Chapter : 56
Thud, smack! Thwack!
With a single stroke of Yeonhwa’s sword, her enemies were scattered and slammed into the ground.
But that had only been their first attack.
The second came simultaneously from above and below.
Tap, tak!
Those who had been knocked down rolled once to regain their balance, kicked off the dirt floor, and charged again. The fighters waiting in the rear moved in tandem, just as before, descending to strike at Yeonhwa’s head.
Though the encirclement tightened around her whole body, Yeonhwa did not even blink.
She lunged first at the masked man approaching from the front and thrust her sword.
Clang!
The masked man knocked her blade aside.
As her sword was deflected upward and her chest briefly exposed, the man’s eyes gleamed with killing intent. The instant he drove his blade toward her chest, Yeonhwa spun.
She slipped around to the opposite side of the man who had been pressing in, shoved him forward into the fray, and took the spot he had occupied.
“Hup!”
By the time he sucked in a startled breath and regained his senses, he was fully exposed to the attacks pouring in from all directions.
He could not simply take the blows.
Seeing Yeonhwa as his only escape, he tried to shove her aside and carve a path through.
But just as he had tried to do to her moments before, Yeonhwa struck his sword away in a single motion and kicked him square in the chest.
Thud!
His chest caved in as he toppled backward.
His comrades could not halt their attacks.
“Urk!”
With groans, the masked men retreated.
The obscured scene was revealed.
The man who had taken the combined assault of five or six fighters lay sprawled on the ground in a miserable state.
Shhk!
Drawing their bloodstained weapons, the masked men stepped back and fixed their gazes on Yeonhwa.
Well trained, they did not move emotionally, yet the ferocity in their aura deepened all the same.
But if they had come to kill, they should have been prepared to die.
Yeonhwa raised her sword upright.
Rat-tat-tat!
This time, she charged at the masked men.
Clang-clang-clang!
The force bursting from her blade crashed over them.
“Waaaah!”
Watching from between the rocks, Deokman gaped in unconscious admiration.
“Was the young lady truly that strong?”
He had heard it and believed it, but seeing it with his own eyes was an entirely different matter.
“We should help her…”
Ji Wonhyeong’s thoughts did not dwell on the magnificence of her swordsmanship or the overwhelming pressure with which she routed her foes.
He only felt stifled by the fact that, just like in the past, he had to stand back and watch her fight alone to protect him.
“Huh!”
At the sharp intake of breath beside him, Ji Wonhyeong turned to Deokman.
He did not need to ask what was wrong.
Swoosh!
While they had been distracted peering out from the rocks, they had apparently been discovered by enemies guarding the perimeter, separated from their lord.
Sharp metal fragments—concealed weapons—shot into the crevice.
Thud!
Unable to deflect them, Ji Wonhyeong kicked Deokman aside and rolled in the opposite direction.
Clang, clang, clang!
The metal shards, having lost their target, flew deep into the rock and struck with sharp, chilling sounds.
“Let’s get out!”
If he had been in perfect condition, facing the enemy in a narrow space might not have been a bad option. But not now.
Knowing the situation would only worsen as more enemies gathered, Ji Wonhyeong seized Deokman by the nape and burst outside.
Blood surged up from within, his internal energy churning violently, but he clenched his teeth and endured.
The moment he emerged, he raised his sword and scanned his surroundings.
Swoosh!
That had been close.
A fraction later, and his head would have been severed the instant his foot touched the ground.
As he jerked his neck back at the chilling sensation, the tip of the opponent’s blade grazed his throat.
Slice!
Blood seeped from the thin, cracked wound.
Without even wiping it away, Ji Wonhyeong thrust his sword.
Unlike Yeonhwa’s overwhelming blade, his was closer to that of a wandering swordsman—honed for real combat and razor-sharp practicality.
Behind him, Deokman struggled not to get in the way.
In truth, merely moving was overwhelming, and even that drained all the strength from his body.
Boom, crash!
As Yeonhwa struck like lightning toward her enemies, she caught sight of the danger Ji Wonhyeong and Deokman were in.
She stepped on an enemy’s shoulder, leapt upward, spun once in midair, and landed before the two men.
Lightly pushing Ji Wonhyeong so that he leaned against Deokman, she turned at once.
Her sword once more aimed at the enemy.
The members of Samukyeong had been taught this:
They were the darkness that existed so that only the word “righteousness” would remain upon the white paper called the Orthodox Sect.
Under the mission that, to preserve the righteous path, they must not hesitate to go to the most despised and filthiest of places, they had endured brutal training.
And yet how could they, seasoned assassins who had cooled their hearts and built their lives on killing, be driven to such a state by a mere young woman?
No matter how they had steeled themselves, they could not erase the instinctive revulsion and humiliation.
And that very emotion drove them more swiftly toward defeat.
Boom! Crash!
Yeonhwa was strong.
Her sword was Namgung itself.
It perfectly embodied the vigor of the days when the Namgung Clan had commanded the world as the foremost of the Five Great Families—and even surpassed it, as though she herself were the vast blue heavens.
She was never an opponent they could afford to underestimate.
After fighting with all their might, the number of Samukyeong had visibly decreased, and Yeonhwa too was considerably fatigued.
And then, as if inevitably—
“I hear something over there! Something’s happened!”
It seemed the signs of battle had reached the party of Moyong Yun-o, who had been lured away in another direction.
“Over there!”
With that shout, Moyong Yun-o and his men abruptly appeared, and for a moment the fighting halted.
Moyong Yun-o looked back and forth between Samukyeong and Yeonhwa. Then, as if reaching a conclusion, he gave an order.
“Attack them both!”
…That fool.
The men following Moyong Yun-o twisted their faces, while Yeonhwa and Samukyeong each calculated their own interests and made their decisions.
The first to move was Yeonhwa.
She sheathed her sword, grabbed Ji Wonhyeong and Deokman by the backs of their collars, and took off running.
Never having imagined that Namgung Yeonhwa would choose to flee, Moyong Yun-o blinked in shock before shouting:
“Catch her! That’s Namgung Yeonhwa! If we seize that wench, we can pin everything on her!”
As if he bore no fault whatsoever.
The warriors who rushed forward at his command cast wary glances at Samukyeong as they passed, believing that masked figures appearing in such a place could not possibly be righteous.
As expected.
Samukyeong swung their weapons at Moyong Yun-o’s men as they brushed past.
“Ghk!”
“Aaagh!”
As chaos spread, one masked man who had struck first issued a low warning.
“Withdraw. This is not your place.”
Leaving Moyong Yun-o’s group behind, the masked men disappeared in pursuit of Yeonhwa.
Grinding his teeth, Moyong Yun-o glared at their backs.
The fact that they had left as though sparing him only fueled his anger further.
Even as she ran, Yeonhwa kept watch on the rear.
The masked men, who had seemed ready to chase immediately, did not readily appear. It seemed they had been delayed.
After widening the distance sufficiently, the exhausted Yeonhwa slowed to catch her breath, and Ji Wonhyeong spoke.
“If this matter is connected to the Moyong Clan, Munryeong would have taken action. They wouldn’t have allowed room for outside forces to intervene. So why are the groups pursuing us divided?”
The answer was so obvious that Yeonhwa needed no time to think.
“It’s probably not just two parties. At first, only the Third Young Master of the Moyong Clan moved. But when it seemed that wouldn’t resolve things, additional forces were deployed.”
“The Third Young Master looked completely unaware.”
“He may truly not know.”
Yeonhwa let out a short laugh.
“With that temperament of his, if someone offered help, he’d have thrown a fit about having the credit stolen. It’s far better to leave him in the dark and move separately.”
It was a reasonable guess, and Ji Wonhyeong nodded firmly.
“If the Third Young Master had been just a little less foolish, no matter how lucky or resourceful we were, we wouldn’t have made it to Hyeongmun Mountain.”
Nor would Seokman have escaped alive.
Yet recalling that their opponent was the Third Young Master of the Moyong Clan acting under Munryeong’s orders, they could not dismiss it as mere luck.
“I worry about the future of the Martial Alliance.”
In many ways.
Clicking their tongues, the group gathered their strength once more and prepared to descend the mountain.
