Did You Expect Hope? (6)
Chwaaaaak!
The warships cut through the current, the white foam thrown up by their sudden maneuvers and crushing speed staining the Yangtze pale in an instant.
The sight of dozens of massive battle ships turning their prows at once and driving forward was, quite simply, magnificent.
No, magnificent might not even have been the right word. To the Namgung Family on Maehwado, what they saw was terror itself.
“Ah…”
The enemy was coming. Those who bore the Namgung name had never feared an enemy. On the contrary, they had always met one with a cry of challenge.
But what rose in their eyes now was not fighting spirit. It was despair.
They had never once imagined a situation in which they could not win—not because the enemy was too strong, but because they themselves were not in peak condition, because they had already been driven to the edge. They had never imagined a time when confidence itself would crumble.
None of them had ever known.
Just how vicious war could be.
That clashes between both sides at their best, with victories won through resolve and sheer stubbornness over enemies too strong to beat head-on, only happened in stories.
“Get up!”
At that moment, Namgung Hwang’s voice thundered out.
“Don’t forget this! It won’t be me, and it won’t be the comrades standing behind you, who see your final moment. It will be those enemies who witness it!”
The force of his voice stabbed painfully into everyone’s ears.
“Don’t let them remember the final sight of a Namgung swordsman as weak and frightened! The only thing you must protect in your last moment is the awe your enemy feels toward you!”
Did it work?
No one knew. But one thing was certain: the moment Namgung Hwang’s command rang out, the exhausted swordsmen who had been lying on the ground were forcing themselves back up.
“Wouldn’t this be better, at least? The enemy is coming. At last, there are foes for your swords to cut down. Laugh! Let us prove that the Namgung sword truly shows its strength only when it meets an enemy!”
It was the voice of a man driven to the brink.
That was when Namgung Hwang was gathering the last of their will to fight. Some of the ships charging toward the island suddenly swung hard to the side.
“What?”
KWA-AAAAAANG!
And before the turn had even finished, the cannon fire launched from those ships flew toward Maehwado. It was not aimed with precision. It was the kind of attack meant only to be troublesome if it hit, and harmless if it missed—meant to break morale and scatter attention.
But even that cannon fire, flung without any expectation of success, was still a serious threat to the Namgung Family, already pushed to its limit.
KWA-AAAAANG! KWA-AAAAAANG!
Shells rained down across the island.
The sky was crystal clear, but the cannonballs that speckled it one after another, and the dust and dirt that burst up wherever they struck, forced a brutal sense of reality into minds already blurred and exhausted.
“Tch.”
The Namgung swordsmen gritted their teeth and raised their blades once more.
True enough.
A martial artist proved the worth of his life by the way he met death.
They knew it too. Their chances of surviving this battle were slim to none. If that was so, then shouldn’t they at least prove their existence one last time?
BOOM! KWA-AAAAANG!
The bombardment continued, but the gaze of the Namgung swordsmen only grew colder and calmer.
The moment those ships reached the shore—that was the beginning!
Every Namgung swordsman focused on the approaching vessels, drawing deep breaths and hardening their resolve. But then—
Fwaaaaat!
Before their hearts had even finished preparing, dozens of Water Bandits surged up from the water where it met the island, spray exploding around them.
“W-what!”
“Th-they’re coming! Damn it!”
The Water Bandits, springing up as if to strike from blind spots, charged forward without even raising a shout.
The Black Dragon King was indeed an experienced man. As though refusing to give the Namgung Family even a second to gather themselves, he had deployed an assault team to Maehwado one step ahead.
Fwaaaaat!
The speed of their charge made it immediately clear that these were no ordinary bandits.
The Water Bandits, their expressions hardened like iron, radiated a chill even colder than the thousand-year ice of the far north as they slammed into the Namgung line at point-blank range.
“Changgung-geomdae! Hold the front!”
“Yes!”
Training carved into the body shows its power in any situation. The Changgung-geomdae members had reached the limits of their bodies, but the instant their leader’s command fell, their feet moved first.
The Changgung-geomdae rushed to the front and formed a line in an instant.
If Chung Myung had seen this sight, he would have nodded at once. The strength of a prestigious clan was not proven by the sword aura sleeping at the tip of the blade. It was proven by will—by history, by name.
The Namgung Family of today was proving with that very will that the name they had built was no empty boast.
KWA-AAAAAANG!
The cannon fire never stopped.
In the very center of the battlefield, heated by shellfire, the Namgung Changgung-geomdae and the Water Bandits’ Black Dragon Squad collided head-on.
Ka-kang!
Swords and blades, swords and harpoons, crashed together, throwing off sparks.
This was different. All the battles until now had been fought with the knowledge that both sides still had a retreat behind them. The Water Bandits had not intended to drive Namgung to the bitter end, and Namgung had understood that the bandits would not sever their throat completely.
But now it was different.
Only one outcome remained: the annihilation of one side.
This was a battle where everything had been thrown in, and it would not end until one side had been wiped out entirely.
Kagagagagak!
Arms with taut, bulging tendons shoved against weapons with all their might. It was a sight born of a will that refused to yield even an inch.
Normally, the ones who should have been driven back were the Black Dragon Squad.
The Changgung-geomdae were the best of the best within Namgung. How could the swords of those who had led the grand Namgung Family for generations be light?
But—
Kagagak!
“Khk…”
The longer the standoff dragged on, the farther back the Namgung blades were forced.
As if proving that even the firmest will could not surpass the limits of the flesh, the Water Bandits’ dao and harpoons began to push the Namgung swords aside.
“Kraaaah!”
“Aaagh!”
The blades that seized the initiative brutally tore through fragile bodies.
Blood burst into the air, and shrill screams spread everywhere. Yet even as harpoons pierced bellies and dao sheared shoulders apart, the Changgung-geomdae did not retreat easily.
They knew it without needing anyone to shout it with bloodshot eyes.
This was the place where they were meant to die.
“Don’t get cocky!”
One of the Changgung-geomdae roared in agony and swung his sword.
Fwaaaat!
The blade, flying like a shaft of light, pierced the throat of the Water Bandit charging straight ahead.
“Ghk!”
The sword drove through the front of the neck and poked out the back. Staring down at the blade stuck in his throat, the bandit trembled all over, unable to believe it.
“You bandit bastards…”
Thud.
But at that exact moment—
The harpoon of the man whose throat had been pierced plunged into the lower abdomen of the Changgung-geomdae swordsman who had let down his guard for one split second.
The Changgung-geomdae member let out a breathless sound. Their resolve may have been unshakable, but they were still green youths with little battlefield experience. They had made the all-too-obvious mistake of forgetting not to lower their guard until the enemy’s breathing was completely severed.
“Khk…”
Fwaaaat!
Then, from behind, a dao flashed in and severed the neck of the Changgung-geomdae member as he twisted from the impact. The head, eyes bulging wide, spun through the air and rose up.
“K-Gwang-ah!”
“Namgung Gwaaang!”
A clan was all the more tightly bound.
Unlike a sect, where unrelated people gathered and shared a common ideal, a clan grew up together from childhood.
Which meant that the shock when one of them was sacrificed was beyond comparison.
For one person, it was a younger brother. For another, an older brother. For someone else, a son. Seeing that head rise into the air with their own eyes, blood tears began to flow within the hearts of those forced to witness it.
“You bastards!”
“Aaaaargh!”
As hatred and rage swelled, righteousness and honor vanished from the battlefield.
What remained was only naked animosity—the desperate urge to tear apart the enemies standing before them by any means necessary.
The soft stories once told to inspire those who grew up holding swords crumbled entirely, and the bare face of the battlefield began to show.
Victory bought with a son’s head.
Glory granted as an offering of a brother’s heart.
Who was talking about sacrifice?
Who was talking about sorrow?
The dead received no praise. Glory belonged entirely to the living.
Someone had to know. Someone had to know who shed blood behind that glory. In truth, every glory was built atop countless forgotten deaths.
But unfortunately, the people standing here were simply swallowed by hostility, fear, and hatred, and threw themselves at the enemy before their eyes.
“Dieeeeeee!”
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
The Changgung-geomdae, their eyes dyed a blood-red, screamed and swung their swords at the Water Bandits.
It was a ferocious resistance. Too savage to believe it could come from those already utterly exhausted, and yet a torrent of sword aura burst forth.
But the Black Dragon Squad did not panic.
A cornered rat will bite a cat. But just because a rat bites you, does that mean the cat dies? They had already expected fierce resistance. What mattered was crushing the enemy completely.
Unlike their terrifying initial charge, the Black Dragon Squad loosened the reins of their attack. They did not rush. They advanced leisurely, almost casually.
Thud. Thud.
And then the ship that had advanced toward Maehwado slammed into the sandbar with a ghastly grinding boom.
At last, the enormous black ship—the Black Dragon Vessel, symbol of the Black Dragon King—reached Maehwado.
KWA-AAAAANG!
The massive sound stabbed into everyone’s ears.
It was a deafening roar that made one wonder whether a ship arriving at that speed could possibly remain intact. But the impact it brought was unmistakable.
Just hearing, not even seeing, that the enemy’s main force had arrived was enough to make the Namgung Family flinch.
Thud.
A moment later, someone slowly emerged at the prow of the Black Dragon Vessel.
A physique so massive it could make a person shrink back.
Black beard like Guan Yu’s.
Eyes as fierce as a tiger’s.
With his appearance alone, he was enough to make onlookers recoil—and now that imposing presence revealed itself.
“You insect-like worms…”
At last, the Black Dragon King, having entered Maehwado, bared his teeth as he looked down on the Namgung Family.
“Kill every last one of the fools who dared oppose me in this Yangtze and feed them to the fish!”
“Yes, sir!”
The instant the order was given, Water Bandits began pouring out of the docked ships like an ant swarm.
It was a suffocating sight.
From the ships that had occupied every side of the island, and from the water itself, Water Bandits kept spilling toward the shore without end.
“Black Dragonrrrraaaaaagh!”
Namgung Hwang let out a roar like a lion’s howl.
“Emperor Sword.”
But even after hearing it, the Black Dragon King only twisted the corner of his mouth. Namgung Hwang fixed him with eyes red from hatred and shouted.
“If you’re a martial artist, step forward! You should at least have the courage to decide the score of the match you never finished!”
“You’re still the same fool, Namgung Hwang.”
The Black Dragon King sneered openly.
“Did you really think trash like you had the right to even challenge me?”
“You…”
“Flail all you want and die there. I’ll watch your end with these very eyes!”
“Black Dragonrrrraaaaaagh!”
“Kill them.”
The Water Bandits began to swarm toward the bleeding prize before them, greedily, as if they intended to strip away every last shred of flesh.