Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Southern War (5)
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The War King’s energy swirling inside my body began to spin out of control.
Proportionally, my reason started to fade.
‘Damn… it.’
I did my best to hammer the order—kill the Lord of the Southern Heaven Palace—into my mind.
*Gush.*
The War King’s energy rampaged within me, causing internal injuries and making a mockery of the saying that internal energy is part of the body.
But I ignored it and continued to focus the energy in one place.
As the Black Mountain Tigers approached, the Lord of the Southern Heaven Palace, who had been charging toward Bukgung Baek, turned around.
A blade aura, seemingly ten feet long, instantly erupted from his saber as he swung it.
*Swoosh!*
It was a single strike, so fast that one wouldn’t even dare to think of dodging.
The Black Mountain Tigers conjured their sword energy, moving to block the saber aura.
*CRASH!*
Thirty streams of black sword energy clashed with the saber aura, beginning a fierce struggle.
And I, on instinct, unleashed all the War King’s energy I had gathered, triggering the Explosive Death Force.
Once again, a massive explosion echoed, and I felt a colossal pressure.
As the War King’s energy drained away, my reason returned.
At the same time, I saw the Southern Heaven Palace Lord’s saber aura vanish.
His killing intent flared even stronger as he swung his saber once more.
*Swoosh!*
The instantly conjured saber aura targeted us again.
‘How is he churning out blade energy like that?’
I grumbled internally that one probably needed to be a supreme master to guarantee their safety in this hellish world of martial arts, and tried to move out of the way.
“……!”
Perhaps because I had exhausted all my internal energy with that last move, my legs wouldn’t move.
It seemed to be the same for the Black Mountain Tigers, as none of them moved to evade.
But.
The Black Mountain Tigers and I were not the only ones on this battlefield.
*Slash. Crack.*
Bukgung Baek, not missing the opening, had succeeded in slicing open the Southern Heaven Palace Lord’s back.
And thus, a fierce battle began.
*Slash. Thud.*
*Swoosh!*
Saber and hand auras collided, embroidering the night sky.
The sound of what seemed like crashing thunder echoed through the area.
About thirty seconds passed.
“Grk……”
“Cough.”
The two supreme masters faced each other, spitting blood.
Dark red wounds had appeared on Bukgung Baek’s arms, legs, and chest.
As for the Lord of the Southern Heaven Palace, everything below his waist was gone.
“……”
Blood trickling from his lips, Bukgung Baek looked down at the Lord.
The Lord of the Southern Heaven Palace coughed up a bloody froth and met his gaze with a smile.
*Smirk.*
“It ended so pointlessly.”
“Are you satisfied now?”
“Satisfied? *Cough*. Hardly. If I could have mobilized just a thousand more men for the ritual, you would be the one lying here today.”
“But this is the result.”
“Hehehe. Indeed.”
As he finished speaking, he closed his eyes.
For the absolute ruler who had dominated the Southern lands, it was far too empty a death.
A bitter expression flickered across Bukgung Baek’s face as he looked down at him.
* * *
As soon as they confirmed the death of the Southern Heaven Palace Lord, the Black Mountain Tigers immediately headed back the way they came.
It was to support the Outer Hall, which was fighting hard outside.
With their arrival, the battlefield would likely be cleared in an instant.
In the end, the only ones left were Bukgung Baek, bleeding profusely from a gash in his lower abdomen, and me.
“Ugh.”
Bukgung Baek pressed several of his acupoints, then wrapped the wound with the upper part of his dirt-caked clothes.
‘With that filthy thing……’
In a world without antibiotics.
Horrified by a first-aid method utterly unacceptable from a modern perspective, I rummaged around and found a relatively clean piece of cloth.
“Use this to tie it, sir.”
“It’s fine.”
“If you treat it with something dirty, you could get sick later.”
“Sickness cannot penetrate my internal energy.”
Right, as if internal energy is some kind of cure-all.
“Miss Cheong said that even one of the ten great masters can’t be helped if they catch a serious illness like stomach cancer. So there’s no harm in being careful, is there?”
“Hmm. You have a point.”
Just as I thought, dropping an expert’s name is the best way to persuade someone.
At the mention of Cheong So-so, Bukgung Baek reconsidered and took the cloth I offered.
I took out the pouch I had stored inside my Dragon Scale Armor.
Inside the pouch were wound healing pills, along with a new medicine Cheong So-so had recently developed.
I took one of each and offered them to Bukgung Baek.
“Take these as well.”
“What are they?”
“A wound healing pill and a medicine effective for external injuries.”
“They smell terrible.”
“Miss Cheong developed them, so their efficacy is guaranteed.”
“Tell her I said thank you.”
“I’m the one who gave you the medicine, though……”
Bukgung Baek tossed them into his mouth.
I waited a moment before asking again.
“Do you feel nauseous or dizzy, by any chance?”
“I don’t feel anything unusual.”
“I see.”
After hearing his words, I also tossed the pills into my mouth.
Of course, you should always take medicine that’s been through clinical trials.
“……”
I could feel Bukgung Baek glaring at me slightly, but I deliberately ignored it and began to circulate my energy.
A moment later.
Feeling my body had returned to normal aside from some minor internal injuries, I stopped my meditation.
Bukgung Baek had also finished circulating his energy and opened his eyes.
“How is your body, sir?”
“The effect is tremendous. I can walk well enough now.”
As soon as he said that, he got up and walked over to the corpse of the Southern Heaven Palace Lord.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he cut off his head.
“Gasp!”
Startled, I stared at him, and he clicked his tongue.
“What are you doing? Get it.”
“Ah… yes.”
This guy is definitely a psychopath.
I wrapped the Southern Heaven Palace Lord’s head in the remaining cloth I had offered Bukgung Baek.
“Let’s go.”
I followed behind him, carrying the blood-soaked bundle, feeling uneasy.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“About what, sir?”
“Why a man who lived like a king would do something like this.”
“I am curious, but what’s the point of knowing now? It’s already happened, and the one who did it is dead like this.”
I casually lifted the bundle, from which blood was dripping.
Bukgung Baek replied with a scornful smile.
“Still, it would be good to know. It could serve as a cautionary tale someday when you find yourself hitting a wall.”
The explanation that followed was shocking from the very beginning.
The Southern Heaven Palace Lord from three generations ago was from the Western Tibetan Blood Cult, and because of that, a wicked ritual had been passed down to his successors.
Chu Cheol-o had hidden this fact and lived as the king of the South, but when he hit a wall in his progress, he performed the ritual.
And the result, as we could see, was his death and the fall of the Southern Heaven Palace.
“……He did all this for just that?”
“It wasn’t ‘just that.’ For a martial artist, martial arts are the highest priority. Moreover.”
Bukgung Baek looked around at the view of the Southern Heaven Palace and continued.
“His lifelong desire to have the world at his feet made him take such a reckless gamble.”
“……He was a complete madman.”
*Smirk.*
Perhaps surprised by my reaction, Bukgung Baek chuckled softly and replied.
“That’s right. He abandoned the righteous path and tried to overcome his limits through the evil path, making the most foolish choice. If one could truly become strong through such methods, the Central Plains today would be a world of demons.”
“……”
What’s he talking about? He was just getting his ass kicked.
Normally, I would have buttered him up with something like, “Hehe, as expected of the Hall Master,” but I was too tired to muster a reaction.
Perhaps feeling a pang of guilt after his own words, Bukgung Baek cleared his throat and started making excuses.
“Ahem, it wasn’t that I was losing earlier… I had a move I was preparing… I was just waiting for the right opportunity…”
After listening to his excuses for a while, I quietly nodded.
“I see.”
“……That’s right.”
“But how did you know the identity of the Southern Heaven Palace Lord from three generations ago? And how did you know he was using a ritual?”
A sudden curiosity arose, and I immediately threw out the question.
“Do you want to know?”
“Of course.”
“It could be dangerous if you knew.”
“……Then never mind. If ignorance is bliss, I’d rather take the medicine. No need to drink poison.”
“A wise choice.”
After walking for a short while, we saw the back gate we had broken through.
And there.
“Waaaaah!”
The warriors of the Outer Hall were raising their hands high, shouting in celebration of their victory.
* * *
The losses from this battle were not insignificant.
Thirty-seven dead and twelve injured.
Since minor injuries weren’t even counted, the death toll was likely to rise further.
After all, this was a place without even a neighborhood clinic, let alone an emergency room.
Still, we had to save those who could be saved, so we entrusted the injured to the southern tribes and immediately left for the battlefield.
We had to inform the Southern Heaven Palace troops who had sortied that their main base had been taken and force their surrender.
And that course of action was the right one.
When we held up the severed head of their lord before the Southern Heaven Palace troops, who were just about to enter the third phase of the battle, and advised them to surrender, men waving white flags appeared from all over.
Of course, not all of them surrendered.
Those consumed by malevolent energy, who had lost their sanity, and the high-ranking officials of the Southern Heaven Palace refused to surrender and chose to resist to the end.
While there was nothing to be done about those driven mad, it was clear the high-ranking officials were aiming for negotiations.
However, the Blue Dragon Hall Master was resolute.
He ordered a full-scale assault to annihilate them.
And his decision was correct.
The warriors of the Nine Dragons Fortress, who were filled with venom after losing their martial brothers and clan relatives, threw themselves into the enemy lines with all their might.
The thirty Black Mountain Tigers who joined the fray late followed the path they carved, slaughtering without mercy.
Unlike the first and second battles, this had become a one-sided slaughter.
Realizing their disadvantage, some of the high-ranking officials belatedly tried to surrender, but the Blue Dragon Hall Master did not accept a single one.
The madness of the battlefield had taken hold, to the point that even the noble warriors of the Black Dragon Hall mercilessly focused on cutting down their enemies.
And so, for six hours.
Except for those who had surrendered, not a single warrior of the Southern Heaven Palace survived.
The ferocity of the battle was palpable, as not even the corpses were left intact.
As the one leading the Outer Hall warriors and tasked with taking prisoners, I could only watch the battlefield.
“Waaaaah!”
The warriors of the Nine Dragons Fortress let out a roar of victory.
The war that would later be called the Southern War ended thus.
* * *
The joy of victory did not last long.
That was how many had died in the war.
The Outer Hall was no exception.
Nearly half of those who had set out did not return and were buried in the earth.
Even the survivors were not unscathed.
As they had undertaken the most grueling missions of the expedition, casualties were rampant.
And.
“Cheong-un is dead.”
“……!”
The words from Wi Ji-pung hit me like a hammer to the head.
It was news of the death of a boy who was like my youngest brother.
Wi Ji-pung continued, his voice choked with tears.
“It’s all because I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Brother Wi Ji-pung…”
He was so overcome with emotion that I couldn’t even offer a word of comfort.
After a moment of composing himself, he spoke with hardened eyes.
“Hoo… As soon as we return, I plan to devote myself to training. I will become stronger… so that I never lose my martial brothers again.”
Watching his retreating back, I thought.
What if I had been stronger?
If I could have stormed the Southern Heaven Palace alone and killed its lord, could the war have ended without anyone dying?
The journey back that began afterward was half like a funeral procession.
An observer might have mistaken us for a defeated army.
Nevertheless, the fact that we had won remained unchanged.
“Waaaaah!”
As we arrived at the Nine Dragons Fortress, countless people were cheering from atop the fortress walls.
They were celebrating the victory of the Nine Dragons Fortress.
Though I felt like I could collapse at any moment after walking for twenty days, the expeditionary force paraded around the outer fortress walls.
They probably thought that displaying such a sight would help boost morale.
After all the ceremonies were over, I.
*Clank.*
“I’m home.”
Finally, I was able to return to my sanctuary.