Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Suicide Squad (3)
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#101: Suicide Squad (3)
Bukgung Baek single-handedly annihilated the Ten Demon Alliance's vanguard.
“It seems I'll need about three days to tend to my internal injuries.”
But given the caliber of his opponents, even the great Bukgung Baek was in a state where he couldn't fight for a while.
It couldn't be helped, even for a master of the Transcendent Realm like him.
The hundred-odd corpses lying before the mountain gates of Emei were, after all, the Blood Sect's finest elites and their vice-leader.
Although he had fought alongside the branch's warriors, in reality, Bukgung Baek had slain most of them himself. The fact that he only suffered internal injuries was an unbelievable success.
I offered him words of encouragement and comfort.
“Who told you to go show off by yourself? Wouldn't it have been much better if we fought together and you didn't get hurt?”
After all, if the defense force's strongest asset was out for a day, things would become that much more dangerous.
‘Seriously, does he think he's Kakarot or something?’
Trying to cut down everyone by himself.
However, perhaps misinterpreting my comfort, Bukgung Baek's expression hardened.
“Do you want to die?”
“...I was just worried, that's all. Worried.”
“Your tone suggests otherwise.”
“It must be your imagination. Just your imagination.”
“...”
“Still, now that you’ve taken down their vanguard commander, their morale should take a hit, don't you think?”
“I think they're more likely to go on an even bigger rampage.”
“...Well, if that happens, we're screwed.”
“Don't worry. If things get truly dangerous, I'll push myself to step in.”
“I'll make sure that doesn't happen, so you just focus on healing your injuries. Here, take this.”
“What is it?”
“It's a special elixir made by Lady Cheong.”
“Every time I see this, I can't help but think how foul it looks and smells. Can't anything be done about it?”
As if that was possible for a prototype that hadn't even finished clinical trials.
Once it was commercialized, we could coat it in gold leaf or infuse it with fragrance.
Of course, I didn't tell him any of this.
“Hehe, they say bitter medicine is good for the body, don't they? The effect is guaranteed, so please take it.”
“Alright.”
*Gulp.*
After he downed it in one go, I asked cautiously.
“By any chance, do you feel nauseous or dizzy?”
“Hm? Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“Just checking if it suits your constitution.”
“...I don't feel anything like that.”
“Understood. I'll be on my way, then. Please take care of yourself.”
As I left the room, I cheered inwardly.
‘A year of clinical trials is finally over!’
At last, the Cheong Family's Special Elixir from the Mujeon-ne branch could be released to the world.
I had the recipe, so as soon as this war was over, I could make a fortune.
* * *
With Bukgung Baek unable to fight for the time being, the one who took charge of the defense force was the Black Dragon Hall Master.
He was a renowned Taoist adept known as Adept Inhyeon, and a swordsman of the highest caliber.
He proposed an idea.
“I intend to wage a defensive battle. What are your thoughts?”
“That is a sound idea.”
Several people agreed.
Of course, they weren't wrong. The branch on the summit of Mount Emei could only be reached via a wide staircase carved into the cliff.
It was thanks to this that they had been able to fend off the Southern Heaven Palace with their meager forces.
However.
“That might work if we had ample food, but with our current lack of supplies, we could end up isolated.”
With our food supplies being low in many respects, if we were surrounded, we would all starve to death.
Unless a divine art that converted internal energy into calories appeared, even a master of the Transcendent Realm had to eat to fight.
“Hmm, Squad Leader Jin’s point is not wrong.”
“Now that I hear it, he is right. We must keep a route to the outside open until supplies arrive from the main fortress.”
Understanding, everyone nodded.
The Black Dragon Hall Master asked for my opinion.
“I heard you played a great role in defending Mount Emei before. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Of course I do.”
All eyes, filled with anticipation, turned to me.
“We should start discussing them now, shouldn't we?”
“...”
“I mean, with all due respect, I'm not a strategy scholar from the military affairs department, am I?”
I had a plan in mind, but I didn't say it.
If the plan went well, it would be everyone's victory, but if it failed and led to a great defeat, the responsibility would fall on me, and I could lose my head.
‘Just stay in the middle. The middle ground.’
So, I decided to stick with the "I don't know anything about that" strategy I used to use on the supply sergeant in the army.
“Ahem, then, let's begin the meeting.”
The meeting that followed was quite intense.
It was inevitable, given the high status, reputation, and strong personalities of those gathered.
For example.
“Hah! Do you think that will work? Our opponents aren't some riffraff from the Unorthodox Faction! It would be more efficient to form a defensive line centered around our Silver Dragon Hall and block the enemy together.”
“A fine idea. With the breakthrough power of our Shining Iron Brigade, we could even launch a counterattack...”
There were opinions within the normal range like these.
“It is not honorable. Why don't we go down the mountain and face them in an all-out battle? The warriors of the Blue Dragon Hall and I could slaughter them in an instant!”
“Since they are human, they must like money. How about we bribe them to switch sides?”
“Rather than that, it would be better if my brothers and the Red Blood Brigade infiltrated the enemy's formation and took the heads of their commanders...”
And then there were completely insane opinions like these, truly a wide variety.
It was driving me mad.
‘Are they the Allied forces from the early days of World War II?’
Why is everyone on a different page?
Watching the meeting, I saw a reflection of the Allied forces being trampled by the German army in the early days of the world war.
I felt I had to intervene before the plan went completely off the rails.
“Ahem, instead of all that, why don't we all fight by utilizing our respective specialties...”
However.
“No! What is wrong with fighting honorably?! On the wide plains below the mountain, we can test our martial prowess against each other...”
“Forget that, let's form a defensive line!”
“It's more efficient to bribe them and incite betrayal...”
“I simply cannot understand why you all make it so complicated when all we need to do is take their heads.”
My voice was completely drowned out by the heated atmosphere of the meeting hall.
To make matters worse, the Black Dragon Hall Master, who was supposed to be mediating, was busy just nodding along.
“Hall Master, don't you think the meeting can only proceed if you take charge and provide some direction?”
“This side is right, and that side is right, so it's difficult to make a choice.”
Seriously, is he channeling some legendary indecisive minister?
A sigh escaped my lips, and my head shook on its own.
This wouldn't do.
With the main force of the Ten Demon Alliance potentially arriving at any moment, we needed to formulate a proper plan and prepare to face them as soon as possible.
‘Just as I thought.’
So, it comes to this in the end.
As I pondered whether the problem was gathering a bunch of people who only knew how to swing a sword without a thought in their heads, or if the problem was this world's lack of public education.
*CRASH! CRACK.*
I smashed the table to get everyone's attention.
“Why would you break a perfectly good table...”
I heard the branch master's complaint but casually ignored it.
“Do you really think you can stop the Ten Demon Alliance with this level of unity, where you can't even agree on a single opinion?”
A presentation that started with criticism.
Naturally, everyone in the room was focused.
Now, all that was left was to get to the main point...
“Hmph! You've gained a little fame recently and now you see nothing else!”
“I don't think he used to be like this... tsk tsk.”
“How arrogant.”
“Hmph! Who is that punk's master?”
“There is a proper order of seniority and age!”
“I never thought I'd live to hear such words from a greenhorn junior at my age.”
Faced with the barrage of criticism from all sides, I first offered an apology.
“No, that's not what I meant...”
It was just as I'd expected from the residents of the martial world, who seemed to have a monument to Confucian rigidity embedded in their frontal lobes.
To think I would experience firsthand why a book titled *The Nation Can Only Live If Confucius Dies* became a bestseller.
A moment later, thanks to the Black Dragon Hall Master's mediation, the atmosphere finally calmed down.
“Do you have a good idea?”
“Of course. If things go as planned, we can minimize our casualties and buy plenty of time against the Ten Demon Alliance.”
“What is it?”
I took out a large blank sheet of paper, an inkstone, and a brush, and said.
“It's called the Resistance. A resistance operation.”
It was version 2.0 of the strategy I had used against the Southern Heaven Palace.
* * *
The gossips of the martial world evaluated the Ten Demonic Sects of the Ten Demon Alliance as such:
In bare-handed combat, the Fighting Sect is supreme. With a single weapon, none can match the Saber Sect and the Sword Sect.
However, on a battlefield, the ones to be most wary of were undoubtedly the Killing Sect.
It wasn't because their individual martial prowess was strong.
Their martial arts and combat styles, born from real-world battle and suited for fighting against multiple opponents, were the foundation that allowed the Killing Sect to dominate the battlefield.
And Hyeon San-wol, the Killing Demon Mad Ghost, one of the vice-leaders of the Killing Sect, was greatly flustered by the news that the vanguard had been annihilated.
“What?! Annihilated?”
“Yes, we dispatched the Earth Killing Squad to confirm, but they could not find any survivors.”
“...That fool messed things up.”
Hyeon San-wol gritted his teeth in anger.
Though they were called the vanguard, their role in this operation was simply to tie down the enemy.
But they had gotten greedy for merit and recklessly attacked, only to be wiped out.
For the Ten Demon Alliance, it was a massive loss of military strength.
“What did the Blood Sect Leader say?”
“We delivered the news of the vice-leader's death, but he showed no particular reaction. In fact, some of the Blood Sect elders seemed pleased, saying the Altar of Blood had opened.”
“Hmph.”
The Blood Sect, descendants of the old Western Tibetan Blood Cult, were known for not having a single sane person among them. This was not just a rumor, but a fact.
That was why Hyeon San-wol, who was relatively experienced and rational, was appointed as the vice-commander for this expedition.
“Have all forces on standby immediately. We will begin the attack before the Nine Dragons Fortress completes its preparations.”
It was an unplanned attack, which made him uneasy, but he had no choice. If they didn't attack now, the deaths of the vanguard would become meaningless.
‘Their defenses must have a gap due to the fierce battle.’
A short while later.
*Doo-doo-doo—*
The sound of great drums echoed, and the warriors of the Blood, Killing, and Flame Sects began to move out at a rapid pace.
As if boasting of their lineage from the Western Tibetan Blood Cult, the Blood Sect followers marched at the very rear, singing a gloomy dirge.
The Flame Sect followers, clad in their distinctively splendid long robes, occupied the middle of the formation.
The Killing Sect followers, each holding a different weapon aloft, walked at the forefront with a murderous aura.
Their total number was two thousand.
A staggering one-fifth of the ten thousand warriors belonging to the Ten Demon Alliance.
And the leaders of the Ten Great Demonic Sects had appointed the capable Hyeon San-wol as the de facto commander of this expedition.
That was how serious the Ten Demon Alliance was about this campaign.
Thanks to this, most of the warriors on the battlefield had no doubt that the Ten Demon Alliance would be victorious.
Overwhelming military power and an excellent commander.
These were the surest conditions for seizing victory.
After marching for some time, they arrived at the entrance of Mount Emei.
The mountain peak, stretching so high into the sky that one had to crane their neck just to see its top, ignited a fire in the hearts of the Ten Demon Alliance members.
And then.
“Burn Mount Emei to the ground!”
With Hyeon San-wol's cry, the attack of the two-thousand-strong expeditionary force of the Ten Demon Alliance began.