Chapter 91 The Iron Demon Appears-1

Chapter 91: The Iron Demon Appears-1

Qujing, Yunnan Province.

He Si Ying Chang, the fifth squad leader of the Flying Dragon Thirteen, was patrolling the area in the afternoon with his squad members.

As he led his team members from the front, he heard the soft whispers of those following behind.

“We’re only one team short, but the patrol cycle seems to be coming around too fast. I feel myself getting more and more exhausted.”

“Yeah. Team Seven should be back soon. I hope nothing happened to them?”

“What could possibly happen? Team Leader Seolpung may be the Seventh Team Leader, but he’s as skilled as Team Leader Han Gyoseong. The team members are all talented enough to be team leaders themselves—from Lady Nae to Lady Cheongyeon, Sunwoojin, and even Biseaeng.”

“Come to think of it, I heard even Team Leader Han Gyo-seong admitted Team Leader Seol Pung was better than him. Seon Woo-jin was even considered for the vacant Team Leader position in Team Sa. So that’s why Team Chil was dispatched this time too, right?”

“Huh, that much?”

Doksugwang, whose expression had been gradually darkening at the team members’ whispering, finally shouted low.

“Silence! Have you all lost your minds?! Who said you could chat during patrol?!”

His roar made the squad members start and stop their conversation.

Doksugwang glared at them fiercely.

Chatting during patrols was actually a common occurrence.

Occasionally, the hermit also enjoyed idle chatter.

But the five squad members apologized to him without complaint.

“Yes! We’re sorry, Squad Leader!”

“We’ll be quiet!”

It was a well-known fact among all five squad members that Doksoogwang, famously eccentric even among the Thirteenth Division, had standards that changed depending on his mood.

So today, too, there must have been something in their conversation that had offended Doksoogwang.

The members of Team Five suspected it had to do with Team Seven Leader Seolpung.

After all, Doksoogwang had never liked Seolpung.

But what truly annoyed the bookworm wasn’t Seolpung—it was the talk about Seonwoojin.

‘That insolent brat is a squad leader-level talent? Squad Leader Sa Jo? Hmph! That’s laughable.’

Doksoogwang knew better than anyone that Seonwoojin was being considered for the position of squad leader.

After all, he was the one who had opposed it most fiercely.

As a fan who remembered Seon Woo-jin arriving at Biryongdae looking like a pig, he couldn’t stand that handsome bastard who had gone to Seolpung’s Seventh Squad—the very squad he’d been jealous of—and kept rising steadily.

And above all, what really rankled him was the reason Seon Woo-jin had been considered for the position of Fourth Squad Leader.

The reason he was considered was because he had been evaluated as having overwhelmed Doksoogwang himself in their duel.

Having been pushed back throughout the fight and then forcibly halted it, Doksoogwang now felt a wave of shame wash over him whenever he even thought of the guy’s face.

He gritted his teeth and thought.

‘Just try coming back. This time, I’ll crush you for good.’

For the past month, the madman had trained relentlessly, dreaming of revenge, counting down the days until Seon Woo-jin returned.

Then it happened.

A beast-like howl echoed from deep within the jungle.

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

It was a demon.

Doksoogwang shouted immediately.

“It’s a Gangeui! Everyone, form a defensive formation!”

The five team members instinctively formed a defensive formation around Doksoogwang.

Shashashak!

Their actions, honed through countless battles on the front lines, were flawless.

Then, moments later, the sound of something breaking through the forest and approaching could be heard.

Sssssss!

It was quite a number.

The Eagle-Eyed Man shouted again in a low voice.

“There are quite a few! At least twenty! Deputy Chief, fireworks!”

At his swift command, Assistant Chief Jang Yeo-yeo immediately fired a signal flare.

Boom!

As red sparks and smoke shot skyward, hordes of goblins burst forth from the jungle.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

There were roughly thirty ghosts.

It was too many for Oh Jo to handle alone.

But Doksoogwang calmly shouted.

“Form the Three-Treasure Formation!”

Then, in an instant, the wave of goblins surged toward the five squad members who had formed groups of three.

Doksoogwang was the first to face the wave of goblins head-on.

One goblin, howling like a beast, charged straight at him.

“Haah!”

Puhak!

His spearhead, gleaming with a murky light, pierced the ghoul’s mouth like a ray of light.

Then, as he spun his body, his black spear, which had easily severed the ghoul’s jaw, began lashing out like a storm, flinging the surrounding ghouls away.

Pah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah!

Black spears swirled around his body as if alive, scattering the swarm of ghosts.

Occasionally, a spear tip would pierce through, decapitating a flying demon.

His skill had clearly improved since before.

Having successfully broken the momentum of the demonic spirit horde at the front, Doksoogwang now glanced briefly at his own team members.

Then he smiled faintly.

After Sun Woo-jin, Bi Sa-yeong, and Bae Jong-gwan had rescued the six squad members from the ghostly hordes, the squad leaders of the Flying Dragon Squadron had decided to focus their training on hand-to-hand combat.

When the swarm of goblins descended, he realized that prioritizing survival by blowing them away was the right choice, rather than immediately killing them.

That was also why the five squad members were now grouped in threes.

Amidst relatively high chaos, only one member used sword energy to kill the Gan-gwi, while the two flanking him stably dealt with the remaining Gan-gwi by slashing or throwing them away.

Thanks to this, not a single team member appeared to be in critical danger.

The Eagle-Eyed Man now relaxed his guard slightly.

With no intermediate-level demons around, it seemed possible to take care of them without any sacrifice at this level.

‘Guess I didn’t need to request backup after all.’

That was what Doksoogwang was thinking.

Suddenly, Deputy Leader Jang Yeo-yeo shouted.

“Captain! These guys are acting weird?! The Gangeui are passing us by!”

“Hm?”

At Jang Yeo-yeo’s words, Doksu-gwang frowned.

That was nonsense.

Ghosts abandoning humans they were fighting to pass by?

Wasn’t the greatest characteristic of demons that once they set their sights on a target, they fixated solely on that human?

But when Doksoogwang turned his gaze to the ghosts, he had no choice but to admit she was right.

The Gan-gwi, flung away by the squad members’ martial arts, weren’t charging back. Instead, they were propelling themselves forward, rushing straight toward the squad members’ rear.

At the creatures’ actions, which shattered all previous understanding, Doksoogwang frowned unconsciously and muttered.

“What the hell? What are those things?”

Then, Deputy Leader Jang Yeo-yeo frowned and said.

“Don’t they look like they’re being chased by something?”

At those words, Doksoogwang’s expression darkened sharply as he replied.

“Does that even make sense? Those liver demons, who have no feelings other than an appetite for humans…!”

That was when it happened.

Thud!

The head of a gan-gwi running at the very rear of the pack suddenly exploded like a watermelon.

“Huh?!”

As the team members’ eyes darted toward the commotion, the head of the goblin running directly in front of them also exploded like a watermelon.

Crack!

The reason was immediately clear.

Someone had deployed lightness skills from behind them, charging forward and unleashing a volley of strikes upon the ghosts.

Jang Yeo-yeo cried out in surprise.

“Who is that?!”

No one could answer.

It was because he was a warrior they had never seen before.

He was a warrior of imposing stature, clad in faded blue armor and sporting disheveled hair.

Judging by his skill in bursting the heads of a single demon beast per strike, he appeared to be at least a top-tier warrior. Yet, the speed and ferocity of that single movement alone seemed comparable to that of a peak master.

“First-rate? Peak master?”

Not using martial energy suggested he wasn’t quite at the peak level, yet the way he slaughtered the goblins was as fierce and exhilarating as a wild beast.

Oh, all the team members were so impressed they stared at him in awe.

‘Who the hell is he?’

While Doksoogwang scowled and glared at him, he had already dealt with the liver spirits Doksoogwang had flung away and reached their front.

Deputy Leader Jang Yeo-yeo, who had been glancing at the scowling Doksu-gwang, stepped forward first, saluted, and asked.

“Greetings, Senior! We are warriors belonging to the Biyong Thirteenth Generation!”

His eyes then turned toward Jang Yeo-yeo.

Observing him, Doksu-gwang could see eyes glowing red through the disheveled hair that obscured his face.

Like a blood-red glow as vivid as a mine’s…

“!”

Startled, Doksoogwang lunged toward Jang Yeoye.

“Dodge!”

But at the very same moment, the strange figure launched a surprise attack, striking Zhang Yueye with a single blow.

Pwoong!

A powerful force swept past the side of Jang Yeo-yeo’s head, sending her hair flying.

It was only because the eagle-eyed man had lunged forward, pushing her away with his spear, that she had barely managed to dodge it.

Jang Yeo-yeo, barely clinging to life, hurriedly stepped back. The poisonous snake that had saved her spun midair. Then, like a living serpent, his spear whipped around his body and lashed out at the man.

Whoosh!

Thud!

The man, who had exposed himself by missing Zhang Yueyue, was struck squarely on the spear shaft and sent flying backward.

Doksugwang immediately pushed off the ground, preparing to launch a series of attacks toward him.

He did so because he was certain this was an enemy, though he didn’t know who.

“Who the hell is this guy… Huh?!”

But he could only recoil in horror and assume a defensive stance once more.

The opponent, struck squarely on the spear shaft and sent flying, had pushed off the ground without a scratch and charged forward again.

“What?!”

The man thrust both spears toward the madman.

The force was powerful enough to shatter rock.

“Yeeek!”

Doksoogwang twisted his body again.

Then, the black spear, whipping around like a snake, struck the man’s double blades from the side, successfully deflecting the force.

Thud!

And immediately, the attack.

Doksugwang’s black spear became a single line, piercing toward the man’s exposed chest.

The blood beading on the tip of his spear rose as sharply as a river current.

“Haah!”

Clang!

“Guh?!”

But the next moment, Doksoogwang had to exert every ounce of strength to keep hold of the spear shaft, which was vibrating like a madman.

His hands felt numb.

“Th-this…”

He couldn’t believe it.

His thrust, delivered with all the power of a top-tier martial artist, had bounced off the man’s chest without even leaving a scratch, let alone piercing it. It was as if he’d stabbed a sheet of iron.

“Ugh!”

The madman’s eyes, barely clinging to the ceaselessly vibrating window, suddenly caught sight of the man’s crimson aura.

And a beastly growl.

“Grrrrr.”

Doksoogwang muttered, almost like a groan.

“Mine… you say?”

***

“No wonder my chest feels tight?”

“Yeah. It feels like I’ve been gone for a year and just returned.”

We were strangely moved by the unchanged appearance of the Boryong Thirteen Headquarters, which we had finally returned to see again.

The sight of the Thirteen Generations buildings, discovered deep within the dense jungle, felt poignantly like returning home.

Bisa Young murmured with a distant look.

“I’ve returned to this hellish front line, yet it feels like coming home. I don’t know whether I should be glad or resentful.”

If Biseaeng felt that way, my own feelings after spending over a decade here since my past life went without saying.

He murmured with a faint smile.

“I’m grateful, though. To have a place to return to.”

It was a place that had become my refuge, spanning two entire lifetimes.

It was only natural that my chest felt tight just looking at it.

But not all team members were lost in sentiment like us.

“I was only gone for thirty-four days. I wish I could hurry back, file my return report, and get some rest.”

The person walking while saying that in a dry tone was none other than Lady Cheongyeon.

“Chungyeon.”

“Let’s go together, sister.”

Behind her, Na Sojeo and Cheon Sojeo quickly followed, glancing at us.

Young Lady Cheongyeon, who rarely showed much emotional fluctuation, looked unusually unhappy the entire way back here.

And this was the first time since she had come to the Biyongdae that such a thing had happened.

So Miss Na and Miss Cheon were paying her a lot of attention.

According to the other team members, she hadn’t seemed like that before we returned, but apparently she’d become like that after we came back.

It couldn’t help but be extremely strange.

‘What on earth happened?’

I, who had known her the longest, was the most flustered. She was absolutely not the type to act like that.

I tried to recall if there was anything I might have missed or overlooked.

Then Biseaeng quietly asked.

“I’ve been thinking about this, but did you do something wrong to Lady Hae?”

Startled by his sudden question, I snapped back.

“Me? What did I do wrong?”

“No, I mean, after we came back, Lady Hae suddenly seemed upset. Surely she wouldn’t be upset because of me, right?”

Is that so?

Had I done something wrong to her?

Just in case, I quickly scanned my recent actions using my excellent memory.

But nothing specific came to mind.

We haven’t even been together for a while, so there’s no way I could have done anything wrong.

“Nah, come on. She’s probably just tired.”

That was when it happened.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from deep within the jungle.

Startled, we all turned our heads that way and saw faint red smoke rising above the distant forest.

“That’s a distress call, right?”

“An emergency?”

Then Team Leader Seolpung said with a stiff expression.

“Just one firecracker so far. Reinforcements will be dispatched immediately. Still, just in case, we should return quickly.”

We hurried back to headquarters and reported our return to the thirteenth master, the Storm Bandit, Feng Yang.

Lord Feng Yang listened silently for a long while, then spoke briefly.

“So that’s what happened. I’ll need to discuss this with Elder Sword Saint. Well done, everyone. Go get some rest.”

It seemed that while we were away, Elder Geomseong had gained near-complete control over the front lines.

Then Squad Leader Seolpung asked again.

“I saw the emergency signal earlier.”

But Pungyang shook his head as if it were nothing.

“Team Leader Han Kyoseong went straight there. If there’s a problem, we’ll get another signal. You guys should get some rest for now.”

At his words, everyone nodded.

They thought Han Gyoseong, a squad leader said to be on par with Squad Leader Seolpung, would be fine.

Of course, the fact that they were inseparable only held true until this mission.

As Team Leader Seolpung greeted Daejoo and everyone prepared to leave, I cautiously asked,

“Were there many incidents like this while we were away?”

Dae-ju of Pungyang shook his head.

“No, never once. This is the first time since you left.”

The first time…

It meant the Iron Demon hadn’t appeared yet.

Then could it be…?

A sudden ominous feeling made me ask again.

“Do you happen to know which shift this duty belongs to?”

“…It’s the fifth shift.”

The fifth shift—of all shifts, it was the Eagle’s shift.

The one that reacted most negatively when I warned them about the Iron Fiend.

And it was Team Five that had been annihilated by the Iron Fiend in my past life.

Of all days, an emergency signal came on the day we returned, and it was the Eagle Squad…

It was far too coincidental.

The ominous feeling was growing stronger.

Suddenly, I wondered.

What if this was truly due to the appearance of the Iron Demon?

But what if even Team Leader Han Gyo-seong, who went out for emergency support, didn’t take the Hwagol Mountain?

Could it really be that coincidental? But aren’t accidents usually caused by such things piling up?

Stepping outside the main hall, I urgently said to Team Leader Seolpung.

“Team Leader, something doesn’t feel right. Would you come with me?”

Team Leader Seolpung, who had momentarily looked puzzled, immediately stiffened his expression and nodded.

“Understood. Jin, if it’s your feeling, I absolutely cannot ignore it.”

Bisaeng asked with a serious expression.

“Should we go too?”

“No. If my hunch is right, we need a Qi user for this. First, the squad leader and…”

As he said this, he looked at Young Lady Cheongyeon, who readily nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go. Are we heading straight to support Team O?”

That was Qingyan Xiaoze for you.

She looked a bit off, so I was worried, but it seems my concern was unfounded.

She answered with a sly smile.

“No. Let’s go to Lady Dang Yeo-eun first.”

Then, as if my answer surprised her, she paused for a moment and asked.

“Are you referring to Lady Tang?”

“Yes, because I need the Firebone Mountain.”

And with that, she immediately flew away.