Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 288

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 288
“Cheonma Sect Leader. Or rather, Dokgo Myeong.”
Dokgo Un-hak’s voice pressed heavily upon the air of the great hall.
“The main household has now entered a state of war. I have appointed you not as the Outer Hall Master, but as a commander of one division and acting household head. Surely you understand what this means?”
“Of course, I understand perfectly.”
“Then you must provide a valid reason.”
“My abilities are still insufficient, and I lack confidence to undertake such a grave responsibility.”
“There is no need for false modesty. No one in the main household doubts your martial prowess. Should anyone dare to, I will speak to them directly.”
“…!”
All the senior members of the clan gathered in the great hall could not hide their astonishment.
Of course, no one in the Dokgo Household had ever looked down upon Dokgo Myeong.
But for Dokgo Un-hak to speak so forcefully was entirely unexpected. Especially considering that Dokgo Myeong had been nearly a rival to him.
Dokgo Myeong nodded.
“I am grateful for your confidence.”
“Then?”
“But fighting alone and waging war are not the same thing. I have no confidence in leading inadequate soldiers to the battlefield and achieving victory.”
Commotion erupted among those assembled.
“Preposterous! Young Master Dokgo Myeong! How can you speak so weakly against mere Moyong?”
“The bloodline of the main household should be capable of accomplishing what seems impossible!”
“Are you refusing orders on the eve of war? One should obey when commanded…!”
Dokgo Myeong did not respond.
While voices clamored from all directions, Dokgo Un-hak let out a low chuckle.
‘Unless I deploy the Cheonma Sect, he will not be satisfied?’
Here he was, still pouting even with war at the doorstep.
Dokgo Un-hak clicked his tongue silently once, then opened his mouth.
“Do not worry. The strike force assigned to you will be organized from the elite of the main household.”
“I lack confidence in commanding soldiers whose coordination is poor and whose foundation is weak. I fear I would only bring disgrace upon the household, so I ask that you reconsider.”
This was well-spoken and polite enough to be understood. Surely Dokgo Un-hak would comprehend.
“Then we shall synchronize and establish the foundation starting now.”
This man is truly something! During the conference, he understood so well!
No, that’s precisely the problem. He sees right through my thoughts.
“…Can that be accomplished in such a short time? Besides, there is already a unit whose coordination has been perfected. There is no need to organize anew.”
“You speak of the Cheonma Sect. Their abilities have not yet been verified, so deploying them separately would be inappropriate.”
“In my judgment, they are sufficient, Outer Hall Master.”
“I am not the Outer Hall Master now, Dokgo Myeong. I am the acting household head.”
“Is that truly important right now?”
“Hmm.”
Dokgo Un-hak spoke in a flat, businesslike tone.
“Dokgo Myeong. Think bigger and demonstrate your full capabilities. If you are concerned about the Cheonma Sect, there is no need to worry.”
“…?”
“I’ve heard that each of the Cheonma Sect disciples possesses considerable individual talent. After they receive sufficient training at the main household, we can deploy them gradually as needed. I will permit their coordinated deployment at appropriate times. Does that suffice?”
Wait, what is this madman saying right now?
‘Is he really suggesting he’ll dismember my people from the Cheonma Sect?’
Splitting them apart, attaching some here and others there, then separating and recombining them?
Dokgo Myeong’s lips curved into a gentle smile.
‘Ah, I need to hold back.’
But laughter kept bubbling up. My lips twitched and my tongue threatened to move of its own accord.
Crack!
At that moment, I felt someone tugging at my collar.
When I turned my head, I saw Dokgo Jo-hak.
‘Don’t! Don’t do it! If you must, do it later! Go find him separately and do it!’
His gaze burned with desperation.
Dokgo Myeong squeezed my eyes shut.
‘Fine, I’ll endure this.’
For now, I’ll take a firm stance and simply refuse, then wait and see how things develop before visiting him separately…
“I understand.”
“I’m glad you comprehend. Then…”
“Since we’ll all die like dogs anyway, please prepare coffins generously. If possible, one for me as well.”
“…What did you just say?”
Dokgo Un-hak’s expression turned glacial.
Well, what can I do if he glares at me like that?
I really tried to hold back, but my tongue started moving on its own again.
“The talented elites of the main household will die like dogs, sir.”
“…!”
“And the Cheonma Sect disciples scattered across various units will perish gloriously alongside their assigned martial forces. The battlefield is already shrouded in defeat anyway, so there’s nothing to be done. Perhaps we’ll last a week? I’m done caring, so just do as you see fit.”
Silence fell suddenly.
Dokgo Wi-hak clenched his eyes shut, while Dokgo Jo-hak let out a pained sigh as if surrendering everything.
‘Ah, that felt refreshing.’
After a moment of silence, roars erupted from all directions.
“How dare you! What did you just say!”
“Young master, watch your tongue!”
“The battlefield shrouded in defeat? Such reckless nonsense!”
My ears were about to burst. Do all these old men learn sound-based martial arts as they age?
The Outer Hall, the Elder Council, neutrality—none of it mattered. Those who usually bickered over factions became united, raising their voices in unison.
Dokgo Myeong let out a low chuckle, scanning across all these people afflicted with loose tongues.
Stubborn old fools intoxicated by the name “Greatest Household Under Heaven”—capable yet incompetent.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed as I suddenly bellowed.
“Silence!”
“Who do you think you are, telling us to be quiet!”
“Just look at that insolence!”
“….”
Tsk, that won’t work. When the Household Leader speaks, everything gets settled right away.
Dokgo Myeong let out a soft laugh and opened his mouth.
“Is my speech grating on you, or do you think what I’m saying is wrong?”
“What did you just say!?”
“If it’s the latter, then all of you should prepare poison in your dishes. Rather than pushing our loyal martial artists from the main house into the spears and blades of fanatics, you should drive them into your own nostrils first.”
Whoooosh!
A sharp killing intent spread through the space.
It was not Dokgo Un-hak. He merely observed the situation.
“A mere youth with blood still wet on his hands, yet he wags his tongue so freely. Tsk, tsk!”
It was Dokgo Hwi-hwa, the ancient elder of the Dokgo Household and the Elder Council Leader.
The old woman laughed coldly.
“You should watch your words. This is not a place where you can act so recklessly, is it?”
“I don’t think I’ve said anything particularly wrong.”
“Why is that?”
“Even in the game of go, which is a battlefield between the refined and the common, there exists the possibility of one in ten thousand. So why do you grow careless in real warfare where human lives hang in the balance?”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s eyes narrowed.
“Are you throwing this tantrum merely because we won’t deploy your unit?”
“It’s not that—it’s frustration. Look at this properly. Does the Moyong Family seem easy to deal with? I’ll concede a hundred times that the Moyong Family itself might seem manageable. But with a cult organization of unknown strength backing them, how can you be so arrogant?”
“It’s not arrogance, but rather an attempt to avoid unnecessary disturbance.”
“That is precisely what arrogance is!”
Without realizing it, my voice had risen.
The gazes of everyone present turned toward Dokgo Myeong once more.
“A strike force composed of the main house’s elite? I have no intention of dying on the battlefield while cleaning up the mess of superiors who underestimate their enemies.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you being so foolish? Was this fellow always this unreasonable?”
Who does he think he is!
Just as Dokgo Myeong was about to shout back, the silent Dokgo Un-hak opened his mouth.
“Could it be… that this is because of the two books you wrote?”
“….”
“It seems I’ve hit the mark. So you’re confident about it.”
Dokgo Myeong stared directly at him and spoke.
“Have you read them?”
“Of course.”
“Do you find problems with the content?”
“I found none. Your writing skill was quite impressive.”
Dokgo Un-hak said so calmly.
Dokgo Myeong’s cheeks twitched slightly.
“Then why….”
“First, because you keep talking about war, you seem to think of it like a fight between ignorant fools who know nothing of martial arts.”
“That is precisely what will happen.”
“Do you have evidence?”
Dokgo Myeong’s words caught in his throat.
Dokgo Un-hak continued, his voice measured and persuasive.
“That’s the second reason. What you wrote… it was detailed as if you’d witnessed it firsthand, but the most crucial evidence was flawed. The reason being that you wrote about something that never happened, based on imagination.”
Dokgo Myeong swallowed hard the sigh threatening to escape between his teeth.
“Still, because I found your concerns valid, I’ve been preparing for it. Yet this further…”
The rest of his words went in one ear and out the other as I closed my eyes tightly. If I tried to recall, memories from my past life would flood before my eyes at any moment.
I understand.
The wars these people gathered here had experienced were nothing more than martial artists rushing forward in brief skirmishes, exchanging blows until one side sensed defeat and withdrew.
That was the kind of fighting the martial world had known until now.
“Coldly… you will change the tide of battle… it will be so. Not the Cheonma Sect’s merit, but…”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa continued muttering something, but her voice sounded distant, as if I’d developed tinnitus.
‘That’s right. Those who haven’t experienced it cannot understand.’
The Twin Horse Alliance’s persistence, their cunning, their fanaticism and malice.
The price paid by those who arrogantly thought surely they wouldn’t go that far, or that if they did, they could respond accordingly, was far too terrible.
Bang!
Dokgo Myeong finally kicked back his seat and stood up.
“Has your mouth caught a disease! You old fools who know nothing!”
“Gasp! You bastard! Control yourself! Stop!”
“Know your place, Dokgo Myeong!”
“Is being the Sword King everything? Is being the Elder Council Leader everything! You old men who bled in battle decades ago, spouting off about evidence and nonsense without knowing a damn thing—what right do you have to say such things!”
“Stop! Cease this! What on earth is wrong with you!”
“Calm yourself!”
Dokgo Wi-hak and Dokgo Jo-hak tried to restrain Dokgo Myeong, but the spark had already ignited, and he thrashed about, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Do you think I’m doing this because of the Cheonma Sect’s merit! People are dying, you say! What could be more important than that! You damn…”
Dokgo Myeong’s loud voice echoed through the great hall.
* * *
An unprecedented incident.
Raised voices in the Baek Gak Council had happened before, but a green young prodigy spouting profanities and rushing forward was truly the first time in history.
So the result was obvious.
Screech! Thud!
Dokgo Myeong was dragged away by the Law Enforcement Officers and thrown into prison once more.
“Foolish bastard.”
At the voice from beyond the bars, Dokgo Myeong let out a bitter laugh.
“Hehe, it’s been a while, Jipbeop-bu Leader. Have you been well?”
“Shut your mouth.”
Our Jipbeop-bu Leader, who was second to none in being difficult, remained true to form.
“…”
His gaze was piercingly sharp. He was a man whose expression was so blank it seemed his facial muscles were paralyzed, yet today from the start he glared with his face twisted in anger.
“No matter how your status has risen in the main family, recklessness is not tolerated. Can’t you even exercise that much judgment?”
Dokgo Myeong closed his mouth and spoke.
“I believe I was also at fault. I apologize.”
“Just to be sure, what exactly do you think you did wrong?”
“Rather than words, I deserve to be struck down with the Hyeonchul Heavy Sword—just like that!”
….
Dokgo Yeon-sin’s gaze turned contemptuous.
Fearing he might actually spit at me, I forced the warmest smile I could manage.
“That’s an unpleasant smile.”
…This man spits even while looking at a smiling face. Next time, I should just frown instead.
“In any case, how long am I to remain here?”
“Be grateful you’ve entered the emergency protocol. You’ll be able to leave after cooling your head for just a few days.”
“A few days, you say? Then the strike team matter has been shelved? Proclamations will soon be scattered across the Central Plains.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin’s eyebrows twitched.
“You…?”
I shook my head vigorously.
“I understand what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t an act. Didn’t you witness it directly?”
“Still, there must have been some calculation involved.”
“Yes, well, perhaps a little? Though I certainly didn’t anticipate being confined.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin had also attended the grand assembly, so he witnessed how events unfolded.
He exhaled deeply. I expected another barrage of sharp words, but what I heard was unexpected.
“If that was your aim, I’ll keep you confined a few days longer until things settle. Is there anything else you need?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m saying I’ll provide some conveniences.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin spoke matter-of-factly.
“Now that we’ve entered the emergency protocol, the Law Enforcement regulations can be applied at the Jipbeop-bu Leader’s discretion. I’ll grant minor requests.”
“What brings this on?”
“Your conduct was wrong, but I believe your intentions were not.”
It was something I never expected to hear.
After a brief pause, Dokgo Yeon-sin continued.
“…I read a copy of that book you wrote. I believe there is merit to it.”
“Pardon?”
Dokgo Yeon-sin exhaled a long breath.
“How much do you know of the chaos that followed the fall of the Secret Teachings?”
Dokgo Yeon-sin continued in a somewhat softened tone.
“The headquarters of the Secret Teachings, which we believed to be the root of all evil, collapsed—but that was merely like poking a hornet’s nest.”
….
“The various factions of the Secret Teachings were released and scattered into hiding throughout the Central Plains. That was the age of chaos. It’s a distant memory even for me.”
….
“They say more people died during that dark period than in the actual war itself. Those who didn’t experience that darkness can never truly understand it.”
….
“And I could see fragments of those days in your writings.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin’s voice grew increasingly drawn out. He seemed like someone from whom not a single drop of blood would flow even if pricked with a needle, yet a deep sense of regret pooled in his eyes.
“So many died, knowing nothing at all.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin touched the sword scars on his own face with a vacant expression.
What exactly was he recalling?
“…That was needless talk. If there is nothing else to request, let us end this.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin’s voice returned to its usual tone.
“Then might I impose upon you with one small favor?”
“Speak.”
“If someone comes looking for me, would you simply allow them to pass through?”
“…They have already come, as it happens. How fortunate.”
Dokgo Yeon-sin gestured toward somewhere.
A Law Enforcement Officer nodded and disappeared, then returned with someone in tow.
“Overseer.”
“Cheonma Sect Master.”
The Inner Sect Leader and Overseer Wi Baek had come seeking Dokgo Myeong.

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