Return of the Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 1398

“Commander! The Jeong unit has completed the encirclement! The Mu and Gi units are moving to their designated positions!”

“Eul unit is currently engaged with the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost! There’s a high chance the encirclement will be broken through!”

Ho Ga-Myung’s gaze grew progressively chillier as he listened to the flood of reports.

The Plum Blossom Sword Ghost, Chung Myung’s speed at breaking the encirclement was slowing down. Or, to be precise, after breaking through once, the distance he fled each time was rapidly shortening.

If this were before, one would have interpreted it as him deliberately stalling to buy time for the main force to retreat...

‘Considering all circumstances, this is different.’

Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes sank with sober gravity.

The longer time dragged on, the denser the encirclement around him became. He wasn’t someone unaware of that situation.

Knowing it yet being unable to escape meant he lacked the strength to break the encirclement.

That monstrous fellow had finally shown his limits.

Ho Ga-Myung glanced around. The aides, as if sensing the same thing, had flushed faces.

A sigh-like words escaped Ho Ga-Myung’s mouth.

“In the end... you were human after all.”

The aides fell silent and looked at Ho Ga-Myung. His voice carried a wealth of emotion.

Resentment and hatred. A relief that at last the opponent had been forced into the net. Joy that he could finally carry out the Alliance lord’s orders.

But anyone who heard that voice directly could tell there was also a subtle tinge of pity within it.

As soldiers of the Ten Thousand People Clan—and further as forces of the Four Sects Alliance—such feelings must never be shown. Depending on the situation, it could even risk their fall from grace.

But the aides did not bother to point that out.

Not because they feared the damage from criticizing Ho Ga-Myung’s lapse, but because they too could understand the feelings that had finally escaped him.

“...No need to rush.”

Ho Ga-Myung said, as if steadying himself.

“Even if slow, we’ll sever his lifeline for sure.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Just as Ho Ga-Myung, bolstered with certainty, prepared to move, it happened.

Screeeeeech!

A piercing hawk cry rang overhead. Ho Ga-Myung narrowed his eyes and frowned as he looked up.

‘Emergent dispatch?’

A powerful hawk swooped down and landed with a flutter on Ho Ga-Myung’s outstretched arm as if snatching prey. Ho Ga-Myung withdrew a dispatch from the tube attached to the hawk’s talons and read it without delay.

“...Heavenly Friends Alliance?”

A hollow laugh escaped his mouth.

“I knew recklessness was the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s forte... but this just crosses the line.”

The aides stiffened as they saw the dispatch Ho Ga-Myung held out.

“Commander, this is...”

“Don’t be alarmed. They still won’t be able to do anything. But... we must prepare.”

Ho Ga-Myung adjusted the positions of the encirclement around Chung Myung bit by bit, gave orders, and then said calmly.

“We go to where he is.”

“Co-Commander! That’s dangerous!”

“Dangerous?”

Voices of objection rose around him, but Ho Ga-Myung’s face showed no change.

“Is there any greater danger to us than him escaping alive right now?”

The aide momentarily gaped, looked at Ho Ga-Myung, and then bowed his head deeply.

“Lead the way.”

In the end, the aides nodded.

“This way!”

Ho Ga-Myung set off after the aide, his eyes cooling to steel.

‘I will not allow a single variable.’

Chung Myung’s absolute death. In this entire campaign, Ho Ga-Myung’s sole objective was that alone.

❀ ❀ ❀

“W-wait!”

Namgung Do-Wei shouted urgently. His specialty was a crushing sword qi rooted in robust inner strength. By the nature of his swordsmanship, his attacks inevitably had a wide range.

The problem was that every time he swung his sword, someone kept cutting in front of him.

“T-Taoist! Just a moment!”

“What ‘just a moment,’ damn it!”

Jo Gul snarled and lunged before Namgung Do-Wei. The explosively emitted red sword qi tore through the charging Ten Thousand People Clan warriors in an instant. Even after felling more than three with a single stroke, unsatisfied, he crouched nearly to the ground and surged forward.

“Aaaaaargh!”

But Seol So-Baek’s attack, who had leapt up before Jo Gul, was faster.

Slaaash!

When Seol So-Baek’s sword sliced the enemies like lightning, a white frost quickly blanketed their bodies.

The two breaking the path seemed almost to be competing.

No—perhaps the phrase ‘breaking a path’ doesn’t suit this scene. It’s hard to call it that when they plunged between enemies without even confirming whether all were down or properly finished.

“Get out of the way! You damned bastards!”

The two shouted and swung their swords relentlessly.

At that perilous sight, Namgung Do-Wei hurriedly shifted his gaze—he was searching for Baek Cheon.

“Now then, Acting Sect Leader. First, let’s get things under control...”

Because the only one here who could calm these lunatics was Baek Cheon.

But the Baek Cheon he desperately sought was already gone from his side.

“Anyone who blocks me dies!”

A red sword qi shot up sharply ahead. Sword qi that hadn’t even become a Plum Blossom. Discarding the finesse essential to Mount Hua’s sword, it carried only swift force and swept the enemies roughly and violently.

‘Uh, when did they get over there...?’

The system they had maintained from the Southern Island to here had long since become meaningless. Everyone was charging out as if competing to make a path. Namgung Do-Wei couldn’t help but be bewildered by such a sight.

“Oooooooo!”

At that moment, a brilliant golden radiance burst forth behind him.

“Hey, Yiiik...!”

Namgung Do-Wei violently lunged to the side. The radiance that narrowly brushed his former spot crushed the retreating Ten Thousand People Clan warriors in an instant.

Kraaaash!

The following explosion of qi showed not an iota of compassionate mercy. Startled, Namgung Do-Wei turned sharply to look at Hae Yeon.

“M-Monk. It’s dangerous!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“N-no, not just me—Acting Sect Leader nearly got swept away just now...”

“He can dodge on his own! If he can’t, tell him to get out of the way!”

“...”

“So slow!”

Hae Yeon’s shout was followed by his figure vanishing from that spot as if snuffed out.

‘Body Displacement?’

Appearing again at the front as if by sorcery, Hae Yeon unleashed a thunderous lion’s roar and thrust his palm. An excessive Arhat Fist unfolded, his limbs seeming to multiply as they jabbed in all directions.

Namgung Do-Wei was speechless as he watched the scene.

Yoon Jong, the calmest at Mount Hua, was rampaging like a yaksha, and Mount Hua’s youngest, Tang Soso, was trampling over her own sahyung as she broke through.

Odd, isn’t it?

No, not really. Come to think of it, the Heavenly Friends Alliance was always like that. Didn’t Namgung Do-Wei know?

Still, there’s one reason this scene feels awkward now.

‘Everyone has been holding back until now.’

From the Southern Island sect to here, one could see from this sight how much they had borne and repressed themselves. Now, with nothing left to bear and only the single purpose of saving Chung Myung, they revealed themselves without restraint.

They were already utterly exhausted.

Yet they pooled every ounce of strength and relentlessly pressed the enemy, to reach Chung Myung in danger as quickly as possible.

‘I—I will too!’

Just as Namgung Do-Wei grit his teeth and pushed to advance, a sudden heavy weight settled on his sword.

‘Huh?’

Turning in surprise, he saw someone—Yu Yiseol. She was pressing her sword gently against Namgung Do-Wei’s blade.

“Taoist Yiseol?”

Namgung Do-Wei was momentarily puzzled. Was it not his turn to step forward?

But her following words were indifferent and clear.

“Send me flying.”

“...Yes?”

“Send me flying.”

“...”

“Quickly!”

Namgung Do-Wei, caught off guard, stomped the ground and swung his sword with all his might. Yu Yiseol, lightly riding that blade, shot into the air like a soaring bird and then slammed down over the heads of the enemies blocking the front.

Fwoooom!

Yu Yiseol’s Plum Blossom Sword traced a graceful semicircle through the air. The necks of those caught in the arc popped up one after another.

“Run faster, you sluggish worms!”

“Ah, I know!”

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and thrust his sword into the retreating enemy bodies. Without waiting for them to collapse, he vaulted on their chests and scattered countless sword qís.

‘Faster!’

The more urgent his mind, the more the veins on his jaw bulged.

No matter how many he felled, these ant-like foes seemed endless. No matter how he fought, it felt as if the enemy would be replenished forever.

The reason Baek Cheon felt urgency now wasn’t because dealing with them was too hard; it was because Chung Myung had been facing them alone for quite some time.

He could tell that the level of enemies standing against the Heavenly Friends Alliance entourage wasn’t that impressive. Considering them being Ten Thousand People Clan, that should never be the case.

That meant only one thing: the stronger ones among the Ten Thousand People Clan had all been deployed to chase Chung Myung.

Could he hold out?

He was certainly monstrous, but could that body truly shake off their pursuit?

“Aaargh! Damn it!”

Baek Cheon unleashed sword qi with a mad light in his eyes.

He could escape—of course he could. But Baek Cheon also knew the enemy would never flee in this situation. He would stall until the limit, and only at the very end, when cornered, try to open his path.

Even if that ending turned out badly.

‘Who the hell gave you permission, you fucking bastard!’

A murderous light flared in Baek Cheon’s eyes.

“Sasuk! Over there!”

At that moment, Baek Cheon snapped his head up at a shout erupting nearby.

Sure enough, a group came into view. They were looking not toward the Heavenly Friends Alliance entourage, but the opposite direction.

Baek Cheon intuited it.

He’s there. If they can just break through those bastards, Chung Myung will be right behind!

That wall-like encirclement couldn’t be spread over a wide area!

Baek Cheon sprinted with all his strength and brandished his sword.

Kaaang!

But unlike before, his sword was abruptly blocked by a blade that flew in an instant. Those with killing intent in their eyes growled and glared at Baek Cheon.

“You brat!”

Intense, blue blade qi brimming with killing intent poured out continuously.

Teeth clenched, Baek Cheon parried those attacks and drove his sword into the throat of a Ten Thousand People Clan blade in front.

One, then another. Slowly he cuts them down. Slowly he breaks through.

But...

‘Not enough!’

This won’t do. It must be stronger. Faster. Only then can he break through this path in time.

“Not enough, damn it!”

In the end his cry burst out. His face twisted with rage and desperation.

He felt powerless. If only he had been a bit stronger, he would have swept these bastards away in an instant. If he weren’t the one saving Chung Myung but the other way around, Chung Myung would have reached his position long ago.

He could become stronger. Even if it took a long time, he’d become stronger.

That vow he once made felt hollow at this moment. The times he needed to be strong always arrived earlier than the times he grew strong. Hadn’t he grown weary of being frustrated by that wall?

An image he dared not imagine kept forming in his mind.

Chung Myung gutted by the enemy’s blade. And him arriving too late.

‘No!’

He would die before seeing that sight.

In an instant, a great surge of energy burst from Baek Cheon.

“Sasuk!”

“Hey, you madman!”

An imperfect Purple Cloud Divine Cultivation. Baek Cheon drew it up as it was.

Cultivation technique not yet fully mastered eats away at the user’s body. It was a perilous act that could easily lead to heart demon at any moment. Especially in a situation lacking reserves like this, it was tantamount to suicide.

“Get out of the way!”

Aghast, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul rushed to grab him, but Baek Cheon shook them off without hesitation and surged toward the enemy. The red sword qi pouring from his blade spread like a sunset dyeing the west.

‘Please, somehow just stay alive!’

I will definitely save you. No matter the price to be paid.