Chapter 385: Declaration of War (1)
“Fourth Elder, what in the world is going on?”
“Cult Leader? Where on earth do you see a Cult Leader here?”
The sudden hesitation of the final authority figure naturally drew everyone’s attention.
But Fourth Elder stared intently at Jin Yeomyung, who was rampaging on the battlefield, paying no mind to what others around him were saying.
Before long, he reached a conclusion.
“Right, that can’t be. No matter how skilled that bastard is, comparing him to the previous Cult Leader… I must have lost my mind for a moment.”
Fourth Elder unconsciously wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
He felt the wet sensation of cold sweat on his skin.
“If it really were him, we’d all be dead by now. Of course. No doubt.”
Thud!
As if to shake off something, Fourth Elder slammed the rampart railing.
“I’ll take him down here. Don’t even think about letting him escape alive!”
“We’ve been waiting for you to say that!”
The other Seven Elders responded with brightened expressions and followed Fourth Elder’s command.
Fourth Elder was a brilliant strategist and not a fool who would ignore what was happening right before his eyes.
He instantly estimated Jin Yeomyung’s martial level and crafted an appropriate strategy.
“You won’t believe it, but… that bastard is a level above the Sword Demon or Saber Demon. Conserve your main forces and push forward the scapegoats to exhaust his strength!”
There was no need to clash head-on with a monster.
“Drive him into a rotating battle formation. Pull back part of our forces to stop the Six Great Demonic Clans’ bastards from closing in!”
“Understood!”
“Support those injured by that bastard’s bizarre strike. Once they recover, we’ll strike all at once and take his head!”
And so, the campaign to subdue Jin Yeomyung of the Cheon Clan began.
Under Fourth Elder’s command, the Cheon Clan sent in their allied clans instead of their main forces against Jin Yeomyung.
They also mobilized units specialized in long-range attacks to thoroughly exploit any gaps.
However—
Even after one, two hours passed, the situation remained unchanged, and the expressions of the Cheon Clan’s elders began to distort.
“He doesn’t tire at all.”
“His internal energy, stamina… by now, one of them should’ve run dry…”
As the sun crossed midday and began to tilt westward, it was the Cheon Clan’s side that grew increasingly anxious.
“…It seems we’ve underestimated the fact that he’s from the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan.”
“…Hmmm!”
No matter how great a master one was, there were always limits to concentration.
If you relentlessly pressed and searched for an opening, sooner or later a blind sword or stray arrow would strike a vital point.
And then, it would all collapse like dominoes.
Even the most unbreakable fortress-like supreme master—once wounded, would crumble rapidly.
“Fire!”
Papatatat!
Hundreds of arrows filled the sky and rained down upon the earth.
Among them, one powerful shot infused with sigi, strong enough to pierce through stone, struck Jin Yeomyung in the thigh.
However—
Thunk!
“…?!”
The arrow bounced off, unable to penetrate Jin Yeomyung’s body due to some form of resistance.
Naturally, the other arrows met the same fate.
Cheon Hae, master of the Bloodfire Heavenly Bow Unit, and commander of the Thirty-Four Demon Squads’ First Seat, ground his teeth.
“Why the hell don’t arrows work on that damned bastard?!”
Even if he was from the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan, there had to be a limit.
At the very least, he should’ve been bruised if not wounded, yet there wasn’t even a mark visible!
“C-Commander, what should we…?”
“What do you mean what?! Fire until we run out of arrows! Whether it’s his eyes or his damn balls, a human body has to have a weak spot somewhere!”
‘…Does he really have a weak spot?’
The Bloodfire Heavenly Bow Unit and other long-range sniping units targeting Jin Yeomyung all harbored the same thought.
Time passed.
Fwoop!
Cheon Hae, having honed his focus stitch by stitch, detected that his subordinates had grown silent and glared around.
“Those bastards… just because they fired once, they think they’re done? I swear, I’ll put them through hellish training again….”
Cheon Hae couldn’t finish his sentence.
Because standing before him now, alongside the bodies of his dead subordinates, was a giant man with a face like a dried jujube.
“…L-Left Guardian?”
Cheon Hae immediately recognized who he was facing.
And instinctively drew his bow toward Left Guardian Wang Cheongeol.
But from the moment he had let his guard down and allowed this much distance to close while distracted by Jin Yeomyung, Cheon Hae had no way of surviving.
“Foolish.”
Crack!
Wang Cheongeol’s strike crushed Cheon Hae’s chest, killing him instantly on the spot.
“Hmm?”
“Th-those… aren’t those the Guardian Hall bastards?!”
The unrest that began in the Bloodfire Heavenly Bow Unit instantly spread across the entire outer force.
But it was already too late.
“Wipe out all the traitors who stand against the Cult Leader!”
“Understood!”
The Guardian Lions of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, who had been waiting silently, began attacking the sniper units like crashing waves.
The formation collapsed.
Breathing broke down.
Once a breach opened, they collapsed helplessly, just like those they had hunted before.
And then, the figure who decisively shattered their morale appeared.
“C-Cult Leader!”
“It’s really the Cult Leader!”
The one who appeared at the center of the battlefield, exuding a fearsome black aura.
The current Heavenly Demon Cult Leader, Cheon Yura.
Her mere presence was enough to shake the entire war situation.
With Cheon Yura’s appearance, the battlefield fell into a lull in an instant.
“I-I didn’t think we’d face the Cult Leader this soon…”
Those who had rushed in to support the Cheon Clan began to withdraw one by one.
To them, helping the Cheon Clan and opposing the Cult Leader might have looked the same, but in truth, they were very different matters.
“Congratulations. You broke through the wall faster than I expected.”
“Hehe, I’m still far from done. Breaking through the wall only made me realize how endless the road ahead still is.”
“Especially after having seen them.”
Cheon Yura asked me,
“What do you plan to do?”
“Well.”
“If you wish… we can fight it out right here. The King of Asura and the Saber Demon are nearby on standby.”
According to Gu Chil’s report, even Ma Chulsoo had come in place of the Sword Demon…
Including the 300 brought in by the three families with the Guardian Hall forces, the number barely reached five hundred.
In contrast, the enemy numbered ten thousand.
‘If Ma Chulsoo is here, our odds of victory are more than enough.’
I was certain—Cheonak of Ma Chulsoo would unleash overwhelming power in a many-versus-one battle.
In terms of pure lethality, he would surpass even the Saber Demon or Jin Gun-ak.
But—
“Don’t say what you don’t mean.”
“……”
“I don’t intend to kill them all here. That’s not what you want either…”
“I truly don’t mind.”
She cut me off.
“If you hesitate to decide because of me, I’ll be deeply disappointed in you.”
I shrugged at her words.
“I really have no intention of fighting a final battle here.”
She looked at me with clear eyes.
As if she were seeing straight through to the truth in my words.
“More than anything, if the Cheon Clan were to fall from just one defeat, it would shock the Cult far too greatly.”
They would fight multiple times, never win once, and slowly crumble.
That was the downfall of the Cheon Clan I wished for.
“Is that so?”
Perhaps my reasoning had gotten through—she nodded slowly.
“But at the very least, there are those who must vanish today.”
Cheon Yura immediately understood who I was referring to.
“Very well! Let us carve a path together.”
Those who still watched from a safe distance, waiting for the tides to turn.
The Council of the Seven Elders.
Today, we would take their heads.
“It reminds me of that time. When we stood shoulder to shoulder and faced off against the two of them.”
By the ‘two,’ she must’ve meant Senior Brother and Demonic Junior Martial Sister.
“Let’s go. If you dawdle like a slug, I’ll go cut their heads off first.”
“Fine.”
Cheon Yura and I launched ourselves forward in unison, as if our hearts were perfectly aligned.
“W-what is this?!”
“Has the Cult Leader gone mad?!”
“She truly means to see the Cheon Clan destroyed!”
The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Elders who had joined the battle shouted in outrage at the two charging figures.
But the anger quickly subsided with Fourth Elder’s next words.
“Prepare yourselves.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“They will, without fail, reach us.”
At the moment Cheon Yura and Jin Yeomyung stood shoulder to shoulder and looked this way—
Fourth Elder saw ‘that’ again.
The one who had briefly vanished—the remnant of the former Cult Leader.
Sreung!
Fourth Elder drew his sword from his waist.
“Fou, Fourth Elder?!”
Fourth Elder, once the Cheon Clan’s most outstanding swordsman, hadn’t drawn his sword in years.
Since the moment he joined the Council of the Seven Elders, there had been no one in the Cheon Clan who dared to challenge him.
Even now, it was the same.
Around him stood hundreds of Peak and Supreme Peak masters ready to protect him.
To the elders, the idea that those two could reach this place seemed utterly implausible.
And yet, Fourth Elder drew his sword.
“Fourth Elder, wouldn’t it be better to retreat to the inner hall?”
As Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder exchanged glances, the youngest, Seventh Elder, made a suggestion to Fourth Elder.
“If the Cult Leader and the Demonic Faction Lord truly possess the ability to break through all resistance and reach this place… would it not be wiser to retreat and plan for another day?”
“We are many, and they are few.”
Fourth Elder was resolute.
“And though this is the outer perimeter, it is still Cheon Clan territory.”
“Hrmm!”
The two elders gave a loud cough in response to the implication.
“It’s not as though we’re facing all of the Six Great Demonic Clans on the battlefield. If we were to retreat to the inner hall just because of those two, what would our allies think of the Cheon Clan?”
Fourth Elder’s gaze remained fixed straight ahead.
They were coming.
From afar, the two—one man, one woman—were approaching, sweeping aside the Cheon Clan’s masters as if clearing obstacles from their path.
Countless spears and blades rained down, arrows and chain maces flew—
Yet not a single one touched the pair.
Watching this, Fourth Elder bit his lip hard.
“I misjudged. To kill them, we should have mobilized not only the Cheon Clan’s power, but also the strength of ‘them’.”
To those two, numbers held no meaning.
Only today did Fourth Elder fully realize that fact.
“More than anything, even if we were to die here, we have insurance in place for such a case.”
‘Death.’
The moment that word left Fourth Elder’s mouth, the expressions of Oro and Yukro changed completely.
“The Clan Head will carry on our will.”
“F-Fourth Elder!”
“If you wish to retreat, then do so. I will not stop you.”
“……”
“……”
Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder’s faces grew grave.
Just as he said—if they were to retreat to the inner hall, driven back by just two individuals in their own front yard, the Cheon Clan’s dignity would be greatly diminished.
But, wouldn't dying here at the hands of those two amount to the same?
Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder hesitated, unable to decide.
Meanwhile, the Cult Leader and the Demonic Faction Lord had already broken through half of the Cheon Clan’s defensive line with unstoppable momentum.
And behind them, the elite of the Guardian Hall followed.
That line of defense, composed of at least Peak masters and above, was by no means something to be taken lightly.
Yet, the moment they clashed with the Cult Leader and the Demonic Faction Lord, they fell like dry leaves in the wind.
If there happened to be a commander rallying troops nearby, the two would charge in and sever that one’s head first.
It was only then that the two realized Fourth Elder’s words had not been empty.
“I-I’m afraid my health is unwell, and I won’t be able to participate in the battle.”
“Hrmm! I must tend to the injured elders of the Extreme Demon Realm, so I too will take my leave…”
“Too late, I’m afraid.”
Fourth Elder sneered and mocked Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder.
If they had fled when he first said so, it might have been different.
But in barely the span of a few minutes, everything had already been decided.
Chuk!
At some point, the two blood-soaked figures landed on the edge of the wall.
They had arrived.
Those damned monsters.