The Tragedy of Hubei
“Useless bastard.”
Arriving late to the scene, the Blood Sky Unit Leader scowled in disgust. His subordinate, the Remnant Blood Unit Leader, had failed to hold out even for that brief span and had lost an arm in the process.
A wet slash tore through the air.
There was no mercy. For a swordsman whose principal martial art relied on his right hand, losing that limb meant seven-tenths of his fighting prowess was gone. Moreover, an incompetent commander who crumbled under an enemy ambush had no place in the coming war.
Though every single master was precious to the Demon Blood Divine Cult, they had no intention of dragging along useless cripples. The cultists scattered across the clearing trembled in sheer terror at the Blood Sky Unit Leader’s savagery.
“What are you standing around for? Move, immediately!”
“L-Loyalty!”
At his barked reprimand, the cultists scrambled into swift, orderly motion. They anticipated that this raid was the spark to ignite all-out war, and King Geuk Pyeong—one of the Five Blood Kings—had already commanded all forces to muster.
“Faster! Move faster! I will personally sever the head of any slug who drags their feet.”
When a chilling wisp of killing intent leaked from him, the cultists moved with frantic urgency. The Blood Sky Unit Leader crushed the lifeless head of the Remnant Blood Unit Leader beneath his heel, bursting it open like an overripe melon, before stepping forward to join the vanguard.
Meanwhile, having slain the Remnant Blood Unit Leader, Ryeong soared back toward the main subjugation force with her Fire Wings unfurled. The scent of fresh blood clinging to her person instantly tightened the nerves of the alliance commanders.
“I broke the core axis of their formation,” she reported. “There shouldn't be any issue advancing.”
“Well done. Rest until we reach our objective.”
Zhuge Hongun had sensed an ominous aura early on. The closer they had drawn to the stronghold of the Demon Blood Divine Cult, the more an inexplicable dread had pricked at his instincts. But just moments ago, that stifling sensation had vanished—and then Ryeong appeared, announcing she had dismantled their formation. He realized at once where that foreboding feeling had originated.
In an open war, as opposed to a martial duel, battlefields became an entangled mess of deadly arts. Tactical formations were standard, and in extreme cases, gunpowder weapons made their appearance.
Gunpowder remained their greatest unknown variable. The Demon Blood Divine Cult was a horde of fanatics, and there was no predicting what madness they might unleash; the possibility of explosives could never be ruled out. When it came to gunpowder, prayer was often the only recourse. Countering it within normal martial conventions was virtually impossible. Zhuge Hongun had marched all the way here without factoring in an explosive defense. If the enemy truly brought gunpowder to bear, their entire plan would have to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. He could only pray it wasn't so.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Clearing the thick brush, the subjugation army dressed its ranks. Beyond the woods, backed by their dark fortress, the cultists of the Demon Blood Divine Cult were already drawn up in battle array.
In an instant, the two forces locked into a tense standoff. Then, from the cult's side, a lone man rose into the open sky.
King Geuk Pyeong, one of the Five Blood Kings. A monster who had reached the peak of the Extreme Demon realm, and the vanguard commander responsible for most of the horrific slaughters across the Central Plains.
Zhuge Hongun did not bother to employ Void Walking. He saw no reason to squander his precious internal energy on empty grandstanding.
“Greetings, vermin of the Central Plains.”
Suspended high in the air, Geuk Pyeong broke the silence. The demonic qi radiating from him was so thick and foul that the orthodox martial artists grimaced in visceral disgust. The cultists below, by contrast, remained as impassive as stone statues.
The subjugation force felt an oppressive dread creeping over them at the sight of those unblinking, emotionless fiends. Watching the atmosphere sour, Ryeong flared her Fire Wings and rose into the sky, stopping directly before Geuk Pyeong.
“Big talk for someone flailing around on Void Walking.”
“So it's you, wench. The chief culprit who has been meddling in our affairs.”
“If you're only figuring that out now, your intelligence network is pathetic. Is this really all the Demon Blood Divine Cult has to offer?”
“Did you truly believe such childish provocation would work on me?”
“Yep.”
As if to provoke him further, Ryeong released the radiant energy of the Celestial Immortal Divine Art. Confronted head-on by its incompatible, purifying presence, Geuk Pyeong's expression twisted in displeasure. At the same time, the oppressive demonic haze smothering the battlefield dispersed, instantly restoring the morale of the subjugation army. With Ryeong stepping forward, Geuk Pyeong's attempt to seize the psychological initiative had been completely shattered.
A gust of wind swept through the valley. The ominous silence stretched taut. Geuk Pyeong and Ryeong stared directly into each other's eyes. There was no grand signal, no booming command to advance, nothing to mark the opening beat.
And yet—
BOOOOOM!
The instant Ryeong and Geuk Pyeong lunged at each other, the armies below surged forward in lockstep.
“Slay the demons!”
“Smite the filthy heathens with our wrath!”
“Charge!”
More than four thousand warriors crashed into one another. The hushed valley transformed in a heartbeat into a charnel house where blood sprayed and flesh tore.
Yet the fiercest battle of all unfolded not on the ground, but in the sky above.
Crash! Bang! Clang!
Spearheaded by the Vermilion Bird Killing Qi, Ryeong moved with blistering speed. Geuk Pyeong, however, deflected her sword strikes with practiced ease. So long as the Red Cloud Divine Sword endlessly poured internal energy into her veins, Ryeong could unleash the forms of the Four Divine Beasts Sword indefinitely until she cut him down. The problem was that Geuk Pyeong was not mounting a serious offensive.
“Keep turtling up like that and you're going to die out of nowhere, you know?”
“You talk too much. Focus on the fight.”
“Sure thing.”
Detonating her internal energy in a sudden burst, Ryeong forced Geuk Pyeong back. In that fraction of a second, her throwing dagger flashed toward his vital acupoints. But Geuk Pyeong was an expert at the apex of the Extreme Demon realm. Even within that terrifying realm, a vast gulf lay between the entry stage and the peak; Geuk Pyeong was skilled enough to track and deflect Ryeong's assassin strikes with clarity.
“Have you survived this long on petty tricks alone?”
“Why don't you experience it yourself and find out?”
Pulling off an acrobatic aerial maneuver, Ryeong appeared right in front of his face. Because she held absolute command over the skies, Geuk Pyeong could do little more than defend.
Clang!
His sword-fingers, hardened with demonic qi, collided with the Red Cloud Divine Sword. In terms of raw physical strength, Geuk Pyeong held the advantage, but celestial qi possessed the innate property to consume and devour demonic qi. The clash ultimately forced Geuk Pyeong onto the back foot.
“An opposing attribute...”
He shifted tactics immediately, plummeting toward the earth. He had realized that fighting in the air put him at a distinct disadvantage. Ryeong did not try to stop him. While she held the upper hand aloft, maintaining the Fire Wings placed a considerable strain on her. Furthermore, the chaos of the terrestrial battlefield offered far better opportunities for an assassin's underhanded tactics.
“I offer my apologies for underestimating you.”
“Did you think I'd generously accept?”
“Which is why I shall cut you down with everything I have.”
Acknowledging Ryeong as a worthy foe, Geuk Pyeong dredged up his demonic qi. The dark crimson aura rapidly coalesced around him, encasing his entire body like solid plate armor. Having forged his Demonic Armor, he curled the corner of his mouth into a sneer.
“Take this.”
“...!”
Geuk Pyeong vanished. Losing track of his presence for an instant, Ryeong whipped her head around in alarm. But faster than thought, his fist hammered into her solar plexus.
“Ghk!”
Having hastily invoked the Black Tortoise Dominating Qi, Ryeong rolled across the dirt. She had avoided a fatal blow, but penetrating internal force wreaked havoc inside her body, tearing at her meridians. Worse, Geuk Pyeong gave her no respite. He charged forward like an unstoppable juggernaut, calling to mind the ferocious beasts of the Southern Barbarian lands.
While dispersing the penetrating force using the Azure Dragon Lightning Qi, Ryeong pushed her Heaven-Killing Art to its absolute limit, activating her stealth techniques. It was stealth refined to the pinnacle of assassin mastery. Geuk Pyeong failed to perceive her blurred, vanishing form. Expelling the destructive internal force in barely two seconds, Ryeong lunged for his exposed back.
BOOM!
The True Sword of the White Tiger, imbued with the White Tiger Wood Qi, struck Geuk Pyeong square in the back. Yet it lacked the power to pierce his Demonic Armor.
“Did you truly believe something of that caliber could contend with me?!”
With a thunderous stomp, Geuk Pyeong shook the earth, sending Ryeong flying backward. It was a quake powerful enough to rattle not just her, but the entire flow of the battlefield. Ryeong could not hide her shock at his sheer, overwhelming power.
Is this bastard really just at the peak of the Extreme Demon realm?
She hadn't unleashed everything yet either. To gauge his capabilities, she had deliberately feigned being on the defensive, allowing a few grazing blows. By nature, Ryeong was not the type to overpower foes through brute force alone. An assassin lived by seizing the precise instant when an enemy lost their composure, striking with lethal, single-blow precision. Subterfuge came far more naturally to her than fair, open combat. While Geuk Pyeong's strength was an unexpected variable, she still believed victory was within reach. She never would have engaged him in the first place if she lacked the odds.
Against this type of monster, the standard answer is to stall until his stamina gives out, but...
Ryeong glanced at her surroundings. She had enough leeway for that much. The problem was that the overall situation was far from favorable. The enemy fielded far more high-tier experts than anticipated. Considering the time remaining before the Daoist Masters arrived, there was no telling if the subjugation army could hold out that long.
I can't cling to my old ways forever.
She needed to adapt. To lead armies and wage open warfare from here on out, she had to settle things head-on. It was time to put away the assassin's mindset.
KRAAA-BOOOM!
“What is this...?”
“Having fun so far? Let's play for real now.”
Steeled with resolve, Ryeong unleashed her internal energy. The sheer volume of power surging from her belonged to an entirely different dimension, leaving Geuk Pyeong visibly shaken. Resonating with her aura, the Red Cloud Divine Sword began to hum. Amplified to the absolute limit by the twin sacred relics, Ryeong's might had long since reached the pinnacle of the Transformation Realm.
Though her physical cultivation was technically at the early stage, steadily advancing toward maturity, her true combat power was more than capable of overwhelming even a demon standing at the peak of the Extreme Demon realm.
“If I take your head first, their morale will plummet straight to the dirt, won't it?”
“...”
“Let's see what you've got, Blood King.”
SCREEECH! ROOOAAAR!
The cry of the Vermilion Bird and the roar of the White Tiger echoed across the heavens. At last, Ryeong commanded two distinct true energies of the Four Divine Beasts Sword in unison.