We Will Not Let Them Live to Tell It (5)
The battlefield had begun to seethe again, but Gwak Hwan-so was still floundering, unable to make sense of the chaos.
What am I supposed to do?
There was a ship ahead of him and Maninbang’s main force pressing in from behind. If he had been nothing more than a mere Hainan disciple, he wouldn’t have had a single thought to spare—he would have gone straight to seize the ship.
But he was Hainan’s great disciple. He couldn’t ignore the main force of Maninbang bearing down on them.
Should I hold them here?
At the very moment he was wavering over which way to go, someone seized his shoulder and yanked him hard.
“B-Baek Cheon Daehyup?”
“What are you doing!”
“I, I can help—”
“We’ll hold the rear, so get to the ship now! There are probably enemies inside it too!”
Gwak Hwan-so finally realized his mistake and nodded in a hurry.
Baek Cheon was right. There was no guarantee that no Maninbang members were still aboard that ship. Then someone had to command Hainan from the deck.
“Lead the disciples and seize every ship you can! Once everyone’s aboard, you can head out to sea without waiting!”
“T-Then what about you, Daehyups?”
“Move!”
Baek Cheon clamped down on Gwak Hwan-so’s shoulder again.
“If you want us to live, don’t stand here wasting time—move!”
Baek Cheon shoved him forward without waiting for an answer. Thrown off balance, Gwak Hwan-so saw Heavenly Union disciples flying in from all directions to fill the space before him.
“Where do you think you’re crawling to!”
Fwoooosh!
Jo Gul’s body had barely landed from his leap before he sent sword energy slashing through the air. The sword shadows that burst out from the tip of his blade as if splitting apart poured down like rain onto the Maninbang fighters.
Gwak Hwan-so’s mouth fell open before he could stop himself.
The sword shadows spilling from that blade seemed to cleave straight through the hot southern sun hanging overhead.
“Kkh!”
“Th-this bastard!”
The spear corps members, who had been surging forward with courage after the arrival of their main force, faltered before that blinding slash and staggered back.
And behind Jo Gul, another figure emerged like a shadow.
Shhhlik!
Falling Blossoms.
Scarlet petals burst into bloom from the sword arcing above Jo Gul’s head. In a single instant, those petals wrapped the burning noon in the spirit of spring and cascaded down, painting the southern sky as they fell in drifting profusion.
“K-Khgh…”
Outwardly, they were nothing more than delicately swaying petals. But anyone who had ever faced this sword knew the truth. They knew how sharp each of those fragile blossoms was, and how deadly.
The moment Jo Gul’s sword shadows and Yu I-seol’s sword energy shattered Maninbang’s momentum in an instant—
“Taaaaaaaaap!”
“Ooooooooh!”
A dazzling white light and an auspicious golden radiance rose up at the same time.
Namgung Do-wi, the Sword Gang, and Hye Yeon’s Arhat Fist crashed down without mercy into the very center of the charging mob.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
The sound of the white light and golden glow exploding together drowned out even the screams that had been rising into the air.
But this was Maninbang. Even as their comrades burst apart in chunks of flesh, they did not so easily lose their ferocity.
“Khaaaaaaaah!”
With beastlike battle cries, the Maninbang fighters targeted Jo Gul and Yu I-seol as they landed below. But another man darted in front of them and blocked the way. It was Baek Cheon, who had somehow already rushed all the way to the vanguard.
Bang!
Baek Cheon stomped the ground with enough force to crack it open and swung his sword with terrifying speed. Red sword energy tore through the attackers and split them cleanly in two.
Fwoosh!
Hot blood splashed across his face, but Baek Cheon didn’t even blink as he shouted, “Hold the line!”
It was a brief command, but it was enough for them. They were already used to moving as if they were Baek Cheon’s own arms and legs. Naturally, they shifted to where they were needed and began to swing their swords.
“Aaaagh! To the right! The right! Damn it, the right side is wide open! What are you doing, Young Lord Tang! Where did you leave your brains— no, damn it! Did you eat poison instead of food? Move, move!”
“...I’ll be sure to settle things with you one day, King of the Green Forest.”
Tang Pae ground his teeth and darted toward the direction Im So-byeong pointed out. From the tips of his fingers, flung out in irritation, Tang Family needles sprayed forward like an enraged buffalo charging straight at the Maninbang fighter.
Crack!
“Kkhh!”
The Maninbang fighter bit down hard on his lip as a silver needle pierced his foot. The pain was severe, but he ignored it and tried to charge forward. No—he would have, if his body hadn’t gone crashing to the ground with a heavy thud.
The Tang Family’s poison had instantly seeped through the wound and paralyzed him in a blink!
“Widen the gap more, I said—widen it! Stop the ones slipping through on both sides!”
“W-Where am I supposed to go, King of the Green Forest!”
At a question shouted from somewhere nearby, Im So-byeong snapped his head around. Seol So-baek came into view, gripping his sword tightly and biting down on his lip.
“What about Palace Lord?”
“Yes!”
“...Where can I use him?”
“...Pardon?”
Im So-byeong pressed his fan against his cheek and quickly churned his mind.
“Uh... well... for now, just... over there, um...”
“Dang Sohyeop! It’s dangerous!”
The next moment, Seol So-baek took off toward Dang Soso with all his might before Im So-byeong could even finish his directions. Im So-byeong watched him in stunned silence for a moment, then let out a snort of laughter.
“...Now, who on earth taught him that?”
Well, did it even need saying? The answer was obvious.
And then, at that moment, a new force joined the defense line they had thrown together.
“Help the Acting Sect Leader!”
“Go!”
Hainan’s elder disciples, led by Hainan’s sect leader Geum Yang-baek, entered the defensive line. Their eyes were bloodshot as they gritted their teeth.
“You cursed vermin!”
“I’ve been waiting for this very moment!”
Setting aside questions of skill, Hainan’s hatred for the Four Hegemons Alliance and Maninbang was no less than Mount Hua’s. Finally given the chance to swing their swords freely at Maninbang, Hainan’s elders unleashed a flood of blades like an enraged tide.
“Oh dear, the old men have some stamina on them!”
“They’re elders, you damn fool!”
“...Sahyung. I feel like you’ve been way too rough with me lately.”
“That’s because you’re a hopelessly shameless human being!”
“...That’s a bit harsh.”
Jo Gul jabbed at the enemy with his sword as if he intended to vent the wound Yoon Jong had inflicted on some poor Maninbang brute instead.
“All right, come on—”
“Come on, you bastards!”
“...”
Jo Gul slowly turned his head toward the source of the voice. There was Dang Soso, wearing a face like a demon’s as she mercilessly drove her sword in and out of her opponent.
Jo Gul dropped his gaze and quietly turned his head back.
Bang!
At the instant his foot kicked off the deck, sand and spray burst violently into the air.
“Run faster!”
“Aaaagh!”
Gwak Hwan-so clenched his teeth.
The pressure from Maninbang’s main force was beyond anything he had imagined. Even now, if he didn’t grit his teeth, his hands felt like they would start shaking at any second.
“Go!”
“Yes!”
What kept Gwak Hwan-so moving were the huge shouts coming from behind him.
The old saying that the body moves before the mind ever can had to have been made for moments like this. Even now, the roar of battle kept exploding all around them. Gwak Hwan-so’s body shot forward of its own accord, kicking off the bow of the tall ship in one leap.
“Aaaah!”
He hurled the blood rushing to his head outward without bothering to restrain it and sprang onto the deck, where he spotted several Maninbang fighters guarding the ship.
“Take them down!”
Gwak Hwan-so let out a roar like a tiger and charged without waiting for an answer. His sword energy crashed down on the enemy like a furious tidal wave.
“Kkhh!”
A Maninbang fighter whose shoulder had been sliced long and deep by Gwak Hwan-so’s sword stumbled back with a strangled groan. Another Hainan disciple rushed at him in an instant.
“Die!”
Swish!
Even to Gwak Hwan-so’s eye, it was a flawless sword strike.
Which was exactly why he didn’t have the slightest thought that anything was wrong. Not until the Maninbang fighter, his shoulder torn open, bared murderous eyes and swung his blade.
Shraaaak!
The sword that flashed like lightning tore a long gash across the Hainan disciple’s chest.
“J-Jaegu!”
“Sajae!”
Gwak Hwan-so snarled and slashed at the Maninbang fighter. His fellow disciples followed with their own sword strikes, and in an instant they speared the man through from all sides like a pincushion.
“Aaaaaagh! You bratty little shits!”
But even with his whole body pierced through, the Maninbang fighter charged at them all the same, whipping his blade about with terrifying force.
Bang!
The sword that tried to block him was split in two, and the blade cut down several more Hainan disciples. Red blood sprayed everywhere, screams rang out, and in the blink of an eye the deck turned into a scene from hell.
“You son of a bi—!”
Lee Ja-yang rushed forward and drove his sword into the Maninbang fighter’s chest. Gwak Hwan-so was just as fast, thrusting his sword into the man’s neck.
Crack!
“Khurk...”
A wet, choking sound of blood bubbling up in the throat spilled from the Maninbang fighter’s mouth.
“You... lot... will...”
“...”
“All die...”
Even a man filled with poison and hatred couldn’t endure having his throat pierced. His body soon went slack. Even after death, his eyes remained wide and glaring.
Gwak Hwan-so’s fingertips were trembling miserably.
“Jaegu! Are you all right?”
“D-Damn it! Great Senior Brother! Jaewuk has been badly hurt!”
“He’s, he’s still bleeding, Sahyung!”
“Huff...”
Gwak Hwan-so scrubbed the blood that had splattered across his face with his sleeve. His ears felt clogged, and he couldn’t hear anything properly. Only the sound of his own heart pounding, as if it might burst out through his throat, echoed in his skull.
“Great Senior Brother!”
When the voices urging him on came again, Gwak Hwan-so clenched his fist hard.
“Can’t you calm yourselves!”
His shout made the panicked disciples flinch.
“Didn’t you prepare yourselves for this when you came here!”
“...”
“The Heavenly Union disciples are down below risking their lives to hold those bastards back. So what the hell do you think you’re doing just because you got a scratch!”
“S-Sahyung...”
“Leave some men behind to care for the wounded! The rest of you, seize every ship you can, now! Hurry!”
“Yes!”
“Ja-yang!”
“Yes, Sahyung!”
“Get to the helm! We need to move this ship!”
“Yes!”
As everyone began moving in perfect coordination, Gwak Hwan-so at last turned his eyes toward the fallen. His fellow disciples, with whom he had shared both hardship and joy, were groaning on the deck. Their eyes had already half lost their light.
At the sight of them, Gwak Hwan-so’s chest ached as if pierced by a sharp silver needle. But instead, he shut his eyes tightly once and turned his head away.
This was the price they had to pay, no matter what!
“Move quickly! Before the people holding the line below are overwhelmed!”
“Yes!”
Gwak Hwan-so gripped his sword tightly and threw himself forward.
For now, he would do the job entrusted to him. Grieving and raging could come after that.
This is war!
As the dazed sense that had felt almost dreamlike faded away, the stench of blood suddenly surged into his nose. That smell made reality hit home. He was in the middle of a battlefield now.
“Aaaagh!”
Gwak Hwan-so thrust his sword toward a Maninbang fighter bursting out of the cabin. He could feel the blade cleaving flesh with unnerving clarity. In Gwak Hwan-so’s eyes, a killing intent darker than anything before now took root.
“Cut them all down! Make them regret ever setting foot on Hainan in hell!”
The madness of the battlefield swallowed yet another swordsman whole.