Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 77
>Chapter Title: Holy Fire Spirit Lord (3)
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The Embroidered Uniform Guard's Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo stared at someone with a somewhat tense expression.
A middle-aged man with a sturdy face and only a mustache stood before him, perfectly composed.
Though Sang Ik-seo outranked him on paper, the pressure emanating from this elite among the palace's top five masters was no joke.
He was Hyun-soon, one of the two Vanguard Officers at the pinnacle of the Guard's operatives.
'He seems to grow stronger by the day.'
Sang Ik-seo had watched his growth ever since he joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
He had surpassed him long ago, and now he was beyond measure.
It wasn't for nothing that he was counted among the palace's strongest.
-Murmur, murmur!
Things were chaotic behind Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon.
Embroidered Uniform Guards kept pouring in, from Junior Seventh-Rank Minor Banner Bearers to Regular Seventh-Rank Banner Captains, Junior Sixth-Rank Vice Hundred Commanders, Regular Sixth-Rank Hundred Commanders, Junior Fifth-Rank Vice Thousand Commanders, Regular Fifth-Rank Thousand Commanders, Junior Fourth-Rank Six-Thousand Commanders, and Regular Fourth-Rank Vanguard Officers.
They had all gathered here for one reason.
An emergency muster.
From Deputy Commander on up, they held the authority to mobilize the Embroidered Uniform Guard's forces in an emergency.
But "forces" didn't mean the full complement.
It excluded the South Vanguard Officers who guarded the emperor up close, the Forward Division protecting the inner palace ladies and imperial clan, and the Death Squad handling the Golden Prison.
Yet...
'...Those Sixth Division bastards.'
Nearly all the Guards had assembled, but the Sixth Division had only sent from Vice Thousand Commander up.
Sixth Division Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin and Thousand Commander Mara-hyeon were absent.
-Grind!
'This guy shakes off his isolation and now defies an emergency muster... No. Wait. Is he moving ahead of me with that Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin to stab me in the back?'
That would be a serious problem.
Thanks to Guard Captain Muk-seom of the same organization as the deceased Hundred Commander Geom-chang, he had escaped the poison.
But the human-leather mask remained a vulnerability.
If they investigated that, his position would be in jeopardy.
'Damn it.'
That's why he had tipped off Guard Captain Muk-seom about this leverage over him.
Guard Captain Muk-seom had replied:
[The human-leather mask will be handled by this office. So, Deputy Commander, capture that impostor posing as Eunuch Ho Gonggong of the Western Depot.]
[Capture him? But even Geom-chang couldn't handle him, so how...]
[I'm not telling you to do it alone.]
[You mean...?]
[Issue an Embroidered Uniform Guard emergency muster. If you can deploy at least half the forces, you can take him without issue.]
[That... sure, but...]
[The justification is solid. There's suspicion that the man serving Prince Kyungchin up close is a fake. No one will question or challenge an emergency muster over that.]
That was why Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo had issued the emergency muster.
But now, with Thousand Commander Mara-hyeon—the masked Guard holding his leverage—absent, he hesitated on what to do.
One of two things.
Either they had read his moves and were circling behind him, or Guard Captain Muk-seom had made good on his word and seized his vulnerability from them.
If so...
'I need to hurry.'
They would feint, and so would he.
Trusting Guard Captain Muk-seom, he had to capture the fake Eunuch Ho Gonggong to resolve everything.
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo looked at the assembled Guards.
Nearly sixty percent of the palace contingent was here.
That was plenty of manpower.
With Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon leading, they could overwhelm—no, kill—the target.
-Smack!
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo raised his hand and bellowed.
"We can't afford to wait for the Sixth Division's leader. We're heading to Prince Kyungchin's palace now to rescue His Highness!"
* * *
Thus, the Embroidered Uniform Guard forces led by Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo marched toward Prince Kyungchin's palace.
Armed groups exceeding the quota were normally forbidden from entering imperial clan palaces, but rescuing royalty was an exception.
That's why Guard Captain Muk-seom had suggested it.
Soon, they reached the outskirts of the palace.
Just beyond the front hall.
'I must kill him.'
No need for capture.
He couldn't be allowed to talk, so orders must be to execute on sight.
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo was about to issue the command.
But right then—
-Rumble, rumble!
"What, what's that?"
"The ground?"
The earth shook with an earthquake.
The startled Guard forces halted their advance on the palace.
The sudden quake struck the entire palace, tiles crashing from roofs, chaos erupting everywhere.
'What the hell is this?'
They were already pressed for time, and now this made it worse.
As he wondered what was going on, red smoke rose somewhere in the distance.
The red smoke stirred the Guards more than the quake.
For good reason: it signaled a major incident in the underground Golden Prison, a call for aid.
Six-Thousand Commanders approached.
"Deputy Commander, sir. What do we do? Should we split forces and send some to the Golden Prison?"
"Agreed. Red signal means a jailbreak attempt."
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo's stomach churned at the Six-Thousand Commanders' input.
'No, this is insane. The target is right there.'
To take him down, he needed every last man.
Half would be too risky.
But ignoring the Golden Prison's red signal was impossible.
As he agonized over it...
"Deputy Commander! Vanguard Officer! Look over there!"
A Third Division Thousand Commander pointed toward the palace.
Wondering what it was, he turned—and saw Prince Kyungchin atop the palace roof.
"It's Prince Kyungchin."
"Why is His Highness on the roof?"
The Guards couldn't hide their anxiety at the prince's sudden action.
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo felt the same.
His head already ached, and now the prince teetering on the roof made it throb worse.
"We must rescue His Highness."
Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon stepped forward.
They were right at the front hall; they couldn't ignore an imperial clan's peril.
But as he took a step...
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard drives this king to death!"
-Swoosh!
Prince Kyungchin suddenly shouted it and leaped from the roof.
"Damn!"
-Snap!
In an instant, Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon unleashed his lightness skill at full power to catch him.
But even for a master like him with superior movement arts, the distance was too great.
-Thud!
'!!!!!!!!!'
He missed by just five paces.
The prince had fallen headfirst, neck twisted grotesquely, body crumpled.
Blood poured from his mangled form, staining the ground red.
From one shock to the next—worst-case scenario—Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon and the Guards were stunned speechless.
Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo was the most dumbfounded.
'God... damn it...'
He had come to capture the fake Western Depot eunuch, and now things had spiraled out of control.
The muster was justified by rescuing Prince Kyungchin.
But he was dead.
And he had shouted that the Guards drove him to it.
Sang Ik-seo collapsed to the ground in despair.
-Flinch! Shing!
As Vanguard Officer Hyun-soon checked the prince's body, he half-drew the sword at his waist and scanned the surroundings.
Bewildered, he couldn't make sense of it.
For a split second, he had sensed something chilling from the prince.
But it vanished instantly.
'...What the hell was that?'
Gazing down from the air at the puzzled man was a spirit.
It was Cheong-ryeong, smoking her pipe and clicking her tongue.
-Not bad.
Having absorbed the demonic power of the Six Demons' White-Faced King, the Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox, her spirit power was nearly at purple spirit level.
She figured even wall-transcending experts wouldn't easily detect it, but he had sensed it in that instant.
If her power hadn't evolved further, she might have been exposed.
Cheong-ryeong ascended.
-The mortal did as instructed, but I wonder if this will divert their attention enough.
* * *
Around the same time.
In an imperial pantry fifty paces from the underground Golden Prison entrance.
This one stored dried fish and such, reeking so badly that only supply runners entered, and rarely.
-Rumble, rumble!
Amid a quake shaking the whole building, someone rose and cracked the door open.
-Creak!
Peering through, he couldn't hide his shock at the red smoke.
It was the red signal for a Golden Prison crisis.
When it rose, regardless of reason, all Embroidered Uniform Guards except the Forward Division mobilized, just like an emergency muster.
-Thud!
Someone hurriedly shut the door.
It was Thousand Commander Mara-hyeon, the masked one.
Mara-hyeon was dumbfounded.
'Didn't they say a quiet escape?'
Things had blown up huge.
A red signal meant the jailbreak was confirmed.
Brows furrowed in gravity, Mara-hyeon paced to one side of the pantry.
Escape was now nearly impossible.
'How the hell did they plan to get here?'
He had barely secured this safe spot for the breakout on short notice.
Now it was all ruined.
The situation was dire.
Did he have to respond to the red signal and head to the Golden Prison?
As he debated...
-Thud!
Without warning or presence, the pantry door flew open.
Startled Thousand Commander Mara-hyeon ducked behind stacked wooden crates.
But the door shut again.
'Who?'
Mara-hyeon stifled his aura.
No presence from the intruder—definitely a top expert.
Then came dragging sounds.
-Hah... hah...
Ragged breathing.
Injured, by the sound.
A voice followed.
"Thousand Commander Mara."
'!?'
Mara-hyeon hid his inner shock at the voice.
It belonged to his mentor—no, his superior—the Sixth Division Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin.
Mara-hyeon's eyes trembled slightly.
Why had she come here, to him?
As he puzzled, Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin spoke.
"What the hell did you do to get tailed by this guy?"
'Tailed?'
What did that mean?
Puzzled but resigned, he emerged from the dried fish crates.
Before arms-crossed So Ye-rin lay a bruised, injured-looking man.
His robes marked him as a low-level Eastern Depot eunuch.
'!?'
Had this guy tailed him in secret?
To hide even from him, he had to be trained or a rank above.
But his breathing and aura said not quite.
Arms still crossed, Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin spoke.
"Thousand Commander Mara. What the hell are you doing?"
"........."
"An emergency muster came from Deputy Commander Sang Ik-seo. I went to fetch you and spotted this guy tailing you by chance. What are you hiding from me?"
Mara-hyeon inwardly floundered at her suspicious tone.
He was here to aid a Golden Prison prisoner's escape.
He couldn't reveal that.
-Clack, clack!
Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin approached with a cold face.
She trusted Mara-hyeon, her deputy and near-disciple, but this secretive behavior betrayed that trust.
Feeling her disappointment, Mara-hyeon hesitated.
"If you won't tell the truth..."
Before she finished...
-Hiss!
The space nearby rippled, smoke billowing to form a round portal.
'!!!!!!'
At the bizarre sight, Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin and Thousand Commander Mara-hyeon whipped their heads toward it.
Their eyes bulged.
What the hell?
Why had this portal-like thing appeared in the pantry?
As So Ye-rin frowned at the mystery, her face hardened further.
People were visible beyond the entrance.
'Prisoners?'
Never assigned to the Death Squad, she had never entered the Golden Prison, but as an Embroidered Uniform Guard, she knew inmate garb.
Two wore prison robes, and the fainted one was...
"Cadet Joo Un-hyang?"
It was Cadet Joo Un-hyang.
The one at the entrance, fingers pinching something odd, was Cadet An Jong-hu.
Seeing them, she instinctively knew.
Hard to believe, but this smoky portal linked to the underground Golden Prison.
She knew these two had just joined the Death Squad as apprentices handling the Golden Prison.
Then Cadet An Jong-hu at the entrance glanced between Mara-hyeon and So Ye-rin before speaking.
-Is he the Thousand Commander Mara you brought?
'!?'
>Hearing the transmission, Mara-hyeon realized An Jong-hu was Mok Kyung-un.
His head spun.
Face changed again, and this was how they escaped the Golden Prison?
Right then—
-Shing!
Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin drew her sword and aimed at Mok Kyung-un, disguised as Cadet An Jong-hu.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Seeing Mara-hyeon's reaction, Mok Kyung-un sighed faintly.
She seemed wary; he hadn't planned on bringing her.
Annoying, but no choice.
They had to cross the portal first.
The treasure on his fingers was from Yeo Su-rin, disciple of Haekseon-gak's lord Jeokmi Noseon—one of the two most mysterious of the Eighty-Four Rooms, the Sea Line Corner.
This bet-won treasure created a door to any spot within two hundred paces, once.
Ultra-useful, but single-use.
They had to hurry before it closed.
-Hiss!
The portal destabilized; time was short.
Mok Kyung-un yanked the Gu Ya-ja demonic sword, Fear Slaughter Blade, from where it pierced the ground, gesturing to Holy Fire Spirit Lord and Blood Cult's Six Blood Star Priestess Dan Baek-ha behind him.
"Cross quickly before the door closes."
Of course, voice altered.
Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin thought he had died ambushed while injured at the medicine hall.
No gain in her knowing he lived.
But then—
-Oooooom!
The Fear Slaughter Blade's demonic wail surged, trying to erode him.
Stronger than expected, Mok Kyung-un's brows shot up.
Far more vicious than the Evil Instant Sword.
Instinctively, to suppress it without being eroded, he drew up his demonic qi.
But as he did—
-Clang!
A lightning sword strike flew; Mok Kyung-un hastily drew the Fear Slaughter Blade to block.
The attacker was Six-Thousand Commander So Ye-rin.
Face rigid, she said.
"...You're alive?"
Her senses were razor-sharp; she never forgot an aura once felt.
Revealing demonic qi like that was as good as confessing his identity.
Mok Kyung-un scratched his head awkwardly at her words.
"Got caught unintentionally, huh."
"How..."
"But we're short on time, so mind stepping aside?"
-Boom!
With that, he infused demonic qi into the Fear Slaughter Blade, repelling her and her sword with rebound force, flinging her back.
-Bam, bam, bam!
The sudden mighty repulsion hurled her six paces; her eyes shook.
'This guy... his internal energy grew.'
Not just grew.
Far beyond when they clashed.
He was supposed to be dead, but in mere days, what had happened?