Chapter 1825 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect
Chapter 1825. No Matter How Insignificant the Fertilizer (1) ❀ ❀ ❀
‘Kugh….’
The first to
sense the change was none other than Red Dogs. Especially those at the very
front, who had to drive the enemy back alongside the elite, felt it the most.
One of the Red
Dogs warriors, unable to withstand the overwhelming aura, unconsciously took a
step back.
Kaaang!
As he
parried the sword flying toward him in an instant, Red Dog’s expression twisted
grotesquely. A mix of humiliation, self-loathing, and disbelief contorted his
face.
‘Am I being
pushed back by this brat?’
He couldn’t
comprehend it.
If it were
any other time, even if it meant being run through by a sword, he would have
shattered that brat’s skull. He had never feared adding another scar to his
body, which was already covered in them.
Then why had
he instinctively chosen to retreat instead of pressing forward? Could it be
that he was intimidated by the mere presence of this brat?
‘Ridiculous….’
He had
witnessed countless desperate struggles. Since taking the name Red Dogs, the
sects he had trampled numbered in the dozens. The wails of those who perished
then could not have been any less sorrowful than the cries of his foes now.
Then why?
At that
moment, a realization struck Red Dogs, and he instinctively turned his gaze.
His eyes twitched in shock.
“We’re….”
Kaaaang!
He swung his
sword with all his might at the incoming sword. The tip of his sword shattered,
and fragments sliced across his lips, leaving a long cut.
“…being
pushed back?”
He hadn’t
seen wrong. The battle lines were shifting dramatically.
Like cracks
spreading across a dam holding back a flood, a massive rupture was becoming
increasingly evident on the battlefield.
❀ ❀ ❀
A faint heat
flickered in Yoon Jong’s eyes. It was an emotion close to exhilaration.
He couldn’t
explain it clearly, but he could undeniably sense the shift. It was a momentary
awareness, something only those who had risked their lives countless times on
the battlefield could perceive.
If they
pushed forward with full force at this moment, that once-impenetrable fortress
would surely collapse—completely and all at once, as if it had never stood firm
to begin with.
Yet, Yoon
Jong hesitated to shout the order. Could he be certain that what he had seen
was real? Could he trust that his instincts weren’t mistaken?
Perhaps it
was just a fleeting illusion, born from his desperate hopes. If he gave the
wrong command, he would be leading his sahyungs to their deaths.
Yoon Jong
instinctively turned to his side.
‘Geol-ah….’
There was no
one beside him. The one who had always shoved him forward with loud shouts had
already rushed ahead without hesitation, fulfilling his duty.
‘Sasuk….’
Baek Cheon,
who had always led the way. Cheong Myeong, who always strode ahead. Yoo Iseol
and Tang Soso, who had always watched over him with calm eyes. None of them
were here.
In that
moment, Yoon Jong realized. Amidst the chaos of this battlefield, he was
utterly alone. And he alone had to make the judgment.
A sudden
fear gripped him.
But he shook
it off in an instant.
Failure was
not what he should fear. Everything he had gone through until now had been to
prepare him for this realization.
“Mount
Huaaaaaaa!”
At last, Yoon
Jong’s voice erupted like a thunderclap. It was the loudest he had ever shouted
in his life.
“The enemy
is retreating! Charge and seize victory in one strike!”
“Ooooooh!”
Even before Yoon
Jong’s words had fully left his mouth, the disciples of Mount Hua let out a
powerful battle cry. Without a moment’s hesitation, they surged toward the
enemy as one.
Yoon Jong,
too, kicked off the ground and shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
That command
had been his final one. Yoon Jong was a swordsman of Mount Hua. If everyone was
risking their lives, he would stake his own as well.
“Mount Hua is
here!”
❀ ❀ ❀
The tension
in his body slowly drained away. As he unconsciously lowered his raised sword,
he felt a firm grip on his shoulder and turned his head. The hand was rough and
thick.
When he
lifted his gaze toward its owner, a man with a warm expression was smiling at
him.
“Look at
that.”
“…Sahyung.”
Un Geom
murmured in a near-sigh.
A moment
ago, Un Geom had seen it clearly. Though brief, it had been unmistakable
hesitation. And because he had watched over his disciple for so long, he had
recognized it immediately.
He had been
about to rush toward him—whether to rebuke him sharply or encourage him warmly,
he wasn’t sure.
If not for Un
Am’s hand gripping his shoulder, Un Geom would have run straight to Yoon Jong.
“Sometimes,
it’s better to trust them.”
“……”
“Haven’t
they already proven themselves? More than nobodies like us ever could.”
Un Geom let
out a bitter chuckle and shook his head.
“It would be
shameful to even compare.”
“Exactly.”
He knew. And
yet, his eyes kept following them. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern
and heartache.
Whether in
strength or experience, his disciples had grown beyond comparison. Yet he still
felt anxious and worried, like a parent watching a child by the water’s edge.
But Yoon
Jong… No, all of his disciples had proven themselves perfectly in this moment. They
no longer needed someone to push them forward or fret over them anxiously.
Even without
Cheong Myeong taking the lead, even without Baek Cheon guiding them, Mount Hua
was still Mount Hua.
The flowers
they had bloomed shone so brilliantly that his eyes stung.
‘And yet….’
Strangely,
he also felt a tinge of sadness. As if he had just confirmed with his own eyes
that there was no longer a place left for him.
“What are
you doing?”
At that
moment, Un Am stepped forward, gripping his sword. Un Geom frowned slightly.
“What are
you planning…?”
“Do you know
something?”
“What?”
“Even
fertilizer has its pride.”
Un Am
glanced back at Un Geom with a bright smile.
“No
matter how insignificant the fertilizer may be, without it, how could such
beautiful flowers have bloomed?”
[tl note:
that’s the titlee.]
“……”
“Isn’t that
right?”
Un Geom
stared at him silently for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“You’re
right… Sahyung.”
“So stop
hesitating and let’s go. We have our own role to finish.”
They might
end up being nothing but a hindrance. Their skills, once part of the Un
disciples generation, could no longer even match the Cheong disciples
generation. No matter how much they trained anew, time was something they could
never reclaim.
But it
didn’t matter.
Because as Un
Am said, even fertilizer has its pride.
“If anyone
is to die first, it should be us.”
“Of course.
That’s how it should be.”
“Let’s go.”
“It’s been a
while since we fought together.”
“But,
Sahyung… do you still remember how to use a sword?”
“…I thought
I had long outgrown your insolence.”
“There are
no kids here to hear it.”
“……Well, damn.”
Un Am
chuckled as he clicked his tongue and forcefully pushed off the ground.
Beside him, Un
Geom followed. Seeing this, the few remaining Un disciples also rushed in
behind them.
‘Pride, huh.’
A small
smile played on Un Geom’s lips. He gripped his sword tightly with his one
remaining hand.
❀ ❀ ❀
Kwaang!
“You, you
bastards!”
The Red Dogs
warriors’ faces were filled with shock and confusion.
Those damned
Wudang disciples, throwing themselves forward without hesitation, were now
being followed by the relentless Mount Hua fighters. As if spurred by this,
even the Zhongnan disciples were rushing in one after another.
“How dare
you…!”
The Red Dogs
warriors growled in anger, swinging their weapons violently.
Normally,
the front line must be carefully maintained. To maximize effectiveness, the
number of fighters must neither be too great nor too few.
But now, Heavenly
Comrade Alliance had completely shattered that rule.
“RAAAAH!”
Everyone was
charging in.
Some with
pent-up rage, some with burning passion, and and some with chivalry, they
leaped past those before them, unleashing their swords upon the enemy.
“I'll take
this one!”
“Step aside!”
Mount Hua,
Wudang, and Zhongnan.
Three sects
that once fought to claim the title of the greatest sword sect, rivals who
could never truly stand side by side, and competitors locked in an eternal
struggle for supremacy in the Nine Great Sects.
[tl note: yeah,
it just says gupa-ui, not gupailbang, that's why it's 9 great sects]
And yet now,
their swords were raining down upon the enemy, as if competing with each other.
They were
still not fighting as one, but looking toward the same goal was no longer
difficult. Their swords proved this truth as they intertwined and clashed on
the battlefield.
Kaang!
The swords
of Zhongnan broke the enemy’s momentum, Mount Hua’s blades dazzled and misled
their foes, and Wudang’s sword delivered the killing strike.
One after
another. One after another.
The momentum
they had built up surged beyond even their own control. If one faltered for a
moment, another immediately stepped in to take their place.
The once
carefully maintained battle lines crumbled in an instant.
Of course, Heavenly
Comrade Alliance wasn’t the only one caught in the collapse.
“This
damn-.... Ugh!”
The ever-shifting
storm of different sword styles was overwhelming. The exhausted Evil Tyrant
Alliance fighters could no longer hold their ground against them.
Slash!
Slash!
Hot blood
splattered through the air.
“Press
Forward!”
Sensing the
moment of collapse, the swordsmen from the three sects poured out every last
ounce of their strength.
They didn’t
need anyone to shout orders. No one had to rally them with words. They all
knew. This was the moment.
“You
bastards…!”
The Red Dogs
warriors, unable to withstand the onslaught any longer, were pushed
back—further and further. The Evil Tyrant Alliance fighters, failing to keep
pace with them, found themselves overwhelmed by the surging momentum of the
three sects.
The sight of
Heavenly Comrade Alliance swordsmen continuously leaping over the shoulders of
those ahead, endlessly pouring in like an unstoppable flood, resembled nothing
short of a massive landslide. It was an overwhelming catastrophe, impossible to
stop by human strength.
“This.…”
Ho Gamyeong
bit his lip so hard that it bled as he watched the scene unfold.
Even though
there was no actual sound, he heard it loud and clear—
The sound of
something cracking.
The sound of
an irreparable fracture forming in the very fate of this battlefield.
‘No!’
If the front
line collapsed now, there would be no victory. Ho Gamyeong knew this better
than anyone. Just as he was about to do something—anything—
‘That…’
His eyes
locked onto an unbelievable sight.
Beyond the
warriors pouring their everything into this battle, as if rising from a mirage,
a single figure soared into the air.
Ho Gamyeong
stared blankly, his mind lagging behind his instincts, which already knew the
answer.
Before his
mind could even realize it, his instincts recognized the other person’s
identity first. So he ended up recalling a name he didn’t even want to say.
“Plum
Blossom…”
A name
filled with nothing but hatred and loathing, and yet unforgettable for
eternity.
Ho Gamyeong
spat out the name in a voice seething with rage.
“Plum
Blossom Sword Demon!”
Fwoooooosh!
As if in
response, crimson plum blossoms bloomed across the battlefield sky.
Carried by
the wind, a single petal multiplied, expanding into a crimson river that soon
became a roaring, unrelenting torrent.
“Cheong
Myeong-yaaaa!”
In that
instant, Cheong Myeong’s sword descended.
And with it,
the crimson torrent transformed into a massive waterfall, crashing down upon
the crumbling battle lines.
Kwaaaaaang!
Swept away
by the overwhelming wave of red sword energy, the enemies couldn’t even scream
before being torn apart and hurled away.
“Uh…”
Both Evil
Tyrant Alliance and Heavenly Comrade Alliance warriors froze for a split
second.
Then, a
fierce battle cry shattered the silence.
“What are
you waiting for?! NOW!”
“BREAK
THROUGH IN ONE GO!”
A path had
been carved—
A path
opened by the Plum Blossom Sword Demon.
Through it,
the swordsmen of the three sects surged forward like a flood bursting through a
shattered dam.
Rrrumble.
In Ho Gamyeong's
ears, the sound of heaven collapsing echoed, signaling that everything had
crumbled.
❀ ❀ ❀
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