Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 024
Chapter Title: Jo Ja-muk's Death, Escape
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Seok Du-myeong's group ran for quite some time. They were now a good distance from the site of the battle.
"Yeom-pal, let's take a short break."
Seok Du-myeong called out to Yeom-pal, trying to halt the group.
Yeom-pal came over, still carrying Jo Ja-muk on his back.
"Hyung-nim, we can still push on a bit more."
Yeom-pal looked plenty worn out himself, but his anxiety made any thought of rest fly out the window.
"You might be okay, but the squad leader's the issue."
Jo Ja-muk's entire body was burning hot, like a lump of fire.
Yeom-pal reluctantly set the squad leader down and took a seat.
Seo-chil and Jo-hyeok caught their breaths and plopped down on the ground as well.
Seok Du-myeong sat too and addressed the fidgety Yeom-pal.
"Yeom-pal, that fight of theirs is gonna drag on for a good while, so don't get too worked up."
Yeom-pal watched him with curious eyes, waiting for what came next. Jo-hyeok glanced at Seok Du-myeong with similar interest.
"I sensed it when we were hightailing it out of there, but another Black Wind Corps squad was closing in. That makes three squads from the Black Wind Corps already committed. From what I know, one of their units consists of four squads. If they were sending reinforcements, they'd bring the whole unit, not leave one behind and just move three, right? Those Demonic Cult bastards came with a plan. They knew from the start that a strike team disguised as a search party was coming our way. Even if you cherry-pick thirty elites for that strike team, what can they do against over a hundred Black Wind Corps guys charging in? They'd drop dead. But hey, they're supposed to be experts, so they won't go down easy. It'll be a prolonged slugfest before they break and run. And the Black Wind Corps will chase the runners down, which'll buy us even more time. Probably."
Yeom-pal's eyes went wide as he stared at Seok Du-myeong, then spoke up.
"Hyung-nim, that martial arts back there, and now this talk... you seem like a whole different person."
With that, Yeom-pal sidled up to Seok Du-myeong and suddenly pinched his cheek.
"Ow! You crazy bastard."
Seok Du-myeong glared at Yeom-pal, eyes bulging.
"No, I just... wondered if maybe a Demonic Cult spy was using a human-skin mask or something..."
Yeom-pal shook his head right away.
"Nah, that can't be it... Who'd waste an expensive human-skin mask to disguise themselves as this ugly mug? Only a lunatic."
'This punk...'
Seok Du-myeong's temper flared, and he nearly socked Yeom-pal, but a groan from Jo Ja-muk made him hold back.
Jo Ja-muk was now trembling all over.
His condition was dire. No medicine on hand, no idea what to do.
"Jo-hyeok, you carry Seo-chil, and I'll take the squad leader. We'll use lightness skill to move."
Jo-hyeok got the message and nodded.
Yeom-pal and Seo-chil didn't know lightness skill. But Seok Du-myeong had learned the basics from his grandfather and, with his current internal energy surpassing a full cycle, could carry Jo Ja-muk and run for a good stretch.
As far as Seok Du-myeong could tell, Jo-hyeok was undoubtedly from a prestigious family and had honed a solid lightness skill.
He'd never seen Jo-hyeok use it yet, but he was certain.
Treating Jo Ja-muk and escaping this place were both urgent. No time for nitpicking.
The one snag was Yeom-pal.
"Whatever. He'll keep up somehow."
Seok Du-myeong carried Jo Ja-muk on his back, Jo-hyeok bore Seo-chil, and they dashed forward with lightness skill.
Even with the extra weight, it was far faster than plain running.
Yeom-pal huffed and puffed behind them but kept pace surprisingly well. The guy was tougher than he looked.
They'd been going for a while when Jo Ja-muk stirred.
"Seok Du-myeong, thank you."
"Squad leader, what're you saying? I'll carry you all the way back to base, so don't worry."
Seok Du-myeong kept running for another stretch, but then Jo Ja-muk's faint voice came from his back.
"Du-myeong, I'm tired. I want to lie down for a bit."
Seok Du-myeong had known it for a while now.
The squad leader's body wasn't just feverish anymore—it was cooling, slowly.
Seok Du-myeong stopped at a slight rise in the terrain.
Dawn's haze was breaking in the east, the sun preparing to rise.
Seok Du-myeong laid Jo Ja-muk down on the low mound and removed his own outer robe, rolling it into a pillow for his head.
Jo-hyeok arrived soon after and set Seo-chil down.
A bit later, Yeom-pal staggered in, gasping for air. He caught his breath for a while, then came to Jo Ja-muk's side.
Jo Ja-muk, lying there, gave Yeom-pal a faint smile.
"Yeom-pal, you said your wife was so pretty, and your daughter too... I'm jealous. I haven't even gotten married, and here I am dying..."
"Squad leader, cut that out. Half a day's march, and we're at base. Almost there. Once we get back, you can head to that medical ward you've always wanted. Think about it—how great that'll be. Pretty nurses feeding you, massaging you, and all that."
Even as he spoke, tears welled in Yeom-pal's reddened eyes.
Seok Du-myeong, Jin Yeom-pal, and Jo Ja-muk here—they were comrades who'd survived over five years in the Demon-Exterminating Corps.
Comrades were family, bonded through thick and thin, life and death.
Demonic Cult this, righteous world that—those were concerns for the higher-ups. These guys couldn't care less.
The big shots came for honor, power, fame. These men came to survive, to feed their families.
Because they had to eat. Because they needed money.
No matter how much they were scorned and discriminated against, they endured.
For them, life itself was a battlefield, not just this place.
On the battlefield, they killed to avoid being killed, leaning on each other to stay alive.
Jo Ja-muk grinned at Yeom-pal.
"Du-myeong, take good care of this fool Yeom-pal and make sure he gets home safe to his wife and daughter. I'm counting on you."
Jo Ja-muk turned his head toward Gong Seo-chil.
"It's a shame. I wanted to open an inn, live quiet... train Seo-chil as my apprentice, get married, have kids... that kind of life..."
"Cough. Cough, cough."
Finishing his words, Jo Ja-muk hacked dryly for a stretch.
As the coughing subsided, he let out a deep breath and continued.
"Du-myeong, Jo-hyeok, Seo-chil, Yeom-pal—thank you. My biggest fear was always dying torn limb from limb, bleeding out on some filthy floor... Glad it didn't end that way."
With that, Jo Ja-muk gasped for air again. Speaking was taking its toll.
His ragged breaths gradually faded.
"I want to rest now..."
Jo Ja-muk let out his final breath with a peaceful expression and stilled.
Yeom-pal sat there blankly for a moment, then broke into sobs.
"Uh-huh-huh... Hoo-hoo... Damn it, base is right there—why die now? Even in this shitty world, you gotta keep living. Why die... die... hoo-hoo..."
Seok Du-myeong, Jo-hyeok, and Seo-chil all stood there with grim faces for a long while.
The crimson sun of dawn rose indifferently, as always, casting its light over the heartless earth.
"Yeom-pal, let's go."
Seok Du-myeong made the call.
"Hyung-nim, but... we can't just leave him like this. At least make a grave or something."
"No time for that. Demonic Cult pursuit squad's on our tail."
The group snapped back to their dire reality.
They were closer to base, sure—but still half a day away.
"I'll dig a quick grave and bury him, then catch up. You guys head out first."
Seok Du-myeong used his internal energy to swiftly dig a hole and lay Jo Ja-muk to rest.
He bowed deeply one last time in silent prayer, then turned and hurried off.
In that brief delay, the Demonic Cult trackers' demonic energy had closed to within a hundred paces.
Seok Du-myeong poured max internal energy into his speed and soon spotted the group ahead.
He saw Jo-hyeok carrying Seo-chil, with Yeom-pal stumbling along behind.
Seok Du-myeong sped up, planning to catch Yeom-pal and carry him, when—
Yeom-pal vanished from sight.
Startled, Seok Du-myeong raced to the spot and shouted for Jo-hyeok to stop.
Arriving, he saw a deep pit.
Peering down, Yeom-pal was at the bottom, groaning, unable to stand—hurt from the fall.
'Always something with this guy. At a time like this, Yeom-pal falls into a pit...? Wait... pit...!!'
A spark lit in Seok Du-myeong's mind.
Jo-hyeok, who'd turned back, arrived.
"Hyung-nim, we gotta pull Yeom-pal hyung out quick."
"Jo-hyeok, hold up."
Seok Du-myeong blocked him and yelled down to Yeom-pal.
"Hey, Yeom-pal! You alive?"
"Course I am, hyung-nim!"
"Hurt bad?"
"Nah, not hurt... but it's gone. Ow."
Yeom-pal, fearing they'd ditch him, groaned through the pain but insisted he was fine.
"Yeom-pal, how big is it down there?"
"Pretty spacious, I think."
"Jo-hyeok, take Seo-chil and drop down quick. I'll camouflage the top and follow right away."
Jo-hyeok was sharp—he got it instantly and leaped lightly to the pit floor with Seo-chil.
Seok Du-myeong gathered branches and brush, covering the opening thoroughly.
Even to his keen senses, it looked seamless unless inspected up close.
'This'll do.'
Seok Du-myeong jumped in.
No time for fancy work anyway. Demonic energy from the trackers pressed in from all sides, within a hundred paces.
The pit was bigger than expected.
Room for four grown men with space to spare.
About two paces deep—rare for this flat plain.
Outside, day had broken bright, but the camouflaged entrance kept the interior dim and shadowy.
"Ow, ow."
Yeom-pal groaned.
"Yeom-pal, bite it back, no noise. Outside's crawling with Demonic Cult trackers."
"Mmgh."
Yeom-pal quieted his groans.
The group hunkered down, stifling their presence for a long stretch.
Seok Du-myeong extended his senses again. Fortunately, the demonic energy was receding in all directions.
He whispered to Seo-chil.
"Seo-chil, how's our food looking?"
Seo-chil mentally tallied it up before answering.
"Hyung-nim, ration it out, and we can last about seven days."
"Good enough."
Water was the problem. They had none.
Venturing out for some wasn't feasible—water wasn't plentiful here, and the risk was too high.
'Eh, we'll figure that out later.'
"Yeom-pal, anything broken?"
"Nah, just banged up from the fall. Nothing feels busted."
"We hole up here as long as we can. Once the Demonic Cult guys give up, we head back to base."
"Hyung-nim, do we really gotta go back? What have they ever done for us? Why not just bail home now?"
Yeom-pal said it dubiously.
His feelings were understandable. The guy had even tried deserting before—why cling to the Corps?
Yeom-pal sent his pay home monthly, so no big lump sum waiting.
But for Seok Du-myeong, it was different. He'd never once collected pay, so the silver piled up under his name back at base easily topped two thousand nyang.
He had to return, if only for the money.
"Once we get out, you decide: back to base or home. Your call."
Seok Du-myeong declared it to everyone.
"What about you, hyung-nim?"
Yeom-pal asked immediately.
"Me? Obviously back to base. A man's gotta see his resolve through to the end!"
'Bullshit. It's the piled-up cash. Plain as day.'
Yeom-pal inwardly cursed Seok Du-myeong but held his tongue.
"Jo-hyeok, what about you?"
"I'll head back to base too."
"Why?"
Yeom-pal, anxious at the lack of allies, pressed with wide eyes.
"Feels like I'd regret it forever if I ran now. Fleeing home once was enough."
Seok Du-myeong beamed at Jo-hyeok.
'Jo-hyeok, this kid's just cool! How's he so eloquent? Unlike some punk...'
Seok Du-myeong shot Jin Yeom-pal a glare.
Seo-chil spoke last.
"Me too, back to base. Nowhere else to go anyway, and wherever you hyungs and Jo-hyeok are, that's home for me."
'Seo-chil's grown a heart too... Alright then.'
Seok Du-myeong tallied the votes and finalized it.
"Yeom-pal, settled then. We go back to base, you head home."
Yeom-pal panicked and backpedaled.
"No, I didn't mean right now... I'll man up and return to base too."
'Man up, my ass.'
Seok Du-myeong cursed him inwardly.
Yeom-pal knew it well enough.
He'd survived this long only because of experts like Seok Du-myeong and Jo-hyeok.
Alone out there, staggering drunk? One Demonic Cult bastard, and he'd be done for...
And so, the whole group's return to base was decided.