The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 88

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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 Warrior 88

Chapter 88 — First Victory

Arrogance had spawned a cruel consequence, plunging the Zhao Kingdom’s vanguard into chaos.
Struck from the flank by Yen’s surprise assault, their front and rear severed, the Zhao vanguard could not even muster their full strength.
The troops who had passed through earlier wheeled back in panic, only to be met by another Yen contingent blocking their path.
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
“Strike!”
A roar erupted across the field.
Crack!
“Argh!”
“Ahhh!”
The Zhao soldiers, unable to form proper ranks, crumbled in moments. They were overwhelmed.
“Damn it all!”
The Zhao general commanding the vanguard’s face twisted in anguish. His adjutants cried out in alarm.
“Front and rear completely cut off! We may face annihilation!”
“Our retreat is blocked, General!”
Teeth ground together.
The sickening sound echoed through the pass.
“If we cannot retreat….”
A fierce command followed.
“Then we drive straight into the enemy’s main camp! Forward!”
“Forward!”
It was a desperate measure born of necessity—a path with no turning back.
The general bellowed to the martial artists flanking him.
“Once we breach their main camp, kill anything that moves!”
“Yes, General!”
“With this many troops committed to the ambush, their camp must be nearly empty! I’ll burn every last one of those dogs to ash!”
His teeth ground again.
Fury consumed him entirely. With a face flushed crimson, the general charged forward like a gale, and roughly ten thousand soldiers surged after him.
Nearly twenty thousand more troops were falling behind as their advance route became congested.
“We’re almost there!”
Two massive boulders loomed ahead.
Called Twin Rock Pass for their identical appearance, beyond them lay Yen’s main camp.
A sharp metallic ring.
The general’s blade sang out with Force Aura.
The martial artists flanking him to left and right unleashed their Force Aura in unison.
Then it happened.
A deafening roar shook the earth.
Enormous boulders and logs suddenly tumbled down from the ridge above.
The general’s eyes snapped reflexively toward the sound, widening in an instant of terrible recognition.
“!”
Massive stones and timber cascaded downward. With the slopes on either side sheer and merciless, the avalanche descended at unimaginable speed.
“Scatter!”
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Splinter and crunch!
“Ahhh!”
“Argh!”
Zhao soldiers caught beneath the boulders and timber fell with horrible finality. Some martial artists, light on their feet, leaped high into the air—only to be struck by bouncing logs mid-flight and plummeted to their deaths.
In ordinary circumstances, such an attack would barely threaten martial artists. But now the situation was altogether different.
With their own forces tangled and chaotic, even the martial artists’ actions and judgment were compromised.
“Damn this…!”
Rumble and crash.
The Zhao general stood trembling violently, his entire frame shaking as he stared through the billowing dust at the boulders and logs piling higher and higher. Now the very passage to Yen’s main camp was sealed.
A martial artist rushed forward, screaming.
“General! We cannot continue! We must retreat while we still can!”
“The retreat is cut off—what manner of escape do you imagine?”
“Climb the mountain! We’ll hold back the enemy’s pursuit!”
A tremor ran through the air.
“Are you telling me to retreat alone, right now?”
“General, you are the pillar of strength upon which the Crown Prince must rely! For the sake of the great enterprise, you must withdraw at once!”
“……!”
His frame shook visibly.
Jang Su’s eyes wavered with terrible conflict.
That was when it happened.
“Who said anything about running away.”
A voice, cold as winter frost, cut through the chaos—and a figure dropped into the chamber from above.
Ju Tae.
Behind him, the warriors of the Habuk Peng Clan emerged one by one from the shadows.
Ju Tae smiled at Jang Su, his expression glacial.
“Just die here.”

* * *

A flash of light—lethal, sudden.
A sinister force hurtled toward Yi Hwan. At that same instant, Peng Wen, fighting behind him, cried out in alarm.
“Crown Prince! Watch your back!”
Before his warning had even finished, a severed head arced into the air. Yi Hwan, having anticipated the attack with uncanny precision, had already struck down the assassin and was now charging toward another enemy.
[Focus on the enemy, not on me.]
Peng Wen’s eyes trembled as he heard Yi Hwan’s voice flow directly into his ear.
‘Extraordinary.’
“Elder!”
Peng Wu-wei’s urgent shout tore through the din.
In the same breath, Peng Wen’s body spun like a top, his Broadsword cleaving through empty space.
Thud!
“Agh!”
One of the enemy’s Martial Artists met a gruesome end—upper body and lower body torn cleanly apart.
Peng Wu-wei rushed forward, his voice sharp with reproval.
“Where is your attention wandering to!”
“Never mind me. Keep your mind on the enemy.”
“Then stop giving me reason to worry!”
“Understood.”
Peng Wu-wei drew in a deep breath and held his Broadsword at length with both hands.
His eyes blazed like a tiger’s.
“I am Peng Wu-wei of the Habuk Peng Clan, you dogs.”
A roar split the air.

* * *

Jo Gwang advanced leisurely from the Rear Guard.
Perched upon a Palanquin borne by ten warriors, he tilted a Wine Cup to his lips with an ease that betrayed complete confidence.
“By now, the Vanguard should have penetrated deep into enemy territory.”
“Indeed, Your Highness. Given their numerical disadvantage, the enemy will have concentrated all forces at their Main Camp. The path forward should have proven quite smooth, exactly as you foresaw.”
“Papa.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Send some of our capable men to reinforce the Vanguard.”
“The warriors who remain here are those who fight solely for Your Highness. Surely there is no need to dispatch reinforcements…….”
“With Papa at my side, what concern is there? Just select a few able men and send them forward.”
“As you command.”
Those upon whom Papa’s gaze fell stepped forward.
Each one radiated a Force Aura honed sharp as a blade.
Jo Gwang addressed them directly.
“Your task is to kill the enemy’s commanders. I will reward you two hundred silver for each head—do your utmost!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
With a sound like wind itself taking flight, they dashed away.
Jo Gwang watched their retreating forms with undisguised satisfaction.
“That Papa himself trained them shows in everything—even their Lightness Technique is exceptional. When this battle concludes, I shall bestow a magnificent reward upon Papa as well.”
“Your Highness, I am at your service.”
Papa lifted his bowed head.
“Hmm?”
One of those who had rushed forward like the wind was returning swiftly. Both Papa and Jo Gwang furrowed their brows.
“Why are they coming back?”
Papa’s gaze grew heavy. He felt something ominous stir within him.
Whoosh!
The returning figure cried out toward Jo Gwang.
“The Vanguard is retreating!”
“What?”
Jo Gwang’s eyes snapped toward the front lines. There, in the widened gaze of his pupils, he saw warriors rushing toward them in disarray, their forms unmistakable.
They were definitely members of the Vanguard.
Tremor…
“The Vanguard has been routed!”

* * *

The Northern Army of Yen Kingdom.
To the west, it faced the Zhao Kingdom; to the north, the barbarians—a place as strategically vital as the Southern Army itself.
The face of General-in-Chief Gwak Chung-mu, who commanded here, had turned rigid.
“Not to provide support? What in heaven’s name is the court thinking?”
A messenger had just arrived from the Imperial Palace. He had delivered the Empress’s orders: do not aid the Southern Army, for withdrawing troops might provoke the barbarians—then departed.
Gwak Chung-mu could not fathom it.
A deputy commander spoke up.
“It is strange, sir. The General-in-Chief of the Southern Army is General Left Peng Wu-wei, who stands with Yi Hwang-ja. Why would the Empress forbid us to help?”
“What does it matter whose faction he belongs to? When the enemy invades and our own forces are in peril, we must aid them—this is the code of war.”
Another general spoke in grave tones.
“According to our intelligence, the Zhao forces outnumber the Southern Army considerably. Without reinforcements, they may be in true danger, General.”
“And once Crown Prince Jo Gwang joins them, the Martial Artists on their side will overwhelm ours. Surely we cannot simply abandon them?”
“Silence!”
At Gwak Chung-mu’s word, the generals fell quiet. He lapsed into thought, and all held their breath, waiting for his decision.
After a moment, Gwak Chung-mu issued his command.
“The Central Army Commander is to lead twenty thousand elite troops down to the Southern Army at once.”
“Yes, General!”
One general swiftly departed the command tent. Gwak Chung-mu sank deeper into his chair, his brow creasing.
“The General Left must possess the strength to hold back the Zhao forces—yet I confess I am troubled.”
“Word is that he gained his rank through political alliance between Yi Hwang-ja and the Peng Clan. I question whether such a man possesses the capacity to lead armies.”
The mood among the generals grew darker.
Gwak Chung-mu muttered, his eyes flashing with anger.
“To drag the military into politics—the audacity.”
“Since the Emperor withdrew from court, it has only worsened. Rumor has it that Yi Hwang-ja’s faction is drawing more Martial Artists into their ranks. If this continues, who knows when another Peng Wu-wei will slip into a position of military power?”
“Hmph.”
As darker concern deepened in Gwak Chung-mu’s eyes, one general stepped forward.
“There is a great general serving in the Southern Army, is there not? I worry that should any misfortune befall him in this battle, it might escalate to full-scale war.”
“Full-scale war will not come to pass. The great general in the Southern Army is an illegitimate child, cast out by the Imperial House. And the Empress, above all, reveres legitimate succession—she will not blink if some bastard meets with harm.”
At this, all the generals nodded in agreement.
Since no word of Yi Hwan had yet reached them, Gwak Chung-mu and his commanders regarded him only as a figure of rumor, not reality.
Then it came.
“General, a messenger from the Crown Prince Palace has arrived.”
“Bring him in.”
Moments later, the messenger entered.
Gwak Chung-mu rose from his seat and received the letter the messenger offered with both hands.
The messenger spoke.
“His Highness requests a reply, sir.”
Gwak Chung-mu read the letter. The generals watched him intently, their curiosity plain.
Presently, Gwak Chung-mu turned to the messenger.
“Tell His Highness that twenty thousand elite troops have been dispatched.”
“Understood, sir.”
The messenger departed at once.
Gwak Chung-mu sank back into his chair, his gaze darkening with thought.
‘Curious. The Crown Prince Palace has rarely involved itself in such matters. And the Southern Army has already turned toward the Empress and Yi Hwang-ja, hasn’t it?’

* * *

At that same moment, in the Yen Kingdom’s Central Army command post.
The Empress’s messenger visited the General-in-Chief there as well, whose duty was to support forward units in times of crisis.
The message was identical, but the General-in-Chief’s decision differed. Several commanders urged him to send reinforcements, but he cut them off flatly.
“This is the Empress’s command—to send no reinforcements. So let no one speak of it again!”

* * *

Whoosh—a torrential downpour suddenly broke.
The rain fell in sheets.
The soldiers surrendered themselves to the deluge, washing away the blood that soaked their bodies.
“An overwhelming victory, General! Ha-ha!”
Peng Wu-wei’s laughter rang across the battlefield.
The commanders were greatly encouraged and let out rousing cheers. All eyes turned to Yi Hwan. Then Jeong Cheon appeared.
Yi Hwan assessed his condition first.
“Are you hurt?”
“Thanks to these men, I’m unharmed, sir.”
Behind Jeong Cheon stood warriors of the Geom Wang School. They had earned the greatest glory in the battle, yet their faces remained perfectly composed.
Yi Hwan turned to address the commanders.
“This is only the beginning—don’t get carried away. Let’s return to the Main Camp now.”
“There are still enemy Rear Guard forces remaining, General.”
“Geographically, this position is more advantageous than the Main Camp for facing a larger force. So why do you wish to withdraw troops so soon?”
All the commanders expressed disagreement with his decision. Only Peng Wu-wei and Jeong Cheon remained composed.
Yi Hwan replied calmly.
“The heavy rain will saturate and make the ground treacherous, so the advantage of attacking enemies positioned below from high ground has effectively vanished. In fact, conditions now favor the enemy with superior numbers. Confronting them at the Main Camp is the wisest course.”
With that, Yi Hwan turned away as if he would hear no more.
Peng Wu-wei barked out.
“What are you all doing? Withdraw the troops at once!”
Jeong Cheon added his voice.
“Come now, let’s move quickly.”
The commanders finally returned to their respective units.
Meanwhile, Go Mi followed behind Yi Hwan and asked.
“Were you perhaps calculating even the downpour?”
“Hardly.”
……
“Don’t make me out to be someone greater than I am.”

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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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