Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Suicide Squad (8)
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“Waaaah!”
With a rote cheer, the prisoners from the Southern Heaven Palace charged forward.
They were all skin and bones, having not eaten properly since the branch fortress’s food supplies ran out.
Still, as befitting those from a reputable sect like the Southern Heaven Palace, it didn’t take them long to muster their fighting spirit.
Following behind them were the defenders—no, the suicide squad of a hundred, all prepared for death.
It was only natural that the Ten Demon Alliance bastards, who had set up camp at the foot of the mountain, would have their eyes wide with shock at our charge.
“Enemies!”
“The Nine Dragons Fortress bastards are coming down!”
“These crazy sons of bitches!”
As shouts imbued with internal energy echoed, a swarm of black, red, and brown zerglings began to pour out from the Ten Demon Alliance’s formation in the distance.
They were the fiends from the three sects participating in this expedition.
Even at a glance, they numbered over a thousand.
To think so many remained even after we had slaughtered them in droves; they truly were like the zerg.
Still, it was a relief that, thanks to the Southern Heaven Palace guys leading the charge, we weren't completely outnumbered.
Facing an enemy three times our size was far more advantageous than facing one ten times larger.
“Freedom is just beyond them!”
With freedom in sight, the morale of the arrow fodder skyrocketed.
Brimming with courage, they charged ferociously.
Indeed, seeing this, it felt like the French Revolution didn't happen for nothing.
Thanks to the Southern Heaven Palace members charging with desperate abandon, the initial clash brought an unexpected result.
*Thwack, thwack, thwack. Shlick!*
“Kill them all!”
“Get out of my way!”
“How dare you mere grunts! Do you even know who I am?!”
Despite being issued heavily rusted weapons from the storehouse, they launched a tetanus-filled assault and succeeded in breaking through the Ten Demon Alliance’s primary encirclement.
The ones stabbed by those rusty weapons would probably succumb to tetanus and cross the river Styx in a few days, even if they somehow survived today.
Although the Southern Heaven Palace men fought hard, the Ten Demon Alliance bastards were no pushovers.
Once the first line of defense was breached, the masters from the rear joined the fray.
*Swoosh!*
“How dare you! Where do you think you’re setting foot?!”
“Don’t fall back!”
“The Blood God desires blood!”
They began to mercilessly cut down the Southern Heaven Palace prisoners.
In response, the masters among the prisoners stepped up to block the Ten Demon Alliance’s masters.
Though they couldn't exert their full strength after being locked up for so long, their hard-earned martial arts hadn't vanished.
Thanks to them, the arrow fodder, who had seemed to be faltering for a moment, soon reached a stalemate with the Ten Demon Alliance’s masters.
Which meant the front line had stabilized.
And that it was time for the suicide squad to make its move.
“Let's go!”
At my shout, the suicide squad following behind began to pick up speed.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
At the very front were myself and the Gray Dragon Hall's Gwangcheoldae.
Right behind us followed the Blue, Black, White, and Gold Dragons, while the Silver, Green, and Red Dragons covered the rear.
You could think of it as a diamond-shaped breakthrough formation.
Why did we form up like this?
Because from the very beginning, we had only one objective.
To capture the enemy, first capture their king.
Our goal was to seize the enemy's leadership and end this war.
It was the best possible strategy for us, given our inferior numbers.
That’s why we formed the best possible breakthrough formation.
*BOOM!*
To create an opening, I executed the War King Step and shot forward.
I started with a full-power Explosive Death Force.
I knew that using a grand technique in a chaotic melee was the height of inefficiency.
But in terms of boosting our allies' morale with its immense power and wide range, it was the perfect opening strike.
*Crackle, crack.*
Gathering all the War King energy raging through my body, I threw a punch.
*Rumble. KRA-BOOOOM!*
The black fist energy exploded, creating a storm of force.
A crater nearly ten feet wide formed.
The demonic fiends who had been packed in that spot like sardines were annihilated en masse.
And that wasn't all.
*Fwoosh.*
The gravitational pull that followed the explosion rooted the surviving enemies to the spot.
“What is this?!”
“Run!”
While the enemies were flustered by this bizarre phenomenon they had never experienced before…
*Shlick! Shlick!*
Gwangcheoldae, who had charged in with their tachi, bisected the fiends’ bodies, felling them.
*Slice. Stab, stab.*
The members of the suicide squad passed through the opening, creating pools of blood.
It was a perfect start.
“Hoo.”
The Southern Heaven Palace men followed us through the path we had so spectacularly cleared.
“That way!”
“We can live if we go that way!”
Thanks to them, we didn't have to worry about our rear.
All that was left was to run straight ahead.
Everyone in the suicide squad gritted their teeth and swung their weapons.
The Gray Dragon Hall's tachi cleared a path, the Blue Dragon Hall's greatswords and the Black Dragon Hall's swift swords pierced the remaining foes, and the White and Gold Dragon Halls' longswords protected them. Behind them, the Silver Dragon Hall's short spears, the Green Dragon Hall's hidden weapons, and the Red Dragon Hall's killing swords widened the path.
It would have been great if things continued like this, but battles in the martial world rarely go as planned.
*Slice!*
“Keuk!”
That's because you never know when or where a master might pop out, just like now.
“You bastard!”
Seeing his subordinate collapse, spewing blood, the enraged Hall Master of Gwangcheoldae swung his tachi.
His massive blade, suffused with a brilliant blue light, was a strike of overwhelming power.
It was a blow that no ordinary master could ever hope to block.
*BOOM!*
But his opponent was also a formidable master, who gritted his teeth and blocked it.
However.
*POW!*
Seizing the opportunity, I slammed him with the War King Thirteen Strikes, shattering his balance.
“Kuh.”
*Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack.*
*Thud.*
Dozens of hidden weapons thrown by the supporting Green Dragon Hall warriors embedded themselves in his body, and he died on the spot.
Isn't ganging up on someone the best part of a fight, anyway?
“Move, move, move!”
There was no time to be moved by our excellent teamwork.
The faster we broke through the enemy lines, the more of us would survive.
*BOOM!*
I immediately took another step.
As I stomped down, a loud noise echoed and the dirt ground crumbled.
Simultaneously, I executed the War King Step.
Previously, after obtaining the Flying Heavenly Wind, I became certain.
No one at my level, or even two or three levels above, could beat me in terms of speed.
And that certainty was being proven right here, right now.
“……!”
*Pow.*
I rapidly closed in on the clearly terrified enemies, hammering them with fists and kicks.
*CRACK!*
After instantly breaking two of their necks, the surrounding enemies unleashed energy from their weapons.
Now that we were deeper inside their formation, each and every one of them seemed formidable.
But there was no need to panic.
No matter who the opponent was, all I had to do was break through.
*Pssh.*
I shot a black iron nail imbued with my energy, and the enemies swung their weapons in alarm.
In the opening they exposed, the Green Dragon Hall's hidden weapons rained down.
*Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip.*
“Gah!”
*Stab! Stab!*
Following like ghosts, the Red Dragon Hall's short killing swords pierced the foreheads of the remaining enemies.
“Y-You cowards!”
A lone survivor, clutching his throat, screamed before being struck by another volley of hidden weapons and collapsing.
Calling a perfectly fair and coordinated attack cowardly.
A bastard with such twisted values deserved to die.
I continued to charge forward, dealing with the enemies.
The more I killed, the less burden my comrades following behind would have to bear.
Therefore, I threw myself at the enemy with all my might.
*Crunch! Crack.*
I shattered heads with fists filled with force.
*Clang! Clang!*
I blocked incoming sword and saber energies with my Dragon Scale Armor.
*KRA-BOOM!*
I fired an Explosive Death Force at a cluster of enemies.
In the midst of this bloody battle…
*Screeech!*
One of them actually managed to block my Ultimate Death Force, which contained fifty percent of my War King energy.
*Rumble.*
What's more, about twenty others exuding a similar aura appeared.
Looking at them, I thought.
‘We’re almost there.’
I didn't know who these guys were.
I'd never had any reason to get involved with the Ten Demon Alliance.
However, one thing was certain.
Bastards of this caliber couldn't possibly be mere grunts.
And that meant we weren't far from where the enemy's leaders were gathered.
In other words, it was time for our side's ultimate weapon to step up.
As if in response to my judgment, a colossal presence made itself felt from behind me.
Scorching heat, as if the sun had fallen to earth, and black flames billowed out.
*Thump.*
The coalesced heat and black flames shot toward the enemies like a meteor.
*KRA-BOOOOOM!*
A crater about ten feet wide appeared where the enemies had been standing.
*Fwoosh!*
In its center, only black flames roiled, melting the ground into a crimson pool.
There were no bloodstains, no bone fragments, not even a trace that a human had ever stood there.
It was as if it had always been that way.
That was right.
Bukgung Baek, who had been conserving his strength in the middle of our formation, had finally made his move.
‘Is he an Ace…?’
Seeing him hold the roiling flames in his hand, for a moment I almost believed Devil Fruits were real.
With his appearance, twenty peak-level fiends had vanished without a trace, revealing the location where the Ten Demon Alliance leaders were gathered.
Bukgung Baek looked at them, then took out a small gourd from his robes and drank from it.
It was bamboo leaf liquor.
‘Seriously, is this some kind of Drunken Fist?’
I complained inwardly, but I had to admit, it looked charismatic as hell.
The suicide squad, having caught up, formed up behind us.
*Pant, pant.*
The sound of gasping breaths could be heard from all around.
It was proof of their exhaustion.
‘If we hadn't used the prisoners, we wouldn't have even made it this far.’
I took a deep breath to calm my own slightly ragged breathing and assessed the battlefield.
A straight path had been carved from Mount Jeomchang to here.
Through that path, hundreds of Ten Demon Alliance members were pouring in.
For now, the prisoners who followed us were holding them back, but I didn't think they could last long.
At most, maybe an hour.
Within that time, we had to kill all one hundred of them in front of us.
Feeling a sense of urgency, I was about to charge forward when…
A middle-aged man exuding a terrifying aura stepped forward from the enemy's side.
He had an ordinary face, a build average for a martial artist, and a sword, a saber, and a spear strapped to his waist and back.
No matter how ignorant I was of the figures in the martial world, I knew this fiend.
The Vice Sect Leader of the Killing Sect, a man hailed within the Ten Demon Alliance as the one destined to become the greatest master of the next generation.
Killing Demon Mad Ghost, Hyeon San-wol.
He was the boss mob we had to face today.
Hyeon San-wol smiled faintly and spoke.
“So the rumors were true, that the Ten-Hand Heavenly Conqueror of Sichuan had entered the ranks of the absolute masters.”
“It would be difficult to glimpse the supreme state with the martial arts of you demonic cult grunts.”
I was surprised by the unexpected trash talk, but Hyeon San-wol himself didn't get angry.
*Grin.*
“For the Ten-Hand Heavenly Conqueror, you have a rather long tongue.”
Instead, he just wore a deeper smile, exuding an air of leisure.
It couldn't be helped.
I had to step up.
“Hey, you seem pretty skilled. Isn't it a bit third-rate of you to hide behind your underlings to protect yourself?”
“Do you think I would get agitated just because some nameless grunt I don't even know tries to provoke me?”
“Nameless grunt? I’ve sent quite a few of your Killing Sect bastards to their graves. What was his name, Yang Han-baek? I personally smashed his skull in at Mount Kongtong.”
“Hmph. He was just one of many rising stars, nothing more.”
“And that’s why you people will never succeed. The established generation should be protecting and supporting the youth, but you’re all too busy looking out for yourselves. Who will take responsibility for the future? Are you going to be working past a hundred, old man? Man, you demonic path bastards really lack common sense.”
Just as Hyeon San-wol showed a slight hint of agitation, I seized the opportunity and sent a telepathic message to those around me.
“Ah! So that’s why there are such rumors, huh?”
“……?”
“I heard Killing Sect bastards even kill their own masters and parents for a promotion. That’s the ultimate betrayal of family, doesn't it give you nightmares? Oh wait, you're demonic fiends, so you're probably fine with it?”
“You insolent…!”
It was then.
*FWOOSH!*
Waves of energy erupted like explosions from all over the suicide squad.
And.
*POW!*
The moment I shot my black iron nail…
*SWOOOSH!*
Wi Ji-pung fired his Sun-Shooting Arrow.
*VMMMM! KRA-BOOM!*
Dan Un brought down his Blue Cloud Red River Sword.
These were strikes thrown with all the might of those who had reached the supreme level.
Of course, Hyeon San-wol was a master of a higher caliber than myself, Wi Ji-pung, and Dan Un.
He dodged our attacks with ease.
But that was fine.
The goal was to create an opening for our masters, including Bukgung Baek, to land the first blow.
*FWOOOSH!*
A black flame dragon soaring overhead rang the bell for the start of the final battle.