Sword God Reborn

Chapter 305 : It's Not a Bad Thing, Is It?

A great martial artist is not necessarily a great strategist.

It is not an easy task for a martial artist, who has cultivated themselves and learned the sword their entire life, constantly striving and stepping up through the realms, to also be skilled in commanding a battle.

Namgung Jo himself knew this well.

He knew he lacked the eye to read the tide of battle and did not have the capacity to command.

He was simply a martial artist who fought well.

Namgung Jo's thinking was quite an excellent judgment.

It was a rather unreasonable act to intimidate and gather the Five Great Clans.

In the end, it was tantamount to pursuing the path of a hegemon. For now, the Five Great Clans had bent under the pretext of a decisive battle with the Demonic Path, but after the war, conflict with the Namgung Clan was inevitable.

If he had gathered the Five Great Clans while shouldering such a burden, it would have been natural for him to want to exert his influence as a commander.

Namgung Jo boldly yielded his command to Zhuge Seon.

In terms of seniority, fame, and skill, Zhuge Seon was an excellent choice in every aspect.

His past as the supreme commander during the last Righteous-Demonic War was a perfect justification that no one could oppose.

It was the reason why the Five Great Clans, who had been dissatisfied with Namgung Jo and passive in the fight, were able to step forward relatively actively.

However, Zhuge Seon had been against the battle.

"I knew this would happen."

His brow narrowed. His face, which still had a luster despite his age, seemed to have aged rapidly in recent days, with more wrinkles.

"Send the reserve forces to the Peng Clan's side immediately. If Peng Cheol is dead, the elder's formation will also be half-destroyed. No, the Heavenly Poison Emissary is next to them, right? If there are no survivors among the elders, tell him to temporarily take over command of the Peng Clan's martial artists."

Several flags fluttered violently. The martial artists who saw the signal quickly relayed the order across the battlefield via telepathy.

It was a quick judgment and action, but it was not easy.

"Report! The Heavenly Poison Emissary is in the middle of a battle with the Aizen Myoo and has already handed over command of the Tang Clan's martial artists to the great elder. The report says it is difficult to take over command of the Peng Clan's martial artists as the fight is urgent."

"The Aizen Myoo!"

Zhuge Seon finally let out a sigh.

"The one who killed the Hegemon Heavenly One Saber, Peng Cheol, is the Yaksha King, and the one who is fighting on equal terms with the Tang Clan's head, the Heavenly Poison Emissary, is the Aizen Myoo."

This was the reason why Zhuge Seon had opposed this battle.

'We know too little. About them!'

The enemies knew everything about the heads and elders of the Five Great Clans, including what martial arts they used.

On the other hand, the Orthodox Path?

The Yaksha King, who had just killed the Hebei Peng Clan's head, Peng Cheol, was someone they had heard of for the first time here.

The Aizen Myoo, who was fighting the Heavenly Poison Emissary, was the same.

'It is the law to buy time until you know the enemy if you don't know them...!'

However, Namgung Jo had insisted on fighting once to see how the enemies would come out.

It was not a wrong statement.

Moreover, the fact that Cheon Mubaeck had killed the Ghost Demon, the Poison Demon, the Blood Buddha, and Cheongwangma had spread throughout the Orthodox Path's camp.

Morale soared, and the mentality that it was worth a fight had spread to the lowest-ranking martial artists.

'Well, did I think that guys like the Yaksha King or the Aizen Myoo would be there?'

Since he himself had clearly made a mistake, it was difficult to blame anyone.

Zhuge Seon gritted his teeth and commanded the battle.

"The Iron Staff Monarch has killed the enemy's Blood Lion King!"

"Oh! Moyong Su!"

Zhuge Seon clenched his fist.

Since one had died on this side, one had also died on that side.

It was a relief.

However, Zhuge Seon felt that he had to end this battle somehow.

The sense of the battlefield he had learned in the Righteous-Demonic War forty years ago.

That sense whispered without a lie.

'We will either lose, or even if we win, it will be a victory with only wounds and no achievements.'

He had to retreat at the right time.

Although some martial artists would be dissatisfied, there were few who were bold enough to express their dissatisfaction to Zhuge Seon.

Zhuge Seon, who had been observing the situation so closely, suddenly flinched at the cold sensation that brushed his neck.

Although he was a strategist and a great formation master, he was also a martial artist.

Wasn't he a great man who was evaluated to have established the identity of the Zhuge Clan as a martial family?

His five senses sent a tingling warning to his mind.

Zhuge Seon shot up from the carriage and swung his feather fan.

The vital energy gathered on the feather fan exploded at a certain point.

The nearby martial artists were surprised, but they quickly grasped the situation and held their swords in guard.

Soon, the dust cleared, and the martial artists were shocked at the sight of the man who was revealed.

"A demonic person!"

"How did a demonic person get here!"

A man wearing the martial arts uniform of a demonic person and a mask stood alone.

He could feel the man's eyes staring straight at him from beyond the mask.

"..."

But Zhuge Seon felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Somehow, the familiar build, the atmosphere, and even the man's attitude.

When was it?

He had felt this kind of pressure once before. He didn't need to think hard. The memory of that time was so intense that it was still vivid in his mind even now that he was old.

'When the Azure Sky Sword God elder came to beat me up, broke all of our clan's Sugagimundo, and appeared before me, I think it was this kind of composition and pressure.'

Why did he think this?

Zhuge Seon thought it was because that man harbored a killing intent that he would not leave him alone.

Wouldn't he?

The reason why a demonic person had evaded the guards and had infiltrated all the way to Zhuge Seon here.

Zhuge Seon swung his feather fan and shouted.

"Kill him."

At that moment, the man's eyebrow drew an arc.

A telepathic message rang in his head.

'You attacked first. Now it's self-defense. Self-defense. Huh?'

...Why are you there?

At the familiar voice, Zhuge Seon's eyes widened.

* * *

"Keoheok!"

Cheon Mubaeck subdued the Zhuge Clan's martial artists who were blocking his way in an instant.

Even in the sudden situation, their movement to form a wall and protect Zhuge Seon was truly worthy of elite martial artists.

But the problem was that Cheon Mubaeck had been discovered too late.

Since he was already close enough to Zhuge Seon, the wall they had built was only thin.

'Move, move.'

He quickly subdued the martial artists by hitting their acupoints, breaking their joints, or hitting the back of their necks.

'Still, I can't kill them. For the sake of Young Lady Zhuge's face.'

In any case, he couldn't take the life of his own side.

If you think about it that way, Cheon Mubaeck's behavior of suddenly trying to swing his sword at Zhuge Seon would seem strange...

'This is my way of doing things, what's the problem? It's the same as what I've been doing until now.'

Surprisingly, Cheon Mubaeck did not feel a single problem.

This was Cheon Mubaeck's way.

To end the battle, you had to strike the leader. It was the method that Cheon Mubaeck had always adhered to and had actually used.

It was the same now.

However...

'It doesn't have to be the leader of the Demonic Path. This way is faster, isn't it?'

Cheon Mubaeck had seen through in an instant that the one commanding the battle was Zhuge Seon.

In other words, if only Zhuge Seon was neutralized here, Namgung Jo would have no choice but to hastily end the fight and retreat.

Cheon Mubaeck, whose thoughts had reached that point, moved immediately. He subdued all the martial artists who were blocking his way in an instant and stood before Zhuge Seon.

Zhuge Seon looked at Cheon Mubaeck's mask with a bewildered face.

"You... you... Cheon Mu...!"

"Ahem, shh, shh, shh. I have a plan. So let's go quietly."

Cheon Mubaeck hit Zhuge Seon's acupoints without hesitation.

Zhuge Seon froze with his eyes wide open.

If it were the original Zhuge Seon, he would not have been subdued so easily and in vain.

But Zhuge Seon, who had heard Cheon Mubaeck's telepathic message and had realized that it was Cheon Mubaeck, could not bring himself to counterattack violently.

-What on earth are you thinking! Why are you attacking me?

-I have a plan. The Grand Lord of the family has to help me, and doesn't the Grand Lord also agree that this battle has to end for now?

-So you're going to catch me to end the battle?

Zhuge Seon's mouth fell open inwardly.

It was an unexpected reason.

He himself had agreed that the battle had to end somehow.

So he had been looking for an opportunity to finish it.

But to think that this guy would think of catching him to end the battle.

Although it was a truly absurd story, it was a sure method.

Because if the supreme commander, Zhuge Seon, was defeated, the Orthodox Path would be flustered and would retreat for now to pull themselves together.

But Cheon Mubaeck's real purpose was not just that.

-That's a secondary reason. The real reason is that you have to help me make a formation.

-A formation? Is this a rational move and action right now? What on earth is this...

-Think of it as helping the Grand Lord's granddaughter.

-What? Seol-ah is with you?

-She's with me, eating and working in the Demonic Path's camp.

-Ugh!

If his acupoints hadn't been hit, Zhuge Seon would have grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.

Cheon Mubaeck slung the stiffly frozen Zhuge Seon over his shoulder and left the place in an instant.

This news spread in a moment.

"The Strange Heavenly Brain has been kidnapped!"

"Elder Zhuge Seon has been captured!"

Terrible news that crossed the battlefield.

Everyone's head turned. They saw it clearly with their own eyes. The sight of Cheon Mubaeck carrying Zhuge Seon and stepping on his lightness skill.

Naturally, swords shot up from here and there to stop him.

"......!"

It was truly a sword skill that was close to divine. With one hand, he supported Zhuge Seon, and with the other hand, he swung his sword and parried all the swords that were pouring in from all directions, a ghostly skill.

Everyone looked at Cheon Mubaeck with a dumbfounded face.

At that moment.

'...Danger!'

A warning bell rang like crazy in Cheon Mubaeck's mind as he was quickly fleeing.

The senses of his whole body twitched violently and pierced Cheon Mubaeck's nervous system.

It was a moment when he felt that a great threat was approaching. At a time that could be seen as almost simultaneous, a person's figure and sword suddenly appeared in front of Cheon Mubaeck's eyes.

'Namgung Jo!'

A fierce power that was not unworthy of the moniker of Sword Saint.

Cheon Mubaeck gritted his teeth and received it with his Divine Iron Ancient Sword. He put all his strength into the Sun and Moon Qi to shake him off in an instant and to flee.

An enormous shockwave swept through the surroundings. Cheon Mubaeck rode the shockwave and jumped through the space in an instant. On the other hand, Namgung Jo, who had swung his sword, retreated with a shocked face.

"......!"

With one clash, Cheon Mubaeck had widened the distance and had moved away.

At Cheon Mubaeck's back, which had turned into a distant dot, Namgung Jo looked down at his hand.

The hand holding the sword was trembling like crazy.

* * *

"Oof, he's strong."

Cheon Mubaeck grumbled and put Zhuge Seon down.

He had already left the battlefield and had arrived at the demonic people's camp.

As Cheon Mubaeck arrived, Zhuge Seol-ah and Jang No rushed out.

They couldn't help but feel strange at the fact that only Cheon Mubaeck had returned while the battle was in full swing.

They had come out quickly, thinking that something big might have happened.

It was a big deal.

Zhuge Seol-ah's face turned pale.

"Grandfather?!"

Seeing the stiffly frozen Zhuge Seon, Zhuge Seol-ah hurriedly supported him.

"What, what is it? Why is he like this? Who did this to him? So you saved him? Is he okay?"

Zhuge Seol-ah threw a series of questions with tears in her eyes.

Cheon Mubaeck scratched his chin with an awkward face.

"Uh, so if you're asking who did this to him..."

Well, it was by my hand, so I guess he was beaten by me.

Somehow, feeling like he shouldn't say it as it was, Cheon Mubaeck said.

"Isn't it hard to make a formation?"

"What? Of course, it's not an easy formation."

"So I brought him."

"..."

Zhuge Seol-ah was silent. Zhuge Seon, with his acupoints hit and his eyes wide open, was frozen like a stone statue.

So this is...

"You... brought him?"

"He can give you great advice and help, so I brought him directly from the battlefield."

Zhuge Seol-ah looked at Zhuge Seon's unjustly wide-open eyes.

This wasn't bringing him...

"Didn't you kidnap him?"

"It's not a bad thing, is it?"

It is a bad thing...

Zhuge Seol-ah was confused.

(End of Chapter)