Chapter 18
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Over Mountains and Across Waters
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It happened in the blink of an eye.
The voice of a youth not even twenty cut straight to the hearts of everyone present.
The razor-sharp standoff truly came to an end.
With a curt command, Seo Mun-ha tossed out a silent challenge.
Did they want to just sit there and die?
Or show the pride of the Sang Man Escort Agency?
"The enemy is nothing but a ragtag mob! Take them two-on-one, five pairs!"
The escorts, who had been fleeing in panic, belatedly regained their resolve.
Those still alive split into left and right flanks, rotating back like clockwork. With the porters' help, they tended the wounded and reformed their lines.
"Damn these bandit bastards!"
"Let's go all the way to the end!"
Following Seo Mun-ha's orders, the escorts steeled themselves for death.
In battles between groups, it's hard for individuals to fully unleash their prowess.
The more numerous the fighters, the more chaos ensues—strategy and tactics become essential, regardless of personal martial skill.
Setting aside the vice-captain from his past life who handled strategy, Seo Mun-ha had his own expertise in tactics.
To be precise, it was Yi Mok-yeom.
When individuals can't shine, tactics are what elevate the group's power.
Having suddenly lost their escort leader, the escorts were thick in the fog of defeat. Without a center, morale plummeted, and despair clung like a shadow.
Defeat bred terror, making it nearly impossible to reverse a tilted momentum.
"You little...!"
Seo Mun-ha impassively passed by a bandit whose eyes blazed with fury.
The stronghold leader of Tiger Tooth Stronghold, no less.
The nameless man worked his jaw, swallowing a gush of hot blood.
"What are you doing? Want to be target practice?"
Seo Mun-ha called out to the young man beyond the leader, who had fallen flat on his ass.
"Ah, uh..."
Sang Man-seok, the young head of the Sang Man Escort Agency, struggled to his feet, utterly lost.
"Bandits are bandits, green forest or not. Cut down the leader, and they'll scatter on their own."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"I'll leave two Peak Realm fighters to you. Just buy time."
"U-Understood!"
Sang Man-seok, himself a Peak Realm martial artist, nodded frantically, dazed.
Before delving into tactics, wars hinge on momentum and flow.
By boldly drawing all eyes, he'd shattered the downward spiral. Stepping up as the new center, he'd given them a pivot to turn the tide.
His striking looks and deeds sealed the effect.
'Next...'
It was simple, in words at least.
"Playing it sly, aren't you?"
"...Ma Gang-han, was it?"
"Short on words. Seems you were highborn once, but luck ran out."
Seo Mun-ha eyed Tiger Tooth Stronghold's deputy leader with distaste.
At least one more.
He'd wanted to take down another Peak Realm bandit, but Ma Gang-han had crashed in at the perfect moment, swinging his massive blade wide to interfere.
Thunderbolt Giant Blade, they called it.
A straightforward chop—fast and ferocious.
In response, as Seo Mun-ha drew his sword, he unleashed the Five Inscriptions Twelve Divine Arts.
Five Inscriptions Twelve Divine Arts
Composed of swift sword forms, the third technique—Wave-Cleaving Strike—wields the most domineering aura among the twelve blades that blur feint and truth.
"You bastard...!"
Ma Gang-han's bewildered shout marked where blade met sword in midair.
No sparks flew as the sword arced in a perfect semicircle, shearing off his thick beard. Compared to Ha Eun-ye before, this foe was far easier for Seo Mun-ha.
"Unbelievable."
In this peaceful world, even thieves grow potbellies.
Still, Third Peak inner energy couldn't be underestimated. The two men at opposite extremes clashed endlessly.
Splat!
Minor wounds multiplied—on Ma Gang-han's side.
'Losing to this kid?!'
Mysterious footwork backed the swift sword forms, relentlessly pressing him.
"Die—!"
He flipped his eyes back, abandoning defense despite his bulky frame dodging nimbly.
As if a cut or two meant nothing.
'...Brute.'
His sloppy strikes gouged the earth, hurling dirt everywhere.
To Seo Mun-ha's current body, even a graze was fatal.
Boom!
The moment he'd be caught in the blade's whirl, victory would tip. Seo Mun-ha retracted his offense, retreating step by step.
One step, two, three.
"It's over, brat!"
Twisting his waist, Ma Gang-han unleashed his ultimate technique with full power. The blade tip, starting low, surged diagonally like a death line.
A flawless blade strike.
"From Mount Receiving... to Crooked Wall."
Discarding aesthetics and subtlety, Seo Mun-ha advanced one step at that clean thrust.
The broken Sang Man Escort Agency flagpole lay at his feet.
Now gripped in his hand, he circulated energy and murmured lowly.
"Lost Horse."
"Lost Spear."
"Mount and lance both gone."
⟨ Northern Guard Thunder Whirl Lance: Spear Break Annihilation ⟩
Seo Mun-ha thrust the spear shaft.
Clang!
One point shattered the line, piercing the target.
"Th...is..."
"Looks like you're the unlucky one."
Echoing the prior leader's words, he barely spat them out.
"Not a... swordsman... nor a... spearman..."
'Didn't want to show this if I could help it.'
Seo Mun-ha glanced aside.
One porter watching him intently.
The only one amid the frenzy who carried an air of leisure.
"...Sweep them all!"
Seo Mun-ha bellowed, redirecting to the fray.
His condition wasn't normal, but he showed no sign. The bandits still held numerical superiority.
"The l-leader?!"
"Deputy leader of Tiger Tooth too?!"
"Thunderbolt Giant Blade?!"
But the tide turned swiftly.
"Run—!"
Along with the scrambling remnants.
Mimicking the escorts before, though three Peak Realm fighters remained, their will was broken—they fled headlong, ignorant of the truth.
"A-Are you alright, sir?"
Sang Man-seok approached cautiously, checking on him.
"Forgive my rudeness."
"N-No, sir. Your judgment was spot on. Thanks to you..."
"...One more thing. Tell them not to pursue too deeply."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The long, grueling battle was effectively over. They'd suffered heavy losses, but snatching victory alive was something.
'If not for that one.'
The porter who'd hidden his claws now openly eyed Seo Mun-ha.
"..."
Their gazes locked in the air.
A fair distance, yet the tension dwarfed anything before—like advancing a full inch.
In the deputy duel, Seo Mun-ha had revealed a hidden card. His feats across the battlefield surpassed storming a fortress, but merits didn't guarantee survival here.
"Any words for this wretch...?"
The porter imposter's realm was at least Fourth Peak—a Fusion Realm martial artist.
"Nothing."
"..."
"May I ask your name?"
"Oh, my name? No need."
Begging discretion, he bowed deeper.
"Just a powerless old man called Gyeong-won."
"How's the back?"
"Pardon?"
"Isn't hunching like a hunchback uncomfortable?"
The gap closed in an instant.
Seo Mun-ha thrust lightly, targeting the low crown of Gyeong-won's head.
Clang!
A dull thud for sword on hand.
"Filthy dainty hands."
Seo Mun-ha pulled back first.
"Knew it, huh? Kiheheh."
Not a drop of blood; his hand radiated pure white chill.
"The demon the Murim Alliance hunts?"
Gyeong-won's lip curled higher—spot on.
"Knew you were exceptional, but this? Who'd think Shandong's delinquent was a once-in-a-millennium prodigy?"
"Hardly."
Who was he to talk?
Bolder still was this demon hiding in Baekdo's heart.
The audacity fooling the Murim Alliance and officials—rumors barely scratched the surface.
"You the one who tipped the bandits about the cargo?"
"Who else?"
"Why?"
Making noise like that—what good? Instead of answering, he raised both hands.
Faint crimson swirled around the snow-white palms.
"Not Pale Hand Blood Demon Art..."
"Ho?"
"Heard once an eunuch trained in it and shook the imperial court. Extreme yin energy ill-fits men—said he lost it to qi deviation chasing the high."
Gazing intrigued, Gyeong-won twisted his straightened back side to side.
"You know a lot for a kid."
"Demon cult, Sun-Moon Cult, right? Even the Great Ming bans it—how?"
"Pale Hand Blood Demon Art. Our cult's technique. Laughable comparing it to knockoffs."
Extreme yin and yang in harmony. To ascend, he'd absorbed yin essence from human corpses.
"Using bandits to throw off the Murim Alliance's pursuit?"
"Heh, you ruined that."
Gyeong-won answered readily.
"Surprised face? Weird to be honest?"
"A bit."
"Hm."
But not giving up.
"Payment for the fun show... and..."
Vivid scarlet mingled with white, rippling around him.
"What's not to tell a dead man?"
As expected, brimming with confidence, he'd planned to leave no survivors from the start.
'...No wonder soldiers don't die in bed.'
Cross one death line, another awaits.
Mountains beyond mountains—reminiscing a soldier's lot, Seo Mun-ha moved to his prepared response.
Boom!
And the result was...