The Aftermath Of Extermination (2)

Ma-jil explained in detail to Gongsun Gyeong-in about his Hard Metal True Qi, Ihwa True Qi, and Earth True Qi. If the two were to coordinate, Gongsun Gyeong-in had to know about them. Only if he knew at least what roles the wall of earth, the ball of fire, and the iron arms and iron legs played would he be able to strike when it was time to strike and retreat when it was time to retreat.

Dum, dum, dum, dum.

The Ming imperial army did not wait. Since they were being pushed back by numbers, the generals had advised that merely defending in a narrow place was not right.

So the imperial army and the Martial Alliance went out and took positions in front of where the Necromancer Cult was surging in. The fact that war would soon break out made the people tense. Not a single person looked calm.

At last, the front line of the Necromancer Cultists surging forward like clouds came into view.

“What is that?”

It was not yet visible to the soldiers’ eyes, but to the eyes of those called experts, whether by themselves or by others, that appearance could be seen clearly.

Hollow sunken eyes, dark shadows cast over their faces, bodies flailing as if walking through empty air, and even people who occasionally limped. The Necromancer Cultists looked unlike living people.

Even with such appearances, they emitted killing intent while gripping all kinds of weapons, farming tools, and at the very least stones, limping as they slowly approached.

That sight came as terror even to the eyes of martial experts. They were afraid it might appear even in their dreams, that they had to beat to death humans who looked like they would die soon even if left alone.

“Those damned Kunlun bastards. Don’t tell me they didn’t even feed them?”

“Well, there are over a million of them, so feeding each one must have been difficult.”

Even for an army, logistics were a far greater obstacle than battle. Was it not said that in ancient wars, they would even deliberately turn a blind eye to people attacking civilian homes and eating people?

Therefore, from Kunlun’s standpoint, with at most around a thousand disciples, feeding as many as two million people was something they could not even dare consider, and since they had regarded them as consumables anyway, they likely did not care much whether they lived or died.

While the Martial Alliance experts were raging at Kunlun, the soldiers finally also saw the Necromancer Cultists.

“Huk!”

Some soldiers even turned their heads and vomited.

“D-damn it! Better to die instead. How can anyone live like that? Soldiers! Death would be happiness for them instead. Let us help them find happiness with our own hands!”

One of the generals of the imperial army drew his large sword, raised his internal power, and shouted like that. Words could sound very different depending on how they were said. In any case, the massacre had already been decided. But telling them simply to kill them and telling them to grant them a happy death stirred different feelings in the listeners.

“Charge!”

His shout burst out once more.

“Waaaah!”

“Uwaaak!”

The soldiers, who originally were supposed to follow behind the Martial Alliance experts, shouted and ran forward first. Though their numbers were far fewer compared to the Necromancer Cultists, their momentum exceeded them several times over.

The soldier who had been vomiting roughly wiped his mouth with his sleeve and likewise shouted as he ran. In those soldiers’ eyes was a sense of mission, perhaps, to liberate the pitiful Necromancer Cultists, and a strange heat filled them.

“Damn it! What is this? It’s a complete mess. We can’t just stay still like this. Let’s go too.”

A man who seemed to be leading a small unit belonging to the Martial Alliance led the warriors under him forward as he pleased, without even receiving orders, and ran after the soldiers.

That was the beginning. The lower-ranked warriors of the Martial Alliance, who had been waiting for orders, ran out first, and the higher-ups and captain-level figures who had been trying to put on some dignity laughed hollowly and also ran forward. Even so, they were experts who had learned martial arts, so they could not chase after soldiers from behind.

At last, the Necromancer Cultists and the Martial Alliance warriors clashed for the first time. They had not learned martial arts in vain. Those called experts who ran forward with lightness skills immediately overtook the soldiers and attacked the Necromancer Cultists.

Not even screams could be heard. The Martial Alliance warriors attacked to end lives in one blow. Compassion was not something else. So that they would not suffer anymore, at least when they died, the warriors did their utmost to kill them in one strike.

Attacking in this way was actually taxing. It consumed great internal power and mental strength. They would become tired faster.

“Aaak!”

“Kueeok!”

The fact that they had become tired early was soon revealed. The screams the Necromancer Cultists let out as they reached death began to be heard. And at last, the soldiers also collided with the Necromancer Cultists. So the screams grew even more numerous. With the soldiers’ skill, one-strike-one-kill was not easy.

Neung Je-gang silently watched that scene, then turned his head. It was no longer a sight worth seeing. Whatever happened later, the early battle was almost one-sided.

“Let’s go too.”

Neung Je-gang, Ma-jil, and Gongsun Gyeong-in ran as one group. They made a wide detour around the battlefield and struck the Kunlun men, the manipulators behind the scenes.

Jeong Hoe-ja, who had decided on this all-out battle, was repeatedly chanting Taoist invocations while watching the Necromancer Cultists enter the path of death without even being able to use their strength. Though Kunlun was already gone, he still seemed to be trying not to forget that he was a Kunlun man of orthodox Taoism.

“Do you think praying like that now will make your sins disappear?”

The one who found Jeong Hoe-ja was Neung Je-gang. As Kunlun Sect Leader, he had become the puppet of that man called Deung Gak and had brought matters to this point.

“Immeasurable Life Buddha!”

Jeong Hoe-ja had nothing to say. He knew, without needing anyone to tell him, how great his sin was. But even so, he did not want to see Deung Gak, who had been his master, enraged and sorrowful. Fear and affection for his master swirled complicatedly in his heart.

“Stop spouting that damned nonsense and come at me. There are no immortals left in this world who will grant Kunlun’s wishes anymore. If such immortals exist, I will find them too and kill them all.”

Two million pitiful Necromancer Cultists were dying and dying again. The rage of having to simply watch such a sight had now piled up fully in Neung Je-gang’s chest.

If he could not release this rage, he felt as if he would go mad right now.

The war did not end so easily. No matter who looked at it, the Martial Alliance and imperial army had the advantage, but the pressure of numbers stole that advantage away.

Compared to their initial surge, before even half a day had passed, the Martial Alliance and imperial army were being pushed back. The Kunlun men had also used their heads and placed Necromancer Cultists who still had strength left farther toward the rear. Thanks to that, the Martial Alliance and imperial army, who had wasted their strength early on, gradually began to be pushed back.

At that time, a situation occurred that reversed the entire tide of battle.

It began with the death of one person. That person was Jeong Hoe-ja, who died at Neung Je-gang’s hands. Jeong Hoe-ja fought with all his might, but he could not overcome Neung Je-gang’s wall.

“The Kunlun Sect Leader is dead!”

Neung Je-gang’s shout became a blow to the Kunlun men different from the death of Deung Myeong, who had transformed into Deung Gak. After that, the Kunlun men lost their energy. Some resisted fiercely from time to time, but there was no one from the start who could be Neung Je-gang’s opponent.

The blow to the Kunlun men also directly reached those leading the Necromancer Cultists. They were precisely the ones Ma-jil and Gongsun Gyeong-in were targeting. Since the Kunlun men were no longer protecting them, they too had to flee in order to survive. After they disappeared, the Necromancer Cultists were now nothing more than simple lost souls.

No matter how tired they were, martial artists were martial artists. They were stronger than the Necromancer Cultists and still had energy left. Martial artists who had retreated and practiced Breathing Cultivation were sent back into the battlefield one after another. In that way, the rebellion drama of Cheonghae, which had claimed over a million lives, was suppressed.

“It is done. They say we are now driving them back one-sidedly.”

Cheong Yeon conveyed to the princess the news coming from outside.

“That is truly fortunate. Still, I hope the soldiers’ casualties are not great….”

“It is a war we have won, so you need not worry so much.”

The Eorim Institute general soothed the princess’s worries in a gentle tone.

In that way, the war was heading toward its end.

Cheonghae had now become a sea of blood. The blood seeping into the ground had dyed even Cheonghae, which looked like a sea, red.

Smoke from burning corpses rose day and night. The corpses that would have to be burned for months to come turned the area near Seon-yeong into a land of death.

The imperial army handled the bodies of the dead soldiers separately. They were placed in coffins and buried. It was the moment a large communal cemetery was created near Seon-yeong. The families of the dead soldiers would be notified of their deaths in battle and informed of the locations of their graves.

There was no longer Kunlun, and there was no longer the Necromancer Cult. But Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon, who could be called the true masterminds, could not be captured in the end. Neung Je-gang also felt regretful about ending things like this. Since he knew they were the true enemies, he felt bitter inside.

In any case, Princess Jang-ok returned to the imperial palace in triumph. As a woman, she had completed her mission splendidly, no less than the imperial princes. Thus, the emperor’s favor toward her deepened even further.

As the princess returned in triumph, Neung Je-gang’s party also all flocked to Beijing. There was no helping it. Neung Je-gang was still the Deputy Commissioner of the Eastern Depot, and as long as Princess Jang-ok was in the Commissioner’s position, he could not avoid following her.