The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 123 : The Beginning of the War (3)

The proclamation of war had already been issued. When the war began, those who would fight back prepared, and those who did not want to be involved ran away.

Yang Gwan shouted as he ran through the market, which must have been a black market when there were people.

"I think there's an ambush!"

The empty marketplace was open on all four sides, and there were plenty of places to hide. It was not unreasonable to worry about an ambush.

It was time to stop the advance and be on guard. But Jang So-gil, gesturing with his hand, cut straight across the market.

"If there's an ambush, break it with force."

"But wouldn't the damage be great if we did that?"

It was not a charge of just the two of them. The martial artists of the Huashan Sect, led by Song Baek, were following right behind, and behind them, the martial artists of many prestigious orthodox sects were rushing in a line.

If they were ambushed, the damage would not be small. As Yang Gwan asked with a worried face, Jang So-gil sharply continued his words.

"This is not the time to hesitate. For now, we must run and pierce the depth as much as possible."

The war with the Four Black Alliance had just begun. What they wanted was delay, slowdown, and stalemate.

To delay the time of entry and slow down the footsteps to create a bottleneck. As a bonus, to change the entry route and disturb them to disperse the direction of their force was the number one art of war in a defensive battle.

But even so, to break through by running in a single line?

"Isn't it too dangerous?"

If they charged to the enemy's base in this way, they would be vulnerable to ambushes along the way. If they were attacked from the left and right, there was a possibility that their ranks and files would be scattered and become a mess, and they could also be surrounded.

Although Yang Gwan was not bright about the art of war, he had read a few books on the art of war, so he knew that much.

But Jang So-gil's story was different.

"We must strike first before we fall into the enemy's scheme."

"Young Master So! It's reckless!"

"Even if it's reckless, we have to do it. I'm not saying this because I trust my strategic talent or insight. It's Brother Hui's advice."

"Ah, then I understand!"

"This bastard, he was giving me shit for every little thing, but as soon as he hears it's Brother Hui's word, he immediately complies."

"I have a few questions, but if it's Military Advisor Sima's word, it must be certain."

"I'll see you after this is over."

Jang So-gil, while grumbling, kicked off the ground and ran across the market.

As expected, there was an ambush.

"Prepare yourselves!"

Assassins jumped out from inside the market stalls, from inside the well, and from the top of the building that had seemed empty.

They threw daggers painted with ink to prevent light from reflecting, shot a dense barrage of fire arrows, and even threw nets coated with poison.

It was an ambush that had been fully prepared. Since they wouldn't have just been sucking their thumbs and waiting for the King of Hell's summons after receiving the proclamation of war, it was a very rational and natural response.

But because it was natural, it was also a reaction that had been predicted.

If it was predicted and prepared for, it was not an ambush. It was just an ordinary attack.

"Everyone, advance!"

Jang So-gil did not slow down his rushing speed. He swung his sword calmly without stopping his footsteps for even a single breath.

A white thunderbolt struck and passed through the neck of the one who had thrown the dagger. The sword was so fast that even though it had cut through the neck, the head did not fall from the body.

Red ice filled the empty space where the sword had passed. The fellow's neck and head were separated only after the martial artist of the Huashan Sect, who was running behind Jang So-gil and Yang Gwan, struck and passed.

The head, which had frozen, shattered with a 'pasak' sound. A fire arrow flew and stuck in that spot. The oil that had been sprinkled on the ground beforehand caught the heat of the fire arrow and burst into flames.

Still, no one stopped their footsteps.

"Did you think you could stop us, who climb up and down the cliffs of the Huashan Sect every day, with such a trick!"

"You should have prepared ten times more!"

"Hahahahaha-!"

They ran over the fire, letting out a mad laugh, excited. They struck down the arrows and cut the nets. The martial artists of the Huashan Sect were on a different level from the soldiers assumed in an ordinary art of war book.

It was impossible to put soldiers, who could not block arrows unless they were in ranks and files and holding shields, on the same line as martial artists who could even cut down a flying bird. When leading martial artists, the basics of the art of war had to be considered differently from when leading soldiers.

Yang Gwan, who had belatedly realized the hidden meaning in Sima Hui's advice, let out an exclamation.

But there was no time to have a conversation on such a topic.

Since the fate of the organization was at stake in this matter for the Four Black Alliance, it was only natural that they would resist with all their might.

The guys who had been hiding kept coming out. It seemed they had appeared using an underground passage.

Yang Gwan, after piercing the enemy's brow with a spear like a ray of light, shook his spear. Then a wheel of flames spread and split the fellow's head in half.

Yang Gwan, who had cut another fellow in half with that spear, clicked his tongue.

"Really, these guys don't know when to back down."

No matter how lawless and fearless the groups of the Black Way were, if they showed such a murderous hand, they were bound to be surprised, fall on their butts, and lose their fighting spirit. But the group of the Four Black Alliance continued to rush in as if they had seen such things as a matter of course.

The spirit of not fearing death was worthy of praise, but being on the receiving end, it was true that he was getting tired of it.

Song Baek, who was showing the sword qi of Huashan by making plum blossoms bloom, received his words.

"To despise them as moths, their spirit is too great. I'm a little scared too."

"Is this your first time in a fight like this, Brother Sword Dragon?"

"It's not the first time. I dipped my toes in at the end of the Great War against the Demonic Cult. It was a small branch."

So that was it. The surrounding martial artists were noticeably in a state of excitement, but only Song Baek was relatively calm. The difference that came from experience was this great.

Song Baek, while cutting down another rushing enemy, asked.

"Rather than that, Ghost King, what are you going to do from now on?"

"In this fight, in the end, two lives are the most important. One is my life, and the other is Ha Hu-yeong's life. If the Sword Saint of Huashan deals with Ha Hu-yeong who is rushing to aim for my life, the fight will end with that. So for now, my purpose was to penetrate to the center as much as possible and make Ha Hu-yeong come to mess me up."

"It means it's the end if you can't hold out until the Black Killing Hegemon King comes. Wouldn't you rather be in a safe place?"

"If I had my way, I would have wanted to do that, but since I'm in a position where I have to act like a representative of the orthodox sect. I have to set an example, so this is how it is."

It felt like he had covered himself in honey and jumped into a bear's den. The group of the Four Black Alliance, even while fighting, could not take their glittering eyes off Jang So-gil.

Jang So-gil, getting goosebumps from the constant glances, raised his arm and smashed the skull of one of them. The iron mace coated with poison that the fellow had been holding tightly fell to the ground with a loud noise.

"It's strange, very strange. I thought they wouldn't try to kill me. I thought they would try to kidnap me to negotiate with the Alliance Leader-nim. But looking at these bastards' eyes, it seems Ha Hu-yeong has promised them a thousand gold if they kill me. They're acting like they're crazy to kill me."

The iron mace had been swung precisely at Jang So-gil's head. It would have been dangerous if Jang So-gil had not struck out first.

Jang So-gil, who had thought there was no risk of death and had become a little lax, his heart was tightly reined in.

"Either Ha Hu-yeong was more foolish than I thought, or this bastard has something else he's counting on."

"Something else he's counting on? In a situation like this, would there be such a thing?"

"Well. I don't know what that might be, but I know one thing."

Jang So-gil's gaze turned to the end of the market, to the ruins of a collapsed building. There was a middle-aged man there.

Since he had memorized the facial features of the executives of the Four Black Alliance, Jang So-gil could quickly recall his nickname, the 'Dark Cloud Guest'.

He was not alone. Behind the Dark Cloud Guest, people appeared one by one.

Each and every one of them was a notorious evil spirit whose name was known to everyone. They were the masters of the Four Black Alliance, at whom the mountains and rivers trembled.

Yang Gwan, Song Baek, and the martial artists of Huashan, seeing them, became tense and focused.

Jang So-gil grinned.

"The big shots are starting to move among the small fry."

"What should we do?"

"What do you mean, what should we do? We'll just have to pick an opponent one by one and fight and win."

Although it was a righteous statement for an orthodox martial artist to say that they should fight one by one honorably instead of ganging up on them, it was not a welcome statement for Yang Gwan. Because it meant that Jang So-gil would fight a master of the enemy one-on-one.

But Yang Gwan swallowed the words he was about to say to stop him and readjusted his grip on his spear.

The current Jang So-gil was not a weakling that he had to protect. Rather, he was a master stronger than himself. There was no need for him to make unnecessary interference.

"They're coming."

Starting with Jang So-gil's low words, the masters of the Four Black Alliance rushed in without even exchanging names.

The martial artists who were facing them shouted their nicknames and names and stepped forward, and among them were Yang Gwan and Song Baek.

Only Jang So-gil, without saying a word, raised the White Azure Divine Sword and confirmed the face of the master who had designated him.

"The Dark Cloud Guest, Pung Chan. Among the masters of the Four Black Alliance, he's about... the twentieth strongest?"

"Brat, you're mistaken about something. I am the fifteenth in the ranking of the Four Black Alliance."

The Dark Cloud Guest's weapon was a skewer. The end of the long skewer, which was about the length of an adult man's arm, was sharply honed, so it was as threatening as a spear.

On the opposite end, there was a hook that glittered in three prongs, so he could stab with the skewer and swing the hook to snatch the opponent's weapon or tear their wounds.

"Become the rust of the 'Dark Cloud Claw'!"

The Dark Cloud Guest must have been among the more honorable types among the masters of the Four Black Alliance. Because he had exchanged a few words before attacking and had rushed in head-on.

But Jang So-gil was a cheap person who was among the top three in terms of not being honorable among the groups of the orthodox sect. Jang So-gil, putting his hand in his bosom, quietly aimed the 'True Thunder Roar' at the Dark Cloud Guest, who was busy boasting about his beloved weapon, and fired it as it was.

Without any sound, the True Thunder Roar broke through Jang So-gil's long robe and rushed like a thunderbolt. The Dark Cloud Guest, changing the direction of the Dark Cloud Claw he was swinging, was barely able to block the True Thunder Roar that was flying towards his brow.

With a 'kkang-' sound of clashing metal, the True Thunder Roar was deflected. But from the aftermath, the Dark Cloud Guest bit his tongue, and a stream of fresh blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

"You bastard!"

He did not give him time to express his rising anger and rage. Jang So-gil, in succession, using the 'Reverse Full Great Bow' form of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, threw five daggers.

The Dark Cloud Guest swung the Dark Cloud Claw and caught the daggers with the hook part. It was a truly refined use of his power.

And then, 'binggeulbinggeul', it seemed he was planning to grab the connected string, spin it, and throw it back at Jang So-gil.

The daggers froze and did not fall from the hook.

"......!"

The Dark Cloud Guest was terrified. Because it was an aggressive use of a form that was unthinkable for a martial arts novice with little experience.

Although he did not have much combat experience, Jang So-gil instinctively knew the principle of a fight that he would be at an advantage if he did not give the opponent a chance.

This method of rushing in like a storm and suppressing them early before the opponent could show their true skill was also similar to Jang So-gil's way of life. Even when trading, negotiating, or managing, he had always insisted on winning by pressing the opponent with this aggressive attitude.

Even if it was a fight, nothing would change. Only an all-out attack, an offensive, would lead him to victory. The Dark Cloud Guest was momentarily flustered by the confident continuous attack.

But a master of the Four Black Alliance was not such an easy person. The Dark Cloud Guest, as soon as he blocked his hook with the daggers, did not avoid Jang So-gil who was drawing his sword and rushing in, but rather, he pushed his body towards him.

To change the flow, he had no choice but to use a somewhat unreasonable method. 'Cutting the flesh to take the bone', it was a radical method of mutual destruction, where he would cut Jang So-gil's arm even if his own arm was cut.

"Ugh!"

As expected, was he not prepared for that? Jang So-gil stopped his attacking momentum and twisted his body to avoid the attack.

Although it was a single evasion, the flow had changed. The Dark Cloud Guest immediately launched a counterattack.

Jang So-gil smiled bitterly.

"As expected, a master is a master."

It meant he couldn't win easily. At the different movements from the underlings he had been dealing with until now, a drop of sweat also flowed down Jang So-gil's forehead.

(End of Chapter)