Kang Sogun

The Heavenly Martial Faction's Heavenly Star Brigade Commander, Go Gyeongyeom, stood on the mountainside and looked down at Kang Sogun.

"Hmm."

He felt like he knew the heart of a beast that could not eat its prey even though it was right in front of it.

He had to block him and push him out of the valley. Then the killing demon squad would attach themselves and hunt him like a rabbit.

'Is this really the Faction Master's will?'

The dispatch that had come down to him had the seal of the Divine Strategist Jo Gaeryang.

This subjugation of the Three Blade Sect was the Faction Master's personal expedition.

It meant that the final command authority was with the Faction Master.

Although Jo Gaeryang was the Heavenly Martial Faction's military strategist, he could not replace Gu Yeongang.

Above all, Go Gyeongyeom did not want to do the job of just watching the back of the killing demon squad.

As the commander of the Heavenly Star Brigade, the main force of the Heavenly Martial Faction's inner circle, he knew of the existence of the killing demon squad. But he was a martial artist who did not think highly of the killing demon squad itself.

The killing demon squad was also different from the Dark Heaven Brigade, which did similar work.

It was a military force that was not in the official organization.

'They are just assassins who do assassinations!'

Go Gyeongyeom wanted to face Kang Sogun head-on.

Although the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade had been shattered, he wanted to show that the Heavenly Star Brigade was by no means the same.

While Go Gyeongyeom was in conflict, a messenger came running.

"Team Leader Bu Chagyeok and three others have been killed in action. There are seven seriously and lightly injured."

"What?"

Go Gyeongyeom shouted. So much strength had gone into the hand holding the saber that the saber hilt seemed as if it would break.

"Chagyeok, is it really true that Chagyeok is dead?"

Bu Chagyeok was a subordinate he cherished. He was not a bastard who would die so meaninglessly.

In an instant, Go Gyeongyeom's decision was made.

'I will kill that bastard myself!'

Just then, Kang Sogun, who had been hesitating for a moment, came straight ahead.

Kang Sogun slowly rode his horse.

He did not know how many enemies were hiding in the valley, but he paid attention to the fact that they had intentionally revealed their killing intent.

He had roamed the frontier battlefields since the age of sixteen.

The fact that the enemy had deliberately revealed their killing intent meant that he should turn back. If he retreated, he would fall into their trap. The path to death was the path to life.

Kang Sogun intended to break through.

Kang Sogun's horse stopped again after a short while.

A path wide enough for a cart to go up continued along the stream, and a person was standing in the middle of it.

It was a martial artist holding a large greatsword.

Behind the martial artist, at a glance, dozens of warriors were blocking the way with sabers and swords.

Seeing the bushes on both sides of the slope shaking, he had to assume that there were ambushes there as well.

Since the valley was narrow, it was a strategic point where one person could block a hundred, but conversely, dozens of people were blocking one person.

The martial artist with the greatsword opened his eyes wide and asked.

"Did you harm the third young master?"

Kang Sogun got off his horse, drew his spear, and slung it diagonally across his back. Then he took the saber he had taken from Bu Chagyeok in his hand.

To fight in a mountain with many forests, a saber was more advantageous than a spear.

Kang Sogun had circulated his Golden Elixir True Art all night and had been able to gather about three-tenths of his internal energy.

He had not taken care of his wounds and had only focused on accumulating internal energy, but it was not enough to deal with all the enemies in front of him.

He had to end it quickly.

"Did you kill Bu Chagyeok?"

Go Gyeongyeom gritted his teeth and asked again, seeing the saber in Kang Sogun's hand.

In fact, it was a question that did not need to be asked.

What martial artist would hand over his weapon to another?

"You must die in this place today!"

Go Gyeongyeom hardened his killing intent and took a step forward.

Kang Sogun struck the horse's rump and chased it away. It meant that he was not thinking of a retreat.

Kang Sogun drew his saber, let it hang long, and then slowly came up the mountain path.

Clatter.

The tip of the saber, which was dragging on the ground, hit a stone, and sparks flew. It meant that the saber was imbued with energy.

It was an action that would make martial artists who cherished their weapons frown.

Go Gyeongyeom felt as if Bu Chagyeok were being dragged, and his anger exploded even more.

But he was the commander of the Heavenly Star Brigade.

He had been on the verge of life and death dozens of times to rise to that position.

The reason he had survived each time was thanks to his caution.

He had no intention of dying while facing him alone like Wu Wonsong.

"Attack!"

As Go Gyeongyeom raised his greatsword, warriors jumped out from the slopes on both sides.

At the same time, the dozens of warriors behind Go Gyeongyeom lined up in two rows and tried to surround Kang Sogun.

Kang Sogun did not move at all. He gave them enough time, as if he were intentionally letting himself be surrounded.

The Heavenly Star Brigade warriors formed a formation with Kang Sogun in the center.

Although they had surrounded him on all sides, since it was a mountain path that a cart could pass through, they could not form a perfect formation.

-Swish!

-Swish!

A sword thrust at Kang Sogun's front, and a saber slashed at his side.

The Heavenly Star Brigade was composed of fifty swordsmen and also fifty sabermen.

A swordsman and a saberman formed a team and eliminated the enemy with an exquisite combination of a thrusting sword and a slashing saber.

Kang Sogun raised the saber he had been dragging.

The saber and the sword were deflected with one blow.

In an instant, Kang Sogun turned his body and slashed horizontally with the raised saber.

"Kuh!"

The swordsman and the saberman each clutched their abdomens and collapsed.

Kang Sogun then threw himself forward.

Saber light flashed in the air.

A great chaotic battle ensued. Kang Sogun's saber was exactly half a beat faster than the Heavenly Star Brigade warriors'.

The saber force flowed like water, and at its end were the bodies of the Heavenly Star Brigade warriors.

Surprisingly, Kang Sogun was stirring up the dozens of Heavenly Star Brigade warriors as if it were an unmanned territory.

"That bastard! That..."

Go Gyeongyeom's complexion hardened.

'Could it be that the Black Horse Brigade Commander lied?'

The reason Go Gyeongyeom had chosen a head-on confrontation was because he had heard that the opponent was injured.

The Black Horse Brigade Commander, Wi Pyeong, was close to him.

He had said it clearly.

He had landed a blow on his side and had also embedded shurikens in his thigh and shoulder.

He had wanted to ask if he had only been able to inflict that much damage when nearly eighty percent of the Black Horse Brigade had been casualties, but Wi Pyeong had spoken as if even that was a great accomplishment.

'He's not human. He was a killing demon.'

Wi Pyeong, who had been blankly repeating himself.

He remembered the fear that had flashed in his two eyes.

Go Gyeongyeom was realizing the truth of Wi Pyeong's words.

The mountain path was soon covered in blood, and with fallen limbs and rolling heads, it was reminiscent of a scene from hell.

'St-stop...!'

Go Gyeongyeom wanted to shout to stop without realizing it.

Even for him, who had roamed countless battlefields, it was the first time he had seen such a tragic and one-sided battle.

Only then did he regret not following Jo Gaeryang's words.

He was not someone he could have stopped in the first place.

"Stop!"

Go Gyeongyeom shouted.

The Heavenly Star Brigade members fell back as if they had been waiting. Fear was deeply cast on their faces.

They had wanted to flee long ago, but they had been so terrified that they had instead rushed in like moths to a flame.

The Heavenly Star Brigade members, who had come to their senses at Go Gyeongyeom's shout and had retreated, looked around and could not control their miserable feelings.

"Kehehe. As expected of the rumors."

Go Gyeongyeom raised his greatsword and approached Kang Sogun.

He felt like he knew Wu Wonsong's feelings.

He had lost thirty percent of his members in an instant. Could he maintain his position as commander after suffering such a great defeat at the hands of one person?

Go Gyeongyeom keenly felt that his brilliant career was over.

All that was left now was the final showdown with that bastard.

Kang Sogun was looking down at the saber from which blood was dripping.

A thick lump of blood was hanging from the tip of the saber.

If his body had been in a normal state, not a single drop of blood would have been on the saber.

He did not know that the saber, stained with blood, was actually giving fear to the opponent.

But extreme fatigue washed over him, and he was just looking at the saber so as not to lose consciousness.

The enemy's leader approached, holding a greatsword. His presence was not to be taken lightly.

Among the Heavenly Martial Faction martial artists he had met so far, he was the strongest, except for the one called Unsal.

"You will have to kill me to go this way!"

Go Gyeongyeom raised his greatsword.

The sword was a foot longer than a normal sword, and its width was also three inches wider.

Kang Sogun raised his lowered head and looked at Go Gyeongyeom.

"!"

His two eyes were unexpectedly clear.

Although they were bloodshot, it was hard to believe that they were the eyes of someone who had just committed a great massacre.

'The Heavenly Killing Star!'

Go Gyeongyeom recalled a legend he had heard long ago.

It was said that the killing star sent by heaven caught people as if catching flies.

What guilt would a person who catches flies feel?

Ordinary humans, when they commit murder, cannot handle it themselves and behave abnormally.

Even martial artists who have learned martial arts become devastated the more they kill people.

Go Gyeongyeom himself had long felt that his humanity had disappeared. But the person in front of him was different.

He was calm even after committing a great massacre.

A heavy force was put into Go Gyeongyeom's two feet, which were planted on the ground.

In an instant, the greatsword thrust at Kang Sogun.

Three variations on the way. The thrusting motion changed to a striking motion, and as he repeated the thrusting again, the qi that emanated from the sword battered Kang Sogun's entire body.

-Papapak!

Kang Sogun's clothes could not withstand the sword qi and were torn.

The Heavenly Martial Faction's Heavenly Star Brigade Commander, Go Gyeongyeom, certainly showed outstanding martial prowess. But his weakness was that his heart was not as bold as his martial prowess.

Even though he should have thrust at the enemy right away, he had turned the greatsword once more out of a sense of "what if."

That was his fatal mistake.

The moment the greatsword that had thrust to the tip of his nose made a turn, Kang Sogun shot out like a thunderbolt and struck up with the saber he had been letting hang down.

-Slice!

The greatsword of Go Gyeongyeom, which had been circling in the air, stopped.

-Gulp!

With a strange sound, and then a thud, Go Gyeongyeom was split in half from his crotch to the top of his head.

"Commander!"

"Aargh!"

The Heavenly Star Brigade had considered their commander, Go Gyeongyeom, as a god of war.

But seeing him split in half without even fighting one exchange, they lost their minds.

Kang Sogun did not even give a glance to Go Gyeongyeom, who had collapsed on the floor.

In fact, he could no longer see anything.

Nevertheless, he relied on his senses and slowly moved his steps.

There was no one who blocked him. When he approached, the Heavenly Star Brigade members were busy getting out of the way as if water were parting.

Kang Sogun went up the mountain along the valley.

The Heavenly Star Brigade members were dumbfounded.

They could not handle how to deal with this situation.

The Heavenly Star Fourth Team Leader stepped up. Since the other team leaders were dead or absent, he was the most senior in this place.

"Send a messenger to the main camp and have the lightly injured collect the bodies and the injured. The rest, all gather. We must not lose that bastard."

The Heavenly Star Fourth Team Leader urged the members.

As the Heavenly Star Brigade members were collecting the bodies of their comrades, a person walked over.

It was a young ronin holding a saber, and with each step, he approached a full ten feet without a sound.

"Who are you!"

The Heavenly Star Fourth Team Leader blocked him.

-Swish!

It seemed as if a red light had flashed once, and the Heavenly Star Fourth Team Leader's head fell to the ground.

"It's an enemy!"

Someone shouted. Two people extended their swords and sabers, and the next moment, a red light flashed once more, and their heads fell.

It was an overwhelming martial prowess.

"!"

The Heavenly Star Brigade members held their breath. Not a single one could draw their sword or saber.

Each and every one of the Heavenly Star Brigade members had prided themselves on being first-rate in the martial world, but they were frozen in front of the successively appearing masters and could not react.

The young ronin passed through the Heavenly Star Brigade members and went up the mountain path that Kang Sogun had taken.

He was not in a hurry, but he was by no means slow. He disappeared a full ten feet with each step.

***

Gradually, his vision returned. He had momentarily been unable to see because he had used his internal energy to the limit.

"Ugh!"

After spitting out a handful of blood, his mind became clear.

The wounds on his side, thigh, and left shoulder had also burst open again. Thick blood flowed out.

Kang Sogun calculated calmly.

It would take a full day to cross the mountain with his current stamina.

It was enough time for the enemy to catch up.

He pulled himself together, who felt as if he would collapse at any moment, and walked with a steady stride.

A steady stride brought a steady breath, and a steady breath brought stability to his internal energy.

It was the best he could do for now.

A thick scent of blood flowed on the path he had passed.

(End of Chapter)