The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 3

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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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Enemy Dragon Without Emperor – Episode 3

Chapter 3 – Capture

Mountain weather was mercurial.
Whenever clouds blocked the high peaks, rain invariably fell, and when fierce winds joined the downpour, the party had no choice but to halt and shelter in the forest indefinitely.
Whoosh!
Wheeee!
Lee Hwan gazed into the torrential rain pouring down fiercely, mapping out in his mind what needed to be done next.
There wasn’t really much to deliberate about.
‘First, find the descendants of the Sword King.’
Lee Hwan was convinced that the Black Tiger Guard who had attacked him were descendants of the Sword King.
He watched Jeong Cheon ahead, conversing with his officers in the distance.
All acknowledged him as a brilliant commander, yet to Lee Hwan’s eyes he was little more than an untested pup.
Just then, one of the guards approached.
“Will you eat, sir?”
The guard offered a hunk of dried meat.
“No need.”
“Soon we’ll enter enemy territory, and then you won’t be able to eat anything for quite some time.”
At the guard’s words, Lee Hwan took the dried meat in his mouth.
‘Once the fighting breaks out and the Black Tiger Guard appears, I move alone from that point forward.’
Boom!
Crack-crack!
Not far off, lightning webbed across the sky and fell.
“Damnable. This place is always a mess no matter when you come.”
“It suits those drab Zhao bastards well enough. Heh-heh-heh.”
With enemy territory looming directly ahead, the warriors showed no sign of tension.
Shortly after, the rain and wind subsided, and the march resumed.
The journey took far longer than expected. Just when it seemed they would arrive soon, it was late evening before the Yeon Army reached their first objective.
‘Wasn’t it said that Jeong Cheon favored night raids?’
Yes. Jeong Cheon had distinguished himself repeatedly through night raids in recent times.
In the process, he had achieved victory while sustaining far fewer casualties than any other unit, which was how he had earned his reputation as a brilliant commander.
It was likely for this reason that Hwang Ho had assigned Lee Hwan to Jeong Cheon’s unit.
‘So that’s why he brought only about five thousand troops.’
In a night raid, mobility was paramount. The larger the force, the slower it moved, so operating with minimal troops was far more efficient.
Jeong Cheon possessed strategies and tactics specialized in such matters, and had accumulated considerable accomplishments so far.
‘If that’s the case, we’ll need another hour or so…….’
True dead of night would require at least that much longer to arrive.
That was when it happened.
‘Fortunately, I won’t need to wait as tediously as I thought.’
Having sensed something, Lee Hwan allowed a faint smile to cross his face.
Whoosh!
Thump-thump-thump!
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh!”
Following the wind-cutting sound came screams from all directions.
“Enemy ambush!”
“Form combat lines!”
“Combat formation, now!”
Lee Hwan’s eyes gleamed. He saw shadows rushing toward them from the darkness.
The something he had sensed moments earlier was precisely these figures.
‘Having fallen to night raids several times already, it’s only natural they’d take precautions. I don’t know who commands them, but they’re not entirely foolish.’
Zhao had suffered major defeats to Jeong Cheon’s unit through night raids on multiple occasions before.
Since Jeong Cheon’s reputation was already well-known throughout Zhao, taking countermeasures was practically inevitable.
Of course, Jeong Cheon had been cautious with this in mind as well, but it seemed the Zhao commander had proven the shrewder strategist.
Jeong Cheon clenched his teeth.
“Our position is compromised! Withdraw at once! Move quickly!”
“Yes, sir!”
Jeong Cheon’s forces began withdrawing their troops slowly amid the chaos.
But Lee Hwan moved with unshakeable composure even as confusion erupted around him.
Clang!
Crack!
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
The first clash erupted on the left flank.
It was not far from where Lee Hwan stood. His guards surrounded him in an iron wall.
“General! Please don’t stray from our side!”
“I understand. Stay focused.”
Lee Hwan waited calmly for the Black Tiger Guard to appear.
Then some Zhao soldiers rushed toward him. His guards stepped forward and formed a defensive line.
Clang!
“Argh!”
“Aagh!”
Battle erupted at arm’s length, blood and flesh spraying, but Lee Hwan’s eyes darted swiftly across the entire battlefield. Yet nowhere could he spot the Black Tiger Guard.
“Ugh!”
One guard gasped and staggered.
An enemy soldier rushed at him. The other guards couldn’t come to his aid—at this rate, the guard’s head would be severed.
That’s when Lee Hwan moved.
He took a single step forward and drew his blade in one fluid motion. The enemy’s skull split vertically, spilling blood and brains.
“Aagh!”
The guard stared at Lee Hwan in shock.
“If you’re grateful, fight harder.”
……
“Forward!”
“Fearless bastards!”
The Zhao soldiers surged at the guards with even greater ferocity.

* * *

“Don’t fall back!”
“Push harder!”
Jeong Cheon’s forces proved their name matched reality. Five thousand picked elite soldiers, ground down in the initial chaos, had regrouped and now pressed the Zhao army back with methodical force, fighting to reclaim their lost ground.
Reinforcements from another direction converged rapidly, and the Zhao soldiers found themselves increasingly cornered. Because the battle had erupted before they penetrated deep into enemy territory, the junction could be made swiftly.
Roar!
“Forward!”
“Those stinking Zhao dogs! Crush every last skull!”
Then it happened.
Crack!
“Argh!”
“Aaaagh!”
“The Black Tiger Guard! The Black Tiger Guard has appeared!”
Chaos erupted on the right flank of the battlefield. Lee Hwan’s eyes flashed with sudden light.
‘Finally.’
The right flank, where the Black Tiger Guard had emerged, began collapsing rapidly. Indeed, the Black Tiger Guard was formidable.
“We move in that direction.”
“General! That sector is far too dangerous!”
“Is there any safe place on a battlefield? Come with me.”
Lee Hwan bolted forward. His guards scrambled in alarm, rushing after him.
“Hurry! Don’t lose sight of the general!”
Lee Hwan cut through the center of the battlefield, his eyes sharp as he scanned for traces of the Tal-hon-gi technique.
Then, reaching a certain point, his gaze sharpened.
‘Found it.’
Three streaks of blood light flickering across the battlefield.
Against the pitch-black darkness, they glowed with unmistakable clarity.

* * *

A commander approached Jeong Cheon’s side and shouted.
“The enemy numbers are not so great—we shall circle around and descend to the stronghold!”
“Exercise caution, General.”
“Then we shall meet at the stronghold!”
A contingent of the Yeon Army broke away from the battlefield.
Jeong Cheon watched them for a moment, then turned his gaze toward the right flank where the Black Tiger Guard had appeared.
His eyes widened in disbelief when he caught sight of Lee Hwan cutting across the battlefield.
“No!”
Jeong Cheon doubted his own vision.
Lee Hwan was not a man possessed of such courage. What he had shown in the strategy meeting was merely a momentary fit of recklessness born of desperation—he would surely revert to his true nature once the fighting began.
Yet impossibly, Lee Hwan was charging straight into the fray, even as his seasoned elite troops scrambled to intercept the enemy.
Jeong Cheon spun about and shouted.
“All units, shift right! Move swiftly!”
“Yes!”

* * *

‘Too fast!’
Lee Hwan’s escorts gasped in alarm.
He was fast—far too fast. In mere moments, the distance between them widened beyond what even several bounds could close.
‘Was he always like this?’
‘What is happening? How is he moving so quickly?’
As they reeled in shock, one escort cried out urgently.
“My Lord! Watch your left flank!”
A member of the Black Tiger Guard was rushing at Lee Hwan from the left. The enemy’s speed was such that disaster seemed inevitable.
“Ah!”
A cry of shock burst from the escort’s lips.
His eyes went wide.
The fearsome Black Tiger Guard’s head flew clean off—severed in a single stroke.
“Impossible….”
“Stop gawking! The Lord is in danger!”
“Keep pace with him!”
As the escorts struggled desperately to follow, Lee Hwan surged toward the Black Tiger Guard member who wielded the Tal-hon-gi. In his wake, several more of the enemy collapsed, their necks laid open by his blade.
“Argh!”
“Gaah!”
It was the Autumn Wind Falling Leaves itself made manifest.
With a roar!
Jeong Cheon’s forces crashed into the fray. Recognizing their numerical disadvantage, the Black Tiger Guard began to retreat.
“My Lord! Fall back at once!”
Jeong Cheon’s cry rang across the battlefield.
But Lee Hwan was not of such a mind.
Then he saw the Black Tiger Guard member wielding Tal-hon-gi begin to withdraw. Fortunately, the man had become separated from his companions.
‘Convenient, that.’
“Die!”
Two blades came at him simultaneously. Lee Hwan tilted his torso sideways, extending both his left and right arms at once.
Splash!
“Gaah!”
“Urgh!”
With minimal motion, Lee Hwan felled his opponents and pressed toward his true prey.
For a fleeting moment, their gazes locked across the darkness.
Had the guard recognized him? Or was he startled by Lee Hwan’s momentum?
The Black Tiger Guard plunged into the forest.
‘Yes. Run deeper into the darkness.’
Lee Hwan gave chase, lunging into the trees after him.
The melee was so chaotic that both Jeong Cheon and his escorts lost sight of Lee Hwan entirely.
Jeong Cheon’s face turned to stone as he searched the battlefield.
“What am I to do with this!”
The death of a Prince and Grand General.
Jeong Cheon could not help but contemplate the catastrophe that would follow.
“Find the Lord! Quickly!”
“Yes!”

* * *

Crack!
A broken branch whipped across Lee Hwan’s face.
But his Protective Inner Strength deflected it, sending splinters flying in all directions.
“I’m not trying to kill you. Stop running.”
Who in this world would believe such words in a moment like this? The Black Tiger Guard member only ran harder.
Yet the distance between them narrowed in an instant—less than thirty paces now.
After a few more breaths, the rock cliff loomed ahead, cutting off the guard’s path.
“Damn it!”
The Black Tiger Guard glanced left and right, found no escape, and spun around to face Lee Hwan, dropping into a fighting stance.
“Come on! Bastard!”
Lee Hwan descended the final distance in a controlled drop.
Whisp!
He drew his sword.
Click.
“Put down your blade. I won’t kill you.”
“Shut your mouth! If you weren’t planning to kill me, why chase me all this way?”
“I need to ask you something. Trust me.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and come on, you dog!”
Lee Hwan exhaled slowly, his brow furrowing.
“All right. I’m coming.”

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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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