they too were mere insects before it.
Holluk!!
After fending off the assailants, upon reaching the Nanchang River basin, the bird used its keen sight and smell to locate and land where Nangong Yun and Zhuge Seolji were stationed.
Holluk!!
Zhuge Seolji, offering her shoulder, checked the leg scroll and immediately sought her grandfather.
"Eon Yong-un's side says this... But we're pinned down holding off the Demon Brain, right?"
Nangong Yun, reading the scroll with her, furrowed his brow.
"...Strategically, we blocked Heavenly Demon Divine Cult moves by neutralizing Beast Palace, but failing to bring them in snowballed into this. Our mistake."
At their words, Zhuge Cheok chuckled dryly.
"Heh heh heh. Nothing in the world goes exactly to plan."
"Grandfather! This isn't the time to laugh! Our encirclement plan's got a hole now!"
"Yes... We must think."
Soon, his eyes sharpened as he spoke.
"We can't handle the army ourselves. But I can send you and Flying Dragon Sword. If the letter's true, Monster Dragon has the Red Army now. But they won't read his intent like you two. If you go command them, that becomes a new army."
As Zhuge Seolji and Nangong Yun widened their eyes, Zhuge Cheok spat the rest.
"Handling Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's old schemers falls to me and Jeoncheong's disciples here. Go now."
Meanwhile, the Hebei faction's fleet, borrowing Silver Radiance Merchant Group's ships from Cheonjin, rounding the southern coast toward Manyap Mountain's south, battled an untimely storm.
Shwaaaaa!!!
The torrential rain pouring like a hole in the sky and raging winds whipped the furious waves.
Crack!
Craaaack!
Stranding their ships.
Thanks to Hae-nam disciples and Jeokryong Palace sailors' efforts, no lives were lost.
"Father. At this rate, no ships left to refloat."
The vessels were wrecked—masts or keels shattered—making it impossible to reach Manyap Mountain on time.
"...What a disaster."
"Apologies. We mastered the charts, but unfamiliar with your palace's seas. This was our best."
"Not your fault."
As Eon Jeong-ung gravely furrowed his brow.
"Huh? Sister. Look over there."
"Pig. Don't distract. We're serious now."
"No, really. Jang-ho, you see it too."
"Man, you're extra annoying today... Huh? Y-Yeah, everyone look over there!"
Fleets of large and small fishing boats covered the horizon.
In the center flew the banner of Hao Gate Leader Mok Yeom-yak.