Chapter 177: Fate (2)

FWOOOOSH!

The flames shot up into the sky, towering high like a dragon ascending.

“AAAAAH!”

“R-Run! Hurry!”

“Don’t run! Stop them— KRAAAH!”

SPURT!

The sickening sound of flesh tearing, raw screams, and even the sound of fresh blood pouring out and soaking into the ground—

Horrific noises big and small came from every direction. And every one of those hellish sounds announced the same thing:

The downfall of a single merchant group.

KWA-BOOOOM!

Astonishingly, the hundreds of attackers advanced while smashing an enormous stone wall down in one piece.

There was no mystical martial art, no brilliant tactic. Hulking men wielding iron hammers with heads the size of a human skull shattered the wall in a frenzy, and horse bandits fast as arrows flooded through the breach.

Simple—yet perfectly coordinated. The wall-breakers, the infiltrators, the ones skilled at ranged attacks—each of them knew exactly when it was their turn to move.

No matter how routine raids were for horse bandits, this was far too organized. Seasoned fighters, drawing maximum efficiency out of blunt, simple methods.

That was the Gray Wolf Band.

THUD!

“KYAAAAH!”

“AAAGH!”

They were sweeping everything away like a tide.

Guards, civilians—man, woman, child—anyone they saw, they killed.

The Sea Dragon Merchant Group was located far from the market district. That distance made their presence feel even more exceptional... but in a situation like this, when an overwhelming attack struck, it also meant there was no easy way to alert the surrounding area.

Of course, it was rare for a merchant group to collapse to an outside invasion. A merchant group wasn’t a martial sect.

“What the hell are those bastards?!”

Yeong Cheonhyang was shaking with rage.

“How dare a pack of Black Path trash attack us without fear—!”

That was when it happened.

FLAP!

In the distance, several enormous banners snapped in the wind.

On the gray fabric, two huge characters were emblazoned: WOLF and BANDIT.

Horse bandits? No way. Those are horse bandits?!

He couldn’t believe it. What kind of horse bandit crew was this strong?

And the number—well over five hundred.

Yeong Cheonhyang’s eyes bulged.

“D-Don’t tell me... the Gray Wolf Band?!”

The words WOLF and BANDIT on that gray banner.

Who else would fly a flag like that if not the Gray Wolf Band, the beyond-the-frontier’s strongest horse bandits? It was shocking on its own that a bandit crew would carry such an old-fashioned, grand banner.

KWA-BOOOOM!

The western wall collapsing wasn’t enough—now the northern wall went too.

They couldn’t even control their own overflowing power. And there were so many of them, and they treated killing like nothing. Even the Sea Dragon Merchant Group—one of the most prominent in Shandong—could only be overwhelmed.

There was no choice now. More than three hundred horse bandits were already inside the outer compound, turning it into a slaughterhouse, and dozens had punched into the inner compound as well.

At this rate, everyone would die. It was time to decide.

“Gu Hyo! Secure an escape route and get the people out!”

“B-But, Group Lord! The wealth in the warehouses—”

“Everyone’s about to die and you’re talking about money? Get the people moving, now!”

“Yes!”

He said it, but Yeong Cheonhyang had already stored a significant portion of his valuables outside. If he hadn’t, he would’ve started by clearing the warehouses long ago.

And so, as the surviving merchant group members used a hidden passage and moved toward an escape route through back roads—

THUUUD!

Three blood-soaked bodies flew through the air.

“Ghk—!”

“H-Horse bandits!”

Astonishingly, at the end of the escape route known only to the merchant group’s top leadership, more than three hundred horse bandits were waiting in formation.

Hang Chun barked coldly.

“What are you idiots doing? Tear them apart and kill them!”

“WAAAAAA!”

The horse bandits roared with eerie battle cries as they swung their weapons.

Those who had swelled with hope of survival died with despair in their throats. There was no other way to describe it—completely trapped.

Yeong Cheonhyang was just as terrified. He had trained in martial arts too, but not to a level he could brag about anywhere.

That was when—

Yeong Cheonhyang saw a man standing behind the charging horse bandits.

“You.”

The reason he could recognize him from so far away—

Because they shared blood.

“Go-wi! Why are you there?!”

Yeong Go-wi forced himself to turn his head away.

Yeong Cheonhyang’s eyes went bloodshot. That single motion told him everything about what was happening.

“You rotten bastard! You joined hands with bandits to kill your own family?!”

That was when—

“You’re yapping loud.”

KWA-BOOOOM!

It was like a massive boulder crashed into them.

The one who slammed in with his hulking body and turned more than ten guards into a pulp—

Was Basarek.

Yeong Cheonhyang’s face drained paper-white.

Basarek’s eyes, glaring at him, were slit and cold like a snake’s despite his size. Under that stare, Yeong Cheonhyang couldn’t move an inch—like a mouse in front of a giant venomous serpent.

“You the group lord?”

“Y-You bastard—!”

“‘Bastard’?”

Basarek swung his huge fist like a hammer.

CRUNCH!

The blow smashed through the crown of the head and split straight down between the collarbones. It was so powerful it was hard to believe even after seeing it.

The survivors went pale. For the first time, they understood a human being could die that horribly.

Basarek snorted.

“For a mere merchant group, you sure talked big—one of the top in Shandong, right? So why are you this damn weak?”

Having seized the atmosphere with a shocking murder, Basarek shouted,

“Kill every last one—men and women, old and young, kids and adults! Leave only ten women worth using!”

“WAAAAAA!”

A storm of blood swept through. Torn flesh and shattered bones scattered across the ground.

Hell on earth.

“Commander!”

“......”

“Please give the order, right now!”

Gyu Byeok, the Second Company Leader of the Demon-Sweeping Corps, shouted.

Mo Yong-woo didn’t answer. He only stared down at the burning Sea Dragon Merchant Group with eyes deeper than the flames.

Gyu Byeok was frantic.

“Commander!”

Then the First Company Leader, Jin Pae, spoke.

“Calm down, Leader Gyu.”

“Fuck this! You think this is a time to be calm, brother?!”

“This is official duty. Don’t use personal forms of address.”

Trembling, Gyu Byeok took a deep breath and shouted again.

“Commander! If nothing else, send my company! We’ll hit them right now!”

That was when Mo Yong-woo finally spoke.

“Rushing in with a single company won’t mean anything.”

“Commander?!”

Jin Pae snapped at him.

“Leader Gyu! Can’t you see their fighting strength?! If you crash into them without any plan, both sides will take catastrophic losses!”

“......!”

“Cool your head. You’re responsible for a hundred soldiers as a hundred-man leader. Remember that a rash decision could get your men slaughtered for nothing.”

Gyu Byeok bit down on his lip.

Of course he knew. But those bandits weren’t only killing warriors— they were butchering ordinary people who’d never learned even a scrap of martial arts.

It was the kind of sight anyone would struggle to endure.

At least, anyone who understood the Orthodox Path.

Jin Pae looked at Mo Yong-woo.

Commander.

Mo Yong-woo’s face was blank. His eyes were clear and deep as he watched the merchant group being overrun.

But Jin Pae saw it—Mo Yong-woo’s jaw bulged slightly.

He was forcing his fury down, too.

If the leader shook, the soldiers under him would die. Mo Yong-woo knew that by instinct.

A moment later, Mo Yong-woo said,

“First, we make them stop fighting.”

“...What?”

Mo Yong-woo spoke to the Fifth Company Leader, Gye Eok.

“When the Evil-Smiting Corps finishes cleaning up Hawun-ri, they’ll come up the southern valley. Fifth Company Leader—take your men to the Evil-Smiting Corps.”

“To the Evil-Smiting Corps?”

“Tell Commander Yeon. We need the Evil-Smiting Corps for the first strike. Tell him we’ll decide the fight in a single ambush.”

“......!”

“If you tell him only that, he’ll understand.”

“Yes, sir!”

Gye Eok led the Fifth Company down the slope.

Mo Yong-woo turned his gaze to the northwest, toward the rear flank.

Deputy Commander Mookbi.

Among the Evil-Smiting Corps, the only one still left at Mo Yong-woo’s side was Mookbi—because of Yeon Hojeong’s order.

Mo Yong-woo raised his left hand sharply, clenching his fist high.

That was enough. Mookbi would have seen it—and she would have understood what it meant.

Mo Yong-woo spoke.

“Entire force.”

SHIIING!

He drew his heavy greatsword.

“Advance.”

“WAAAAAA!”

Four hundred Demon-Sweeping Corps cavalry poured down the steep mountain path at terrifying speed, reaching the Sea Dragon Merchant Group’s shattered wall—barely a hundred paces away—in an instant.

That was when—

FWEET!

A single arrow flew in fast, aimed straight at Mo Yong-woo’s head.

THWACK!

Without looking surprised at all, Mo Yong-woo snatched it out of the air with his left hand and snapped the shaft like a twig.

WOOOOOONG!

When Mo Yonggun seated Mo Yong-woo as Demon-Sweeping Corps Commander, he personally commissioned a famed sword from Henan’s finest master craftsman.

True Qi erupted into the Demon-Sweeping Greatsword.

Heaven-and-Earth Eight Extremes True Qi poured out.

In an instant, Mo Yong-woo’s eyes released a murderous pressure so dense it felt physical.

KWA-BOOOOM!

With a single slash from horseback, the raging fire scattered—and the bodies of three nearby horse bandits were shredded apart.

“......!”

The horse bandits in the outer compound jolted and turned toward him.

Mo Yong-woo spoke evenly.

“Bring me your leader.”

*****

“KRAAAAH!”

“Y-You lunatic—what are you?!”

THUD!

Dongho blew a horse bandit’s head apart with a single strike of Bamboo-Leaf Hand, then said coldly,

“We are the Evil-Smiting Corps.”

CLANG! THUD! SLASH!

Behind the collision of weapons came the sound of bodies breaking.

The Evil-Smiting Corps was strong.

Men and women who had mastered the core martial arts of the Nine Sects and One Union—pillars of the Orthodox world—had survived countless battles and brushes with death, and now they were drawing out more than ten-tenths of their power.

It was nothing like their first fight.

Their martial arts hadn’t leapt dramatically since then, yet the difference was enormous. Their frantic movements were gone. With minimal, clean motions and no wasted effort, they carried out efficient killing swordplay that butchered the Gray Wolf Band’s one hundred fifty raiders.

KWA-BOOOOM!

The one who stood out most was Paeng Manho.

He had grown so much through real combat that he couldn’t even be compared to his old self—yet unlike the others, his movements weren’t “clean.”

It wasn’t because he was weak.

It was because his innate brute strength and martial arts were built on relentless strong攻—pure, direct offense.

Maybe that was why. Whenever battle broke out, Paeng Manho always took the vanguard. He was exceptionally good at crushing the enemy’s morale with the opening blow.

After the fighting had raged for a quarter-hour—

Unlike the Evil-Smiting Corps, which had not a single casualty, the Gray Wolf Band had five survivors out of one hundred fifty. Everyone ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) else had crossed the river of death.

“Ghk...!”

Cheon Gwi bared his teeth. Countless sword cuts were carved all over his body.

“What the hell are you? Don’t tell me you came from the Alliance of the Martial World?!”

The Evil-Smiting Corps soldiers only stared down at the five horse bandits in silence.

Cheon Gwi felt his throat go tight.

There were plenty of women among them. Normally, Cheon Gwi would have spewed curses and filthy jokes to rattle the enemy—but right now, he couldn’t.

No way...

Expressionless faces. Eyes so empty of emotion they felt inhuman, looking down at them.

It was a chilling sight. That strange oppressive aura even shut the mouth of Cheon Gwi—said to be one of the cruelest in the Gray Wolf Band.

That was when—

“The Commander is coming.”

CHIRRING!

As one, they sheathed their weapons and snapped into formation.

Yeon Hojeong emerged through the lines of the Evil-Smiting Corps. His clothes were stained in several places, but not a single drop of blood clung to the blade of Mad Dragon (Axe).

“......!”

Cheon Gwi’s body trembled.

The moment he met the gaze of Yeon Hojeong, staring down at him with that monstrous axe in hand, it felt like the world went dark.

Yeon Hojeong asked,

“Why did you leave these alive?”

Yeo Guk answered.

“They said they’d provide information about the Gray Wolf Band. We thought it might matter, so we kept them for now.”

Yeon Hojeong let out a small, amused breath. He could see right through the obvious stalling tactic.

Then a faint vibration traveled through the ground.

CLICK.

The soldiers placed their hands on their weapons at once.

A moment later, Gye Eok—the Fifth Company Leader of the Demon-Sweeping Corps—appeared.

“This is the Demon-Sweeping Corps Commander’s message!”

Hearing Gye Eok’s words, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes sharpened.

“An ambush...”

He nodded.

“We move immediately.”

“Understood.”

FLAP!

Yeon Hojeong swung up onto his warhorse.

“Commander. What should we do with these?”

“Their ‘information’ is bullshit.”

Yeon Hojeong added, his face cold.

“Kill them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cheon Gwi shouted in panic.

“W-Wait—!”

THUD!

The five horse bandits’ heads flew into the air.