If You Fall Behind, You’re Dead! (4)
“Chaeju!”
“Ugh……”
Ga Nam-pyeong, the Muddy Blue Snake who ruled Cheongsachae, the newly built water bandit fort that had seized the island in the middle of the Yangtze River, frowned as he watched the boats being driven back toward shore.
The vessels he had sent out were being battered and shoved back, then crashing into the sandbar. It meant they hadn’t even had the leisure to slow down properly and stop.
And right behind them, enemy ships were bearing down at terrifying speed.
Defeat.
At the very least, he had to admit that the naval battle was a complete loss.
His underlings leaped from the rocking boats in a panic and scrambled up onto the shore.
“Damn it.”
Anyone could see they looked like routed dogs.
If the other side had been another water bandit sect, or men properly trained for fighting on the water, he could have accepted the defeat. His own men weren’t exactly well drilled, either.
But those guys were bandits, weren’t they?
To be chased back by a pack of mountain thugs who only barely called themselves water bandits—thugs who had never even dipped a toe in the river—was absurd beyond belief.
He had considered every possibility when he chose this heavenly fortress as his base, but he had never imagined something this ridiculous could actually happen.
“Wh-what do we do?”
“What do you mean, what do we do?”
Ga Nam-pyeong jerked his chin toward the boats.
“They’re just a bunch of bandits. Kill every last one of them!”
“B-but……”
When the underling looked at him with trembling eyes, Ga Nam-pyeong’s gaze narrowed.
“What else? You want to run? On this island?”
“……”
“Whether you drown in the water or die fighting, it’s all the same. If you really want to live, then tell them to take down one more bastard!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The underling bowed low and ran at full speed toward the riverbank. Ga Nam-pyeong let out a short scoff.
“Idiots.”
“It’s only natural, considering you gathered a rabble like that.”
At the voice, Ga Nam-pyeong glanced sideways.
There stood a man with a cold expression, his whole body wrapped in a black rain cloak.
“And who was it that said to gather that rabble?”
“Who could have imagined the Green Forest would get involved?”
“Damn it!”
The man speaking with Ga Nam-pyeong was the same one who had previously attacked the special couriers of the Eunha Merchant Guild. The deep scar slashing across his face proved as much.
“So what now?”
“We fight.”
He answered flatly.
“Or we dump everything and run.”
“……”
Ga Nam-pyeong ground his teeth.
“You Black Hair Ghost bastard. If you hadn’t been stirring things up, this never would’ve happened.”
“Stirring things up? What exactly are you talking about? Setting up the water fort? Or attacking the special couriers?”
The man called Black Hair Ghost stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.
“Either way, you agreed to it in the end. So if you’re going to pin all the blame on me now, that’s a little unfair.”
“You insolent bastard……”
Ga Nam-pyeong glared at him with snake-like eyes.
Anyone watching would have found it strange.
A water bandit fort was, by nature, a vertical hierarchy. Since they were all rough men, their chain of command was often stricter than that of the righteous sects. But the way this Black Hair Ghost dealt with Ga Nam-pyeong was clearly far removed from the respect a water bandit ought to show his chieftain.
“If things had gone well, all the wealth and glory would’ve been yours, wouldn’t they?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“That rights come with responsibilities. If what you wanted was great, then what you have to bear is great as well.”
“Ha!”
Ga Nam-pyeong’s eyes turned ice-cold in an instant. Just from the look in them, it seemed like he might draw his blade and attack Black Hair Ghost at any moment.
“No need to get so worked up. This is an opportunity, too.”
“An opportunity?”
“After all, those guys only know how to fight on the mountain. They won’t be used to landing assaults. If we drown every last one of them, the water fort’s reputation will only rise, and we’ll have even more to gain.”
“……”
“All we have to do is survive this crisis.”
“You really do talk big.”
When the mocking reply came, Black Hair Ghost’s eyes also narrowed for a moment.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t act so prickly. Who was it that got the White Thunder Cannons and gathered the boats so you could build this water fort? And who was it that handed over the chieftain’s seat without hesitation after it was made?”
“……”
“Don’t forget. I’m the one who did you a favor.”
Clack!
A sharp trident shot out from Black Hair Ghost’s sleeve. Gripping the weapon, he stared at Ga Nam-pyeong for a moment before turning away.
“If we drag this out, we’ll miss the best chance. It’s time to teach them how dangerous it is to let the enemy land.”
Without waiting for a reply, Black Hair Ghost headed toward the water’s edge. Ga Nam-pyeong watched him without blinking, the sound of grinding teeth slipping through his lips.
Showing off like some bigshot.
The bastard who couldn’t even build a water fort without his own reputation!
“Hmph!”
Ga Nam-pyeong drew the blade at his hip.
It was almost more sword than saber, a straight blade with a single sharpened edge. A horizontally forged saber, broad and unadorned.
“I’ll kill them all!”
With fire blazing in his eyes, Ga Nam-pyeong charged toward the riverbank.
“Disembark!”
“Press them!”
“Kill them all!”
The boat Chung Myung was on couldn’t slow down in time and rammed straight into the vessel ahead of it, but after seeing that disaster, not many idiots repeated the mistake.
Of course, “not many” didn’t mean there were none at all—but in any case, most of the boats slowed and came to a safe stop along the shore.
Splash! Splash!
The Green Forest bandits leaped from the boats and charged onto the island in a flood.
“Hey, you guys? Maybe form up a little fir—”
“Ooooooh!”
“Fight!”
“I’ll turn them all into water ghosts!”
Im So-byeong lost for words and let out a deep sigh.
This is my fate.
Military strategy began, first and foremost, with training soldiers to obey orders. But unfortunately, these bandits here were about the worst in the world when it came to following commands.
There was a reason every Green Forest King up to now had been a simple-minded brute who relied on brawn and smashed everything apart with force.
If men possessed the patience to listen and follow instructions precisely, why would they hole themselves up in some godforsaken mountain and go around banditing?
And that was the Green Forest’s limit as a whole, a limit that even the Green Forest Main Fortress, built from the sect’s elite, could not truly escape.
And then—
“Leeeet’s gooooo!”
“Ooooooh!”
At the front, Chung Myung slashed the air with his sword, whipping up the morale of the Green Forest bandits.
“……”
Was it just his imagination, or did the bandits following behind him, chanting in unison, somehow look several times more spirited than when Im So-byeong had led from the front?
“Uraaaaaah!”
As Chung Myung charged down the fleeing water bandits at the front, the Mount Hua disciples followed close behind, and the Green Forest bandits began sweeping over the weak-looking(?) river thugs like hungry tigers.
They were advancing with overwhelming momentum.
No other phrase fit.
The water bandits waiting on the island were first rattled by the sight of boats racing back and crashing into the sandbar, then shaken a second time by the water bandits spilling out of them in utter disarray and running for their lives.
And while all that was happening, the pursuers were charging in with the force of a landslide. How could anyone keep their head?
Even if they had fought properly, the difference in strength was enough to make a hard battle likely; once they were already losing the momentum, there was no way it could become a fight.
“Kwa-hahahahahaha! You little punks! You dare lay a hand on Mount Hua?”
“I’ll make you pay for it properly!”
At the voices shouting from both sides, Jo Gul turned in confusion to Yoon Jong.
“……Aren’t those guys Green Forest?”
“How the hell should I know? Damn it! Die! You water bandit bastards!”
Seeing Yoon Jong go wide-eyed and charge forward too, Jo Gul’s mouth fell open.
“Uh…… isn’t that supposed to be my role? S-sahyung! Let’s go together!”
With his teeth clenched, Yoon Jong swept his sword through the air.
Whoosh!
Unlike usual, his blade moved with a rougher edge as it cut through the enemy ranks. In an instant, he dropped several water bandits, then ran to find his next prey.
That was when—
“You little brat!”
A tremendous roar exploded from behind them. And one man, dressed differently from the others, came charging straight toward Yoon Jong.
“I’ll tear your throat out!”
Yoon Jong’s eyes flashed with a savage killing intent.
Bang!
Pushing off the ground, Yoon Jong leaped head-on into the charging bandit.
“Huh?”
Apparently not expecting such a direct response, surprise flickered across the charging bandit’s face.
In that instant, Yoon Jong’s sword streaked toward the man’s face like a shaft of light.
“Kuh!”
Ka-gang!
The bandit barely managed to deflect Yoon Jong’s blade with his saber. But the sword that had been knocked aside swept back with even greater speed and slammed into the saber again.
Kang!
The force of the impact sent the bandit’s saber flying backward.
Then Yoon Jong’s sword slashed across the bandit’s chest, crossing and recrossing in a blur.
“Ugh……”
Thud!
Yoon Jong kicked the groaning bandit in the stomach and sent him flying, then shouted in a ringing voice,
“Cut them down!”
“Whoa……”
“You too, pull yourself together and fight properly!”
“Y-yes, sahyung!”
Jo Gul snapped back to his senses and started swinging his sword.
Yoon Jong was probably furious because these bastards had abducted commoners. If you got on his bad side at a time like this, you’d be stuck listening to sermons for a full month.
That was when—
“Sasuk, take the front! Sago, cover the left!”
“Understood!”
“Mm.”
“Soso, stay behind Sasuk!”
“Okay!”
Chung Myung gestured here and there, then shouted at the Green Forest bandits.
“Push them back!”
“Ooooooooooh!”
The Green Forest bandits surged forward, emboldened.
“Hmph.”
After taking a quick look at the battlefield, Chung Myung lowered his sword slightly.
The battle was already over.
In a large-scale fight, the side that seized the momentum first usually won. Especially on ground like this, where terrain gave no real advantage, the result was usually decided by sheer strength.
There was no need for him to rush in and steal the prey from his martial siblings.
They need plenty of experience.
What he had said back at Mount Hua hadn’t been empty talk. Up to now, it had been enough just to drag them around, but that wasn’t enough anymore. They had to go through more, experience more.
Still……
Lost in thought for a brief moment, Chung Myung looked around with a strange expression.
This is easier than I expected.
The fort looked fairly large, but both in the naval clash a moment ago and here now, he hadn’t felt threatened even once. The White Thunder Cannons were certainly dangerous, but the bastards they’d faced were practically scarecrows.
These were the same guys who built a water fort and dared poke Mount Hua?
“……Could it be because it’s new?”
Thinking about it another way, if this fort had already had real strength, it would have been folded into the Water Bandit Sect long ago. A fort that had only just sprung up having so much power would actually be stranger.
He could have dismissed it as ignorant fools recklessly picking fights with commoners and stirring up Mount Hua……
But something about it feels off.
Just as he was sinking into thought, trying to find the source of that wrongness—
“Aaaaaaagh!”
A sudden, piercing scream rang out from the front, and Chung Myung’s head snapped up. It sounded different from the screams he had heard until now.
“What’s that?”
Where the cry had come from, a man at least half a head taller than everyone else stood holding a long horizontal saber. The bandits who had tried to face him lay on the ground, their bodies butchered and blood spraying everywhere.
The man roared with fierce intensity.
“What are you idiots doing! Turn around! There’s nowhere to run here! If you don’t want to die, then fight to the end!”
“Oh?”
At a glance, this one seemed to have a slightly different caliber of skill.
“The chieftain?”
Then again, even a rabble like this would need someone with enough strength to gather them all.
Now then, who should he send……
Tap.
But before Chung Myung could even start thinking, someone lightly flew through the air and landed in front of Ga Nam-pyeong.
“……What are you?”
“Yu I-seol of Mount Hua.”
She pointed the tip of her sword at Ga Nam-pyeong’s throat and said quietly,
“I’m taking that neck.”
Ga Nam-pyeong’s face twisted horribly.