Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21

Zhuge Pyeong, who had been standing guard nearby, came running with an urgent expression.

“Squad Leader! It seems there’s trouble!”

“Hmm, the formation construction is only half finished… I understand. There’s no choice.”

Oh Sangmun hurriedly gathered the workers.

He was preparing for retreat.

“Hmph, so you’re saying the Honyeon Alliance has attacked now?”

“It seems so.”

“An attack, you say?”

“That’s right, but… Munhyeon. Why are your eyes like that?”

“Huh? What’s wrong with my eyes?”

Zhuge Munhyeon’s eyes seemed to hold a strange madness.

Just looking at them made one instinctively tense, causing one to gulp nervously…

“Mu, Munhyeon! Wait, you’re not thinking… right?”

“What?”

Though Zhuge Munhyeon smiled wickedly, Yeo Mungi’s heart was filled with unease.

This bastard, why are his eyes like that…

“Kehehehe.”

He’s, he’s laughing?

At that moment.

Clack, kuuuung!

At the sound of something being driven deep into the ground, everyone showed startled expressions.

All four of them.

He had released all the iron rings weighing two hundred geun.

“Wh, what are you trying to do?”

“Take good care of the iron rings.”

“Huh?”

Just as Yeo Mungi, who had roughly guessed what Zhuge Munhyeon was about to do, widened his eyes and tried to stop him.

Kuddeuddeuk, kwang!

Zhuge Munhyeon rolled on the ground with all his might and before anyone could stop him, charged straight through the forest in a direct line.

He was like a monster whose restraints had been released.

He had already been irritated by the physical labor disguised under the plausible name of formation maintenance, and you bastards picked the perfect day to show up.

How dare you attack the Zhuge Family where I am?

And Oh Sangmun, flustered by Zhuge Munhyeon’s figure disappearing in an instant, asked.

“What! Why is Munhyeon suddenly acting like that?”

“…”

I don’t know either.

Why that crazy bastard is acting like that.

Though that was Yeo Mungi’s inner thoughts as his mind went blank, he couldn’t say such a thing.

“Um… He probably went to help the place that was attacked.”

“What are you talking about? What help could a trainee from the Military Strategy Hall be?”

“Probably… he’ll be helpful. More than the guards here.”

“What?”

At Yeo Mungi’s words, Zhuge Pyeong and his brothers nodded with bitter expressions.

Since they were the ones who couldn’t even beat ‘Poke’.

“Let’s retreat for now. You fellows, please take care of the iron rings.”

“Yes.”

“Be careful with your backs. Each one weighs fifty geun.”

“What?”

The workers were startled.

So were Oh Sangmun and the Zhuge Family brothers.

It meant he had been walking around carrying two hundred geun worth on his body as if it were nothing.

* * *

“Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t this the young master from the branch office? Haha! This is a windfall. To finally get the chance to take the head of a Zhuge Family son.”

“Yeom Sangcheol…”

Zhuge Munho, who had rushed straight here since he was relatively close to where the horn had sounded, couldn’t help but frown.

The situation was tragic.

Not only guards but two workers had died, and the Military Strategy Hall scholars they had risked their lives to protect were also injured.

Needless to say, the formation they had been constructing was destroyed.

Moreover.

“There was no need to kill the workers too.”

“Why not?”

“You bastard! They are…”

“People doing work for the Zhuge Family.”

“What?”

“You’re not trying to teach me some stuffy thing like chivalrous spirit, are you?”

The giant man Yeom Sangcheol sneered while shouldering his great sword.

“Even if you’re from the Unorthodox Sects, there are rules that must be followed!”

“Rules? Kuk, when did such things collapse, and you’re still going on about rules? This is a world where might makes right. Strength is the way of the martial world.”

The world had changed that way.

It had long been considered natural to steal from the weak to build one’s strength.

“And when you’re trying to build barriers, why should we just stand by and watch?”

“The place where we set up the formation is Zhuge Family territory. Attacking without a declaration of war is…”

“Bullshit. Who decided that?”

“What did you say?”

“To be so ignorant of worldly affairs. Zhuge Family territory? Where does such a thing exist in today’s world? Whoever takes it first owns it, and if you can’t protect it, it gets stolen – that’s today’s world.”

“…”

“Tsk tsk, to still be unable to see the world, intoxicated by past delusions of prosperity. That’s why the Zhuge Family is in that state. Having all the good things stolen here and there, holed up in Yungzhong Mountain…”

“Shut up!”

When Zhuge Munho shouted angrily at the words insulting his family, an energy wave spread out with a ringing sound.

But Yeom Sangcheol didn’t even blink.

Instead, he sneered even more harshly.

“No need for long words. We have no intention of tolerating you setting up formations. This worked out well. When you die, the Zhuge Family won’t be able to dream of formation techniques anymore either. I’ll hang your head on the path crossing the mountain ridge.”

Dense killing intent gleamed in his eyes as he looked down with his chin slightly raised.

‘Damn it, of all people…’

Zhuge Munho couldn’t easily make a move.

Yeom Sangcheol of the Joyangdae Moon Blade.

Standing seven feet tall, he was a fairly famous martial artist in northern Hunan.

Once he made a name for himself as a wandering warrior, but became sworn brothers with the Honyeon Alliance Leader who courted him.

He was a master who had been using sword energy much longer than Zhuge Munho, at a level approaching the peak.

Having met him several times due to friction with the Honyeon Alliance, he knew his strength well.

‘Damn, what should I do?’

The horn sounded, but the Zhuge Family’s martial artists were spread across the entire border line, while Yeom Sangcheol and the Honyeonbang martial artists who targeted one location were concentrated in number.

Reinforcements would be late, and he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting him go.

Above all, in a situation where there were many scholars and workers constructing the formation, an all-out battle would be difficult.

But they couldn’t be pushed back. The mountain ridge was a strategic point that had to be defended at all costs.

If they took over the mountain ridge, it would no longer be possible to defend with formation techniques, requiring massive costs and personnel to be deployed.

Considering the Zhuge Family’s current situation, it was impossible.

They had to block them somehow.

At least until reinforcements arrived.

Zhuge Munho quickly surveyed the surrounding situation.

Their forces numbered roughly twenty, while the enemy had about fifty.

The numbers were hopelessly inadequate.

But even if he pondered it, there was no other way anyway. Even if it meant losing his life, he had to protect the powerless. That was a martial artist’s duty.

Clang!

He drew his sword and pointed it toward Yeom Sangcheol while shouting.

“Listen! Split the personnel in half immediately. The Hyeonho Unit’s martial artists will escort the scholars and workers in retreat! The branch office’s martial artists will guard the rear.”

“Yes!”

“Five enemies per person! Deploy the Single Line Golden Chain Formation! I’ll take the front!”

At Zhuge Munho’s shout, the formation was quickly arranged.

Five stepped forward and spread out with distance between them, while the remaining five lined up slightly behind, filling the gaps between the front row.

“D-Deputy Branch Manager! What are you saying? To block fifty with just ten, we’ll fight together too!”

“Shut up! I’m the commanding officer!”

“Deputy Branch Manager!”

“Retreat quickly!”

At the Hyeonho Unit martial artist’s words, Zhuge Munho glared fiercely and barked.

“Safely evacuate the scholars and workers. That is your duty.”

“…Understood. But I’ll return immediately.”

The Hyeonho Unit martial artist answered with a grimace and withdrew to the rear.

Thus the retreat began.

“Kuk, kahahaha! Well now, this is so touching I can’t bear to watch. Our young master is quite something. Not only wanting to fight me, but trying to block us with just ten men.”

“Hmph! The likes of you, we can block easily enough.”

“Well, that’s fine by me. I’ll be able to take your head a bit more easily and present it to our territory lord.”

Yeom Sangcheol lowered his great sword.

The moon blade, as thick as a child’s torso, glinted as it caught the sunlight.

“Kill them… all!”

“Yes!”

At his command with a chilling smile, the Honyeonbang martial artists charged all at once.

“Do your best to hold out!”

Zhuge Munho raised bright blue sword energy and held his position, while Yeom Sangcheol ruthlessly swung his moon blade as he charged.

Clang! Crash!

The sound of metal filled the forest.

“Hmm.”

And at a place slightly distant from where they were fighting.

Zhuge Munhyeon, standing on the branch of a large tree, frowned.

He had arrived a little while ago.

The number of Honyeonbang martial artists was roughly fifty?

Thinking of the safety of the formation he had worked so hard to create, he wanted to immediately jump in and smash them to pieces, but since they were having a conversation while facing off, he had been watching for a moment.

But suddenly Zhuge Munho split the martial artists in two and had the workers and scholars retreat.

“The bastard’s not bad. The other day he was like a tail-wagging puppy, but he knows how to protect the weak too.”

Still, ten against fifty was a bit much.

And the Single Line Golden Chain Formation at that.

That was a formation for a desperate last stand.

A formation technique that arranged a small number of people in a diagonal grid pattern to block the enemy’s breakthrough.

He probably judged that he couldn’t give up the mountain ridge and planned to hold out until reinforcements came. Or perhaps it was to buy time for escape.

But since they weren’t a suicide squad and each individual’s martial prowess wasn’t exceptional, the formation’s effectiveness would inevitably be limited.

“A spirit of sacrifice… What useless behavior.”

If you’re weak, it’s natural to die.

Only if I survive can I take revenge for others.

To Zhuge Munhyeon, who had lived considering this a truth, it was just incomprehensible behavior.

But soon the sight of the dead came to his eyes.

Not only martial artists but workers had died too.

“Sigh, in the past even the unorthodox sects knew to distinguish between shit and piss. How did it become a world where they can’t even distinguish between those who should be fought and those who shouldn’t?”

Even though they lived for different purposes, there had been things like pride as martial artists.

“I had some expectations since they were fighting against the Zhuge Family’s border, but they turned out to be just third-rate thugs.”

Zhuge Munhyeon, wearing a bitter smile, looked at the Zhuge Family’s martial artists who had already been pushed into a defensive position.

It had been an impossible fight from the start.

They had simply risked their lives because there was no other choice…

“Hmm.”

He pondered with a frown, but what he had to do was obvious.

“Damn, my blood’s boiling.”

Right, wasn’t he now a descendant of the Zhuge Family, not the Heavenly Demon?

He couldn’t ignore blood ties.

Whether it’s the Demon Cult or the Zhuge Family, if there’s going to be defeat, I should be the one to lose, not get beaten by others – his pride wouldn’t allow it.

This is my Zhuge Family now.

Jumping down from the tree, Zhuge Munhyeon immediately deployed the Heavenly Mystery Bewildering Steps, sliding across the ground as if it were an ice rink.

And soon, he encountered those fighting at the very edge.

“Hey!”

“…?”

The moment he turned his head, Zhuge Munhyeon’s fist, wearing a grin, shot out powerfully.

Thwack!

The martial artist, unable to withstand the fist filled with internal energy, spun like a whirlwind and collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

“First, secure a weapon.”

It was natural that attention focused on Zhuge Munhyeon as he grabbed the thin blade the martial artist had been holding.

Especially in his snow-white scholar’s robe.

“Zhuge Family?”

“That’s right.”

“This crazy bastard!”

Zhuge Munhyeon ducked under the sword blade that the Honyeonbang martial artist swung roughly and lightly pushed his knee.

Crunch!

The martial artist collapsed as his kneecap shattered.

Thwack!

He died instantly from the kick that followed.

There was no need to use martial techniques.

That was the difference in level between one who was once the Heavenly Demon and third-rate unorthodox sect riffraff.

Ting!

When he flicked the blade of the thin blade in his hand with his finger, it made a crude sound.

It was cheap.

But what use was quality when cutting down cheap bastards who used swords without even being able to distinguish their opponents?

“Well, now I’ve joined the battle. Let’s see, shall I start reducing their numbers?”

“You bastard!”

Three martial artists, enraged by the sight of him suddenly appearing and taking down their comrade, charged toward Zhuge Munhyeon.

Fluttering!

With each step he took, his loose-fitting robes flowed softly, and as he lightly swung the sword in his hand, a blue light shimmered in the air.

Slash, slash slash!

With sharp sounds, the bodies of the charging martial artists were cut into three or four pieces, and blood sprayed in all directions.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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