Chapter 129: They Say the Danguk Lord is Filthy Rich
Sang Wol's sudden suicide!
The mercenaries led by Luk Ban-jang stared in stunned disbelief at his death right before their eyes.
"Uwaaaah— Sang Wol! You fucking idiot! You goddamn moron!"
Neung Han wailed in anguish.
Gam Mu-wi, standing beside him, collapsed to his knees on the ground and pounded the earth with his bare fists.
"You stupid bastard, you think I took that sword strike for you just for this?!"
At that moment, Luk Ban-jang's thunderous roar echoed through the arena.
"We gotta go! Get the hell out now!"
As she spoke, she snatched up a spear from the ground and hurled it forward.
Puk!
Six soldiers several zhang away were pierced clean through and dropped dead.
Snapping to attention at Luk Ban-jang's bellow, Neung Han and the others hurriedly attempted to break out.
But while they bought time, the soldiers had already surrounded them in layers upon layers.
The Danguk forces seemed endless at a glance.
Meanwhile, Yeop Hyeon, encircled by twenty black-armored warriors, was trapped with no way out.
If not for the Chwiseonru experts holding back a significant number of soldiers, Yeop Hyeon's group wouldn't have lasted this long.
Bam!
With a massive explosion, one black-armored warrior was struck by Yeop Hyeon's greatsword and sent flying dozens of zhang. His spot was instantly filled by another.
Bam! Bam! Bam…
Under the combined assault of over twenty warriors, Yeop Hyeon was pushed back dozens of zhang in an instant. Wounds large and small already covered his body.
The twenty-odd warriors surged toward Yeop Hyeon again. At that precise moment, he opened his Sword Eyes.
Shik! Shik!
Two streaks of sword light shot from his pupils like lightning. Three warriors pierced directly by the beams were sliced in half. Those around them scrambled back in panic to avoid the light.
Right then, Ha Hu-do appeared above Yeop Hyeon's head. His massive blade came crashing down vertically toward Yeop Hyeon's skull.
It was a tyrannical strike infused with Blade Intent.
Yeop Hyeon didn't dodge. With a feral grin, he raised his great black sword to meet it head-on.
A direct clash.
Boom!
Amid the explosive roar, Ha Hu-do's figure hurtled back over ten zhang. Yeop Hyeon too was shoved back several zhang.
But by the time he regained his footing, he was once more surrounded by a dozen black-armored warriors.
At that instant, a beam of light erupted from Yeop Hyeon's body, decapitating one of the black-armored warriors.
Spirit Water Sword! Remote Sword Art!
As the Spirit Water Sword appeared, the black-armored warriors eyed it warily and retreated hastily.
They feared its elusive, unpredictable movements.
Just then, Luk Ban-jang's group broke through the encirclement and rushed to Yeop Hyeon's side.
They turned their backs to one another, facing the enemies on all sides.
The foes' numbers still seemed infinite.
The Chwiseonru warriors, too, were occupied with hordes of enemies and couldn't aid Yeop Hyeon's group.
Surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers, their situation was already hopeless.
Danguk had invested massively to kill them.
Yeop Hyeon wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve and laughed maniacally.
"Hahaha! No grand words at this point—just let's go out with a bang before we die!"
He stomped the ground with one foot and shot forward like an arrow.
As always, the Spirit Water Sword outpaced him.
Shiiik!
The Spirit Water Sword cleaved a soldier's head as it flew.
Ya Ri bellowed like a beast.
"Yeah! Even in death, let's make it one hell of a fight!"
With those words, Ya Ri, Gam Mu-wi, and the others launched themselves forward.
They were all geniuses—one-in-ten-thousand elites.
Like moths hurling themselves into flames, they charged the army of tens of thousands.
It was then, as Yeop Hyeon's group burned their final embers, that a single horse galloped swiftly into the arena from afar. The soldier, clad in Danguk cavalry gear, reined in before the masked leader of the Black Guards and dismounted, dropping to one knee in haste.
"Report: Marshal Bae orders the Black Guards and Daredeath Battalion to proceed immediately to Yangjie City."
Clang—
The masked man drew his longsword and pressed it to the cavalryman's throat, his face twisted in fury.
"What did you say?"
"Kanguk's Ninth Princess has launched a surprise attack. Yangjie City's forces are critically short. If we're not careful, Marshal Bae's army could suffer a major defeat. If Yangjie falls, the Imperial City is next. Thus, the Marshal requests the Commander and Daredeath Battalion dispatch reinforcements at once!"
"Kanguk, those bastards!!"
The masked man's expression warped grotesquely.
"I'd devour those Kanguk scum raw and still not be satisfied!"
He turned his head. Yeop Hyeon's group was barely holding against the Danguk soldiers' onslaught. At this rate, they could wipe them out in two shichen—no, one.
Pulling forces now would be like spilling a perfectly cooked meal.
"Commander, Danguk's safety comes first over those vermin."
The masked man glared at Yeop Hyeon with blazing eyes. Letting them escape grated on him.
In truth, to capture Yeop Hyeon, Danguk had stripped garrisons not just from across the nation but even from Yangjie City, creating a vacancy there.
With Kanguk facing off against multiple nations, no one had anticipated the Ninth Princess's bold raid.
"Report!"
Another soldier raced in on horseback.
"Marshal Bae commands the Commander and all soldiers to converge on Yangjie City immediately! Defiance will be met with execution!"
Defiance means beheading?
The masked man's eyes grew wilder.
Finally, he bellowed to his troops.
"All forces, withdraw!"
At his order, the soldiers halted their attack and ebbed away like a receding tide.
The masked man shot Yeop Hyeon one last venomous glare before wheeling his horse and retreating.
Now, only Ha Hu-do and a few warriors remained in the emptied arena. They too fled after the army.
Without soldier support, they'd be corpses in moments.
With the enemy gone, Yeop Hyeon's group collapsed where they stood. Around them lay heaps of bodies and the stench of blood.
Yeop Hyeon sprawled flat, not even a finger left to twitch.
He'd swung his sword until his arms turned to jelly.
Luk Ban-jang's group was no different.
Not one had strength left to lift a blade.
O Ru-ju approached Yeop Hyeon. Gazing at the retreating army vanishing over the horizon, he said,
"Word is Kanguk's Ninth Princess mobilized her forces."
Gang Gu?
Yeop Hyeon bolted upright.
"You mean Gang Gu made her move?"
O Ru-ju nodded.
"Half a shichen ago, the Ninth Princess led seventy thousand cavalry against Bae So-ho's army. The Black Guards and Daredeath Battalion are Bae's main force. Without them, his unit can't withstand Kanguk. They had no choice but to retreat and reinforce him."
O Ru-ju eyed Yeop Hyeon gravely.
"Even with the Black Guards detached, for the Ninth Princess to sortie while facing other foes—that was a decision of unparalleled audacity."
"She won't be in danger, will she?"
O Ru-ju shook his head.
"The Ninth Princess is as shrewd as they come. She'll feign battle, then pull back to Yangjie the moment the Daredeath Battalion and Black Guards turn tail. Truth be told, her move was to save you, Young Master Yeop."
Yeop Hyeon's heart grew heavy. He understood Gang Gu's intent.
"And fresh intel says Qingzhou Mubang's warriors have reached the vicinity. Not just them—the Daeun Empire of the Daeun Realm seems to be stirring too. Even past its prime, a lean camel is still hefty; their strength endures. Changmok Academy and the Dark Realm's warriors from Jungto Sinju have entered Qingzhou as well."
As he spoke, O Ru-ju's expression hardened. He sensed the tide turning against them.
In his view, Changmok Academy and the Dark Realm—those colossal powers—were staking everything to kill Yeop Hyeon, sparing no cost.
Those two factions had no retreat either.
If Yeop Hyeon kept growing, he'd surely judge them later—it was obvious. Admitting fault and kneeling? Unthinkable, worse than death. No matter how fearsome a Sword Immortal, they wouldn't forsake their dignity.
Besides, guided by that Sword Immortal, Yeop Hyeon's rapid ascent was inevitable.
They had to stake their lives to halt him!
Moreover, rumors of Changmok's Guardian Lord and the Dark Realm's assassins slain by Yeop Hyeon had spread across Qingzhou. To reclaim their tarnished honor, they had to eliminate him.
Then Luk Ban-jang spoke.
"Our reinforcements arrive in two days."
O Ru-ju and Yeop Hyeon turned to her simultaneously.
Luk Ban-jang scanned the corpses and located Sang Wol's body.
Yeop Hyeon's group rose and gathered around Sang Wol.
Luk Ban-jang gazed down at his corpse with a blank expression.
"If they come for us, we can't back down."
"We absolutely can't retreat!"
Neung Han snarled viciously from the side.
"My cousin will arrive in two days too. When he does, we'll show them hell!"
"Show 'em hell!"
All in the arena agreed.
Luk Ban-jang turned to Yeop Hyeon.
"So, what's the next plan?"
Next plan?
All eyes turned to Yeop Hyeon.
O Ru-ju watched silently, heart pounding.
The stakes were too high.
Yeop Hyeon paused, then spoke.
"Hm… How about we bury Sang Wol first and think it over?"
Everyone nodded.
Half a shichen later, at a sunny spot in nearby mountains, Yeop Hyeon's group laid Sang Wol to rest and erected a stele.
Before it, Luk Ban-jang stared at Sang Wol's spirit tablet and murmured,
"Rest easy now. We'll handle the rest."
She bowed once to the grave and turned away.
As they emerged from the woods, Yeop Hyeon looked to the sky.
"From here to Danguk's Imperial City is eight hundred li. Anyone up for crashing their party and dancing with swords?"
Storm the Danguk Imperial City?
Luk Ban-jang's group was speechless at Yeop Hyeon's proposal.
He grinned meaningfully.
"They say the Danguk Lord is filthy rich. Shall we go verify? Kill some Danguk scum along the way."