Chapter 55

This is driving me crazy.

The world went yellow before Hyuk Mujin’s eyes.

Assassins disguised as disciples of minor sects. The Head Elder’s betrayal. That alone was enough to make his head explode, but…

Why the hell did this guy collapse too?!

Jin Taekyung had suddenly lost consciousness. The reconnaissance squad members had taken turns slapping his cheeks and shaking him by the collar, but he showed no sign of waking up.

He’s definitely still breathing.

It was enough to make a ghost weep. And with things as they were, Hyuk Mujin—the deputy squad leader—had ended up in charge of this enormous mess.

“You, and you.”

Hyuk pointed to two of the reconnaissance squad members still standing there in a daze.

“You two, return to the family at once and report this.”

The Head Elder.

He did not know why the family’s senior, a hero of the old Great Faction War, had devised such a dark scheme, or what he hoped to gain from it.

But they had to prevent the worst from happening.

“Everyone else, move to the main force. Hurry!”

Hyuk hoisted the unconscious Jin Taekyung onto his back.

After roughly two hours of running, the world went yellow before his eyes again—this time for a different reason.

I’m going to die.

It had only been a few days since Jopil’s brutal palm strike had left him with internal injuries. He had boasted to Jin Taekyung that he was almost fully recovered, but in truth he needed at least two weeks of rest, no arguments.

“Huff, huff.”

His entire body was drenched, and his legs were trembling.

He would have fallen behind even if he had only been trying to keep up. Carrying the solidly built Jin Taekyung on his back was literally killing him.

Ah, Mother. Father.

Now he was even hallucinating his parents—who were alive and well—beckoning to him. The middle-aged woman standing beside them was a face he often saw at the temple hall.

Guanyin Bodhisattva?

“Child. You have suffered enough. You may rest now.”

Her benevolent smile slowly eased Hyuk’s heart.

Yeah. I’ve done enough. The squad leader keels over at the critical moment, and these bastards won’t even offer to carry him for me, whether I drop dead or not.

Fuck it. Whatever.

Hyuk was just about to let go when—

“Whew… haaah.”

Warm breath slipped into his ear. He knew who it was without turning around. Tears of relief sprang to Hyuk’s eyes.

“Squad Leader!”

Jin Taekyung grinned and whispered,

“Candy in your ear.”¹

Clang! Clang!

“Kill them! Kill them!”

“Graaah!”

Blood and screams burst out on every side. A blood-soaked martial artist crawled on all fours between the corpses.

His still-youthful face was stained with pain and terror.

“Hnnh… hhhk…”

He tried to hold back his sobs, but they kept bursting out. He had spent ten years gritting his teeth and honing his martial arts, yet it had all proved useless on a battlefield spraying blood.

The senior he had relied on was dead. So was the comrade who had been like a brother to him. Weapons had poured in from every direction, splitting open bellies and hacking limbs apart.

“Mother… Mother…”

He called for her without end, and then his face went stiff.

Shunk—!

A spearhead had already sprouted from his chest.

His eyes flew wide for an instant, then the light went out of them. A wandering martial artist with a bandit’s beard pulled his rusty spear free and grinned.

“What’s a brat doing here?”

But even a wandering martial artist who had survived countless brushes with death could not evade the blade that came flying at him the next instant.

Slice—

A silver line flashed, and the wandering martial artist’s head shot into the air.

A wandering martial artist killed a martial artist. Another martial artist killed the wandering martial artist.

Nameless men killed and died on every side, over and over.

That was what a battlefield was.

Yes. This was what it was like.

The Head Elder looked out over the battlefield, his face steeped in memory.

Eight Spring Gorge. A fierce battleground that had occupied a single line in the history of the Great Faction War, decades ago. How many had died in that narrow gorge?

I was young then, too.

His body had been strong, and his heart had burned hot. It had been a time when that embarrassing character—chivalry—had still felt enormous.

But the Great Faction War had changed the Head Elder. He had grown weary of the endless fighting and afraid of death.

What good is a chivalrous warrior? Die, and you’re nothing but a ghost.

That had been a sliver of enlightenment. In the end he had survived and become a hero, and after a long stretch of endurance he had reached this place.

Now it was time to reap the fruit.

The Head Elder turned his cunning old eyes on the man standing beside him.

What a waste. Such a waste.

Jin Wikyung was a remarkable talent. He was young, his martial arts were considerable, and above all he had the dignity and judgment a leader needed. He sometimes let himself be bound by sentiment, but perhaps because of that, he was deeply respected within the family.

He’s more than capable of making the family prosper.

If Jin Wikyung became the Family Head, and if his two younger brothers—each already distinguishing himself—stood firmly behind him…

The Head Elder caught himself and let out a short laugh.

What a bizarre thing to be thinking after coming this far. Jin Taekyung would already have died and become a lonely ghost, at that.

“I’ve grown old.”

Jin Wikyung reacted to the quiet mutter.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing of importance. Old men talk to themselves more. More to the point, how does it look to you, Lesser Family Head?”

“The battle is going in our favor, but…”

Jin Wikyung’s expression darkened slightly. They held the advantage in both troop quality and terrain, but their casualties continued to mount.

There was no way he could watch members of his family die and feel at ease.

“Lesser Family Head. I understand how you feel, but do not act rashly.”

The Head Elder’s warning was stern.

“A leader must know when to step forward. The longer the battle drags on, the more impatient our enemies will become. That is the moment we must seize.”

“The Mount Heng Sword Sect will soon throw its full strength at us.”

“They’ll put their Peak masters at the front. Their Sect Leader, Lee Cheonbaek, may even come himself.”

“Then everything will be decided.”

The Head Elder nodded.

“If you, Wipeng, and I hold off the enemy command, and arrows rain down from the cliffs, their morale will hit rock bottom.”

“It’s a shame we can’t use a fire attack. I resent the heavens.”

The narrow terrain of Eight Spring Gorge was perfect for a fire attack, but the heavy snowfall several days earlier had left snow piled everywhere.

Yet even if the heavens had sided with Jin Wikyung, what he hoped for would never have happened.

The men drawing their bows atop the cliffs would obey the Head Elder’s commands.

“I resent the heavens as well.”

The Head Elder meant it.

He had waited far too many years. He resented Heaven’s mandate for arriving only now.

“Candy in your ear.”

“Squad Leader!”

“Was it sweet as a dream?”

“…Are you insane?”

The sight of Hyuk Mujin’s ugly face sent a rush of relief through me. The other reconnaissance squad members crowding in at the news that I was awake were no different.

“Squad Leader’s awake!”

“What happened? Are you all right?”

“Wasn’t he dead?”

I’d have to deal with the bastard who had just said that later. I memorized his face and name, then grinned at everyone.

“Been a while. You guys been well?”

“Huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did he hit his head?”

“His head—check his head!”

Exactly the reaction I’d expected.

But it was also a greeting I’d genuinely wanted to give them at least once.

…Even if they did treat me like a lunatic for it.

“Anyway, that’s enough greeting. How long was I out?”

Hyuk dropped onto the ground with a thud and answered.

“Definitely more than an hour, but a little under two.”

I’d spent two weeks in reality, so the timing roughly lined up. I nodded and moved on to my next question.

“Was I breathing?”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Seriously.”

“No time. Answer quickly.”

“You were breathing, that’s why you woke up. Otherwise you’d be dead.”

Fair enough.

Apparently, logging in or logging out put the other side into a deathlike state.

If I’d logged out before dealing with the assassins, there wouldn’t have been a body to come back to.

I’d think about that later.

There was a more urgent problem.

“The main force?”

“We were already heading that way. We split two men off and sent them back to the family.”

“Good. How much farther?”

“At least another two hours.”

“Two hours…”

“Uh, Squad Leader. I’m sorry to say this, but… I think we have to consider the worst case.”

Hyuk Mujin and every member of the reconnaissance squad clamped their mouths shut. Nobody had to ask what the worst case meant.

I’ve thought about it too.

From what Gwak Jun had said right before he died, this betrayal had been planned down to the last detail for a long time.

But the plan had exactly one error.

Me.

The Head Elder had underestimated me.

No—maybe, in another way, he’d overestimated me. He’d sent dozens of First Rate masters just to kill me.

Even that hadn’t been enough. I had survived.

He made a mistake.

On top of that, when Gwak Jun first revealed his true colors, he’d said they needed to start moving soon if they wanted to make it on time.

Which meant…

“It’s not too late.”

I met each squad member’s eyes and spoke firmly.

“Don’t think about the worst case. No matter what it takes, I’ll change that outcome.”

“Squad Leader…”

“So, Mujin.”

I gave Hyuk’s choked-up face a good-natured smile.

“Get up. Now.”

“I’m dying here.”

“Want to get beaten to death instead?”

“…”

“Run even one more step in the time we’ve got. Don’t you know marathon spirit?”

“I don’t.”

Ah. Right. This was Murim.

“Anyway, get up. Another hour will do it.”

Hyuk grabbed his trembling legs and pushed himself up, then cocked his head.

“An hour?”

“Yeah. An hour.”

“I already told you. Even at full speed, it’ll take two.”

“Exactly. An hour.”

“What are you even saying…”

“Mujin.”

“Yes?”

Hyuk blinked at me, as simple as an ox. I smiled even brighter.

“Ever heard of grit?”

Two hours or four, I didn’t care.

We were getting there in an hour. Period.

“Run like hell. That’ll do it.”

“Huk.”

Every face in the reconnaissance squad went deathly pale.

“We’ve been blocked.”

“Casualties are heavy. Sect Leader, please take action.”

Despite the continuing reports, Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheonbaek, Sect Leader of the Mount Heng Sword Sect, kept his eyes closed.

I was too hasty.

The war had begun in a rush, and their preparations had been equally inadequate. Their provisions were rapidly dwindling, morale was falling, and men were deserting one after another.

They read us completely.

Rage at losing his son and impatience with the situation had clouded his judgment. He had ignored his subordinates’ advice and taken the fastest route he could find.

And that was how he had run into the Jin Family of Taiyuan in a narrow gorge whose very name was unfamiliar: Eight Spring Gorge.

“Sect Leader!”

At his subordinate’s shout, Lee Cheonbaek slowly opened his eyes.

The fearsome vision of a Peak master pierced the battlefield.

“Gaaah!”

“Wipe them out! They’re nothing but rabble!”

Well over a thousand of his own men were jammed at the narrow mouth and couldn’t advance. The wandering martial artists and mounted bandits he’d put at the front had numbers, but man for man they were worse than even the Jin Family’s rank-and-file.

Sword fodder, at best.

Just as he was clicking his tongue inwardly, several dozen wandering martial artists suddenly started peeling off the front line. The middle-aged wanderer at their head bellowed until his throat tore.

“We’ll die like dogs at this rate! Brothers of the Blood Rain Group, fall back!”

Those became the middle-aged wandering martial artist’s last words.

Whoosh—

A light breeze. The wandering martial artist felt nothing else.

He did not know that Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheonbaek had already brushed past him. He did not know that the wandering martial artists under him had frozen in terror.

He only thought, suddenly, that his neck was hot.

“Uh…”

His cleanly severed head dropped with a dull thud. The headless body staggered a few more steps, then collapsed like a rotten old tree.

“The Blood Rain Group, was it?”

Lee Cheonbaek pointed his sword at the petrified wanderers. Not a single drop of blood stained its blade.

“Go back.”

A Peak master’s killing intent shot into them like a blade. The wandering martial artists charged toward the front even faster than they had come.

They had decided that fighting on the front line was better than throwing themselves at the Peak master before them.

“Rat bastards.”

Lee Cheonbaek went after them. His burning gaze was aimed somewhere ahead, where the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s command had to be.

“The Sect Leader is taking the lead!”

“Everyone, charge! Wipe out the Jin Family of Taiyuan!”

As Lee Cheonbaek stepped forward, the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s core forces followed.

Three Peak masters and dozens of First Rate masters crashed toward the front.