Have You Ever Seen Hell? (1)

“Oh, they’re coming!”

“It’s the Ten Thousand People Clan!”

Southern Island’s momentum rose to the very edge of the sky.

From leaving the Southern Island and reaching this gorge, all they had done was die, get wounded, and flee.

They had engaged in skirmishes here and there and slain foes, but those battles were not to crush the enemy; they were frantic struggles to survive.

Then, for the first time, they could unleash attacks without worrying about defense; imagine how soaring their morale must have been.

But the moment they saw the Ten Thousand People Clan appear at the end of the gorge, that raging momentum cooled as if doused with ice water.

And taking the place of that boiling momentum was nothing but fear.

It was an uncontrollable terror at their situation.

The Ten Thousand People Clan.

Who knows the weight of that name as well as Southern Island’s people?

Finally being caught from behind by those who had relentlessly chased them drove Southern Island’s disciples into helpless despair.

“The cliff — look!”

The Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen climbed the narrow gorge’s cliffs and charged toward them.

Coldly analyzed, it wasn’t some incredible skill.

Even Southern Island’s top disciples might not scale sheer cliffs, but running along a cliff face several spans high was something many could do.

But everything in the world is perceived differently depending on the situation.

The terror of finally being trapped from behind.

And the force exuded by the Ten Thousand People Clan rushing down the cliff was enough to instantly crush Southern Island’s will to fight.

“W-we have to run!”

“You lunatic! Where do you think you’ll run? We’re inside a gorge!”

They were boxed in on all sides.

Even above that cliff, they had no idea how many more enemies might be stationed.

Hadn’t they already seen with their own eyes how those who clung ineptly to the cliff were executed?

There was nowhere to flee.

All that remained was to stand and fight.

But how?

By what means could they confront those Ten Thousand People Clan members?

If it had been possible, they wouldn’t have run all the way here.

“W-we’re all going to die! We’re all going to be killed!”

An uncontrollable fear spread wildly.

Even with insufficient numbers and lacking skill, one can still fight.

But those who lose morale get swept away before they can even act.

A cramped, narrow gorge with no place to escape.

Even there, people began to back away.

But at that moment.

“Snap out of it! You bastards!”

Someone’s roaring shout rang out thunderously.

Where the startled gazes turned, Gwak Hwan-So glared at them with bloodshot eyes.

“We’re already dead from Southern Island!”

“S-sahyung?”

Gwak Hwan-So shouted at the top of his lungs.

“We came this far swearing we wouldn’t die a shameful death even if we die! Have you forgotten that?”

Southern Island’s disciples gritted their teeth.

Gwak Hwan-So wasn’t wrong.

How many truly believed they could head into this Southern Island Sect and still leave it alive?

“If we’re going to die anyway, don’t die like cowards. Die like Southern Island’s disciples!”

No sooner had he finished than Gwak Hwan-So stomped the ground.

Then he grabbed the heads of Southern Island’s disciples and began to move them toward the rear.

Actions over words. A will to be the first to die if death comes.

In such intense situations, it’s always action, not words, that moves people.

Seeing his back, Southern Island’s disciples’ eyes filled with murderous intent.

And at that moment, without missing the timing, Geum Yang-Baek’s shout erupted.

“Elders, move to the rear and stop the Ten Thousand People Clan!”

A momentum like a sudden thunderclap.

As if refusing to be overwhelmed by the charging Ten Thousand People Clan’s force, Geum Yang-Baek poured out his energy from head to toe.

“Even if it costs our lives, do not let their blades touch our disciples! Bury your bones here until the last person stands!”

“Yes! Sect leader!”

The elders answered back as if with a cry of anguish.

They were people who had already lived long lives.

Yet there was only one reason they had come into this Southern Lands.

To send at least one disciple alive back to the Northern Lands.

“Go!”

The elders rushed to the rear in a single bound.

“Disciples, coordinate attacks on those falling from above! Hold your positions until the upper side is fully dealt with!”

“Yes! Sect leader!”

Geum Yang-Baek was also Southern Island’s prestigious sect leader.

When he stepped back he wasn’t particularly noticeable, but in a crisis he proved exactly why he was Southern Island’s sect leader.

‘He must be afraid.’

Geum Yang-Baek clenched his fist until his bones ached.

If even he was this afraid, how terrified must those young disciples be?

But no one can solve fear for another.

Only they can overcome it themselves.

Kwah-aaang!

Geum Yang-Baek immediately pushed off the ground and flew toward the rear.

What he could do now wasn’t boost their morale.

‘Hold them back.’

They had to save even one more person to get out of this gorge.

Even if the cost was Geum Yang-Baek’s life.

And!

“Hwan-So! Fall back!”

“Sect leader?”

Geum Yang-Baek, who had caught up to Gwak Hwan-So in an instant, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the rear.

“Command the disciples!”

“Sect leader, I’ll take care of this place——”

“Do you not hear my orders?!”

A tremendous roar imbued with internal qi struck Gwak Hwan-So.

Gwak Hwan-So looked at Geum Yang-Baek with a stunned face.

“Step back! The one who must command the disciples now is not me but you!”

“…”

“Quick!”

“I-I will carry out your orders.”

“And!”

“Yes?”

“You must survive above all! Understand?”

“But, sect leader?”

“Go!”

Geum Yang-Baek half-threw Gwak Hwan-So as he shoved him away.

Then he passed him and accelerated toward the rear.

“You shall not lay a finger on the disciples! You filthy dogs of the Evil Sect!”

Tang Pae’s face contorted in horror.

“Damn it!”

The hand shoved into his sleeve trembled.

For one who uses secret techniques and poisons, trembling hands are utterly unacceptable.

But this was no one’s fault but the situation’s.

Anyone standing on the frontline facing the Ten Thousand People Clan members charging out with murderous intent would feel the same fear as Tang Pae.

‘The poison?’

He still had some. But it couldn’t be called sufficient.

Everything is relative.

Poisons that felt mighty against those camped here and against the Lower District Sect’s pursuers felt utterly insufficient the moment they perceived Ho Ga-Myung’s presence.

But there was no time to calculate.

Because the Ten Thousand People Clan members who had bypassed the faltering Lower District Sect pursuers were raging like a pack of blood-mad jackals and rushing at him.

“Uhaaaah!”

Tang Pae crushed the poison vial in his hand and unleashed all the pressure he had.

The Tang Family’s poison technique was normally operated with utmost delicacy so as not to kill the poison’s potency.

But the poison mist Tang Pae released now carried his desperate state — rougher than usual.

Fwaaah!

A rising cloud of poison billowed forward.

The advancing Ten Thousand People Clan members, like a dark mist, did not slow their charge upon seeing the thick black poison smoke.

‘What?’

Hoping there might be some countermeasure, Tang Pae’s shoulders stiffened.

But the sequence of sights that followed utterly shattered his assumptions.

The vanguard Ten Thousand People Clan members, without a moment’s hesitation, leapt straight into the poison cloud at full speed.

Tang Pae’s eyes widened as if they would split.

An antidote?

No — there was no way they had such a thing.

How could they possibly have pre-ingested an antidote for a poison even the Tang Family couldn’t produce a counter for?

And at that moment.

Paaa-at!

The thick, rising poison smoke.

From that hellish cloud of poison that would smother any living thing, the Ten Thousand People Clan members burst forth in unison.

“Kahaaah!”

With bloodshot eyes, a Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman lunged at Tang Pae and delivered a strike.

Tang Pae, so startled his heart leaped into his throat, couldn’t properly use his technique and stumbled backward almost collapsing.

Kwaaang!

A sword struck the ground where he had stood, and an explosion of sound rang out.

‘The poison didn’t work?’

No!

“Ugh…”

The body of the one who had struck with the sword was dyed pitch black.

It was a symptom of poisoning even faster than Tang Pae had imagined.

The Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman who staggered as if dizzy collapsed on the spot.

Black blood soon heaved up from his mouth.

“Ah…”

And in that moment Tang Pae realized.

They had neither a countermeasure to poisoning nor a way to avoid the poison cloud.

They simply thought that even if they were poisoned, they could rush him and drive their blades into his body before their lives ended.

An absurd strategy.

No, it was the act of lunatics that couldn’t even be called strategy.

But that approach was undeniably effective.

Maybe it wouldn’t work against the Lower District Sect’s pursuers, but these people could take the poison head-on and still muster strength for one swing of the blade.

And the moment that fact was proven, the absolute defensive formation Tang Pae had laid out rapidly collapsed.

“You rat!”

Those who had passed through the poison cloud flew in succession, striking at Tang Pae with their swords.

Those whose bodies were blackened from poisoning, with only a few breaths left before their lives ended, convulsively charged as if determined to drag Tang Pae to hell with them.

“Ugh!”

Tang Pae rolled on the ground in the style of a rolling donkey, narrowly evading the incoming sword strikes.

Having barely escaped, Tang Pae raised his head desperately.

‘The poison pillar again!’

But at that moment what he saw were three blades flying at him with even greater force than before.

As Tang Pae’s eyes widened to the breaking point.

Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwahng!

The Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen who had charged Tang Pae like fiends, spewing black blood from their seven openings, were flung backward as if hit by a shell.

“Young lord!”

“M-monk H-Hae Yeon!”

“Get up! Hurry!”

“Yes!”

Hae Yeon reacted instantly and saved Tang Pae, but the crisis was not over.

“Kraaaaah!”

“Die, you rats!”

Two breaths were spent as he recoiled and twisted his body again.

Those mere two breaths were enough to turn the tide of battle.

The raised poison smoke had been scattered, and through the thinned cloud the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen surged in like a pack of dogs.

‘T-this is the Ten Thousand People Clan?’

An inescapable despair bloomed in Tang Pae’s eyes.

No matter how potent a poison, it requires time to infect its target.

Conversely, even someone poisoned by a toxin capable of killing a dragon needs time before their breath ceases.

If the opponent’s internal qi is weak, that time can be drastically shortened; if it’s strong, more time is required.

And these fellows had no hesitation using that final sliver of time left in their lives to slash at Tang Pae.

How on earth could he stop such people?

“Young lord!”

Hearing Hae Yeon’s shout, Tang Pae frantically launched a hidden blade.

The sudden helplessness he felt against the poison may have driven his choice.

But it was certainly not a good choice.

Kwaduk! Kwaduk!

Tang Pae’s hidden blade, aimed at a crown strike, sank into an enemy’s forearm.

The internal qi on that blade pierced flesh and crushed bone, yet it did not stop their advance.

“Kahaaah!

“A madness seen only on the battlefield.

Inspired by that madness, the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen immediately swarmed Tang Pae and Hae Yeon.