Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Rescue the Alliance Lord! (5)
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The seventeen members of the Martial Alliance on the pursued ship were all gathered on the rear deck.
Their expressions were grim as they watched the massive vessel of the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union draw steadily closer.
“Hmph! The Demonic Emperor's Grand Union must have spotted our ship on their way to Seonjuk Island.”
Master Hyeonjin of the Wudang Sect, one of the Ten Great Elders of the Martial Alliance, spoke in a heavy tone.
Manbulseon of the Emei Sect said,
“If the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union came for the Alliance Lord, they must have sent a formidable force.”
A short while ago, Grand Elder Yeonggak had confirmed that the pursuing ship was teeming with powerful masters from the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union—an incredible force.
“If only we weren't on the open sea, we might have had a way out…”
Chwibulseongae of the Beggars' Sect muttered in frustration.
Just then, a woman in her twenties, dressed in white, spoke calmly.
“Everyone!”
All eyes turned to the woman in white.
“The fight has not yet begun, and we have not yet been defeated.”
The woman in white, whose heavenly beauty could chill the heart of any beholder, offered a gentle smile.
“We must not give up. The heavens are on our side.”
Grand Elder Yeonggak and the other close aides looked at the woman in white with troubled expressions. Though she tried to bolster their courage, the reality they faced was far too desperate.
In all the time they had known her, the woman in white had never once frowned or shown a sad expression.
After the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union destroyed the Martial Alliance headquarters, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, who had become the Alliance Lord, had wandered the world without a home for thirteen long years.
She had endured countless hardships, holding onto the single hope that one day she would establish a new Martial Alliance headquarters in an ideal location and realize her dream of bringing peace to the martial world.
Although she told her aides not to give up, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo was only human; she was not blind to how hopeless their current situation was.
Suddenly, a flood of memories flashed through Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo's mind.
And finally, the image of one person appeared before her eyes.
‘Yong oppa.’
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo gazed at the western sky.
She had heard that somewhere under that sky, in a place called Dong-ro Prefecture, was Ak Bi-ryong—the one who had held her tight in his arms when she was a terrified child in a cold well at the Chodang Pavilion.
When she read the words ‘Chodang Pavilion’ in the letter sent by General Commander So Yang-gun, she had been so shocked it felt as though she couldn't breathe.
For the past thirteen years, not a single day had passed when she didn't think of Yong oppa. That was why reading So Yang-gun's letter had felt like a dream.
“Alliance Lord.”
Grand Elder Yeonggak's call brought Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo back from her thoughts.
“It seems they will catch up to us in about an hour.”
There was no solution now, and it was unlikely one would appear in the next hour.
Grand Elder Yeonggak looked at the pursuing vessel and said,
“We must prepare to fight back.”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo stared at the large ship, which had already closed the distance to about five *li*.
“It seems we must fight to the death.”
A fight to the death meant fighting until the last person’s life was extinguished.
Master Taeheo of the Huashan Sect looked at Grand Elder Yeonggak with a hardened face.
“Grand Elder, is there truly no way to save the Alliance Lord?”
Grand Elder Yeonggak, clad in a yellow kasaya with a white beard and white eyebrows, remained silent.
Master Taeheo pointed to the sky.
“Grand Elder, can you not perform the Air-Riding Flight? Can you not take the Alliance Lord and escape this place?”
The only concern of these aides was the safety of the Alliance Lord, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo. The Martial Alliance could only continue to exist if she survived.
The supreme lightness art of the Shaolin Temple, the Heavenly Pillar Steps, included an Air-Riding Flight technique called Divine Celestial Flight.
Grand Elder Yeonggak spoke bitterly.
“Even I can only travel a mere hundred *li* at full speed using Air-Riding Flight.”
He looked at Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and said,
“When it comes to Air-Riding Flight, the Alliance Lord is superior to this old monk.”
The mainland was thousands of *li* away. If they tried to escape using Air-Riding Flight and fell, they would inevitably plunge into the sea and become food for the fish.
* * *
*Swoooosh!*
“We’re too fast. At this rate, we’ll collide with the ship.”
“I’ll try to slow us down.”
I shot a palm wind blast toward the empty air below to reduce our speed.
*Fwoooom!*
Sang Gang-jo also unleashed a strike with both his palms.
*Shuuuu!*
This slowed our descent slightly, but we were still falling at the speed of a fired arrow.
Since we were aimed directly at the Alliance Lord’s ship, crashing at this speed would send us straight through it. But falling into the sea was not an option.
‘This isn’t working! I’ll have to try using Yin Essence!’
This was the last resort.
“Whoa! We’re going to crash!”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo’s group, startled, quickly looked up to see two people plummeting toward them from a height of over two hundred feet, and they were greatly alarmed.
“Ah!”
“Agh! What is that?”
Just then, a bizarre phenomenon occurred directly above their heads.
*Crack-crack-crack-crack!*
A loud noise erupted fifty feet above them, and at the same time, the people witnessed the sky splitting into upper and lower halves.
The space two hundred feet above them and the space above that were separated by a transparent membrane.
However, Hyukrye-on Byeok-gyo realized that the transparent membrane was a thick sheet of ice.
*Craaack!*
*Shatter!*
In an instant, the two descending figures broke through the sheet of ice and then the deck, disappearing below.
The people stared in shocked bewilderment at the large hole torn in the deck.
*Shwt! Thud!*
Just then, two figures shot up from the hole and landed on the deck.
*Thump!*
Of course, the two people were Sang Gang-jo and me.
If I hadn’t just unleashed Yin Essence below my feet to form the sheet of ice and used the collision to slow our descent, we would have pierced through the ship’s hull and ended up in the sea.
“Ugh…”
Sang Gang-jo, looking half-dazed, blinked and looked around. Spotting Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and the Ten Great Elders, his face lit up with joy.
“Alliance Lord!”
The people recognized one of the two men who had suddenly dropped from the sky as Sang Gang-jo, the Chief Hall Master of the Martial Alliance.
“Isn’t that Chief Sang!”
At that moment, as if drawn by a magnet, I looked at Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, and she was looking at me.
Because of this, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo did not hear Sang Gang-jo’s cry.
Sang Gang-jo released my arm, which was still wrapped around his waist, and prostrated himself before Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo.
“Your subordinate, Sang Gang-jo, greets the Alliance Lord!”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo shifted her gaze from me to Sang Gang-jo and smiled warmly.
“Chief Sang, you’ve done well.”
Everyone stared at Sang Gang-jo and me in utter astonishment.
Sang Gang-jo introduced me.
“Alliance Lord! This is the Grand Branch Master of the Dong-ro Branch!”
The people immediately knew who I was. I was Ak Bi-ryong, the Fire Dragon Sword, the man who had turned the Martial Alliance’s Dong-ro Branch into the eye of a storm.
Her aides knew everything about the Dong-ro Branch and the Fire Dragon Sword, but they were unaware of what had happened at the Chodang Pavilion more than a decade ago.
I stood there woodenly, staring at Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo. I thought I would be fine when I met her, but I was wrong.
My mind was in turmoil as the many events we had experienced together over a decade ago flashed through my head like a revolving lantern.
Not knowing how to act in this situation, I simply stood there in silence, looking at her.
Just then, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo slowly approached and stopped a step in front of me.
“Yong oppa.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and her face was filled with surprise and delight.
The Alliance Lord’s aides flinched in surprise when they heard her call me ‘Yong oppa.’
No one here knew about the relationship between Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and me.
They only knew that over a decade ago, she had been attacked by the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path and had miraculously survived with the help of a low-ranking martial artist from the Alliance.
But they would never have imagined that the low-ranking martial artist was me.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo took another step closer, almost as if to embrace me, our bodies nearly touching.
As if devoid of any emotion, I cupped my fist and bowed my head slightly.
“I greet the Alliance Lord.”
“Welcome.”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo gently took my large right hand in her two small ones and squeezed it tightly.
Her hands were soft and warm. More than that, I felt a multitude of emotions being conveyed through her touch.
Her aides looked on with expressions of surprise. In the decade they had served the Alliance Lord, they had never once seen her hold anyone’s hand.
Holding my hand, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo sent a telepathic message.
[Yong oppa, I’ve missed you.]
But I remained silent.
Sang Gang-jo spoke to me cautiously.
“We must hurry.”
“Explain the situation to everyone.”
Sang Gang-jo addressed the group.
“We received intelligence that a ship from the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union was heading to Seonjuk Island. We immediately went there to rescue the Alliance Lord, but the islanders told us you had left three days prior. We’ve spent the last three days searching for you!”
“Chief Sang! Something doesn’t add up!”
Chwibulseongae tilted his head in confusion.
“What were you riding that allowed you to travel to and from Seonjuk Island so quickly and still have time to search for us?”
He pointed to the sky.
“Furthermore, how do you explain you and that man falling from the sky just now?”
It seemed we wouldn’t be able to proceed without making them understand.
Sang Gang-jo pointed to the sky and explained.
“There is a legendary divine bird called the Sinbung. We came here riding it.”
“What kind of nonsense is…”
As expected, no one believed him.
*Peeeeee!*
I let out a long whistle.
As people looked on, I pointed to the sky.
“That is the Sinbung.”
In the time it took to take a single breath, a white cloud appeared about five hundred feet above the ship.
“Ah!”
Everyone on the ship was a supreme master, so they could clearly see the true form of the white cloud floating five hundred feet up.
From the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union’s ship, however, it would simply look like a low-hanging white cloud above our vessel.
*Peeeeee!*
I whistled again, and the white cloud vanished in an instant.
Before the others could recover from their astonishment, Sang Gang-jo explained again.
“The Sinbung can carry three people! This man, the Alliance Lord, and one other person should go!”
“Gang-jo.”
I called his name, but Sang Gang-jo pretended not to hear. He intended to give his spot on the white cloud to someone else. He had probably planned this from the beginning.
Grand Elder Yeonggak said quietly,
“Have it take the Alliance Lord and Manbulseon.”
“Grand Elder! I…”
Grand Elder Yeonggak cut Manbulseon off.
“Say no more and attend to the Alliance Lord.”
Including Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, there were five women on the ship: Manbulseon, an elder of the Emei Sect; Gang Yu-geom, the Firm-Yet-Gentle Sword, the only female among the Four Heavenly Kings; Hwasin, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo’s closest guard; and Hyeso, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo’s handmaiden.
Grand Elder Yeonggak’s order was to save Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and Manbulseon.
The Four Heavenly Kings were supreme masters on par with the Three Absolutes of the Martial Alliance, and the elite guard Hwasin was no less skilled. It was only natural that they would stay and fight.
Grand Elder Yeonggak looked at the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union’s ship, which had drawn even closer, and said,
“Hurry.”
I called to Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo and Manbulseon.
“Come here.”
As I wrapped my arms around the two women’s waists, Chwibulseongae asked,
“Is the Sinbung going to land on the ship?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Sang Gang-jo looked at me with an intense gaze.
“I wish you luck.”