Chapter 18: Anger Swallows Fear (3)
General Jang-yang stood frozen, looking as if his very soul had departed. His eyes had lost focus, completely at a loss for what to do. Everything had collapsed the moment Wi Jin-cheol was defeated in single combat.
It was then that a sudden commotion in the front lines drew his attention.
After a brief moment, Jang-yang’s blurry eyes snapped back into focus. He saw a single soldier daring to charge toward Muka.
Judging by his uniform, the soldier was not a regular. Unbelievably, he was a raw recruit. Though his speed did not match Wi Jin-cheol’s, his movements were incredibly agile, eliciting admiration. Jang-yang was deeply curious about his identity.
“Who is that soldier?!”
With the helmet covering the man’s head, his features were invisible. There was no way the surrounding officers could answer.
Jang-yang’s gaze then fell on the red sash tied to the soldier’s left arm. He was one of the group leaders. A single name occurred to him.
“Ah. I think I know who it is.”
It was the leader of Group 16, So-mu—the squad Wi Jin-cheol had trained with such devotion.
Meanwhile, the thousands of soldiers watching So-mu’s back thought he had completely lost his mind.
“Isn’t that the leader of Group 16?”
“He’s completely insane.”
“He might be the strongest among us, but still…”
“If even the commander was defeated, what does a mere recruit think he can do?”
Muka stood with his spear planted in the dirt, calmly nocking an arrow to his composite bow. The onlookers were convinced that the Group 16 leader would be dead before he could even close the distance.
Muka aimed the arrow not at So-mu’s vitals, but at his legs. He had no intention of killing him instantly; he wanted to toy with his prey.
Twanging his bow string, Muka released two arrows that tore through the wind. The projectiles flew with deadly accuracy, aimed squarely at So-mu’s legs.
The soldiers watching from afar braced themselves to see So-mu collapse, as he made no attempt to dodge.
In the blink of an eye, the two arrows reached him. Yet, just before impact, their trajectories shifted slightly, as if deflected by an invisible hand. So-mu had secretly unleashed an intangible barrier of repelling qi, projecting his internal energy outward.
No one noticed the brief manifestation of this energy. It was a defensive technique far superior to standard body-protecting qi, a feat considered difficult even for peak master martial artists.
Thud! Thud!
The two arrows burrowed deep into the dirt, their momentum completely spent. Muka’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘My arrows missed?’
He couldn’t comprehend it. His arrows, which could strike a bird in mid-flight from a hundred yards away, had missed a charging target on foot.
‘A lucky bastard. But there won’t be a third time.’
Nocking another arrow, Muka released it toward So-mu’s side.
He poured his full focus into this single shot, confident it would find its mark.
Once again, the soldier made no attempt to dodge. He merely twisted his torso slightly at the last possible second. The arrowhead grazed So-mu’s armor, throwing off a shower of sparks.
Screeech!
Though his armor was dented and scarred, So-mu did not stumble. The distance between Muka and So-mu was now twenty-five zhang, and it was closing rapidly.
‘Another fluke?’
Muka’s brow furrowed. His pride could not tolerate missing twice.
He raised his bow arm high, preparing for a rapid succession of shots. Taking a deep breath, his right hand moved like a blur.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In the blink of an eye, five arrows rained down on So-mu.
Thwack! Thwack! Thud!
A series of heavy impacts echoed across the field. So-mu’s armor was shredded, and his helmet was knocked away, flying through the air. Yet, beneath the tattered armor, his body did not bear a single scratch.
A look of deep confusion finally crossed Muka’s face. Something was seriously wrong. The soldier before him was visibly slower than the previous commander. Yet, every single arrow missed him by a hair’s breadth. It could not be a coincidence.
Before they knew it, the distance between them had closed to under thirty feet. The Hanzhong soldiers watched with bated breath, their palms slick with sweat. The Group 16 leader had miraculously survived Muka’s deadly barrage. A glimmer of hope, a desperate ‘what if,’ flickered in their minds. Though the odds were practically zero, they had to grasp at any straw. Everyone watched in absolute silence, swallowing hard.
The distance closed to under fifty feet (five zhang). Dropping his composite bow, Muka snatched his spear from the ground. Though embarrassed to be forced to use his spear against a foot soldier, he could not afford to care. An instinctive, inexplicable dread was beginning to grip his mind.
A milky-white haze enveloped Muka’s spear blade, radiating intense spear qi.
‘I will end you in a single strike.’
Even facing the fearsome spear qi, the soldier did not hesitate. In fact, he accelerated.
Stepping forward, Muka drew his spear back over his right shoulder. The remaining distance was a mere twenty feet (two zhang). Muka lunged, thrusting his spear point forward like a harpoon targeting a fish, aiming straight for So-mu’s chest. The razor-sharp spear qi was poised to rip him to shreds.
Swoosh!
The moment the spear sliced through the air, So-mu’s body suddenly tilted backward, sliding along the ground.
While the distant onlookers could not perceive the details, Muka, facing him head-on, saw it clearly. The defender’s sudden evasion was a movement of lightning speed, far beyond anything he had shown before—an agility that even Muka could not hope to replicate.
Just as a wave of terror washed over Muka’s mind, the spear point grazed over So-mu’s chest.
Tear!
So-mu’s armor split down the middle and exploded, but his body remained completely unharmed. Once again, he had evaded by a hair’s breadth. Slipping past Muka’s flank, So-mu’s figure rebounded upward.
Muka’s heart went cold. In midair, So-mu was already spinning like a tempest behind his back.
‘This man… is not someone I can match! Who on earth—’
That was the final thought Muka would ever have in this life.
So-mu’s blade swept toward Muka’s neck. Though invisible to the onlookers, a faint blue glow of sword qi enveloped the blade.
Slash!
With a clean, heavy thud, Muka’s head flew high into the sky.
A collective shockwave rippled through both armies watching from afar. The commander-in-chief of the Hui host had been decapitated by a raw recruit who hadn’t even finished training. And in a single exchange, no less. Goosebumps broke out over every soldier on the field.
Landing gracefully on the dirt, So-mu let out a quiet sigh.
‘Acting while holding back my strength is exhausting.’
Muka’s head fell to the ground, rolling to So-mu’s feet.
Thud.
So-mu turned his calm gaze toward the Hui host.
The Hui officers, who had been mocking the Song troops just moments before, were pale as corpses. The twenty thousand soldiers were no different. To see their commander-in-chief slain by a common foot soldier shattered their morale instantly.
Turning around, So-mu looked back at the Song lines. The recruits stood in dazed silence, unable to process what they had just witnessed. Just then, a voice from the ranks shattered the silence.
“Holy shit! Does that even make sense?!”
The recruit’s curse acted as a catalyst. Snapping out of their shock, the Song soldiers raised their weapons to the sky in unison and let out a deafening roar.
“Woahhhhh!”
“Charge!”
The fallen morale of the Song army surged to the heavens. The terror that had gripped them vanished, replaced by a burning wrath and bloodlust.
Riding to the front of the ranks, General Jang-yang raised his sword. Though more of a strategist than a front-line warrior, his presence at the vanguard inspired the troops. With their morale at its peak, this was their golden opportunity.
“Look! We are stronger than they are! Your blades are strong enough to take the head of the enemy general in a single blow!”
The recruits gripped their swords, their bodies trembling with adrenaline. Sensing the peak of their resolve, Jang-yang unleashed the order to charge.
“Show them how fearsome we are! Show them our wrath! I will lead the way! Attack with everything you have!”
“Charge!”
“Kill them!”
The thunderous roar of the charging army shook the plains of Mount Jeonggun. As Jang-yang spurred his horse forward, the recruits surged behind him, running with absolute desperation. However, one man ran faster than even the general: Il-gwang of Group 16.
“You bastards! I’ll wring every last one of your necks today!”
Il-gwang’s massive frame led the charge, looking incredibly dependable. Cheong-hae quickly matched his pace, running alongside him. The sight resembled a giant bear and a swift fox charging side-by-side. Behind them, the rest of Group 16 maintained a tight formation, plunging into the fray.
Faced with this ferocious onslaught, the Hui soldiers faltered. The ragtag mob they had expected was nowhere to be seen. Although the Hui officers desperately ordered a counterattack, their troops remained silent, dragging their heavy feet forward with deep dread.
Meanwhile, So-mu stood over the fallen Wi Jin-cheol in the center of the battlefield. Though the area would soon become a chaotic vortex of clashing steel, he calmly set to work.
‘The spear pierced his body, but fortunately missed his vital organs. There is still time.’
Kneeling beside the commander, So-mu pressed his fingers against Wi Jin-cheol’s pressure points to halt the bleeding. Next, he channeled his profound internal energy through his left hand, enveloping the commander’s damaged organs to stabilize them. His absolute calm in the midst of the battlefield presented a striking contrast to the surrounding chaos.
A moment later, the two armies collided. The clash of steel, the screams of the dying, and the roars of the living shook the plain.
Hui soldiers quickly rushed toward So-mu’s position, two blades sweeping toward his neck. So-mu didn’t even look at them. He simply swung the sword in his right hand in a casual arc behind him. An invisible wave of sword qi erupted from the blade, slicing both attackers in two.
Slash!
More Hui soldiers, seeing him focused on Wi Jin-cheol, rushed forward to strike him down. But it was futile. Any enemy who stepped within ten feet of So-mu was sliced apart like tofu by his invisible qi, never understanding what hit them. Amidst the chaotic melee, no one had the luxury to notice this bizarre anomaly.
After a few minutes, So-mu scooped Wi Jin-cheol into his arms and stood up. He had completed the emergency treatment. The commander’s survival was now in the hands of heaven.
Spotted nearby was Muka’s warhorse. The barded black steed stood pacing in place, snorting nervously. So-mu secured the unconscious Wi Jin-cheol onto the saddle and sent the horse galloping back toward the Song lines.
With that completed, So-mu turned his gaze back to the raging battlefield.