At Yi Seongan’s command, the generals drove the soldiers forward.
“Move faster!”
“You only need to do it exactly as you trained!”
“The enemy is only one man, and we are hundreds of thousands! There is no need to be afraid!”
“Trample down everything that blocks our path and advance!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
At the generals’ encouragement, the soldiers’ morale rose again, and in an instant, the military formation unfolded.
Once the formation was complete, an enormous pressure bore down on Jeok Wigang.
But Jeok Wigang did not move.
Seeing that, Yi Seongan and his staff officers laughed.
“See that? Did I not tell you he was nothing special? Go! Trample him underfoot and show those martial-world people our prestige!”
DUDUDUDUDU—
The footsteps of the soldiers who had deployed the formation shook the earth.
At the same time—
“Shoot!”
TZAAANG!
With an enormous sound from the bowstrings released in unison, countless arrows covered the sky like gathering storm clouds.
The cloud of arrows poured down toward Jeok Wigang like a sudden rainstorm, and the shadow of that growing arrow-cloud fell over him.
SHRRRRR—
Seeing it, Jeok Wigang grinned and thrust his fist toward the rain of arrows falling from the sky.
WHOOOOM—
BA-BAAANG—
With an explosive roar like thunder, the cloud of arrows that had covered the sky shattered to pieces and vanished in an instant.
At that, the advancing soldiers stopped in their tracks and stared blankly up at the sky.
Could someone erase a rain of arrows that had covered the sky with a single blow?
“What are you doing?! Move!”
At the renewed shout, the soldiers felt something unsettling crawl up their backs, but they forced themselves to start moving again.
Another shout came from the rear.
“Shoot again!”
The sound of arrows being fired rang out again, and the soldiers’ movements grew faster.
They were hurrying because those arrows were the core of the military formation.
The enormous pressure created by the formation kept martial-world people from drawing up their inner force, which slowed their movements and weakened their defense.
Moreover, the arrows received the formation’s power and poured down carrying tremendous energy, so every single arrow possessed power like a martial technique.
The soldiers assumed the arrows had been smashed because the military formation had not yet unfolded close enough and had failed to exert its full power, so they hurried forward.
“Gather all your strength!”
The soldiers participating in the formation circulated their energy as they had learned and drew up as much strength as they could.
Then the enormous power emerging from the military formation made the empty air ripple and wrapped around the incoming arrows.
“It worked!”
Seeing that, the generals clenched their fists with triumphant smiles.
“Hold strong! The military formation has properly unfolded!”
At the generals’ cries, the soldiers brightened, thinking what had happened earlier occurred only because the formation had not been properly deployed.
Now that man would become a hedgehog under arrows filled with tremendous energy and die.
The moment they held that hope—
BWOOOONG—
SHRRRRR—
One more punch from Jeok Wigang completely annihilated the arrows.
They did not shatter and break apart.
They literally disappeared.
Silence flowed once again.
Even the generals said nothing before that unbelievable sight.
“He is an expert! He must be one of the absolute experts of the martial world! Change into the military formation for dealing with absolute experts!”
At Yi Seongan’s shout, the generals came to their senses and gave orders.
“Deploy the Stop-Sealing Water-Thunder Formation!”
At the general’s cry, the soldiers moved in perfect order once again.
The flow of energy rapidly changed, and the formation alone was raising a tremendous force.
“Charge!”
The soldiers charged toward Jeok Wigang all at once.
Tens of thousands of troops were moving with all their might to attack a single man.
A military formation designed to capture absolute experts.
It was a method of gathering the strength of tens of thousands into one and attacking with it.
That was when it happened.
Jeok Wigang lightly raised one leg, then brought it down toward the ground.
THUD—
It had not seemed like he had stepped down that hard.
GRRRRK—
The ground shook, and the balance of the charging soldiers wavered.
“Uwaaah!”
“A-An earthquake!”
“How can a human cause an earthquake?!”
The soldiers were horrified.
They had heard that martial-world people were strong, flew through the sky, and possessed power that could shake heaven and earth, but to think he could actually cause an earthquake.
It was not only the soldiers who were shocked. The generals were the same.
Right now, tens of thousands of people had stopped moving because of a single man.
“I know the soldiers are not guilty. I have no intention of killing you, so be at ease. But the generals are an exception. If you do not want to die, surrender. Those who surrender will be spared, and I will not ask about the crime of treason.”
At Jeok Wigang’s shout, the soldiers wavered, but the generals did not believe him.
They were lives that would die anyway if captured.
Somehow, they had to capture Jeok Wigang first.
“Do not believe him! He is trying to delude us!”
“Advance! We must kill that bastard if we want to live!”
At the generals’ shouts, the soldiers began advancing again.
“I told you, you can’t.”
Jeok Wigang stamped his foot again.
When he stamped down harder than before, the ground rippled.
Where that ripple passed, a sound like the world collapsing rang out, and a tremor far stronger than before swept over the soldiers.
RUMBLE—
The shaking was so violent that most of the soldiers could not stand properly and fell over.
Startled horses bucked wildly in every direction, and generals falling from horseback could be seen all over the field.
“I will say it once more. Surrender. This is your final warning.”
“Do not make me laugh! Everyone, follow me!”
The moment one general led his troops and charged toward Jeok Wigang—
SPOT—
With the sound of wind being sliced—
CLOP— CLOP—
Only the sound of horse hooves could be heard.
On the saddle, a corpse with its upper body gone and only its lower body remaining swayed while spraying blood.
“I clearly warned you I would not go easy on you.”
A chill ran down their spines.
The tens of thousands of soldiers in front of Jeok Wigang felt goosebumps rise all over their bodies.
It was a primal fear the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the rear could never understand.
“I will say it again. I know the soldiers are not guilty, so come over to this side on your own.”
He was not speaking loudly, but his words entered their ears as clearly as if he were speaking right beside them.
The soldiers began backing away.
“T-That man is a god...”
“I’m scared. I don’t want to fight him...”
Seeing the soldiers waver, the generals shouted.
“Come to your senses! It is sorcery! That bastard is using sorcery!”
“Maintain the military formation at once! Hurry!”
The generals were shouting and trying to control the soldiers when Jeok Wigang sighed and began reciting a mantra.
“Heaven’s will, arise. Divine punishment, descend. All evil, be annihilated.”
Then, glaring at the generals, he recited the final mantra.
“Lightning strike, fall.”
The moment he recited the final mantra—
RUMBLE—
A bolt of lightning struck from a clear sky and fell upon the shouting generals.
CRACKLE— CRACK—
The generals collapsed along with their horses, turned into blackened charcoal.
When the generals who had been shouting so loudly disappeared, silence flowed across the battlefield.
Seeing that sight, the soldiers became certain.
Jeok Wigang was not human, but a god.
The soldiers who came to their senses began to cry out.
“Aaaagh! Heavenly god!”
“Forgive us! Forgive us!”
The wavering that began at the front spread backward like a wave, and tens of thousands of troops threw down their weapons in unison and prostrated themselves on the ground.
The troops watching this sight from afar looked puzzled, wondering what on earth was happening.
But the generals had seen it.
They had seen the fact that the vanguard generals had all been killed by lightning that had suddenly fallen from the sky.
Yi Seongan also saw that sight clearly.
“It seems h-he scattered lightning.”
“I have never seen a martial-world person that strong before.”
“What shall we do? The vanguard is already as good as annihilated.”
Yi Seongan, too, stared at Jeok Wigang with a stunned expression.
“Impressive. But we still have many troops. He, too, is human, so he cannot use that power endlessly. Keep sending them until he tires.”
“If we do that, the losses will be far too great.”
“No. He said he came carrying an imperial order. From what I see, he is likely the strongest card the Emperor had. So if we subdue him, the Emperor will lose everything as well.”
“True. With martial power like that, he would be someone the Emperor could trust and rely on.”
“Come, come. Everyone, pull yourselves together. If anything, is this not a good thing? We have learned how frightening an absolute expert is.”
“That is correct. We can use today’s events as a foundation so we can respond if something like this happens again.”
Yi Seongan shouted,
“Attack without pause until that man is exhausted!”
Yi Seongan’s order was passed down to the generals below, and the generals shouted.
“Deploy the military formation! Attack without pause until the enemy is exhausted!”
Seeing the troops swarming toward them again, the soldiers who had prostrated themselves looked back and forth between Jeok Wigang and the incoming force with fearful eyes.
They were afraid his mood might sour and he might kill them all before going to face the others.
Then Jeok Wigang smiled and said,
“It’s not like you came because you wanted to. Right?”
“T-That is correct.”
“Then could all of you step back? I need to deal with those bastards.”
“Yes!”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, the soldiers sprang to their feet, grabbed their weapons, and quickly moved back.
Once they had all moved away, a vast military formation could be seen rushing straight at him, raising clouds of dust.
Jeok Wigang walked toward the formation of tremendous force.
Step— step—
At first, it was only the sound of walking.
THUD— THUD—
Then came a heavy sound.
And the moment the troops drew close—
BANG— BANG— BANG—
With every step Jeok Wigang took, the ground split with explosive booms and wind pressure erupted, and the soldiers around him were sent flying in clumps by that pressure.
“Uwaaaah!”
RUMBLE—
The sound of soldiers crashing into the soldiers behind them and collapsing rang out from all directions.
Jeok Wigang was only walking.
But in the places he passed, there were only soldiers writhing in pain.
“You damned bastard!”
The generals hurled the spears they were holding at Jeok Wigang with all their might.
SWIIIIISH—
The spears flew with enough power to pierce through boulders and struck Jeok Wigang in the chest.
WHUMP— WHUMP—
But Jeok Wigang was completely unharmed and continued walking forward.
Thud, thud, thud—
The spears that had struck his chest fell straight to the ground.
“M-Monster.”
Fear began to appear in the generals’ eyes.
“It seems those in the back did not hear me well, so I will say it loudly this time.”
VMMMM—
“Urgh!”
The generals and soldiers covered their ears in pain.
“I know the soldiers have done no wrong. But the generals are different. Surrender. If you surrender, I will make this as though it never happened.”
At that voice like a heavenly god’s rebuke, everyone looked at Jeok Wigang with frightened faces.
That was when Yi Seongan shouted,
“What are you doing?! I told you it is sorcery! Attack him at once!”
That mad bastard.
After seeing everything that had happened until now, he was still saying that?
The generals on the battlefield grew irritated.
He should be telling them to face someone they could actually face.
“You’re noisy.”
Jeok Wigang looked toward the place where Yi Seongan and his staff officers were, then thrust out his fist.
KWOOOOOO—
At that moment, a fierce gale blew, and the soldiers lowered their heads to endure it.
When the wind calmed and they raised their heads, the soldiers saw it.
The place where Yi Seongan and his staff officers had been was gone.
And they also realized that the mountain behind them had vanished.