Drunk on the Glory of the Past Is a Dead Man (1)
“Aaaagh!”
A sword tore across a shoulder and drew a long red line along a flank. Those who had flailed around in a frenzy were now learning with their own bodies what happened when an opponent answered blind, emotional attacks with calm, measured steel.
“N-no!”
“W-we’ve got to run!”
They might be cruel, but they were by no means stupid.
If they had not been able to read the flow of battle, they would never have made a name for themselves in the brutal south in the first place. The moment they sensed the disadvantage, one thought took hold of their minds and nothing else: escape.
But where?
Every direction was enemy territory. Surrounding a numerically superior foe with a smaller force was a stupid tactic no one with even a page of military training would choose, but these people were proving with their swords that numbers did not matter nearly as much as skill.
Fwoosh!
Cold faces. Swords even colder than those faces, slicing and stabbing at vital points without the slightest hesitation.
Breath caught in their throats. Their hearts dropped.
One hundred peak-level swordsmen, all trained in the same sword art, advancing in perfect coordination—it reminded everyone here why a famous orthodox sect was a symbol of terror.
They could not possibly fail to understand that if this went on, annihilation was the only ending waiting for them. Of course, after the first savage clash, more of them had been subdued than killed…
Dammit, what difference does that make!
As if the Mount Hua bastards would simply let them go after subduing them. They would undoubtedly have their martial arts废ished and be locked away, and for these men that was no better than death.
“Aaaagh!”
Someone, unable to endure the crushing pressure any longer, tried to leap over the heads of the Mount Hua sword fighters and flee. But before his body had even cleared halfway, a flying sword sliced through his leg and sent him crashing down.
“……Dammit.”
Despair darkened the eyes of the Sapa men.
If those Mount Hua disciples had merely been running wild on youthful blood, driving them back with reckless fury, it would not have been this hopeless. In that case, there would always have been openings. But those damned bastards were absurdly calm and composed for their age—cold enough to make the skin crawl.
From the very beginning, not a single angle of their swordplay had wavered by so much as a hair.
One who drew a slash across an enemy’s chest and sent him collapsing did not even blink before driving a blade into the fallen man’s wrist and rendering him utterly helpless, then turned as though nothing had happened and moved on to the next target. Whether or not one could defeat them in martial arts, there was something about the way they fought that chilled the hearts of everyone watching.
“……So the rumors of the martial world really can’t be trusted.”
That muttered groan spoke for everyone’s feelings.
The world had completely misunderstood Mount Hua.
If they had known even a little of what kind of people they were, they would never have set foot in Shaanxi. What kind of lunatic shoved his own head into a tiger’s mouth?
But as always, regret came too late.
For them, there was no path left to undo this disastrous choice.
The cold-faced leader of the Blood Saber Corps glanced around him.
This is bad.
The situation was getting worse by the second.
The enemy being strong was only part of the problem. The real issue was that these idiots were losing the will to fight.
Sapa fighters were at their best when they seized the initiative, charging with more savagery than anyone else; but the instant they lost momentum, they fell apart like grains of sand.
That was only natural. That was precisely why they were Sapa in the first place.
What mattered to them most was their own life, the wealth they could grab with their own hands, and their own moods. Why would people like that risk their necks in battle?
The moment they felt their lives were in danger, they would scramble for a way out no matter the circumstances. That was the nature of Sapa.
There was only one way to restore order in a situation like this: the presence of a powerful leader.
But… when he glanced sideways, all he saw was Gal Cheon-lip, frozen in place like a statue.
Wrong.
There was no way a fool like that could clean up this mess.
Then again, if he had the ability to do that, he never would have made his name as one of the Seven Killers of Jiangxi.
Maybe that idiot thought he could become someone like Jang Il-so if he only set his mind to it, but for a fool like that to even speak Jang Il-so’s name was an insult. Their very size of vessel was different.
What’s the situation?
The Blood Saber Corps leader turned his sharp gaze and assessed the battlefield.
That idiot.
Hwe Seon Chang-gwi was being forced back in utter disarray by two Mount Hua sword fighters.
Compared to his reputation, it was pathetic—but in truth, Hwe Seon Chang-gwi was hardly in a position to be blamed. First of all, the hole punched through his shoulder had left him unable to show even half his usual strength.
And then…
It’s not two.
Outwardly, he was fighting two, but in reality Hwe Seon Chang-gwi was fighting three. No, perhaps even more than three. He seemed to be feeling tremendous pressure from the one who stood quietly behind the swordsmen in front, merely watching.
A young swordsman with curly hair. He was probably the one responsible for boring the hole through Hwe Seon Chang-gwi’s shoulder. Even from this distance, the boy’s aura was frighteningly intense.
Bloodthrone Killer was no different.
He was not gaining even the slightest advantage against three Mount Hua disciples. If those opponents had simply accepted the risk of injury and rushed him, he would already have been drenched in blood and collapsed.
But whether they judged the risk unnecessary or simply more inefficient, they were taking their time and methodically carving him apart without the slightest rush.
And then…
Again?
There was another person standing behind those Mount Hua disciples.
A female swordswoman stood there with a blank expression utterly unsuited to a battlefield. At the sight of her, every muscle in the Blood Saber Corps leader’s body tensed, and cold sweat broke out on his palms.
“Hah… that Gal Cheon-lip fool.”
It wasn’t just those two.
Anyone who looked calmly at this battlefield would realize it: Mount Hua’s true strength here was not even half of what it seemed.
The real core of Mount Hua was not even drawing swords at the moment.
The key figures scattered across the battlefield were like a mother tiger teaching her cubs how to hunt—throwing suitable prey in front of the youngsters while quietly observing the battlefield from behind.
Ready to step in the instant someone was in danger.
Which meant… if they had opened with their full force from the start, this battle would already be over.
And they’re not on the level of the Nine Great Sects?
What nonsense.
No matter how formidable the Nine Great Sects were, there was no way they had one hundred swordsmen of this caliber. Whatever sect had come here from anywhere in the world, none of them could have cleaned up a battlefield against Mount Hua without a single casualty.
Maybe their numbers had limits, but they had already surpassed the level of a small or mid-sized sect. How many sects among the Nine Sects could honestly claim they could defeat these people for certain?
Blue light blazed in the Blood Saber Corps leader’s eyes.
Could he step in right now and personally settle the battlefield?
No chance.
Some people could shift the tide simply by existing. But a battlefield was like a surging current; if you rushed in with half-baked skill, you would be swept away before you even had time to scream.
Could he overturn the entire balance of this battlefield with his own strength?
Impossible.
Having finished his calculations, the Blood Saber Corps leader quietly took a step back.
He had criticized the nature of Sapa fighters, but he was Sapa too. There was no reason his instincts would be much different. Especially not for those driven north from the south by Saperyeon; their temperament was probably all much the same.
What he needed right now was a way to get his own body out of here.
Luckily, they were not paying him any special attention yet. Slipping away quietly and unseen might be impossible, but if he used the moment while they weren’t focused on him to bring down one or two of them in a single rush, he could open a path for himself.
They would pursue him, of course—but hadn’t he survived countless pursuits before? If he could break out of the encirclement for even a moment, he had every confidence he could live.
So…
There!
The Blood Saber Corps leader found a sliver of an opening and kicked off the ground, just as he was about to hurl himself into motion.
“And where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?”
The force in his legs abruptly gave way, and his knee buckled.
Clenching his lips, the Blood Saber Corps leader slowly straightened the body he had bent forward. Then he turned to face the one who had somehow appeared behind him.
“……You knew?”
“Would it not be stranger if I didn’t, when you’ve been casting those eerie glances all over the place?”
A long sigh slipped from the Blood Saber Corps leader’s mouth.
Dammit. Of course.
It was never going to be this easy.
He clenched his fist and spoke while staring at the man before him.
“If you’re quick on the uptake, you die sooner.”
“Haha. I’ve lived long enough already. What does that matter?”
“……If children are over there putting on a performance, you should just stand back and watch. Was there any need for you to come forward and join the act?”
“Can I really stand back and do nothing while the children fight so earnestly? I don’t know about other places, but in Mount Hua, there are no spectators.”
The Blood Saber Corps leader’s face grew darker by the second.
He could tell at a glance that this was no easy opponent. And the feeling was bound to be different. The man before him, unlike the Mount Hua swordsmen in battle, had the unmistakable air of age and experience about him.
“Who are you?”
When he asked quietly, the man in front answered with a faint smile.
“I am Hyun Sang, an elder of Mount Hua.”
“……An elder.”
How terribly unfair. Everyone else was dealing with second- or third-generation disciples, and he had to face an elder.
But that also meant…
The Blood Saber Corps leader cast a sideways glance past Hyun Sang’s shoulder. No other disciples stood behind him.
“So if I kill the old man, the road opens.”
“That would be about right. If you kill me, you should be able to get out.”
Crackle.
Bones grated inside the Blood Saber Corps leader’s clenched fist. At the same time, both of his hands began to dye themselves in a brilliant blood-red hue.
“You picked the wrong opponent, old man. I’m not like those fools over there.”
“I know.”
Hyun Sang smiled faintly and nodded. At the same time, he slowly drew the sword at his waist.
“That is why I must be the one to face you. Of course, there are plenty here stronger than me, but if I were to deal with some half-hearted stray, it would hardly suit an elder’s dignity, would it?”
“That dignity…”
The Blood Saber Corps leader was about to sneer, but his mouth shut itself in an instant.
No, more accurately, it had been shut for him. Hyun Sang’s aura had changed so abruptly that his breath caught in his throat.
The man who had looked like nothing more than a kindly old fellow before drawing his sword now seemed to have changed the moment he took the hilt into his hand.
The presence of a veteran swordsman who had weathered the storms of time with his whole body became a heavy pressure that bore down on him. A force unlike those sharp, cutting younger disciples—a broad, weighty, and solemn presence.
An aura that did not stray even a hair’s breadth from what the world called the righteous path.
“Is this what they really mean by the true sword of Mount Hua…?”
“There is no such thing. Every sword of Mount Hua is real.”
“…….”
“Some are merely a little older, and a little heavier. But… you won’t be disappointed.”
The Blood Saber Corps leader bit down hard on his lip.
Dammit. I shouldn’t have come here.
Thinking that this might truly be the end, the Blood Saber Corps leader dragged every last trace of internal energy from deep within himself.
“I’ll end that stubborn life of yours here, old man!”
Drawing blood-red energy from both hands like twin blades, he lunged straight at Hyun Sang.