Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 342

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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 342
“…My Lord, Sect Leader.”
A flash.
Sect Leader Seongcheon Yong Gun-baek, who had been sitting in lotus position, opened his eyes.
“What is the matter?”
His voice was low and hollow, devoid of vitality.
His body bore more crimson than flesh tone. The bandages wrapped around him were soaked with blood and pus.
“He has arrived.”
“…He.”
“What should we do?”
Yong Gun-baek suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
In that instant, he closed his mouth to stifle a groan against the excruciating pain that surged through him.
Only after a moment did Yong Gun-baek slowly rise to his feet and speak.
“Tell all disciples capable of movement to assemble at the camp entrance. I shall join you shortly.”
“Assemble… you say.”
Undisguised dissatisfaction seeped through the subordinate’s voice.
Muyong Gaju, Muyong Tae.
Once called the Divine Sword, now known as the Mad Demon.
Even a lowly martial artist understood how the situation was unfolding. He could not abide by a gaju who cast aside the truly loyal Yukcheon Unit as a sacrificial pawn.
“What are you thinking?”
“…My apologies. However.”
Yong Gun-baek spoke firmly.
“The Commander has arrived. I cannot simply stand idle and watch.”
“…”
“Go now.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Yong Gun-baek left the barracks as well. Soon he could greet their master who had arrived on the battlefield.
Yong Gun-baek swallowed hard the blood rising in his throat and opened his mouth.
“I, Sect Leader Seongcheon Yong Gun-baek, pay my respects to the Gaju.”
“You are wounded.”
His tone was dry, neither disappointed nor reproachful—merely stating a fact.
“My martial prowess proved insufficient to withstand Geom Wang.”
“Dokgo Un-hak, then. That is understandable.”
Yong Gun-baek bowed his head.
The disciples of Seongcheon Unit, witnessing their sect leader bow, had to desperately maintain their composure.
“What brings you to the battlefield, my Lord?”
“I have come to end this.”
“To end it…?”
“The trial is finished, and the variables have been eliminated. Now it is time to capture that greedy dragon.”
The dragon referred to the Dokgo Household.
“What is the enemy’s main force doing?”
“They are preparing for a general offensive.”
“I must see it myself.”
Muyong Tae, speaking in clipped, staccato bursts, walked through the orderly ranks of the Seongcheon Sect disciples.
His leisurely pace soon came to a halt atop the walls of Soxing, and from there Muyong Tae could take in the vast expanse of countless tents blanketing the open plains below.
It was the Dokgo Family’s encampment.
The great adversary of the Moyong Family, who had sealed off every critical passage and now prepared for their final assault.
‘What an overwhelming military presence.’
Was there truly such a dominant martial force in this age?
‘Yet the days of that glory are drawing to a close.’
A fleeting thought crossed his mind—what would have become of them without the Jeongheol Sect?
The incompetent, timid, and treacherous third-rate martial artists of the main family would have had no future at all.
‘History knows no “what-ifs,” so if we achieve victory here, everything will be resolved cleanly.’
Muyong Tae’s eyes gleamed.
Thump-thump.
His heartbeat sounded louder than usual.
So even he, who thought he had transcended the five desires and seven emotions, still harbored ambition and feeling within.
“Yong Sect Leader.”
“Speak freely.”
“Our troop numbers have been severely depleted.”
“…I apologize.”
There was no helping it.
The enemy’s main force numbered three times that of the Yukcheon Unit.
Without the advantage of defending position, or had Geom Wang not been cautious of the Grand General and appeared on the front lines more frequently, this place would have fallen long ago.
“How many remain?”
“Only about half are still capable of fighting.”
“Half, I see.”
Muyong Tae continued in an unusual tone.
“The four hundred of the Jeokcheongseomdae and the Jeongheol Disciples led by the Grand General will undertake the main assault. The Yukcheon Unit will serve as supporting force, assisting the Jeongheol Disciples to repel the enemy’s main force with all preparations complete.”
Even now, still speaking of the Jeongheol Disciples.
No, perhaps it was fortunate. At least the more blood they shed, the less of the Moyong Family’s blood would be spilled.
“May I ask one thing?”
“Speak.”
“I wish to know when the Grand General and the elite Jeongheol Disciples he commands will arrive.”
“They should already be positioned on the battlefield. They will surge forward the moment the enemy’s offensive begins.”
Already positioned on the battlefield?
Were they saying they would act independently without following our orders?
Though Yong Gun-baek had much he wished to dispute, he opened his mouth no further. He could only endlessly contemplate where and when everything had begun to go wrong.
“Prepare for the final battle. The enemy’s offensive will begin either today or at dawn tomorrow at the latest.”
With those words, Muyong Tae descended from the city wall.
‘Come then, Dokgo Household. Your fall is near at hand.’
Grrrrrrr.
The tremendous power of the Northern Ming Divine Technique surged violently through my body.
It felt as though it was screaming to burst forth immediately.
* * *
“Commander, urgent dispatch from the Yukcheon Unit. It appears the Gaju has completed preparations for the decisive battle.”
“Multiple messengers have escaped from the enemy’s main camp. It seems we failed to capture them all.”
“The Grand General is currently mobilizing the Jeongheol Disciples.”
The central barracks of the Pacheonggun bustled like a marketplace.
With information from all quarters arriving by the moment and battle reports from the Left Army continuing to pour in, it was unavoidable. Unlike the Dokgo Family that had entered enemy territory, the Pacheonggun’s eyes and ears remained wide open, and they held a slight advantage in the intelligence war.
“They’re coming.”
Jimeol Magoon, who had been listening silently to all the reports, spoke in a heavy voice.
“Coming, you say… The enemy?”
“The Dokgo Household. They’ve finally set a date.”
In truth, he was not particularly skilled at reading the larger strategic situation. That had been the role of the Black Bloodfiend, but he was gone now.
However, his intuition surpassed that of the Black Bloodfiend, and truthfully, anyone could see it now. The Dokgo Household had finally set their date.
Jimeol Magoon immediately summoned the Heavenly Kings.
“The enemy will launch a general offensive.”
At his calmly spoken words, light flashed in the eyes of the Heavenly Kings.
“The Dokgo Family’s movements have become far more aggressive. It’s clear that internal information from the Moyong Family has also been leaked.”
All three enemy factions began moving with keen awareness, as though they knew everything about the situation here.
The Elder Council Leader Muyong Cheol had suddenly vanished from the main house, they said. A traitor, no less. The distrust regarding staking the sect’s fate on the Moyong Family had still not dissipated.
But this was not the time to be shaken by doubt.
The ringleader of that vicious Dokgo Family, Geom Wang Dokgo Un-hak, had finished preparing for a general offensive.
“They’ll certainly press forward all at once. They plan to disperse our forces, and have the victorious units immediately join another front.”
“So what do we do? In the end, the important question is not what they do, but what we do.”
Seocheon Wang pressed Jimeol Magoon with an indifferent expression.
Jimeol Magoon answered without hesitation.
“Give everything we can give.”
“Everything we can give?”
“Strongholds, supply lines, strategic positions, subordinates… just give it all. Small-scale battles are meaningless now.”
“If we do that, we’ll have nothing left to fall back on?”
At Seocheon Wang’s question, Jimeol Magoon smiled faintly.
“So?”
“So, you say….”
“Seocheon Wang. Think carefully—would that be a problem?”
“…?”
Seocheon Wang’s brow furrowed slightly.
But he soon grasped the meaning behind Jimeol Magoon’s words and let out a sinister laugh.
“I see. It doesn’t matter, does it.”
Jimeol Magoon turned his gaze forward once more and continued speaking.
“Remember this well. Our objective is not victory.”
“….”
“What matters is killing as many enemies as possible. The greater the casualties inflicted upon the Left Army, the closer we draw to our true victory. Especially….”
Jimeol Magoon’s expression turned cold and sharp.
“Dokgo Myeong.”
“….”
“…And Dokgo Gun.”
Why had the name of Dokgo Myeong, who commanded a unit of less than a hundred soldiers, been spoken before that of Dokgo Gun, the supreme captain of the entire Left Army?
“Those two must be buried on this battlefield without fail.”
A crimson gleam flickered in Jimeol Magoon’s eyes.
Victory and defeat no longer mattered to him.
Jimeol Magoon had commanded them to kill one more enemy, then another, and another—until the entire Pacheonggun perished together with the Left Army in mutual destruction.
Had there been even one competent strategist present, they would have denounced this as madness. But unfortunately, this place lacked not only proper strategists, but even men of reason.
“So, precisely what manner of strategy do you intend to employ?”
“You raise an excellent point. I shall explain the plan now.”
Jimeol Magoon gazed upon the map and continued.
“We shall move in a manner entirely different from before.”
“A different manner?”
“We shall return, in full measure, the very strategy that those wretches of the Cheonma Sect have employed against us.”
The hollow eyes of the Heavenly Kings all flickered with confusion.
The Northern Sky King’s reaction was particularly intense, his pride having been wounded by the Cheonma Sect.
“Those rat-like bastards?”
Jimeol Magoon suddenly wondered if the Northern Sky King’s anger was genuine. But that was not what mattered now.
Jimeol Magoon looked at the Northern Sky King and asked.
“Why do you think we have been manipulated by that opponent until now?”
“Because he excels at deception, surely.”
“No, think of something more fundamental. It is because the initiative lay with him.”
“….”
“We have been forced merely to defend and respond, while he need only think of attacking. That is the difference.”
In truth, this was obvious enough. The Moyong Family stood in defense against the Dokgo Family’s advance, and the Dokgo Family was the invader of Zhejiang.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
“We shall set a trap.”
Jimeol Magoon’s voice carried absolute conviction and resolve.
This battlefield—a mad gamble by another name.
While all others struggled to preserve their stakes and seize their opponents’ coins, Jimeol Magoon alone had been granted permission to lose everything.
And he intended to make full use of that permission.
“Serho.”
“…?”
“The main camp of the Pacheonggun and the final gateway to Hangzhou—we shall surrender this very place.”
“…!”
“Surrender everything and retreat. The small contingent blocking the passage will naturally be abandoned. Then we march toward Soxing, where the main force awaits.”
“You’re saying we should hand over Seho to the Left Army right now?”
“You see clearly.”
“Why?”
The corners of Jimeol Magoon’s mouth curved upward. His eyes gleamed with sinister intent.
“Think about it. How do you suppose the enemy will react?”
“Won’t they march toward Hangzhou?”
“Hardly.”
Hangzhou, where the Moyong Family’s grand headquarters stood, held only symbolic value and nothing more.
“They will pursue us. They have no choice.”
“What are you saying now? If we’re going to fight, why surrender the stronghold in the first place?”
“Because the forces left behind near Seho, appearing abandoned, will regroup and strike the Left Army from behind.”
“…!”
A front line would form, trapping them from both directions.
Especially with the Left Army already gripped by fear of the Pacheonggun—if they were surrounded, their morale would shatter from the very start.
‘They won’t simply accept death without purpose. I cannot die meaninglessly. I will seize everything and claim your life as well.’
Jimeol Magoon’s eyes flashed with brilliance.
He sought answers and enlightenment. Though he respected the Grand General, he harbored not the slightest intention of abandoning everything at his command.
Then came the voice.
“For an encirclement to work, the forces left in the rear would need to be substantial. The enemy would surely notice.”
“The numbers need not be large. A small force suffices.”
“…?”
“As I said, we return what the Cheonma Sect did to us. Through our elite masters.”
Just as the Cheonma Sect had done.
By wielding the absolute power of supreme masters to break the enemy’s will, we would block them regardless of numerical disadvantage.
“What if elite masters emerge from their side?”
“Your understanding is slow. Can they do such a thing? Do you truly believe they can abandon their frontline warriors dying to our Pacheonggun’s Natchals and rush to the rear?”
Absolutely not.
They would be forced to divide their masters, and that division would become their fatal mistake.
“While we hold the line, the Pacheonggun’s flanks will deploy to seal the battlefield and engage them directly. That fool Dokgo Myeong will try to carve an escape route and charge forward. And then….”
I will step forward.
To inflict irreversible casualties upon the Left Army and annihilate the Cheonma Sect.
“We will not merely endure. We will meet their offensive with our own.”
Jimeol Magoon smiled broadly.
A gamble.
Literally a gamble with the entire Pacheonggun’s lives as the stake.
Jimeol Magoon cared not if he lost everything. As long as he could seize that single card and break it.
But would the Dokgo Family truly have the confidence to raise the stakes?
‘This… has possibility.’
‘Perhaps there’s even a possibility of achieving a great victory.’
The Moyong Family’s strategists, who could read the larger game beyond the Four Heavenly Kings, immediately saw the possibility.
If the plan truly unfolded as intended, it wouldn’t just be this western front—the entire war itself might come to an end.
* * *
Around the time change arrived at the Pacheonggun main encampment.
A man who had been gazing endlessly at the front lines suddenly brightened his eyes and sought out his commander.
“Captain.”
“Ah, Seok-du. What is it?”
“I have a bad feeling.”
“Hmm?”
“My sides are tingling, the back of my neck feels stiff, and my heart is pounding—it’s exactly like that feeling I get when I’ve somehow been caught as a fool by con artists without realizing it.”
“What are you saying? Explain in detail.”
“I suspect the enemy is trying to set a trap.”
“…!”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed with intensity.

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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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