Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1261: I Will Not Send You Alive. (1)

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Thud! With every impact on the ground, a tremor surged through his legs and into his chest. It was likely the cause of the overwhelming pressure in his chest, making it feel as though it would explode. ‘Faster!’ His feet pounded the earth with a frenzied rhythm, yet his body felt uncharacteristically sluggish. The battlefield wasn't a great distance away; normally, he could reach it in a single leap. Now, however, the distance seemed unyielding, no matter how swiftly he ran. Could he have weakened? No, that was impossible. Gwak Hwan-So understood; it wasn't that he was slow, but rather that *they* were incredibly fast. He was running with more speed and focus than ever before, yet their abilities were so vastly superior that any comparison felt meaningless. “Damn it!” Gwak Hwan-So slammed his foot down again, spurred by a rising sense of panic. “S-sahyung!” A sharp cry echoed from behind him, but he didn't falter, not even for a moment. ‘This place!’ Thud! Gwak Hwan-So’s body propelled forward with even greater urgency. “This is Southern Island!” Mount Hua might possess greater strength. The Namgung clan or the Tang Family could certainly be more powerful. But this was a critical defense of Southern Island itself. Even if the Southern Island sect were less formidable, they could not simply relinquish their duty and allow others to claim their achievements. Yet, the envoys from the Heavenly Friends Alliance, who had engaged the enemy first, seemed oblivious to Gwak Hwan-So’s internal turmoil, pressing the Ten Thousand People Clan with immense force. It was as if they intended to render the disciples of Southern Island into mere spectators. “Aaaaah!” Gwak Hwan-So screamed, his chest burning, and surged forward. The elders, including Geum Yang-Baek, shared his resolve, launching themselves at the enemy like arrows loosed from a bow. ‘Faster!’ Moving with the predatory grace of a leopard, Gwak Hwan-So lunged directly at the members of the Ten Thousand People Clan, whose bewilderment was palpable. “This is Southern Island! You bastards!” Fwoooom! The lethal martial art of the Southern Island sect, the Wave Blast Sword Technique, unleashed its fury, resembling crashing ocean waves. The wave-like sword intent emanating from Gwak Hwan-So’s blade instantly engulfed the Tiger Ghost Troops. “W-what!” Whether stunned by the sudden influx of fighters or still recovering from the Heavenly Friends Alliance’s assault, the members of the Ten Thousand People Clan, who had raised their weapons to defend, were helplessly swept away by Gwak Hwan-So’s devastating sword technique. “Aaaaargh!” A deep gash opened across a chest, and crimson blood erupted. Simultaneously, a searing heat surged within Gwak Hwan-So’s own chest. Blood! As a proud disciple of Southern Island, an inheritor of the Justice faction’s legacy, it felt improper to voice it, yet how long he had yearned to spill the blood of these vile warriors. How eagerly he had awaited the moment to strike them down with his sword. Boom! Carrying the momentum forward, Gwak Hwan-So struck with decisive force and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Drive out all the villains who invaded Southern Island! Do not fall behind the Heavenly Friends Alliance!” “Yes, sahyung!” Gwak Hwan-So charged onward. He now grasped the true meaning of his blood boiling. ‘This is real combat!’ In that very instant, he realized with renewed clarity that he had never truly taken a life before. He had dedicated his life to training as a disciple of the esteemed Southern Island sect of the South Sea; it might seem peculiar that this was his first time actually felling an opponent. However, the disciples of Southern Island had seldom faced life-or-death struggles. Disputes within the Southern Island sect were infrequent, and the island's peaceful nature offered little opportunity for acts of heroic adventurism. And yet, their inaugural true confrontation was against none other than the Ten Thousand People Clan of the Four Sects Alliance! It was inevitable that he would be filled with such fervor. Gwak Hwan-So tightened his grip on his sword. Tales of Mount Hua’s legendary exploits had reached even the distant shores of Southern Island. How could Gwak Hwan-So be unaware of their formidable reputation? Each time he heard these chronicles, a surge of pride and competitive spirit ignited within him. He had sworn countless times that one day, he too would face adversaries as mighty as those from Mount Hua. That long-cherished aspiration was poised to be realized today, right here. ‘I can do it too!’ Gwak Hwan-So clenched his teeth and surged forward like a streak of lightning. “Taaaah!” His sword whistled through the air. The solid earth beneath his feet. The powerful surge of internal Qi coursing through his body. The firm grip of the sword's hilt in his palm! And above all, the profound sense of perfect harmony! This, he realised, must be what it means to become one with the sword. His blade plunged, swift and true, towards a member of the Tiger Ghost Troop, whose face remained etched with utter bewilderment. Kaaang! At that crucial moment, a searing pain shot through his wrist, and Gwak Hwan-So involuntarily gasped. His sword had been halted by a massive blade, raised in an instant. Despite exerting his full strength, the blade of the Tiger Ghost Troop warrior had blocked his assault as unyieldingly as solid rock. “No...”

Flustered, Gwak Hwan-So stared into the eyes of the Tiger Ghost Troop member. Through the narrow opening where blade met steel, he noticed the bloodshot irises, and the fervent heat that had previously surged within his chest began to dissipate into a chilling dread.

The Tiger Ghost Troop member let out a sneer and murmured,

“This brat…”

Bang!

With a startling impact, Gwak Hwan-So was shoved backward, stumbling further with each step. The palm that had intercepted the blade was now lacerated, and dark red blood began to flow.

Yet, there was no moment to dwell on the pain as the enraged Tiger Ghost Troop member launched an all-out assault.

“Brattt!”

Kwaaang!

Gwak Hwan-So instinctively raised his sword to parry the incoming blade, only to be violently thrown back once more. The arm wielding his sword felt as if it were being crushed from the shoulder down. Unable to withstand the formidable clash of internal qi, he suffered significant internal injuries, causing blood to well up in his throat.

‘They’re... too strong...’

They possessed an overwhelming strength, far exceeding that of the soldiers who had been so easily routed moments before.

‘Why?’

In that instant, Gwak Hwan-So finally grasped the magnitude of his miscalculation.

Their apparent weakness had only been a result of the Heavenly Friends Alliance's vanguard being even more powerful. In reality, these were the formidable blade masters of the Ten Thousand People Clan, feared across the land.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, they were opponents Gwak Hwan-So could not possibly face alone.

His initial successful strike had been a fluke, possible only because they were still disoriented from the earlier onslaught. Confronting them directly with pure skill alone was an impossible feat.

Caught in the exhilaration and inflated confidence from his first successful move, he had momentarily lost sight of this critical fact.

‘S-such a grave mistake...’

But as is often the case, regret arrives too late, no matter how swift the realization.

“Die!”

With no time left to properly lament his error, the blade wielded by the Tiger Ghost Troop member slashed towards his chest.

“Ugh!”

Kakang!

Gwak Hwan-So desperately maneuvered his sword to block the incoming saber. Pouring his internal qi into the defense, he managed to deflect the blade's trajectory, but his sword was violently knocked aside.

His throat left momentarily vulnerable, the Tiger Ghost Troop's blade lunged again, moving with an even greater velocity than before.

“S-sahyeong! Noooo...”

The world around him seemed to decelerate.

Lee Ja-Yang’s scream of terror echoed as if submerged beneath water. The descending blade appeared to move so leisurely that a fly could have landed upon it.

‘Ah...’

Yet, within that same distorted perception of time, Gwak Hwan-So found himself equally slowed. Despite his desperate struggles, he was utterly incapable of evading the saber aimed directly at his throat.

‘Damn it...’

As Gwak Hwan-So, bracing for the inevitable end, closed his eyes tightly, an unforeseen element abruptly entered his field of vision.

‘A sword?’

A sword with a blade of white steel shot through the air at incredible speed, intercepting the lethal strike aimed at Gwak Hwan-So’s throat.

However, to Gwak Hwan-So, the intervention appeared to be a futile gesture. In a contest of raw power, was a heavy saber not inherently superior to a slender sword?

Yet, the unfolding events before his very eyes pulverized that ingrained notion.

Kaaang!

The instant the sword met the saber, the sword audaciously twisted, absorbing and dissipating the full force of the saber's blow. Simultaneously, the intent emanating from the sword effortlessly sent the heavy saber recoiling, as if it were a mere piece of paper.

‘What?’

Gwak Hwan-So clearly observed the contorted expression on the Tiger Ghost Troop member's face. His wrist spasmed and trembled; he was clearly experiencing the same agonizing pain Gwak had just moments ago.

The sword that had so decisively repelled the saber did not cease its assault there.

Fwoooom!

The white sword moved with fluid grace, etching an almost ethereal arc through the air – appearing straight yet curved, sharp yet impossibly smooth.

Startled by the swift advance of the sword aimed at his neck, the Tiger Ghost Troop member desperately twisted to evade.

Sssst.

The razor-sharp edge of the sword grazed the Tiger Ghost Troop member’s neck as it passed.

Within that again-slowed sensation, Gwak Hwan-So saw with perfect clarity: the skin on the Tiger Ghost Troop member’s neck split, and droplets of blood spattered from the wound.

‘He dodged it...’

Gwak Hwan-So's eyes widened in astonishment.

The sword, having merely skimmed the Tiger Ghost Troop member's neck, abruptly halted its momentum in mid-air before retracting at twice the speed of its initial thrust.

In that brief, critical instant, Gwak Hwan-So witnessed it all.

He saw the sword, now recovered and tracing a trajectory distinct from its previous lunge, slice cleanly through the Tiger Ghost Troop member’s neck.

Shik!

A look of profound shock slowly spread across the Tiger Ghost Troop member’s face, which had moments before conveyed relief at evading the fatal blow. That shock quickly morphed into despair, and finally, into sheer, unadulterated terror.

Thud.

Blood erupted from the severed neck of the fallen Tiger Ghost Troop member, staining the white sand and spreading outwards.

Gwak Hwan-So was rendered speechless. A profound chill snaked up his spine, and it wasn't solely from his narrow escape from death.

‘This... their unparalleled skill.’

He clearly perceived and understood the immense chasm in ability separating the members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance from these formidable warriors.

How many among the assembled observers would truly comprehend that the fallen foe had been dispatched not by a mere single strike, but by the sheer mastery of this lone sword?

Gwak Hwan-So, filled with terror and faltering in his movements, might have initially convinced himself that his first blow had indeed decapitated the foe. Should he examine the man's corpse later, he would then discover not one, but two distinct cuts on the neck, leaving him perplexed.

He came to understand: true mastery isn't displayed with ostentatious flair, but rather concealed within fleeting moments imperceptible to the common eye.

“Are you unharmed?”

“...Yes? Ah... yes!”

Gwak Hwan-So gazed upwards, his expression vacant. Before him stood a comely man, adorned in the pristine white attire of a hero.

“Ah...”

“You are not engaged in solitary combat! You fight alongside your fellow disciples. Remember, this is not merely the struggle of one young hero, but the war of the Southern Island Sect.”

Gwak Hwan-So, still in a state of bewilderment, nodded distractedly. The man inclined his head in return.

“In that case...”

The man turned; Baek Cheon, with a swift flourish, drew his sword, dislodging the crimson droplets from its blade as he uttered his next words.

“Let us proceed to capture the vessel.”

“...Understood!”

Gwak Hwan-So gritted his teeth, observing Baek Cheon forge ahead. He then bellowed.

“Follow the Acting Sect Leader’s command!”

“Yes, senior disciple!”

Disciples of the Southern Island Sect, draped in azure robes, engulfed the remnants of the Tiger Ghost Troop like a relentless tide surging against the shore.

Brilliant white sword energy dispersed like sea spray upon the azure expanse, and across this maritime tableau, crimson-petaled blossoms of blood unfurled in spectacular display.