Death drifts moon - Chapter 644
Chapter 644
In Kangho, wars led by martial artists differed greatly from those of ordinary soldiers.
While soldier warfare was guided by the strategies and commands of their generals, the conflict of martial artists was greatly influenced by individual judgment.
At first, they would fight the opponent right in front of them, but then they would instinctively find an opponent that matched their abilities.
This was the way martial artists waged war.
Clash!
The clash of weapons echoed dizzyingly.
The martial artists on both sides fought with all their might.
Every ounce of skill and experience they had cultivated unleashed upon their enemies.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
One by one, the martial artists fell, wounded or dead.
From the Mad Martial Sect, Seo Geum-chang swung his blade and slaughtered the foe before him.
His eyes darted around, searching for his next opponent, leaving the fallen man in a spray of blood.
One martial artist stood out in his eyes.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a sleeveless robe that revealed his shoulders.
Seo Geum-chang’s eyes burned with rage.
He recognized his opponent’s affiliation.
“You’re from the Heavenly Martial Sect!”
He could tell just from the aura emanating from the other man.
The distinct aura and temperament, characteristic of those trained in the Heavenly Martial Sect’s techniques, emanated from this man.
“Scoundrel!”
Without hesitation, Seo Geum-chang rushed towards him.
His blade aimed straight for the man’s throat, but the martial artist of the Heavenly Martial Sect wasn’t so easily defeated.
Clang!
“You must be the blade-wielder from the Mad Martial Sect.”
Just as Seo Geum-chang had identified the man’s background, the man too recognized Seo Geum-chang’s affiliation.
“I will avenge our sect leader.”
Seo Geum-chang’s eyes narrowed as he unleashed his blade technique.
The members of the Mad Martial Sect were aware that their leader had been killed by Jang Cheon-hwa.
Their anguish and rage was immense.
Not only Seo Geum-chang but all the martial artists from the Mad Martial Sect fiercely attacked the Heavenly Martial Sect’s fighters.
Jang Mugak watched the scene, his brows deeply furrowed.
“What’s going on?
There were more martial artists from the allied sects of the Silver Lotus Hall than he had expected.
If the information he had received was accurate, there shouldn’t have been so many martial artists.
“Could all those who participated in the surprise attack have sent false information?”
For Jang Mugak, it made no sense.
It didn’t make sense that not one, but all the places involved in the ambush would send false reports.
Under normal circumstances, this would never happen.
“Unless the circumstances aren’t normal… Has someone else intervened?”
If someone had systematically sent false information, it made sense.
And there was only one group in Kangho, capable of deciphering the secret code of the Golden Heavenly Hall.
“It’s the Hao Clan.”
Grind!
Jang Mugak’s teeth gritted with fury.
He had already discovered the deep connection between the Hao Clan and Pyo Wol. It wasn’t a big secret that Hong Yushin, the chief inspector of the Hao Clan, was often in contact with Pyo Wol.
“He must have manipulated the Hao Clan to disrupt our intelligence.”
The puzzle pieces seemed to fall into place.
Jang Mugak looked around.
The battlefield had long since turned into a chaotic hellhole.
Countless lives had been lost, many wounded and on the verge of death, yet there was no sign of stopping.
Halting the combat was futile after coming so far.
Both sides perceived the other as a mortal nemesis.
They fought fiercely with a single mindset: “In order to live, my opponent must die.”
As time passed, the intensity of the battle only escalated. It didn’t matter if it was an open fight.
After all, the stronger side would prevail.
The real concern lay in the unseen.
“Somewhere in here, assassins led by Pyo Wol are hiding.”
If they actively engaged, the balance could swiftly tip.
Jang Mugak beckoned someone.
“Jeok-hon!”
“Yes, Young master.”
A man clad in red martial robes appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
He was Jeok-hon, the leader of the Red Annihilation Army, an elite unit under Jang Cheon-hwa’s direct command.
Jang Cheon-hwa had specifically dispatched him and his unit to assist Jang Mugak.
Jang Mugak issued his command.
“The assassins led by Pyo Wol are hiding somewhere around here. Find and eliminate them.”
“Assassins?”
“Yes. Don’t underestimate them just because they’re mere assassins. If they are nurtured by Pyo Wol, they won’t be weak.”
“Understood.”
With that response, Jeok-hon vanished.
True to being under Jang Cheon-hwa’s direct command, the martial artists of the Red Annihilation Army were renowned for their formidable martial prowess.
Although their numbers were small, they had the power to wipe out an entire sect in an instant.
It was too much power to be wasted on a bunch of assassins. But Jang Mugak felt that this was not enough.
The sense of danger he felt was great.
Just as Jang Mugak was about to dispatch another subordinate,
Thud! Thud!
Someone approached him.
The footsteps, for some reason, echoed unusually loud.
Lifting his head, Jang Mugak recognized the figure.
“Lee Geom-han!”
The approaching martial artist, with a long sword draped by his side, was his arch-nemesis, Lee Geom-han.
He hadn’t seen him for months, but Lee Geom-han’s aura had changed significantly.
“Halt!”
“You shall not reach our lord.”
Two martial artists from the Golden Heavenly Hall launched an attack against Lee Geom-han.
Leaping into the air, they unleashed their signature techniques.
At that moment, Lee Geom-han swung his sword at them.
Whoosh!
An eerie rippling sound echoed out, and the martial artists attacking Lee Geom-han shattered in midair.
They literally crumbled into blood sand.
It was an unbelievable power.
Splat!
Leaving behind the rain of defeated enemies, Lee Geom-han approached Jang Mugak.
Jang Mugak frowned slightly.
“I should’ve finished you off for good back then…”
Even ordinary men can change in three days, let alone a martial arts genius like Lee Geom-han.
Jang Mugak felt a strong sense of crisis.
“Geom-han!”
He raised his sword and pointed it at Lee Geom-han.
He had no intention of leisurely conversation.
“Come!”
“Hyaaah!”
Lee Geom-han roared and lunged at Jang Mugak.
Jang Mugak also, with all his might, swung his sword.
Zzzing!
Their swords clashed for the first time in months.
The ground was drenched in blood.
The number of fallen was incalculable.
A sea of corpses covered the blood-stained terrain.
Mountains of bodies, rivers of blood.
The horrifying scene was almost too gruesome to witness.
So Geoksan saw this carnage.
At the moment, he was hiding on the outskirts of the battlefield with the Black Sect Assassins.
‘Such intensity…’
So Geoksan prided himself on having weathered many storms. But he had never seen a conflict of this magnitude.
The sight of countless martial artists, transforming into raging demons, was utterly terrifying.
Even for someone like So Geoksan, who prided himself on his iron resilience, the sight was deeply disturbing.
‘Madness! How can they harbor such deep-rooted animosity?’
So Geoksan shook his head in disbelief.
The collective madness seemed to have paralyzed individuals’ judgment.
He had never encountered such a frenzied scene.
Squish!
“Ugh!”
Not far from him, a man was cleaved in two.
An opponent wielding a massive blade had delivered the devastating strike.
After splitting the man like a tree, the martial artist’s eyes flickered to his next victim.
The man with the large blade looked more like a bloodthirsty demon than a man, and he was not the only one in the place.
So Geoksan shook his head in disbelief at the horrific scene. But he quickly regained his composure and gripped his weapon tightly.
Pyo Wol had instructed him and the Black Sect Assassins.
They were to help the sects working with the Silver Lotus Hall from the shadows, ensuring that they never revealed themselves.
From a distance, he could see Thunder Eye and Blood Shadow, also hiding.
Though they were invisible to the average eye, So Geoksan, a fellow assassin, saw them clearly.
Their eyes met across the expanse.
No words were needed.
Merely a glance conveyed mutual understanding.
Nodding, they simultaneously sprang into action.
Swish!
Without a sound, the assassins who had infiltrated the battlefield began to assassinate the martial artists from the Golden Heavenly Hall.
“Ugh!”
“Chk!”
The assassin’s unexpected attack left the martial artists of Golden Heavenly Hall helpless.
Seizing the chaos of the battlefield, they moved like mist, silent and deadly.
It was only after the assassins had inflicted considerable damage that the martial artists of Golden Heavenly Hall realized their presence.
“Assassins!”
“Stay on guard!”
Unfortunately for them, recognizing their presence was not enough to stop them.
The chaos of the battlefield was the perfect stage set for the assassins.
“We have hidden allies.”
“Cheer up!”
The martial artists from the Silver Lotus Hall had also noticed the assassins. But they didn’t look afraid at all.
They realized that the assassins were helping them.
The assassins didn’t have to wound or kill them.
Sometimes a mere wound was enough to reduce an enemy’s fighting capacity.
Silver Lotus Hall martial artists capitalized on this, focusing on those injured by the assassins.
The assassins also took full advantage of the Silver Lotus Hall Martial Artists.
“They would ambush and hurt the Gold Heavenly Hall’s warriors when they were busy dealing with the Silver Lotus Hall’s warriors.”
When the unexpected assassins attacked, the Golden Heavenly Hall martial artists were caught off guard, making it easy for the Silver Lotus Hall martial artists to defeat them.
We can win this.
“Press on!”
With the addition of the assassins, the Silver Lotus Hall martial artists gained momentum, temporarily pushing back the Golden Heavenly Hall’s side.
“shit!”
“Relying on mere assassins? Despicable!”
Enraged, the Golden Heavenly Hall martial artist swung their weapons, targeting the infiltrating assassins.
Yet, amidst the chaos, the assassins aimed for the vulnerable rear of the Golden Heavenly Hall’s line.
Whizz!
An assassin lunged, confident his surprise strike would land.
Clang!
But with a clang, his blade bounced back.
The targeted martial artist wasn’t defending himself, he was still engaged in a fierce battle with a Silver Lotus Hall martial artist.
The one who blocked the assassin’s sword was a completely different martial artist.
The man wearing red robes was a member of the Red Annihilation Army.
Finally, the Red Annihilation Army, Jang Cheon-hwa’s elite unit, revealed themselves on the battlefield.
Slish!
“In a quick move, the warrior from the Red Annihilation Army easily took down the assassin.”
Assassins were most formidable when hidden, but once exposed, they were no match.
At least not for the Red Annihilation Army.
Swiftly, the Red Annihilation Army targeted the revealed assassins, with Jeok-hon leading the charge.
“Dare these mere assassins disrupt the grand scheme,”
Jeok-hon murmured with a sneer.
Drip! Drip!
Blood dripped from his blade, fresh from killing two assassins.
In the heart of the fray, Jeok-hon felt an eerie sensation.
A sensation he knew all too well.
‘A killing intent! Who dares target me?’
His eyes darted around, searching.
And in that moment, his gaze locked onto someone amidst the chaos.
