Chapter 907

I won’t say the fight with Ma Sanbao was fiercer or harder than any I’d ever fought.

There had been plenty of stronger opponents in the hellish battlefields I’d fought my way through. Even now, I could name several who’d been far worse than him.

But one thing was certain: today, Ma Sanbao had been stronger than me.

No. More precisely, I was weaker than usual.

The System was practically sealed, and my body, wrecked by the aftereffects of One Annihilation, wouldn’t move the way I wanted it to.

Even so, I was the one still standing.

In this merciless world ruled by the law of the jungle, Ma Sanbao had made a small but fatal mistake.

He’d mistaken himself for someone a step above me.

“If you wanted to take me alive… you should’ve come at me ready to kill me from the start.”

I looked into Ma Sanbao’s empty eyes as I whispered, then drove the short spear deeper through his throat.

Crunch. Crack.

Bone fragments burst through his skin with a sickening sound.

I didn’t let go until the spear had severed his carotid artery and followed his collarbone down toward his heart. Freed from my grip at last, Ma Sanbao’s body slowly toppled.

The spear remained buried deep inside him like a tree root.

Thud. Splash.

There was no System message telling me I’d defeated an enemy. No clear, familiar chime.

But this was enough.

Finally. One down.

Panting, I stared at the corpse lying motionless in a pool of blood, then let out a shout charged with internal energy.

“Jin Taekyung of the Jin Family of Taiyuan has killed Ma Sanbao, Brush-Holding Eunuch of the East Depot!”

Before anyone could grasp what that meant, I plunged back into the battlefield, where swords and spears were flying.

Whoosh! Crunch!

Short, simple movements. The bare minimum of internal energy.

I dodged, struck, and smashed.

Crack!

I crushed the face of a man muttering those eight words like a mantra—“Heaven above, earth below. All demons bow in reverence.” I was sick of hearing them.

Whsssh!

As his body crumpled, its features mangled beyond recognition, blades flew at me from either side. I jerked my head out of their path.

Clang!

The two blades missed me by a hand’s breadth and struck each other. Ignoring the vibration ringing in my ears, I thrust out my torn hand.

Boom!

Hot, compressed air burst outward.

I’d put only three-tenths of my internal energy into the Flame Divine Palm. Even so, the force and heat of that strike were enough to kill most Peak masters on the spot.

“Gah…!”

The man flew backward, spraying dark red blood.

Whether that nameless enemy lived or died was no longer my concern. What he’d left behind was another matter.

Tap.

His sword had already slipped from his hand. I caught the hilt and swung it in one smooth motion.

Shhhh!

Space split open. Flames wrapped around the blade, heating the air and burning flesh and bone.

Simple and swift. Too powerful to stop.

And at the end of it came my enemies’ blood and screams.

Fwoosh!

“Gaaah!”

I pushed forward, drenched in blood spraying like a fountain. I dodged the countless blades crashing in from every direction, knocked them aside, then sent them flying right back where they came from.

When the sword broke, I used a spear. When the spear snapped, an ax or a dagger.

And if I had none of those, I used arms and legs harder than steel.

Crunch!

Boom!

I broke the bones and crushed the flesh of every enemy in my way.

There was no need to invoke some grand concept like all streams returning to the sea.

Every weapon in the world had been made to fight more efficiently. Martial arts existed for the same reason.

Stab. Slash. Strike.

To me, martial arts were connections between countless points and lines.

When your life was on the line, you couldn’t afford to rule out any means.

If a weapon could kill an enemy as quickly and surely as possible, its shape didn’t matter.

Just like now.

Cr-rack!

A corpse collapsed, its neck bent at an unnatural angle.

The enemies kept blocking my way, no matter how many I killed. Their lips never stopped murmuring those mantra-like words, but I could see the emotion in their eyes.

Fear.

Huff. Huff.

I fought to keep my ragged breathing quiet. Every muscle in my body throbbed as if I’d been electrocuted, and the hand that had grabbed Ma Sanbao’s sword could barely feel pain anymore.

After pulling something that crazy, I was probably in terrible shape.

But I couldn’t show even the slightest weakness.

Wolves hunted in packs, but no matter how hungry they were, they couldn’t bare their teeth at a lion that roared and charged them.

They only tried to sink their teeth into a lion’s nape when it started backing away.

Splash.

My heavy step sent the blood pooled around my ankles rippling.

Like the blood still seeping from the countless wounds carved into my body, the blood reflecting the night sky was dark red.

Can I do this?

A wave of exhaustion hit me.

I’d killed over a hundred of them by my rough count, yet enemies still filled my view.

The Great Nation’s—no, Dark Heaven’s—elite. They ranged from Supreme First Rate to the upper reaches of Peak.

Their individual prowess aside, I had to defeat every last one of those fanatics who worshiped the Lord of Heaven before I could reach Jeok Cheongang, who was still fighting a thunderous battle that seemed like it would never end.

Goddammit.

I didn’t know.

We were gaining the upper hand without the Emperor’s help, so why did unease still gnaw at me?

Why did that cloud-choked night sky look so ominous?

No. I knew.

This isn’t all of it.

I couldn’t see them anywhere, no matter how I looked: the assassins who were supposed to protect the Emperor, or the twin Supreme Peak masters who had guarded Qianqing Palace.

Even the number of Embroidered Uniform Guards in the Grand Banquet Hall was only half what I knew it should be.

And the same goes for Cang Gong.

The Emperor and Cang Gong.

The two men had crossed a point of no return, yet neither had revealed all his forces. They had to be concealing their moves, waiting for the other to show his hand first.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if the entire Imperial Capital had split in two by now and was fighting a bloody battle.

Fuck.

What a shitty mess.

Even so, I had to fight.

I had to survive.

The Dark Heaven dogs charging beneath that rain of arrows weren’t the only ones I had to survive. There were also the Emperor and So Gyo, and I didn’t even know whether they were enemies or allies.

What the hell are you planning?

I turned toward the high platform in the distance.

Baek Yeon and So Gyo stood on either side of the Emperor. With those two Supreme Peak masters, either of whom could turn the battle around in an instant, he watched the fighting.

I could also see Aehyang surrounded by a handful of palace attendants, and the young king kneeling for some reason.

My gaze lingered on them for a moment. Only then did the countless whistles crossing the sky reach my ears.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

A deep shadow fell over my head.

Hundreds of arrowheads flashed as they fell, all aimed at me alone. At the same moment, a red alarm bell rang violently inside my head.

Shit.

I knew before I moved.

Dodging them all would be next to impossible.

I was exhausted. My body and senses had grown sluggish, and I stood isolated in an open space with nowhere to evade the countless arrows fired by First Rate masters using internal energy.

Use as little strength as I can. Avoid anything fatal.

I gritted my teeth and pulled an abandoned spear from the ground. With my other hand, I reached toward the sky.

Whummm.

The air around me trembled.

I’d avoided using my Middle Dantian during the fight unless the danger was extreme, conserving my stamina. Now wasn’t the time to weigh whether it would be bitter or sweet.

Bitter or not, I had to swallow it.

I had to bear it myself.

There was no way in hell I was going to fall here, of all places.

Just as I clenched my fist, ready to meet the arrows hurtling toward me with a ferocious whistle that seemed to tear through my ears—

“Turtle Shell! Defend!”

At a shout from someone whose voice sounded familiar, a group swept in with blinding speed and surrounded me.

They held up massive shields.

Bam-bam-bam!

Sparks lit up the darkness. Broken arrow fragments scattered in every direction. Moments later, a second rain of arrows came, and dozens of crescent-bladed polearms flashed toward it.

“Slash!”

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Slice!

Blade Force swept across the sky in brilliant half-moons.

The powerful energy formed a kind of barrier, slicing apart every arrow that flew toward them. The scattered fragments couldn’t pierce the gaps in their golden armor.

Clatter. Thud-thud-thud!

Countless fragments fell, their force spent.

I watched in silence, then spoke to the familiar face beneath a helmet pulled low.

“Should I thank you for that?”

Jeong Hogun, Thousand Captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, answered evenly.

“I didn’t know you knew how to say thank you.”

“I don’t say it very often.”

“I thought not. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“What about you?”

“When I owe someone, I thank them. Like now.”

Clank.

Jeong Hogun struck his golden armor in a military salute. When he spoke again, his tone had changed.

“Thank you for helping His Majesty. And us.”

“…Huh.”

“I’m sure you have plenty to ask me, and plenty you want to say. But I’d like you to save it until after this is over.”

Goddammit.

If he came out with something like that before I could even open my mouth, there was nothing left to say.

I clicked my tongue and watched the enemies pressing in from all sides.

“Hey. One question.”

“Anything.”

“That guy over there playing peeping Tom—is he on our side?”

Jeong Hogun flinched at “peeping Tom,” then nodded.

“At least His Majesty is. We’re on your side.”

At least?

I understood immediately why he’d added those words.

So not So Gyo. No—more precisely, he doesn’t know, either.

It had to be that. Ma Sanbao hadn’t seemed to know, and neither had Cang Gong.

Who that mysterious woman was, or what she had in mind.

An unknown like that meant danger.

…Shit. Good thing I left the kids behind.

I muttered to myself and raised the ownerless spear I’d picked up moments ago, aiming it at the enemies surging toward us.

I thought of the Fire Dragon Pavilion members, who should be somewhere safe, waiting for Murim Alliance reinforcements that weren’t coming.

They’d probably kick up a fuss later, repeating “Captain” like parrots. But if they’d stayed here, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they were already dead—

“Captaiiin!”

“…?”

“Captaaaain!”

What the fuck?

I turned around, feeling as though I’d been possessed by a ghost, and spotted familiar faces appearing in the distance.

“Captaaaaaain!”

More precisely, I saw Hyuk Mujin at the head of the Fire Dragon Pavilion members, hollering at the top of his lungs.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

And countless black figures trailing behind him like a tail.