I Will Make Sure That Name Is Engraved (5)

“They’re coming!”

At that shout, Yoon Jong immediately stomped the ground. The Evil Sect ranks flanked them on both sides and swarmed in black masses.

‘Damn it! It never ends!’

They had fought so hard to get out of the gorge, yet instead of thinning, the enemy numbers seemed to have grown.

Of course, those charging now were not the Four Sects Alliance elites but a motley gathered roughly together, ragtag fighters who at best might be second-rate in the martial world.

But even those men in such numbers are a burden. Especially for those exhausted in the gorge, depleted of internal energy and stamina, they were more than a burden; they were a real threat.

“Yoon Jong! Move to the center!”

“Yes!”

Following Baek Cheon’s command, Yoon Jong changed direction and drove into the still-unfinished encirclement of the enemy.

The enemy’s strength was their filthy numbers. But their weakness was also their excessive numbers.

Yoon Jong aimed for the junction where both enemy forces met and trembled his blade. The moment his sword fell from above, the blade-energy that burst forth split the charging men left and right as if parting a sea.

Yoon Jong lunged into the gap forced open and swung his sword again. The sword qi spread in all directions.

Swaaaak!

“Aaaah!”

The enemies fell spraying blood without even getting a chance to act. Not the fastest, not the most intense, but the timely sword strikes were proving decisively effective.

A flicker of astonishment crossed Baek Cheon’s eyes.

‘So steady!’

Even exhausted to the bone and forced to squeeze out the last of his internal qi, there was no wavering in Yoon Jong’s sword.

Perhaps that composure was Yoon Jong’s greatest distinction from Baek Cheon.

But regardless, it didn’t change that Yoon Jong was also pushed to his limits.

“Taaaarp!”

Baek Cheon dove in like a flying tiger into the gap Yoon Jong had made. At the same time his Plum Blossom Sword swept horizontally, instantly bisecting the Evil Sect attackers.

“Ugh, ugh!”

Fear filled the eyes of the Evil Sect men. They were no disciplined warriors of the Ten Thousand People Clan; had it not been for sudden orders, they wouldn’t oppose disciples of Mount Hua. They were only standing their ground out of fear of reprisals.

Baek Cheon had seen and learned, to the point of boredom, how to overwhelm such men with momentum and steer the tide of battle.

Bang!

Baek Cheon stamped his stance and unleashed sword qi in all directions. It looked dazzling, but the energy was hollow, full of empty bursts without significant internal power.

The Justice faction teaches that such hollow displays should not be pursued. Yet sometimes, such tricks can be unexpectedly effective.

“Aaaaaah!”

“P-please spare me!”

Even though the hollow bursts carried no real internal qi, the men who had already been ready to flee screamed and prostrated themselves. Those coming up from behind panicked and backed away rapidly.

Baek Cheon’s eyes flashed.

They now couldn’t bear to charge. But if the moment came when they were forced to meet blades with all these men, even their terrified swings would become threats.

So the best tactic was to break through quickly with minimal collisions.

“Keep running, Yoon Jong!”

“Yes!”

Southern Island Sect’s disciples surged forward along the path Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon had opened.

It’s not easy to move a lake that has stilled. The Evil Sect men who’d been given a path couldn’t throw themselves forward; they hedged, swinging their swords with their backs ready to flee.

“You bastards!”

But Southern Island Sect’s disciples were not men to be felled by such half-hearted attacks.

Swaaaaak!

“Aaaah!”

They simply had the wrong opponents; Southern Island Sect was still a Nine Great Sects force whose skill would be acknowledged anywhere in the martial world.

Moreover, Southern Island Sect’s disciples had gained the missing experience and ferocity on the journey from Southern Island to here. So the ragtag attacks of the Evil Sect could not possibly prevail.

But as always, the fear of the Evil Sect does not come from rare, supreme skill.

“More are coming up ahead!”

“Ugh…”

Baek Cheon’s face twisted for a moment; he saw enemies surging like waves from the front-left.

Judging by their speed, their skill still seemed poor, but their momentum was very threatening. Overwhelming numbers breathe confidence.

Half the battle is momentum. If one hesitated, they’d be swept away in an instant, and then even those who had just been scared stiff would regain courage and charge.

“To the right!”

“Sasuk! That will expose other areas!”

Baek Cheon faltered for an instant. That meant Southern Island Sect, not them, would be fully exposed to attack.

At that moment, a furious voice came from the rear.

“Damn it, don’t stop, keep running!”

“Green Forest King?”

“Don’t stop! If you stop you’ll be encircled! Do you not know what will happen then? I’ll handle the rear somehow, so hurry!”

“Understood! Yoon Jong, to the right!”

“Yes!”

Im So-Byeong’s words were entirely correct. This was open ground. Unlike the gorge, here you cannot hide a lack of numbers.

If they had been in the state before entering the gorge, they might have burst through even if encircled. But now, utterly exhausted, it was impossible. Stamina was drained and carrying the wounded meant mobility was less than half of what it had been.

The moment they were surrounded, there would be no way to break out.

Yet even in this desperate situation, Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong were fully exerting their abilities.

“Sasuk! They’re coming from the left too!”

“Don’t worry about it! Move forward!”

“B-But the gap to the rear is too wide now. We could be split in two!”

“The Green Forest King will hold them!”

“But now…!”

“Go! I’m watching it!”

“Yes!”

Yoon Jong forced the uneasy thought popping into his head away.

Yoon Jong might be better than Baek Cheon at assessing the overall situation and responding calmly; Baek Cheon sometimes tended to be swayed by emotion.

But Baek Cheon’s decisive ability, something Yoon Jong wouldn’t dare imitate, was his decision-making. Yoon Jong trusted that decisiveness utterly, believing Baek Cheon would make the right call.

However, not everyone trusted Baek Cheon as Yoon Jong did.

“Acting Sect Leader!”

Namgung Do-Wei, rushing up from the rear, shouted at Baek Cheon.

“The Taoists behind haven’t arrived yet! We must slow down!”

Baek Cheon bit his lip. Then he spoke with force.

“If you have the strength, help Yoon Jong break the front, Young lord.”

Instead of an answer, he received an order, and Namgung Do-Wei’s face twisted.

“Do you not understand, Acting Sect Leader? The Taoist Chung Myung has fallen behind!”

“I know.”

“You know? Is that what you say as knowing it? What are you thinking? Are you going to use the Taoist Chung Myung as bait and run? Are you sane?”

In an instant Baek Cheon lunged like lightning and grabbed Namgung Do-Wei by the collar roughly.

Baek Cheon’s eyes, full of murderous intent, glared fiercely at Namgung Do-Wei, who stared back in astonishment.

Baek Cheon growled as he spoke.

“If we run back and rescue him, what next?”

“…Acting Sect Leader?”

“What then? What will you do after that?”

Veins bulged on Baek Cheon’s clenched jaw.

“Are you suggesting we all die together nicely? That we’ll be satisfied having done our best to save him and then all drop dead?”

When Namgung Do-Wei couldn’t answer, Baek Cheon let go of his collar as if shoving him away.

It was an exceedingly rude act, but instead of raging, Namgung Do-Wei glared back at Baek Cheon with cold eyes.

“So you mean only we should live? You don’t want to die together?”

Baek Cheon turned his back, ignoring him as if he would no longer engage.

“…If you have breath for words, swing your sword.”

“Acting Sect Leader!”

At Namgung Do-Wei’s shout, Baek Cheon snapped around. The pent-up fury he’d been suppressing burst out.

“Don’t spout off like you know! I’m the one who wants to run back right now even more than you, you bastard!”

Namgung Do-Wei flinched at Baek Cheon’s shout.

It wasn’t the sheer force but the emotion in that voice that struck Namgung Do-Wei hard.

Baek Cheon’s hand trembled as if he could hardly contain the sudden flood of emotion.

“…Help the front, Young lord.”

Baek Cheon said with effort and cast his gaze somewhere. Blood that seeped from his tightly clenched lips dripped down in a thin line.

They’re there.

Chung Myung, Samae, and even Jo Gul.

He wanted to stomp the ground and run right now. He wanted to turn their direction and go rescue them this instant.

But he could not.

Because the one who would despise that choice most would be Chung Myung. That bastard would never allow others to be annihilated because of him, even if it cost him his life.

‘There’s no honorable way to die together. Right?’

Baek Cheon clenched his fist tight, asking that unreachable question inwardly.

Even with a blade at his throat, there’s no giving up. The only thing to think about now is one thing: a path for everyone here to survive.

That was what he’d learned from Chung Myung all this time.

And for that, only one thing was needed.

“…They will definitely come!”

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and shouted. At that cry, Yoon Jong’s shoulder, swinging his sword, trembled faintly. Baek Cheon felt he knew Yoon Jong’s expression without seeing it.

“Because that damn Jo Gul went in my place.”

Baek Cheon said it with conviction, no, with desperate pleading.

“There’s not a single man among those behind who is less than I am. If it’s those people, they’ll come back for sure!”

His eyes burned red with clenched teeth.

“So we can’t fail to open the way and let them die! Understand?”

Fwaaah!

Yoon Jong answered with action, cutting down the charging men in an instant, as if to show he believed those words without needing to say it.

Namgung Do-Wei, who had been staring at Baek Cheon with a complicated expression, finally nodded. Without more words, he gripped his sword and stepped forward.

Baek Cheon closed his eyes for a moment.

‘Damn bastard.’

He couldn’t go back. Even if everyone here went to save Chung Myung, he could not. That Chung Myung would never allow that choice.

Even if all these choices proved wrong and they met that bastard in hell, he’d gladly take the insult of being foolish. But he would never accept the reproach of not being trusted.

Baek Cheon forcibly suppressed the gaze that kept wanting to dart backward.

What he had to do now was not doubt, but simply believe.

Stupidly, blindly.

He saw the Evil Sect masses surging like waves as the opened path narrowed again. Almost as soon as he judged Namgung Do-Wei and Yoon Jong alone could not handle it, Baek Cheon stomped the ground.

Red blade-energy poured toward the Evil Sect like a waterfall.

Kwaaaaang!

In the scattering blade-energy, Baek Cheon’s gaze shone terrifyingly.

‘You must come here, you damn bastard.’

He’d take all the curses then, as many as needed.