Chapter 152
Chapter 152
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 152
— Foolish humans! This is no place for you. Depart.
The Gold Dragon's voice resounded.
"Is this land yours?"
Go Jin-cheon's voice was directed at the Gold Dragon.
— This is sacred ground. I bear the duty to protect it. Withdraw. This is the grace I bestow upon you.
The Gold Dragon answered Jin-cheon's question.
"Leave this place?"
— Yes.
At Jin-cheon's reiteration, the Gold Dragon's confirmation followed.
Jin-cheon slowly looked back. Tens of thousands of eyes were upon him. The eyes that had been overflowing with hope were now stained with despair, and the black eyes that had been steadying their ranks were seething with resentment.
Jin-cheon turned his head forward again and closed his eyes.
The image of Pyongyang Fortress, with smoke rising in the distance, came to mind. The Gauri people, fleeing war and abandoning their homes, carrying bundles and loading carts as they walked away, came to mind. The sight of them boarding ships to depart for this place, swallowing blood and tears, came to mind.
A human can only truly be said to live when standing upon the land. But if they lose that land, there is no hope... nor a future.
Jin-cheon's eyes slowly opened.
Jin-cheon looked at the Gold Dragon and asked,
"Now... I will protect this place. I will assume that duty. Will you not allow that?"
— You refuse my goodwill. This is your final warning. Depart.
The Gold Dragon's voice of refusal was firm.
Depart.
To where, exactly?
Where are we to depart to?
To those who had lost their way and come seeking their last refuge, he said, depart. To depart from this place where we turned our backs on our homeland and opened our hearts anew—to where! There is nowhere else to go but here.
"My answer is...."
Jin-cheon began to speak, then looked back once more. Never in his life had he hesitated like this. The soldiers, aligned in formation and awaiting his command, met his eyes.
He would not look back anymore.
He looked up at the Gold Dragon and concluded his momentarily interrupted answer.
"Impossible!"
— Grooooooar!
Jin-cheon's answer and the Gold Dragon's fury filled the air. And the punishment of the absolute being began.
— You shall all be reduced to ashes upon this land!
A scorching heat began to undulate above the dragon's head. The heat soon transformed into flames, and Risel was aghast.
"H-Hell Fire!"
The flames of hell were being formed. Risel instantly recognized it as Hell Fire, which he had heard tales of long ago. Nothing else could produce a fireball that radiated such immense heat.
Risel, as Jin-cheon stepped forward, found himself beginning to chant a spell without realizing it.
"Oum Sala di Krei Um Taha! Power of mana that forms the world, lend me your strength! Origin that overcomes heat! So bitter cold it shall overcome any heat! Ice Barrier!"
Vwoooooom!
A wall of cold ice began to form before the intense heat. A mass of blistering heat began to descend upon it, bearing a death sentence.
— This is my chastisement upon arrogant humans. Hell Fire.
Whooooooosh!
"Urgh!"
A vein bulged on Risel's forehead. The curtain of ice was already beginning to melt before even touching the Hell Fire. At that moment, someone dashed up beside Risel.
"Power of True Words!"
Fwoosh!
Yellow papers unfolded like a fan. The one bearing profound, gentle eyes was none other than Yeon Hwi-garam. An unceasing incantation flowed from him.
"Fire is governed by fire."
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Risel's ice barrier shattered and flames reared their heads. Yet Hwi-garam's voice held neither hurry nor impatience.
"Like the lava of an active volcano surging from the earth's depths, the power to melt the world! Annihilating Heaven and Earth Flame, emerge!"
Fwooosh!
The yellow papers that left Hwi-garam's hand transformed into streams of fire and shot toward the Hell Fire like the heads of snakes striking at prey. And when the two forces clashed, they created a thunderous roar.
KABOOOM!
A rain of fire fell upon the world.
Sparks that shattered in midair fluttered in every direction.
— This is proving entertaining.
The Gold Dragon's form was faintly visible through the falling shower of fire. And its arrogant voice as well....
— Now, try blocking this.
With those words, the Gold Dragon's belly began to slowly expand.
"N-No way!"
Even with the naked eye, one could clearly see mana gathering into the Gold Dragon's maw. The light was refracted by the shimmering heat haze. Risel's face began to turn pale.
"Dragon Breath!"
A power bestowed by God.
It was Breath, the symbol of a dragon's absolute power.
"Uugh."
Hwi-garam's face, which always bore a serene smile, contorted miserably as he even let out a groan.
"...Hoo."
Hwi-garam's shoulders slumped with a heavy breath.
"Hwi...."
Seeing this, from behind, Jin-cheon called his nickname. A smile bloomed on Hwi-garam's contorted face.
Grr-rrr!
The atmosphere vibrated.
Grrrr-grrrr!
The forest wailed.
Gwo!
All movement ceased for a fleeting instant.
And then....
The dragon's god-given authority shot down.
ROOOOAR!
"Oum Sala di Krei Um Taha...!"
The incantation poured from Risel's lips without hesitation. He continued with the only 8th-circle defensive spell he knew.
'...Please!'
Desperation settled in Risel's heart. A magical failure rebounds upon the caster. Ordinary wizards know their circles, so they do not make such a blunder. But Risel did not know his own circle.
'Pleeease!'
He only had a vague feeling that he had to do it. The Infinite Ring in Risel's heart began to revolve.
"Power of mana that forms the world, lend me your strength! The absolute shield that opposes absolute power! The unbreakable power of absolute faith! Absolute Barrier!"
WHIRRR!
Risel's body was vibrating. The Infinite Ring in his heart revolved. The clamorous resonance of the world's mana left onlookers spellbound.
"My heart! O source of mana, spin!"
His desperate cry went to his fingertips, which had formed a hand seal. And a brilliant curtain of light opposed the absolute authority.
BOOM!
Drrr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr!
The unbreakable spear and the unbreakable shield collided. The earth cried out as if an earthquake had struck, and Risel's heart leaped and churned madly.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
A scream-like cry erupted from Risel's bloodstained mouth. Was this his limit?
SPLURT!
Red blood misted into the air. And the absolute shield faded. But it was not the end.
Shooooosh!
A piercingly blue jet of water surged toward the Breath. Determination was etched in the eyes of Yeon Hwi-garam, who floated in the air, ceaselessly spewing water from within an azure sphere.
Tsssssss!
The two forces spewed steam, turning the surrounding area hazy as if shrouded in fog.
Everyone was watching the spectacle. A clash of powers beyond what could originate from humans. A confrontation only heard of in legends was unfolding before tens of thousands of witnesses. And a single ray of light....
BOOM!
The clash of the two forces ended with a tremendous roar.
— Grooooaaaaar!
Thud.
Had he burned all his strength?
As Hwi-garam, his jet-black hair turned white, fell from the air like a kite with its string cut, the Gold Dragon's agonized roar spread.
"That is far enough."
The words leaked from the tightly shut lips of Go Jin-cheon, who was leaning forward with his right arm extended as if he had thrown something at the roaring dragon in pain.
— Pain! Pain! Is this pain!
A sound of disbelief burst from the Gold Dragon's maw.
The long spear embedded in one of the dragon's eyes. It was Jin-cheon who had hurled it.
Jin-cheon slowly straightened his body and looked at Risel, who had collapsed vomiting blood, and at Hwi-garam, whose hair had turned stark white. As the brief clash subsided, soldiers dashed out, took hold of the two, and withdrew.
There were no more shields.
Go Jin-cheon spurred Gangsoe and slowly advanced.
Clop-clop. Clop-clop. Clop-clop.
As if unafraid of the colossal being before him, Gangsoe moved forward as Jin-cheon guided him. Jin-cheon's heart and Gangsoe's heart seemed to beat as one.
— Human, I shall ask! None remain to shield you. Will you still resist!
Consumed by rage, the Gold Dragon questioned Jin-cheon again. Jin-cheon no longer looked back. There was only one decision already made.
Slowly, he brought his hand toward the Hwandudaedo fastened at his waist. And his reply, carrying an unwavering will, began.
"To you, we may seem like trivial insects."
It was not a loud voice, yet to the tens of thousands behind Jin-cheon, every last word rang clearly. His hand firmly gripped the hilt of the Hwandudaedo.
"To you, this land may simply be an object of a pact to be upheld."
Shrrring.
The cold blade of the Hwandudaedo was being drawn from its scabbard.
"But...."
Shrrrrrr.
The Hwandudaedo's keen edge, reflecting the sun, fully emerged from its scabbard.
"To us, this land... to those who fled to escape the plundering of the nation...."
The soldiers of slash-and-burn origin, who had been lying prone and merely watching, looked up at Jin-cheon.
"To those who came seeking a new home, fleeing war...."
The common people from South Roselin, who had been embracing their trembling children with heads bowed, lifted their heads....
"To those who wandered, having lost their homeland...."
The Northern Mercenaries who had been sprawled on the ground grabbed their swords and rose....
"To those who had lost the meaning of their nation...."
The banner of the Hawk Corps, which had been flung into the dirt, was raised upright.
"And for those who were cast into this place alongside me, never to see their kin again, this is our final sanctuary."
The original Gauri soldiers, with their black hair and black eyes, sublimating their resentment into fury, slowly kindled the flames of battle.
"I will not retreat. This is my will."
The drawn Hwandudaedo rose slowly toward the sky.
"My conviction."
A momentum as if to cleave the sun itself rose from Jin-cheon.
"As the Yeolje of Gauri, what I, Go Jin-cheon, who must protect the people, have inherited...."
Jin-cheon's gaze became serenely calm.
"Is my destiny."
Jin-cheon's Hwandudaedo slashed forward.
"Charge, forward!"
Keee-hee-hee-heeng!
Jin-cheon's shout and Gangsoe's cry ignited the battle as they heralded its beginning. And, as always, the shouts of Eulji Buru and Eulji Uru followed.
"Loose the Pyeonjeon!"
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
"Charge!"
There was sound, but no form could be seen. As the baby arrows of the Pyeonjeon tore through the air, leaving their guide tubes behind, the Black Armored Ghost Cavalry charged out behind Go Jin-cheon, and beside them raced Baron Gowin and the Beskin Brothers.
"Keung! Shieldbearers, discard your shields and draw your short swords!"
"Pike soldiers, prepare to breach! Follow behind the cavalry!"
Samdopyo and Mong Ryu-hwa confirmed the seething fighting spirit of the soldiers.
"Keu-heuk-heuk-heuk."
Among these Gauri, the sole one with yellow hair and yellow eyes, Hailon, was gripping his axe while tears and snot streamed down his face. Giyul smiled at him and spoke.
"This is the path to protect your family!"
"Woo-wooh-wooh."
Instead of answering, Hailon was preparing to charge, suppressing his sobs and his fear. Watching their battle, the Hawk Corps, the Northern Mercenaries, the soldiers of slash-and-burn origin, and the Southern Road Army were all rising indignantly.