Chapter 273
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 273
Chapter Title: Elimination
Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty tensed up even more at the sudden shift in the mountain air, stifling their presence completely.
The cries of animals in the woods.
The chirps of insects.
Even the scent of the wind had changed.
It meant something drastic was happening.
Squad Twenty sharpened their senses further.
Change was coming.
During the brilliant glow of the evening sunset.
Something was about to go down right where they were hiding.
Sasasak.
Someone was racing toward them, footsteps deliberately muffled.
Rough noises echoed from all directions behind them.
And beyond the footsteps.
Ssaek!
The whistle of an arrow slicing through the air.
A chase was unfolding.
But it was heading straight for where Squad Twenty lay in ambush.
They spotted the incoming figure.
Fierce Dragon Corps.
A female cadet.
Holding a bow.
Moving lightly and silently.
An astonishing display.
Was this the kind of movement Fierce Dragon Corps cadets were capable of?
They couldn't just stand there gaping in admiration.
They couldn't afford to get dragged into some pointless fight.
But slipping in at the end to reap the benefits? That they could do.
Not a cowardly tactic by any means.
This was the Summer Combat Festival, a simulation of real battle, after all.
Yeon Ha-min had emphasized that point over and over.
Forget about fair play or honor.
Figure out every way possible to survive until the end.
As long as it stayed within the rules.
'The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets have formed alliances, too.'
Na Jung-cheon thought back to the movements of the Fierce Dragon Corps cadets.
A short while later, five figures emerged.
For a moment.
Squad Twenty's breathing nearly faltered.
That could have given away their position.
They barely managed to conceal it.
It was only natural.
The ones who appeared were Wa Dragon Corps Squad One.
Who would've thought they'd show up here?
They looked pretty beat up.
'Maybe they tangled with the Fierce Dragon Corps.'
The ones chasing them now were Fierce Dragon Corps, too.
And facing shield-bearing foes in formation was no easy task.
No matter how talented those later-generation disciples were.
Ssaeaek!
Another arrow whistled through the air.
Chaeng!
Hwa Bo-myeong swatted it away with his sword, his face flushed with rage.
He was fuming after being pursued all the way here.
Gaps were visible all over him.
Ssaek!
Yet another slicing sound.
Peok.
This one hit Gong Gu-pae in the calf.
"Kuk."
The pain twisted his face; it wasn't light.
The referee didn't call death. It was an expected spot.
Instead.
"Two out of three. One more hit, and you're dead."
The cold voice issued a warning.
The rule: three arrow hits anywhere meant death.
Gong Gu-pae's face grew even uglier.
"Fuck. That ugly bitch..."
The curse slipped out.
The other four looked just as grim.
They'd each taken at least one hit during the pursuit.
Gong Ya-hwi-yeon already knew the three-hit rule.
She'd confirmed it against other squads.
That's why she'd landed one on each of the five.
Picking spots that would subtly hinder movement through the pain.
"Damn bitch."
Cheol Ryeong stepped forward.
His eyes blazed with fury.
Wa Dragon Corps Squad One scattered toward the direction the arrows came from.
Their backs were fully exposed to Squad Twenty.
Eun Hwa-ryang gave the signal.
He lunged forward, striking Gong Gu-pae's back.
"Wh-what?"
Gong Gu-pae startled.
As Squad One whirled around toward Gong Gu-pae.
The other four sprang out and attacked.
Chaeng! Chae-chaeng! Chaeng!
Swords clashed.
Jureureuk.
But Squad One's five clearly took the worse hit.
They were pushed back unilaterally.
They hadn't been able to put full power into defending against the surprise attack.
Squad Twenty didn't miss the opening.
They pressed the assault relentlessly.
"Kuwk. You fucking bastards."
Byok I-gyeom gritted his teeth.
But the attackers' momentum was fierce.
At first it seemed like individual ambushes, but they'd already formed a sword formation.
Five against five.
"Fine. I'll kill you all!"
They weren't pushovers either.
How much hell had these trash bastards put them through?
Time to pay it all back.
The moment Byok I-gyeom, Tak Mu-jeon, Cheol Ryeong, Gong Gu-pae, and Hwa Bo-myeong kicked off the ground with that resolve.
The enemy formation shifted fluidly.
And Squad Twenty's five pulled back.
Then fled.
"Wh-what... those bastards..."
Ambush and immediate retreat?
They'd been ready for a real fight.
Squad One's five glanced back and forth.
One side: the damn bitch with the arrows.
The other: filthy trash bastards.
"Let's divide and conquer."
Cheol Ryeong said.
He knew from that one clash.
Squad Twenty was definitely weaker than them.
Even with a sword formation.
Three should be enough to take them.
Byok I-gyeom nodded at Cheol Ryeong's suggestion. He thought the same.
"How do we split?"
"Gong Gu-pae, you go after those bastards."
Byok I-gyeom answered.
The reason was obvious.
Two arrows already.
Gong Gu-pae nodded.
Cheol Ryeong and Hwa Bo-myeong on the bitch; the rest on the bastards.
They charged off.
Squad Twenty had their own referee, so Squad One's followed Cheol Ryeong and Hwa Bo-myeong.
***
"Fuck. To a place like this..."
Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty scattered to their pre-planned spots.
A notoriously rugged, densely wooded area of Mokran Mountain.
Even the Squad Twenty cadets who'd trained here beforehand struggled to navigate it.
Not a terrain newcomers could handle easily.
The thick trees hampered lightfoot techniques.
And as sunset deepened, darkness gathered.
The already dim woods grew harder to see through.
"This is insane. A place like this..."
They'd trained under the Ironclad Cavalry Corps.
Plains combat was their specialty.
They'd never properly learned dense mountain fighting. The result.
Ssaek.
A sword suddenly flew from below.
Na Jung-cheon's attack.
"Uk."
Chaeng!
Tak Mu-jeon barely blocked.
But he tripped on a tree root, stumbling.
Perfect opening.
Na Jung-cheon's follow-up came.
He knew the sword style.
The one all Hidden Dragon and Wa Dragon Corps learned.
Imperial Dragon Sword Method.
"With that trash swordplay?!"
Even as he fell, Tak Mu-jeon unleashed his own.
Ice Soul Snow Ridge Sword.
Bingcheon Palace's signature technique.
The elegant blade knocked Na Jung-cheon's away.
And.
Tak Mu-jeon slammed butt-first into the ground.
No time for dignity.
He rolled across the dirt in a prone evasion technique and counterattacked immediately.
But Na Jung-cheon was already gone.
"Damn it..."
Sweat soaked his back.
If not for Ironclad Cavalry training on rolling.
He never would've thought of prone evasion just now.
A warrior rolling on the ground to dodge? He'd considered it shameful.
If he hadn't?
'I'd be done.'
Chilling.
Byok I-gyeom and Gong Gu-pae had similar close calls.
No.
Gong Gu-pae was eliminated.
Three cadets had dogpiled him.
Eun Hwa-ryang, Im Dae-chi, Yeong Hu-in.
Especially the final blow from Yeong Hu-in.
From the same Daeha Gate.
The one sent to attend Gong Gu-pae had eliminated him.
How long had he been watching?
As Gong Gu-pae ignored Yeong Hu-in's strike to flee.
"Gong Gu-pae, dead! Eliminated!"
The referee's voice rang in his ears. The emptiness...
Unbelievable.
Elimination flare shot skyward.
Wa Dragon Corps dropout.
Couldn't tell Squad One from Twenty.
Squad One's fatal mistake.
But Cheol Ryeong and Hwa Bo-myeong assumed it was Twenty and kept dividing.
So they chased Gong Ya-hwi-yeon farther away.
Leaving five against two.
Still, Byok I-gyeom and Tak Mu-jeon shook pursuit and regrouped.
The ones holding them one-on-one while targeting Gong Gu-pae hadn't chased desperately.
"These bastards... no pushovers."
Tak Mu-jeon nodded at Byok I-gyeom.
"Gong Gu-pae?"
Tak Mu-jeon asked.
Byok I-gyeom shook his head.
"No way..."
Tak Mu-jeon groaned forebodingly.
"Don't know."
Byok I-gyeom snapped irritably.
"Better link up with Cheol Ryeong and Hwa Bo-myeong first."
Tak Mu-jeon agreed.
The bet wasn't about eliminations.
About surviving longest.
So Byok I-gyeom and Tak Mu-jeon cautiously backtracked.
But retracing in deep, dense woods was no easy task.
Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty watched silently.
After they all left.
The five gathered.
"What now?"
Yeong Hu-in asked, face flushed with excitement.
Never dreamed he'd eliminate Gong Gu-pae himself.
"We could just go for the win now..."
Im Dae-chi, who'd fought Gong Gu-pae with him, brimmed with confidence.
"How many survivors?"
Eun Hwa-ryang asked.
Na Jung-cheon was counting flares.
"Fierce Dragon Corps down to one."
More flares burst even now.
Fierce battles across Mokran Mountain.
"That cadet, probably."
Eun Hwa-ryang nodded.
No flares from the arrow girl's direction.
"Hidden Dragon minimum three squads, Wa Dragon including us at least four."
Na Jung-cheon continued.
"Hidden Dragon fifteen, Wa Dragon twenty?"
Na Jung-cheon shook his head at Eun Hwa-ryang.
"Nineteen Wa Dragon now. Gong Gu-pae's out."
Evening falling, but more left than expected.
They were better than they thought.
Still, maximum caution.
"Stick to the original plan."
All nodded at Eun Hwa-ryang.
"Wonder if we'll make it through the night. Heh."
Im Dae-chi chuckled amusedly.
Squad Twenty moved opposite from Byok I-gyeom and Tak Mu-jeon.
The watching referee sighed softly.
'They're hunkering down for the night. Great, more work.'
First time anyone pulled this.
Festival usually ended by midnight.
These planned to hide till dawn.
Unless others wiped each other out.
This year might go overnight.
And his squad was the one doing it.
Grimacing referee trailed Squad Twenty.
'Hmm...'
Gong Ya-hwi-yeon watched from afar.
'Not bad. Trained by Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven under Instructor Ha, as expected. They know real combat.'
She knew the bet.
Longest survivor wins.
Just from movements, clear.
They were trained to overnight in mountains.
Other cadets?
No chance.
Easy for her, of course.
'Hmm. Toy with them more?'
A wicked smile curled her lips.
But also.
'Spare them till they move tomorrow. Better to finish personally.'
Knowing the bet's context.
That's what Gong Ya-hwi-yeon thought.
Her figure vanished smoothly again.
"Annoying..."
Ha Mu-baek appeared behind her.
He knew their overnight plan.
But seeing it play out.
A pain.
Forcing him to patrol Mokran Mountain watching potentially problematic cadets.
"Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue and vanished like a ghost.