The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 140

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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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The Red Dragon Unites — Episode 140

Chapter 140 — Crisis (1)

Crash!
“Argh!”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Hold your ground! Don’t fall back!”
“Strike!”
Fierce combat erupted throughout the Ravine. The Zhao Kingdom forces had launched their assault from a position of geographical disadvantage, and their offense lacked any real threat.
Yet Jo Jeong-mu and thirty thousand soldiers had still not charged into the fray.
Yi Hwan found it deeply unsettling.
‘Could the enemy be deliberately stalling for time?’
The thought struck him suddenly.
They couldn’t be ignorant of the fact that a war of attrition like this played directly into their enemy’s hands. If they meant to win, they should have committed to a full assault, or they should have skirted the Ravine and withdrawn entirely.
‘But if their goal is to drag this out……’
Yi Hwan’s expression shifted as a single hypothesis crystallized in his mind.
‘What if they mean to pin us here while their main force strikes at our base from another direction?’
His blood ran cold. If his suspicion was correct, the Main Camp was in danger. With only a handful of soldiers left behind and thirty thousand of their own forces committed to this Ravine, the gap between their strength and the enemy’s would only widen.
A chill seized him — a sense of crisis more acute than any he’d known since his reincarnation.
“Go-mi!”
Yi Hwan turned toward her.
Go-mi, who had been observing the fighting from the end of the Ravine, hurried back at once.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Return to the Main Camp at once and tell the Crown Prince to strengthen his defensive positions — the enemy’s main force may be targeting the base directly!”
“What?”
“There’s no time for explanation — go!”
“Understood.”
“Song Cheon-mu, Cha Jung-gyeong — you return to the Main Camp with Go-mi!”
“Understood!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Go-mi, Song Cheon-mu, and Cha Jung-gyeong rushed eastward out of the Ravine with desperate haste. The Zhao forces had not yet reached that passage, so their escape encountered no resistance.
Yi Hwan’s gaze fixed once more on Jo Jeong-mu.
The man still sat at his ease, sipping wine as though he’d come out for a leisurely excursion.
A muscle twitched.
Yi Hwan’s eyebrows narrowed to blades of fury.
“No one in this world has dared carry themselves before me as you have.”
Whisper.
Yi Hwan drew his sword.
The moment the blade left its sheath, it blazed not with White Light, but with Blue Light — a brilliant aura cascading along the steel.
Crack!
He launched himself from the ground and hurled himself down into the Ravine below. Cheol Mu-ok, Ju-tae, and the others who had been fighting nearby gasped and plunged after him.

* * *

“Hmm? He’s coming down?”
Jo Jeong-mu, who had been leisurely sipping wine, suddenly squinted as he watched Yi Hwan plummet into the Ravine. Then he glimpsed the intense Blue Light flowing along the blade and his eyes grew sharp.
“An aura of that magnitude……”
“By the strength of his internal energy, he must certainly be a master of considerable skill.”
“There’s something odd about that one. To command this crucial battle instead of the renowned Bang Hyo……”
“In the Yen Northern Military Unit, only two men have the authority to command Bang Hyo. One is the Crown Prince, Guo Chong-mu. The other is…… Grand Prince Yi Hwan.”
Jo Jeong-mu’s eyes widened slightly.
“You mean that figurehead Grand Prince?”
“It would appear so.”
As doubt crossed Jo Jeong-mu’s face, Yi Hwan — now in the depths of the Ravine — began to dance with his blade. Jo Jeong-mu’s eyes widened steadily.
Flash!
“Argh!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The Martial Artists of Zhao Kingdom who had been guarding the generals and supporting their attacks began to scatter like autumn leaves caught in the wind.
Because Jo Jeong-mu knew they were far from weak, his shock could only deepen.
“What in the—!”
Was it only Yi Hwan?
The brutal slaughter unleashed by Cheol Mu-ok, Ju-tae, Yi Wang, and their warriors was no less terrifying than Yi Hwan’s own massacre.
Crack!
“Aaargh!”
“Krragh!”
They were systematically hunting down only the Martial Artists. One of Jo Jeong-mu’s aides cried out urgently.
“The losses among our Martial Artists are mounting! Please order an immediate counterattack!”
His eye twitched.
The ease had vanished from Jo Jeong-mu’s face. He turned and barked an order.
“Go. Kill them.”
“Yes!”
Pap-pap-pap!
Those who launched themselves from the ground in unison were the warriors of the Eon Clan, led by Eon Ho-chu.
“You lot, go and assist them!”
At Jo Jeong-mu’s second command, dozens of Blood-robed fighters surged into the air.

* * *

Yi Hwan’s blade shifted colors continuously as his Internal Energy surged.
Sometimes it blazed with Blue Light, sometimes with White Light, each form unleashing devastating power.
It was the first time since his reincarnation that he had deployed the Ascending Martial Art. The lethality of his techniques, now infused with savage precision, was nothing short of extraordinary—and under its onslaught, the Martial Artists of Zhao fell like leaves before autumn wind.
Even as Yi Hwan deployed his assassin’s techniques without mercy, his awareness never left Jo Jeong-mu.
‘How much longer will he simply watch?’
Yi Hwan was waiting for Jo Jeong-mu to step forward.
When he did, Yi Hwan intended to use the chaos of battle to sever his neck.
Then it happened.
Dozens of Green-robed fighters soared into the air first, followed by dozens of Blood-robed fighters rushing forward in a fierce wave.
Yet Jo Jeong-mu remained motionless.
In that moment, Yi Hwan understood with absolute clarity.
‘The delay—it was what the enemy wanted, not what we needed.’
Fury flooded through him, mingled beneath with bitter self-recrimination.
The decision to abandon the ambush and adopt a delaying tactic had been his alone. And that choice had put his own forces in danger.
Roooar!
From Yi Hwan’s blade erupted not Blue Light or White Light, but a violent Blood Light that blazed like liquid fire.
‘I will kill them all.’

* * *

Yi Hwan’s blade, its color shifting moment to moment.
There was a pair of eyes watching it in silence—the Masked Figure who had shadowed Jo Jeong-mu from beginning to end.
Thus far, no one but Jo Jeong-mu had spoken to him, and no one dared treat him carelessly.
It was as though he existed in a void, present yet unseen.
His two eyes, gleaming black as a serpent’s, followed Yi Hwan’s movements, tracking side to side, never glancing anywhere else.
Then Jo Jeong-mu spoke.
“Do you hunger for blood?”
“If you command it, I will go.”
A voice devoid of all emotion leaked through the mask.
“It is not yet your time to fight. Restrain yourself, however much you itch.”
“The damage caused by this man is severe.”
“Wait.”
The Masked Figure held his gaze on Jo Jeong-mu’s crown for a moment, then lifted his eyes and resumed tracking Yi Hwan.
Yi Hwan’s blade, its Internal Energy shifting color endlessly.
The Masked Figure’s eyes too shifted hue with each moment.

* * *

Screech!
A powerful force surged toward Yi Hwan.
Yi Hwan stepped back slightly and raised a Blade Barrier with his sword.
Crash!
Beyond the warped space, a figure tumbled down—Eon Ho-chu, the eldest son of the Eon Clan.
The moment his feet touched ground, he launched himself at Yi Hwan with headlong fury.
Clang-clang-clang!
Three exchanges of blade and defense unfolded in an instant.
In that brief span, Yi Hwan grasped his opponent’s true nature.
‘Eon Clan Martial Arts.’
In his time, the Eon Clan had never quite risen to the level of the Five Great Families, yet they possessed martial power and influence worthy of mention in the same breath.
But under the current patriarch’s miscalculation, they had stood against him, lost countless masters to the Sword King, and the few who survived had fled beyond the Central Plains.
Flash!
Each time Eon Ho-chu’s blade cut through the air, light erupted, and the destructive force it carried lived up to its reputation.
Hiss.
Eon Ho-chu bared his teeth in a smile.
Certain of victory as Yi Hwan retreated without launching a counterattack, he felt the tide turning in his favor.
But it was a grave miscalculation.
Even as Yi Hwan defended against Eon Ho-chu’s assault, his eyes never left Jo Jeong-mu.
Someone had run from the rear of the group and spoken to Jo Jeong-mu, who now rose from his seat, placed the helmet he had removed back upon his head.
‘Is he about to begin something?’
That was when it happened.
“My lord! Focus!”
Cheol Mu-ok’s cry rang out.
‘Focus?’
Yi Hwan finally turned his full gaze upon Eon Ho-chu.
‘As if I need to concentrate on such a man.’
Flash!
Eon Ho-chu’s blade shot toward Yi Hwan’s neck at an impossible angle—a swift stroke as bright as a ray of light. Confident of victory, he altered his technique to end it in one strike.
In that very instant, Yi Hwan surged forward with full momentum.
To enter within the opponent’s arc—ordinarily, this was the final gambit of the weak against the strong, a last resort born of desperation.
Yet there existed another use for such a tactic. When a master faced the weak, sometimes they employed this very method to achieve overwhelming supremacy and end it with a single blow.
Yi Hwan was undoubtedly the latter.
“……!”
Eon Ho-chu’s eyes went wide.
Thud!
“Gah!”
Yi Hwan’s blade pierced through Eon Ho-chu’s heart.
Yi Hwan stared into the eyes of Eon Ho-chu as life drained rapidly from them, and spoke with a chill in his voice.
“Curse your ancestors.”
Two centuries ago, had the Sword King shown mercy, no such moment would unfold today.
Thump!
Eon Ho-chu collapsed forward, and his breath ceased. The Eon Clan warriors cried out as one.
“Young Master!”
Seven points of light rose from Yi Hwan’s form, moving with a completely different rhythm than before, sweeping over the Eon Clan swordsmen.
Thud-thud-thud!
“Gah!”
“Shriek!”
Yi Hwan paused briefly to survey the battlefield.
Not far off, Cheol Mu-ok and Ju-tae were unleashing relentless assassination techniques against the Blood Drinker warriors.
The ground around them had already become a Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood.
“Fall back now.”

* * *

“What?”
Surprise escaped Jo Jeong-mu’s lips as he sat astride his war horse, helmet now secured upon his head.
He had witnessed Eon Ho-chu fall.
His face twisted in an instant.
“A capable man lost.”
That was all. No further regret could be found in Jo Jeong-mu’s expression.
He mounted his war horse, gathered the reins, and shouted toward his generals.
“We advance, bypassing the Gorge!”
“Advance!”
“Forward!”
Thud-thud-thud!

* * *

Standing at the rim of the Gorge, Yi Hwan watched the Zhao Kingdom forces slipping away along the left edge, his gaze hardening with each passing moment.
‘So this assault on the Gorge was only a feint—meant to weaken our Main Camp.’
Bang Hyo came rushing toward him, drenched in blood.
“My lord! The enemy appears to be heading straight for the Main Camp!”
“We’ve been deceived.”
……
Yi Hwan issued orders at once.
“Sound the retreat. We return to the Main Camp at full speed.”
“Understood!”
Blast! Blast!
The retreat horns wailed across the battlefield. Yen warriors streamed back toward the Gorge, but most remained locked in bitter combat, their resistance making an orderly withdrawal nearly impossible.
‘Few enemies remain.’
Yi Hwan turned to Bang Hyo.
“I leave this position to you, General.”
“Are you returning to the Main Camp, sir?”
“The enemy’s main force has likely already turned toward our Main Camp. It was not we who delayed them—they delayed us.”
……
Yi Hwan laid a hand on Bang Hyo’s shoulder.
Pat.
“Forgive me. My error in judgment.”
……
Cheol Mu-ok, Ju-tae, Yi Wang, and their warriors closed in around Yi Hwan.
Last came Hwa-ryeong.
Her porcelain-pale face was stained red with blood—whose, she could not say.
“We go.”
Bang!
Yi Hwan kicked off the ground first, launching himself skyward.
The others followed, their bodies streaking through the air behind him.
Bang Hyo watched as Yi Hwan’s figure dwindled to a black speck vanishing into the distance, his eyes trembling.
‘That look in his eyes just now…….’
It was the first time.
The first time he had ever understood that a human gaze could be this terrifying.

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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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