Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 56

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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 20: Escape (2)

“Commander.”
“Speak.”
“The Samjeong Formation.”

Yu Seollan grasped Dokgo Jin’s intention at once upon hearing those words.
A defensive formation as sturdy and balanced as the three legs of a cauldron—built to endure.

“Understood.”

She positioned herself at the spot where she expected the fiercest assault, then gestured sharply, sending Namgung Ho and Yu Geomha into motion.
Upon the damp ground slicked with dawn dew, with four wounded gathered at the center around Ju Gangwoo, Yu Seollan, Namgung Ho, and Yu Geomha formed a triangle and raised their blades.
Watching the defensive formation take shape, Dokgo Jin called out to Jong Gak.

“Sub-unit Leader.”

Without waiting for a reply, he continued at once.

“There’s no time to waste.”

Jong Gak, already exchanging sword aura with Damhon, had no breath to answer. He merely flicked his blade’s tip in response.
Then, believing the encirclement was complete, Chuk Yung glanced at Damhon before issuing his command.

“Attack!”

The moment the order fell, the Heukwol-dan members who had been watching for their chance burst forward, flooding the air with killing intent.

“Don’t yield even a hair’s breadth. If one point breaks, we all fall.”

Yu Seollan roared as she met the incoming curved blade with her own, parrying frantically.
Clang!
Her blade struck the enemy’s Gok Do, scattering sparks.
Namgung Ho and Yu Geomha clashed ferociously with their attackers.
The tide of enemies surging inward was relentless and vicious.
Sharp thrusts, weighty diagonal cuts, cunning probes at weak points—a chaotic tangle of blades.
Individually, the Heukwol-dan fighters outmatched the Milkgeom Dan. But Dokgo Jin’s aid had pushed Yu Seollan and Namgung Ho beyond their former limits, and Yu Geomha was transformed beyond recognition.
So they held firm despite overwhelming numbers and the burden of protecting the wounded—a grim, grinding defense.
Yet it was far from easy.
The enemy numbers were staggering, and projectiles kept flying from the darkness beyond—a collapse of the Samjeong Formation was inevitable.
Whistle! Whistle!

“Urgh!”

Yu Geomha’s body stumbled at the sharp whistling of projectiles slicing the air.
Five Cheol Jeong had just driven into the back of the enemy pressing forward with a sharp blade from the front.
Thrown off balance by the need to dodge the sneaking attack, Yu Geomha couldn’t withstand the force of the frontal blade and crumpled to the ground.

‘Damn it!’

Yu Geomha bit his lip hard.
One Cheol Jeong he thought he’d evaded had buried itself deep in his thigh.
As a fresh volley of a dozen Cheol Jeong whistled in and a heavy blade bore down on his neck, Yu Geomha, seeing no way to defend, squeezed his eyes shut in despair.
The enemy, seeing the fallen warrior helpless, smiled with grim satisfaction and swung his blade with full force.
In that instant, a Sword Aura from the right swept the projectiles aside and struck the incoming blade clean away.

“Stay with me!”

Yu Seollan, rushing toward Yu Geomha’s crisis, swung her blade at the enemies and cried out.
Yu Seollan, reading the Samjeong Formation’s currents in their entirety even as she guarded her own section with absolute precision, kept Yu Geomha from the jaws of death through her timely aid—yet the moment she abandoned her position, the formation itself shattered.

“Comman…der.”

Yu Seollan spoke as if intoning a prayer, seeing the tremor in Yu Geomha’s eyes.

“Stop worrying about things that don’t matter. Focus on the enemies in front of you. I’ll plug the gaps.”

Yu Seollan’s devoted covering fire, combined with Namgung Ho’s support from behind, allowed the Samjeong Formation to endure—it did not crumble.
Yet the true reason they could hold—the reason the enemy could not commit their full strength to the formation—lay elsewhere.
Crash!
With an ear-splitting sound of air splitting, the very heart of the battlefield turned inside out.

“Argh!”
“Damn it!”
“It’s a monster!”

A single man rampaging across the entire battlefield: Dokgo Jin.
As Ju Gangwoo had put it, a beast unleashed was now running wild.
Each movement of Dokgo Jin’s body unleashed a terrifying Sword Aura that tore through the ranks of armored enemies without mercy.
Dokgo Jin’s wind-like movements, his razor-sharp attacks, transcended rigid forms—they were a storm itself made manifest.

“Snap out of it and defend! Throw the hidden projectiles!”

Chuk Yung, who had lost an arm to Dokgo Jin’s assault, cursed desperately.
At Chuk Yung’s command, his subordinates hurled hidden daggers, iron needles, and throwing stars in all directions.
Though projectiles rained down from every side, Dokgo Jin showed not a trace of alarm. He merely swung his blade with an expressionless face.
Ping-ping-ping-ping!
A cacophony of deflection.
Every projectile aimed at Dokgo Jin bounced away.
The ricocheting weapons turned upon their own masters, while the cascading Sword Aura split open the enemies’ chests without restraint.
Wading through the spray of blood that erupted around him, Dokgo Jin’s approaching figure sent a chill down Chuk Yung’s spine.

‘A monster!’

Chuk Yung’s gaze shifted to Damhon, who was struggling through a grueling fight.

‘It seems we’ve chosen the wrong opponent, Sub-unit Leader.’

But the thought went no further.
Dokgo Jin’s blade had already pierced through his heart.
With his surroundings cleared, Dokgo Jin turned his gaze toward those attacking the Samjeong Formation.

‘Excellent.’

Dokgo Jin smiled with satisfaction, watching his companions hold their ground against the odds without breaking.

“Chuk Yung!”

Damhon, barely managing to fend off Jong Gak’s fierce onslaught, let out a blood-curdling scream upon seeing Chuk Yung collapse with his heart pierced.

‘How could this be!’

His most capable lieutenant and the core strength of Heukwol-dan, Chuk Yung, had fallen—despite fighting alongside numerous subordinates—to a single member of Milkgeom Dan.
Beyond the pitiful corpse of Chuk Yung, Dokgo Jin stood with his sword angled downward, his expressionless face gazing back at him.
Damhon felt every hair on his body stand on end with terror.

‘What is he? I’ve never heard of Jeongmu Maeng having a monster like this!’

His original force of over thirty had already been cut in half, and those who remained now hesitated and began backing away the moment Dokgo Jin drew near.
A complete defeat.
The scar along his ribs from Hyeokryeon Soo burned anew, igniting a pain that seared through him.

“You have leisure enough to glance elsewhere, it seems.”

Jong Gak spoke coldly, gathering Sword Aura to his blade’s edge, sharp as frost.

“Silence!”

The two men faced each other, eyes locked and boring into one another.
Heavy silence settled, and tension as taut as a drawn bowstring wrapped around the space between them.
In that instant, without anyone yielding precedence, both launched from the ground.
Time itself seemed to crawl within the iron of their focus—a moment of deceptive slowness—before a flash severed the air.
A violent collision; the crack of splitting eardrums accompanied their forms crossing, passing through each other.
Movement ceased. Silence returned.
Plink. Plink.
Droplets of red blood falling to the ground shattered the stillness.

“Urgh!”

A groan of agony escaped Damhon’s lips as he staggered.
Between the fingers gripping his ribs, dark crimson blood welled up and spilled.
Damhon lowered his gaze slowly to examine the wound, and his face twisted into something terrible.
The pain was one thing, but what shamed him far more was this: the wound Jong Gak had inflicted struck the exact same spot where Hyeokryeon Soo had struck before.
That attack could be no mere coincidence.

“Curse it all!”

An unbearable humiliation crashed over him.

“You… dare…….”

Crimson blood seeped between Damhon’s lips—he had suffered not merely external wounds but internal ones as well.
Summoning his last reserves of strength, Damhon gripped his sword and moved toward Jong Gak.
With each step, blood cascaded like a waterfall.
After five steps, Damhon could advance no further. He sank onto one knee, and his head drooped in that posture—he had lost consciousness.
Jong Gak, who had been watching Damhon intently, raised his sword to end the contest.
That was when it happened.
Voices echoed from all directions, and through the distant trees, countless torches flickered into view.

“Appears to be Heukgol Chae’s men.”

At Dokgo Jin’s words, spoken as he approached, Jong Gak nodded wearily.

“The signal flare from before…….”
“Yes. The scattered pursuit units are converging en masse. The numbers are considerable. I suggest we withdraw now.”
“Understood.”

Jong Gak answered without hesitation and approached his men, who were still maintaining the Samjeong Formation. The Heukgol Chae forces that had surrounded them watched Jong Gak and Dokgo Jin, who followed behind him, and eventually withdrew, dissolving their encirclement.

“You’ve all done well. But I’m afraid there’s more hardship ahead.”
“It’s no hardship at all. Of course… Sub-unit Leader, you’re wounded there…….”

Yu Seollan pointed to the blood streaming across Jong Gak’s shoulder.

“It’s nothing. A wound worn with honor, in its way.”

Though he had not delivered the final blow, Jong Gak was satisfied enough—he had matched Hyeokryeon Soo by inflicting the identical wound on Damhon’s ribs, sealing his victory.

“Come. Let’s make haste.”

At Jong Gak’s command, the members of the Milkgeom Dan hoisted the Amhyang Dae fighters back onto their shoulders.
But instead of carrying one of them, Dokgo Jin turned to Jong Gak and spoke.

“I’ll guard the rear.”
“Right. I’m counting on you.”

Jong Gak, whose injuries ran deeper than they appeared on the surface, nodded readily.

“Not with that leg, you won’t.”

Yu Seollan pushed aside the wounded Yu Geomha and gestured to Jong Gak.

“I think the sub-unit leader should carry him. This one’s injured his leg.”
“I also—”
“You can still move, can’t you?”

Under Yu Seollan’s pointed remark, Jong Gak had no choice but to shoulder the Amhyang Dae fighter.

* * *

“We’re almost there now.”

As Bang Gan, who had been guiding them, pointed toward Ho Gul, Sa Cheon Gwang’s expression darkened.

“You’re telling me they’ve been staying in a place like that?”
“No, sir. Ho Gul is where the Jeongmu Maeng uses to interrogate the Amhyang Dae fighters. The Heukwol-dan’s actual quarters are located higher up the mountain.”
“And you said they’re here because they intend to meddle in the matter of Nok Rim Tu Wang’s succession?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is it possible they’ve caught wind of the Divine Sword?”

Bang Gan, who had never even known of the Divine Sword’s existence in the first place, could not bring himself to answer Sa Cheon Gwang’s concern.

“That’s unlikely.”

At Cho Kun’s assertion, Yu Baek raised an objection.

“What makes you so certain?”
“No report of this has reached the main headquarters. If Ma Wook, the branch leader, knew about the Divine Sword’s existence, he would surely have reported it.”
“How pathetic! If you don’t even know facts that everyone with any sense is already aware of, then you’re nothing but incompetent.”

At Yu Baek’s rebuke, Cho Kun simply bowed his head in acceptance, but Bang Gan looked lost.

“Let us proceed. Once we meet with Ma Wook, we’ll know for certain.”

Jin Ga Gyeol moved toward Ho Gul, and the entire party hurried after him.
Jin Ga Gyeol’s eyes sharpened the moment he reached the sentry post before Ho Gul.

“This is—”
“Blood.”

Yu Baek too surveyed the surroundings with a tense expression.
Then, the Sanjuk guarding the sentry post rushed out at the appearance of outsiders.

“Who are you?”

Before Bang Gan could even respond, Sa Cheon Gwang laughed as though the question were beneath contempt.

“Who are we? Ha!”

His laughter vanished in an instant, and just as Sa Cheon Gwang’s expression darkened and he moved to act without hesitation, Ma Wook came rushing out from Ho Gul, having sensed the disturbance, and cried out in alarm.

“Wait, please stop.”
“Are these people known to Master Ma?”

One of the bandits eyed Sa Cheon Gwang and his companions with suspicion as he asked.

‘For heaven’s sake, be quiet!’

Ma Wook’s face had already gone ashen as he screamed inwardly with every fiber of his being. He barely restrained the urge to gouge out the bandit’s eyes as he spoke.

“Ah, I see. Understood.”

The moment the bandits disappeared, Ma Wook dropped to his knees before Sa Cheon Gwang and bowed his head in respect.

“Hmph! Many years have passed, yet your shuffling face remains unchanged.”

“Good to see you.”
“It’s been a long time.”

“I shall attend you.”

Sa Cheon Gwang found that place also displeasing, but as though he had never expected much from a bandit’s lair in the first place, he made no particular mention of it.

“An intruder?”
“Yes. A problem has arisen here. Did you perhaps encounter any bandits from Heukgol Chae on your way here?”
“I saw some torch-bearing ruffians making a commotion from a distance a couple of times, but we didn’t cross paths with them.”
“That’s likely because they were heading in the opposite direction from where the intruder fled.”
“Explain properly. What exactly is happening here?”

“A Cheonra Jimang set up by bandits? Why, even a stray dog passing by would laugh.”

“How bold of the Jeongmu Maeng. Rescuing prisoners is one thing, but to cause such a disturbance at the very seat of the Nok Rim leadership—and at such a delicate time, no less.”
“They never had any regard for the Nok Rim in the first place, did they? They only pretend to be measured and gracious out of necessity, but their true feelings are quite another matter.”

Jin Ga Gyeol had pointed out the Jeongmu Maeng’s duplicity, but Yu Baek offered no agreement. The truth was, the Madoryeon held the Nok Rim in equally low esteem.

“At any rate, now that Damhon has made his move, it should all be resolved soon. Not that it matters much.”

At Sa Cheon Gwang’s words, Ma Wook swallowed hard.

‘Now we come to the real matter.’

An elder of the Madoryeon had moved without any prior notice. And with two Protectors at that.
It was certain that some problem he knew nothing of had arisen.

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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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