Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Mount Hua Grand Battle (4)
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#026 The Mount Hua Grand Battle (4)
Carrying as much food as we could, we began our descent down the cliff below the branch.
It was a perilous journey; one misstep meant a thousand-foot drop, so we placed each foot with extreme care.
For security, we moved under the cover of dawn.
If the enemy discovered us, it would be a catastrophe.
Thanks to this, we were forced to move at a turtle's pace.
The only silver lining was that all the remaining defenders were first-rate masters or better.
If they had been less skilled, a few would have experienced a bungee jump without the cord.
Had four hours passed?
Thud.
‘Phew… I almost died.’
The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs felt like they were giving out.
It seemed everyone felt the same, as they all sat down to catch their breath.
About half an hour later, Wi Ji-pung was the last to descend.
He had stayed behind until the very last moment, observing the enemy's movements.
He had volunteered, claiming he could escape the fastest since he used to climb up and down this very cliff twice a day as part of his training in his youth.
To think he still clung to such a Stone Age training method, ignoring the latest, most advanced techniques in the martial world.
‘I'm glad I didn't join the Black Dragon Hall.’
It was truly something to shake one's head at.
In any case, with Wi Ji-pung joining us, we began to move toward the hidden cave of the Mount Hua Sect.
Normally, it wouldn't be revealed to outsiders, but when facing death, what did such rules matter?
Surviving by using every available resource was the priority.
After walking for a while, I looked back to see flames soaring from the branch headquarters.
The Southern Heaven Palace must have set it ablaze after confirming the defenders were gone.
"Kugh."
"Sob."
Witnessing the sight, the warriors of the Black Dragon Hall began to weep and groan.
Though it was now a branch of the Nine Dragons Fortress, it had once been the main headquarters of the Mount Hua Sect.
They were undoubtedly feeling the pain of watching their old home burn.
Wi Ji-pung, too, couldn't contain his anger, his eyes bloodshot.
"Let's hurry. We'll make them pay for this."
"...Let's do that."
After a long walk along the mountain path, we came upon a large cave.
It was the ancestral shrine where the memorial tablets of the Mount Hua Sect's ancestors were kept before they merged with the Nine Dragons Fortress.
Though empty now, it was immaculately maintained, as if it had been continuously cared for.
Upon our arrival, the eyes of everyone, including the executives, were fixed on me.
Their eyes, having witnessed their branch burn, were filled with fighting spirit.
I spoke to them.
"It's time to show our enemies the terror of the Nine Dragons Fortress."
The resistance had begun.
***
Jin Mak-ho, the Seventh Elder of the Southern Heaven Palace, the Six-Fingered Sword Demon.
A renowned peak master in the southern martial world, he led the experts of the Southern Heaven Palace and local tribesmen in a search of Mount Hua.
They were looking for the vanished warriors of the Nine Dragons Fortress.
"They don't seem to be here."
"Did you search properly?!"
"Yes, we mobilized the tribesmen and searched several times, but we couldn't find any trace of them."
The southern tribes were known for being able to find even a baby sparrow in the forest.
If even they couldn't find them, it was safe to assume they weren't there.
"We move deeper in."
"Yes, sir!"
The leader of the Annihilation Squad ordered his troops to move deeper into the mountain.
At his command, the three hundred members of the Annihilation Squad and seven hundred tribesmen began to move as one.
"When I catch them, I'll tear them to shreds."
He growled, burning with vengeance.
This was because Jin U-ryang, the leader of the Annihilation Squad's First Team who had died in a recent battle, was his eldest nephew.
After they had been moving for about half a day, the leader of the Annihilation Squad, concerned for the pursuers' stamina, approached him.
"I think it would be wise to rest here for a while."
"There is no time for rest."
"However, if we continue this forced march and their stamina wanes, the tribesmen will struggle to keep up, even if the Annihilation Squad can manage."
"Are you questioning my orders? Do you have a death wish?"
"No, sir. We will resume the pursuit."
In the end, unable to sway Jin Mak-ho's stubbornness, the Annihilation Squad leader once again ordered the march to continue.
Murmurs of discontent arose from the tribesmen, but they were quickly silenced by the menacing aura of the Annihilation Squad.
Just as they were about to move again.
*Booooom.*
An explosion echoed from somewhere.
And then.
"Aaargh!"
"Kuhuk..."
"Blech!"
The screams of the tribesmen rang out.
Jin Mak-ho and the entire Annihilation Squad rushed toward the source of the sound.
"W-what in the world...?"
A gruesome scene.
The tribesmen near the epicenter of the explosion had been slaughtered en masse.
Sensing something was amiss, Jin Mak-ho shouted.
"It's poison! Everyone, hold your breath!"
A poison bomb.
It was undoubtedly a device from the Green Dragon Hall, known as the greatest poison masters under heaven.
Which meant.
Their targets were not far.
Jin Mak-ho drew his sword and ordered them to prepare for battle.
"Everyone, draw your weapons and be on guard!"
Meanwhile, someone was watching this from a distance.
‘They took the bait.’
It was Mujeon.
***
From then on, everything went according to plan.
We left traces at regular intervals to lure the enemy after they found them.
We set traps using the Green Dragon Hall's poison in places they were likely to pass.
Making them doubt everything they saw, from the water they drank to the ground they slept on.
As a result, the enemy became extremely paranoid, advancing with even tighter security.
That wasn't all.
For several days, we relentlessly harassed them.
"That's enough. Everyone, withdraw!"
The warriors of the Red Dragon Hall, experts in assassination, would launch surprise attacks at night to eliminate their sentries.
"Drop it!"
*CRASH!*
The warriors of the Gray Dragon Hall, boasting monstrous strength, dropped boulders from the cliffs above.
"Now! Everyone, form the array!"
The warriors of the White Dragon Hall laid down formations to amplify the chaos.
These efforts paid off, as the enemy forces slowly began to fracture.
The conflict between the terrified tribesmen and the Southern Heaven Palace warriors, who tried to force them onward, finally exploded.
Yesterday, we even witnessed an old man who seemed to be their leader massacring his own tribesmen.
They were ripe for the picking.
Let them ripen any longer, and they'd spoil completely.
"Let's go!"
We raised our weapons and charged at them.
The Black Dragon Hall led the charge.
Perhaps because they had witnessed their former home, the Mount Hua branch, go up in flames, they had volunteered to be at the forefront.
Their unhesitating Eighteen Swords of Scattered Light cleaved through the enemy.
*Slice! Slice!*
Following the path cleared by the Black Dragon Hall, the warriors of the Gray Dragon Hall entered, wielding their longswords.
The Heaven-Dominating Great Power Saber—true to its name, the heavy blade of monstrous power crushed enemies whole, widening the path.
A wave of attacks poured in after them.
The sound of deadly weapons clashing filled the slopes of Mount Hua.
A battle between one thousand defenders and three hundred attackers.
At a glance, it looked like we were willingly walking into the tiger's mouth, but the situation was completely different.
The enemy, already on the brink of collapse, fell without putting up much of a fight.
Furthermore, the southern tribesmen who were supposed to support the Southern Heaven Palace warriors began to flee.
Their constantly dwindling morale had broken their will to fight.
In the end, the actual battle was between the three hundred warriors of the Southern Heaven Palace and our three hundred defenders.
It was a fight we could win.
Of course, we couldn't let our guard down.
In battles between martial arts factions, a single master could turn the tide at any moment.
Just like now.
"I'll kill you all!"
With a lion's roar, two warriors with menacing auras flew out from the enemy lines.
One was an old man, and the other was a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
In the martial world, nine times out of ten, an old man is either a master or a mastermind.
Leaving them alone would risk heavy casualties on our side.
But I couldn't face them alone.
"Brother Wi Ji!"
What could be more futile than dying to save others?
"Alright!"
I called upon my trusty sidekick, Wi Ji-pung.
The old man, spotting us approaching, bellowed.
"You scum!"
He attacked without even introducing himself—just as you'd expect from the Unorthodox Path.
*Shhhhaaaak.*
The old man's sword moved like a serpent's head.
‘Phantom Sword!’
Movements so disorienting, watching them for too long felt like it would make me cross-eyed.
The Southern Heaven Palace warrior behind him seemed to have learned the same art, unleashing bizarre sword techniques of his own.
However.
"Hmph!"
It was a widely held belief that the devious arts of the Unorthodox Path could not defeat the orthodox techniques of the Righteous Path.
Wi Ji-pung's Eighteen Swords of Scattered Light began to parry the old man's sword.
And I, too, charged at the other guy.
It's not that I was intentionally picking the weaker-looking one.
It was just a coincidence. Really.
*Fwoosh.*
Using the War King Step, I moved from his front to his flank.
"I see everything!"
The man swung his sword with ghostly speed.
*Swish. Whoosh.*
The chilling path of his blade cut toward my chest.
I barely dodged it, but it grazed my clothes, leaving a small scratch.
‘Wow.’
On second thought, who cares about orthodox techniques?
The stronger one simply wins.
"You're lucky!"
"What part of this looks like luck? It's skill!"
He unleashed his sword technique once more.
This time, it was imbued with a hazy sword energy, looking like it could sever a limb with a mere graze.
‘This is insane.’
He was weaker than the Soul-Stealing Killer Axe I'd fought before, but far trickier.
It was a matter of compatibility.
The Axe guy had chosen power over speed and variation, making it easy to engage him in close combat.
*Shing!*
"Whoa!"
But breaking through this guy's sword, which sacrificed power for superior speed and variation, was proving quite difficult.
"You dodge well, like a little rat!"
Thinking he was running out of time, the man's aura changed.
Until now, his techniques had been a balanced mix of offense and defense, but now he unleashed a purely offensive barrage.
He probably wanted to rejoin his subordinates quickly.
And his efforts finally bore fruit.
*Stab!*
"Kuk."
The bizarre phantom sword, which I had been desperately dodging, pierced my shoulder.
"Die!"
Having been struck by a sword imbued with sword energy, I felt the need to offer some advice to others.
If you ever get hit by a truck and isekai'd, don't fight a sword master.
‘It hurts like hell.’
But I couldn't just take it lying down.
Like a lightning bolt, I shot out my right hand and grabbed his wrist.
It was the Three Yang Hand of the Seizing Arts.
"Hmph!"
As if he'd experienced this many times, the man thrust out with his left hand.
A dagger clutched within it.
But. Wasn't close-quarters combat my specialty?
*Thud-thud-thud-thud.*
Before the dagger could reach me, I unleashed my left hand, striking his torso with five moves from the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
"Gahk!"
The man screamed and used the repulsive force.
He immediately retreated backward.
It seemed he was trying to create distance.
‘If I let him get away now, I'm screwed.’
I immediately used the War King Step to close the distance again.
Another round of close combat began.
He tried to push me away with his sword pommel, elbows, and knees.
"Nngh!"
I took all but the most fatal attacks with my body.
My head rang and excruciating pain shot through me, but I could endure this much.
Because.
*Rumble.*
If I could land just one successful attack, it would be enough to take him down.
*CRACK! BOOM!*
The Explosive Death Force I managed to unleash slammed into his solar plexus.
The force concentrated in my fist penetrated his body and exploded from within.
*Splat.*
Blood-soaked chunks of flesh scattered in every direction.
A single blow.
Such was the power of the sixty years of internal energy I gained from consuming the Ice Yin Nectar.
*Slice. Thump.*
Just as I was catching my breath, a terrible sound came from behind me.
"Ugh..."
The old man's sword was turning Wi Ji-pung into a bloody rag.
*Fwoosh.*
Wi Ji-pung managed to escape by using the Scattered Light Shadow Illusion at opportune moments, but he was still being pushed back.
I immediately used the War King Step to get behind the old man.
"You brat!"
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, the old man spun around and swung his sword.
"!!!"
*CRACK!*
The ground was gouged deeply, and a massive tree was split diagonally.
It was sword silk, the stage before sword aura.
"...Hey, old man? How about we talk this out like civilized people?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
The old man's sword moved once more.
The sword energy extending from his dazzling techniques threw the surroundings into chaos.
His speed was also insanely fast, making it difficult to dodge.
As a result, I was getting cuts all over my body.
"Just stick your neck out!"
"Don't you get tired, old man? You should take a break and watch your grandkids play... Whoa!"
Another storm of sword techniques.
‘I can't close the distance.’
To land even a single punch, I needed to get in close, but he wasn't giving me any openings.
However, I wasn't fighting alone.
Wi Ji-pung, who had caught his breath, sent me a telepathic message.
[Hold your ground for just ten seconds!]
‘Damn it...’
I didn't know if he meant endure ten sword strikes or literally ten seconds, but neither was an easy request.
"Hup!"
*Crack. Crack.*
I blocked the old man's sword with my gauntlets, which were enveloped in fist energy.
I could feel the Black Lotus Gauntlets cracking after just two strikes.
The problem was, I had no way to endure the next one.
In the end, I decided to use the secret weapon I had been saving for last.
"Let's negotiate!"
My mouth.
"...What?"
"I'll let you and all your men go, so let's stop fighting!"
"Are you serious?!"
"Do I look like a man who..."
As I was busy running my mouth, I felt a formidable aura rising from Wi Ji-pung's entire body.
"...goes back on his word? Yes, I am."
The moment I jumped away, Wi Ji-pung thrust his sword forward.
And.
*Woooooong!*
With a magnificent resonant hum, a beam of light shot out from his sword like a thunderbolt.
The old man, startled, swung his sword to block it, but.
*BOOM!*
Overwhelmed by the force, his right arm was blown off.
A secret technique passed down from the legend of Hou Yi, son of the Heavenly God, who shot down the suns.
The Sun-Shooting Sword, Hou Yi Shoots the Sun.
One of the ultimate divine arts of the Mount Hua Sect, and one of the most renowned sword techniques under heaven, had just been unleashed by Wi Ji-pung.
"Hah! Hah!"
Exhausted, Wi Ji-pung collapsed to the ground.
"Kugh..."
Watching this, the old man gritted his teeth.
Then, he shot off in one direction.
He chose to flee and live rather than stand and die.
Of course, I wasn't about to let him get away.
*Thump!*
I quickly leaped up and got behind the old man.
"!!!"
The old man turned in shock, but.
*KABOOM!*
I unleashed the Explosive Death Force, blowing his body to pieces.
It was an incredibly anticlimactic death for someone of his martial skill and reputation.
"I'm dead."
The consecutive battles and the strain of using the Explosive Death Force made me want to collapse right then and there, but I had one last thing to do.
I picked up the old man's head and shouted.
"The enemy commander has been slain!"
I'd always wanted to say that.