Chapter 306
Chapter 306
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 306
>Chapter Title: Grassland (6)
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“Stay here and guard this place with Jeong So-jeo!”
After issuing orders to the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Il-mok shot a glance at Jin Ha-yeon and Joo Seo-yeon before charging straight at the enemy.
They were fools.
They had formed a large circular formation, anticipating that his side would flee.
Thanks to that, there weren’t many guards around their leader.
“Kill them!!”
As Il-mok charged, the Kagan of the Manggod Tribe bellowed, and those in the circular formation began their assault toward the Zarichgod Tribe’s village.
In the meantime.
Slash!
One of the guards who had stepped forward to protect the chieftain was decapitated in a single stroke by Il-mok’s sword.
And that warrior wasn’t the end of it.
Slash!
Not a single one among the warriors near the Manggod Kagan managed to block the masked man’s sword.
“!?”
Only then did the Manggod Tribe’s Kagan show a startled expression.
With just four sword swings, Il-mok had slain all who blocked his path and instantly closed in on the Manggod Kagan.
Gazing at the masked man swinging his sword with ferocious speed, the Manggod Kagan hastily swung his greatsword.
The Manggod Kagan was also a master who had reached a profound realm, as his greatsword shimmered with sword energy.
“Urk!”
Right after their first exchange, the Manggod Kagan gritted his teeth and swallowed back the blood surging in reverse.
He had suffered internal injuries in just one clash.
‘Th-this can’t be! A warrior superior to me?!’
While the Manggod Kagan denied reality.
Instead of leaping back to the ground after clashing with the Kagan atop his horse, the masked man stepped off the air and swung his sword once more.
Stunned by the unbelievable, eerie sight, the Manggod Kagan barely blocked the strike but was ultimately flung from his horse.
‘This can’t be….’
The Manggod Kagan couldn’t collect his wits.
And only then did he realize his greatest mistake.
The otherworldly beast they had hunted over days—he had overlooked that the outsider who slew it couldn’t possibly be an easy foe.
The urgency to quickly scale the wall and return to their homeland, combined with rage over losing the beast’s inner core, had clouded his rational judgment.
But that realization came far too late.
Clang!
The Kagan’s greatsword shattered with a clear ring as it clashed once more with the masked man’s sword.
Crackle!
The sword, wrapped in lightning-shaped energy, flew toward his heart.
Crunch!
Having dispatched the enemy leader in just a few exchanges, Il-mok nodded, still with the Ascending Heaven Sword plunged into the enemy’s chest.
‘As expected.’
Vast blood energy flowed along the Ascending Heaven Sword piercing the heart, gathering toward his right hand.
But it was different from before.
Instead of clashing, the demonic energy of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword and the blood energy of the Ascending Heaven Sword coexisted seamlessly.
It seemed thanks to reaching the Human Sea Realm, where he could now handle qi even more freely.
About one hour ago, when he pierced the spirit beast goat’s head, he had felt a similar sensation.
He had wondered if it was because the opponent was a spirit beast, but this confirmed it.
‘At least, the chance of running out of internal energy mid-battle is almost zero.’
Since he could absorb qi every time the Ascending Heaven Sword drew blood.
Of course, there was the condition of directly staining the sword with blood, but in combat, swords getting bloody was all too common.
After assessing his condition, Il-mok pulled the Ascending Heaven Sword from the leader’s chest.
If it sucked up too much blood, there was a risk of a new vengeful spirit forming in the sword.
‘Better to divide it, absorbing a little from many.’
If he greedily absorbed blood indiscriminately, the Ascending Heaven Sword might evolve into one of the demonic swords infamous in martial history.
Slash!
Il-mok swung his sword again, severing the leader’s head, then grabbed it and turned, bellowing.
“Ha!!”
His shout, infused with internal energy, echoed across the open plain, naturally drawing the eyes of those in battle toward Il-mok.
Soon after, the pupils of the nomads—who had formed the circle and attacked the Zarichgod Tribe—shook violently.
“Kagan!!”
They could never have imagined that the head of their great chieftain, whom they trusted and followed, had been severed in that short time.
“We must avenge the Kagan!!”
“Kill them!!”
But the death of their chieftain alone wasn’t enough to break their spirit, as the foes swung their weapons with eyes ablaze.
Clicking his tongue lightly at their stubbornness, Il-mok soon infused blood energy into the Ascending Heaven Sword.
The red blood energy gathered on the Ascending Heaven Sword spread out like a net in all directions.
Slash!
Slash!!
The bodies of the nomads who had first shouted and urged the fight were sliced apart one after another.
Perhaps because he had butchered dozens of warriors with a single technique.
The Manggod Tribe warriors, who had been pressing the battle, now stared at Il-mok with eyes filled with terror.
Only then did it seem they might be open to talk, so Il-mok bellowed.
“Those who drop their weapons and surrender will be spared!”
Right after Ohallak translated Il-mok’s shout.
The Manggod Tribe warriors began dropping their weapons and kneeling en masse.
* * *
After subduing and checking all the surrendered enemies, they had around seventy prisoners.
The initial attackers had numbered about one hundred fifty, so he had spared roughly half.
‘Well, still better than killing them all.’
When half the water remains in a cup, do you say half is gone or half remains?
Il-mok chose the latter.
In the past, he either didn’t draw his sword at all or killed everyone once he did.
Il-mok had urged their surrender because of the vow he made to himself upon successfully Transcending Demon and entering the Human Sea Realm.
He wouldn’t hesitate to kill when necessary, but he would refrain from indiscriminate slaughter—that vow.
Realizing this was reality, it was a pledge not to become a blood-mad monster.
It might seem contradictory to casually slaughter dozens with one swing, but this was actually a way to reduce killing.
He needed to demonstrate overwhelming power to crush their will to resist.
In fact, those Il-mok had slain with the Heavenly Net Sword were all ones with strong defiance and superior skill in their eyes.
They were warriors with considerable influence in the tribe—equivalent to officers in an army.
“What do you plan to do with them?”
To Jin Ha-yeon’s question, Il-mok shrugged once and replied.
“I’ll talk to them first and decide.”
With that, Il-mok approached the subdued prisoners.
As he drew near, they looked up at him with eyes mixed with fear and awe.
It wasn’t just the prisoners.
The Zarichgod tribesfolk, saved from crisis thanks to Il-mok and his group, now peeked out from their yurts with expressions full of awe, watching him.
Expressions just like those of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult followers.
Now somewhat accustomed to such gazes, Il-mok spoke to the prisoners.
“I am the incarnation sent to earth by Mirok to punish evil.”
Even as he called himself a being beyond mortals, no one could deny or mock his words—because of the divine might he had shown in the recent battle.
“You attacked the innocent Zarichgod Tribe and us out of greed. Do you acknowledge your sin?”
“P-please spare us.”
“What reason do I have to believe you’ll spare you?”
“J-just spare us, and we’ll do anything!”
“If I let you go, you’ll just bide your time and attack again.”
“H-how could we dare oppose Bat’ar?”
At that moment, a young nomad man who had been silently watching the exchange cried out urgently.
“P-please, if we all die here, the women and children left in the village will be in danger. At least spare them!”
“Absurd. Then did you attack the Zarichgod Tribe’s women and children out of concern for them?”
“W-we had no intention of harming the women and children. Th-this is the truth. Please believe us.”
As Ohallak translated the young nomad’s words.
The Zarichgod Tribe chieftain cautiously spoke up.
“Incarnation of Mirok, will you grant me a chance to speak?”
Whether due to being saved twice or Il-mok’s divine presence, the chieftain now treated him with far greater respect than before.
“Speak.”
“Traditionally, when a battle between tribes is decided, the defeated tribe is absorbed by the victors. It is customary not to harm women and children then. They would not be different.”
“You mean they wouldn’t have harmed the Zarichgod Tribe’s women and children?”
“That too, but I meant they wouldn’t consist solely of Manggod Tribe warriors.”
The Zarichgod Tribe had also been defeated by the Merkhit Tribe in war and initially subjugated by them.
The problem was only that discord arose after the Kagan’s body disappeared, sparking war anew.
During their own heyday, the Zarichgod had subjugated multiple tribes, so he expected the same of them.
Only then did Il-mok grasp the general situation.
‘So that’s why they surrendered more easily than expected?’
Normally, a ‘tribe’ bound by that name implies blood ties among all.
No matter the power gap, when parents, siblings, or cousins are slaughtered, most dream of vengeance over surrender.
Yet they had surrendered without hesitation after their chieftain and key warriors were massacred.
“Hmm. Then the women and children they mentioned left in the tribe could, from their perspective, be hostages.”
“…One could see it that way.”
When warriors went to battle, leaving women and children from subjugated tribes in the village made betrayal mid-fight difficult.
Their families left behind would be at risk.
Thus, among the survivors, there were likely many warriors originally from tribes merged into the Manggod.
‘But I can’t trust them unconditionally. We won’t be staying here forever.’
After a moment’s thought, Il-mok came up with a usable plan and asked the prisoners in a solemn voice.
“Very well. You said you’d do anything if spared?”
* * *
Having planned the prisoners’ treatment, Il-mok ordered Seo Jae-pil.
“Treat the wounded.”
As per his command, Seo Jae-pil tended to the prisoners with the physicians. Meanwhile, Il-mok called the women back in.
“The attack delayed things a bit.”
With that, Il-mok offered them the spirit beast’s inner core, and the women exchanged glances for a moment.
“…We shall follow Young Master’s will.”
Thanks to Jin Ha-yeon’s decision first, the other women followed Il-mok’s intent without objection.
“Once cracks form in the inner core, the energy will dissipate quickly. Divide it into three and consume immediately, then begin Qi Circulation and Breath Adjustment.”
At Il-mok’s warning, they nodded with serious expressions.
For safe consumption, they sat in lotus position with some spacing, and once ready, Il-mok swiftly moved his hands.
Flash!
With a flick of his hand channeling energy, the inner core split into three pieces at once, flying toward the women simultaneously.
Heeding Il-mok’s warning, they caught the incoming pieces, popped them into their mouths, and immediately entered Qi Circulation and Breath Adjustment.