novelraw Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38 - Legacy of the Heavenly Demon (4)
The next morning.
“Huh? Over there?”
Familiar figures appeared in the eyes of the group gathered to depart.
“Isn’t that Sword Phoenix’s squad? Oh? Blade Dragon is there too.”
Hyeon-dam ran with a welcoming face to where the two were gathered.
“Did they reinforce the reconnaissance team to expand the search area? Indeed, in a situation like this, securing strategic points is important so……. It’s a reasonable judgment.”
Yeon Seung-il murmured as he looked around.
“Kuh-hmm.”
Jaun turned his head at a presence felt from the side.
“……Elder Tak Mu-bin?”
At Jaun’s words, Yeon Seung-il turned his head in surprise.
“Tsk tsk. You remember, child.”
“Greetings, Elder!”
Yeon Seung-il approached with surprised eyes and bowed deeply.
“It has been a while, Squad Leader Yeon. I told you to take good care of this child……. But I heard you dragged him straight to Sichuan?”
“E-Elder. That is…….”
“It is not a rebuke. You must have decided so because you judged he could handle it sufficiently.”
Tak Mu-bin, who looked at Yeon Seung-il with a gaze full of trust, turned his head toward Jaun.
“So, child. How was the battle in Sichuan?”
At Tak Mu-bin’s question, Jaun answered with a hardened face.
“……I saw a one-sided massacre, not a battle. The thought that something like this must never happen again came to me first.”
Tak Mu-bin, who stared intently into Jaun’s eyes, nodded.
“I have seen many who possessed strong martial arts but crumbled because their hearts were weak. Fortunately, your eyes contain fighting spirit, not fear. That is good. If you continue forward without forgetting that heart of yours now, peace will come to the Central Plains someday.”
Tak Mu-bin, stroking Jaun’s back once with an expression of pride, turned his head toward Yeon Seung-il.
“I will be directing this search mission. Of course, I will be moving in the background so my presence is not revealed to the Demonic Cult, but I thought you should know.”
Yeon Seung-il looked at Tak Mu-bin with surprised eyes.
“It is an honor, Elder.”
“Your role is heavy. As you can see, combat squad members have joined the search, but those children will likely be unfamiliar with search missions.”
“It cannot be helped.”
“For now, the place most likely to encounter the Demonic Cult. I plan to send you there. I will assign two combat squads to you. Let’s find the Demonic Cult bastards and teach them a lesson.”
“Please leave it to me.”
Yeon Seung-il bowed deeply toward Tak Mu-bin.
***
Yeon Seung-il and the group, having organized their formation, immediately left the main camp and moved to Gansu.
“Everyone halt.”
At Yeon Seung-il’s hand gesture, the squad members following him all stopped walking.
“It is Gansu now, so from here on out, you must be especially careful. Especially the combat squads.”
“Yes!”
At Yeon Seung-il’s gaze, Sword Phoenix and Blade Dragon nodded with serious faces.
The two combat squads Tak Mu-bin assigned for support were Sword Phoenix and Blade Dragon’s squads.
Although they weren’t the squads with the highest skills within the Anti-Demon Squad, they were the only two combat squads that could fully follow Yeon Seung-il’s words, so Yeon Seung-il gladly accepted the support.
“From here on, it is a point where it wouldn’t be strange to encounter Demonic Cultists at any time. is everyone mentally prepared?”
“Of course.”
Blade Dragon nodded, and Sword Phoenix turned around instead of answering.
“My brats! Everyone fight and die here! Any male bastard who turns tail and retreats from battle, I will personally detach his middle leg! Do you all understand?”
At Sword Phoenix’s ferocious shout, the squad members yelled in one voice.
“Understood!”
Sword Phoenix’s squad members, full of military discipline, simultaneously raised their swords to their chests. Watching that scene, Blade Dragon sighed deeply and approached one of Sword Phoenix’s squad members.
“The enthusiasm is good, but your posture collapses when drawing the sword. Hold the scabbard down to this level.”
Then, pointing to the legs of another squad member next to him, he continued.
“Over there, the muscles of your two legs are not in harmony. This time, position yourself in the rear rather than the front, and when training, focus on training your left leg.”
At Blade Dragon’s instructions given from up close, the squad members looked back at Sword Phoenix.
Sword Phoenix nodded toward those squad members.
“To win, we accept anyone’s help. Blade Dragon is especially talented at looking over other people’s martial arts, so everyone listen carefully and follow.”
Baek-myo, watching the two squads gathered close together talking, looked back at Yeon Seung-il with a bewildered gaze.
“……What’s with them? The atmosphere is like they’re going in to die right now?”
“Because combat squads have played the role of being deployed at the very end to slaughter the Demonic Cult until now, there is no retreat in battle. They think retreat is defeat. They are kids who received completely different combat training from us.”
Baek-myo shook her head from side to side.
“No, what kind of search is this with kids like these? In a search, secretly observing and retreating is life.”
“Since this mission is one where battle can occur simultaneously with the search, it is better for the combat squads to be close. We take the lead, and the combat squads follow behind, ready to provide support immediately if necessary.”
Baek-myo looked back at the combat squads with worried eyes.
“Are you sure they won’t be unable to retreat properly when they need to and just run around in confusion?”
“That is why the combat squads will follow a little distance behind. We don’t know when a battle might occur here. There is also the advantage that the combat squads can come for support immediately if an emergency situation arises, so endure it even if it is a bit bothersome.”
At Yeon Seung-il’s words, Hyeon-dam looked at the combat squads with a smile and opened his mouth.
“Since we always went around in small groups, it feels nice and lively like people live here now that it’s crowded. It’s my first time seeing Sword Phoenix leading squad members, and she is truly general material. I understand why Sword Phoenix’s other alias is Sword General.”
“Don’t say such things. If Myeonghwa Sinni of Emei hears, she might fall ill again.”
Leaving the giggling Hyeon-dam behind, Yeon Seung-il turned back and shouted loudly.
“From here on, the Reconnaissance Squad takes the lead. Until there is a separate signal, the combat squads follow at a distance of more than two hundred paces. Everyone fall back for now!”
“Understood!”
Having finished answering, Sword Phoenix and Blade Dragon’s squads receded like the tide.
And Yeon Seung-il, who was lost in thought while looking around at his remaining squad members for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Baek-myo. Examine the western region where the Kongtong Sect was. And the east is…….”
At Yeon Seung-il’s words, Jaun stepped forward one step.
“I always lived avoiding wild beasts in the mountains with my father. Since I know how to avoid them, conversely, I can track them well too. I will check the east.”
Yeon Seung-il, looking at Jaun once, nodded.
“Okay. Let’s entrust it to you. Then Hyeon-dam and I will go up toward the center. If you discover anything, don’t overdo it and join up with the combat squads. Search time is two shijin (4 hours). Let’s meet again at the target point after two shijin.”
The group, exchanging greetings with their eyes, turned their bodies in their respective directions.
“Take care.”
The group, nodding at Yeon Seung-il’s shout, ran out in their respective assigned directions. Jaun, who was watching everyone run out, also headed east.
‘The Demonic Cult would have advanced toward the Central Plains as much as possible to utilize geographical advantages. Then the advance party should be withdrawing from the east, which I was assigned…….’
Jaun, judging that he had put enough distance between himself and the group, raised his energy to the fullest, increased his speed, and expanded his senses.
‘I have to inflict maximum damage when the Demonic Cult’s combat squad is separated from the main camp. So I must discover them first no matter what.’
Whether the increased internal energy and focused training were effective, the range in which he could feel presences had widened further.
Jaun, heightening his senses, shot out toward the east like an arrow.
***
“Damn it. Withdraw, my foot. Ptui! How long has it been since we came out on campaign.”
“Tell me about it. I thought we would be able to guzzle alcohol in the Central Plains soon, but what kind of mess is this.”
Two Demonic Cultists standing facing the thicket to relieve themselves were conversing.
“Tsk. The Red Blood Squad and Black Blood Squad aren’t guys who would collapse to the likes of the Tang Family. They probably let their guard down, right?”
“If not that, how could the Tang Family block the Blood Demon’s direct combat squads? They got lucky.”
A small figure silently revealed itself from between the shadows of the Demonic Cultists.
“By the way, can’t we just push through as we are? I don’t understand the reason for withdrawing to break through the Sichuan region. My body is itching so much I can’t stand it anymor…… Keu-heuk!”
Thin Millennium Silk wrapped around the neck of the speaking Demonic Cultist several times.
The Demonic Cultist tried to hurriedly raise his energy, but stopped his action at the voice heard by his ear.
“Don’t move. If you answer my questions faithfully, I will spare your life.”
Jaun’s low voice dug into the Demonic Cultist’s ear.
— Thud
The sound of his colleague, whom he was talking to, collapsing on the spot was heard, though he didn’t know when he was taken out.
The nervous Demonic Cultist’s breathing started to become rapid.
“W-Who are you! Are you a remnant of the Kongtong Sect? Do you know where this is? You have come seeking your death.”
“Keep your voice down. And only answer the questions asked.”
As soon as the cold reply was heard, blood spurred from the Demonic Cultist’s left thigh.
“Eup!”
The Demonic Cultist screamed at the pain rising from his half-severed thigh, but the sound wasn’t loud because the opponent’s hand covered his mouth.
“Now, I’m going to take my hand off. If it isn’t a proper answer, your head will be cut off immediately, so behave yourself.”
The Demonic Cultist nodded hurriedly.
When Jaun removed his hand, the Demonic Cultist trembled from the extreme pain and then raised his head.
“……A kid?”
Checking Jaun’s appearance, the Demonic Cultist’s face frowned deeply.
A cold light shimmered in Jaun’s eyes looking at such a Demonic Cultist.
“To a kid the size of a rat…….”
— Pa-at
“Keu-uk!”
Jaun’s sword flashed, and the Demonic Cultist’s chest was instantly dyed red.
“Is the age of the one holding your lifeline important? Next is the neck.”
At Jaun’s cold gaze, the Demonic Cultist bit his lip tight.
“W-What do you want from me?”
You said withdraw just a moment ago.
Where are you withdrawing to?”
“Why would I tell th……!”
“As Jaun’s sword dug into his neck about half an inch, the Demonic Cultist’s face turned pale.
“……We plan to withdraw to the center of Gansu, where it borders Sichuan.”
The Demonic Cultist answered through gritted teeth, trembling with humiliation.
“Are there reinforcement troops?”
“……They said the Illusion Demon is coming.”
“Illusion Demon?”
Jaun frowned.
The Illusion Demon is one of the Peak Masters leading the Demonic Cult’s combat squads.
Wi Jeong-cheon had told him that most of those who received the title of 'Demon' within the Demonic Cult possess supreme martial prowess, but among them, the Illusion Demon is a unique individual who received the title through illusions of a distant realm, not pure martial force.
“Even the Illusion Demon is coming? Do they really mean to start the Great War between Good and Evil?”
“Kuku. Great War between Good and Evil, you say. I don’t know who on earth set that standard. Hasn’t the war between the Demonic Cult and the Murim Alliance already begun?”
With a pale face, the Demonic Cultist shook his body and giggled.
“By the time you guys find a justification blabbering about the Great War between Good and Evil or whatever and make a proper judgment, half of the Central Plains will already have collapsed. What use is finding a justification then?”
Jaun quietly nodded.
The Demonic Cult was already engaging in war seriously.
They were not considering the standards of the Great War between Good and Evil that the Orthodox Faction talked about at all.
“Reinforcement troops other than the Illusion Demon?”
“I don’t know beyond that. Doesn’t seem like more would be needed either. To occupy the Sichuan region abandoned by the Murim Alliance, the Illusion Demon alone is enough.”
— Chwa-ak
The head of the Demonic Cultist who was continuing to speak soared into the air.
There was nothing more to find out.
Jaun looked at the Demonic Cultist who collapsed on the spot with an indifferent expression.