The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 58

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Red Dragon Undefeated, Episode 58

Chapter 58 — Heir to the Sword King

Go Mi saw the newcomers too.
It only deepened her alarm.
She had to stop the wanderer before her at once. His bearing made it clear he meant to attack Yi Hwan.
“Whoosh.”
Go Mi exhaled deeply and channeled her full strength into her blade. Then she tilted her head, puzzled.
The wanderer wasn’t watching her—his gaze was fixed on the battlefield beyond. And his eyes were trembling violently.
Like a man seized by sudden shock.
‘What’s wrong with him?’

* * *

Tremble, tremble……
The wanderer’s eyes shook with violent intensity.
They would not leave Cheol Mu-ok’s large sword.
‘Tal-Hun-Ki!’
It was unmistakably the Tal-Hun-Ki.

All bloodlines of the Three Kings had mastered the Tal-Hun-Ki. It was more than a martial art—it was the thread that bound them all together…… The rest remains unspoken.

A voice echoed in the wanderer’s mind like a phantom sound—one he had heard since his first steps as a child, a voice he had never forgotten for a single moment.
‘Please let them be the ones……’
Bang!
The wanderer launched himself off the ground, sailing clear over Go Mi’s head.
“Stop!”
Go Mi’s blade cut through empty air.
But the wanderer was faster than her sword.
Crack!
Go Mi clenched her teeth and hurled herself after him. But in an instant the distance between them opened to more than thirty zhang. The impossible speed of his Lightness Technique drained the color from her face.
‘This is dangerous!’

* * *

“Kill him!”
“Wang Ji-gyeong is there!”
As the late arrivals rushed forward with fury, the guards formed a wall before Wang Ji-gyeong.
Yi Hwan no longer had the luxury of watching elsewhere.
The aura of those surging from behind was far from ordinary.
Metallic ring.
“Two of you hold this position.”
“Yes, sir!”
Two guards took up Yi Hwan’s former post.
Yi Hwan stepped forward and drew Inner Strength into his blade.
Metallic ring.
His sword now gleamed with Inner Force for the first time. The force was vastly greater than when he had hewn through the waterfall in the southern garrison, and its motion was fierce.
Whoom!
Three threads of light rose from Yi Hwan’s sword. This too was the Tal-Hun-Ki.
That was when it happened.
Yi Hwan felt a formidable force pressing against the back of his head and turned.
Someone was tearing through the air. And behind them came Go Mi, in pursuit.
In that instant, the gazes of Yi Hwan and the wanderer locked. A faint smile bloomed at Yi Hwan’s lips.
‘To meet in this way.’
He was certain: this wanderer was the one he and Cheol Mu-ok had sought so desperately. And certainty became reality.
Three threads of light rose around the wanderer’s form.
Whissh!
Ju Tae dropped down before Yi Hwan.
Go Mi landed behind him, rushing toward Ju Tae without hesitation.
“Stop, Wol-ju.”
Yi Hwan spoke, his gaze fixed on Ju Tae.
“You must have something to show me.”
Ju Tae said nothing, reaching into his robes and producing something. A Three Kings Medallion.
Carved into it, clear as daylight, was the Sword King’s name.
Ju Tae asked quietly.
“I found it correctly, didn’t I?”
“You did. But we’ll talk later.”

* * *

Ju Tae watched Yi Hwan charge toward the masked figures, his eyes gleaming with sudden clarity.
‘At last…….’
Now it was unmistakable.
Yi Hwan was the man he’d been searching for.
Flash!
“Gahhk!”
“Argh!”
Where Yi Hwan struck, blood erupted. Ju Tae hurled himself into the fray immediately after.
Go Mi’s mind reeled at the sudden turn.
‘What? He was on our side all along?’
Then it happened.
Screech!
A sinister aura tore through. One of the masked figures had breached the guards’ defensive line, lunging straight at Wang Ji-gyeong.
Crash!
Go Mi didn’t retreat—she threw herself at the masked figure instead.
Thud!
“Gasp!”
Her blade pierced the figure’s chest and burst through his back.
“Stop panicking and hold your formation!”
At Go Mi’s command, the guards tightened their ranks. The situation was too urgent for them to wonder who she was.
Wang Ji-gyeong turned to her, bewilderment written across his face.
“Who are you, miss?”
“Shut your mouth and step back!”
Go Mi found this whole business distasteful.
‘How did I end up mixed up in this mess.’

* * *

Crack!
“Ugh!”
Blood sprayed from Sang-san Hyeol-do’s wrist.
Unable to absorb the impact, his bones shattered. Several who rushed to help him fell in sprays of blood before Cheol Mu-ok’s greatsword.
Sang-san Hyeol-do stumbled backward in panic, screaming orders.
“Stop him! Now!”
“Running away now?”
Cheol Mu-ok carved through those who stood in his way, advancing on Sang-san Hyeol-do. But the man was already fleeing ahead, out of reach.
Cheol Mu-ok felt a flash of disbelief.
A master of Sang-san Hyeol-do’s caliber usually valued honor more than life itself.
“Scatter!”
“Ahh!”
At someone’s cry, the masked figures scattered in all directions.
Three of them, drenched in blood, turned back to Cheol Mu-ok and asked.
“Should we pursue?”
“Let them go. They’re not worth the trouble.”
Cheol Mu-ok turned to survey the scene behind him.
Those who had arrived late were already fleeing in disarray. In that brief span, Yi Hwan and Ju Tae had inflicted near-total casualties on them.
“Hm!”
Cheol Mu-ok’s eyes snapped wide open.
Yi Hwan was bleeding. Cheol Mu-ok hurled himself to his side in a single breath.
Then Yi Hwan’s voice came through in transmission.
[Don’t make a fuss about it. I took that blade on purpose—to impress him more.]
‘But still……’
Bewildered, Cheol Mu-ok turned his gaze at last to Ju Tae.
“Who is this man?”
“The friend we were looking for.”
“……And then?”
Cheol Mu-ok’s eyes widened fully.
“We’ll talk about this when we’re back.”
“Understood.”

* * *

Evening fell.
Wang Ji-gyeong’s Residence.
Yi Hwan, Ju Tae, and Cheol Mu-ok sat together. Ju Tae was indeed a descendant of the Sword King. His name was Ju Tae, thirty-one years old this year—the same age as Cheol Mu-ok. Ju Tae recounted the long years he had lived, and Yi Hwan and Cheol Mu-ok listened in silence. After that, Yi Hwan posed the same question he had asked Cheol Mu-ok, and Ju Tae gave the same answer.
So he too knew nothing of why Dae-ya Fortress had fallen.
For Yi Hwan, it was a deeply disappointing moment.
Meanwhile, Ju Tae harbored the same doubt Cheol Mu-ok did.
That the bloodline of the fortress master didn’t know the reason Dae-ya Fortress had fallen—it could only seem strange.
Ju Tae spoke.
“It’s extraordinary. That the fortress master’s bloodline was connected to the Imperial House, I mean.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Sir?”
“There are circumstances. I can’t explain it clearly right now, so let your curiosity rest. But I’m curious—whose idea was it to use the Tal-Hun-Ki to find us?”
Ju Tae smiled ruefully.
“It was a desperate gamble born of the thought that I had nothing to lose. I apologize. I dared to transmit the Tal-Hun-Ki to an outsider.”
“Forget it. You didn’t leak the Core Essence anyway.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Then, if I may be so bold, might I ask one more thing?”
“Ask away.”
“It’s……”
Ju Tae began to pour out questions. Occasionally he directed them at Cheol Mu-ok as well. The three of them passed the night this way, lost in reunion’s embrace.

Sang-san Hyeol-do drank like a madman.
Glug-glug!
He poured harsh liquor down his throat as if it were water.
It was the day he had suffered the greatest humiliation of his life.
Never mind that the operation had failed—too many men had died, and he himself had been forced into the shame of fleeing before Cheol Mu-ok. The disgrace and humiliation that would stain him until his dying breath only grew more overwhelming with each drink.
Crash!
“Damn it!”
Right now, Sang-san Hyeol-do’s mind held only one face—not Yi Hwan’s, not anyone else’s, but Cheol Mu-ok’s.
‘Where in the world could such a man come from……’
Beneath the humiliation and shame lay a terror he had never before experienced.
When he had a sword, they could fight. But after his blade became a Large Sword, he was overwhelmed completely. Had his judgment been even slightly slower, he would have breathed his last in that place.
‘Speed, destructive force—and a precision in every stroke with no wasted movement…… With such skill, I should know his epithet.’
Unable to contain his rage, he bellowed toward the outside.
“Is anyone there?”
Bang!
The door opened and a single retainer stepped in.
“When dawn breaks, go to the Sang-chun Inn and gather every scrap of information on those who have entered as bodyguards for Wang Ji-gyeong. And find out about those three men who were at the Song Clan Inn as well! Including those last two who appeared! Do you understand?”
“Yes! I understand!”
Hack!
As Sang-san Hyeol-do reached for the wine bottle, he suddenly grimaced and curled inward.
Intense pain surged from where he had taken the blade.

“Shall I bring you the Ma-pye Decoction?”
“Never mind!”
Gulp, gulp!
A sharp exhale.
Sang-san Hyeol-do’s eyes had turned a furious red, and within that crimson gaze, a thick shadow of anguish began to settle.
He was dreading the aftershock that would come in its wake.
‘If Sang-dan-ju learns of this, he’ll lose his mind….’

* * *

Early morning.
Wang Ji-gyeong sought out Yi Hwan’s quarters.
The door clattered open.
Without ceremony, he set down a heavy money pouch.
“You’ve saved my life twice over now. I’ve brought this as a token of my gratitude—please accept it.”
“There’s no need for such a thing.”
Yi Hwan demurred politely, but Cheol Mu-ok snatched up the pouch as if he’d been waiting for permission.
“Your injuries—are they healing well?”
“Just grazes. They’ll mend in a few days. But what of you, sir? You must have been quite shaken yesterday.”
“My heart’s still hammering. I’ve lived through no shortage of troubles, but nothing like yesterday. Those cursed mercenaries—!”
Wang Ji-gyeong expressed his gratitude to Cheol Mu-ok and Ju Tae as well. Then he turned back to Yi Hwan.
“I’ll need to expand my guard detail. Do you happen to know anyone suitable?”
“What about this man here?”
Yi Hwan gestured toward Ju Tae.
Wang Ji-gyeong’s delight was understandable.
“I’d welcome him unconditionally!”
“Then could you offer him terms equal to ours?”
“Of course! In fact, I’ll add two thousand silver taels to each of your monthly wages. Just keep protecting me the way you did yesterday!”
“You needn’t worry about that. No one will so much as brush a hair on your head while we draw breath.”
Wang Ji-gyeong smiled warmly at Ju Tae as he spoke.
“I’m grateful for your service.”
Ju Tae simply bowed his head in reply, saying nothing.
Though he’d become Wang Ji-gyeong’s guard on the spot, Ju Tae remained unmoved. He’d learned from Yi Hwan last night what was truly being set in motion.
In truth, Ju Tae’s arrival had been an enormous asset to Yi Hwan.
The presence of an expert of that caliber—or the absence of one—made a world of difference.
After a time, Wang Ji-gyeong departed.
Cheol Mu-ok opened the money pouch and his eyes widened.
“There’s an enormous sum in here.”
“Did he stuff it with gold nuggets?”
“Yes.”
Cheol Mu-ok opened the pouch fully. Three sizeable gold nuggets gleamed brilliantly as they emerged.
Ju Tae let out a short laugh.
“That’s fair compensation for deliberately taking a blade. Perhaps we should arrange to receive similar treatment whenever opportunity permits.”
“Interesting. I didn’t know you had such wit about you.”
“Living rough in this harsh world, one picks up its ways. I’ve learned the value of coin more painfully than most.”
Though lightly spoken, the words stirred something in Yi Hwan. He’d learned last night, from Ju Tae’s own mouth, how his bloodline had survived—how they’d had to survive.
When he thought about it clearly, their wretched fate was something he himself had brought upon them.
‘I owe them a debt I must repay. I’ll ensure they want for nothing.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————