The Unending Civil War
“Hold. Stay asleep just like that.”
It was certain. For one fleeting instant the Eldest Young Master’s form had vanished, and all he had done was let his hand fall with the softest of taps.
KWAANG!
A roar that left the ears ringing. Through that thunder the body of the Sword Corps Commander went cartwheeling across empty air like a sheet of paper.
“……!”
“……!”
For a moment both the Sword Corps and the Grand General’s Guard froze mid-motion.
“Huuup.”
Only then did the Eldest Young Master draw back the hand he had extended and take a long, steady breath. The Commander’s body, having flown in a perfect straight line, smashed into the high wall of the Great Assembly Hall—
KWAANG!
—and crumpled to the flagstones below like a discarded rag.
Thud!
A wall beyond the wall. A heaven above heaven—such was the gulf. In a single breath one of the Moyong Family’s proudest masters had been completely overpowered.
“…….”
“…….”
In the stunned silence that gripped the hall, only one sound remained: the clatter of the Commander’s helmet, knocked free, rolling noisily across the floor.
Teng-geu-reu-reu.
Had the man not already been a Boundary Crosser, that single blow would have killed him outright.
Roaring Thunder Heaven-Piercing Cannon — Modified
“Do you still intend to continue this futile resistance?”
And it was the Eldest Young Master’s next move that finally snuffed out the last flickering will to fight among the remnants of the Sword Corps.
“Ha—!”
A low shout. The Eldest Young Master dropped his stance and drove his slightly raised right foot into the floor. With a deafening crack the flagstones around him flipped outward in every direction—a truly ferocious Shocking Foot.
“……!”
“……!”
Even Moyong Un-jeong could not hide her astonishment.
Because the martial art Yeon So-hyeon had just displayed was, without any doubt—
Dragon Gate Pillar
—the very same secret art the Sword Corps Commander had used against him only moments earlier. A technique unique to the Moyong Family.
Having shattered the Sword Corps’ will to fight, the Eldest Young Master looked down upon the assembly with regal calm and spoke a single word.
That was enough.
Clang! Clang!
The metallic ring of weapons hitting stone echoed from every direction.
“…….”
“…….”
The surviving soldiers of the Sword Corps were casting their blades to the floor.
“Just what… is the Eldest Young Master…?”
Only yesterday, at their long-delayed reunion, Moyong Un-jeong had believed herself thoroughly astonished by Yeon So-hyeon’s martial level. Every technique he had shown until now had been wondrous. Yet not only had he crushed a master in a single breath—he had then employed the Moyong Family’s own secret art on the spot?
“…….”
While she still searched for words, Yeon So-hyeon’s voice reached her ear.
“Un-jeong.”
“……!”
The sound snapped her back to herself. She wheeled on her subordinates and shouted.
“Grand General’s Guard—enter the Great Assembly Hall!”
Great Assembly Hall, inner courtyard.
“I—I heard this Great Assembly Hall was the very first place the fighting began!”
“Understood.”
Moyong Un-jeong nodded at the servant whose face was black with soot and whose whole body still trembled.
“Continue concentrating on extinguishing the fires.”
“Of course, Acting Family Head!”
The moment the servant left, Moyong Un-jeong transmitted to every member of the Grand General’s Guard.
[The Eldest Young Master is regulating his qi. Remain vigilant against ambushes.]
Already the guards, each armed with a long musket taller than a man’s torso and leveled at the massive front gate, had palms slick with sweat.
“…….”
“…….”
They stood spread left and right so that crossing fire would be possible. Between them one guard clung to the gate itself.
“…….”
With meticulous care he extended his sensory qi, finished his inspection of the interior, and reported not with words but with hand signals and transmission.
[The building’s security is too tight for a proper check, but there appears to be no major movement inside at present.]
[So the fighting that began within has already ended?]
Moyong Un-jeong likewise kept her long musket trained on the gate and gave the order.
[Open the main gate with caution.]
Creeeak—!
Under heavy guard the massive doors swung outward.
Thud!
“……!”
Something tumbled out the instant the gate opened; fingers were already tightening on triggers when—
“Hold fire!”
Moyong Un-jeong’s sharp cry froze every finger on a trigger.
“…A corpse.”
It had been slumped against the door. The body bore the marks of repeated blows from fists or blunt weapons; the sight was ghastly.
“…The clothing suggests someone of no ordinary station, but immediate identification will be difficult.”
“Irrelevant.”
The stench that rolled out made Moyong Un-jeong’s brows twitch.
“Open the gate fully.”
Creeeak—.
When the great doors stood wide, more corpses that had been leaning against them spilled outward in a tumbling heap.
“Uuugh…”
“Guhk…”
Faint groans mixed with the impact.
“Some survivors remain.”
Not every one of them was dead.
“Ignore them for now.”
As the Grand General’s Guard raised their sights past the fallen, sunlight flooding through the open gate revealed the countless bodies strewn across the floor of the Great Assembly Hall.
“…….”
Whether dead or alive, most shared the same look: they had been struck repeatedly by something blunt, just like the first corpse.
And in the very center of the hall—
“…Someone is still standing.”
Amid the tangled mass of wounded, a single blood-soaked figure stood as rigid as a stone statue, bathed in the light pouring from the ceiling. His hair was wild and matted; his white beard was so caked with blood that its original color was nearly lost.
“…Heh heh. You’re late.”
“……!”
The man who had seemed dead opened his mouth with a low chuckle, and the Grand General’s Guard flinched in shock.
“Except for the cowards who fled, every rebel who remained in this hall has already been subdued by me.”
Moyong Un-jeong recognized the blood-drenched face of the old man and cried out in astonishment.
“…General Eulji Hwang?! Is that you?!”
“It has been a long time, Acting Family Head.”
Former General Eulji Hwang. To the very end he had been one of the few consciences of the Moyong Family, openly condemning the clan’s present course inside this very hall.
“You subdued them all with your bare hands?!”
“I did.”
When Eulji Hwang raised his two fists, the men who had been clinging to him in a desperate attempt to stop him simply collapsed.
“They even tried to set the hall on fire, so I gave them a little lesson with these fists.”
From the entrance all the way to the far wall, every body that had looked as though it had been battered by clubs had in truth been beaten by this old general’s iron maces of fists.
“Compared to the retreat at Hoiryu Port during the Northern War, this was barely a skirmish. Heh heh.”
The one-eyed old man laughed—then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“…Ah. Stings a little, though.”
“General Eulji Hwang…!”
Once the clinging bodies fell away, the full extent of his ruin became clear. Several short blades and hidden weapons that the pro-Gongwang and pro-Murim Alliance factions had smuggled into the hall were still buried in his torso.
“Cough!”
Another spray of blood, and he began to crumple. Moyong Un-jeong caught him.
“Aigoo…”
Breathing in thin, ragged gasps, Eulji Hwang forced a smile.
“Seems a man can’t cheat age after all. I wanted to show the Acting Family Head a splendid figure upon her return—”
His consciousness was already slipping; he began to ramble.
“Heh heh. I so wanted to see the Acting Family Head leave for her marriage…”
“Even if they hadn’t tried to light the fire… Still, I’m glad I could do something for the family at the end—”
“Save your breath!”
With her subordinates’ help Moyong Un-jeong pressed hard on the wounds to stanch the bleeding and shouted,
“Medical unit! Summon the medical unit!”
Even as she cried out, she already knew there was no hope.
He even used the life-or-death combat stance of ‘Death Is Life’…
Eulji Hwang had long since retired because of advanced age. The last dregs of vital energy were already draining from a body whose true qi had been exhausted to the bottom.
“Find a physician at once—!”
“—Step aside, Un-jeong.”
At the familiar voice she jerked her head up and gasped.
“Eldest Young Master?!”
Standing there was Yeon So-hyeon, who was supposed to be regulating his qi.
“What about your qi regulation…?”
He drew a needle case from his robes as he answered.
“I am still regulating it even now.”
“Pardon…?”
Leaving her bewildered expression behind, the Eldest Young Master examined the unconscious Eulji Hwang.
“He’s already beyond—”
She began to shake her head, only for Yeon So-hyeon’s voice to cut through.
“This much is still well within what can be saved.”
“……!”
Yes. For a moment she had forgotten: Yeon So-hyeon, Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword House, was a physician of such renown that some even ranked him shoulder to shoulder with the Medicine King himself.
“Then allow me to concentrate for a moment.”
The golden needles flashed in his hand.
And a short while later, a small cheer rose inside the Great Assembly Hall.
The black smoke that had choked the sky above the Moyong Family began to thin at last. Through the rifts, Moyong Un-jeong’s Grand General’s banner could be seen snapping proudly from the roof of the Great Assembly Hall.
“Centered on the fully secured central plaza, firefighting is proceeding successfully.”
From the high spire of the Great Assembly Hall, the captain of the Grand General’s Guard reported while Moyong Un-jeong looked down upon the estate.
“The gathering of Moyong Family retainers is also proceeding smoothly. Ever since the Grand General’s banner was raised over the hall, many who had been paralyzed by chaos and shock have joined the firefighting efforts.”
“Good.”
It was not merely servants and maids who came. Among them were true power-holders who had been holding their breath amid the family’s madness, and martial artists of the Moyong Family as well. Men and women who had shown no open allegiance now moved because Moyong Un-jeong had returned.
“The extreme chaos has peaked and is now on a gradual decline. Of course, there are still…”
He pointed to various corners of the vast estate spread below.
“…many rebels who have fortified positions or are using existing defensive works to resist fiercely. Therefore…”
He left the rest unsaid and glanced sideways.
“Ahem.”
The waiting elders stepped forward. They were the ones who had fled the assembly and then joined Moyong Un-jeong’s side.
“Acting Family Head.”
They spoke carefully.
“Your surprise assault was effective, but the advantage of surprise is now spent.”
“Our forces remain heavily outnumbered; a prolonged war is highly likely.”
Moyong Un-jeong turned to face them.
“What counsel do you wish to offer?”
The sheer force of her presence made the elders take an involuntary step back; they forced smiles onto their faces.
“From this point, a political approach might be…”
“Tempting them with favorable terms of negotiation would not be entirely unwise.”
They feared the movements of outside powers that would exploit the Moyong Family’s great turmoil.
“We must somehow end this purely consumptive civil war and absorb the remaining factions—”
“Absorb factions? Minimize damage?”
Moyong Un-jeong cut them off.
“I have no need of such things.”
“……?!”
The elders clearly saw the smile that curved the lips beneath her helmet.
“No matter how small this family becomes, no matter how far our strength dwindles or what crises arrive—it does not matter.”
The smile was so chilling that a midsummer afternoon on a high spire suddenly felt cold.
“Until every last bit of cleaning is finished,” she declared,
“I will not end this civil war.”