The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 129

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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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Red Dragon Martial Emperor, Chapter 129

Chapter 129 — The Crown Prince Yi So’s Resolve

“Do not resent me for this.”
Scrape!
A general’s head fell to Yi So’s blade. The general had been part of the Western Military Unit, loyal to the Empress.
Another general cried out in shock and threw himself backward. But Gwan Ji-baek stood in that very spot.
Gwan Ji-baek’s sword tore through the air.
Thud!
The general never even screamed—his head flew clean from his shoulders. Gwan Ji-baek moved to Yi So’s side.
“All the Crown Prince’s eyes have been eliminated.”
“If any remain, eliminate them all.”
“Understood.”
Gwan Ji-baek rushed toward the battlefield.
Yi So gazed out at the chaos unfolding before him. The battle with the enemy forces, which had begun moments ago, was already hurtling toward its end.
Yi So had deliberately provoked this chaos.
Of course, it was to remove the Crown Prince’s planted spies, and the result had been flawless.
Using the confusion of battle, he had eliminated them all in secret; no one suspected a thing.
‘I must secure an overwhelming victory. My warriors must have no choice but to acknowledge me.’
Hum!
Yi So’s blade sheathed itself in inner energy once more.
The Martial Artists surrounding him like an iron wall moved in perfect sync toward the battlefield.
Since the fighting began, many attacks had been hurled at Yi So, yet none had broken through their shield—all had fallen.
They were cruel. They were merciless.
Yi So issued an order to the figure on his left.
“Go. Take the enemy commanders’ heads. As many as you can.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Move!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
At the command, ten Martial Artists hurled themselves toward the fray. Yi So advanced slowly in their wake.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Charge!”
The enemy rushed forward.
But the Martial Artists encircling Yi So were an iron rampart.
Flash!
Crunch!
“Gahhh!”
“Arrrgh!”
One enemy Martial Artist managed to breach the protective cordon. But he could not withstand even a single stroke from Yi So—he split in two and crashed to the ground.
Yi So infused his voice with inner strength and roared.
“Not one shall live! Slaughter them all!”
Whissssh!
Snow erupted around him.
It was the force of his inner power released through his voice.
Yi So found Gwan Ji-baek. Not far away, Gwan Ji-baek moved with furious grace, his blade dancing a wild melody.
He was a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep. Each time his brilliant, icy Qi flashed, an enemy fell; whenever it seemed he might be blocked, he and his sword would simply cleave through—bisecting them.
‘Yes. Today, at least, let him vent his rage without restraint.’
Then an enemy commander, wreaking havoc among their own forces, pierced Yi So’s vision like a blade.
The Martial Artists around the enemy commander were each a master in their own right, and corpses of his own soldiers littered the ground around them.
“Yen bastards! I’ll crush every skull among you!”
“Forward!”
“Arrrgh!”
“Aghhhhh!”
A faint, cold light kindled in Yi So’s eyes.
Then he threw himself upward, pushing off the earth, and the Martial Artists surged skyward with him as one.
Crack-crack-crunch!
The heads of enemies beneath Yi So’s feet burst like melons. Without understanding what had happened, they collapsed into pools of their own blood.
A deep resonant boom!
Yi So’s blade suddenly elongated in a sweeping arc.
It was a phenomenon born from the surge of his Inner Energy.
The enemy commander spotted Yi So in that instant and veered frantically to evade.
At the same moment, Yi So’s blade tore through empty air, but the enemy commander parried the strike.
Crash!
Snap-snap-snap!
“Argh!”
“Gasp!”
Those standing nearby were swept up in the shockwave and sprayed with blood.
The enemy commander’s eyes flew wide in shock.
But Yi So gave him no respite.
Flash!
Crash!
“Ugh!”
A groan tore from the enemy commander’s lips as he blocked the second assault.
As the staggering enemy commander retreated, Martial Artists moved in to block his path.
“Stand aside.”
Whoooosh!
A terrifying aura erupted from Yi So’s entire body, hurling the Martial Artists backward.
Flash!
“Ahhh!”
“Gaaah!”
Yi So cut down the Martial Artists who had blocked his path, then lunged toward the enemy commander as he planted his stance beyond them. The enemy commander’s eyes shot wide as he let out a beast’s roar.
“Uuuaaargh!”
Yi So did not dodge the enemy commander’s blade as it flew toward his chest—he parried it head-on.
Boom!
“Gack!”
Blood sprayed from the enemy commander’s mouth.
At the same time, his sword arm snapped clean at the elbow.
Crunch!
Yi So immediately severed the enemy commander’s leg. The commander, now missing one leg, staggered and fell.
Thud!
Yi So pinned the enemy commander’s vital points with the tip of his blade.
“This one shall be taken to the Military Encampment.”
“Yes!”
One of the Martial Artists hoisted the enemy commander onto his shoulder.
Shrill! Shrill!
Signal horns blared sharply from all directions. Moments later, the enemy began to flee.
A Lion’s Roar tore from Yi So’s lips. It was a command of utter savagery.
“Chase them down and slaughter every last one!”
“After them!”
“Kill them all!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Whoosh!
Gwan Ji-baek descended to Yi So’s side.
“Your Highness!”
“I am unharmed.”
“But the blood—”
“None of it is mine. Do not concern yourself.”
Yi So examined Gwan Ji-baek’s form.
Gwan Ji-baek was drenched in blood from head to toe. When he smiled, his teeth gleamed an almost brilliant white.
“The Commander is also unharmed!”
Whoosh!
The Martial Artists whom Yi So had sent on his urgent command returned in succession. Each carried heads dripping with blood in their hands.
“Ugghhh……”
The captured enemy commander, bereft of one leg, wailed and shrieked.
“Bring me some wine.”
“Here it is, Your Highness.”
Yi So wet his throat with the wine a Martial Artist offered him, then passed the flask to Gwan Ji-baek.
Gwan Ji-baek drained the last of his wine.
“An overwhelming victory, Your Highness.”
“Summon the warriors back now.”
“Call the warriors back!”
Shriek! Shriek!
The warriors who had chased the enemy began to return. Several commanders rushed to Yi So’s side.
“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?”
“I’m fine. Tend to the wounded at once. The enemy’s main camp isn’t far—we must return with haste.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Roooar!
The gathering warriors roared their cheers.
The joy of overwhelming victory was incomparable to anything else. Yi So gazed upon his soldiers, his eyes growing sharp and commanding.
“Long live Crown Prince Yi So!”
“Long live!”
When Yi So raised his hand, the cheering ceased.
Yi So infused his voice with Inner Strength and proclaimed to his soldiers.
“Every one of you here today shall stand at my side henceforth. Will you do so?”
“We will!”
“Will you become the sword of Yi So?”
“We will!”
The very mountains and earth rang with the force of their voices.
The sound was so powerful that the enemy soldiers who had failed to escape far shrieked in terror and fell to the ground.
Gwan Ji-baek laughed.
“Ehehehe.”
It was a most peculiar laugh.

* * *

Those who entered the horrific battlefield were a formidable sight.
Remarkably among them were Hwang Bo Tae-jin, the patriarch of the Hwang Bo clan, and Yu-ryeong Gok-ju.
Yu-ryeong Gok-ju, who had returned to Zhao Kingdom having accomplished nothing, had fortunately found his way into the service of the South-Western King. Thus he had come here of his own accord.
Yet the one leading this group was someone else entirely.
Perhaps in his early fifties?
If a serpent were to take human form, surely it would look like this man. Draped in a Blood Robe darker than blood itself, he surveyed the battlefield, his brow furrowed.
“They said the attack point was clearly the Primary Defense Position, so why did they strike here?”
“Perhaps those at Yen deliberately deceived us?”
“That’s impossible. They want the Crown Prince’s death even more than we do.”
Hyeol Po-in’s gaze fixed upon one spot. Among the heaps of corpses lay a severed leg and a sword lying apart.
It was the sword of the commander whom Yi So had captured and dragged away.
Hyeol Po-in gestured with his hand, and the sword flew through the air of its own accord into his grip.
Clang!
Twitch.
Hyeol Po-in’s brows curved like the edge of a blade.
“Captured, you say?”
“This sword is…….”
Those who recognized the blade all gasped at once. Hwang Bo Tae-jin and Yu-ryeong Gok-ju exchanged glances, their shock evident. The sword’s master was a renowned expert known to all, and a trusted subordinate of Hyeol Po-in himself.
Hyeol Po-in stared silently to the east.
His eyes blazed with a blood-red killing intent.
“Soon I shall repay this tenfold—a hundredfold.”
Whoooosh…….
Snow swirled violently around Hyeol Po-in. Everyone nearby stood frozen, caked in white, unable to move so much as a muscle.

* * *

On the way back, Gwan Ji-baek asked a question.
“General, do you intend to let him go unpunished?”
“A man who sought the Crown Prince’s death cannot be left to roam free—what lord of this realm would respect the Emperor’s authority? When we return, I shall cut off the General’s head at once.”
“The commanders who follow you won’t stand idle.”
“No, they won’t dare act at all. I shall see to it.”
Gwan Ji-baek saw in Yi So’s eyes a steadfast determination. In all the time he had served him, he had never seen such fierce, resolute eyes as these.
So his mind was set at ease.
‘He’s gradually revealing what he kept hidden inside.’

* * *

“Our forces are returning!”
Jin Seong-ju, the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military Unit, sat leisurely sipping from his teacup as a meaningful smile played across his lips.
“This war, too, shall soon reach its curtain call.”
He set down his cup and asked.
“How many soldiers are returning with him?”
“According to reports, they’re coming back with almost no losses.”
“What? Almost no losses?”
“That’s what the initial report suggests. Given the blizzard, there may have been a miscount—I’ll send a commander to verify right away!”
The officer hurried outside.
Jin Seong-ju furrowed his brow, muttering to himself.
“The report must be wrong. With several times our force lying in wait, there’s no way that’s possible.”
“What has become of the Crown Prince, I wonder?”
“If he falls, he’s a hero. If he returns alive, he’ll be the mockery of the realm—the inept Crown Prince who fled after offering up a small army to the enemy as a blood sacrifice, saving only himself. Hehehehe.”
Yet even as Jin Seong-ju laughed, an unease gnawed at him. The initial report of an almost cost-free retreat bothered him deeply.
‘It can’t be. A Crown Prince with barely any battle experience couldn’t possibly handle the elite forces of Zhao Kingdom in such numbers. It must be a misreported account.’
Jin Seong-ju brought the teacup to his lips again. Just then, the officer who had gone out to assess the situation returned.
“You went to verify—why are you back so soon?”
“Commander! Something’s wrong!”
“Wrong? What do you mean?”
“Our forces didn’t attack Zhao Kingdom’s Primary Defense Position—they attacked somewhere else!”
“What!”
Crack!
Jin Seong-ju leaped to his feet, and the teacup slipped from his hand, shattering into pieces and scattering across the floor.
Tremor-tremor…
A spasm seized Jin Seong-ju’s face.
“Attack somewhere else? How? Why!”
That was when it happened.
“Gasp!”
“Ahhh!”
Screams erupted from outside the tent.
The two officers beside Jin Seong-ju rushed toward the exit in panic.
But they could not leave.
Yi So stepped through the entrance.
“…!”
Flash!
Thud!
Two severed heads fell to the ground. The sword pierced through the reporting officer’s chest and emerged on the other side.
Thud!
“Gasp!”
“I returned quickly and gave you quite a fright, it seems. Or rather—you never thought he’d come back alive.”

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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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