Chapter 18
An Unexpected Connection (3)
On the road to Hongho.
It should be fine to explain now.
There was no one else around.
Jegal Hyeryeong began to explain in detail to the Wind-and-Cloud Division Leader and the captains why she had made this decision.
Bang Geuk and the other captains’ faces lit up in understanding.
They asked again, their voices full of admiration and curiosity.
“So you mean, the Grand Strategist himself didn’t believe this was a full-scale invasion by the Black Lotus?”
“Yes. If it truly had been, not only Gogeom Sect but all the small and mid-sized sects nearby would have already been drowned in blood. The Red Dragon King moved personally, after all.”
It was clear she had judged so from the start.
Aside from the urgent message from Gogeom Sect about the ‘skirmish,’ there had been no reports of casualties among the Alliance-affiliated sects.
“Then, the immediate dispatch of the Wind-and-Cloud Division was just to show the Black Lotus and all the martial world our Alliance’s swift response, and to gain accurate information on the situation?”
“That’s right.”
“Phew—! And we didn’t even realize that. Hah.”
“But more importantly, it was embarrassingly for my protection. Our opponent is none other than the Black Lotus.”
In other words, she was praising the Wind-and-Cloud Division, saying their strength alone was enough to face the Black Lotus.
Of course, that wasn’t really the case.
But since missions like this were rare for the Wind-and-Cloud Division, the words filled their chests with pride.
“Ahem. That’s too much praise…”
“Say no more, Deputy Strategist. Even if it costs my life, I’ll protect you.”
“I, Captain Yu Seongjin, swear on my honor.”
“So will I…”
“And I…”
Oaths echoed from all around.
Jegal Hyeryeong only smiled lightly, adding no needless words.
Haa…
She exhaled deeply and recalled the meeting from just one hour earlier.
—The problem is if this turns out to be Jo Hoisan’s scheme.
—Ahem. That indeed would be the biggest problem, Deputy Strategist.
What was that supposed to mean?
When Bang Geuk and the Gogeom Sect Master looked puzzled, Jegal Hyeryeong had spoken another chilling hypothesis.
—What if some force, or an internal traitor, takes advantage of the moment when the Red Dragon King, the Red Dragon Guard, and the Black Lotus’s full strength have all moved out?
—It would cause terrifying chaos.
—Not just chaos, Sub-Leader. The mighty Black Lotus itself might collapse.
The Black Lotus collapsing?
The thought alone was unsettling. But before the words even faded, Wang U had grinned and asked:
—So decide. In the White-Robed Priestess’s judgment, should we focus on the encirclement, or on Jo Hoisan?
That decision meant Grand Strategist Jegal Seonhu would mobilize the Alliance’s full strength accordingly.
Jegal Hyeryeong had chosen the encirclement—facing the unknown enemy the Black Lotus was fighting.
Please, let it not be Jo Hoisan they’re after…!
She prayed her judgment was right.
Jegal Hyeryeong only wished for everyone’s safety.
It has to be right.
Looking at the map, the encirclement became clear.
The Red Dragon King on the left wing, the Red Dragon Guard on the right—tightening a half-circle around an unknown enemy.
Silence lingered for a moment. Then, curiosity struck again, and Bang Geuk and the others asked:
“Then, where is the Grand Strategist now?”
“Is he still at the Alliance headquarters?”
“Or is he leading our elite directly to Hongho?”
Jegal Hyeryeong smiled slyly and gave an answer they never expected.
“He’s already nearby.”
“Already?!”
“Yes.”
And not just nearby.
He must already be blocking the key routes, cutting off the retreat of the unknown enemy the Red Dragon King and the Guard are pressing against.
Why?
To aid the Black Lotus’s Red Dragon King.
Her tactical analysis said it was better than revenge or rigid defense.
Of course, he might not follow my suggestion to the letter.
But he wouldn’t stray from the greater plan.
He was Grand Strategist Jegal Seonhu.
Since he sent his will through Sub-Leader Wang U, unless something unexpected happens, he won’t ignore my advice.
This way, the Red Dragon King would owe them a debt.
And in the long run, that would benefit the Alliance more.
But still… I want to know too.
Who exactly was this enemy?
What kind of force or situation could shake the mighty Black Lotus, and drive the Red Dragon King to break alliances without hesitation?
Whatever it is, I hope it ends without disaster…
That was the end of speculation.
Now, she had to stay tense.
As soon as they reached the outskirts of Hongho, Jegal Hyeryeong halted her light footwork and turned.
“From here on, we’re inside the Black Lotus encirclement. We may encounter their vanguard at any moment. Please be on high alert.”
She warned the Wind-and-Cloud Division, then fixed their direction.
“We’ll head straight to the center of the encirclement—to the Red Dragon King himself.”
No more words were needed.
Though inexperienced, the Wind-and-Cloud Division was still the Alliance’s force for nurturing new elites.
They immediately formed a triangular formation.
With Jegal Hyeryeong at the center, they cut straight toward the heart of the encirclement.
*
Kang Yongun’s eyes went wide.
“W-what is that…?”
It was clear now.
As they got close to the hill, he could see it as if he were watching the flow of inner energy itself. Some force was pooling and surging inside the hill.
“…What is this?”
Seeing it with his own eyes was bewildering.
Such immense inner power—formed by many martial artists combining their qi?!
“Is this what they call a formation?”
Around twenty figures were seated at what seemed to be cardinal points and trigrams, pouring out heavy inner power.
That energy rose upward, entangled in midair, and formed a round, invisible barrier that sealed the whole area.
It was the first time he had ever seen it, but nothing else could explain this sight except a formation.
“Incredible.”
Awe escaped his lips.
Without his spiritual vision, he would have only seen a normal hill.
“The streams of light from their qi… how dazzling. It means those martial artists forming the array must be strong indeed.”
Red and green.
The qi looked almost dazzling, yet the flow was strange—sticky and foul like blood.
“And what exactly is happening there?”
Flicker.
A pale blue flame wavered like a candle before the wind, about to be swallowed by that foul red power.
“Damn, I don’t know.”
He had barely guessed it was a formation, and had no way of judging its meaning.
But…
“Who exactly are they?”
He longed to know.
Who was the owner of that fading blue flame?
Who were the masters of that blood-like energy?
What were they trying to achieve?
“Kh-hm. But they’re strong, that’s for sure.”
His intuition told him the truth.
Setting aside the massive red core in the center, even the twenty bloody figures forming the array were all at least as strong as Dam Oh—or stronger.
“Especially five of them—they’re twice his level.”
And that central red mass was far beyond even those five.
“Either way, this is beyond what I can handle.”
The fading blue flame made his heart ache.
What did it mean?
—I don’t know exactly, but that foul energy is devouring the master of the blue flame.
Kang Yongun felt it instinctively.
“Elders—!”
He immediately recalled the incantation of the Great Heaven Divine Art. He invoked it.
Ziiiing—!
With a sharp resonance, the Divine Art embedded itself into his spiritual mark.
Then—
[Light has returned to the mark!]
[Look at that—! Our Yongun has opened his mark!]
[Wait—why is he suddenly seeing the heretic’s illusion?]
[Good heavens—! They’re devouring a child?!]
The elders of the Celestial Vault connected to his mark.
And at once they too saw the formation before his eyes.
Their voices filled with fury.
[Those vile wretches—! To do something so forbidden, to a child no less?!]
[Curse them! If not for these shackles of the Celestial Vault, I’d rain thunder down on them this instant.]
It was a kind of restriction.
Though the elders raged, they were helpless—able only to lament.
[What can we do…]
[Indeed. We can only appear in dreams, leaving vague warnings that are barely remembered when one wakes. What use is thunder to us now…]
[Hah! At times like this, I wonder what good it was to ascend to the Celestial Vault at all…!]
Their lament continued.
But in it, Kang Yongun gleaned shocking information.
A heretic’s illusion? Devouring a child?
A deed so forbidden it enraged the elders.
So they had cast some unknown sorcery upon that mysterious child?
And it looks like they’re almost finished.
The blue flame finally died out.
The sticky blood-cloud swallowed it whole.
That meant whatever they were doing was nearly complete.
Then… soon…
They would emerge from the formation.
He had to leave before that.
“I’d better run—huh?!”
Rumble—!
The bloody mass stirred, no longer ignoring him.
“Damn it.”
His heart raced.
If he was spotted, he’d be done for.
“Time to go—!”
Kang Yongun turned and bolted toward Hongho-hyeon.
But it was too late.
Crack, craaack—!
A sound like invisible glass shattering came from the hill.
“No—!”
He realized it at once.
The formation was breaking.
And worse—the overwhelming presence of a new, unknown force was rushing in from afar.
[Oh—! There’s a capable brat here?!]
[Heh-heh. Been a while since I’ve seen a promising one.]
The elders of the Vault called him a “brat.”
It was the Red Dragon King.
The one who had been searching ceaselessly, fooled by fake arrays, had finally found the real one.
“You bastards—!”
Whuuum—!
With a roar like a lion, his voice shook the heavens.
“Hhup.”
Even from far away, Kang Yongun gasped for breath. Such was the power.
Bzzzt—!
A cold light gathered in the Red Dragon King’s hands, growing ever larger.
Had he been waiting for this moment?
Crack—!
The unseen source of the heretic’s illusion shattered completely. The formation on the hill was undone.
“Khuhuhu.”
With a chilling laugh, a group revealed themselves atop the hill.
“So you’ve finally arrived, Red Dragon King?”
They wore robes of white embroidered with red lotus patterns.
They were the ones behind the heretic illusion—the very ones who had moved not only the Red Dragon King but the entire Black Lotus.
