When the Specter Revives (3)
The carriage came to a stop before even half an hour had passed since their departure.
“The road is blocked.”
As if a landslide had occurred, trees uprooted from their very roots filled the road, cutting it off completely. On top of that, the road beyond them had been severed altogether, making it impossible for the carriage to pass.
Judging by the current situation, there was no doubt that someone had blocked the road on purpose.
“It seems you will have to proceed on foot.”
At Lim Jung-Tae’s words, Ma Bong-Gi stepped down from the carriage. He looked thoroughly displeased, but what could he do when the road was blocked?
The woman got out of the carriage after him. She was a beautiful woman, but she looked terribly exhausted. The warriors gathered the two people’s luggage from the carriage and carried it on their backs.
The broken stretch of road had to be crossed by leaping over it with Lightness Skill.
For Gal Sa-Ryang, who knew no Martial Arts, one of the warriors came forward to carry him on his back.
That was when I stepped in.
“I will escort the strategist.”
At that, the warriors who had been about to carry Gal Sa-Ryang looked startled.
“Do you know Martial Arts?”
“Yes. I think I can cross this much.”
“What if you make a mistake?”
“You don’t need to worry.”
“I did hear something in passing. That the responsible strategist knew Martial Arts. But even if you could cross alone, it will be difficult to cross this while carrying someone.”
Without hesitation, I carried Gal Sa-Ryang on my back and lightly leaped across.
The warrior was startled. I had crossed far more lightly than he had imagined.
I had deliberately shown them that I could use Martial Arts. Judging by the situation, I would have to fight alongside these people from now on. If so, letting them know in advance that I could use Martial Arts was probably the wise decision.
As he got down from my back, Gal Sa-Ryang expressed his thanks.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
On the other hand, Ma Bong-Gi did not look after the woman who had gotten down from the carriage. He simply leaped across by himself, so one of the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors had to take care of her and cross with her.
What a pathetic bastard!
When you hate someone, and hate them, they end up dancing around and shitting right in front of you, as the saying went. There was surely a part of me that kept seeing only his hateful sides because I already disliked him so much.
But even by an objective evaluation, Ma Bong-Gi was an even more hopeless man.
Once the carriage could no longer be used, our traveling speed clearly dropped. Naturally, the mood became gloomy.
Lim Jung-Tae made one suggestion.
“If we make only a slight detour from here, there is a Grand Martial Alliance branch. We should stop there and receive support.”
Since there was a need to restore morale, Gal Sa-Ryang accepted his suggestion.
However, when we arrived at the Grand Martial Alliance branch, we could not find any morale there that would restore us. What awaited us was a gruesome sight.
Just like in the village earlier, dozens of branch warriors had been completely massacred. This time as well, they had been killed horribly. Not only the warriors, but even the cooks who worked in the kitchen and the servants had all been killed.
My heart turned cold.
Those damn bastards, seriously!
Whatever their goal was, this was something that could never be forgiven. I would make sure to grind up and swallow every single bastard who had planned and carried out this matter.
“Let us hurry.”
We had just left the building and were about to leave the place behind.
That was when it happened.
Dozens of warriors were walking toward us. They were all standing there with banners in their hands. The red character written on the banners was “Kill.”
I was startled. The reason burst out from Gal Sa-Ryang’s mouth.
“The Demon Banners!”
At the words “Demon Banners,” the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors were also startled. They were famous demonic practitioners from the Blood Sky Cult. Among the Fierce Tiger Unit warriors, the older ones had fought them before, and the younger warriors had only heard of them through stories.
Everyone knew one thing for certain.
The Demon Banners were an extremely terrifying existence.
Fierce Tiger Unit Leader Lim Jung-Tae shouted.
“Everyone, be careful! They are elites of the Demonic Cult!”
Seeing them truly brought back the memory of the ones I had seen long ago. Their clothing and their banners were exactly the same.
How could they recreate them this perfectly?
At this point, I was suspicious enough to wonder whether the Demonic Cult had truly risen again.
The number of Demon Banners who revealed themselves was fifty. At least it was not a perfect revival. Originally, the number of Demon Banners had been one thousand. When the great plains were covered with those red banners, it had truly been a spectacular sight.
In any case, one thing was certain. Someone who knew the inside of the Blood Sky Cult extremely well must have survived. Otherwise, they could not have reproduced them so identically.
As we watched them approach while emitting a terrifying momentum, Gal Sa-Ryang spoke quickly.
“This time, the Alliance Lord must personally step forward.”
“Mm.”
Ma Bong-Gi showed a slightly displeased expression. However, perhaps he had expected it as well, because he silently listened to Gal Sa-Ryang’s words.
“If they are truly those Demon Banners of the former Blood Sky Cult, then unless you personally step forward, Alliance Lord, the entire Fierce Tiger Unit will be annihilated. You are not thinking of facing them alone after all of us have died, are you?”
Gal Sa-Ryang spoke in a firm tone. Ma Bong-Gi was still full of reluctance, but he could not refute those words. Even in his own eyes, that was the situation.
Lim Jung-Tae, who had been listening, cut in.
“That is unacceptable! As long as we are here, we cannot let the Alliance Lord step forward first!”
Since the Fierce Tiger Unit was the Alliance Lord’s guard unit, of course they would react like that.
“If you insist on being stubborn like that, the Alliance Lord will die as well.”
After suppressing him with a single sentence, Gal Sa-Ryang quickly explained.
“The Alliance Lord will take the center, and Unit Leader Lim will deploy the Hyeonhyeon Formation to face the enemies on the right. Strategist Byeok and I will take the left.”
Lim Jung-Tae spoke worriedly.
“It is too much for the two of you alone. We will divide our forces and protect you. We can spare two men.”
This time, Ma Bong-Gi cut in.
“Those two should help me!”
Gal Sa-Ryang spoke quickly.
“With only two men, they will actually hinder the Alliance Lord.”
Without listening to Ma Bong-Gi’s answer, he spoke to Lim Jung-Tae.
“Unit Leader Lim, our current number is the minimum required to form the Hyeonhyeon Formation. You know that, don’t you?”
“Even so.”
“You do not need to worry about us or the Alliance Lord. Trust my judgment.”
Lim Jung-Tae no longer insisted.
“Understood.”
There had to be a reason Gal Sa-Ryang was speaking so confidently.
Ma Bong-Gi stepped forward with a displeased face.
“Damn it! I suppose there’s no helping it.”
He, too, did not insist on any useless stubbornness. When it came to survival, he had an extraordinary instinct. He clearly felt that it would be dangerous if he did not listen to Gal Sa-Ryang right now.
Following Gal Sa-Ryang’s instructions, we stood in three directions.
“You must not be bewitched by the banners. Even if you panic, you must not try to cut down the banners. That is exactly what they are aiming for. With an ordinary sword, the banner poles will not be cut. Think of it as fighting against spears, deflect them to the side, and look for an opening. Instead, be careful when three or more banners gather in the shape of the character 品. That is when they will attempt a combined attack. And……”
Gal Sa-Ryang explained the things we needed to be careful of when facing the Demon Banners. Because he had experience fighting them in the past, his operational instructions flowed like water.
After finishing the instructions, Gal Sa-Ryang stood behind me.
I asked Gal Sa-Ryang in a whisper.
“How are we supposed to block them?”
“You handle it on your own.”
“Pardon?”
I looked at him in disbelief. He whispered into my ear again.
“They will think that I am commanding you and that you are blocking them. So get rid of them as much as you like.”
He truly believed in me. I once again clearly felt that Gal Sa-Ryang was clever. Yes, a clever person should understand everything after experiencing it once.
“I will be the one doing the hard work, and you will take the honor, Strategist.”
“That is exactly why the saying ‘if you feel wronged, rise in the world’ came about.”
“Haha.”
Everyone looked surprised at how relaxed we were in front of powerful enemies. The two people they were most worried about were the ones acting the most at ease.
Meanwhile, the Demon Banners arrived nearby and surrounded us.
Gal Sa-Ryang stepped backward. Then he called over Ma Bong-Gi’s woman, who was trembling beside them, and placed her behind him. Though he had no Martial Arts, he was still a man.
The key to this fight was for me to quickly cut down the side I was responsible for and then help the others.
“Where the hell did you bastards crawl out from?”
Ma Bong-Gi shouted in a booming voice. Even if he was an old man soaked in lust, he had still been the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Blade Sect.
There was one man holding a different-colored banner. Unlike the others, his banner was red with white characters on it.
“To think the Murim Alliance Lord does not know us. How pathetic.”
Energy flowed from his body. Shockingly, it was demonic energy. Someone who had truly learned demonic arts had appeared.
Now, look at that.
The traces of the Demonic Cult I had seen before were results artificially created through drugs or secret methods.
But this energy right now was clearly demonic energy. In other words, demonic arts had been passed down. If that was the case, this might not be an easy fight.
Just as the two of them were about to exchange a few more words, I moved first. The strength of the Demon Banners lay in their dazzling attack method, which could not be seen among ordinary opponents, and in their well-organized combined techniques.
The best method was to attack before they matched their coordination.
The man at the front thrust out his banner pole.
Flutter!
The banner blocked my vision.
However, it did not block only my eyes.
When the man struck down with his banner pole at the place where I should have been, I was no longer there.
Swiish! Thud!
Appearing in a flash from the opposite side, I swung my sword and cut his throat. Starting with his collapse, the battle began.
“Kill every last one of those Grand Martial Alliance bastards!”
The leader of the Demon Banners shouted.
But the first person to carry out that slaughter order was me.
I slid along the banner pole thrust toward me and cut across the next man’s chest as if sweeping over it. Blood sprayed as he fell, and the banner fluttered down to the ground.
Banner poles flew toward me from both sides.
My body soared into the air.
Papapapapang!
Five or six banner poles simultaneously flew toward me with the sound of slicing wind.
But they did not reach me. It looked as if they had narrowly missed, but it was exactly the leap I had calculated. Because I avoided them by a hair’s breadth, my counterattack was quick.
I slid down along one of the banner poles and swung my sword.
Slice!
The arm holding the banner pole was cut off, and I immediately launched myself toward another man.
I entangled myself wildly among them, and that was the core of my strategy. A banner was fundamentally a weapon like a spear. Therefore, it required basic distance.
But I did not give them distance. Since I had learned the Immortal Crane Secret Art, I was the strongest person when it came to fighting while tangled up at close range.
I moved freely in all directions between the fluttering banners. The opponents’ skill was considerable. They truly had the same level of skill as the Demon Banners of the past.
I cut down all ten or so men who had attacked my side.
Ma Bong-Gi was fighting against the leader of the Demon Banners. Shockingly, the man possessed skill equal to Ma Bong-Gi’s. On top of that, the remaining Demon Banners were helping him, so Ma Bong-Gi was being slightly pushed back.
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I passed by their fight and helped the battle on the right. Since it was the Hyeonhyeon Formation, which displayed the strongest effect when facing the Demon Banners, they were able to face them evenly despite their smaller number.
What if Gal Sa-Ryang had not been here, and I had not been here? What if they had blindly fought against them? Corpses from our side would already have been scattered everywhere. Even Ma Bong-Gi might already have been dead.
But the result was completely different because I took one side and the other side held out with the Hyeonhyeon Formation.
They were holding out without a single person dying. Rather, when the forces on my side collapsed, the Demon Banners panicked.
If the left had collapsed, would the right be any different?
The moment I began helping, the tide of battle changed instantly. The enemies fell one after another, and the Demon Banners who had been facing Ma Bong-Gi in the center came to support this side.
My sword was fast and precise. The Fierce Tiger Unit warriors fighting beside me were amazed. It was not a flashy technique, nor was I using a massive amount of internal energy. I was simply stabbing my sword quickly and precisely into the right places at the right times.
Would such a simple attack really work? But it worked perfectly.
Not only the warriors on our side, but even the enemies were amazed. Once I joined in, the power of the Hyeonhyeon Formation doubled.
In the end, the enemies on the right also collapsed. Lim Jung-Tae and the warriors helped Ma Bong-Gi. I did not step forward, but supported and helped them from behind.
Seeing my choice, Gal Sa-Ryang nodded. He probably did not know, but throughout the battle, I had been paying attention to Gal Sa-Ryang. If anyone had tried to attack him, my dagger would have flown.
The number of enemies gradually decreased.
I did not help Ma Bong-Gi and instead helped the warriors. To be honest, I thought it would not matter at all if Ma Bong-Gi died here.
Thanks to that, the number of Fierce Tiger Unit warriors who owed me their lives increased.
At the final moment, the leader of the Demon Banners lost his life at Ma Bong-Gi’s hands. Still, he did at least have the skill to face a man of that level alone.
Just before dying, the man showed intense disbelief, as if he could not believe this situation.
Unless they included my existence in their calculations, that disbelief would continue.
When he died, all the remaining Demon Banners fled.
“Do not chase them!”
At my shout, the warriors did not pursue them. Since we had killed their leader, chasing them in an attempt to annihilate them would only be dangerous and would have no meaning.
In truth, there was an even more important reason than that. They would go back and report this fight. Those who survived were all the ones who had fought Ma Bong-Gi.
That meant there was no one who had accurately seen how I had fought. In the end, their superiors would be told that this fight had been won through Ma Bong-Gi’s achievements. They would think the Hyeonhyeon Formation was thanks to Gal Sa-Ryang. Even in this battle, my existence had not been revealed.
“As expected, you are truly amazing, Alliance Lord! Your skills have not rusted at all!”
At Gal Sa-Ryang’s praise, Ma Bong-Gi’s shoulders rose.
“Well, bastards like these are nothing.”
“For now, I think we should move quickly.”
“Let us do that.”
We began moving again toward the Namhyeon Escort Agency.
After walking for quite a while, Gal Sa-Ryang spoke in a low voice so that only I could hear.
“With someone like you, I feel I might be able to dream a great dream together.”
I smiled happily at having grown closer to him. And those words were truly words I wanted to say to him as well.
I also want to dream a great dream with you.
I am certain.
Before long, the moment will come when I say those words.
In the distance, the buildings of the Namhyeon Escort Agency came into view.
What exactly was waiting for us there?
Would there be another damned trap?
Or would the leader of the bastards truly be waiting?
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