Chapter 281: Shadow War (1)

FWIIIIING! KWANG!

The iron shot from the cannon came arcing down and buried itself in the earth.

It had missed.

The group had escaped the bombardment by a hair’s breadth.

Gangryang exploded into curses.

“Fuck! Where the hell did that cannon come from?!”

Just then, Mo Yong-woo shouted,

“Don’t worry about the cannons! Run first!”

“What do you mean don’t worry about them?! If one of those hits us wrong, even one of the Thirteen Seats of the Supreme Heavens dies on the spot!”

“Commander Yeon will handle it!”

“What?”

At that moment, a crimson streak pierced the air in a straight line and shot toward the massive cannon.

KWAAAAANG!

The dented cannon flew into the sky.

It was a strike loaded with monstrous martial force and ultimate destructive power. With White Tiger Qi poured into Mad Dragon, one swing was enough to turn that chunk of iron weighing over a thousand geun into mangled scrap and send it flying.

Gangryang’s jaw dropped.

Is that even human?!

Then Yeon Hojeong shouted,

“Run faster! There are plenty of cannons left!”

PAAAAAAAK!

Mo Yong-woo and Gangryang kicked their speed up again.

Gangryang yelled,

“Damn it! Are we really supposed to keep running in a straight line?!”

“Just run! If Commander Yeon said it, then there’s a reason for it!”

“D-damn it!”

Then Gi Uhui spoke.

“You can keep running.”

“What?”

“I’m not uneasy. It’ll be all right if you keep running.”

What in the world did that mean? Not uneasy?

PIPIPIPIPING!—

Still firing without pause, Mookbi shouted to Yeon Hojeong.

“Young Master Yeon! We should change direc—!”

KWAAAAAAAAANG!

In that instant, a thunderous blast rolled out, and far away in the snow-covered forest, a massive column of fire shot up.

Mookbi’s eyes flew wide.

“Young Master Yeon!!”

CHWARURURURURUK!

Then, bursting up through the flames, the Flood Dragon Chain rose writhing wildly of its own accord.

BOOM! THUD-THUD!

“Aaaagh!”

“Argh!”

With eerie screams, crimson drops pattered down onto the white snow.

BANG! KWAAAAANG!

Straight along the path the group was running, explosion after explosion burst from the forest.

Gangryang’s eyes shook.

What the hell is going on?

KWANG! KWAAAAANG! BOOM!

Together with blasts that sounded like heaven and earth splitting apart, smashed and twisted cannons went tumbling in all directions.

That was not all.

Misfired powder charges turned the entire area into a wasteland, while bodies blown to pieces shot high into the air and scattered a rain of blood.

What the hell is happening back there?!

It was as if some massive siege engine were smashing apart every cannon laid along the route the group was fleeing down.

And in truth, Yeon Hojeong’s martial arts really were doing just that.

Abandoning Blood-Wing Sweeping Heaven with its frenzy of murderous forward drive, he had switched to White Tiger Monarch-Step and Black Tortoise Art, using sheer monstrous force to smash the cannons apart.

“Wh-what is that?!”

“Kill him!”

Men in white, hidden in the snow, each swung their cannons around.

Killing Intent burst from Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

He swung Mad Dragon at a boulder embedded in the ground.

KWAAAAAAAAANG!

It was not human strength.

The fairly large rock shattered into fragments no bigger than thumbs and sprayed out in every direction toward the cannons and the concealed men.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD! DADADADANG! KWAAAAANG!

There were no screams.

The hidden men who failed to evade the storm of stone died where they stood, the cannons were punched full of craters, and then the powder detonated, setting off a massive explosion.

Hup.

Yeon Hojeong drew in a deep breath.

WHIIIIIIIING!

The Four Spirit Qi, fueled by Jade Wave True Qi, blazed in unison and flooded tremendous power into his bones and muscles.

Cannons. I never saw that coming.

He had already smashed more than seven cannons apart by sheer mad forward force.

Now there were about five left.

Once he destroyed those too, all that remained would be to run.

Why cannons were laid out here, who these people are—I can think about that later.

A hard light settled in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

And about the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions too.

PAAAAANG!

From White Tiger Monarch-Step to Heaven-Granted Flowing Flight.

With movement so light it was almost graceful, Yeon Hojeong closed on a distant cannon and, in the next heartbeat, stamped down another step of White Tiger Monarch-Step.

KWANG! KWAAAAANG!

Two cannons caved in at once.

Damn it.

No matter how strong he was, even for Yeon Hojeong, wrecking this many cannons with nothing but an axe and chain was brutal work.

And martial arts that overwhelmed through raw force were as taxing as they were powerful, burning through both stamina and Inner Qi at a frightening rate.

That simple truth applied to Yeon Hojeong as much as to anyone else. If not for the lungs and muscles he had forged so relentlessly, and the steady support of Jade Wave True Qi, his breathing would already have collapsed, and he would barely have been able to move.

JJEOOOOOEONG!

One descending strike split a cannon apart on the bias.

Four.

KWAAAAANG!

Another cannon flipped out of the ground and flew sideways, crashing through a boulder.

Three.

Then—

KURURURUNG!

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes shook.

All three of the remaining cannons swung toward him.

Not the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions.

They had decided to kill Yeon Hojeong first.

SHIIIIIIK!

Fire caught on the short fuses.

WOOOOOOONG!

The White Tiger Qi covering Yeon Hojeong’s entire body vanished, and in its place, an auspicious blue-green radiance bloomed.

Azure Dragon Qi.

BANG! KWANG! KWAAAAANG!

Three successive cannon blasts poured straight down onto Yeon Hojeong.

KURURURUNG!

The forest was instantly devastated.

Unmelted snow and clotted earth sprayed in every direction, and several trees were ripped up by the roots and toppled.

“Is he dead?!”

“He has to be! Swing the cannons back around! Reload! The target’s already inside the five-line mark!”

“Good!”

KIIIGIIIGIK!

The cannon barrels turned quickly.

Made of steel, they were naturally incredibly heavy. But the speed and smoothness with which the muzzles rotated were unnervingly fluid. They seemed to be built precisely for that sort of movement.

Those things...

By then, Yeon Hojeong had already flown up to the top of a tree. Looking down below, he frowned.

There’s no way those came from anywhere but the authorities. The military, specifically.

The corners of Yeon Hojeong’s eyes twitched.

I knew these bastards were tied to the authorities, but were the ties really this deep?

Military cannons could never be removed for private use. Without a formal order from the highest real power in the military, no high-ranking official had the authority to take them out.

Of course, there had been officials who siphoned off cannons in secret.

But every one of them had done so as a contingency against some unknown future disaster—not to drag them out like this just to kill one man.

So that’s how the game is being played.

Yeon Hojeong drew in another breath.

WOOOOOOONG.

The cold air slid through his nose into his lungs, easing the tension knotted through his internal organs.

Flash!

Light blazed in Yeon Hojeong’s eyes.

TUH-UH-UH-UNG!

He shot straight down toward the ground and dragged Black Tortoise Qi to its absolute limit.

This was not defense.

He meant to take absolute defense—built upon the ultimate principle of rebound—and turn it into an attack.

Black Tortoise Art.

The ultimate form of the Northern Heaven Twelve Walls.

The True Martial Emperor’s Heavy Wall, manifested through Black Tortoise Qi driven to its [N O V E L I G H T] utmost under the power of Jade Wave True Qi.

Yeon Hojeong swung Mad Dragon at the space between the three cannons.

BOOOOOOM!

Elsewhere, a strangely curving wooden arrow punched through an assassin’s thigh.

His body lurched off balance, and Mookbi immediately fired a Formless Shot and blew his head apart.

BOOM!

That was the last of the assassins.

“Big Sister! Are you all right?!”

“I’m fine.”

She said she was fine, but she absolutely was not.

Her reckless circulation of Inner Qi had left her with serious internal injuries. She was at the point where it was hard just to keep standing on Gangryang’s shoulders.

Then a massive shockwave swept through the surroundings.

KURURURUNG!

“Hk!”

“W-watch out!”

Mo Yong-woo turned his back and shielded Gi Uhui, while Gangryang caught Mookbi as she fell and wrapped himself around her.

WHOOOOOOOOOSH! KUGUGUGUNG!

The shockwave from the forest where the cannons had been laid out struck with such force that it set off an earthquake across the area.

That was not powder.

It was an explosive burst of force created through True Qi driven to the extreme.

Mookbi shouted,

“Young Master Yeon!”

KUGUGUGUNG! BANG!

Another pillar of fire shot up together with the sound of iron cannons being hurled away.

This time, the powder had gone off.

Everyone turned toward the forest.

Fwoooosh.

The flames were burning with such violence that they looked ready to lick the sky itself.

Gangryang’s face went pale.

“B-big Brother!!”

Then—

As if it had been waiting for his voice, a young man came walking out through the blazing red demon-fire.

Huff. Huff.

White vapor hung in the breath pouring from his mouth. It looked like the savage breathing of a beast that had fought until it was drenched in blood.

Mo Yong-woo’s face brightened.

“Commander Yeon!”

“Hoo. Hoo.”

At last, Yeon Hojeong emerged in full.

The group had been ready to greet him with relief, but the words died in their throats.

Yeon Hojeong looked awful.

The light armor made by the Tang Clan’s secret techniques was intact, but the rest of him was drenched in blood. His clothes were ripped and blown open in places, and there were burns across his body as well.

They had never seen Yeon Hojeong injured this badly before.

At the same time, they could only marvel.

He had smashed apart more than ten cannons—and after all those explosions, he had still forced his way out alive. It was a feat of martial power that left one speechless.

“Commander Yeon! Are you all right?”

“I am not. It feels like every joint in my body has been knocked out of place.”

“You’ve done enough. You’ve done more than enough.”

“It’s nothing. Everyone worked for this.”

Yeon Hojeong turned to Mookbi.

“You did well. Really well. If not for you, this would have become troublesome in a lot of ways.”

The worry on Mookbi’s face gave way to a proud, confident smile.

“See? I told you you’d need me.”

“From now on, I’ll pay closer attention to what you say.”

“Of course you will.”

Yeon Hojeong pulled a small medicinal pill from inside his clothes.

“I brought this just in case. Take it.”

“What is it?”

“Medicine for internal injuries.”

“No. You need it more than I do, Young Master Yeon—”

“I recover fast even without things like this. And on the road ahead, I think we’ll need your archery more than we’ll need me. Treat your internal injury first.”

“But—”

“That’s an order from the Commander of the Evil-Smiting Corps. Take it.”

At that point, she had no choice. Mookbi swallowed the medicine Yeon Hojeong handed her.

Smiling, Yeon Hojeong looked at Gangryang.

“You kept up pretty well.”

“...You smashed things up pretty well.”

“My job is to smash things and kill people. This much is nothing.”

Gangryang shivered.

“I need to train like my life depends on it. If I want to catch even the tip of your foot, ordinary training won’t get me anywhere.”

“If you’ve realized that now, then that’s enough. Either way, you did well.”

“Yes. You too, Big Brother.”

This time, Yeon Hojeong looked at Mo Yong-woo.

The two men exchanged no words.

They only looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.

At last, Yeon Hojeong turned to Gi Uhui.

Flinch.

Without meaning to, Gi Uhui sucked in a breath.

Mo Yong-woo reassured her.

“Commander Yeon’s appearance is somewhat rough, so perhaps it startled you. But do not worry. All of us are here as your escort, Divine Physician.”

“...Yes.”

Gi Uhui was not frightened by the blood-soaked state Yeon Hojeong was in.

Seeing blood was a physician’s fate. This much barely moved her at all.

No—

What frightened her was his gaze.

Those clear, sharp eyes that seemed capable of seeing through the inside of a person in an instant.

Yeon Hojeong stared at Gi Uhui for a moment, then lowered his head.

“We will escort you safely. For now, we should move.”

“Ah, y-yes! But... are you really all right?”

With his head lowered, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed coldly.

“I’m fine. As much as anyone could possibly be.”