Chapter 202
Silence hung over the inside of Alliance Leader’s Hall.
In the meantime,
‘What is this—what?! How is this situation unfolding? Damn it!’
Hwasangbo, commander of the Horim Unit, which was made up of the young experts Martial Alliance was so proud of, stood there trembling, not knowing what to do.
They were the senior members of the Sarim Unit, who were believed to have perished together in their battle against the Demonic Cult not long ago, and had only recently returned to Martial Alliance after traveling throughout the Central Plains and completing various missions.
Thus, he had been enjoying a comfortable rest inside Martial Alliance with his unit members for the first time in a long while.
Unlike the Sarim Unit, which had acted arrogantly without considering the consequences, Hwasangbo was quick to read the situation and generally conducted himself well.
However, since he too was a talented person Martial Alliance had cultivated with tremendous effort, he was overly brimming with confidence in himself.
Then, seemingly because a disturbance had suddenly broken out within the alliance, martial artists were summoned to Alliance Leader’s Hall.
‘Ah! What now? How annoying.’
Had some demonic fiend suddenly barged in?
No, unless he had gone mad, how could that possibly be true?
All sorts of thoughts crossed his mind, but for the time being, he hurried to Alliance Leader’s Hall with his unit members.
And then,
“Gasp!”
When he and his companions entered Alliance Leader’s Hall, they were so shocked that their bodies froze.
The Martial Alliance Leader, Song Il-do, lay dead on the floor with his abdomen pierced through.
Chief Elder Jang Cheong, whom most of the Horim Unit, including Hwasangbo, respected and followed, had bloodied both hands and was indiscriminately beating to death not only the Martial Alliance’s elders but its martial artists as well.
‘Why on earth is he…….’
Jang Cheong looked as though he had become an entirely different person.
It was enough to make one wonder whether some ghost had possessed him.
Then the four combat units summoned by Jang Cheong appeared, and the savage energy they exuded filled the Martial Alliance’s martial artists, including Hwasangbo, with terror.
More confident in his talent than anyone, he could do nothing but tremble while clutching his sword, crushed beneath the overwhelming martial prowess and killing intent of the enemy.
The opponents he had faced until now were strong, but compared to Jang Cheong—no, they were so weak that they could not even be compared with a single member of those four combat units under his command.
He had no idea what was happening, but he despaired at the thought that today might be the end of Martial Alliance.
At that moment, someone stepped forward alone.
He wanted to shout that it was madness, ask whether the man wanted to die, and tell him to stand back.
But he could not, afraid that doing so would draw attention to himself.
But then,
Thud-thud-thud.
With a single sword stroke whose movement he had not even seen, all four of those powerful-looking combat units fell with their bodies severed in two.
The sheer shock of that martial prowess left every mouth hanging open.
Soon, Jang Cheong’s face twisted like a demon’s, and his eyes flashed.
Then a sudden whirlwind arose inside Alliance Leader’s Hall, and Jang Cheong and the mysterious young expert vanished from sight.
How on earth was this situation unfolding?
***
“Will he be all right?”
Like everyone else, the White Wolf Unit was also keeping a close watch on the black barrier that had appeared in the center of Alliance Leader’s Hall.
At Gi-su’s worried question, O Chae-mu answered with a grave expression.
“Who knows… I don’t.”
“But our commander is strong.”
“That’s true, but……”
Of course, he had no doubts about Yeo Un-hwi’s strength either.
But the unpredictability of demonic arts was the problem.
Even the black barrier that had suddenly appeared was ominous beyond words.
Since the White Wolf Unit still did not know that Yeo Un-hwi was the Heavenly Demon, they had no choice but to feel even more uneasy.
Everyone watched the black barrier with worried expressions.
What kind of battle could be taking place inside it?
Then, at some point.
Crack.
Krrrzzzt.
The black veil slowly began to vanish, as if glass were shattering into countless pieces.
And then,
“Phew.”
Yeo Un-hwi reappeared from within, looking perfectly unharmed.
On the floor lay Jang Cheong, dead in a wretched state, his eyes rolled back and his tongue lolling from his mouth.
Bright smiles appeared on the worried faces of the White Wolf Unit members.
“Commander!”
Every member of the White Wolf Unit rushed happily toward Yeo Un-hwi.
Yeo Un-hwi gave them a broad grin.
That sight was etched powerfully into the eyes of everyone present—not only the White Wolf Unit.
The members of the Horim Unit and their commander, Hwasangbo, who had been more confident than anyone in their own talents and futures, were no exception.
It was the first hero they had ever laid eyes on.
And so, the battle at Martial Alliance came to an end.
***
“Thank you, truly. And I owe you a great debt.”
Jegal Mun, Martial Alliance’s Chief Military Advisor, spoke to Yeo Un-hwi with a bitter expression.
His face was filled with remorse.
It was only natural.
He had summoned Yeo Un-hwi here after making an unreasonable demand of the Hebei Peng Clan, only to subject him to all manner of poor treatment.
And yet, Yeo Un-hwi had resolved the horrific disaster that had taken place in Martial Alliance.
How could he not be grateful and sorry?
Of course, there were other things he wanted to ask besides that.
For instance, what exactly was the power Yeo Un-hwi had just displayed, among other things.
But Jegal Mun did not ask those questions.
Now was not the time to ask about such things.
What mattered was that Yeo Un-hwi had used that tremendous power to stop Jang Cheong’s rampage.
And Yeo Un-hwi liked that about Jegal Mun.
A person who knew what mattered first could even inspire goodwill where none had existed.
Yeo Un-hwi slowly looked around.
‘What a mess.’
The place had become so gruesome that it was hard to believe this was truly Martial Alliance’s Alliance Leader’s Hall.
The floor was a sea of blood, and the bodies of the dead lay scattered everywhere.
But the truly serious problem lay elsewhere.
The very pillars of Martial Alliance had been laid waste, to the point that it was hard to imagine the organization could be salvaged.
Thanks to Jegal Gil, the horrific corruption of Chief Elder Jang Cheong, who had controlled Martial Alliance from behind the scenes, was exposed before the leaders of the Nine Great Sects.
Afterward, Jang Cheong revealed the demonic arts he had been hiding and brutally killed most of the elders, including Martial Alliance Leader Song Il-do.
Although a few elders survived, most of them had been Jang Cheong’s people and were entangled in some of the crimes he had committed, making them unfit for the task.
If anything, they were people who ought to be punished.
In other words, no one remained who could rebuild Martial Alliance.
Only one person remained: Chief Military Advisor Jegal Mun.
Yet even if he was capable, this was impossible through one man’s efforts alone.
And Jegal Mun seemed to be having difficulty accepting the current situation.
It was only natural.
Was this an ordinary matter?
Perhaps after what happened today, Martial Alliance would…….
“Thank you for all your efforts.”
At that moment, Jegal Gil approached Yeo Un-hwi and spoke to him.
His expression looked strangely complicated.
Noticing his feelings, Yeo Un-hwi smiled and nodded.
“You, more than anyone, have worked hard. You did well. And……”
Yeo Un-hwi placed a hand on his shoulder and continued.
“The result you see now isn’t your fault. As an investigator and as a human being, you did what you had to do and merely set right what was wrong. Don’t take the disaster Jang Cheong caused upon yourself.”
“……!”
Jegal Gil’s eyes wavered at Yeo Un-hwi’s words.
Indeed.
Jegal Gil had focused solely on exposing Jang Cheong’s crimes and punishing him.
Yet he had never imagined that exposing those crimes would drive Jang Cheong to such an extreme.
Moreover, a considerable number of people had died at the hands of Jang Cheong, who had mastered demonic arts.
Witnessing it all had left Jegal Gil’s heart unbearably heavy.
Why had he failed to anticipate that situation?
He had been blaming himself inwardly, wondering whether he could have reduced the number of victims if he had prepared more thoroughly and taken better precautions.
Yeo Un-hwi had read those feelings.
Of course, Jegal Gil also knew that what Yeo Un-hwi had said was true.
Nevertheless, seeing the chilled corpses of those who had died, he could not help but feel his heart falter.
And Yeo Un-hwi had understood his feelings and comforted him.
Nothing could offer greater comfort than having someone understand your feelings.
“…Thank you.”
The taciturn Jegal Gil smiled faintly and nodded.
He felt as though he might cry, but he held it back.
The battle had been so exhausting and difficult that he felt the tears would never stop once they began to fall.
When he turned his stinging eyes away, he saw faint sunlight streaming in from outside.
Ah.
It was the moment the long, wretched battle finally came to an end.
***
“I’d like to ask you to stay a little longer, but as you can see, Martial Alliance is in this state, so I hope you’ll understand that I can’t.”
Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit had quickly finished preparing to leave, and Jegal Mun and Jegal Gil were seeing them off.
Behind them, the martial artists of Martial Alliance, including the Horim Unit, stood in formation.
They all looked deeply impressed by the White Wolf Unit’s actions on their way to Martial Alliance and by the martial prowess Yeo Un-hwi had displayed in his battle against Jang Cheong.
Yeo Un-hwi smiled as if to say it was all right.
“I understand. Besides, I already ate well and got plenty of rest before everything became chaotic, so I’m fine.”
“Good. Thank you for saying that. I don’t know what will happen from here on, but we must meet again.”
“Yes. Then.”
After finishing his conversation with Jegal Mun, Yeo Un-hwi exchanged a brief nod of farewell with Jegal Gil, who stood beside him, and mounted his horse.
Soon, he and the White Wolf Unit slowly left Martial Alliance and began heading toward the Hebei Peng Clan.
As he watched their backs growing smaller in the distance, Jegal Mun suddenly glanced at his younger brother standing beside him.
His brother was watching them leave with an unreadable expression.
His younger brother had achieved the goal he had wanted so desperately.
What would his next goal in life be now?
In Jegal Mun’s view, there did not seem to be anything in Martial Alliance that could serve as such a goal.
“Will you go?”
“Pardon?”
“You want to go with them, don’t you?”
“No. I need to stay behind and help you, Brother.”
Jegal Gil did not understand what he meant for a moment, then suddenly started in surprise and waved both hands.
But Jegal Mun spoke firmly, as though he had already made up his mind.
“No. Don’t remain bound by such things any longer. I want you to live the life you truly want, without worrying about what others think. You have every right to do so.”
“Brother……”
“Of course, don’t worry about me. Once this matter is settled, I’ve decided to live differently from before as well.”
Jegal Gil thought over Jegal Mun’s words for a long while, then nodded as if he had finally made up his mind.
“I… Then, I’ll go.”
“Yes, Gil. See you soon.”
“Yes, Brother.”
Soon, Jegal Gil left Martial Alliance in pursuit of the White Wolf Unit.
Thus began anew the life of a man who had devoted everything to a cause and fought in secret, unseen by anyone.
As he watched his younger brother rapidly disappear into the distance, Jegal Mun prayed for him.
May his future no longer be lonely and desolate, and may he have many more days filled with laughter.
He prayed with all his heart.