Chapter 143: Chapter 143
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“Keuk, keuaaaack!”
Bae Yang-o’s scream, his wrist severed by the Alliance Leader’s sword, belatedly echoed across the main street in front of the Martial Alliance gate.
The Baekrim Gang warriors surrounding Bae Yang-o were startled by that scream and looked around with eyes indecisive about whether to draw their swords. However, with even the elders having pulled back, they lacked the numbers to draw swords against the Alliance Leader and the members to help Bae Yang-o. Ultimately, they merely stood in flustered confusion, listening to Bae Yang-o’s screams.
Bae Yang-o collapsed on the spot, clutching his empty right wrist. Crimson blood poured over the poison sand spilled on the ground.
However, the Alliance Leader’s eyes were focused not on him, but on Jang Geon. He had thought Jang Geon was pouncing on Bae Yang-o to draw the attention of the crowd, just as he had. Right now, this place was filled with eyes from various sects across the land, including guests from the Reception Hall, and making a strong impression on them was equivalent to spreading one’s name throughout the entire Martial World. Subconsciously, he assumed Jang Geon was moving out of a desire for that fame.
Thanks to that, even while the black iron arrow flew right up to his face, the Alliance Leader had focused solely on severing Bae Yang-o’s wrist first, narrowing his vision. Naturally, that would never happen in enemy territory, but this was the heart of the Martial Alliance, right in front of the Alliance Leader’s Mansion. In other words, the Alliance Leader had been caught off guard.
And despite the Alliance Leader’s gaze, Jang Geon’s eyes were directed toward the murmuring crowd over there. Sensing embarrassment, the Alliance Leader quickly followed his gaze as well.
There stood a man with a peculiar mechanical device attached to his left forearm, wearing a disappointed expression.
The mechanical device resembled a small bow frame fixed to his forearm. Judging by the gears and loops in the middle, it seemed he normally folded it in half to conceal it on the inside of his forearm, then unfolded the folded part when in use, stringing an arrow on the bowstring unfolded along with the frame. However, its durability did not seem very good, as all that remained on his forearm now was a snapped bowstring.
Combining the size of the black iron arrow Jang Geon had blocked with the man’s device, it was clearly a single-use hidden weapon intended for assassination.
Meeting the gazes of Jang Geon and the Alliance Leader, he smirked and shrugged his shoulders. Immediately, the Alliance Leader raised the Righteous Dragon Sword, aimed it at him, and shouted.
“Martial Alliance! Fall back from that man!”
The members, who had been flustered by the Alliance Leader severing Bae Yang-o’s wrist, reflexively looked at where the Righteous Dragon Sword was pointing at that shout. Simultaneously, the man pulled something from his bosom and slammed it forcefully onto the ground.
A loud *bang* echoed, and in an instant, intense light and smoke erupted.
“Uwaack! What is this!”
“S-Smoke bomb? Something that expensive?”
The members were temporarily flustered by the intense light and smoke, milling about in confusion. But soon, proving that they too were martial artists, they all stopped in place without further chaos and tried to assess the situation.
However, in the smoke that quickly cleared, no one was there anymore.
Seeing that, the Alliance Leader turned to Bae Yang-o with a hardened face. Bae Yang-o was still clutching his wrist, letting out groans.
“Elder Bae, don’t tell me you brought them into the very interior of the Alliance?”
Even while dripping with cold sweat, Bae Yang-o snickered at the Alliance Leader’s question.
“…Why wouldn’t I? Since things were going to turn out like this anyway…”
The Alliance Leader thrust the Righteous Dragon Sword against Bae Yang-o’s neck with a rigid expression. Following the blade, Bae Yang-o held his head high, yet did not hide his sneer.
“Why? You thought to use me to shave away the Council of Elders’ power, but didn’t think I would breach the Alliance’s lockdown?”
The Alliance Leader’s face went beyond rigid, bordering on distorted. He appeared enraged by Bae Yang-o’s actions that crossed the line.
Of course, watching from the side, Jang Geon actually sympathized more with Bae Yang-o’s mockery. While it was true that the Martial Alliance was locked down, restricting activities inside and outside the Alliance, as that lockdown dragged on for days, everyone who needed to come and go had come and gone—personnel residing outside the Alliance, food supply carriages, and the like. Indeed, Jang Geon himself had just passed through the main gate of the Martial Alliance with Jeok-sein moments ago.
Under such circumstances, it was natural for Bae Yang-o, driven to an extreme, to bring personnel from the Demonic Palace inside. If the Council of Elders and the Alliance Leader tried to boil him in the pot they shared, it was naturally better for him to overturn the pot. The mess of spilled soup would be a matter for later.
Jang Geon did not bother to criticize the Alliance Leader in that situation. There was no time for that, nor would he easily change if criticized.
So he immediately charged toward the members gathered on one side.
“Eo-eo! Why, why toward here…”
“Who is that guy?”
Seeing him rush over with a blade drawn, the members trying to grasp the situation were flustered. They backed away in a rush as Jang Geon approached, but Jang Geon’s speed was faster. Some among them, startled, even tried to draw their own swords.
Jang Geon lightly brushed past those people like flowing water, reached a certain middle-aged man, and struck down with Azure Dragon. Among those watching, some even screamed seeing that. It was because the middle-aged man wearing a blank expression did not seem capable of blocking Jang Geon’s sword.
However, as the sword did not stop, the next instant, as if that expression had been a lie, the middle-aged man drew an iron cudgel tied to his waist and parried Jang Geon’s sword. Metal collided with metal, echoing a loud *clang*.
Having parried Azure Dragon, the middle-aged man quickly retreated and spoke.
“Just like last time, are you simply seeing right through the Hundred-Transformations Art? How can you do that?”
Jang Geon pulled back Azure Dragon as it rebounded outward, lowered his posture, and replied.
“I can tell just by looking. All of you stand out glaringly.”
The middle-aged man—the Demonic Practitioner who had tried to set off the smoke bomb and blend into the crowd moments ago—curled the corners of his mouth and laughed as if finding something amusing in those words. At the same time, his facial muscles twitched like broken machinery, transforming into the face Jang Geon had encountered four days ago. He was the one who had tried to snipe Namgoong Cheon and scatter poison powder in the middle of New Sichuan.
He asked with a smirking face.
“Is that so? Then did you recognize the other comrades mixed in the crowd right now as well?”
“Of course.”
He twitched his eyebrows as if surprised by Jang Geon’s calm answer.
“…If the Gam-rang Unit runs wild among the people right now, the casualties will be immense. You don’t seem flustered at all.”
“If one is a martial artist, one must protect one’s own life. And I am not a person of the Martial Alliance.”
“Heh, cold-hearted, aren’t you? On the street, you let me go to protect the commoners.”
Jang Geon replied without taking his eyes off him.
“Well. If I just tie down someone of your caliber, the rest seem like they’ll be taken care of on their own.”
“On their own? The Gam-rang Unit is the elite of our Palace. The reason we entered inside these walls is naturally because we have the confidence to walk out alive. Even if you block me, today Alliance Leader Helian Wi-jin and the Martial Alliance elders will all die at the hands of the Gam-rang Unit…”
“Then try it.”
The man fell silent for a moment as if rendered speechless, staring at Jang Geon. Jang Geon pulled his sword toward his waist and lowered his knees, facing him. His calm eyes indicated that his previous words were sincere.
However, soon deeming it bluffing, he knitted his brows and bellowed out.
“Gam-rang Unit! Eliminate that old Helian fellow and the traitor of our Palace—!”
Along with that shout, about thirty Gam-rang Unit Demonic Practitioners mixed among the crowd pulled weapons from their bosoms. They tore off their bamboo hats or ripped apart their outer robes to show off their brutal appearances, immediately surging their demonic energy and charging at the surrounding Martial Alliance members while shouting.
“Keuaaa—!”
Flustered by the Demonic Practitioners suddenly charging while releasing demonic energy, the members screamed and backed away in a rush. Undeterred, the Demonic Practitioners continued trying to charge toward the Alliance Leader. Numerous casualties mounted in the wake of their sweep.
At that moment, the Alliance Leader, who had jumped down from the main gate roof of the Alliance Leader’s Mansion and pointed his sword at Bae Yang-o, threw the Righteous Dragon Sword with great force, impaling one charging Demonic Practitioner to the main gate. Then he drew another sword from his waist and shouted.
“Inner Court Guard! All combat units except those belonging to the Baekrim Bureau, strike the Demonic Practitioners! In the name of the Martial Alliance, do not let a single one leave alive!”
At the majestic shout of the Alliance Leader, the hesitating Martial Alliance members reflexively gripped the swords they had drawn and assumed postures. And from beyond the wall of the Alliance Leader’s Mansion behind the Alliance Leader, dozens of Inner Court Guard warriors belonging to the Alliance Leader’s Mansion leapt down over the wall. When the Alliance Leader jumped down toward Bae Yang-o, the interior of the Alliance Leader’s Mansion was already in motion.
Furthermore, warriors belonging to the Council of Elders, excluding the Baekrim Bureau, also drew their swords under the instructions of the elders and charged at the Demonic Practitioners.
The Baekrim Gang warriors, who had been standing behind Bae Yang-o with absurd expressions, saw that scene, left Bae Yang-o behind, and backed away in a rush. Since the order was not to sanction the Baekrim Gang but to strike and kill the Demonic Practitioners, there was no reason to remain there. Bae Yang-o clutched his flowing blood and watched them flee with a collapsed expression.
Seeing Bae Yang-o’s final expression, Namgoong Cheon sighed and drew his sword.
“…You are paying a foolish price, Elder Bae.”
Namgoong Cheon also raised his demonic energy and began aiding the Martial Alliance warriors to fight the Demonic Practitioners. Even when the elders who had been shouting to punish him stood by, and the Martial Alliance warriors who had been fighting the Demonic Practitioners attacked, Namgoong Cheon merely parried their attacks and swung his sword only at the Demonic Practitioners. It was the moment that proved why the Alliance Leader had brought the turned Namgoong Cheon into the Alliance Leader’s Mansion.
Seeing that scene, the elders also gritted their teeth and joined forces with the Alliance Leader’s Mansion warriors to face the Demonic Practitioners.
The surroundings became chaotic. The main street in front of the gate to the Alliance Leader’s Mansion was turning into a massive bedlam where numerous people tangled together in battle.
The Alliance Leader shouted once more.
“Non-combat personnel, fall back! Those who can fight, raise your swords and execute the Demonic Practitioners threatening New Sichuan!”
The people who had been milling about in confusion because they had gathered merely to watch the dialogue between the Council of Elders and the Alliance Leader began moving properly upon hearing the Alliance Leader’s shout. Members with relatively lacking martial arts, such as those from the Reception Hall or Medical Hall, immediately backed away in a rush, while combat units that heard the Alliance Leader’s command surrounded the Demonic Practitioners and engaged them.
The exposed Demonic Practitioners charged while oozing demonic power as if having nothing left to hide. Thanks to that, however, distinguishing them from other members became easy, and before long, they became completely surrounded and engaged in fight.
The thirty or so Demonic Practitioners were fierce, as if intending to tear apart and kill everyone blocking their path to eliminate the Alliance Leader.
The Martial Alliance forces confronting them numbered around a hundred. Being elites of the Martial Alliance in their own right, they did not get pushed back against the Demonic Practitioners raging like beasts.
“For Martial World justice!”
Someone among the Martial Alliance members shouted as such. As if responding, other members also let out shouts, and thus full-scale combat erupted on the main street in front of the Alliance Leader’s Mansion.
Standing a bit apart from that battle, Jang Geon listened to the shouts and needlessly swung Azure Dragon through the air.
“It seems this wasn’t a properly planned raid. If it were, they wouldn’t have created a situation where time gets dragged out like this.”
The man who had been watching the fight with a hardened face turned his gaze to Jang Geon. Jang Geon was right. Dragging out time would only grant time for other combat units and member sect warriors residing within the Martial Alliance to gather. Had it been an operation planned for a long time, there was no reason to leave elements that would drag out time. In fact, they had a somewhat longer operation planned.
However, that operation was scrapped the moment Namgoong Cheon was captured and turned.
A living Namgoong Cheon was extremely dangerous to the Palace’s current state. Although the Dark Dragon Corps and the Demonic Palace were already engaged in a covert fight behind the scenes, security regarding the exact location and members of the Palace was still maintained. That meant the power of the Demonic Palace could not be accurately grasped in the Central Plains, serving as the reason why their name did not come up in the Emperor’s council. In other words, in Chang’an of the Central Plains, they regarded the Demonic Palace of the New Continent merely as rats that had been chased from their manor and fled to the neighboring village.
However, what if one of those living rats was captured and confessed in detail about the rat hole? What if, instead of a rat hole, it turned out to be a wolf’s den far larger than expected?
From that moment on, Chang’an would no longer be able to regard them merely as neighboring village rats. Perhaps they would try to exterminate those rats and wolves before they could return to the manor. And for the Demonic Palace, which believed it was not yet at the stage to fight the Empire head-on, that result would ruin all future plans.
Fortunately for the Demonic Palace, there were no Imperial troops currently stationed in New Sichuan. Therefore, if they could eliminate Namgoong Cheon before they returned and leave a deep scar on the Martial Alliance to boot, the Demonic Palace could actually reap massive gains.
A chaotic Martial Alliance would lose control over Plateau City as well as other regions due to subsequent Palace operations, which simultaneously meant a decrease in the Imperial Army’s influence. Lacking the tentacles of the Martial Alliance, the Imperial Army would ultimately have to move its stationed forces to maintain its original influence. And such full-scale activity by the Imperial Army would naturally be coercive, leading the New Continent, which had already tasted freedom—even if limited—for over a century, to resist.
Then, even without Alliance Leader Helian Wi-jin, a movement to break away from the Han Empire would naturally arise. The Imperial Army would attempt to resolve it by slaughtering people as they had done for the past thousand years, but doing so with only the New Continent’s stationed forces would prove difficult.
Ultimately, the moment that resentment toward the Han Empire exceeded a certain threshold, that exact moment would be when the Palace, which had been lying low until now, would see the army of Overlord Xiang Yu return—
“You have too many thoughts.”
The man who had been lost in thought for a long while in front of Jang Geon flinched in surprise and involuntarily shuddered. Then, suddenly snapping back to his senses, he looked at Jang Geon. Jang Geon, standing naturally with his sword lowered, was facing him with deep, calm eyes.
Listening to the shouts of the Gam-rang Unit howling like wolves, he erased his hardened expression and smirked.
“…It’s natural to have many thoughts. Isn’t that how living is? Things that could be done without thought at first tend to become complex and dizzying later on. As long as one is born human, one has no choice but to keep rolling this head until death, doesn’t one?”
Jang Geon offered no reply. Watching him, the man wore a deeper smile and continued speaking.
“I am called Dang Sa-woon. Having faced that fellow Namgoong Cheon over there, you probably know, but I am a general of the Tang family. Quite young among the generals.”
“Jang Geon.”
Dang Sa-woon playfully bowed his waist slightly in greeting.
“I know your name, Jang Geon. You are already a person of interest. If you win today and I die while the Gam-rang Unit fails, the Palace might even construct an assassination squad solely to kill you. That means considering you more dangerous than the Martial Alliance Leader, dealing with you at a level equivalent to facing a General Subduing the East of the Imperial Army. Of course, a real General Subduing the East doesn’t even exist yet.”
“That sounds interesting.”
Dang Sa-woon, who had been smiling, let out a dry laugh at Jang Geon’s brief reply. Then, slowly shaking his head, he fiddled with the iron cudgel he had drawn earlier. At that, a crisp metallic sound echoed from top and bottom of the iron cudgel, and the forearm-sized cudgel expanded to the height of a person.
Resting it playfully over his shoulder, he spoke.
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t seem it will be interesting for you. Because there’s no way I will lose. I am quite different from that fellow Namgoong Cheon over there. Like this.”
As he rested the iron staff over his shoulder, its lower end raised up and naturally pointed at Jang Geon, and the instant his words ended, dozens of thin iron needles were fired from it with a *pyu-pyu-pyuk* sound. Dang Sa-woon intended to follow up with an attack right after. Hidden weapons were merely elements to divert attention. The real attack was held within his hands.
However, he soon felt a peculiar vibration and had no choice but to come to a dead stop.
“What…”
Dang Sa-woon’s mouth parted slightly. Despite dozens of iron needles aimed at his chest, Jang Geon had not moved. What stopped were the iron needles. A certain resonance and vibration centered around his sword and body caught the flying iron needles in midair and stopped them. The iron needles quivered trembling in midair without anything blocking them, then dropped with a thud.
That was Body-Defending Qi created by combining sensory perception, internal energy vibrations, and the resonance of the sword.