Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: A Preemptive Strike is a Sure Victory (4)
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A loess plateau, brown no matter where you looked.
And upon it, a tall, wide fortress wall stood proudly.
This was today's target: Seohwa.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The sound of galloping horses filled the air.
A clamorous shout echoed from the distance.
It seemed they had spotted us.
The Black Mountain Tigers spurred their horses and charged forward.
“Hiyah!”
Neigh.
Watching them gallop with expressions of pure excitement, they looked just like a band of mounted bandits.
'Since we're disguised as the Blood Killing Gate, I guess we can call ourselves the Blood Killing Brigade from now on.'
As I pondered a good name for our bandit act, we had already approached the fortress walls.
The plan was the same as before.
“Heave-ho!”
The moment I brought down the wall, we would charge.
I stepped on my horse's saddle and leaped forward.
As if they had been waiting, the Black Mountain Tigers offered their shoulders.
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
I bounded off their shoulders, moving like a streak of light.
And just as I reached the fortress wall.
“Hup!”
I drew upon all the War King Ki in my body.
It was to attempt a single-point demolition, just as I had done when I shattered the walls of Mudo.
Crackle. Sizzle.
Force began to explode from my fist, which was filled with War King Ki, and soon, a black sphere formed.
A power derived from Force Ki, but not Force Ki itself.
To be precise, you could say it was the result of exploding Force Ki—a condensation of ki—and then re-condensing that power.
I don't know the principle behind it. But I'm confident about one thing.
In terms of pure destructive power, it's stronger than any divine art or ultimate technique.
I slammed that powerful force into the wall.
R-rumble. Craaaash!
"......"
Nothing happened.
“Well, crap.”
This is a complete bust...
It seems the wall was thicker than I thought.
The Black Mountain Tigers, galloping behind me, reined in their horses and stared at me with bewildered eyes.
The enemy, not missing the opportunity, immediately launched a counterattack.
“The enemy has stopped! Fire!”
Fwoosh!
A volley of arrows rained down simultaneously.
There was no way the Black Mountain Tigers, each a peak master, would be hit by such blind attacks.
Still, we couldn't just stand here and take it.
I decided to take drastic measures.
What, you ask?
“Son of a bitch!”
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
I'll just have to beat it down with the spirit of the Marine Corps.
Ah, for the record, I did my public service due to the scoliosis I got from joining the outnumbered Alliance and fighting against the Horde.
Anyway, I once again slammed the Explosive Death Force into the wall with all my might.
Craaaash!
Thud. Thud.
I felt a slight tremor from the spot where I struck the second time.
Craaaash!
Cracks appeared where I struck the third time.
And.
Craaaash!
The final blow completely brought the wall down.
Ruuuumble.
A wide-open breach in the wall.
I shouted toward the now-open front.
“Heh! You think a wall like this can stop me... Whoa, there are more of you than I thought.”
Countless gazes focused on me.
At a glance, there were over three hundred of them.
Every one of them had a menacing glare, suggesting they were no pushovers.
“What are you all doing! Bring me his head at once!”
While I was catching my breath, the three hundred or so demonic practitioners of the Homa Gate, who ruled Seohwa, charged at me.
I had completely exhausted my internal energy with four uses of the Explosive Death Force.
Facing the enemies in this state could have been quite dangerous, but I wasn't particularly worried.
Because the ones backing me up were the legends of the martial world's gangster scene and the rising stars of the mounted bandit world—the Tigers of the Black Mountain.
Shiiing!
“Kill them all!”
The Homa Gate in their gray uniforms and the Black Mountain Tigers in their blood-red uniforms charged at each other.
* * *
The battle was fiercer than initially expected.
It wasn't just because of the numerical difference between thirty and three hundred, nor was it because the enemy's forces were stronger than anticipated.
Grab.
“Tch!”
“Khehehe, I'm not dying alone.”
“Hmph!”
Shiiing!
“Gah.”
Fighting spirit.
It was because of the enemy's fighting spirit—they would take a blade just to grab hold of a Black Mountain Tiger's leg.
Thanks to this, the number of wounds on the Black Mountain Tigers began to increase.
Naturally, they couldn't push the enemy with the same momentum as in the beginning; instead, they started to be pushed back slightly due to the difference in numbers.
However, I had a hidden force prepared for such a time.
Shwiiik! Slice.
It was the detached force led by the Black Tiger Corps Commander.
A strategy of concentrating the enemy's forces at the front and then striking their rear—a martial world version of the hammer and anvil tactic, so to speak.
'Hah, they fell for it.'
To think I came up with such a brilliant tactic.
I could truly be called the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.
“Huhuhu. Uwahahahaha.”
Fwoom!
Craaash!
“Whoa, shit! Almost died there.”
After hastily dodging a bundle of blade energy, I saw masters with considerable presence charging from among the enemy ranks.
“Drive back the enemies at the front first!”
Yes sir-!
It was the Gate Master of the Homa Gate and his five elders.
With the participation of six peak masters, I could feel the morale of the Homa Gate bastards skyrocketing.
But who was I?
Was I not the transcendent master whose name resounded throughout the southwest of the Central Plains, the Fighting Dragon, Jin Mujeon?
Thump.
I channeled strength into the balls of my feet and stomped, using the resulting rebound force to execute the War King Step, instantly appearing right in front of the Homa Gate Master.
“You bastard!”
Of course, my opponent was the master of a gate.
He instantly conjured blade energy and swung it before him, blocking my advance.
No, he tried to block it.
Sh-sh-sh-shluk!
That is, until his body was split apart by the Ultimate Death Force, which I had poured all my strength into.
The fan-shaped line of ki spread out and dismembered the Homa Gate Master and the five elders standing right in front of him.
The six peak masters were cut in half without even a chance to scream.
Fear washed over the faces of the Homa Gate disciples.
“Hoo......”
It was because they had witnessed the absurd deaths of their leaders.
I stood before them and spoke slowly.
“Surrender, and I'll kill you in one blow.”
I had no intention of letting a single one of them live anyway.
* * *
Four hours later.
After looting the Homa Gate's headquarters, we immediately headed back the way we came.
Uwahahaha-!
The Black Mountain Tigers roared with laughter as they rode.
I could understand how they felt. Their sturdy sacks were filled with treasures worth over three thousand taels.
Watching the Black Mountain Tigers pat each other on the shoulder, saying "Good work," I couldn't help but nod.
'This is their true calling.'
A sudden worry struck me.
'What if they decide to quit the Nine Dragons Fortress and start their own mounted bandit enterprise?'
If that happens, I'll have to personally become their angel investor and fund their startup costs.
We'll split the profits 70/30.
With me getting the 70, of course.
'Anyway.'
Fwoosh.
Watching Seohwa burn, I started to get worried.
After winning the battle, we had immediately set fire to the Homa Gate's headquarters while looting it.
Why?
'I told him we should just run, but that crazy old geezer...'
Because the Black Tiger Corps Commander had strongly insisted on it.
He said something about drawing aggro properly if we were going to do it at all.
Thanks to him, smoke billowing from all over rose high into the skies of Gansu Province, and at the very least, all the demonic practitioners within a radius of several dozen li would become aware of our presence.
“We need to go faster! Come on! Stop chatting and ride!”
In other words, we had to put as much distance as possible between us and them before the enemy's pursuit began.
And against the main forces of the Ten Demon Alliance, no less.
We couldn't flee straight to Hanzhong right now.
Unless the average IQ of the Ten Demon Alliance bastards was around 60, wouldn't fleeing to Hanzhong reveal our true identities?
If that happened, things would get dangerous. The Ten Demon Alliance would surely go berserk and invade, and on top of that, I could be punished for overstepping my authority by having the tendons in my four limbs severed, forcing me to live the rest of my life as a cripple.
'Just thinking about it is horrifying.'
That's why we started riding toward Ningxia.
* * *
Two days later.
We encountered a completely unexpected disaster.
Patter. Whoooosh-!
It was a sandstorm, powerful enough to cover everything.
'Wow, perfect timing.'
Caught in the whims of Mother Nature, we had no choice but to take shelter behind a small sand dune for the night.
The horses simply couldn't run.
Neigh-!
“There, there, good boy.”
Worried the horses might get spooked and bolt, I covered their heads with the blankets we used as sleeping bags.
Whooosh.
It was also to prevent their eyes from being injured, which would render them unable to run.
Thanks to that, I had to endure the frigid desert night with my bare body, but there was no other way.
Without horses, we wouldn't be able to escape at all.
The only silver lining was that the sandstorm wasn't like the ones in movies that literally devoured everything.
If I had to describe it, it felt like a concentrated yellow dust storm.
'Hmm... Should I try planting some trees here in advance?'
Then the citizens of Seoul in the future could breathe clean air.
As I was passing the time with such useless thoughts, the Black Tiger Corps Commander approached.
“Cough, cough, what shitty weather we're having.”
“Tell me about it. To run into a sandstorm all of a sudden.”
“Isn't this all because the commander lacks virtue?”
“......”
“Kekeke, just kidding.”
The Black Tiger Corps Commander plopped down beside me and pulled a gourd flask from his robes, offering it to me.
I opened the stopper and sniffed. It was alcohol. Top-shelf stuff, at that.
“Got it in Seohwa.”
'Got it' was a euphemism for 'stole it'.
“When did you have time to grab this?”
“Found it in the underground cellar. The aroma was too good to resist.”
“......No way.”
Grabbing booze during that chaotic time? How did he even know he'd get a chance to drink it?
“Thanks to this, we can relax a little. Isn't that nice?”
“Well, I guess so.”
Gulp.
I took a careful sip to avoid getting sand in it, and an exquisite aroma filled my mouth.
“This is good.”
No wonder they hid it in the cellar.
As the liquor went down my throat, I could even feel the energy of nature. At this level, it might as well be medicine instead of alcohol.
“See? Good thing I brought it, right?”
“I'll give you that.”
After chuckling for a moment, he asked with a suddenly serious expression.
“So, we've come this far as you said. What's the plan now?”
“We run.”
“Is that all?”
“Isn't it obvious? If the Ten Demon Alliance comes at us with everything they've got, even the Black Mountain Tigers could be annihilated.”
“And here I thought you were planning to do something more.”
“Do what, exactly?”
“Like ambushing our pursuers and wiping them out, or infiltrating their rear to cause chaos. Aren't there many options?”
“......”
What does this old man take me for?
“Rest assured, that will absolutely not happen. We're not fighting our pursuers; we're running straight away.”
There were two reasons I was leading the Black Mountain Tigers on this bandit spree.
One, to build up a notorious reputation and make the demonic practitioners who had turned to banditry return to their own territories, thus preventing further damage.
The other was, since we were playing bandits anyway, to make off with some serious cash.
Even though we had already achieved these two goals, the Black Tiger Corps Commander seemed unsatisfied, proceeding to launch into his 'back in my day' speech.
“Tsk, kids these days are so soft... Back in my day, charging headfirst into the Ten Demon Alliance's ten-thousand-strong army was nothing.”
For the record, the Ten Demon Alliance and the Nine Dragons Fortress haven't had an all-out war in the last hundred years.
Naturally, the Ten Demon Alliance has never assembled ten thousand demonic practitioners during that time, either.
Whooosh.
And so, I sipped my drink in the blowing sand, listening to the Black Tiger Corps Commander's 'back in my day' speech.
“The slightest hardship and you say you can't do it. The moment things get difficult, you want to run away. How can the Nine Dragons Fortress have a future like this? And another thing...”
'When is this going to end?'