Black Flame Dragon that Swallows the Blood Sea (5)
“Are you alright, Young Master Jaehwa?”
Moyong Jaehwa was gasping for breath. His face was flushed beet red, and his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably. Veins bulged across his face and body as if they might burst at any moment—a clear sign he'd pushed his internal energy to its absolute limit.
“Miss Eun, I'm sorry, but could you cool my face a bit?”
Eun Seollan responded without a word to Moyong Jaehwa, whose voice cracked like dry wood. She circulated her Lesser Frost Divine Art, easing the heat radiating from him. He closed his eyes for a moment, looking as if he might collapse and sleep right then and there.
But.
Thwip.
Moyong Jaehwa's eyes snapped open at the sound of an arrow slicing through the air. He shoved Eun Seollan aside and tumbled down.
“Are you okay, Miss Eun?”
Eun Seollan tensed as she lay pinned beneath him, managing a strained reply.
“Y-Yes, I'm f-fine.”
“Looks like they're starting up again.”
Moyong Jaehwa scrambled to his feet and nocked an arrow to his bow. It was one the enemies had fired earlier, retrieved by Eun Seollan herself. The fletching was warped and the tip misaligned from prior use, but it was still far better than snapping off a tree branch.
Thwip.
The arrow shot from his hand streaked across the encampment toward the blood-cloaked foes. It was a drop in the bucket compared to the dozens they'd loosed, but the blood humans couldn't tear their eyes away from it.
Thud. Boom!
A man holding two overlapping shields up front blocked the arrow, only to be shoved back several paces by the impact. His formation crumbled in the aftermath.
“Kugh!”
“Cough!”
The advancing blood human squad scattered like crabs behind boulders once more. Moyong Jaehwa let out a long sigh at the sight.
Already half a day had passed. With the academy students fallen to illusions behind them, they'd spent it clashing against the blood humans. Ilgak was reviving them one by one, but even those barely conscious had their internals shaken too badly to move easily.
The silver lining? A few cannon blasts toward the sorcerers had stopped any new illusion arrays from forming.
'Is that even worth calling lucky?'
The cannons kept the blood humans at bay, but they were already encircled widely. No advancing forward or retreating back. And sooner or later, when that encirclement tightened beyond their ability to hold...
Everyone here would die. No question.
Rustle, rustle.
The moment footsteps sounded from behind, Eun Seollan gathered biting cold in her palms—colder than any high mountain wind. She slammed both hands toward the noise.
Shwaaaa!
Crack, crack! Crack!
Sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground in the dense woods, targeting the blood humans' ankles. Moyong Jaehwa set his bow aside momentarily, grabbed an unfamiliar sword, and charged one.
Stab. Clang, clash.
They killed two in an instant, but his clumsy swordplay let the other two press close. And slowly, he began to give ground.
'Damn it... fighting with a sword like this is bullshit!'
If they were the type to heed a “Let's stick to archery!” plea, they wouldn't have ambushed with sorcery in the first place. Cursing their cowardice inwardly, Moyong Jaehwa found their blades growing harder to handle.
“Young Master Jaehwa! Duck!”
The moment Eun Seollan's cry hit his ears, he dropped low. Ice spikes pierced the blood humans' chests.
“Cough.”
“Grk.”
The blood humans spewed crimson and crumpled. Behind them, Eun Seollan panted with a deathly pale face.
“Are you okay, Miss Eun?”
“Huff, huff, huff. Y-Yes, I'm fine.”
Her skin had always been so translucent you could see her veins, but now it was utterly bloodless, ghostly white. Anyone could tell she'd wrung out every last drop.
'Damn it.'
Despite learning small-group tactics against hordes from Jin Sowoon, they weren't making use of them. Twisted arrows missed constantly, and now that the enemies knew their own shafts kept coming back, they hurled spears and stones instead.
'If only I could use Thunderbolt Arrow...'
Moyong Jaehwa had never resented his lack of overwhelming power. But now, more than ever, he yearned for true strength. If he'd mastered Thunderbolt Arrow, he could've reduced casualties among the students. He could've gotten Eun Seollan out.
From dawn's first light to now, the temptation to try the unfinished technique had struck countless times.
But he couldn't risk it.
Screeech—
Every time he drew the string, the horn-and-wood joints groaned. Attempting Thunderbolt Arrow now, when they'd already splintered it repeatedly in practice, was tantamount to discarding the bow entirely.
In a situation where one mistake meant not just his life, but Eun Seollan's and all the students' behind them...
“Hoo...”
Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Moyong Jaehwa glanced at Eun Seollan. Her once-pristine, snowflake-pure face was smeared with soot, her clothes caked in dirt and stains. Sorcery backlash and sleep deprivation had her eyes bloodshot, and overexertion left her hands quivering.
'At the very least... just get Miss Eun out...'
As that thought crossed his mind—
Thud thud! Boom! Boom!
Ilgak approached, having battered blood humans aside.
“Young Master Jaehwa, Lady Seollan...! Are you alright?”
Ilgak's concern for them was matched by his own sorry state. The academy's top powerhouse was a far cry from his flawless prime.
“As you can see, not entirely.”
Moyong Jaehwa forced a smile, but Ilgak caught the implication at once.
“This won't do.”
Ilgak eyed them both.
“You two, circulate your energy and recover.”
“Huh?”
“...”
Circulating energy amid crisis? It sounded absurd. Yet Ilgak continued matter-of-factly.
“Even a handful of internal energy is fine. Just enough for lightness skill.”
Only then did Moyong Jaehwa grasp his intent and shake his head.
“That's...”
But Ilgak cut him off firmly.
“No time for arguments. We must inform the Murim Alliance now.”
Moyong Jaehwa nodded and turned to Eun Seollan.
“Miss Eun, circulate your energy.”
“Pardon? What about you, Young Master Jaehwa?”
“I'll stay behind.”
“Young Master Jaehwa!”
Despite Ilgak's urging, he stood resolute.
“If delivering the message was key, we should've done it yesterday.”
“...”
Ilgak clamped his mouth shut at the pointed reminder of his error.
“If we bail now, everyone back there dies. You okay with that?”
Ilgak glanced behind. Sect brothers, lay disciples, dozens from Jeongdohoe connections. All would perish here.
His grip tightened unconsciously. He couldn't bear witnessing that.
“...”
“I'm not.”
Who would want to see such a sight? But right now, they needed survivors. And those survivors should be the ones without direct responsibility here.
Unaware or not of Ilgak's turmoil, Moyong Jaehwa pressed on.
“Besides, with Senior Brother Sowoon arriving soon, I don't want him seeing me flee alone.”
Ilgak wanted to retort instantly. Do you still believe he'll come?
“...”
He won't make it. No one could. Expecting it was folly.
But he swallowed it and asked heavily, echoing his own doubts.
“Even if that faith is betrayed... no regrets?”
“Yes.”
Moyong Jaehwa answered without hesitation.
“...!”
Not a shred of doubt. Staring straight at Ilgak with unwavering eyes, he repeated.
“Yes.”
“...”
Unconditional. Almost saintly.
Pure faith.
At this point, Ilgak couldn't help wondering its source. Was it Moyong Jaehwa's naivety? The fruit of Jin Sowoon's proven responsibility?
“Understood. Then at least Lady Seollan...”
Ilgak and Moyong Jaehwa turned to her. But she pouted.
“You said Big Brother Jin's coming. Why should I do something risky?”
They both nodded in unison.
'True.'
'Right.'
Ilgak found himself sharing Moyong Jaehwa's belief without realizing it.
As the two recognized their own folly, Eun Seollan pointed forward.
“They're coming!”
Ilgak frowned at the sight.
“They've prepared countermeasures for your arrows, Young Master Jaehwa.”
Realizing normal shields wouldn't hold, the blood humans advanced with pot-lid iron plates and massive boulders overhead.
The very scene Moyong Jaehwa dreaded most. He spat a curse.
“Damn it...”
Knowing cannons wouldn't work now, he desperately circulated his energy, gathering a sliver of true qi.
“No choice but close combat.”
Moyong Jaehwa glanced back at Ilgak's words. No academy students were fit for battle yet. Holding off hundreds with three, away from their main camp? Absurd.
'No other way.'
He drew the one proper arrow he'd saved as a last resort.
“It's unfinished, but one shot should hit their vanguard hard. If it fails... then...”
He trailed off. He couldn't even imagine that horrific outcome.
With desperate resolve, Moyong Jaehwa nocked the arrow and drew the string.
Screeeeech.
The strained bow wailed at its limit.
'Just once... hold for just one shot!'
Power from the Moyong house's Heaven-Earth Splitting Sword Art infused the arrowhead. The fixed arrow quivered violently, shaking the bow in turn.
Grrrrrind.
Carefully metering the minimal infusion, he released.
Crack.
The bow finally shattered apart.
Twang.
The snapped string hung limp.
“Shit!!!!”
The blood humans charged the instant they saw it break, hurling rocks and shields aside.
Ilgak and Eun Seollan had no time to console him. As if furious at hiding from his arrows all this time, the blood humans surged madly.
“Young Master Jaehwa, fall back.”
Ilgak clasped his hands, then unleashed golden fists forward.
Thud thud thud thud thud.
Thud thud thud thud thud.
His Dragon King Fist blasted thirty-plus blows per breath, sending blood humans flying. But gaps filled instantly with more from behind.
“Haaah!”
Shwaaaa!
Eun Seollan's Lesser Frost Divine Art froze their bodies, but her depleted energy made it feeble.
Moyong Jaehwa gripped his sword again, swinging clumsily. Fully surrounded with no defenses left, they braced for the end.
Then.
“Raaagh!!!”
Green radiance rained down, smashing heads and crushing chests.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud boom.
Boom! Thud thud boom!
Amid the ferocious blasts, sand and dust billowed. Ilgak, Moyong Jaehwa, and the others—eyes shut instinctively—barely cracked them open to see.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
The hulking figure looked utterly spent, face ashen from exhausting every ounce of stamina and strength. Massive wounds scarred his body. How had he even reached here?
The giant eyed Moyong Jaehwa.
“Huff, huff, y-you... you. Moyong Jaehwa! That's you, right?”
The named youth paled at the face.
“N-Nam Hwaseong? Why the hell are you...?”
“Huff, huff, y-you're alive. Thank goodness. Really!”
Nam Hwaseong trembled with emotion, like reuniting with a lost brother. Moyong Jaehwa, the actual subject, was utterly baffled.
Why was Nam Hwaseong of all people here? And why relief at his survival?
Nam Hwaseong swallowed painfully and rasped on.
“...Jin Sowoon. He sent me.”
“Ah!!! As expected!!!”
Nam Hwaseong tossed bundles at Moyong Jaehwa like lifelines. He burned to hear details, but surrounded by blood humans and with Nam Hwaseong's state, it wasn't the time.
Perplexed, Moyong Jaehwa peeked inside. A long iron rod protruded, flanked by leather-wrapped grips at the center, small grooves at both ends. Bundles of arrows and thousand-silkworm thread filled the rest.
'What the... this is...'
A sudden image flashed in his mind.
“N-No way...”
His gaze darted between the thread and rod.
“An Iron Bow?”