Rumble, rumble, rumble.
In the end, the great army flying the banners of Wind-Rain Hold marched forth to crush the Red Sky Veil.
The force numbered a full three thousand.
Dam Ung had brought an entire elite vanguard unit that had annexed countless sects before, specialized in large-scale warfare.
Before entering the Fuxian region, he sent one last envoy with a letter attempting to sway Dam Yuyeon.
‘Surrender now, and the Red Sky Veil will be wholly absorbed into Wind-Rain Hold.’
To block any outside interference, Dam Ung stubbornly insisted until the end that he represented only the Wind-Rain Hold.
Dam Yuyeon paid it no heed.
She fortified a defensive line around the Fuxian region—the entrance to the Red Sky Veil—and gathered every mercenary she could muster.
Having managed the market since childhood under the previous proprietor, she was well-versed in military strategy and the art of employing troops.
‘Victory was impossible from the start.’
Facing the Black Flag Society, whose numbers were ten times greater, triumph was out of the question.
Thus, she pretended to establish a solid defense at Fuxian while secretly forming mobile cavalry and martial units into strike squads.
By repeatedly retreating, she lengthened the front line, luring the Black Flag Society into pursuit, then struck their divided forces one by one.
“That cunning wench.”
Dam Ung smacked his lips after hearing his officers’ reports.
He had expected her to use separate detachments to harass his rear while holding the line at Fuxian, far from the main market.
Instead, she deliberately retreated, stretching the front so wide that isolated units were destroyed before support could arrive.
“Well, it’s nothing more than futile resistance.”
The troops currently clashing with the Red Sky mercenaries at the vanguard were not the Black Flag Society’s main force.
Mercenaries fight in ways only mercenaries understand.
To survive on the battlefield, they employ strange poisons, hidden weapons, explosives—nothing is off-limits, no method too dirty.
To counter them, Dam Ung had used his vast wealth to hire over a dozen mercenary organizations, including the infamous Scum-Catchers of Poyidu, the lowest of the low.
“Once we absorb the Red Sky Veil, the annual profits will be astronomical. This expenditure is nothing.” Stroking his chin, Dam Ung gave orders to his aide. “The trash at the front can all fall for all I care. They’re nothing more than meat shields.”
Surveying the battlefield, he bellowed, “Push forward without pause!”
Dam Ung’s strategy proved effective.
Despite Dam Yuyeon’s ingenious tactics, the moment the Black Flag Society chose to press the attack regardless of losses, the mercenaries of the Red Sky Veil lost all strength and were steadily pushed back toward their headquarters.
Dam Yuyeon took a deep breath.
Once the final defensive line fell, the Black Flag Society would storm the heart of the Red Sky Veil.
“So in the end, it was eggs against a rock.”
Staring at the black mountain of troops massed beyond the ridge, she bit her lip.
She had believed her brilliant maneuvers had inflicted heavy damage on the Black Flag Society.
But in truth, she had only annihilated their foremost wave of poison users and hired killers.
“At least some mercenaries who hadn’t joined earlier have come to reinforce us.”
All this time, Dam Yuyeon had always put the mercenaries’ interests first and striven to provide accurate intelligence so they could return alive.
At first, many had refused to throw their lives away in an obviously hopeless fight.
But when they saw her struggling valiantly against the Black Flag Society, they changed their minds and voluntarily joined the battlefield midway.
With most of the mercenaries now gathered, roughly a thousand troops stood with the Red Sky Veil.
Yet Dam Ung still commanded more than twice that number.
Thanks to Dam Yuyeon’s exquisite tactics and the destruction of the foremost wave, the gap had narrowed that much.
“Now it’s all-out war.”
Dam Yuyeon’s eyes were calm, yet filled with bitter indignation.
With the enemy right before them, neither strategy nor tactics mattered anymore.
Only raw power against raw power—an all-out clash—remained.
‘I have no regrets.’
From the beginning, victory had never been her goal. She had chosen glorious annihilation.
“Everyone, give your all and exterminate them!”
At her command,
“WAAAAAARGH!”
The mercenaries of the Red Sky Veil drew their weapons and charged forward.
These were men who had gathered to fight rather than submit to the Black Flag Society.
Fearless, they rushed straight into the enemy.
Then something utterly unexpected happened.
The vanguard troops began collapsing one after another without even being struck.
“What in the world…?”
Dam Yuyeon’s eyes widened as she surveyed the battlefield.
Mercenaries are skilled in every kind of combat and every dirty trick.
Yet there is one type of foe they fear above all: poison masters.
“Poison mist?”
Dam Yuyeon stared in horror.
From the Black Flag vanguard poured formless clouds of toxic qi.
“Poison!”
The mercenaries immediately swallowed antidote pills and covered their faces with poison-blocking cloth.
But poison masters are terrifying not only for the mist they unleash.
Thud!
Even when blades pierced their bodies, only dull thuds sounded.
Most poison masters possess bodies impervious to ordinary weapons.
Their very blood is deadly venom, making close-quarters combat nearly invincible for them.
“Use fire bombs!”
Their one weakness is fire.
Knowing the Black Flag Society had annexed many poison sects, Dam Yuyeon had prepared massive quantities of fire bombs just in case.
Boom! Fwoosh!
As the mercenaries hurled fire bombs, the poison masters’ assault faltered.
Yet the tide could not be turned.
“Argh!”
“Aaaagh!”
Once the poison masters pushed forward, the mercenaries began falling back steadily.
In less than an hour, the entire first wave of charging mercenaries lay dead.
Watching from the rear, Gu Oh spoke to Dam Yuyeon.
“Ma’am, there is no hope. If we keep resisting, that fiend Dam Ung will slaughter every mercenary.”
Then, in an earnest plea, “Why not hand over the hidden ledger?”
All financial flows of the Red Sky Veil were managed solely by Dam Yuyeon.
If the Black Flag Society failed to secure either her or the ledger, they would seize only the land, never touching the vast fortunes accumulated over the years.
“Even if I hand it over, they will never let our people live.”
Dam Yuyeon’s voice was ice-cold.
“If all they wanted was the ledger, they had countless ways to coax it out of me. They wouldn’t have cornered me like this and brought an army.”
Her expression was one of absolute certainty.
“They want more than just the ledger. They will never let our people walk away peacefully.”
“But… that’s only speculation, isn’t it?”
Gu Oh pleaded desperately.
“Are you truly going to watch the mercenaries die like this and do nothing?”
“The duty of this market has always been to fight to the death.”
A profound light gleamed in Dam Yuyeon’s eyes.
“There are still many mercenary markets left in the martial world. The Black Flag Society intends to swallow them one by one, starting with us.”
“…”
“If we show them that some will never submit, only then can the other markets survive.”
Dam Yuyeon’s face remained calm.
‘It is fate. There is nothing to regret.’
From childhood until now, she had seen countless mercenaries die.
She had always known she would one day meet the same end.
That is the life of a mercenary.
There was neither regret nor pain.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Meanwhile, the poison masters tore through the mercenary defense line like a storm.
Soon the line would collapse, and the enemy would flood into the Red Sky Veil itself.
Swish.
Suddenly, Dam Yuyeon felt a prickling at her back.
Gu Oh had abruptly sealed her pressure points.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“They say the one who knows the times is the superior man, do they not?”
Gu Oh smiled faintly.
“If the ma’am dies without handing over the ledger, then I cannot inherit the Red Sky Veil.”
Dam Yuyeon’s face turned pale with shock.
Gu Oh had already been bought by the Black Flag Society.
“Then why help me fight at all instead of subduing me from the start?”
“Because this was the perfect chance to wipe out every mercenary and faction loyal to you in one fell swoop.”
Gu Oh smirked wickedly.
He had not only been bought—he had planned to use this opportunity to eradicate all of Dam Yuyeon’s supporters within the market.
“But I never dreamed the ma’am would fight so fiercely.” He sighed and shook his head. “If you quietly tell me where the hidden ledger is now, I will grant you the mercy of taking your own life.”
His face darkened as he continued.
“But if you keep resisting, I will have no choice but to hand you over to that cruel beast Dam Ung.”
With her pressure points sealed, Dam Yuyeon could only glare.
If she fell into Dam Ung’s hands, her body would be ruined—she would neither live nor die in peace.
“You trusted the wrong people.”
At that moment, a deep sigh mixed with a voice rang out from just outside the tent.
“Is that not why rebellion occurs—because you treat people too softly?”
“Who’s there?!”
Startled, Gu Oh whipped around.
He had confirmed no one was nearby—how could a voice sound so close?
Whoosh.
A black-robed figure wearing a strange, grotesque sword suddenly rose from the ground before his eyes.
Even with life-or-death combat raging outside the market, the newcomer looked utterly bored, almost drowsy.
Do Cheonlin.
“How are you here…?”
Recognizing the face, Gu Oh stumbled backward.
“When the lion is away, the fox plays king. It fits perfectly.”
Do Cheonlin sneered coldly.
“Don’t move!”
Gu Oh swiftly drew a dagger and pressed it to Dam Yuyeon’s throat.
“If you so much as twitch, she dies right now!”
Do Cheonlin was a master whose prowess could not be measured.
The slightest opening would mean Gu Oh’s own head rolling.
Yet something strange happened.
Clack.
The man standing before him was already sheathing the sword he had supposedly just drawn.
‘He was empty-handed a moment ago…’
At the same instant, Gu Oh felt a burning sensation at his throat.
When he touched it, blood was already streaming down a thin red line.
“When did you—?”
Those were the last words he ever spoke.
Thud. Splatter!
Gu Oh’s head hit the ground, and blood fountained from his decapitated corpse.
Thump.
Without sparing the body a glance, Do Cheonlin flicked a finger of qi to unseal Dam Yuyeon’s pressure points.
“Why are you here?”
“To repay a debt.”
Do Cheonlin gazed calmly across the battlefield.
“And I was curious just how bold the Black Flag Society has grown.”
“This is a territorial struggle between mercenary markets.”
Dam Yuyeon shook her head.
“Even if you intervene, it changes nothing.”
Defeat was already certain.
No matter how great a master Do Cheonlin was, he could not face nearly three thousand troops, poison masters included.
“Well, fighting to the death without regret is its own kind of worthwhile life, is it not?”
Do Cheonlin smiled at her.
“And dying on the same day as you sounds rather entertaining.”
Whoosh.
Before she could reply, he shot toward the battlefield.
Drawing his sword, he charged straight at the poison masters rushing the Red Sky Veil.
“Get lost!”
Flash! Swish!
After reading the martial treatise Bu Eunseol had written for him and discussing the profound principles of martial arts, Do Cheonlin had broken through another limit and achieved transcendence once more.
His augmented power sharpened not only reflexes but also mental acuity, insight, and intellect.
Thus, by simply unleashing ordinary-looking strikes at precisely the right moments, he dispatched the charging warriors with ease.
From the Black Flag Society’s perspective, he was merely using commonplace techniques like Sweeping the Thousand Armies, yet white afterimages flashed and heads fell.
Slash! Thud!
There were over two hundred poison masters at the vanguard.
In an instant, Do Cheonlin felled thirty.
That alone gave the defending mercenaries breathing room to reform their ranks.
“Where the hell did that bastard come from?!” Dam Ung roared, brows furrowed.
With nothing more than calm swings of a pitch-black sword, the man was cutting down poison masters like straw.
The face looked familiar, yet the weapon and swordsmanship were utterly alien.
“She must have secretly prepared a top-class mercenary.”
Confirming that Do Cheonlin fought entirely alone, Dam Ung’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
“But that level is far from enough.”
He had not brought only poison masters to crush the Red Sky Veil this time.
He had prepared for every contingency to ensure absolute victory.
‘Failure is not an option.’
As Dam Yuyeon had said, the leader of the Black Flag Society tolerated no failure.
Even Dam Ung, who controlled the Society’s entire fortune, would not be forgiven if he failed with such an army.
“Send in the Insect-Flight Sword corps!”
At his shout, troops waiting in the rear surged forward.
Slash! Whoosh!
They wore grotesque armor that looked like inverted reptile skin and had strange metal devices strapped to their legs.
Each time they leaped, long swords sprang from those devices.
“Argh!”
“Aaah!”
Whenever they landed, sharp blades cleaved through mercenary heads and shoulders.
The mercenaries swung desperately, but the enemies bounced around like grasshoppers, attacking unpredictably—it was impossible to deal with them cleanly.
Having carved through the mercenaries, the Insect-Flight Sword corps soon formed a wide circle around Do Cheonlin and began leaping like frogs.
Kiiiiiiii!
A bizarre screech rang out as waves of green light spread above Do Cheonlin’s head, followed by a rain of jagged sword qi.
They had deployed the Hundred-Legged Blood Insect Formation, the pride of the Insect-Flight Sword corps.
Whoosh!
At the same moment, poison masters below unleashed concentrated volleys of poison palms toward him.
Sizzle! Boom!
Sword qi poured from above, poison palms from below.
Soon Do Cheonlin’s figure vanished entirely beneath the storm of blades and venom.
Shhhhhhing!
Spinning his demonic sword like a windmill, Do Cheonlin continuously repelled the poison mist and sword qi.
Yet these men were accustomed to fighting supreme masters. Whenever the Insect-Flight corps softened the edge of his deadly swordplay, the poison masters seized the openings, hammering front and sides relentlessly, gradually breaking his defense.
‘Should I awaken the demonic sword’s power once more?’
After forging a new scabbard, not only was the demonic aura suppressed, but the sword’s special abilities had been sealed as well.
Do Cheonlin felt no particular regret.
He had read these words in the martial treatise Bu Eunseol wrote:
‘Growing accustomed to convenience halts all progress. If one does not turn approaching trials into opportunities for growth, a martial artist can never advance.’
In any case, a demonic sword corrupts its wielder’s spirit and constantly demands sacrifices and offerings.
To keep his promise to Bu Eunseol, Do Cheonlin fought with the sword’s power sealed, relying solely on his own skill.
‘This too is a trial.’
Do Cheonlin gritted his teeth.
Even if it meant death, he resolved to win through his own strength and achieve another leap forward.
Slash! Thud, thud.
Focusing his mind, he unleashed a torrent of sword strikes, felling dozens more poison masters.
But the Hundred-Legged Blood Insect Formation was the Black Flag Society’s ultimate killing array, responsible for the deaths of countless masters.
Its profound movements produced unpredictable sword qi, keeping him locked in endless attack and defense.
The poison masters never missed an opening, continuously spewing venom.
“Urgh.”
“Ugh…”
While he wrestled with the Insect-Flight corps, the Black Flag forces steadily cut down the Red Sky mercenaries.
‘The line must not break.’
Doubling his inner energy, Do Cheonlin flooded his body with true qi.
He intended to ignore the poison mist entirely and first annihilate the Insect-Flight corps.
Whirrrrr.
Pouring immense power into the demonic sword, the blade began glowing crimson.
“Strike!”
Sensing the danger, the Insect-Flight corps shifted formation again, launching chaotic, frenzied attacks.
Yet Do Cheonlin ignored them and executed his sword art toward the sky.
Shaaaaaaa!
A blood-red rainbow flashed across the clear heavens.
As the rainbow lingered in the air, the Insect-Flight warriors who had been leaping endlessly plummeted powerlessly to the ground.
He had unleashed Blood Flame Catches Shadow—the pinnacle technique of the Blood Flame Saber Art—through the demonic sword.
“Scatter and strike!”
As Do Cheonlin’s attacks grew fiercer, the corps abandoned direct confrontation, using erratic formation movement and grasshopper-like leaps.
Shaaa! Shaaaaa!
Do Cheonlin paid no heed, continuously generating rainbow sword qi.
The moment Insect-Flight warriors leaped skyward, they sprayed blood and crashed to the earth.
Having seized control of the air, Do Cheonlin began attacking the panicked corps members on the ground.
Splatter! Splatter!
Crimson sprays erupted nonstop until every member of the encircling Insect-Flight Sword corps lay dead around him.
“Huff… huff…”
Breathing heavily, his entire body was drenched in sweat, his skin slightly darkened.
Blood Flame Catches Shadow was immensely powerful but consumed vast amounts of true qi.
Having unleashed it repeatedly while steeped in poison mist, his inner energy was severely depleted, and the venom was finally beginning to seep into his body.
“So it’s not enough…”
By then, part of the defense line had already collapsed, and some Black Flag troops had reached the very gates of the Red Sky Veil.
Even if he himself survived this battle, the mercenaries and Dam Yuyeon would not.
In the end, the Red Sky Veil was fated to fall.
Clang! Whoosh!
Suddenly, the loud clash of weapons rang out from the Black Flag Society’s flank.
“Young Master!”
With a thunderous shout, fifteen black shadows charged straight toward Do Cheonlin.
All wore black martial robes, and at their waists hung silver grotesque blades.
“Young Master!”
Finally reaching his side, they dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
Having barely carved a path through the enemy flank, their black robes were soaked crimson with blood from the fierce fighting.
They were none other than the elite swordsmen of the Blood Flame Blade Sect’s Blade Extreme corps—Do Cheonlin’s personal guard.
