Chapter 1826. No Matter How Insignificant the Fertilizer (2)

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[tl note: this chapter delayed because the Korean author, Biga, personal circumtances]

The world is chaotic and murky.

That was why the world appeared in different colors to different people. However, even within such disorder, truth—unchanging fact—certainly existed.

No matter who looked at it, the sky was blue, and the mountains stood tall.

And now, here as well, one such truth revealed itself and unfolded before their eyes: once a dam bursts, it is difficult to stop the flood, no matter how much effort is exerted.

"Uaaaahhh!"

Through the opening that Cheong Myeong had forced open, the swordsmen of the three sects pushed their bodies forward, with Mount Hua, of course, leading the charge.

'Those bastards!'

The swordsmen of Zhongnan and Wudang, who followed behind, widened their eyes at the sight. They were not late. They could never have been. They had staked everything on this battle. There was no way they had been careless.

Yet, despite that, the two sects fell behind—not because they were slow, but because Mount Hua was fast.

The Mount Hua swordsmen had already thrown themselves forward before the swords of the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword had even been fully drawn. As if they had seen the future where a path would inevitably open before them.

'How is that even possible?'

To put it bluntly, Mount Hua was a prestigious sect, yet not quite a prestigious sect.

The swordsmen under Mount Hua's name belonged to a prestigious sect, but they had not been raised like the swordsmen of one. They had never properly received the refined teachings of a prestigious sect, such as maintaining composure, granting their enemies a chance for repentance rather than severing their movements, or upholding the philosophy of a living sword over a killing sword.

Instead, they possessed something that the swordsmen of prestigious sects did not.

"Overwhelm them!"

Plum blossoms scattered wildly like a storm.

"Ugh!"

A disciple of Zhongnan, following behind, instinctively slowed his steps and swung his sword to deflect the falling petals.

'What is this?'

Before his eyes, the world had turned into a sea of plum blossoms.

Mount Hua's sword was dazzling. It bewildered their enemies, but it was also undeniably fatal to their allies fighting alongside them. Knowing this, the Mount Hua swordsmen had always restrained their techniques as much as possible.

But at this moment, they unleashed everything they had been suppressing. They poured even the strength they had never used before into their swords.

If their enemy showed even the slightest opening, they never let it slip. Once they gained momentum, they unleashed everything without a second thought.

This was Mount Hua's way, and it was what they had always done.

"Uaaaahhh!"

At the forefront stood Yoon Jong.

With bloodshot eyes, he swung his sword. Among the Mount Hua disciples, he wielded the sword closest to a living sword. Yet now, he exuded a bloodlust stronger than anyone else.

It was not because he was consumed by the thrill of battle. He simply knew.

Sometimes, the desire to save people leads to tragedy, while ruthlessness brings peace.

"O-Oh no..."

A Dao user who had hesitantly stepped forward was split in half by Yoon Jong's sword. His heavy dao was cut like a piece of paper, and at the same time, his heart was pierced. Before his enemy even collapsed, Yoon Jong pushed off the ground and surged forward.

'Faster!'

He had to widen the gap in an instant—so much that they would not even think of recovering.

Clang!

A flying dao clashed against his sword, ringing sharply through the air. But before he could catch his breath, another dao immediately followed.

As the consecutive strikes from the enemy pressed down on him, the weight and force threatened to break Yoon Jong's arm.

No matter how much he had grown, it was impossible for him to sweep through a formation of elite swordsmen alone and shatter their battle lines. Moreover, leading the charge was not his specialty.

But Yoon Jong remained composed. Because at this moment, he could make the impossible happen.

The reason was simple. He had another sword besides the one in his hand. Perhaps the most reliable sword in all of Mount Hua was standing behind him.

Crash!

At the moment the enemy's dao seemed to crush Yoon Jong's sword—

Fwoosh!

A blade of pure light exploded above Yoon Jong's head. Silent yet fluid, but lethally sharp!

Slice! Slice!

The sword that emerged pierced the hearts of those attacking Yoon Jong in an instant.

It was over in a flash.

"Go!"

"Yes, Sago!"

Without even glancing back, Yoon Jong stepped forward.

No one was clearing the path for him.

Then, he would carve it himself.

If he lacked strength, he would make up for it.

Because behind him was Yoo Iseol.

'She really is like a white ghost.'

In this war, Yoo Iseol's role was, in simple terms, patching the holes.

No matter how much the Mount Hua swordsmen trained to the point of vomiting blood, gaps would inevitably appear in a war.

Yoon Jong had asked Yoo Iseol to support those areas.

Only she, the most perceptive and the fastest in Mount Hua, could handle this task. Yet at the same time, it was a role that would go unnoticed. 

Yoo Iseol had accepted the role without the slightest hesitation.

Had she not swiftly moved across the battlefield, countless Mount Hua disciples would have already fallen, drenched in their own blood.

And now, Yoo Iseol was here.

In the most dangerous, most precarious place—

As if she had never forgotten the command to reinforce where strength was most needed.

She had suddenly appeared, standing right behind Yoon Jong, supporting him.

'I thought she would go to Wudang...'

This was why Yoo Iseol was Yoo Iseol.

With someone like her behind him, what was there to fear?

"Focus."

"Yes!"

Yoon Jong pushed forward, shaking off every last distracting thought.

The presence of Yoo Iseol behind him gave strength to his shoulders.

"You wretched bastard!"

The desperate swordsmen of the Evil Tyrant Alliance lashed out at Yoon Jong in a frantic assault.

At that moment, a slight force pressed against Yoon Jong's shoulder.

Then, like a black-winged bird, a figure soared into the sky.

Swooosh!

The sound of silk being sliced cleanly echoed through the air.

Yoo Iseol's sword carved a cold, precise arc that seemed almost out of place amidst the chaos of battle.

Five heads simultaneously flew into the air.

Headless bodies sprayed deep crimson blood into the ashen sky.

Yoo Iseol lightly stepped on a falling corpse's shoulder and leaped back up, soaring over the enemy's heads.

"Above! She's coming from above!"

Once known, a simple trick could no longer work.

True deception, however, was when one knew what was coming yet still could not escape it.

Everyone recognized that it was a distraction. And yet, who could ignore a master of point-strike swordsmanship descending from above? No one could tear their gaze away. They had no choice but to see what they should not have seen.

Yoon Jong and the Mount Hua disciples did not waste this chance.

Seizing the fleeting gap Yoo Iseol had created, they plunged even deeper into the enemy lines.

Forsaking elegance for speed, they desperately cut down and pierced through the floundering swordsmen of the Evil Tyrant Alliance.

"Aaaahhh!"

Blades sliced through flesh and shattered bones.

Screams and the clamor of battle exploded chaotically.

Yoo Iseol landed lightly amid the panicked enemies and swept her sword in a decisive arc.

Swoosh!

Another sharp slicing sound rang out. Once again, heads of the Evil Tyrant Alliance swordsmen soared into the sky.

A flawless coordinated strike.

Mount Hua's swordsmen achieved it purely through instinct.

It was an impossible feat without absolute trust and understanding of each other.

"Stop them! Stop them! If they break through, we all die! Stop themmm!"

The poison-flooded torrent surged even faster. The Red Dogs, which had stood like an iron wall, and the elite warriors carefully selected by the Evil Tyrant Alliance could not stop the flood that had already broken through.

No, they were never capable of stopping it in the first place. They were the very embodiment of the broken and shattered flood.

Watching from behind, the Wudang and Zhongnan sects naturally realized their roles.

'These lunatics.'

Jong Seohan of the Zhongnan sect stared at the backs of the Mount Hua swordsmen, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Those insane fools never looked back even once. They knew full well that if those following them failed to keep pace, they would end up recklessly charging into enemy lines and getting surrounded.

Was this trust? Or was it just reckless bravado?

Whatever one called it, Jong Seohan had only one task to do.

"Hold the rear! Make sure they don't get surrounded! Don't let a single wound touch those damned bastards' backs!"

His determination was clearly conveyed to the others.

The Wudang and Zhongnan sects supported Mount Hua from behind.

The battlefield, already once distorted, was shaken once again. The breached front lines wavered and twisted before starting to break apart in pieces.

'We did it!'

Jong Seohan's eyes filled with exhilaration.

Breaking through the front line had never been the ultimate goal. The real objective was to use the breach in the enemy lines to divide and scatter their forces. If they could split the enemy army, that alone would be a major victory. And that victory now seemed within reach. 

No matter how skilled Jang Ilso was, no matter how cunning Ho Gamyeong was, recovering a broken formation on the spot was no easy feat. Not even the legendary general Yue Yi, if he were alive, could accomplish such a thing.

[tl note: Yue Yi [악의(樂毅)], enfeoffed as Lord of Changguo, was a Chinese military general. He was a prominent military leader of the State of Yan during the Warring States period of ancient China.]

So now, all that was left was to pour in every ounce of strength and charge forward. Just as Jong Seohan was about to shout again, he suddenly hesitated.

"Huh?"

He had been about to push off the ground, but something caught his attention.

It wasn't a particularly significant movement, yet he couldn't ignore it.

Far in the enemy's rear, something was being launched into the sky.

'A signal arrow?'

No… it didn't seem like one. 

BOOM!

The object shot into the sky exploded violently, shaking everything around it.

"A- a thunder bomb?!"

The Wudang disciples, who detested explosives more than anything, widened their bloodshot eyes in rage.

"That bastard again…!"

Mu Jin's remaining eye turned red with fury as he glared at the remnants of smoke in the sky.

'An attack?'

Had they decided that, at this point, it didn't matter if their own forces got caught in the explosion? Were they planning to indiscriminately bomb the battlefield?

But if that were the case, there would have been no need to send a signal. It would have been far more effective to launch the bombs while their enemies remained unaware.

Mu Jin was momentarily confused. But his confusion was quickly replaced by an even greater shock.

Through the thick, gray smoke that had spread across the battlefield, a lone figure emerged.

Those who recognized him clenched their teeth in fury.

"Ho Gamyeong!"

"Poisoned Heart Rakshasa!" [tl note: Ho Gamyeong's title]

Ho Gamyeong gazed at them with an expressionless face. He looked like nothing more than an ordinary scholar, but anyone who followed the path of righteousness knew the truth—just how dangerous and devious this man truly was!

Even the Mount Hua disciples, who had been pressing forward with fierce momentum, hesitated at the sight of him.

'Could it be…?'

Ho Gamyeong was a commander of Evil Tyrant Alliance. If he had chosen to appear at such a critical moment. And he had focused everyone's attention on him.

In this situation, there could only be one explanation.

As all eyes focused on him, Ho Gamyeong slowly opened his mouth.

"All forces."

After speaking, he briefly chewed his lip. But then, as if regaining his composure, he returned to his usual unreadable expression. Raising one hand slowly, he signaled.

Yoon Jong halted his sword and fixed his gaze on Ho Gamyeong's raised hand. A suffocating tension filled the air.

'There's something else?'

At last, Ho Gamyeong's hand came down with force. And the words he spoke next sent shockwaves through the battlefield.

"Retreat."

Yoon Jong froze.

It wasn't just the Mount Hua sect and the Heavenly Comrade Alliance that were shocked. The Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors themselves were even more bewildered, exchanging confused glances.

"What did he just say....?"

Everyone had the same thought. They must have misheard. There was no way that order could be real.

But Ho Gamyeong crushed all doubts with a single sentence.

"Each of you, protect your own life."

The color drained from the Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors' faces. The members of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance were equally dumbfounded, momentarily at a loss.

"I…"

"Retreat and regroup. Execute the order!"

Having delivered his command, Ho Gamyeong turned his back on the battlefield and walked away coldly.

A chill ran down Yoon Jong's spine.

"...."

For a moment, silence fell over the battlefield. Even those who had been fighting with the intent to kill hesitated, staring blankly at each other.

But it lasted only a moment.

"U- uwaaaaaah!"

"Run away!"

The Evil Tyrant Alliance formation crumbled as if struck by lightning. Warriors, pale with fear, screamed as they turned and fled.

They shoved each other aside, trampled over one another, and even swung their swords at their own allies in desperation.

"What the hell…?"

As chaos erupted before his eyes, Yoon Jong let out an involuntary groan.

"What's going on?"

His eyes, filled with confusion, trembled anxiously.