The End of Chapter One - 2

It was a beautiful day. Far too lovely for a great battle to break out on—so beautiful, in fact, that it felt like the calm before the storm.

A soldier keeping watch atop the watchtower at the magistrate's orders spied a group approaching from far off beneath the clear sky. They were dressed in black, every last one of them radiating a sinister air, and they came galloping on horseback with wild, menacing momentum. A single glance was enough to tell they were murim folk—and vicious unorthodox sect ones at that—so the soldier rang the bell without delay.

-Dong! Dong! Dong!

Before the third toll had even faded, the soldiers were moving. Drilled for this moment countless times, they swarmed up onto the wooden palisade—and Wi Yeol, who happened to be stationed there with them, climbed up in their wake and spoke with icy composure.

"Alert Hongseong Gate at once!"

"Yes, sir!!"

The soldiers sprang into motion; the farmers toiling in the fields streamed back within the village walls. And just as the air grew thick with the charge of coming battle, the band of black-clad riders halted. They fixed their gaze on the palisade's firmly shut gate, and after a moment, a middle-aged man stepped out from among them. He looked to be the leader of that black-garbed horde, and he spoke with an air of perfect ease.

"I am Sama Gun, the Lightning Spirit Divine Lord—Alliance Leader of the New Four Black Lotus Alliance. We are bound for the Four Black Lotus and find ourselves in need of rest and resupply, so we hoped to stop at Seomhwachon. If it is no trouble, would you open the way?"

"I'm afraid Seomhwachon is closed to outsiders at present. If you want rest, there is a campsite not far from here—rest there and be on your way. And if you need provisions, write down what you require. The goods can be traded for at that camp."

"Heh heh. What stingy hospitality indeed. Unable to offer so much as a moment's ease to travelers who have come so far. Isn't that a touch cruel?"

At Sama Gun's oily smile, Wi Yeol let out a dismissive snort.

"First. By the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magistrate's order, Seomhwachon is under lockdown. Second. Never mind your complaints about the pact of non-aggression between state and murim—Seomhwachon lies within the domain of the renowned orthodox sect Hongseong Gate, and entry by an unauthorized unorthodox sect will not be permitted. Third."

Wi Yeol's voice went cold and level.

"From where you came, any other road to the Four Black Lotus would have been faster. Why insist on this one of all routes?"

Sama Gun's face stiffened. Watching him, Wi Yeol went on evenly.

"We already know everything, so let's skip the pleasantries."

Clack. Wi Yeol lifted his spear, leveled it at Sama Gun, and said icily, "Let's have ourselves a bout."

"Ha... Hahahahaha!!!"

-Bzzzzt-krrrk!!

Sama Gun laughed. And in time with the laughter bursting out of him, the Lightning Spirit Divine Art began to unfold.

When the black-clad men saw the blue lightning wrap itself around his body and stopped even pretending to hide their killing intent, the woman behind Sama Gun spoke.

"We must strike now. Hongseong Gate does not appear to be here yet—"

"Hear me."

A voice of indeterminate pitch rolled out across the field. Steeped in mighty internal energy, it sent the soldiers' morale soaring.

The Sect Leader of Hongseong Gate. One of the ten mightiest masters under heaven. The Sword Saint Na Yerin—a Transcendent who had attained Astral Energy—stood atop the palisade, clad in the formal robes of Hongseong Gate's leader.

At the sight of her, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor bit her lip. The Sword Saint had moved faster than anticipated. Why would that woman—who supposedly never so much as left Hongseong Gate—react this quickly? But nothing about the plan had changed. She spoke in a calm tone.

"If we can only bring down the Sword Saint, everything will be ours."

"Hmm... but she is the Sword Saint."

The moment he laid eyes on her, wariness stirred in Sama Gun. He was a master in his own right, and so he felt her weight—just how much power that deceptively youthful woman possessed, and how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vast it truly was. As though sensing his falter, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor sighed.

"Then fight alongside me, if you would."

"...Well, if you insist."

Sama Gun had a fair measure of the Iron Blood Golden Emperor's strength—at least a match for his own. If so, felling that master was not beyond possibility. And if her remaining subordinates attacked as well? Even with the imperial troops defending, surely it was possible.

"You mean to attack the imperial troops?"

Just then, an armored middle-aged man appeared atop the palisade. The magistrate. To him, Sama Gun answered with a shrug of his shoulders, and the Iron Blood Golden Emperor with a sweet smile.

"We shall simply say we rose in resistance against a wicked official who persecuted the innocent."

"You think that story will hold water?"

"Fufu... well. I suppose that is something time will tell, won't it?"

"It seems there is someone powerful standing behind you."

To the magistrate's question, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor offered no answer. Someone powerful? Of course there was. Would she have stirred up an affair of this size without one? And if it was that person, a matter of this scale could be smoothed over easily enough. Besides. If only Mount Hongseong's spiritual energy could be driven berserk, all of that would mean nothing at all. If the mountain's energy ran wild, the world would seethe with demonic beasts as ghosts and spirits walked abroad—an age drowned in chaos and confusion. Would the Empire truly trouble itself over one petty official, one or two villages under attack? And so the Iron Blood Golden Emperor smiled coldly.

"Let's go."

She raised her spear. In the same breath, golden energy gathered along its shaft—and the instant the Sword Saint's eyes went wide at the sight of it, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor hurled the weapon without mercy.

-KWOOOOONG!!!

Like a colossal pillar in flight, it slammed into the palisade's firmly sealed gate. Yet perhaps because of all the preparation these past weeks, the palisade withstood the Iron Blood Golden Emperor's strike. Its defenses were sturdier than she had expected—she had to admit as much. But that was all it amounted to. If once was not enough, one need only strike twice.

"Attack!!"

Seomhwachon, naturally, did not stand idle. The moment the magistrate's cry rang out, the crossbows mounted along the palisade loosed, and arrows filled the air. But Sama Gun only laughed. The ones he led were far too strong to be felled by an assault of this caliber.

"Hahaha!!"

They swung their weapons this way and that, batting aside or turning away the hail of arrows. Now and then some fool took a shaft, but the likes of him were bound to die sooner or later anyway. Think of it as simple culling. Once they passed this place, more of the unorthodox sects would flock to his banner regardless—perhaps even the Grand Chief of the Green Forest or the chieftain of the Yangtze Waterway Fleet Alliance would come crawling beneath him. Men weaker than he was, who blustered on the strength of their numbers alone.

"Haaap!!"

Amid the pouring rain of arrows, Sama Gun drew his saber. Lightning qi wreathed the blade as it swept through the air, and the moment that saber-qi struck the gate already rattled loose by the Iron Blood Golden Emperor's assault, the firmly sealed barrier exploded into splinters.

"Now! In we—"

Then, every mouth fell silent. A navy-haired woman was simply walking out ahead of the soldiers with soft, unhurried steps—and that alone struck the vicious warriors of the unorthodox sect dumb. Such was the sheer magnitude of the presence that woman carried.

It was the Sword Saint. Greatsword in hand and her face expressionless, she stepped forth—and rose into the empty air. Was she truly about to use it? The final ultimate technique of the Hongseong Divine Art—Meteor Rain, an attack steeped in Astral Energy?

"Demon Soul Spears!!"

She had been waiting for this. The Iron Blood Golden Emperor raised her Demon Soul Spears, and they fused with her golden qi to weave a massive barrier.

-BOOM... BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Astral Energy came crashing down upon the golden barrier. The first layer shattered, and one Demon Soul Spear crumbled into powder. Gritting her teeth with a grind, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor deployed the next spear. But the baptism of Astral Energy wrought by a Transcendent was not something so easily withstood—no matter how many demonic beasts' blood and flesh the spears had devoured to grow strong.

"Kgh...!!"

They cracked. They shattered. They vanished. She could only watch in mounting agony as the spears, each laden with the power of countless demonic beasts, were torn apart by the Astral Energy—and only after all ten had been destroyed, and a blow heavy enough to bring blood up from her lungs had been delivered, did the Meteor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rain of Astral Energy finally cease.

Facing the Sword Saint as she descended from the sky and turned her gaze upon her, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor laughed in sheer disbelief, blood still dripping from her lips. The fortune and labor poured into forging even one of these spears defied counting—and the Iron Blood Dan could no longer produce them at all. And a single attack had carried this much power. As expected, she truly was extraordinary. But even the Sword Saint could not unleash another strike like that straight away. Which meant—this was the opening.

"Everyone!! Kill the Sword Saint!!"

The Iron Blood Water Emperor had once insisted that to take the Sword Saint, they would need poison—seize her disciples first, drain her strength. But was any of that truly necessary? A Transcendent, in the end, was still only human. Overwhelm her with numbers, and she could not hold out. All the more so with her own subordinates, Sama Gun, and even the masters who had defected from Black Darkness Palace fighting alongside. Even the Sword Saint could not prevail against that. And right now, only the imperial troops stood at the Sword Saint's side—not a single Hongseong disciple in sight.

"Hahahahaha!!"

To think such an opportunity would come. With a roar, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor wiped up the blood she had vomited and flung it across the ground.

-Ssssssshhhh!!

"Wh-what? What is that?"

What the Iron Blood Golden Emperor's blood and internal energy had conjured were enormous tigers wreathed in the essence of iron.

Having summoned two Iron Tigers at the cost of her own life force and internal energy, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor shouted to Sama Gun.

"My Iron Tigers and my men will hold the imperial troops! So now—bring down the Sword Saint!"

"O... Ooh!! Is that some manner of sorcery? Heheh. Good! Then here we go!!"

The fact that the Sword Saint stood alone. The fact that those iron tigers would bar the imperial troops who ought to be aiding her. All of it was summoning victory. Sama Gun charged at the Sword Saint—she who watched him with that stony, expressionless face—saber thrust out before him.

"Show them the power of Moon Lotus Pavilion!!"

"The star shall guard all!!"

"Huh?!"

People came pouring out through the sect's gates. Disciples clad in the robes of Hongseong Gate. Fine—those, at least, he could accept. But.

"Moon Lotus Pavilion? Why?!"

This was Hongseong's domain, was it not? Why would Moon Lotus Pavilion—Hongseong's bitter rival—intervene in this battle? As Sama Gun reeled in shock, the Iron Blood Golden Emperor shouted.

"Not yet!!"

She wrung out every last drop of her strength. If they could only bring down the Sword Saint—break through this place, drive Mount Hongseong's spiritual energy berserk—then everything she had invested and expended until now would be reclaimed. No, she would gain far more than she had spent. And so she pushed herself until she vomited red blood once more, and in the same breath, the golden spear coalescing in her hand came slamming down in the path of the onrushing Hongseong disciples and Moonlight Squad.

-KREOOOONG!!

From where that golden spear struck, an iron tiger rose. At the sight of this Iron Tiger—vaster and mightier than the two before it—Sama Gun laughed. So Yu Hyo-jin was giving her everything, staking her very life on this. Then he would cut down the Sword Saint before they could join her.

Hong Ryeon's fingers closed tight around her greatsword. The iron tiger that strange woman over there had spawned. Its bulk alone was daunting, and its aura was anything but ordinary. And the Sword Saint still had the rest of the enemy to face. The imperial troops, old man Gi, and Wi Yeol would lend their strength, of course—but they had an iron tiger of their own clinging to them, one that looked a shade weaker than the beast before her, yet iron all the same. Which meant there was nothing for it but to move, and move as fast as they possibly could.

Hong Ryeon's mind spun fast. Not for a second did she believe her master would fall to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that rabble. But a burden it would certainly be. And knowing the Sword Saint's nature, she would fight to shield them and the soldiers from the unorthodox warriors' onslaught. The more of the enemy they cut down here, the lighter that burden would grow. So there was no reason under heaven to stay tangled up with some scrap-iron tiger.

"...Ryu Hyeon!!"

"Yes!!"

"Help Master with your martial sisters! I'll make short work of this thing and join you!!"

"...Understood!!"

Ryu Hyeon peeled away, leading the Hongseong disciples with her. As though to bar their path, the Iron Tiger's massive forepaw swung out—and Hong Ryeon exploded forward, meeting it with her greatsword.

-CLAAANG!!

Iron shrieked against iron, and gritting her teeth against the jarring ring, Hong Ryeon slammed the internal energy of the Hongseong Divine Art down into her blade.

Chae Jin flashed her a grin and shouted.

"Chae Ryeon!! Lead the Moonlight Squad and back up Hongseong Gate!!"

"Got it!!"

Chae Ryeon broke away with the Moonlight Squad as naturally as breathing, and the moment they linked up with the Hongseong disciples and began carving into the unorthodox ranks, Hong Ryeon and Chae Jin stole a glance at one another.

No words passed between them. They simply let their immense energy erupt in full, as if to declare that neither intended to lose.