The Five Eagle Siblings (6)

Bae Jonggwan bellowed toward the Righteous Chivalry Guild.

— I am Bae Jonggwan, eldest of the Five Eagle Siblings! Among the five hundred brothers of the Righteous Chivalry Guild, is there truly not even one more who’ll cross blades with me?!

Even some time after Bae Jonggwan felled Yang Ho-ung, no one came out from the Righteous Chivalry Guild’s side.

Unable to wait any longer, Bae provoked them with a shout, yet even so, the Righteous Chivalry Guild warriors could not bring themselves to step forward.

Yang Ho-ung—whose jaw had been shattered and who’d been knocked senseless by a single punch—was counted among the very best of the Guild’s first-rate fighters.

Tremendous brute strength, inborn agility, and on top of that an excellent combat sense.

Even within the Righteous Chivalry Guild, he was someone others avoided.

So who would dare volunteer to fight the man who had silenced him in one blow?

Hwang Jang-gon’s face twisted further, unable to find an alternative after losing the man he had relied on.

By contrast, Sect Leader Heo Gyeong of the Mountain Sword Sect burst into uproarious laughter among his men.

“Wahahahaha! Oh, this is rich! Out of five hundred men there isn’t a single one who’ll come out?! Wahahahaha! Oh, how refreshing! How sweet!”

He couldn’t remember a time in his life so satisfying. If he could, he would have dashed over to the Righteous Chivalry Guild just to see Hwang Jang-gon’s expression.

After laughing himself clear, Heo Gyeong suddenly came to his senses and called for Outer Commander Heo Jeon-sam.

“Outer Commander!”

Startled—he too had been smiling contentedly at Heo Gyeong’s side—Heo Jeon-sam answered.

“Y-Yes, Sect Leader!”

Heo Gyeong gazed at him with blazing warmth, then rushed in and hugged him tight.

“Oof!”

“You’ve done well! So well! Where did you even find such talents?! This is all thanks to you! My thanks!”

While Heo Gyeong was embracing Heo Jeon-sam in delight—

A warrior on the Righteous Chivalry Guild’s side suddenly shouted,

“Hmph! You got cocky because you happened to beat Yang Ho-ung with shabby external arts! We elders will deal with you!”

Leaping out as they yelled were the Five Swift-Sabre Brothers, quick-sabre masters renowned throughout Sichuan.

All five were first-rate fighters, famous not only for fast sabrework but also for swift footwork.

Hwang Jang-gon had been frowning, unsure whom to send next, but when they stepped out on their own, he let out an appreciative “hoh.”

He could guess what they had in mind.

A warrior beside Hwang Jang-gon asked,

“Will that be all right? The Five Swift-Sabre Brothers aren’t stronger than Yang Ho-ung.”

Hwang Jang-gon nodded.

“They are indeed weaker than Yang Ho-ung. But have you yet seen that Bae Jonggwan move quickly?”

“Eh? Ah, then—”

“Yes. They’ll likely use fast footwork to confuse him and seize the initiative—then try to find a weak point.”

Seonu Jin, hidden, was thinking much the same.

‘If this goes well…’

He spoke quickly to Bi Sayoung at his side.

“Sayoung! Run to Lady Cheong-yeon right now and tell her what I say, word for word.”

“Huh? What?”

“If…”

When Bi Sayoung heard Seonu Jin’s words, his eyes widened.

“What?! Is that really possible?”

“Probably?”

“Heh heh—got it. I’ll go this instant!”

As Bi Sayoung moved toward the Mountain Sword Sect’s side, Seonu Jin also conveyed the follow-up plan to Sak Muhun.

After listening, Sak Muhun replied,

“Understood. We’ll do it that way. But is your friend truly fine? Judging by appearances, the opponent’s plan to press him with movement isn’t exactly wrong.”

Despite the concern, Seonu Jin smiled gently.

“Jonggwan is certainly slower—compared to Sayoung or me. But lately he’s prepared counters for faster foes.”

At that moment, the eldest of the Five Swift-Sabre Brothers, Cho Useon, kept his distance and leveled his sabre at Bae Jonggwan.

“If your external arts can withstand even Yang Ho-ung’s axes, then thrusts will be all the more deadly, won’t they? I’ll take my time and find your weak seam.”

For warriors who tempered the body through external arts, there always existed a seam—a part weaker than the rest.

And the higher one’s external attainment, the more fatal that seam tended to be. Cho Useon had just declared he would find and strike it.

Bae Jonggwan listened in silence, then without a word took the short moon-blade and long shaft from his back and assembled them into a long guan dao—the Crescent-Moon Sabre.

It was the very guan dao Seonu Jin had taken from the Black Market and gifted to him.

Cho Useon snorted when he saw it.

“Hmph! Extending your reach to block my approach? Clever enough. But don’t think that will catch my footwork! Now, shall we begin?!”

With a greasy grin he lowered his stance, poised to spring forward—

Papak!

Bae Jonggwan’s massive body exploded into motion first.

It was a charge like a boulder hurled from a catapult.

“Urk?!”

About to dash in himself, Cho Useon tried to veer aside in panic—

But the sweeping horizontal arc of Bae’s guan dao was already upon him.

Buuuaaaang!

Tracing a vast half-circle, the blade bore down. Cho Useon hastily swung his sabre to knock it aside.

“Eei!”

Impossible.

Cha-kang!

At the instant Cho’s sabre met the guan dao, it shattered like a reed.

“W-What?!”

It didn’t end there.

The guan dao that broke his blade, in the next heartbeat, split Cho Useon’s body itself.

Fwoooosh!

“Gah!”

In a single stroke, his upper and lower halves parted.

It resembled what Yang Ho-ung had done earlier—but the arc was far broader, the stroke more ferocious.

Silence fell like death.

Righteous Chivalry Guild and Mountain Sword Sect alike gaped, aghast.

Only for a moment.

A roar burst out again—this time from the Mountain Sword Sect.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“Incredible!”

“Bae Jonggwan!”

“The Five Eagle Siblings!”

The ones shouting were also the remaining Swift-Sabre brothers.

Only, theirs were wails of grief.

“Eldest!”

“How dare he?!”

“Next is my turn! I’ll kill you!”

“Uyeong! I go first! Wait your turn!”

“But, Second Brother!”

While the remaining brothers argued over who would go next—

Bae Jonggwan lowered his stance again, a chill in his eyes.

Against opponents of this caliber, taking them one by one was tedious.

“If I die, then avenge me—!”

The second brother, Cho Uyeong, was entrusting vengeance to the third, Cho Usang—but he never finished the words.

Papak!

Without warning, Bae Jonggwan charged straight at them.

“Y-You cur?!”

“What are you doing?!”

The brothers raised their sabres in shock—

But already upon them, Bae Jonggwan swept the guan dao horizontally once more.

Buuuaaaang!

With a vast crescent, the blade came through; as with Cho Useon, the remaining brothers could not stop it.

Cha-kang! Fwoooosh!

“Gyaaaaah!”

“Uuuaaargh!”

“Gk-hak!”

“Huurk!”

In a single stroke, four weapons—and four bodies—came apart.

Even for warriors tempered on killing fields, it was a surreal sight.

Tongue-tied, the Righteous Chivalry Guild warriors stared; the Mountain Sword Sect warriors, dazed for a breath, exploded with their fiercest cheer yet.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Adamantine Titan—Bae Jonggwan!”

“Reborn Xiang Yu—Bae Jonggwan!”

Even Hwang Jang-gon of the Righteous Chivalry Guild and Heo Gyeong of the Mountain Sword Sect were left open-mouthed, staring at Bae Jonggwan—

When Outer Commander Heo Jeon-sam, having received a sound transmission from Hae Cheong-yeon, spoke urgently to Heo Gyeong.

“Sect Leader! Now!”

“H-Huh? What do you mean, ‘now’?”

“We must strike now! Such a chance may never come again!”

“Hm?”

At the sudden suggestion, Heo Gyeong looked puzzled—then grasped his meaning in an instant.

He glanced around.

The Mountain Sword Sect’s morale had climbed as high as it could go; in contrast, the Righteous Chivalry Guild’s was utterly sunk.

It was certainly a once-only chance.

True, they had agreed to a day of one-on-one duels, not all-out war—but that was Hwang Jang-gon’s idea. Heo Gyeong had promised nothing.

Even so, he spoke with uncertainty.

“But… there may be two unknown pinnacle-masters, no? If they’re present, no matter our morale, we’ll be defeated…”

Heo Jeon-sam declared with confidence.

“I’ve looked into it separately. It seems those masters have returned to the main branch for a time. At present, the only pinnacle-master on their side is Hwang Jang-gon.”

In truth, he hadn’t investigated—Hae Cheong-yeon had told him. But by now Heo Jeon-sam would have believed her if she’d said fish could fly. Being the Sword Saint’s daughter had been reassuring enough; what the Five Eagle Siblings had shown today moved him beyond words.

And Heo Gyeong felt similarly about Heo Jeon-sam: any man who had brought the Five Eagle Siblings and set them loose like this—his word could be trusted.

Eyes shining, Heo Gyeong asked,

“Is that true, Outer Commander?”

“Yes! I’m certain!”

Heo Gyeong gave a thin, predatory smile and swept his gaze over his men.

Then he raised his voice to them.

— Disciples of the Mountain Sword Sect, hear me!

At his sudden call, the Mountain Sword Sect disciples cut off their cheers and listened.

— Those hypocrites who call themselves the Righteous Chivalry Guild cravenly assaulted us without warning, massacring our Vice-Sub-Leader and two hundred brothers!

That the Righteous Chivalry Guild had launched a surprise attack was a lie. And the Vice-Sub-Leader and two hundred had not died because of a surprise attack, but because the Mountain Sword Sect had proposed talks and attempted to ambush them. But such trifles did not matter to these unorthodox folk.

What mattered was that “they” had struck first—and the Vice-Sub-Leader and two hundred disciples had been slaughtered.

Thus, the disciples—whose morale had been blazing—now boiled with unendurable fury.

“Cowards!”

“Hypocrites of the orthodox!”

“Let’s avenge them!”

“Repay our brothers’ grudges!”

Heo Gyeong waited a beat as the mood ignited, then smiled with satisfaction and raised his voice again.

— Disciples! Can we forgive those hypocrites?!

As one, the Mountain Sword Sect roared back:

“We cannot!”

— Can we forget our brothers’ grudges?!

“We cannot!”

— Then what must we do?!

Drawing their weapons, the disciples thrust them toward the sky and bellowed with all their might.

“Revenge!”

Sect Leader Heo Gyeong himself sprang forward and shouted:

— Yes! Revenge! And now is the very hour! Disciples of the Mountain Sword Sect—follow me!

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

Led by Heo Gyeong, the Mountain Sword Sect surged forward like a tidal bore.

A ferocious charge with not a hint of fear.

“Fools! I was going to let you live!”

At the unexpected assault, Hwang Jang-gon twisted his face and shouted to the Righteous Chivalry Guild men:

“Battle stations—now! Show these unorthodox curs the might of the Righteous Chivalry Guild!”

Then he barked to the rear:

“You two as well—prepare! We’ll take Heo Gyeong together!”

Their identities unknown and their behavior disagreeable, but the Branch Master had sent along two pinnacle-masters, waiting in reserve.

So even if the rank-and-file’s morale had dipped, if the three peak-masters—himself included—killed Sect Leader Heo Gyeong first, the tide would surely turn.

But as he thought this and waited for those masters, Hwang Jang-gon faltered.

The two who should have been in the rear did not advance.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Sword Sect had charged to within a dozen jang.

He had lost the moment to respond while waiting.

He had no choice but to give the order now—another breath and they would take the charge standing still.

“All units, cha—!”

He had forgotten.

There was someone charging far ahead of the Mountain Sword Sect.

“Iron God Meteor!”

Charging like a rhinoceros, Bae Jonggwan slammed into the foremost Righteous Chivalry Guild fighters.

Kwoooooom!

“Gyaaaah!”

“Gkuaargh!”

“Gueeek!”

The sight of a dozen men popping into the air from a single body-slam was unreal.

Having cleared the space around him with one collision, Bae Jonggwan did not stop.

He took one more step, spun his body once, and hewed with the guan dao.

Buuuaaaang!

The great full moon traced by his blade was dyed red.

Jjeojeo-jeong!

Fwoooosh!

“Gyaaaah!”

“Gkuaargh!”

“Spare meee!”

No man, no weapon could halt that blood-red moon.

For mid-first-rate and below, Bae Jonggwan’s monstrous strength was calamity itself.

But the upper first-rates and above grasped at once that Bae’s guan dao was not that fast—and that when he swept horizontally, a large opening appeared above.

So the instant he slashed horizontally again, several first-rate warriors leapt high to crash down on his head.

Papak!

“Got him!”

“Die!”

Given his external arts, they wouldn’t wound him at once—but if they got inside the guan dao’s reach and thrust all over, would not a seam show?

As they lunged to stab—

A man burst out from behind Bae Jonggwan like a flying tiger.

A handsome youth with a long spear—like Zhao Yun come to life.

“Haaap!”

His spear split into a dozen streaks of light, sweeping away the Righteous Chivalry Guild men who were descending on Bae Jonggwan.

Pshshshshk!

“W-What?! Uwaagh!”

“A m-master!”

“Gyaaah!”

Those already dead would never know—but this was the Five Eagle Siblings’ second brother, Chang Hyuk… the man who introduced himself by that name—Seol Pung.

Behind him, the remaining three ladies of the Five Eagle Siblings were upon the Guild.

Fwoooosh!

“Gyaaaah!”

“Aaagh! Spare me!”

And with them came the Gwaesan Swordsmen—Zhejiang men angered and allied—such as the Diancang Sword Tiger, Je Wonyeong, and three of his comrades.

Shwi-i-iik!

“Ghk!”

“Wh-What is this?! Aaagh!”

For Je Wonyeong—the Diancang Sword Tiger, second only among Diancang disciples—there was no such thing as a foe who needed a second cut.

None even saw his blade properly before their last breath.

Seol Pung. Hae Cheong-yeon. Je Wonyeong.

They had disguised themselves as first-rates, but in truth three pinnacle-masters were among them. The Righteous Chivalry Guild could not hope to stop them.

Nor could they form to try.

“What are you doing?! We outnumber them! If you’d only form up—huhk!”

Each time the officers tried to steady the ranks, they died—of causes unseen.

— That makes twelve.

— Seventeen, Seonu. Still too few.

Sag Muhun and Seonu Jin, long hidden and waiting, were assassinating officer-level fighters from out of sight.

The Righteous Chivalry Guild’s formation began to collapse at speed.

Behind them, the Mountain Sword Sect, buoyed by momentum, crashed in en masse; the gap of two hundred versus five hundred had become meaningless.

Hwang Jang-gon could only grind his teeth and watch.

He wanted to rush in and halt the collapse—but he could not.

For before him now stood a fellow pinnacle-master: Sect Leader Heo Gyeong of the Mountain Sword Sect.

Heo Gyeong laughed savagely and shouted,

“Hwang Jang-gon! Why don’t you run your mouth like before?!”

Hwang Jang-gon’s face twisted.

As far as he knew, Heo Gyeong’s inner strength matched his own—seventy to eighty years toward the pinnacle.

It would not be easy to decide a winner.

Their duel would likely be decided more by the situation around them than by their raw skill.

He looked around.

Everywhere he looked, Righteous Chivalry Guild men were being butchered.

A disastrous defeat.