Chapter 85: Chapter 85
The horses’ screams echoed, and the ground was soaked in blood.
A brutal method, but they couldn’t just surrender their lives. Pushing aside their grief, someone shouted.
“Charge!”
SHRING! The Flying Dragon Hall warriors drew their sharp swords in unison.
Whatever else might be uncertain, when it came to lightness techniques, no one could match the Flying Dragon Hall.
These hills were nothing. One leap and they would clear them.
They would ascend immediately and cut every throat. With that resolve, the moment they bent their knees to launch.
KUUUNG!
A tremendous roar scattered like a meteor striking the earth.
“Kuh!”
A wall of dust erupted in all directions, and the ground itself heaved.
Having missed their window to leap, the Flying Dragon Hall warriors could only scan their surroundings, unable to see an inch ahead through the yellow haze.
What on earth had happened?
The answer to that question soon revealed itself.
Vividly and gruesomely, right in their ears.
THWACK!
“W-who’s there!”
THWACK!
“Uraaagh!”
THWACK!
“What in the…”
THWACK!
“Gah!”
THWACK!
“D-don’t come any closer!”
THWACK!
The brutal sounds drew closer. And the fading breaths of their comrades.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
Silence descended, and the lone warrior left standing realized he was the only one remaining. His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Terror. An unspeakable, consuming terror.
A moment later, as the dust slowly settled, his eyes found the figure.
A massive frame that overwhelmed anyone who stood before it, a torso covered in scars and muscle.
Long, disheveled hair atop it, and crimson eyes more terrifying than any demon or fiend.
THWACK!
That was the warrior’s last memory in life.
Once the red-eyed man had cleaned up, the woman surveyed the corpses and offered a respectful report.
「They are the Flying Dragon Hall of the Demonic Cult.」
It was not the language of the Central Plains. An unfamiliar tongue he had never heard anywhere.
「It seems something has gone wrong with the Slaughterhouse fools. What should we do?」
As expected, it was them.
The Iron Horse Bandits, who had supplied the Soul-Befuddling Powder to the Slaughterhouse!
「…We find a new buyer.」
「That is dangerous.」
No, it had already become dangerous. The fact that the Flying Dragon Hall had begun trailing them meant they were closing in on their true identities.
But the man remained calm.
「They still know nothing about us. If they did, they would have sought out Gwa-pyeong first, not you, Ah-shin.」
Furthermore.
「Even if Sa Do-cheol was taken down… we will not be.」
A confidence that seemed innate.
The woman suddenly realized her own blunder.
How could she have voiced such presumptuous worries before him?
He was the leader of the Iron Horse Bandits, the Dragon of the Battlefield.
The strongest warrior that mere humans could never hope to match.
「Understood.」
The woman bowed her head in acknowledgment, mounted her horse, and departed the way she came.
And the long-haired man left alone…
KWAANG!
Vanished atop the hill in a single leap.
Leaving behind only the Flying Dragon Hall corpses and a shattered wasteland where he had pushed off.
The Iron Horse Bandits had begun to move.
* * *
– Wolha Village, Chiseonru.
Around sunset, Jang I-seo returned from his meeting with the First Young Master.
On the second floor of Chiseonru, lanterns shimmered in a dazzling array of colors, while the entrance on the first floor teemed with customers.
Boisterous noise and abundant energy.
The sound of money rolling in.
It warmed his heart.
“Welcome back.”
With an unhindered stride, he reached the top floor of Chiseonru in no time, where the beautiful Hong-ran greeted him with her usual gracious bow.
As she raised her bowed head, she caught sight of Jang I-seo’s reddened neck, and her bright expression stiffened with a flinch.
“Scratched it on the way here.”
What in the world could have scratched him like that? Hong-ran hid her distress and forced a smile.
Once inside the room, as she poured him a drink with practiced ease, Jang I-seo accepted the cup and spoke.
“The First Young Master won’t be running rampant for a while.”
Scratched by the First Young Master. He had gone and pulled off another major undertaking without a word. Hong-ran swallowed a deep breath of worry and relief, then replied.
“Thank heavens you are safe.”
Safe indeed. He had nearly died this time.
When Jang I-seo smirked, she asked cautiously.
“Shall I call a physician?”
“I’m fine. For a hundred silver ingots, this is barely a scratch.”
“Don’t tell me you went there and demanded even that? Good heavens.”
Hong-ran was appalled.
To think he would go to that place and demand money. Simply walking in alive was miraculous enough.
Furthermore.
‘It can’t be that large a sum to Master, so why…’
Jang I-seo had thought Cheon Mu-gi was brazen for treating a hundred silver ingots like pocket change, but truthfully, to Jang I-seo, it was pocket change.
The revenue from Chiseonru alone was substantial, but combined with the gold and silver hoards in the Heavenly Demon Treasury and his various investments scattered here and there, he was a tycoon among tycoons.
Yet he had risked his life for a mere hundred silver ingots.
But there were two reasons why he had demanded them.
“You know this place never accepts sacrifice without compensation. If I hadn’t named a price, my head would have been on the chopping block.”
First, he needed a demand that made sense within the First Young Master’s logic.
Unlike the righteous sects, in the Demonic Cult, a deed without a price invited suspicion, and suspicion meant death.
Besides, a hundred silver ingots was a fortune that a former Seventh Grade Ghost like himself would never touch in a lifetime. An amount tempting enough to be believed.
And most importantly, the second reason.
“Besides, throwing around someone else’s money beats flaunting my own.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m saying it all has its uses.”
“I see.”
Hong-ran replied casually, but inwardly she barely contained her racing heart.
What on earth had he done at the First Young Master’s estate?
It was like walking into a tiger’s den and walking out with a bundle of gold.
No matter how many times she observed him, he defied all conventional measure.
“Anyway, I just bought a little time. What matters starts now. The things I asked you to look into?”
At his question, Hong-ran shook her head and delivered her report with a serious expression.
“The most noteworthy group outside the cult is undoubtedly the Göktürk tribe.”
The Göktürk tribe.
Jang I-seo was familiar with them.
Formerly a nomadic tribe, they had won a large-scale war over one of the few fertile lands in the north and settled there.
Having since absorbed various other tribes, they were commonly known as the Shan Wang Jia.
“They’re the only ones in this region that the cult officially acknowledges.”
“Yes. And among them, the five commanders known as the Five Military Masters are said to rival the Five Dragon Hall Masters in martial prowess.”
Jang I-seo nodded.
While the Hall Masters varied in skill, making it difficult to state definitively, such rumors certainly existed.
“And that is likely true. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be alive.”
That made sense.
For the Demonic Cult, whose pride reached the heavens, to have heard such words and left them alone was impossible in itself. The fact that they remained unharmed was proof enough.
“But the Shan Wang Jia have already established themselves. It’ll be difficult to recruit them to our side, won’t it?”
“Correct. However, did you know that during the war, there were those who drove the Shan Wang Jia to the brink of defeat? One of the Five Military Masters fell to them.”
“I had no idea.”
Jang I-seo shook his head in genuine surprise.
It hadn’t been a particular interest of his, and since he hadn’t been directly involved in the war, he hadn’t known the details.
But if they were that strong, he surely would have heard of them at least once…
“Technically, it wasn’t a tribe but men hired by one. The north is harsh compared to the Central Plains, so many throw themselves into war just to survive.”
“Hmm…”
“They were said to be one such group. A certain tribe happened to share food with them when they were starving, and in return, they offered to fight. That was how it began.”
“Repaying a kindness with loyalty. Rough methods, but they understand duty.”
A rare breed in the barren north. Jang I-seo laced his fingers together, his eyes gleaming.
“Yes. At first, no one expected anything, but they racked up victory after victory, and no one could stop them. The Shan Wang Jia were so desperate that even after losing one of the Five Military Masters, they tried everything to recruit them. They failed, of course.”
That level of prowess spoke for itself.
“But then how did the Shan Wang Jia win?”
“Their recruitment failed, but they succeeded in wooing the tribe that had hired them.”
Hah! Jang I-seo slapped his knee. War was not fought with strength alone. No matter how brilliant the generals, without a nation, they were simply wanderers with nowhere to go.
“And from then on, the Shan Wang Jia’s revenge began. They crushed them not with force but with power. They ensured no one would give them work or offer help. Not even a drop of water. The tribe that had hired them turned their backs as well.”
“Unable to match them in strength, so they decided to bleed them dry instead.”
It made sense. Eliminating one of the Five Military Masters wasn’t enough, and their recruitment offer had been refused, so from the Shan Wang Jia’s perspective, there was no reason to leave such a threat alive.
No, they would have silenced anyone who even spoke of them.
A devastating outcome.
But precisely because of that.
Jang I-seo felt a deep attraction to them.
‘Men with spines strong enough to refuse recruitment, who understood duty well enough not to dismiss a small kindness. And they were made scapegoats of power.’
The righteous spirit buried deep within him blazed.
They were exactly the people he had been looking for.
“So where are they now? They’re not dead, are they?”
When Jang I-seo asked with wide eyes, Chwi Hong-ran swallowed a bitter laugh inwardly.
Though neither of them said it, it was a moment where she caught a glimpse of Jang I-seo’s true nature.
“Fortunately not, but they have vanished without a trace since then.”
“What a shame…”
His voice carried genuine regret. Hong-ran quickly continued.
“But we will find them soon. We managed to identify who their leader was.”
“Who?”
Jang I-seo asked again, his eyes filled with curiosity.
Hong-ran smirked, cleared her throat deliberately, and spoke.
“The Dragon of the Battlefield, Gu-yu. That was definitely what they called him.”
The Dragon of the Battlefield, Gu-yu.
The name branded itself into Jang I-seo’s mind like a searing iron.
Along with a premonition that they would meet before long.
“Find him without fail. Gu-yu. He might be exactly the man we need.”
“Yes!”
“Good. And drop by the palace occasionally to look after our young master. Maybe it’s because I left him with something dangerous, but I can’t help worrying.”
Jang I-seo grinned.
“That much isn’t difficult, but…”
Why does he always phrase things as if he’s going somewhere? Seeing her expression, Jang I-seo quickly understood and added an explanation.
“I’ll probably have to step away for a few days.”
“What for…?”
“I have business. Extremely tedious business.”
That name was the Demon Wall. The bastard who hadn’t opened its door even once despite being struck thousands of times.
“So I’m leaving things in your hands.”
Jang I-seo smiled broadly and downed the filled cup.
The urgent matters were settled.
Now he was going to meet it.
The Heavenly Demon Treasury.