The battle in front of the walls was fierce, but not unbearable. One of the reasons for that was Hongryeon.
Using the Yonghwan Sword skillfully and radiating her strong energy, she moved like a fallen star, freely employing the great techniques of Hongseong Divine Art.
Destruction, destruction, destruction.
But that destruction was impressively orderly. The local leader beside me couldn’t help but admire her movements, seemingly grasping the essence of Hongseong Divine Art gradually.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
“Hongryeon has always been amazing.”
“No, that’s not the point… She truly embodies the greatness of Hongseong Sect’s grand disciple.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Sayoon, who remained as my guard, swung her sword to deflect an incoming arrow. The local leader nodded slightly at her, indicating the martial artists led by Hongryeon.
“Facing that many opponents without a single retreat, stepping up to tackle dangers when allies are at risk, accurately reading the flow of battle and cornering enemies… This is the kind of person the military would want to recruit first.”
“Wow…”
“If she wasn’t going to be the next leader of Hongseong Sect, we would’ve surely pulled her into the military…”
With a regretful click of his tongue, the local leader began giving orders to the soldiers.
The Gangshi running towards the walls and the evil monsters summoned by the Demonic Cult jumped up to take positions on the walls.
However, it wasn’t just the soldiers who used to protect Seomhwa Village; elite troops stationed by the Empire were also included among them.
Originally, they should follow my command, but I had already handed over their command authority to the local leader.
I thought he would utilize them better than I could, and indeed, he did.
Hyeonryeong had quickly hidden those elite soldiers among the regular troops, enhancing the overall battle strength, and nonchalantly sniffed at the evil monsters and Gangshi being eliminated.
“By the way… Are you sure everything will be alright? As Yu Seonsaeng mentioned, there should be attacks from the Demonic Cult elsewhere…”
I had briefly mentioned to the local leader before that Seomhwa Fortress might be attacked. If the Demonic Cult launched an assault, they would likely use a distraction tactic to target both Hongseong Sect and my inn.
“We must trust and leave that to them.”
I had told the Sword Saint that in the worst-case scenario, they should just hand over the decision and run away.
But Hongseong Sect is no longer the old Hongseong Sect.
I had poured all my efforts into taking care of their entire lifestyle so that the members of Hongseong Sect could focus solely on martial arts like other sects.
As a result, the strength of Hongseong Sect had more than doubled compared to before, and if they fought within Hongseong Sect, their power could increase even more.
If they fought inside, their power could increase even more.
Based on Heavenly Bright Moon, Yu Jangmok had eight Blood Demons on hand.
Unless something special happened, that number wouldn’t drastically increase.
Right now, there was one Blood Demon on this battlefield.
The others were nowhere to be seen. If we exclude the one here and another one that might have gone to the inn, they probably all went to Hongseong.
And the main forces of Gi Won Yuga that needed attention likely went to Hongseong as well.
Comparing the demonic forces from Yu Jangmok’s surprise attack and those of Hongseong, it would be roughly even, or maybe slightly in favor of Hongseong.
That’s why I told Chaejin that if anything happened, she should head to Hongseong immediately for support…
There shouldn’t be any problem.
“I’m worried something might happen at the inn…”
Of course, my inn could also be in danger. But I could only rely on the guests currently staying there for help.
Since the Thunderbolt Sword King, Namgoong Cheon, and other martial arts masters were staying at the inn, they would take care of the demonic intruders, right?
If not, there was nothing that could be done.
Chaeran, the Moonlight Sword members, and the Murim Alliance folks would be evacuating the residents of Seonghwa Village and protecting them afterwards.
There shouldn’t be a problem.
– Boom!!!
At that moment, a massive thunderclap rang out from the direction of my inn.
“Huh? What’s this…”
The reason Namgoong Cheon was called the Thunderbolt Sword King was due to his martial arts, the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Technique and Heavenly Thunder Qi.
If his martial arts activated, which harnesses one of the most destructive energies from nature, it could be said that no one who survived would be left among the demonic intruders that invaded the inn.
I was listening to the booming thunder from the inn before shifting my gaze toward the castle walls.
The battle was slowly coming to an end.
“Sayoon. Would you like to go down?”
In battles like this, one could earn fame, and from that, they could develop a title.
If she shone in such a large-scale battle against the demonic forces, building her reputation wouldn’t be a difficult task.
“No.”
However, Sayoon firmly declined. She looked up at me and smiled brightly.
“My role is to protect you, Mister.”
“Haha… right.”
If that’s what she says, then who am I to argue?
I patted Sayoon’s head, and with a cheerful grin, she swung her sword to deflect another incoming evil monster.
When Hongryeon’s cooldown for her special technique ‘Dragon Wave’ was over, she lifted the Dragon-Invoking Sword once again, and a powerful wind swept away the gangshi, evil monsters, and the crowd of demonic forces in one fell swoop.
When it ended, she raised the Dragon Slayer Sword once more, and a mighty wind swept away the Gangshi, evil monsters, and marauding magic cultists all at once.
With that, the tide of battle quickly turned in favor of the defenders.
Eventually, the illustrious leader of the Gangshi, Jeongwang, had no choice but to grit his teeth and step forward.
But there was no miracle. After about ten clashes, his head flew into the air.
After having faced the magic cultist’s weakness of ‘separation of head and body,’ even the notorious Jeongwang couldn’t hold on.
With his death, the Gangshi also failed to sustain their offense and began to crumble slowly. I sighed as I watched it unfold.
“It seems the battle is coming to an end.”
“Is that so? Everyone’s had a tough time.”
“What have I done? It was the others who fought.”
I casually turned my head away from Hongryeon, who was lightly lifting Jeongwang’s head to declare victory, and those who were taking care of the remaining remnants.
There had been no significant change in Hongseong Mountain, where the thousand-day plum blossoms were in full bloom.
I wondered if everything was alright over there.
Just then, black smoke began to rise from deep within Hongseong Mountain. The Seongju looked flustered upon seeing it, but that was the signal I had instructed Chaejin to send.
The black smoke indicated that we had successfully fended off Yu Jangmok’s ambush and signaled that Yu Jangmok had been defeated.
“It seems the forces from Yangdong that attacked Hongseongmun were also well dealt with.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief.”
The Seongju let out a sigh of relief as he gazed outside.
The battle was coming to a close.
In other words, it meant they had survived the magic cult’s attack.
Seeing a smile creep onto the Seongju’s face, I offered him my congratulations.
“Congratulations.”
“Ahem.”
The Empire designated the magic cult as national traitors and rewarded those who dealt with them.
This meant that the Seongju, who had thwarted such a massive attack, would receive a hefty reward.
Perhaps this time he’d be promoted a few ranks.
“Aren’t you going to be promoted and leave Seomhwasung?”
“Haha. How could that be? I intend to bury my bones right here.”
The Seongju laughed heartily and patted my back. I returned his smile before glancing down at the castle. The battle was wrapping up, and weary warriors were returning.
“Yu Wol!!”
Despite her exhausted appearance, Hongryeon sprinted toward me and leapt into my arms. The scent of sweat and blood overwhelmed my senses. I tightly embraced her slender waist, and she, enjoying it even more, pulled me closer.
She ran over and jumped into my arms. The scent of her body and the smell of blood tickled my nose. I tightly hugged her slender waist, and Hongryeon only seemed to enjoy it more, pulling me in tighter.
“You two really suit each other.”
Seongju chuckled as he watched Hongryeon hanging onto me. With a bright smile, she looked at him, and he crossed his arms while glancing around at those returning.
“By the way, Nakilseonggeom. You seem to be doing well as the leader of a group now.”
“Oh… is that so?”
“Leading people and directing battles—you seem more than capable. And even if there’s something you lack…”
Seongju pointed at me.
“With Shinsan Seonja by your side, you shouldn’t worry at all, right? Excluding physical strength, there’s no one else who could be as helpful as that.”
“Hehehe. That’s true, isn’t it? Yu Wol, do you think so too?”
“Indeed.”
I guess my approval made her happy. After slowly pulling away from my embrace, Hongryeon started to ruffle Sayoon’s hair playfully.
“Aha! Sayoon, did you hear? Did you hear?”
Overjoyed, she kept lifting and dropping Sayoon’s long hair with her hands. Then she picked her up and spun her around, scratching her head and laughing awkwardly.
“Still, becoming a great writer is probably a stretch.”
“Haha, that’s a bit too humble. Anyway, it seems there’s no great danger for now, so let’s head back.”
Seongju casually said as he descended from the wall. So did Hongryeon, Sayoon, and I.
As we reached the lower level, we spotted two women approaching.
The Sword Saint and Chaejin.
“What happened?”
“Hehe.”
Chaejin beamed as she showed off a bag dripping with blood in her hand.
I chuckled as I accepted the bag from her.
I recognized the face inside.
It was the head of Yu Jangmok, the master of Gi Won Yuga.
A mix of shock, anger, and fear washed over me as I gazed at the severed head.
“Yu Gong, why did you only bring the head?”
“The body is here too.”
“We should burn it.”
“AHAHAHA…”
“By the way, considering it’s the head of the Gi Won Yuga master, we can call him a treasonous criminal, right? Now that we’ve captured him…”
Seeing that, Seongju relaxed and spoke calmly.
“Yeah, sounds like a hefty reward. You might get a grand acknowledgement from the palace.”
That sounds great!
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