A Loyal Shadow's Stand
Hwang Jin-rang, the Ghostly White Demon and one of the leaders of the Five Divisions, was a master who ranked within the top ten of all Sadocheon.
"Ugh...!"
Yet, that very same Hwang Jin-rang was currently groaning as he was pushed back step by step.
His hair was a disheveled mess, his robes torn to tatters. Even his cherished weapons, the Ghost-Slaying Twin Claws, had one of its pair shattered, rendering the word "twin" entirely obsolete.
If only I had subdued Maeng Po, this would have been an easy task...
Yes, that had been the original plan.
Go to the South Gate, subdue the Chief Military Advisor, Maeng Po, and call it a day. A simple mission.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have taken even half an hour to bring the gate down.
He had been allocated the largest force, and his own martial prowess was at the initial stage of the Profound Realm—a level Maeng Po couldn't hope to match.
...But as it turned out, Maeng Po was not the greatest obstacle to capturing the South Gate.
Swish!
Suddenly, a sword lunged forward with a terrifying, air-splitting shriek.
"Urgh?!"
Startled out of his wits, Hwang Jin-rang bent his upper body sharply backward.
It was the Iron Plate Bridge technique, executed with masterly precision.
I dodged it...!
He was certain he had evaded the opponent's strike.
But he was wrong.
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
The problem was that the opponent did not wield just a single sword.
Having forced him into the Iron Plate Bridge with the right sword, the attacker masked the trajectory of the left sword, carving a deep gash into his flank.
Even though Hwang Jin-rang was protected by his Body-Protecting Qi, the strike tore through it as easily as wet paper. It was a flawless sword form.
A combination of strikes that bordered on high art.
"Where do you think you're looking?"
The mockery was blatant.
Hwang Jin-rang grit his teeth and glared forward.
Standing before him was his opponent, Jeok-un, holding twin swords.
Yes, this bastard was the source of all these unforeseen variables.
"You... How could you...!"
Hwang Jin-rang's voice trembled.
Anger, humiliation, confusion...
A chaotic storm of emotions swirled within him, leaving him unable to speak coherently.
"Yawn..."
Jeok-un let out an exaggerated yawn, looking thoroughly bored by the question.
"How tedious. Why is it that you small fry always say the exact same thing?"
"!!"
"Shut up and just bring it."
Jeok-un's martial prowess was just that overwhelming.
It was enough to keep someone like Hwang Jin-rang, who had reached the initial stage of the Profound Realm, constantly on the defensive!
It made no sense.
How could someone who had only recently entered the Transformation Realm display such terrifying power?
"Not coming? Well, then I have no choice."
"?!"
Whoosh!
In that instant, Jeok-un—
Or rather, Hwang-no, disguised as Jeok-un—charged forward with the speed of lightning.
Hwang-no had absolutely no intention of showing mercy.
Shuck!
Afterimages trailed along his path.
It was the effect of the Ghost Walk.
Spurt!
A fountain of blood erupted.
"Aaaargh!"
The source of the spray was Hwang Jin-rang's arms.
The limbs that had been perfectly attached to his torso just moments ago now rolled grotesquely in the dirt.
And that was the end of it.
"Now, anyone else who wants to be carved into mincemeat, step forward."
At Hwang-no's chilling declaration, not a single soul dared to make a move.
The battle at the South Gate had come to a close.
"Whew. Now that I've sealed all their pressure points, things seem to be wrapping up here."
Chief Military Advisor Maeng Po muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.
The martial artists of the Vice Lord's faction who had followed Hwang Jin-rang were now all bound and subdued.
"It seems settled, but just to be safe, please remain here and keep watch, Chief Advisor. I will go check on the neighboring gates."
"Understood. Do as you see fit."
Leaving the nodding Maeng Po behind, Hwang-no fell into brief contemplation.
He had to decide which gate to reinforce next.
Should he head to the relatively small West Gate, or protect the East Gate?
But right at that moment—
Boom! Boom!
Thud-boom!
"!!"
"……!!"
The thunderous beat of war drums suddenly echoed through the air.
Hearing this, the expressions of both Hwang-no and Maeng Po stiffened.
There was only one reason why those drums would resound across the entirety of Sadocheon.
One of the four gates has fallen!
It meant that one of the four gates protecting the Alliance Leader's Hall had fallen into enemy hands.
Hwang-no whipped his head around, scanning the surroundings.
Following the drumbeats, a plume of smoke began to rise from one of the gates.
The North Gate!
Dash!
Hwang-no was already sprinting at full speed.
"The Alliance Leader's Hall! Hurry to the Alliance Leader's Hall...!"
Maeng Po's belated shout echoed behind him like a distant memory.
Hwang-no's face was grim.
But how could the North Gate have...!
Of the four gates, the one he believed would never fall had been breached.
It made sense; the North Gate was defended by the absolute elite of the Lord's faction.
It was guarded by Hu Seong, the Leader of the Law Enforcement Division, and the Law Enforcement Guard.
Furthermore, the North Gate should have been heavily fortified with all manner of formations and tactical arrays.
For such a place to be breached...
There could only be one explanation.
Hwang-no pushed his body to its absolute limits, running faster.
Before long, he arrived in front of the Alliance Leader's Hall, where Dok-go Cheon was undergoing treatment.
And there, he saw it.
...!!
What met Hwang-no's eyes was a grim sight.
"Tsk, tsk. A watchdog shouldn't be this late returning to its kennel."
"!!"
A blood-drenched Hu Seong was being held in Do Ye-cheon's grip like a broken toy.
The Mad Soul Fist, Do Ye-cheon.
Although Do Ye-cheon sneered at him, Hwang-no remained calm.
Without showing a shred of emotion, he assessed the enemy's strength with cold, calculating eyes.
The Vice Lord of Sadocheon.
One of the Three Great Fists of Jianghu.
In his youth, he had traversed countless battlefields alongside the Lord of Sadocheon, Dok-go Cheon, defeating numerous masters of both the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions to elevate Sadocheon's name.
Yet, his peak as a martial artist was undoubtedly right now.
Through his relentless pursuit of Dok-go Cheon's shadow, he had finally reached his current height.
The mastery stage of the Profound Realm.
He had attained the very same realm that Hwang-no himself had occupied before falling to the Sword Demon.
If only my body were fully recovered...
Hwang-no could not hide his lingering regret.
Thanks to Jeok-un's continuous treatment, Hwang-no had recovered nearly eighty percent of his past strength.
While that was more than enough to easily crush Hwang Jin-rang, who was only at the initial stage of the Profound Realm, it was a different story now.
The opponent standing before him was not someone he could handle so easily.
To make matters worse, he faced another major constraint.
I cannot use the martial arts of the Death Gate. I must fight using techniques that can deceive the eyes of the onlookers.
Currently, he was disguised as Jeok-un, not acting as Hwang-no.
If he were to unleash his true signature techniques, it would instantly arouse the suspicion of the crowd.
The martial arts of the Death Gate were fundamentally different from the techniques Jeok-un had displayed so far.
I cannot allow myself to become a hindrance to the Master's grand design.
There were too many eyes watching. If any rumors reached the ears of the Demonic Cult, it would undoubtedly disrupt the grand plan Jeok-un had painstakingly laid out.
All of Jeok-un's covert activities, including his involvement with the Geumhwang Merchant Group, would be exposed.
That would result in losing a vital weapon meant to strike at their shared enemy, the Demonic Cult.
Hwang-no had absolutely no intention of letting that happen.
"You seem to have a lot on your mind today, Leader of the White Night?"
Do Ye-cheon curled his lips into a sneer, mocking Jeok-un—or rather, Hwang-no.
He mistook Hwang-no's silent calculation of their odds for sheer terror.
"What is there to think about? The famous Black Heaven Mad Dragon looks as if he's about to wet his pants right this instant."
"Bwahahaha!"
At Do Ye-cheon's mockery, the subordinates lined up behind him burst into laughter.
Do Ye-cheon wore a satisfied expression as he watched the silent Hwang-no.
It was a truly exhilarating feeling of triumph.
"Here, a gift for you."
With a casual flick of his arm, Do Ye-cheon tossed Hu Seong aside.
Just as the blood-soaked Hu Seong was about to crash onto the hard ground, Hwang-no leaped forward and caught him mid-air.
Hwang-no quickly checked Hu Seong's condition.
"Division Leader."
Though he had lost consciousness from the excruciating pain, his life did not seem to be in immediate danger.
Do Ye-cheon could not afford to kill Hu Seong in the first place.
No matter how much he branded him a rebel, Hu Seong's reputation and influence within Sadocheon were far too significant to ignore.
Executing him would only leave Do Ye-cheon ruling over a fractured, resentful Sadocheon.
Thus, he had merely subjected him to horrific torture during the capture of the North Gate, leaving him broken but alive.
As Hwang-no grit his teeth at Do Ye-cheon's cruelty—
"The rebels may have been lucky enough to hold the other three gates, but your struggles end here! In just a few more steps, everything will be over!"
Do Ye-cheon raised his voice, declaring to all.
His gaze locked onto the Alliance Leader's Hall.
His eyes gleamed with thick greed and murderous intent as he stared at the building.
It was blindingly obvious what would happen if Do Ye-cheon set foot inside.
Hwang-no could never allow it.
"Take even one more step forward, and I will sever your head on the spot."
Hwang-no stepped in front of Do Ye-cheon, channeling his inner energy.
Whoosh!
Instead of the twin flying daggers that had earned him the title of the world's greatest assassin, he drew two crude longswords modeled after Jeok-un's Sun Heaven and Moon Under. The blades began to radiate a sharp, chilling aura.
Yet, Do Ye-cheon only sneered at the sight.
Seeing that Jeok-un's divine weapons lacked their usual extraordinary power, he assumed the youth's mind and spirit were faltering under the despair of the situation.
"To think you still rely on the power of those trivial divine weapons even in this state. How utterly pathetic."
Boom!
The moment he finished speaking, a thunderous explosion shook the ground.
It was the sound of Do Ye-cheon kicking off the earth as he lunged forward.
His momentum was like that of a wild beast charging to tear its prey apart.
Whoosh!
In response, Hwang-no also threw himself at Do Ye-cheon, risking his life.
Who throughout history has not tasted death?
If one must find value in death...
Let it be found in standing for a righteous cause.
I must buy time until the Master arrives, no matter what!
Even if it meant exhausting every last drop of his innate qi.