Chapter 1071

I quickly took stock of our surroundings.

First, I gauged the enemy’s numbers from the dust clouds rolling in on every side and the force of the tremors coming through the ground.

At least ten thousand. No fewer than that.

Things weren’t looking good.

Even a rough count put them at more than three times our numbers. And the enemies closing in by the second were monsters that neither tired nor died easily.

There might even be another mutant like that one among them.

I turned toward the giant’s corpse. Its head was split in half, and it was dead for good.

Whatever that enormous thing had been, it wasn’t a Troll or an ogre. The monster encyclopedia recorded every kind of monster to appear since the Great Cataclysm had plunged the modern twenty-first century into chaos, and there was nothing like it in there.

As I’d thought earlier, mutant was the only word that fit. The same went for the other monsters that had begun appearing in Murim some time ago.

Right. It’s the same pattern as before.

This wasn’t the first time mutants had appeared.

Similar things had happened in Hubei and at the Nanman Beast Palace.

And I remembered clearly what had been at the center of those incidents every time: followers of the Lord of Heaven and the rifts they had brought about.

If that’s the case, could it be…?

An ominous thought flashed through my mind. I shook my head and pushed it aside.

Even if it was true, dealing with the enemies in front of us came first.

“Sama Pyo. Jeong Hogun.”

I spoke abruptly, looking the two of them straight in the eye.

“You’ll take the left and right flanks.”

They bowed without a word and moved at once.

Each commanded a thousand men. They would form our two wings, with help from a certain Supreme Peak master who’d held us up at the worst possible time—and, by a ridiculous coincidence, bought us time to prepare for the enemy.

“Great Sir.”

“Hm? Me? Can’t I sit this one out? I don’t have any particular grudge against them.”

“Fuck, Great Sir.”

“…Where should I go?”

“Both flanks. Move between them and help whichever one’s in trouble.”

“Ugh. All right.”

That would make our wings sharper and sturdier. Great Sir’s mind might wander, but a flank with a Supreme Peak master to support it wouldn’t break easily.

“And what would you have me do?”

I answered Perfected Being Hyeoncheon, the Sect Leader of the Kongtong Sect, at once.

“Please take the rear with the Kongtong Disciples, Sect Leader.”

“It’s unfortunate that the Zhongnan Sect has taken the vanguard from us, but in this situation, our sect must play the most important role. I understand your intentions, Daoist Friend.¹”

With the enemy’s encirclement nearly complete, the rear mattered more than the vanguard.

Hyeoncheon understood tactics better than most martial artists. He was a veteran who’d fought his way through the Great Faction War, and he’d grasped my intention immediately.

But even he hadn’t seen the whole picture.

“The Zhongnan Sect won’t take the vanguard.”

“What do you mean?”

Leaving Hyeoncheon looking puzzled, I called to a man who stood gripping his sword, his face tense.

“Hyuk Sopyung. You and the Zhongnan Sect will help the Kongtong Sect take the rear.”

Hyuk Sopyung—the Zhongnan One Dragon—stared at me, wide-eyed.

He was leading Zhongnan’s surviving Disciples in place of the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord, who’d been severely injured at Great Snow Mountain and had been forced to remain in Gansu.

And he wasn’t the only one surprised. Everyone nearby had been hanging on my every word, and they all reacted the same way.

“Then who’s taking the vanguard…?”

As Hyuk Sopyung trailed off, a rough voice cut through the crowd.

“What are you standing around for? Get your asses to the rear.”

The Fire King. Jeok Cheongang.

Beside the giant who’d stamped his mark so violently on the vast martial world stood a woman known not as a king, but as a star.

Click.

Bow Saint silently joined her two curved swords into a massive bow. Everyone fell quiet.

Who were they?

The Fire King and the Bow Saint.

The King of Kings, who held the fiercest flames. The star of the martial world, who’d ruled countless battlefields with a single bow.

Living legends of Murim.

And—

Step.

I, too, had earned the right to stand with them. I had become a symbol in my own right, someone who could walk toward the Fire King and Bow Saint.

I might be a little smaller than they were, and weaker still.

I, Jin Taekyung—the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon—was another giant who’d risen in this goddamn war.

Rrrrrumble!

The ground trembled. No, it writhed.

Apart from the low hill behind us, this reed bed had been open on every side. Now thick dust clouds surrounded it.

No—not dust clouds. Monsters we knew nothing about, from places we couldn’t name.

But—

“Anyone still scared of those worthless bastards?”

I wasn’t afraid of them.

The only thing I feared was someone dying because I’d made a mistake.

“If you’re afraid—if you want to get away—leave the formation now. I won’t blame you.”

I meant it.

Everyone had family, something they had to protect. There was no cowardice in trying to survive.

If anyone wanted to fall back so they could make it home alive, I’d gladly protect them.

Just as someone had protected me years ago in that dark, reeking cave.

And now, beside me, were people worth risking my life to protect.

“Fuck it, what’s life anyway? I’ve spent all this time following your ass around, Captain. Now I wouldn’t even flinch if the Heavenly Demon’s granddad showed up.”

Hyuk Mujin’s sudden remark drew quiet laughter from around us. Then he added, softly:

“I’ll follow you. Even to the edge of hell.”

“…!”

“…!”

For an instant, the air around us rang like a struck string.

The tremendous rumbling around us and the monsters’ roars beyond it might as well have vanished. In their place rose a wave of steel.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Weapons lifted, and a shout went up.

The fighters forgot their exhaustion and their fear of monsters they’d never seen. They roared like beasts, glaring into the shifting darkness.

They remembered why they had to be here. They remembered the faces of those they missed, the people the monsters had killed.

And at their head stood me.

“Remember only two things.”

I walked toward the vanguard as I spoke.

“First. Keep the formation, no matter what happens.”

Clack, clack, clack!

A tide of people parted before me, revealing the empty space beyond.

Unlike the other sections, where a thousand men had gathered in each, this vacant spot looked like a massive hole that could collapse at any moment. But it wasn’t one anymore.

“Second.”

Step.

I stopped among the reeds.

Bow Saint stood to my left, Jeok Cheongang to my right. Behind the three of us stood the members of the Fire Dragon Pavilion, who’d followed me as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

There were only a handful of us, but we filled the gap at the front. The formation was complete.

“Survive. Whatever it takes.”

The instant I spoke those final words—

Rrrrrumble!

A deafening roar sounded as if the sky had split open, and countless shadows poured in from every direction.

Toward the circular formation of some three thousand elite fighters.

No. Toward an enormous wheel armed in steel.

Whoooosh—BOOM!

A streak of light flew from Bow Saint’s fingertips, tore through the darkness, and exploded.

Craaaack!

The steel wheel—the wheel of death—met the monsters that did not belong in this world.

Jingle.

Beyond the swirling spray of blood, the eerie, sinister ringing of a bell carried through the air.

They were there in the deep darkness.

No. At least for now, perhaps they were the darkness.

They weren’t merely hiding in it. They wore it like a curtain, concealing their bodies behind it. Even if they hadn’t been covered head to toe in black, precious few people could have seen through that curtain.

The people capable of seeing through their concealment were hundreds of yards away, fighting countless monsters.

Monsters that, to be precise, were moving under the black-clad figures’ control.

Jingle.

One of the figures shook the sinister bell in his hand.

The sound from the old, blackened bell was dull, yet it carried clearly into the distance, conveying another set of orders and information. His comrades, hidden at regular intervals on every side, were doing the same.

“So it’s finally begun.”

BOOM!

A flash lit up the distance with a tremendous boom, and the man muttered to himself.

The monsters’ ceaseless roars made it impossible to tell much from sound alone. But that streak of light was unmistakably Bow Saint’s. The battle had begun.

“It’s not where we wanted them… Still, at least we managed to surround them.”

He couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Fifteen minutes. If the enemy had moved just fifteen minutes faster and cleared the reed bed, he and his comrades could have begun the battle from a far more advantageous position.

“But it’s started now. Nothing to be done.”

The battle was underway, and the task assigned to the thirty sorcerers, himself included, was clear.

“Reduce their numbers as much as possible. If you can, capture Jin Taekyung alive.”

He quietly repeated the order the Blood Lord had sent half a day earlier and frowned.

“Capture him alive? Not kill him?”

He’d received information on the enemy before the order arrived. It was absurd.

Their force included no fewer than six Supreme Peak masters. Two of them were the Fire King and Bow Saint.

If the sorcerers threw everything they had at Jin Taekyung alone, they might well kill him. Capturing him alive was another matter entirely.

“Damn it.”

The curse at the Blood Lord slipped out before he could stop it. He sucked in a breath and glanced around.

But, as always, there were only monsters standing vacantly nearby, reeking horribly.

“…This is bullshit.”

He glared at his subordinates. He hated the sight of himself trembling at the thought of the Blood Lord, who was far away. Today, the mindless monsters that did nothing but stink seemed especially loathsome too.

“Stupid things.”

Jingle.

The black-robed man shook the evil bell with a shooing motion. The hundred monsters surrounding their master to guard him immediately took a step back without hesitation.

At least, that was what the black-robed man knew was supposed to happen.

Step.

“…?”

He blinked.

Ninety-nine monsters had backed away. The remaining one had taken a step forward.

“What the hell is this?”

Before the black-robed man could find the words, the monster finally seemed to realize its situation. Its backside twitched as it fidgeted, then it said:

“W-Wow. Amazing. Never seen a monster like this before, have you?”

“…!”

“I-I haven’t either. Damn it.”

The monster—or, clearly, someone who was a person—continued in a trembling voice, then wore a miserable expression and sighed.