Don’t Bow Your Head (4)
“Hah!”
Han Yi-myung gasped in shock, swallowing a breath before he could stop himself.
War, by its nature, followed an unspoken order.
Once the enemy was sighted, the commanders would gather, lay out strategy, and refine their tactics. They would rouse the soldiers with a speech, lift their spirits, and only after all those preparations were complete would the real assault begin.
That was the basic rule.
In war, everyone was trying to take everyone else’s life. However hardened the martial artists who lived by the sword might be, when faced with a battle where their own lives were on the line, they still needed at least a little time to steady their hearts.
But Chung Myung had cleanly ignored every one of those basic steps.
Without so much as a signal, without a single order, he had charged straight at the disciples of the Demonic Sect. The instant Han Yi-myung saw his back, his mind went blank.
Wh-what in the world—!
He floundered, unable to decide what he should do.
Then, at that very moment—
“Everyone!”
From beside him, Seol So-baek, who had been watching the situation, shouted in a clear, ringing voice.
“Attack! Don’t give them time to form their ranks!”
The sharp command snapped Han Yi-myung out of his daze.
Ranks?
His frozen mind began to spin again at last.
The enemy was coming out of the cave. In other words, they were still crowded into a cramped space. If they were allowed to fully emerge and spread out, the advantage of sheer numbers would be meaningless. Had they not already seen that once before?
Idiots like this—!
Han Yi-myung bit down on his lip and shouted until his throat nearly tore.
“Attack! Now! Attack, damn it, attaaaack!”
The Mount Hua disciples were already racing after Chung Myung at a terrifying speed.
At the very front, Chung Myung rammed into the still-unformed line of Demonic Sect disciples and sent them flying like leaves in a gale.
“Attack! Damn it, I said attack! Keep that momentum going!”
Han Yi-myung’s voice was thick with frustration and anger he could not hide.
Damn it.
He whipped his head around. The North Sea Ice Palace warriors, caught off guard by the sudden command to attack, only stood there in confusion, muttering among themselves.
Even the officers who should have been controlling them and carrying out the order seemed too flustered to rein in the bewildered soldiers.
Why couldn’t the Ice Palace keep up?
Usually, Chung Myung just spouted nonsense like a fool with no brains at all. But the moment he stepped onto the battlefield, even keeping up with his back was a struggle.
Why, exactly?
Then—
Ching!
Seol So-baek drew the sword at his waist, his face firm with resolve.
Eh?!
“Charge, everyone!”
And before anyone could stop him, he ran forward. The young palace lord was the first to rush out, and the other Ice Palace warriors, left with no time to think, hurried after him.
“Ooooooh!”
“Follow the palace lord!”
“Crush the Demonic Sect bastards!”
Han Yi-myung stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Seol So-baek as he charged ahead, and the Ice Palace warriors following behind him.
There was no real strategy, no formation to speak of. It was a mess of a charge, of course. But the momentum in it was unmistakably different from before.
That child, when did he…?
Han Yi-myung could not tear his eyes away from the boy’s back.
He was the former palace lord’s son.
But he had been raised by Han Yi-myung himself; he had become no different from his own son. The way that child had once looked up at him and called him father was still vivid in his mind.
That was why this felt so strange. When had that tiny, young child grown to the point where he could lead the Ice Palace from the front like this?
And in such a short time, too.
Han Yi-myung clenched his teeth, then dashed forward with all the strength he had left.
I can’t lose here, either!
Watching Chung Myung tear through the Demonic Sect at the very front, and Seol So-baek running straight toward him, he gripped his sword tightly.
Fwaaaaah!
Chung Myung’s blade split the air like a bolt of lightning.
Chwaaaak!
A Demonic Sect disciple who had lost one arm in an instant twisted his face into something like a demon’s and swung wildly with his remaining hand.
But—
Suhk! Suhk! Suhk!
Before his hand could even touch Chung Myung’s body, his wrist, upper arm, and side were all slashed deep open. Raw red flesh was laid bare.
“Guh….”
With the flow of inner energy completely severed, the Demonic Sect disciple groaned and tried to hurl his body at Chung Myung. But this time, Chung Myung’s sword was even faster.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Ten-odd thrusts.
So fast it looked as though ten swords were moving at once, the attack plunged into the Demonic Sect disciple’s entire body. Holes opened all over the black-robed man’s upper torso in an instant, and blood gushed out in thick spurts.
Fwoooooosh!
The final thrust pierced his heart.
“Kkh….”
Even as he felt the dreadful sensation of the blade cutting through his heart, the disciple did not stop. He stretched out his dangling arm and struggled to grab Chung Myung by the throat.
Chung Myung murmured slowly, “...So it really is something big in there.”
Crack.
The sword lodged in the heart twisted mercilessly.
“Cough!”
Blood sprayed from the Demonic Sect disciple’s mouth like a fountain.
“You’re desperate enough for me to think there’s something pretty impressive inside.”
“...Th-the Heavenly Dem—”
Fwaaaah!
Chung Myung whipped the blade still buried in the heart and tore the upper half of the man’s body apart as if ripping it open. Then he pressed forward with a cold expression.
Blood that had shot skyward rained down over his body like a shower. Anyone who did not know the situation and saw only that scene might have mistaken Chung Myung for a disciple of the Demonic Sect instead.
That was how brutal and merciless his swordsmanship was.
But that savage sight was more than enough to crush the enemy’s morale and ignite the fighting spirit of those behind him.
“Drive them back!”
Baek Cheon shouted loudly, pressing into the Demonic Sect disciples. The Maehwageomgi bursting from the tip of his sword writhed with far more ferocity than usual and poured down on the enemy.
“Amitabha!”
Hye Yeon’s fists moved with no less momentum.
The golden light bursting from his fists slammed into the Demonic Sect disciples, who were already too busy trying to block the Maehwageomgi to react properly.
Kwaaaaang!
With a thunderous explosion, the Demonic Sect disciples coughed up blood and were blown backward. It was the kind of strike that would have turned their insides to pulp.
Hye Yeon stared ahead with fierce eyes, biting down hard on his lip.
If not me, then who would go to hell?
As a follower of the Buddha’s teachings, taking a life was unthinkable. That was why, no matter the situation, he had always controlled his strength so as never to kill an opponent.
But in a moment like this, such a thought was nothing but arrogance.
“Fall back!”
Wooooong!
Hye Yeon’s entire body burst with auspicious golden energy.
Using Supreme Great Power, one of the Seventy-Two Supreme Arts, he gritted his teeth and poured that energy out toward the Demonic Sect disciples like a waterfall.
The white ground was dyed gold by the glow of Buddha’s light.
I am not someone who gets protected.
If he chose not to kill, then someone else would have to do that killing in his place.
And if he stood there saying such things while seeing Chung Myung at the very front drenched in blood, then he would be no different from a man shifting the sin he ought to bear onto another’s shoulders.
“A-mi-ta-bha!”
Hye Yeon shouted the Buddha’s name so loudly it echoed through the mountains. Then he thrust both hands forward with all his might. The force of Supreme Great Power burst toward the Demonic Sect disciples like a shaft of dawn breaking through the darkness.
KUUUUUUNG!
An enormous boom rang out. Those struck by the technique spewed blood from all seven openings and collapsed in a heap.
The sheer force of it shook the entire valley as though an earthquake had struck.
“Whoa, holy shit! Seriously! I should’ve joined Shaolin!”
“Shut your mouth and focus, Jo Gul.”
“No, sahyung, look at that! Is that even—ack! And what do you mean swinging your sword at your sije, huh, is that allowed or not!”
“It is! For the love of—just shut up for once!”
Dodging Yoon Jong’s sword, Jo Gul laughed uproariously and then leapt high over the heads of the Demonic Sect disciples, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.
Papapapapat!
Immediately after, dozens of sword shadows created by his blade rained down on the enemy below.
“Ahh!”
“This bastard!”
Some could not dodge in time, while others barely managed to avoid it.
And then—
“Dieeeeeee!”
One man with blackened hands swung upward at Jo Gul’s lower body with horrifying speed.
But his hand was stopped before it could even touch Jo Gul, blocked by the sudden flick of a sword tip that shot out from nowhere.
Kakang!
Yoon Jong, whose sword had protected Jo Gul, spoke with cold, lowered eyes as he kept thrusting his blade.
“I told you not to run wild all of a sudden!”
“These bastards need this much at least.”
“The enemy is the Demonic Sect.”
“I know!”
After a brief silence, Yoon Jong gave a faint smile and spat the words out like he was chewing them.
“Fine. Then let’s die trying.”
And gritting his teeth, he threw himself into battle, backing Jo Gul up with fierce, relentless strikes.
Watching them from the side, Chung Myung swept his sword through the air with a strange expression.
Guess they’re still kids. Every day is different.
The ones before him now and the ones he had first seen in the North Sea were so different they could not even be compared. Through repeated life-and-death battles, their swords had grown sharper and their spines harder.
They were almost no longer fitting to call mere junior disciples.
Yu I-seol and Dang Soso, too, were working in perfect tandem as they drove the enemy back at frightening speed. Yu I-seol led Dang Soso forward, and Dang Soso covered her back, filling every opening.
“You treacherous bastards!”
Because of the repeated brilliance shown by the Mount Hua disciples and Hye Yeon, the Demonic Sect disciples’ attention kept drifting in that direction.
But—
“Not happening.”
Fwaaaah!
Chung Myung’s sword cut off the neck of the Demonic Sect disciple directly in front of him. As blood sprayed everywhere, the gazes that had been pulled away snapped back to Chung Myung all at once.
Chung Myung twisted his lips into something grotesque and grinned.
“You almost made me feel left out.”
Holding his sword reversed in his hand, he began rampaging like a blood-starved wolf. At the same time, the Ice Palace warriors who had overtaken Seol So-baek surged forward like a sheet of white tide and smashed into the Demonic Sect disciples.
“Crush them!”
“We outnumber them by a lot! Don’t give ground!”
“If we can’t bring these bastards down, the North Sea is finished anyway! Don’t let a single one of them live!”
Inspired by the Mount Hua Sect’s performance, the Ice Palace warriors swung their swords with such ferocity they looked half-mad.
They had already tasted victory once.
Yes, they had suffered appalling losses, and they had achieved almost nothing by their own strength alone, but a victory was still a victory.
Besides, the Demonic Sect disciples they faced now were fewer in number than before.
So there was no reason they could not do it again. More importantly, Chung Myung, who was still shattering the enemy at the very front, remained standing, did he not?
“Show them the power of the Ice Palace!”
“Oooooooh!”
Numbers themselves were a form of power.
The Demonic Sect disciples packed tightly in front of the cave were instantly surrounded by the warriors of the Ice Palace. Their already cramped formation became even tighter, making it harder for them to bring out their true strength.
As Chung Myung watched, a cold killing intent seeped from his eyes.
Sloppy.
The more they fought, the clearer it became.
They had not lost the viciousness and cruelty of old, but they were not as strong as they once had been. Both their force and their tactics were sloppy beyond comparison.
Heavenly Demon.
In the end, that existence was the problem.
The Demonic Sect without the Heavenly Demon was nothing more than a gathering of fanatics. Their madness was enough to raise gooseflesh in anyone who watched, but coldly speaking, there were plenty of cults like that in the Jianghu.
But the instant that cult gained the Heavenly Demon, the Demonic Sect became the most murderous force in history, capable of shaking the very foundations of the martial world.
Because those who worshiped a living god feared nothing and had nothing to lose.
The ones before him were still human, but the moment the Heavenly Demon revived, they would no longer be.
So…!
Fwaaaah!
Chung Myung’s sword cut straight through the Demonic Sect disciples blocking his path.
“Move.”
It was in there.
From the way they were acting, something was definitely happening inside that cave.
“Die!”
Just then, one Demonic Sect disciple came lunging at him, eyes rolled back white. Chung Myung drove his blade deep into the man’s hand and bared his teeth.
Chwaaaaak!
The Black Night Sword embedded in the hand surged forward and sliced the arm open from end to end.
“Kraaaahhh!”
Even the Demonic Sect disciple could not endure that agony. He let out a wretched scream so horrible it was hard to listen to.
Fwaat!
Chung Myung, granting him the mercy of cutting his throat to lessen the pain, moved forward at speed, his eyes glinting with a chilling light.
“Move.”
Blood from the Demonic Sect disciples streamed down his face.
Only his eyes remained, blazing white with killing intent through the blood covering his face.
“Otherwise, everyone dies here.”
Whirr.
Chung Myung shifted his grip on the sword and charged.
He drove the blade straight through the heart of one Demonic Sect disciple. Then, lifting the convulsing body like a shield, he forced his way toward the cave.
“Huaaah!”
Seeing Chung Myung push forward without hesitation, the Demonic Sect disciples, veins bulging in their eyes, answered with shrieks that did not seem human as they rushed to meet him.