Beyond the Unseen - Shenyang
Shenyang.
Near a stretch of the walls collapsing one after another, the survivors of the Mount Hua Sect’s vanguard—those who had broken free at the very front—stood locked in confrontation with a single figure.
"…So that’s the one from the rumors."
"…Cheonui Mubong. Yeon Seo-rin."
They had burned through tremendous reserves of strength and focus just escaping that hellish underground stronghold. Into that depleted state stepped Cheonui Mubong.
…The most perfect warrior of the Sword Clan.
…A rising star who had already surpassed every rising star.
Her mere appearance was enough to crush their fighting spirit.
"Getting called by a grandiose title like Cheonui Mubong… has it made you forget how high the sky really is?"
As if to stamp out the unrest among his disciples, Gam Woo-hyeon, commander of the Mount Hua vanguard, stepped forward.
"Your manner of speaking to a senior of the martial world is thoroughly lacking in respect."
Nearly twice her age, Gam Woo-hyeon faced Yeon Seo-rin without flinching.
"Senior? Please."
Yeon Seo-rin tapped her broad shoulder lightly with the flat of her blade and gave a dry snort of laughter.
"Look at you, living up to every stereotype of an old-school Wulin Alliance fossil. Who starts throwing around ‘senior’ on a battlefield?"
She leveled her sword at him and continued.
"By that logic, I’m a precious daughter of the Luoyang Sword House. From now on, address me as Young Lady."
The corners of Gam Woo-hyeon’s eyes twitched with fury.
"You insolent little thunder-brat…!"
Mount Hua Sword Dragon, Gam Woo-hyeon. As a direct disciple of Mount Hua’s sect leader, he had led from the front through every trial fire and flood could throw at him. Yet everything he had endured here in Shenyang had long since exceeded any limit.
He had come hoping to win great merit. Instead he had lost precious disciples on this ground. The junior sister who had been both his fiercest rival and his steadiest support was dead. They had clawed their way out of that underground hell only to find even this single miraculous chance of escape barred. And through it all he had never once laid eyes on the true architect of their suffering—the Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon.
"…I’ll tear you apart right here."
Feeling the murderous aura erupt from Gam Woo-hyeon, Yeon Seo-rin answered with her trademark unclouded smile.
"Look who’s talking."
No further words were needed. Gam Woo-hyeon and Yeon Seo-rin raised their swords in the same breath and leveled them at each other.
Shenyang’s main thoroughfare.
Shaaaaa—
The rain that had begun as a drizzle thickened by the moment until it seemed the night sky itself had been punched open, pouring down in sheets.
"Damn it all!"
One of the rebel commanders spat a coarse curse into the driving downpour. The long column of troops clogging the avenue showed no sign of moving.
"Why the hell aren’t we advancing?! What’s going on?!"
The straight road that should have let them race straight to the breached walls had been sealed by Yeon Seo-rin and the government troops under her command.
"I—I don’t know…!"
Stationed toward the rear of the formation, they could make out nothing of the situation ahead.
"We checked with the comrades from the other strongholds in front of us—none of them know a thing either!"
In less than a full day, far too much had happened to the rebels. They had been forced to raise their banners with almost no preparation. Moyong Un-jeong had moved first; they had been left with no choice.
"Bloody hell…! Who’s the commander up front?!"
"I—I’ll find out right away!"
The result was inevitable. Each formerly isolated stronghold still ran on its own separate chain of command; in the sudden chaos, proper communication had been impossible.
"Hurry up and check!"
The rebel officer could no longer hide his agitation.
"If the enemy forces that pulled back finish regrouping—"
Speak of the devil, and he appears.
"Th-that—!"
At a subordinate’s pointing finger the commander turned. At first he saw only the torrential rain lashing down out of the darkness. Then he understood.
"……!"
It was a rain of arrows, arcing high through the empty air before plunging downward.
"En-enemy plunging fire!"
He screamed the words—no, he simply screamed.
"Take cover!"
But in the middle of the packed avenue, compressed and tangled together, cover was a fantasy.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Before his cry could even finish echoing, the arrow storm hammered down onto their heads.
"Gyaaah—!"
"Keheuk!"
Some died instantly as shafts punched through their skulls. Others clutched shoulders already sprouting arrows and screamed until a second shaft found the open mouth. Still others took five arrows in a single body and collapsed. The rebels packed along the thoroughfare toppled in waves.
"Scatter! Get off the main road!"
The arrows, given murderous force by their long drop, reaped lives with merciless ease. The rebels had lightened themselves for a short, sharp breakthrough; few even wore proper helmets, let alone carried shields or heavy armor.
"Gyaaah—!"
The rebels.
Midway along the long, stalled column.
"The rear ranks are under enemy arrow fire…!"
"……!"
The report sent a chill down every spine.
"W-we leave the avenue at once!"
There was no need to think twice. Every rebel commander who received the same report reached the same conclusion. The Eldest Young Master’s side was using plunging fire—fixed-target shooting at the avenue itself while buildings limited their own vision.
"We go this way…!"
"This alley for us…!"
The rebels who had filled the thoroughfare tore apart in every direction, but they had never shared a single chain of command to begin with. The officers from each stronghold felt little confusion.
"Stay calm!"
Most of the troops, officers included, were natives of Shenyang itself.
"This is our ground!"
They slipped swiftly off the avenue and began to loop through the side alleys.
"Fuck!"
One commander shouted as he sprinted through an alley already turned to mud by the downpour.
"But where the hell did the Eldest Young Master even get that many archers?!"
By every calculation the Eldest Young Master should have been able to field only a handful of troops. He could not understand it.
The Eldest Young Master’s temporary command tent.
"So this is the commander of Shenyang’s government garrison."
Yeon So-hyeon addressed the officer kneeling bound before him.
"I’ll give you this much—your talent for running and hiding is impressive."
The bound man was, as the Eldest Young Master said, the officer responsible for every government soldier in Shenyang.
"Th-that, Eldest Young Master…!"
Sweat poured down a face thick with disaster.
"I-I did exactly as you ordered—no, as you commanded! I detached government troops and sent them to support you, didn’t I?!"
"What did you just say…?!"
Moyong Ho exploded in the Eldest Young Master’s place.
"You sent a token handful for show, then spent the rest of the time dodging any real cooperation and scuttling around like a rat—and you dare spout that nonsense?!"
"Th-that was—!"
In front of the garrison commander lay the imperial edict the Eldest Young Master had received from the Emperor.
"The crime of deliberately evading the commands of the Eldest Young Master, who acts in the Emperor’s name!"
Moyong Ho’s voice rolled like thunder.
"The crime of neglecting your duty to protect Shenyang from external enemies!"
With every charge the commander’s body visibly shrank.
"Summary execution would still be too light!"
Each accusation was a capital crime of the gravest order.
"N-no!"
He shook his head with desperate force.
"I may have been late, but in the end I dispatched every last man, didn’t I?!"
He turned and cried out toward Hyeonwol Pavilion Master Se-a, who stood beside the Eldest Young Master.
"I heard it myself just now! Clear as day!"
He repeated the report Se-a had only moments earlier delivered.
"The wall garrison blocked the enemy’s route of advance, and the government archer units dispatched afterward scored excellent results along the avenue—didn’t she say exactly that?!"
It was true. The arrow rain that had hammered the rebels on the thoroughfare had come from the government archer companies.
"A-and at the beginning this was clearly an internal conflict of the Moyong Family! There was no grounds for government troops to intervene!"
He pleaded as though he had been wronged.
"Once it became clear this was an external attack, I fulfilled my role completely!"
"Hah…!"
Moyong Ho gave a cold snort.
"The troops you moved only after you were dragged here."
"Th-that was pure coincidence of timing—"
"Nonsense."
Moyong Ho cut him off without mercy.
"We already confirmed you issued no orders whatsoever even after the siege engines began firing."
He pressed harder.
"And we know your in-law is a tribal chief who follows the Terror King."
"Th-that—!"
"I have heard enough."
The moment the Eldest Young Master—who had listened in silence until now—finished speaking,
Puhwak—!
Blood fountained from the neck of the garrison commander whose head had just left his shoulders.
"……!"
From beyond Moyong Ho, by some unfathomable method, the Eldest Young Master had severed the man’s head cleanly.
"Moyong Ho."
At the call, Moyong Ho—still half-stunned—dropped to one knee at once.
"Yes! Command me!"
"From this moment you are temporary commander of Shenyang’s government garrison."
The Eldest Young Master indicated with his chin the head still rolling in the spreading pool of blood.
"Show that head to any government officer who fails to obey orders properly."
"Loyalty!"
Moyong Ho clasped his fists and answered at full volume.
"I shall obey!"
As Moyong Ho seized the still-dripping head and sprinted from the tent, Hyeonwol Pavilion Master Se-a spoke.
"I’ve felt it for some time—the enemy’s movements are a little strange."
The Eldest Young Master turned to her.
"Strange in what way?"
"We were concerned about a coordinated response from the Wudang vanguard and others outside the walls."
She narrowed her single eye as she explained the feeling.
"Yet the enemy outside has concentrated solely on smashing the walls. They have still not entered Shenyang itself."
"We used Second Sister and the government troops to pin the feet of the retreating enemy vanguard."
The Eldest Young Master smiled faintly as he countered.
"If they wanted to come in and link up now, they would have to push far too deep, would they not?"
That had clearly been his tactical intent.
"There is certainly logic in that…"
She trailed off, studying his expression.
"But a force of the Wudang vanguard’s caliber should have no real difficulty breaking through that depth…"
"Perhaps they are still weighing our strength before committing?"
"…Hmm."
After a thoughtful hum she forced the words out.
"Thanks to that, however, our side gained the chance to completely seal the avenue with government troops. The forces that withdrew have also finished reorganizing."
"Even so, mere government troops cannot hope to withstand a two-front assault for long."
Was he inviting her to argue further, or was he simply pointing out that her instinct was wrong? As always, the quiet smile on the Eldest Young Master’s face made his thoughts impossible to read. One thing alone was certain: he deliberately left his subordinates to think for themselves in real situations so that their abilities would grow.
"…Even granting all that."
She settled her stance.
"The enemy’s movements still lack sufficient sharpness. Whatever the reason, they have surrendered the advantage of surprise."
She delivered the conclusion with conviction.
"This can only mean Sama Dae-gunsa is concealing some other design."
The Eldest Young Master smiled.
"A fine chain of reasoning."
Just as Se-a began to feel a flicker of pleasure, he continued.
"But your conclusion differs from mine."
"…Sir?"
He tapped the armrest of his chair lightly.
"The fading edge of a surprise attack as time slips by. Slow responses and belated decisions. Siege engines that still batter only the walls, and a Wudang force that still refuses to commit."
His gaze went distant, past the tent walls.
To Se-a it looked as though he were staring straight through the city, through the walls themselves, and into the enemy lines hidden in rain and darkness.
"The one who should be bearing full responsibility and issuing the orders is simply not here."
"You mean…?"
The Eldest Young Master spoke.
"Sama Dae-gunsa has not yet reached Shenyang."