Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 22

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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 8 Blood Battle (3)

Dok Go Jin moved swiftly, his ears catching Yul Seung’s anguished cry from behind.
He turned his head briefly, assessing the Left Battlefield.
Jong Gak was still engaged with Gyu Won Baek, but he had overcome his initial disadvantage and now held the clear advantage.
Yu Seol Ran was in much the same position.
Her initial ferocity had diminished somewhat, but of the men who had attacked her together, one had already fallen, and the other bore a mortal wound.
Considering that those facing her had been the most skilled Squad Commanders the Cheon Rang Dan had to offer, it was a remarkable achievement.

‘Where is Nam Goong Ho?’

Nam Goong Ho, whom he had expected to claim victory first, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Now that I think of it, I don’t see Woo Gon or Won Jong either.’

Yong Chul Seung sat collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as if the fight against the Cheon Rang Dan had exhausted him, while Yu Geom Ha and Ha Jo Gyeong pressed their final opponent, bringing the engagement to a close.
The sudden absence of these men gave him a moment of concern, but he did not believe they had fallen.
The Ssa Jo under Yu Seol Ran’s command was where the Mil Geom Dan’s most experienced and skilled seniors gathered. The Cheon Rang Dan was formidable, but not enough to overcome them.

‘Probably…….’

Dok Go Jin’s gaze shifted toward the Central Battlefield.
Unlike the Left Battlefield, which was winding down, the Central Battlefield still blazed with fierce intensity.
As Dok Go Jin arrived at the Central Battlefield in haste, the first thing that met his eyes was Nam Goong Ho, being driven back mercilessly by Nak Wol’s assault.

“Mm.”

A heavy groan escaped Dok Go Jin’s lips.
Nam Goong Ho was pouring all his strength into the Nam Goong Family Martial Arts, but his incomplete mastery made it difficult to withstand Nak Wol’s onslaught. He was holding on only because Nak Wol’s body was not in perfect condition; otherwise, he would have fallen long ago.

‘Where is the enemy leader…….’

Even as Dok Go Jin rushed toward Nam Goong Ho, his eyes searched for Jeok Mu Hwa.
A short distance away from where Nak Wol and Nam Goong Ho clashed.
A group of people lay scattered about in a pitiful state.

“Woo Gon……?”

Upon hearing Dok Go Jin’s voice, Woo Gon, who had lain motionless like a corpse, slowly raised his head with great effort.

“You’ve…come.”
“What happened?”

Dok Go Jin rushed forward and caught Woo Gon in his arms, then froze.
His gaze drifted slowly downward.
Blood poured steadily from Woo Gon’s right arm, which had been severed brutally.

“Don’t…worry. It won’t kill me.”

He forced a smile, but his complexion had turned as pale as white paper from the blood loss.

“As for those others……”

Woo Gon’s eyes turned sadly toward Lee Cheon Hu, who lay gripping a shattered sword, and Won Jong, sprawled beside him.
Unlike Woo Gon, their limbs appeared intact, but both were drenched in blood from head to foot, making it impossible to tell how badly or where they were injured.

“You’ve…finally arrived.”

At the sudden sound of a voice, Dok Go Jin turned his head.
Jeok Mu Hwa sat with his back against the corpses of his subordinates.
Blood flowed from the fatal wound that had pierced his chest, staining everything around it crimson, yet he made no attempt to staunch it.
Dok Go Jin rushed forward to stop the bleeding, but Jeok Mu Hwa caught his wrist.

“It’s pointless. My Five Organs and Six Bowels have all shifted from their places, and my Eight Extraordinary Meridians are twisted. And here.”

Jeok Mu Hwa pointed to his Dantian.
The chest wound was so massive it had drawn all attention, but the Dantian beneath was completely crushed.
Dok Go Jin, understanding what Jeok Mu Hwa meant, pressed his lips together grimly.

“The prisoners—what became of them?”
“They’re safe. We killed all of the Ha Nam O Sal who attacked the guard detachment.”
“Ha Nam… O Sal?”

Jeok Mu Hwa’s eyes widened involuntarily.

“I see. Those dogs were acting under Ma Do Ryeon’s orders.”

Jeok Mu Hwa, who had been radiating fury, turned his gaze toward Dok Go Jin.
There was no resentment in his face, no pain.
No fear of death either. Only a quiet relief that the mission would be completed safely.

“I… kept my promise… to wait.”
“I’m sorry. You waited far too long.”

As Dok Go Jin bowed his head, Jeok Mu Hwa smiled faintly.

“No, you were… fast enough. If you… must apologize…”

Jeok Mu Hwa’s gaze shifted toward Nak Wol, who moved with the savage intensity of a wounded beast.

“That… bastard. Turn him into… a cripple for me.”

Whether it was relief at Dok Go Jin’s return or something else, Jeok Mu Hwa’s condition deteriorated sharply.

“Understood. I will do as you wish.”

Dok Go Jin leapt to his feet.
Beyond Jeok Mu Hwa’s request, Nam Goong Ho, who had been holding his ground admirably, had finally reached his limit and was being driven back precariously.

‘I’m grateful you were here.’

As Dok Go Jin moved toward Nam Goong Ho’s side, Jeok Mu Hwa, watching his departing figure, quietly closed his eyes.

* * *

“Haagh!”

A pained gasp escaped through gritted teeth.
The sword was shattered, his Internal Force nearly depleted.
Yet he could not yield.
As he straightened his stance, gripping the half-broken blade, a hand fell upon his shoulder.
A familiar presence.
His breath caught, his chest trembling.

‘Brother…?’

As Nam Goong Ho turned his head, Dok Go Jin’s voice fell upon his ears, steady and measured.

“Fall back.”

Those few words drained all strength from Nam Goong Ho’s legs.

“Snap out of it!”
Startled by the sharp voice, Nam Goong Ho jerked back just as Nak Wol’s blade descended like lightning.
Clang!
Dok Go Jin deflected the strike and closed in on Nak Wol.
Nak Wol’s eyes flashed with recognition.

“So it was you.”

Even under siege, he had missed nothing of the battlefield’s movements.
He already knew that the collapse of the Left Battlefield and the failure of the Ha Nam O Sal in their reckless prisoner rescue—both were Dok Go Jin’s work.

“Those wretches dying doesn’t matter. But…”

Madness settled over Nak Wol’s blood-soaked face.

“The Cheon Rang Dan does not accept failure.”

Nak Wol pulled every last ounce of Internal Force from his body.
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians screamed as if tearing under the wrung-out power, the blade trembling violently.
All that gathered strength he poured directly into his sword.
Whoosh!
The Qi released from the blade split the very air.
Sword Qi shot forth like a streak of light, bearing down on Dok Go Jin.
Dok Go Jin did not retreat.
He tightened his grip, and transparent Hard Qi shielded the blade’s edge.

“How amusing.”

His blade moved with a bitter smile.
Scrape!
The Sword Qi that had hurtled down was simply cut in half.

“Foolish talk.”

Dok Go Jin’s released sword pierced clean through Nak Wol’s shoulder.

A strangled gasp.

A cry torn from his throat.
Nak Wol stumbled, losing his balance, then gripped the blade with his left hand.

“Not yet!”

Nak Wol roared and launched a final attack.
A Unit Master of the Cheon Rang Dan could not surrender until the very end—such was his will.
But Dok Go Jin was already driving into his guard.
Crack!
Dok Go Jin’s fist slammed into his ribs.
Nak Wol’s body twisted grotesquely, hurled through the air like a severed string, and crashed hard to the ground.
Dok Go Jin approached with measured, unhurried steps.

“What is the Cheon Rang Dan to me?”
“Sh…shut up!”

Nak Wol clenched his teeth and lifted his head.
Embers of defiance still burned in his eyes.
Dok Go Jin planted his foot on Nak Wol’s chest without hesitation, grinding him into the earth.

“Aaaaaahhhhh!”

A bloodcurdling scream tore from Nak Wol’s mouth.
His sternum crumpled, shattered bone fragments piercing through his heart and lungs in a agony that made him thrash.
In the next moment, his writhing body convulsed violently, then went limp.
For the leader of the Cheon Rang Dan—long the Ma Do Ryeon’s mainstay and a figure of dread to the Jeong Mu Maeng—his death was pitifully anticlimactic.
The instant Nak Wol’s breath ceased, the fighting stopped as though on cue.
An eerie silence descended not only on the Left Battlefield, where the battle had already ended, but across the Central and Right Battlefields as well, as if by agreement.

“Fall back.”

At someone’s cry, the surviving Cheon Rang Dan members began withdrawing in unison.
Those limping away—supporting the wounded or carrying them on their backs—numbered barely a dozen.
Considering that fifty men had been lying in ambush, it was a staggering loss of personnel.
But beyond the sheer casualty count, what struck hardest was that the Cheon Rang Dan had lost their Unit Master, their Deputy Leader, and every capable Squad Commander among them.

“Ahhhhh!”
“We won!”

With the Cheon Rang Dan’s retreat, long-suppressed emotion erupted.
Shouts of joy and cheers rang out from every direction, though the moment was brief.
The escort force’s losses were too grievous to allow for celebration.
The guard contingent that came under the Ha Nam O Sal’s ambush lost more than half their number before Dok Go Jin’s arrival.
The Right Battlefield, which had been overwhelmed from the very start of the engagement, saw only seven survivors from the relief unit—and even those lived only thanks to Yang Wun Wi’s agonizing sacrifice leading them.
The Bok Ma Dan, facing the strongest opponent, suffered grievously as well.
Of the fourteen members, exactly five remained alive. The Deputy Leader Jeok Mu Hwa and Gusojang Man Gyeom had perished, while the Deputy Squad Commander Lee Cheon Hu, critically wounded, teetered on the brink of death.
The Mil Geom Dan, which had delivered the most decisive blows against the Cheon Rang Dan, sustained the lightest casualties.
Woo Gon had lost an arm, and Won Jong, who had moved to the Central Battlefield alongside him, had lost a leg and lay collapsed, though mercifully his life was not in danger.
Jong Gak, who fought fiercely against Cheon Rang Dan Deputy Leader Gyu Won Baek until claiming victory, and Yu Seol Ran, who faced a combined assault from two Squad Commanders, bore serious wounds—but nothing comparable to the others’ suffering.
The Mil Geom Dan knew, and the survivors all understood.
They had only survived because of Dok Go Jin’s prowess—not because of any exceptional skill or fortune on their own part.

“Why did you take so long? We almost died out here.”

Nam Goong Ho, slumped on the ground, shuddered at the memory of Nak Wol charging toward him with murder in his eyes.
At the time, he had endured only by steeling himself with the conviction that retreat meant annihilation, but in retrospect, it had been a terrifyingly close call.

“I came as fast as I could. The ones targeting the prisoners weren’t pushovers.”

Yong Chul Seung interjected quietly.

“I just heard from the left Deputy Leader—so those called the Ha Nam O Sal were the ones?”

Dok Go Jin nodded at the question.

“Yes—by the way, how is Won Jong doing?”
“His Dantian is destroyed, so he’s not going to recover without consequences. But he’s alive, so I suppose we can call it a reprieve. He’s even spouting nonsense, laughing about how he can finally go home now…….”

Yong Chul Seung smiled sadly, his words trailing off.
Knowing that Yong Chul Seung, more than anyone, ached for his friend’s suffering, that smile cut deeply.

“So… who exactly is the Ha Nam O Sal?”

Nam Goong Ho asked, forcing away his melancholy expression.

“Apparently they were recently designated as Martial Outlaws.”
“Martial… Outlaws?”

Nam Goong Ho’s mouth fell open at the very name, which carried terror within it.

“Just think of them as garbage.”

Dok Go Jin spoke with a flat expression.

“…….”

Nam Goong Ho and everyone else within earshot exchanged incredulous glances at Dok Go Jin.

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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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