Chapter 369 The Transcendent Being (2)

Chapter 369: The Transcendent Being (2)

The combined strength of the eleven major sects belonging to the Lion Alliance was six thousand.

Added to that were roughly twenty thousand martial artists from the heretical sects, forcibly gathered.

Although it was a war between martial arts factions, where sheer numbers alone couldn’t determine strength, having this many martial artists who could properly wield weapons was an immensely threatening force.

It was precisely to bridge that gap that they had joined hands with General Wu.

The numerical disadvantage was already daunting, but the Lion Clan also exploited the terrain’s advantages.

Crunch. Thud!

“Gah!”

“It’s a trap! Get out of the way!”

“What’s there to dodge?! Get it out before the enemies rush in!”

Squeak! Thud thud thud!

“Arrows are flying from inside!”

“Duck!”

However, Nine Dragon Fortress had also triumphed in the war against the Ten Demon Alliance, the supreme master of demonic arts under heaven.

The sacrifices made in that war were great, but so too was the experience they gained.

“Ugh!”

Kwaaang!

“Hwaryongdang, lead the charge and break through the enemy’s trap!”

“The Blue Dragon Corps shall flank around and strike the enemy’s flank…”

“The Red Dragon Corps shall advance to the rear…”

“Golden Dragon Corps…….”

They steadily advanced across the battlefield while protecting their own formations, ultimately breaking through the enemy’s containment and closing in.

Thus began the first clash.

Over ten thousand soldiers swung their swords at each other.

CRASH!

Led by Danun and the inner city’s masters, Guryongseong held the upper hand for a time.

A display of the majesty of masters who had reached the pinnacle of their art.

“Now! Finish off Sima’s forces!”

As Bu Seong-ju, the commander of the elite guards, roared like a lion, the martial artists from the faction and over ten thousand Namman warriors rushed out from the rear.

And at that very moment.

Exterminate the Apostles’ forces—!

Jeong Do-maeng’s forces surged over the western ridge.

Waaah-!

Shaolin, Wudang, Huashan.

The morale of the Nine Dragons Fortress surged as these spiritual pillars of the righteous martial world, whose lineage spanned nearly a millennium, joined the fray. The Lion Alliance’s morale plummeted.

The Zhengdomaeng’s entry changed more than just morale.

An unapproachable golden radiance erupted on the Lion Alliance’s flank.

Ha-!

The Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation.

The legendary formation that even the first Heavenly Demon, never omitted when discussing the greatest of all time, could not penetrate had revealed itself.

With the swordsmen of Huashan and Wudang displaying their peerless martial prowess, the warriors of the Lion Alliance were utterly helpless.

In response, the Lion Alliance’s Inner Master and Commander-in-Chief dispatched their elite forces to the unguarded northern flank, attempting to break through.

The Final Strike! Invincible!

That attempt was preemptively blocked by five hundred sword demons who had crossed the northern ridge.

Even these…

The Ten Thousand Swords Corps!

The Muwang Fortress has come to aid us-!

It was the Ten Thousand Blades Corps, the strongest military force of the Muwang Fortress and the lord’s personal guard.

‘This war… we’ve won!’

Seeing that, Mun Sang’s grip tightened.

Not only had he avoided a stalemate, but it was as good as certain that the Nine Dragons Fortress would emerge victorious.

To the south stood the Nine Dragon Fortress with its sixteen thousand troops.

To the west, the thousand elite troops of the Zhengdemao, led by the Hundred-Eight Arhats Formation.

To the north, the legendary Ten Thousand Sword Corps of the Wu Huang Fortress.

For the Lion Alliance, it was a life-or-death crisis.

But the Lion Alliance was, after all, one of the forces that divided the world into four.

Naturally, their latent strength was no small matter.

The eleven major sects, excluding the Alliance Leader, were led by their inner masters, who brought six thousand followers to join the battlefield.

“Show those hypocrites of the righteous factions what real heat tastes like!”

The start of a bloody battle.

Lee Yeo-ryeong wasn’t sitting idle either.

“Send out the reserves.”

“Yes.”

She commanded the battlefield alongside Baek Muha, assessing the optimal moment to commit the Myeongju Clan’s full strength.

And when the blood flowing from the bodies of the fallen gathered and pooled, forming a small stream.

“Raise the flag.”

“Understood.”

Flutter.

Kwoong!

From the deepest recesses of the Lion’s Den, a group burst forth.

It was the appearance of the Heavenly Dragon Sword Corps, the Earth Sword Corps, and the Human Sword Corps—the top-ranked among the Seven Great Military Corps of the Myeongju Clan.

The combined strength of the three divisions barely reached six hundred.

Though their numbers were not great, their presence was immense.

The Thousand Dragon Sword Corps, charging westward, held back the combined forces of the Hundred-Eight Arhats Formation and the Zhengdomaeng.

The Jiho Sword Corps advancing north engaged in a fierce bloodbath against the Manryeon Sword Corps of Muheungseong.

The Human Sword Corps held firm in the south, shattering the vanguard of the Nine Dragon Fortress.

Just six hundred men had turned the tide of the entire battlefield.

“How could this be…!”

Mun Sang let out a low growl.

It was understandable. Even if they stripped Nine Dragons Fortress bare, masters above the peak level barely exceeded three hundred.

Even the Mu Huang Fortress, recognized as the world’s strongest, was widely believed to have fewer than five hundred peak masters.

Yet six hundred?

To think the Lion Clan had been hiding such a formidable group of masters all along.

Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe it.

Moreover, the enemy’s counterattack did not end there.

“Mun-sang, enemies from the south!”

“A group is approaching from the north!”

“Three veteran masters have appeared at the front! One of them is Yin Ge Xue, one of the Ten Great Masters of the previous generation!”

Not only were the enemy forces scattered outside gathering one after another, but even the hidden recluses had emerged.

‘Rushing the advance was a mistake! I should have systematically eliminated the enemies in the rear first.’

It was then that Moon-sang sighed in frustration.

Thud.

“Where is there a war without bloodshed?”

A fiery heat erupted from the body of North Palace Baek, who had been listening to the situation beside him.

“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on commanding.”

He stared at the battlefield with a fiery gaze . It was the direction where two swords were relentlessly slaughtering our allies.

“I’ll handle those bastards.”

Whoosh!

Flames erupted in an instant.

As he stepped forward, the Black Tiger Corps followed.

“It’s the Lord!”

“The Lord has come to aid us!”

The warriors of Guryongseong who recognized him charged forward with soaring morale.

The Black Coral, the strongest martial force of the Nine Dragon Fortress, blocked the Sword Guard, creating space.

Finally, North Palace White and the Blood-Stained Sword faced off.

“Hmph! I heard there was a brat relying on his position to act big—so it’s you!”

“You’re that bastard who gets aroused collecting human skins, aren’t you?”

“What?!”

And so, the two collided.

Roar! Crackle!

Black pillars of flame swept across the ground, while crimson energy aimed for Baek’s neck.

It was a battle that made the phrase “earth-shaking” spring to mind.

After dozens of attacks that would have startled the heavens.

Boom!

Black, super-heated flames completely incinerated the left arm of the blood-soaked corpse.

“Gah!”

He screamed in agony as the left arm, instantly reduced to ash and discarded , sent waves of excruciating pain surging through him.

Just as Baek of the North Palace was about to finish him off and turn to the others.

“Stop your hand, young master of the North Palace family!”

Two absolute masters blocked his path, swords drawn.

“So it was you hiding like rats, elders of the Namgung family. Well then, where are the rest of your elders? Already dead and buried? Or too scared to show themselves?”

“Even if you deploy your ultimate technique, it won’t change the fact that your head will roll today.”

“You’ve caught a mere guest and now you’re all puffed up with pride. Not even your father would dare show such an attitude before us.”

“Before you start threatening me, shouldn’t you first chase away the approaching envoy?”

“……?”

“……?”

The two elders exchanged bewildered glances.

Whoosh. Flash!

The black flame dragon unleashed from Baek’s hand swept across the front.

“Hmph!”

“How despicable!”

The two elders of the Myeongju Clan swung their thick swords to block the black flame dragon.

Pfft.

A clear sneer escaped from North Palace White’s lips.

At that moment, the two elders realized something was terribly wrong and tried to pull away hastily.

Puhahak!

The six overlapping crescent moons pierced one man’s back just a fraction faster.

Crunch!

The elder was reduced to a pool of blood.

It was the perfect example of a surprise attack.

“Master!”

* * *

Crunch.

After killing one, he immediately unleashed a Jeonju strike, shattering the head of the one whose arm had been scorched.

Meanwhile, one bastard fled like an arrow.

Killing him when the chance arose would have been a hundred times right, but I didn’t pursue him. I even stopped my master from chasing after him.

Because what matters now isn’t whether to kill the bastard or not.

“This is no time for this! We must retreat immediately. Not a single man left behind!”

“What?”

I explained as quickly as possible that the Lion Clan Leader was a nuclear-level strategic weapon.

“……”

At first, the Master looked utterly skeptical, but I repeated myself several times and finally succeeded in convincing him.

“……If what you say is true, then he is one who has transcended the human realm.”

“That’s why I rushed over like this! Quickly order a retreat…”

Unlike my frantic self, the master slowly shook his head.

Why on earth? I stared at him with that question in my eyes, and he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Then that raises a question.”

“What exactly?”

“Why, despite possessing such power, have they not revealed their ambitions until now?”

“……”

I’d been too busy rushing here to ever consider that question.

That was it.

As my master said, if he were a power beyond humanity, he should have done something long ago.

If he were a venerable monk of Shaolin Temple or even an elder of the righteous faction, I could understand his restraint. But he is the leader of the heretical sect.

He could have founded a nation at any time in place of the weakened, no, utterly ruined imperial house.

Even if he had no desire to found a new kingdom, couldn’t he have at least unified the martial world?

Yet despite possessing such power, the Lion Clan Chieftain never stepped forward.

He merely occupied a corner of the Central Plains and remained still.

Only recently did he stir up trouble.

Which means…

“Could it be that you believe this situation wasn’t created by the Lion Clan Leader’s design?”

“More precisely, it’s not something he wanted to happen.”

“But he ordered the assassination of the Black Dragon Sect Leader and the Blue Dragon Sect Leader.”

“That document written in unknown characters might have been the problem.”

“No matter how important that document was. He’s a man of his stature, after all. He couldn’t have been unaware of the repercussions the deaths of the two leaders would bring.”

“It’s more likely he simply didn’t care. If what you say is true, then to him, we’re nothing but mere insects.”

“……That could be true. But if we keep fighting like this, he’ll start to care. No matter how indifferent he is, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch his own house burn, would he?”

The master looked toward the direction of the Lion Clan’s main headquarters.

Far off, warriors from both sides were fighting fiercely, risking their lives.

“You’re right. The problem is who can resolve this madness. Besides, is this fight even ours alone?”

“Ah…”

The madness of war numbs reason. How much more so when brothers as close as family perish like that? The accumulated grievances are as vast as a mountain.

“…….”

“Even if I order a retreat, they’re unlikely to obey. And even if they do retreat, there’s no guarantee the Lion Clan won’t attack from behind.”

“Then what should we do? We can’t just stand idly by, can we?”

“True. I cannot abandon the men who trusted me, the lord of the fortress, and traveled thousands of miles to fight.”

At that moment, a suffocating pressure emanated from the Lion Clan’s camp.

“Damn it…”

The familiar aura.

The Lion Clan Chief has revealed himself.

Wow! The leader is with us!

The Lion Clan’s morale instantly ignited.

“You seem to be right.”

Master smiled faintly at me.

“Mujeon.”

Master called my name for the first time in ages.

A creeping sense of unease rose up my spine.

“Don’t try to set the mood. It’s a death flag, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you mean, but it seems I have to step in now.”

“So order a full retreat immediately …”

“The ten years I spent with you were the happiest of my warrior’s life.”

“No, what’s suddenly…”

“Farewell.”

That was when it happened.

The master soared up into the air.

“Master!”

And then.

[The Lord of Nine Dragons Castle and Head of the North Palace Clan, North Palace Baek, challenges the Head of the South Palace Clan to a duel!]

The master’s roar echoed across the battlefield.