Read Novel Full Chapter 1269: Worry About The Ten Thousand People Clan Bastards! (4)
Chapter 1269: Worry About The Ten Thousand People Clan Bastards! (4)
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Aaaaargh!”
A section completely collapses.
Of course, compared to that force that seems to cover the shoreline, the portion Chung Myung tore apart is too small to seriously affect the overall tide.
But anyone watching the situation dispassionately would have to see with their own eyes the ripple effect created by that small crack.
The shockwave radiating from Chung Myung spread like concentric rings on a still lake. The army that had been ready to tear flesh and gulp blood hesitated for a moment, then began to lose momentum.
“G-go aside! You bastards!”
“Fall back! Fall back! Aaaah!”
This was no longer a battle between a force of barely a thousand and a single person. Those completely shaken by Chung Myung—those who, unbefitting the lofty name of the Ten Thousand People Clan, had been reduced to cowards—turned and fled.
Having lost all reason, they swung their blades indiscriminately at any comrades blocking their way.
“W-what, are these bastards insane!”
“What the hell is going on!”
“Aaaaargh!”
Those struck by their comrades’ blades were at first startled, then enraged. In the end, though, a deep bewilderment froze them in place.
‘What on earth is this situation?’
A Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman stood frozen, looking around in confusion.
Chaos on the battlefield is common.
Fleeing in the face of the fear of death is hardly rare. That doesn’t mean they were born used to killing people.
But the problem was that those screaming to flee, even swinging weapons at their own side, were all veteran warriors of the Ten Thousand People Clan.
These were not green recruits. They were battlefield devils who had fought countless enemies and stained many sects with blood.
How could such men, as if seeing blood for the first time, abandon the enemy and run like this? In such a frenzy?
“C-calm down!”
“Move! I said move! Move! Aaaaargh!”
Those utterly terrified continued to scream, pressing down, shoving, and struggling to escape. If he did not move immediately, they seemed ready to slice him—and the blade blocking his head—clean off.
“This mad...”
It was at that very moment.
Paaaang!
A sound like the air being ripped apart pierced their eardrums. At the same time, a red line bloomed across the chest of the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman desperately trying to flee.
“W-what...”
What began as a thin line, like a fine pen stroke, widened until the upper body slid down along the slanted cut.
Despite being split in two, the torso, not yet fully accepting death, still stood.
Shhaaaaaak!
Crimson blood spurted from the sliced surface.
The one who had been blocking that warrior until a moment ago saw it: a black silhouette rushing forward beyond the terrifying spray of blood.
Blood drenched the black hair a dark red and scattered everywhere. What stood out was the smiling lips glimpsed through long hair. And the stark white teeth.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
He finally understood why those in front had tried to flee like mad. The grim reaper he had been unable to see because of blocked sight, regrettably, gave him no chance to run.
Paaaang!
With another fierce crack, his head separated from his body and shot into the air.
In the brief instant before the severed head reached the absolute conclusion of ‘death,’ he saw clearly.
He saw Chung Myung, like a black leopard stalking prey, trample the headless body and leap forward.
‘This is better...’
The world turned black.
No one can know now what he last tried to think.
Ho Ga-Myung watched the battlefield with cold eyes.
A single person was literally ravaging the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen he had trained with painstaking care.
Yet, Ho Ga-Myung, who had been observing without much change in expression, suddenly looked down at his hand.
He slowly unclenched the fist that had been tightly closed. He realized how hard he had been gripping when blood crept into his pale, drained hand and a gnawing sensation like ants biting washed over him.
“Huh.”
Ho Ga-Myung exhaled shortly and slowly shook his head.
He could pretend indifference to a lot of things, but at this point that would be foolish posturing. Ho Ga-Myung admitted honestly that he was greatly unsettled.
“...This is a disgraceful sight.”
He couldn’t help but be shaken because he knew and understood why this had happened.
Crush the momentum at once with overwhelming force. Then slaughter the enemy as violently, as brutally as possible so that anyone ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ who resists knows exactly what fate awaits them.
Humans are ultimately creatures of sight. No matter how objectively you try to assess things mentally, instinct makes you accept the immediate terror before you first.
A resultant victory?
What’s the point of victory when I’m about to die right now? What meaning does the glory of the Ten Thousand People Clan hold for the one standing before that blade?
The moment one person turns and flees, fear spreads. That contagion of fear quickly breaks the morale of the entire force and ultimately extinguishes the will to resist.
Ho Ga-Myung knew this method very well. The reason was simple: it was the very tactic the Ten Thousand People Clan favored.
The fear the name Jang Ilso inspired, and the perception that those under Jang Ilso’s command would run into hellfire without hesitation—Ho Ga-Myung and Jang Ilso themselves had crafted and cultivated that image so enemies would be terrified of them.
Show overwhelming dominance at the outset based on fear, then shatter the enemy’s morale. By doing so they had achieved seemingly impossible victories more than once.
Now Ho Ga-Myung fully realized what it looked like when the tactic they used was turned against them.
No, this was worse. It was showing how to trample an army in a far more violent and cruel way.
“...Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”
That man was certainly not normal.
Jang Ilso had said he didn’t know how to judge the madman called Hyun Jong, but Ho Ga-Myung felt differently. To Ho Ga-Myung, Hyun Jong was nothing more or less than a fool swallowed by the principle of Harmony and Righteousness.
What he truly couldn’t understand was Chung Myung, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.
‘What the hell is he thinking?’
Chung Myung’s strength was not surprising. If Ho Ga-Myung were surprised by Chung Myung’s power now, he’d be a fool unfit to claim command of the Ten Thousand People Clan’s forces.
What he couldn’t comprehend was the madman’s way of charging alone against a massive army.
Is there no one in the world stronger than Chung Myung?
Not at all.
There are. Certainly. Even Jang Ilso, for one, Ho Ga-Myung was sure, was stronger than that Mount Hua madman. Even elders of the Justice faction or reclusive warriors of the previous era might be stronger than Chung Myung.
And none of those strong ones would do something as reckless as Mount Hua’s Sword Saint did.
Not because they valued life, but because they knew the enormous cost they’d pay if that recklessness got them killed.
But that madman seemed not to care when he died, he charged, swung his sword, and trampled the enemy at the very front.
It was stupid, pathetic, insectile behavior—at least by Ho Ga-Myung’s standards.
“Aaaaaargh!”
“Ruuuun!”
“Aaaaargh!”
But that utterly foolish act had shattered the military discipline Ho Ga-Myung had painstakingly engraved into their bodies.
Ho Ga-Myung lowered his head again. The fist he had barely relaxed was clenched tight. Seeing his broken nail bleeding, he squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Ga-Myung.’
He had to admit it. He had known, but he had to move beyond mere knowledge and acknowledge that this man could not be judged by his common sense.
“The damage is severe.”
As he barely calmed the turmoil within, the mocking voice of Blood Sword troops Captain Gwi Yang whispered in Ho Ga-Myung’s ear.
“They can’t take him.”
“...”
“This isn’t a fight between people. It’s a fight between beasts. Sure, jackals in numbers can take down a tiger, but...”
A grim, fishy smile spread across Gwi Yang’s lips.
“That’s when jackals have the luxury of mind. If the one at the front gets his throat torn and starts spewing blood from the first step, what’s left is one-sided slaughter.”
Momentum is especially crucial on the battlefield. And that Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, by sense and instinct, clearly knew that fact.
“So? The battlefield’s already lost, are you just going to watch?”
“Why? Do you pity the lives of those dying? Ho Ga-Myung of the world?”
Ho Ga-Myung looked at Gwi Yang with cold eyes.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes, Commander.”
Gwi Yang laughed darkly. Though he laughed aloud, his eyes coldly never took their gaze off Chung Myung’s movements.
“Beasts can’t catch a tiger. Hunters catch tigers. Do you know what’s most important when hunting a great tiger?”
“...Not being detected.”
“No, being noticed.”
Suspicion narrowed Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes for a moment, but Gwi Yang, as if expecting it, continued his explanation.
“You can ambush an ordinary tiger like you said. But a true great tiger can’t be caught that way. The key is to sap its strength. From a distance where a surprise attack is impossible, you give off a scent that signals your presence. For days or months, you keep it aware of you until it grows weary.”
“...”
“Those lives?”
Gwi Yang grinned eerily.
“If those lousy meat-shields can even wear down that Mount Hua’s Sword Saint’s stamina, isn’t that an honorable death? I feel like applauding.”
“You bastard.”
“Ah... But.”
A chilling killing intent spread across Gwi Yang’s eyes.
“He will die. The more he rampages, the more certain it will be.”
Feeling Gwi Yang’s creeping killing intent, Ho Ga-Myung quietly nodded.
‘Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.’
His gaze locked precisely onto Chung Myung swinging his sword amid the bloodstorm.
‘You will be killed without fail.’
Even if he lost everyone here, if he could kill Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, it would not be a losing bargain.
‘Definitely...’
He slowly released the fist he had clenched.