The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 198

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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, Episode 198

Chapter 198 — Beneath the Moonlight (1)

Figures were approaching rapidly beneath the moonlight.
At first glance, five were visible. But more soon emerged from the forest behind them.
They were moving with precision toward where Go-mi and Hwa Ryeong stood.
Snap.
Hwa Ryeong seized Go-mi’s arm.
“We need to run. Now.”
“……!”
Whoosh!
Hwa Ryeong grabbed Go-mi’s arm and launched them both forward. Go-mi lightened her body at once and pushed off from Hwa Ryeong’s grip, matching her pace.
Go-mi glanced back at their pursuers, then made her choice.
“We need to head back the way we came!”
“Understood.”
The two women sprinted into the forest first, then veered their direction toward the Imperial Palace. If they strayed any farther away, there would be no escape.
Rat-a-tat!
Shriek!
A piercing whistle cut through the night.
Two flares burst across the sky in response.
Bang! Bang!
For an instant, the surroundings blazed as bright as midday, but the dense forest blocked the light from reaching them.
Go-mi looked back again.
‘……They’re fast!’
She’d thought they’d gained some distance by fleeing first. But the strangers were already closing to within thirty paces.
Rat-a-tat!
Go-mi and Hwa Ryeong pushed themselves to their limits. But the dense forest blocked their path, forcing them to leap upward above the trees.
“Damn it—these bastards are fast!”
Hwa Ryeong remained tense. She suspected the pursuers might be assassins from the Manhwa Palace.
‘If they’re the ones called the Empress’s shadow, this is dangerous.’
Hwa Ryeong matched Go-mi’s pace, hoping against hope it was anyone but them.
Her Inner Strength still outmatched Go-mi’s, so the gap would widen as time passed. For now, she had to pace herself carefully, matching Go-mi’s speed to preserve her energy.
And what worried her most was that if they reached a true crisis, she’d have no choice but to use her Martial Technique.
That would be the same as revealing to the Empress that she still lived, and it would place a terrible burden on Yi Hwan.
‘I can’t let the Grand Prince be harmed because of me.’
Rat-a-tat!
Branches whipped upward across the moonlit sky.
‘The gap is narrowing! At this rate, they’ll catch us before we reach the Imperial Palace.’
Go-mi bit her lip against the rising panic as she scanned ahead. Then she spotted it—a gorge gaping like a demon’s mouth—and glanced back at Hwa Ryeong.
“There! We go there!”
“Right!”
The two women descended back into the forest.
Branches scraped their faces, drawing blood, but there was no time to register the pain.
Shwip!
A sinister force rippled through the air behind them, accompanied by a piercing sound. Go-mi and Hwa Ryeong raised their Body Protection Qi and plunged into the thicker forest.
Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk!
Dozens of throwing blades embedded themselves in the trees. Several of them detonated.
Pop!
The explosions were small, but had any blade struck flesh, the impact would have been lethal.
How long had they been running?
Finally, the mouth of the gorge came into view. Go-mi and Hwa Ryeong hurtled toward it without a backward glance.
That was when it happened.
Whisper!
Figures materialized like ghosts from both sides of the gorge’s entrance.
“……!”
Go-mi’s eyes widened in alarm.
Hwa Ryeong cried out.
“Just push forward!”
A cry of flame erupted.
Fire blazed from Hwa Ryeong’s blade.
Unable to draw upon her own martial techniques, the best she could do was maximize her power through the Extreme Yang technique.
A sharp whistle cut the air.
Bang!
An explosion erupted, and flames burst forth.
Beyond the inferno, a sinister force flew toward Hwa Ryeong’s chest.
Clang!
Hwa Ryeong knocked aside her opponent’s blade, then thrust her own forward with a sudden surge of speed.
“Ah!”
A cry of shock tore from her opponent’s lips.
An instant later, a severed head arced into the air. Go-mi had not missed her opening, striking at the exposed neck.
Her blade was swift.
A sharp whistle sounded again.
Hwa Ryeong’s blade descended upon another foe.
At the same moment, Go-mi leaped into the arc of Hwa Ryeong’s attack. The result was identical.
“Gack!”
Another head fell limp to the ground.
Though they had never coordinated before, their two combined strikes were nothing short of flawless.
“Go, quickly!”
“I’m right behind you!”
The two women plunged into the Gorge and ran with everything they had, never once glancing back.
That was when Hwa Ryeong, running behind Go-mi, felt something brush her face. Her hand flew up to touch it, and she found blood smeared across her fingers. Her eyes widened.
“Are you hurt?”
“It’s not a deep wound—don’t worry!”
Go-mi’s shoulder bore a long tear in her martial robe, a glancing strike from her opponent’s blade during their clash at the entrance.
The Gorge was far deeper and more treacherous than it appeared from outside. Water ran down its center, and steep slopes on both sides were choked with dense scrub.
Though Go-mi had passed through this region countless times, she had never actually ventured inside. The environment was unsettling—one misstep could leave them cut off with no escape.
Hwa Ryeong called out.
“Keep running!”
Thud-thud-thud!
Go-mi glanced back once more.
The distance between them and their pursuers had closed to barely twenty paces. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught.
‘We can’t outrun them. I need to find a place where we can buy time……’
A suitable spot caught her eye. Without hesitation, Go-mi changed direction toward it.
Hwa Ryeong cried out.
“Why that way?!”
“We’ll buy time there and find a way out!”
“If we get surrounded and trapped, there won’t be any way out!”
“Trust me!”
Hwa Ryeong was anxious. Where Go-mi was leading them was a dense forest that opened onto a cliff face.
They could take shelter momentarily, but if multiple pursuers surrounded them, they would be trapped without escape.
Yet she trusted Go-mi.
A piercing shriek tore through the air.
The Piercing Sound came again from behind. Hwa Ryeong, who had been running behind Go-mi, spun around and raised a sword barrier backed by Body Protection Qi.
A deep hum resonated.
Rapid metallic strikes rang out.
Bang!
Metal and explosion sounded as one.
Flames from the blast caught her robe. Hwa Ryeong hastily shed her outer garment and hurled it away.
The garment, cutting through the air without resistance, covered a masked pursuer who had closed in on her. But his blade tore through the fabric to shreds.
In that instant, Go-mi launched herself upward into the forest clearing. From her robes, she drew several steel rods, each a hand’s breadth long, and gripped them in both hands.
“Hurry!”
The moment Hwa Ryeong pulled herself up, Go-mi drove the steel rods into the ground at various points.
Then something extraordinary unfolded.
With a deep hum, the surrounding landscape shifted entirely—an illusion taking its place.
Go-mi grabbed Hwa Ryeong’s arm and pulled them both back as far as possible.
A low hum. Then another.
The space ahead rippled violently.
Hwa Ryeong asked in alarm.
“What is it?”
“An Array Formation.”
“I understand it’s an Array Formation, but can’t they break through it?”
“No, they’ll break through eventually. But we should be able to buy some time. Let me catch my breath for a moment.”
The Array Formation she had deployed was a kind of barrier that prevented strangers from entering and kept them locked outside.
Had she spent more time installing the Array Formation, even those who knew about such techniques would have needed considerable time to break it down, but since it had been hastily set up, it was inevitably somewhat flimsy.
“You truly are remarkable. I’ve never even heard of an Array Formation like this…….”
“Wait a moment.”
Clang!
Go-mi set down her sword and tore her Martial Robe to bind the wound tightly. Hwa Ryeong exhaled heavily and sank down where she stood.
Go-mi sat beside her.
Hwa Ryeong smiled bitterly as she spoke.
“We’ve escaped the immediate danger, but now we’re trapped here. What do we do?”
“Once your Inner Strength recovers, go back to the Imperial Palace and call for help. If I use the Array Formation to draw their attention, they won’t notice a thing.”
“Why can’t we just leave together?”
“If I don’t maintain the force at the center of the Array, the barrier will collapse immediately. So one of us must stay. Since your Inner Strength is deeper than mine, you’ll be able to run faster.”
“……!”
“If you’re worried about me, then run with all your might.”
Hwa Ryeong saw the resolve burning in Go-mi’s eyes. Such determination can never be broken.
“I understand. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The space ahead still trembled violently. Apparently the strangers were striking at it with their blades.
Hwa Ryeong crossed her legs in meditation.
“I’m going to practice Qi Circulation Meditation.”
Qi Circulation Meditation was the fastest way to restore her Inner Strength. Trusting in Go-mi’s Array Formation, Hwa Ryeong soon sank into a state of No-Self.
Go-mi took a deep breath and gathered branches, cutting them into uniform lengths.
‘Can I really hold on until reinforcements arrive? Will Hwa Ryeong make it safely back to the Imperial Palace?’
Her mind was troubled.
Unease lingered still. She was not afraid of death, but she feared not seeing Yi So and Yi Hwan complete their great purpose.
Yi So’s gentle face came to mind.
Then Yi Hwan’s expressionless countenance pushed it aside, filling Go-mi’s thoughts entirely.
As the years she had spent with him flashed past like scenes in a lantern show, Go-mi suddenly felt her throat tighten.

Do not die.

Yi Hwan’s voice echoed in her ears like a phantom sound.
Crunch.

* * *

“Stop!”
From behind the assassins who had been hacking wildly at the Array Formation, Baek Po-in stepped forward.
He was the one leading the assassins of the Manhwa Palace.
He stared at the space rippling like heat haze, his eyes flickering with intensity.
‘There was someone among them who knows how to handle Array Formations…….’
Though countless martial techniques existed in the Martial World, not many knew how to handle Array Formations. And since the use of Array Formations was rare, those who knew how to break them were equally scarce.
One of the assassins in black robes showed frustration.
“We cannot break through it no matter what.”
“I knew she was no ordinary woman, but to possess such abilities…….”
“There is another woman, and she was quite a master as well. Her martial prowess seemed even superior to the leader of the Bi-wol Organization.”
“Then she is not a member of the Bi-wol Organization……. Could the Fourth Prince have an elite female master in his circle?”
“Yes, according to intelligence, there is one female master of the highest caliber, but her build is much smaller than the woman inside.”
He was referring to Papa.
Because she had traveled with Yi Hwan since the All-Under-Heaven Martial Arts Conference, her skill level was already fairly well understood. Of course, no one knew that she was Jo Gwang’s bodyguard.
Baek Po-in surveyed the surroundings for a moment. Then he issued a command.
“If we cannot enter, neither can they leave. Just to be safe, guard the perimeter thoroughly!”
“Understood.”
Just then, more figures appeared from behind. They were assassins of the Hongwol. The moment one of them in a yellow robe stepped forward, he pressed urgently.
“What is the situation?”
“The woman’s deployed an Array Formation.”
“We’re being held up by a mere Array Formation?”
Twitch.
Baek Po-in’s eyebrows curved sharp as blades. Hwang Po-in’s arrogance had gotten under his skin.
“Then why don’t you break through it yourself?”
“Break it!”
“Yes!”
Two assassins from Hongwol stepped forward, drawing their blades. They began slashing wildly at the space before them, their weapons charged with raw force.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Baek Po-in let out a cold laugh. The other assassins from Manhwa Palace did the same.
“Stop!”
Hwang Po-in strode forward. Flames ignited in his palm.
Baek Po-in, reading his intent at once, called out sharply.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“If the blade won’t cut through, why not burn it away?”
“Have you lost your mind? If that fire spreads across the mountain, who’s going to answer for it?”
“The Grand Chamberlain himself has issued a direct order to kill that woman. We’re merely following our orders—stand aside.”
Baek Po-in did not yield. Instead, he fixed Hwang Po-in with a cold, measuring stare.
“This entire region belongs to the Empress. If you’re confident you can answer for the consequences, feel free to try.”
“……!”
The flames dancing at Hwang Po-in’s fingertips vanished in an instant.
No matter how direct an order from his superior, he could not afford to cross the Empress.
“Ahem. Let’s find another way. As quickly as possible.”

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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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