Chapter 260
Chapter 260
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: Chaos in Yeon Kingdom
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ten Thousand Great Mountains, Dark Heaven Cult's main headquarters.
The face of Military Advisor Ma Jung-hyo was as hard as stone as he headed toward the Cult Leader's residence.
"Cult Leader, it is I."
"Enter."
Ma Jung-hyo took a quiet breath before opening the door. He bowed deeply toward the Cult Leader, who was seated on the raised platform sipping tea.
The Dark Heaven Cult's Cult Leader, Jang Cheon-hwa, gazed at him silently.
"What brings the Military Advisor at this hour?"
It was the same deep, serene gaze as always. Yet no one dared meet those eyes.
"Reports have just come in that several of our bases in Yeon Kingdom have been wiped out. All in southern Shaanxi and northern Hubei, confirmed to be the work of Great Prince Yi Hwan."
A twitch.
"So Great Prince Yi Hwan came all the way there knowing they were our bases?"
"That much hasn't been confirmed. But it's certain they were destroyed by him, and even the forces we sent to pursue him were completely annihilated. And..."
Ma Jung-hyo trailed off.
The Cult Leader's gaze turned icy.
"Why hesitate? Speak quickly."
Urged on, Ma Jung-hyo opened his mouth.
"Yeon Kingdom's movements are unusual. Martial artists across Yeon Kingdom are moving alongside the court to search out our bases. And several northern bases were brutally destroyed not by Yeon Kingdom, but by the Blue Wolf Tribe."
"What?"
Crash!
The teacup in Jang Cheon-hwa's hand shattered, falling to the floor. Ma Jung-hyo continued cautiously, his face tense.
"It seems to have started right after Great Prince Yi Hwan returned to the capital. Yeon Kingdom appears to have launched a massive operation to eradicate our bases. It looks like Yi Hwan has figured out our identity and is acting on it."
"How could that bastard..."
Jang Cheon-hwa's eyes twisted subtly.
A moment of silence passed.
Ma Jung-hyo held back other words, deciding to wait. The Cult Leader's aura was far from ordinary.
'With the Cult Leader's temperament...'
He could guess the orders that would follow. Repay any offense tenfold—that was his iron rule.
Sure enough.
"Then we have no choice but to advance the timeline."
Ma Jung-hyo looked up at Jang Cheon-hwa. Just as expected, the order came.
"Send my command to all bases! From this moment, we begin war with Yeon Kingdom!"
"Will it be limited to Yeon Kingdom?"
"Put Zhao and Qin on hold for now and focus on Yeon. Pull all usable personnel from Zhao and Qin and send them to Yeon immediately. Make haste!"
"Understood!"
Ma Jung-hyo withdrew.
Jang Cheon-hwa sank deeper into the raised platform, murmuring something inscrutable.
"I planned to deal with Jo Yun, the Blood Demon's inheritor, first..."
Just then, Ma Jung-hyo returned from outside.
Jang Cheon-hwa's eyebrow arched slightly.
"Why are you back so soon?"
"Qin Kingdom's forces are withdrawing from the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. With Jo Yun on the throne, they're likely shifting focus to the border with Zhao."
"Is that so? Thanks to that, we can concentrate even more on Yeon. Pull even more from Qin's bases and send them to Yeon."
"Yes, Cult Leader!"
* * *
Qin Kingdom's Imperial Palace.
Namgung Jang-cheon's face flushed red.
He had just heard that the large force dispatched to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains on the Emperor's orders was withdrawing to Guangdong Province. It was exactly what he had feared.
'Even if Jo Yun is Emperor now, he can't ignore Yeon Kingdom to attack us. Why pull back the troops?'
Namgung Jang-cheon rarely lost his temper, but now he couldn't contain his rising fury.
Setting aside personal grudges, thinking of the warriors who had died in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains turned his anger into uncontrollable rage.
But what could he do? He couldn't question the Emperor.
'It's always like this. He starts something but never sees it through properly...'
His discontent was aimed at the Emperor.
Namgung Jang-cheon had long been dissatisfied with the Emperor's indecisiveness, and it had strained his relationship with the Princess day by day.
Then.
"Young Master."
A young man entered.
"Yeon Kingdom has launched a massive purge of the Dark Heaven Cult. Many of their bases have already been wiped out in joint operations between Yeon Kingdom and the Blue Wolf Tribe."
"......!"
Namgung Jang-cheon was inwardly shocked.
'We've only recently discovered they're the Dark Heaven Cult after fighting bandits all this time. How could Yeon move this fast?'
Here, Namgung Jang-cheon thought of Yi Hwan. It was a natural suspicion.
"Is Great Prince Yi Hwan leading the Blue Wolf Tribe purge?"
"Yes, so it seems."
'As expected...'
The young man added more.
"And Mount Hua Sect, which has been so reclusive until now, is cooperating more actively with the court than anyone in this operation. Intelligence says Great Prince Yi Hwan visited them—something must have happened then. They wouldn't change stance overnight otherwise, right?"
"That makes sense."
Yi Hwan's face sharpened in Namgung Jang-cheon's mind. The only man who could intimidate him with a mere glance.
After placing Crown Prince Yi So on the throne and rising to Yeon Kingdom's top power broker, he had shocked the world by subduing the fierce Blue Wolf Tribe through negotiations, turning them into a vassal state.
Thinking of Yi Hwan always stirred rivalry and ambition, making his heart race.
'If I had that man's power...'
That was their absolute difference.
What if he married the Princess and became Qin's Prince Consort?
He would gain power, of course.
But the gap between a royal Great Prince and a mere in-law Prince Consort was clear. A Prince Consort's power had distinct limits.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?"
"Nothing. You've done well—go rest."
"Yes. I'll come running with any new information."
The young man left.
Frustrated, Namgung Jang-cheon flung open the window and drew in the cold air.
Whoosh!
'For now, all we can do is watch how Yeon handles it. They might find the key to crushing the Dark Heaven Cult.'
* * *
Roar!
The ground scorched under soaring flames. Blood from the dead boiled and bubbled, amplifying the horror of the carnage.
He was just a middle-aged man who looked like an ordinary villager. Watching powerless commoners die agonizingly beyond the flames, he sneered coldly.
"I'll make them regret touching us. Heh heh heh."
"This isn't enough to satisfy. Before someone steals the credit, we need to hurry and turn more villages into seas of fire."
"No rush. The Cult Leader's orders are given, and cultists are now moving in earnest across Yeon Kingdom. Even Great Prince Yi Hwan will be tearing his hair out. We can take our time and enjoy it."
"But don't we need to rack up achievements to catch the Cult Leader's eye? Yet you say take it slow?"
"I won't risk my life just for promotion. If hot-blooded fools like you fight harder, that's profit for the cult. Drop the greed. We'll survive to the end and share the glorious era with our great Cult Leader."
"......"
Step!
"That's enough for today. We're heading back."
"......Understood."
Roar!
The burning village was a small one with only about two hundred households, untouched even by bandits.
Now, under sudden attack by Dark Heaven Cultists, hundreds of innocent villagers met gruesome deaths, reduced to ashes.
Such incidents were erupting simultaneously across Yeon Kingdom. The prelude to utter chaos had begun.
"Withdraw!"
"All units, fall back!"
Roar!
Dark Heaven Cultists vanished, leaving the engulfed village behind.
Their sole survivor was a newly weaned infant. But even that child soon succumbed to the smoke, ending its brief life.
About half a shichen after the cultists left, an armed group entered the village outskirts.
They wore fur garments from beast hides and wielded fearsome half-moon blades—Blue Wolf Tribe warriors.
"We were too late again."
"Two villages turned to ash by them today. They're on a whole different level from what we've faced before."
"They're just fanatics. They left recently—move fast, and we can catch them. Hurry!"
"Yes!"
A few dashed ahead.
Experts in pursuit, they quickly found traces and signaled the rest.
"That way. Let's go!"
The Blue Wolf Tribe warriors tracked the cultists' path precisely.
How much time passed?
"They're in range. Fire the signal flares."
"Yes!"
Pew! Boom!
Two flares burst in the sky.
The leader's eyes burned with killing intent.
"This is a matter of Blue Wolf Tribe honor. Not one escapes—sever every head! Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Charge!"
Whoosh!
The Blue Wolf Tribe warriors surged like the wind.
Soon, cresting a ridge, they found a melee of tangled, fierce combat: the cultists who had razed the village and the Blue Wolf Tribe warriors.
"You bastards! I'll chew you all up. Attack!"
"Rawr!"
* * *
Golden Army Command Headquarters.
Express reports poured in ceaselessly. News of wiping out a Dark Heaven Cult base would be followed by word of a village ravaged.
Yi Hwan's eyes remained utterly impassive as he checked each one.
Some Golden Army generals grumbled. Guarding headquarters was pointless—they should join the purges in the field.
Yet Yi Hwan refused, staying put.
Go Mi said with a stiff face,
"It's the fifth day. Six cities and villages have fallen to them. Casualties are already estimated in the tens of thousands."
Yi Hwan nodded silently.
Go Mi's voice rose slightly in agitation.
"I want to know the Great Prince's intent! What exactly are you waiting for?"
Yi Hwan sipped his cold tea.
Clink.
"They started simultaneous attacks on the same day. Orders must have come down from the Dark Heaven Cult's headquarters. If you were their Cult Leader, where would you strike first?"
"......!"
Did something click?
Go Mi's face hardened further.
"The capital..."
"They're undoubtedly waiting for our Golden Army to empty the capital."
"Then we must intensify scouting around the capital..."
"Useless."
"......Pardon?"
"Reports show cultists in every guise: army generals, court officials, commoners, even butchers."
Yi Hwan rose and went to the window.
Creak!
"They've always been among us, living alongside. Unless we hold back, we'll never root them out."
Whoosh!
The cold wind slashed his face as his eyes filled with resolute determination.
"I'll bear all the people's resentment. So stay patient and wait."