Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Righteousness and Duty - 2
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The situation wasn't good. It felt like the demon beasts would attack at any moment.
Namgung Hye looked at the people lost in anxiety.
They had lost all hope and sunk into despair. Their eyes followed the only three who could fight here.
"Miss..."
The gaze from the Soaring Heaven Sword Unit member stung like a slap.
It was a look urging her to abandon the villagers and flee with just themselves. Unable to bear it, Namgung Hye spoke firmly.
"As people, we must follow righteousness and duty!"
"But."
"Let's start by making rafts!"
She couldn't abandon them.
Wasn't it obvious? Why was the Righteous Faction called that? Because they never hesitated to do what was just.
With that conviction, Namgung Hye stepped forward and felled a tree with her sword.
A massive trunk toppled under the sword strike. Seeing this, the Soaring Heaven Sword Unit members followed suit, swinging their blades to chop down trees.
"W-We should help too!"
The villagers weren't standing idle either. They gathered the logs cut by Namgung Hye and the unit members, binding them with ropes. It was crude, but rafts were taking shape.
"Can we really cross with this...?"
But these were rafts made by clumsy hands. Could they withstand the river's fierce current? As fear made everyone hesitate to board, Namgung Hye climbed on first.
"See? It's safe! Use these poles to push the raft across!"
They couldn't ferry everyone at once. So the first load was four sturdy men to pole, plus the elderly and children. Namgung Hye bit her lip as she watched them from atop the raft.
Over a hundred people.
At most a dozen or so per trip. Would the demon beasts hold off while they crossed?
Once the raft was fully loaded, Namgung Hye shook her head. No time to dwell on it now.
"We're going! Everyone, push!!"
They thrust the poles against the riverbed with all their might. Infused with internal energy, the raft cut against the current and headed to the far shore without trouble.
After rowing back and forth several times, she called out to the relieved crowd.
"See? No problems at all, so everyone, qui... Huh?"
That's when she sensed something off. This nagging incongruity. Namgung Hye tilted her head, then realized what it was.
"Jin Hyun?!"
Jin Hyun was gone. He'd been right there moments ago—where had he vanished to?
Had he fled alone?
But would he do that? As anxiety and doubt began to creep into her heart, a trembling woman spoke up.
"Th-that warrior from earlier..."
"Did you see Jin Hyun?"
"Yes. He... went b-back..."
"...What?!"
Went back? Straight into the demon beasts charging from that direction?
As the flustered Namgung Hye turned to rush that way, the woman shouted urgently.
"He said not to f-follow! To get everyone across somehow..."
"...What do you...!"
"He'd buy time... and come after we're all across..."
Namgung Hye bit her lip hard.
What was coming from that side was a horde of Earth Dogs, along with beasts worthy of being called higher-tier demon beasts.
Even she would struggle alone against them—could Jin Hyun hold out?
But if she went too?
The raft-pushing would slow, and in the worst case, everyone here could die to the demon beasts.
"Miss. Right now..."
The unit member's plea, and the desperate, anxious eyes fixed on her.
She bit her lip, glanced once toward where they'd come from, then climbed back onto the raft.
"Hurry and board!!"
This should do it.
I smirked, thinking of Namgung Hye hustling for the villagers' sake just moments ago.
This world leaned more toward lust and desire than righteousness or chivalry. Even the Righteous Faction wasn't all that different from the Evil Faction in the end—just varying methods among the same sorts.
Yet even here, some prized righteousness and chivalry above all: the women tied to the protagonist.
The reason was obvious. To cater to readers' tastes.
Fortunately, Namgung Hye was the Namgung Hye I knew.
She'd striven to uphold righteousness and duty even in danger.
Which meant one thing mattered now. Time.
"Huu."
As I exited the gorge, dust stung my eyes. A not-insignificant number of enemies was on the move.
I savored the ominous aura prickling my skin and lightly stretched.
This gorge was narrow enough for me to hold off the enemy advance alone. With everything I'd learned so far, I could maximize my time-buying if I played it smart.
Vanguard Earth Dogs Charge
Vanguard, maybe? Five Earth Dogs leading the pack bared their fangs at me. They eyed me like nothing more than a meal.
- Grr... grrrk...!
- Rrr... growl...!!
Feeling their hostility, I recalled the looks they'd given me earlier.
The village chief, who always smiled when I arrived but was now gripped by anxiety.
Uncle Dukgu, at a loss unlike when brewing liquor.
The little girl who always beamed brightly, now crying as if sensing the adults' unease.
And the nameless kids who bowed politely whenever I passed through Changik Village—they were trembling too.
We weren't close. Just hellos in passing.
But that wasn't reason enough to abandon them.
I swung my sword at the charging beasts mid-thought.
Circulating the Five Elements Circulation Art's internal energy, I cleaved one Earth Dog in two, then shifted my foot.
Stepping on another's head, I leaped into the air and plunged my blade into the nape of a waiting foe.
Kicking the corpse to block a charger, I struck the one behind.
Handling five Earth Dogs felt no burden. But I wasn't letting my guard down.
New Foe Emerges from the Bushes
Because a new enemy burst from the underbrush.
It had a middle-aged man's face.
The grotesquely twisted human visage watched me dispatch the Earth Dogs with a bizarre, mocking expression. As the attached massive tiger body twitched, the trailing Earth Dogs surged forward.
"Huu."
I exhaled and reset my stance.
"Righteousness and duty..."
Namgung Hye's words from earlier echoed in my mind.
She'd said people must know to follow them.
Good words. Hard to live by, but ones I wanted to embrace.
A different path from the protagonist Wi Cheonryong's, but nothing wrong with that.
Mount Tai Pressing Down
- Slash!!
I beheaded another charging Earth Dog and gripped my sword at mid-guard.
Then I unleashed Mount Tai Pressing Down.
The fragment of tyranny within it manifested, sharply sapping the Earth Dogs' momentum.
Frightened? I hoped so.
The Earth Dogs, cowed by Mount Tai Pressing Down, must have irked the Demon Fox.
It strode forward on its twisted face, baring its maw. Between yellowed fangs gleamed black fur and bits of flesh.
Clear signs it'd devoured humans.
Another roar rippled out. A savage bellow to crush the weak beneath the strong, and its house-sized body lunged.
I stepped into footwork to evade, but a rope-like tail whipped toward my escape path.
But this was nothing compared to my training with Yu Ye-ryeon so far.
Tail Strike Dodged | Waist Slashed
- Slash!!
I dodged the tail and carved into the Demon Fox's flank. Not a deep wound. But it clearly hated its prey fighting back.
- Grrrr...!!
As it retreated a step, growling and probing, I leveled my sword at mid-guard and spoke.
Definitely a higher demon beast. No easy foe.
But that didn't mean I was giving up.
"Come."
...
...
...
The battle with the Demon Fox was brutal.
The silver lining: the Earth Dogs, spooked by Mount Tai Pressing Down, stayed put.
Letting me duel it one-on-one, until I finally drove my sword into its skull.
"Huuu..."
Of course, I wasn't unscathed. The arm clawed by its forepaw throbbed, and the spot grazed by its fangs oozed red blood.
Blood from my earlier head clash dyed my vision crimson.
Higher Demon Beasts Emerge
But there was no time to rest.
More were emerging from the bushes: a Human-Faced Spider with its eerie grin, and a Western Drought Demon leisurely munching human flesh while emitting its cry.
Two more powerful higher demon beasts had revealed themselves.
Cunning bastards.
They'd hidden while the Demon Fox fought me, only showing now that I was worn and wounded.
But I couldn't call it unfair. That was their strategy.
So my job was simple.
"Next."
Keep fighting.