Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 40

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

Chapter 40
Namgung Geom and his party spent one night at Seolgajang before departing Namgyeong at first light.
As before, they traveled by land rather than by water once they left the city.
“But do you think Heuksalmun will sit idle?”
Namgung Chang glanced sideways at Heuk Samsal and posed the question.
Heuk Samsal was being dragged along with a gag in his mouth and both arms bound.
Namgung Chang worried that Heuksalmun might seek retaliation.
The organization had suffered considerable losses at the hands of Namgung Geom’s party.
Their scheme to eliminate the Seomun Family using Sahaebanag and Taehomun had failed outright.
In the process, four members of the Heuksalshipyeong had been killed, and one of the Heuksalsamgeom had been captured.
There was every possibility that Heuksalmun would strike back.
“Regardless of anything else, I doubt Heuksalmun will simply let Heuk Samsal be taken away like this.”
Namgung Cheonsan voiced his agreement from beside him.
Heuk Samsal was one of Heuksalmun’s greatest masters.
The likelihood that they would attempt to rescue him was high.
“The moment they attack us, they’ll face the wrath of the Namgung Clan. Would they really risk it?”
Namgung Cheonsan shook his head as he spoke.
“Once it becomes known that Heuksalmun orchestrated the attack on the Seomun Family through Sahaebanag and Taehomun, the Main Clan House and the other Orthodox Clans won’t leave them be.”
“So Heuksalmun will try to rescue Heuk Samsal precisely to prevent the fact that they instigated Sahaebanag and Taehomun from being exposed?”
Namgung Cheolwoong grasped what Namgung Cheonsan was getting at and asked.
“In the worst case, they could kill Heuk Samsal to silence him.”
At Namgung Cheonsan’s answer, Namgung Seol’s brow furrowed.
“If Heuksalmun truly moves against us, their forces will be formidable—and not easily countered.”
Namgung Cheolwoong replied to Namgung Seol’s concern.
“But Heuksalmun can’t easily harm us either. If they do, they’ll face the Main Clan House’s retaliation.”
“That’s not certain.”
Namgung Chang shook his head.
“What do you think, Geom?”
Namgung Cheolwoong asked Namgung Geom, who had been listening quietly.
“Heuksalmun is already lying in ambush ahead.”
At Namgung Geom’s words, Namgung Cheolwoong started in alarm.
“Heuksalmun has set up an ambush ahead?”
Namgung Cheolwoong peered forward as he spoke.
The other three also checked the path ahead.
Yet they sensed no aura of those lying in wait.
Though distance played a part, their skill was insufficient to penetrate Heuksalmun’s concealment arts.
“Yes. Judging by their numbers, they’ve committed themselves fully.”
“How many are there?”
“A hundred.”
“A hundred?”
At Namgung Geom’s words, the faces of the four companions hardened.
“The distance makes it imprecise, but I sense at least one of the Heuksalshipyeong among them.”
A faint presence that bore the mark of the Heuksalshipyeong could be felt.
“What of the Heuksalsamgeom?”
Namgung Chang asked.
“My aura detection picks up nothing for now, but they wouldn’t have sent only the Heuksalshipyeong.”
At minimum, one of the Heuksalsamgeom would have come.
Heuksalmun surely knew that Heuk Samsal had been subdued by Namgung Geom’s party.
So they wouldn’t send only the Heuksalshipyeong.
“Then we should flee at once. What are we waiting for?”
Namgung Chang spoke, his face grim.
No matter how strong Namgung Geom was, the forces arrayed against them were too numerous.
Namgung Geom’s expression became weighted with meaning as he spoke.
“Don’t worry. I summoned reinforcements in anticipation of this.”
“You summoned reinforcements?”
Namgung Cheonsan tilted his head in confusion.
He couldn’t fathom where such reinforcements could have come from.
“The masters of Seolgajang are shadowing us covertly from behind.”
“Seolgajang? But how did you know Heuksalmun would move and arrange their aid beforehand?”
Namgung Cheonsan asked in astonishment.
“I spotted Heuksalmun’s tailing when I arrived in Namgyeong yesterday.”
Namgung Geom had realized someone was following them the moment he reached Namgyeong.
Suspecting Heuksalmun intended to strike, he’d requested Seol Uncheon’s support the night before.
After deliberating, Seol Uncheon had agreed to his request.
“Seolgajang agreed to help us just like that?”
This time it was Namgung Chang who spoke.
Seolgajang had maintained rigorous neutrality all this while.
It seemed strange that they would move to aid the Namgung Clan.
“I once did something of service to Seolgajang’s master. He decided to return the favor this time.”
“You helped Seolgajang’s master?”
Namgung Chang asked what it could possibly be.
“The details later. We need to move before Heuksalmun grows suspicious.”
Any longer conversation risked tipping them off.
“What’s the plan, then?”
“When I engage them, you take Heuk Samsal and run.”
“Run? Not fight alongside you?”
Namgung Cheolwoong’s brow furrowed.
“Make them chase you toward where Seolgajang’s masters are waiting. That’s the lure.”
If the four of them fled with Heuk Samsal, Heuksalmun would split forces to pursue.
Drawing them to where Seolgajang’s martial masters lay in wait, then annihilating them—that was the core strategy.
“And you?”
“I’ll handle whoever stays behind.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous alone?”
Namgung Seol’s voice carried concern.
“If it gets bad, I’ll slip away. Don’t worry—just run the moment I make my move.”
Namgung Geom spoke with finality, brooking no further objection, and advanced ahead.
The four followed without another word.
When they drew within ten paces of where Heuksalmun lay in ambush—
“Ambush! Everyone, scatter!”
Namgung Geom’s shout rang out as though he’d only then noticed, and he hurled himself forward.
The four, as instructed beforehand, dragged Heuk Samsal away in the opposite direction.
The moment the ambush was exposed, Heuk Yeongdaejoo barked an order.
“Teams One through Three, attack Namgung Geom. Teams Four and Five, capture Heuk Samsal!”
Heuk Yeongdae moved instantly at their leader’s command.
Teams One through Three burst from the forest, striking at Namgung Geom.
Teams Four and Five gave chase to the four fleeing with Heuk Samsal.
As his opponents moved exactly as he’d anticipated, Namgung Geom smiled grimly—then suddenly slowed his pace.
The members of Heuk Yeongdae, blades already extended toward him, stumbled in confusion.
They’d matched his speed, timed their strikes to his momentum—but now that he’d decelerated, the distance was all wrong.
Their swords whistled harmlessly through empty air.
In that instant, Namgung Geom rushed forward like wind itself, and sword wind erupted around him.
A Binghan Geompung surged from his blade, crashing down upon Heuk Yeongdae.
Still recovering from their opening strike, they couldn’t mount an immediate defense.
Crack-crack-crack!
The Binghan Geompung tore through their defenseless forms.
A dozen members of Heuk Yeongdae flew backward, spurting blood.
As they fell, frost—brilliant white and pristine—settled across their chests.
“Encircle him!”
Heuk Yeongdaejoo’s teeth gnashed as he roared the command.
The remaining fighters moved to surround Namgung Geom.
But Namgung Geom had no intention of being boxed in.
Using Cheonpung Sinbeop, he darted in all directions, shattering their encirclement before it could tighten.
Even as he moved, his blade never ceased—sword wind poured forth in endless waves.
Heuk Yeongdae flailed about erratically, utterly helpless against the ceaseless assault of an enemy who seemed everywhere at once.
Heuk Yeongdaejoo could scarcely believe his unit was being pressed so hard by a single man.
He’d already known Namgung Geom was no ordinary fighter.
But he hadn’t expected prowess of this caliber.
Capturing Heuk Samsal was surely Seomun Chu’s doing, he’d thought.
Hearing that they needed to dispatch Heuk Yeongdae just to deal with Namgung Geom alone had seemed absurd.
But now, seeing him in action, it all became clear.
It was not Seomun Chu who had captured Heuk Samsal, but Namgung Geom.
Mobilizing the Heuk Yeongdae to seize him was far from excessive.
Rather, it fell short.
It should have been the Heuksalmun’s main force, not the Heuk Yeongdae, that came.
Heuk Yeongdaejoo clenched his teeth.
At this rate, three entire squads of the Heuk Yeongdae would be annihilated by Namgung Geom alone.
Heuk Yeongdaejoo glanced toward the place where Heuk Isal was concealed.
He was waiting for the perfect opening to strike Namgung Geom down in a single blow.
He had to create that opening for him.
“Hold nothing back! Sacrifice yourselves if you must!”
Heuk Yeongdaejoo roared the command across the Heuk Yeongdae.
In that instant, the assault changed.
Where before they had fought with some concern for defense, now they threw themselves forward recklessly, abandoning all caution.
No matter how inferior one’s skill, there is danger in an opponent who does not fear death and hurls themselves into battle.
Namgung Geom immediately deployed his movement technique and sought to distance himself from them.
“Not so fast!”
Heuk Yeongdaejoo moved with sharp speed to cut off his path, blade extended.
Namgung Geom was not caught off-guard by the attack.
He had already anticipated it.
Rather than evade Heuk Yeongdaejoo’s blade, Namgung Geom met it with his own steel.
Flash!
The Seomjeon Bingnoe burst forth from his sword, colliding with Heuk Yeongdaejoo’s blade.
Boom!
Unable to withstand the impact from the collision, Heuk Yeongdaejoo was hurled backward.
The moment Namgung Geom moved to pursue, the Heuk Yeongdae descended upon him from all sides.
Rather than chase Heuk Yeongdaejoo, Namgung Geom unleashed the Binghan Geompung in all directions.
The Heuk Yeongdae soldiers caught in the Binghan Geompung vomited blood and fell.
In that interval, the rebounding Heuk Yeongdaejoo drove straight at Namgung Geom from the front.
At the same time, the Heuk Yeongdae behind those who had fallen rushed at Namgung Geom.
Their attacks converged from every direction, smothering him.
Namgung Geom surveyed their assault, then spun his entire body in a vast arc, extending his blade.
A spiral of sword wind poured forth, wreathing the space around him.
The spiral fed upon itself, creating a towering cyclone centered on Namgung Geom.
The Dragon Wind Cyclone.
One of the supreme techniques of the Cheonpung Muhansearch Geombeop, it served as both defense and offense—an all-purpose skill.
Crunch-crack!
The Dragon Wind Cyclone that Namgung Geom unleashed was no ordinary wind vortex.
Woven through his cyclone was the power of Binghan—frozen cold.
It was, in essence, a frozen wind cyclone.
The frozen wind cyclone swallowed whole the assault mounted by Heuk Yeongdaejoo and his soldiers.
Caught in the frozen cyclone, their attacks froze solid and shattered in an instant.
The impact sent Heuk Yeongdaejoo and his men reeling backward.
Then the frozen cyclone poured outward in all directions, pursuing them.
They gasped in terror and raised their guard.
But the frozen wind cyclone exceeded what their strength could handle.
Their defense crumbled in moments, and the cyclone engulfed them.
Crash-boom!
The frozen cyclone came down upon them and detonated in explosion.
Heuk Yeongdaejoo and his soldiers were flung backward, their bodies encased in ice.
It was, without question, an attack of terrible power.
And then—
Suddenly, the space behind Namgung Geom shimmered, and a dark figure burst forth.
It was Heuk Isal of the Heuksalsamgeom.
Without hesitation, he drove his blade toward Namgung Geom.
He had been waiting for the moment when Namgung Geom completed the Dragon Wind Cyclone.
After deploying a great technique, there is always an instant of vulnerability.
As one’s realm advances, this gap narrows, but Heuk Isal had not believed Namgung Geom’s realm was so elevated as to eliminate it entirely.
Indeed, Namgung Geom’s body lurched, and a gap appeared.
Heuk Isal seized upon it and thrust his blade forward.
The Muyeong Geomgi unleashed from his sword drove deep into Namgung Geom’s back.
‘He’s caught!’
Heuk Isal was certain his attack would succeed.
But it was nothing but a miscalculation.
Namgung Geom spun his body in an instant and blocked Heuk Isal’s blade.
Crash!
Namgung Geom was driven back hard by the collision with Heuk Isal’s sword.
Yet despite the disadvantage, a satisfied smile played across Namgung Geom’s face.
“I was waiting for you to make your move.”
Namgung Byeongrong
Author |
Baekwol Geom
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dreambooks
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260511103
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
Without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dreambooks, the contents of this book may not be reproduced or used in any form or by any means.

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