C1670 - Because There Will Be a Future (5)
Rumble!
A massive rock detached once again.
Boom! Boom!
Though the cliff was nearly vertical, there was still a slight incline due to the nature of the mountain. Every time the rocks collided with the cliff, a rumble shook the entire mountain, as if the sky was falling.
“Look out!”
With heartbreaking screams, those climbing the cliff hurriedly scattered in all directions.
Though they should have been accustomed to these attacks by now, the outcome of the rolling rocks was still more devastating than before.
“Aaaaah!”
Those caught by the rocks were tossed into the air like rag dolls, while others lost their balance due to the vibrations and fell into the abyss.
Even knowing the attack would come, and despite shouting warnings, it was to no avail.
The warriors of the Evil Tyrant Alliance had already climbed halfway up the cliff. There were so many of them hanging from this steep precipice that it was impossible for everyone to dodge the falling rocks.
If they could, the Evil Tyrant Alliance would have already conquered the world.
Given the situation, every time a rock fell, dozens of lives were absurdly extinguished.
Fortunately, it was night; if it were day, the white cliff of BaekAnAm would be covered in the blood and flesh of the warriors of the Evil Tyrant Alliance.
“Commander! This is...”
“Shut up! Don’t say anything!”
Useless sacrifices. Advancing is pointless.
Who wouldn’t know what words would follow? Even in his own mind, those words had already surfaced several times.
But it wasn’t his place to judge whether this operation made sense.
Those who could judge the meaning of this madness were all at the foot of the cliff. Especially one particular person.
If ‘he’ deemed it meaningful, even if all those clinging to this cliff died, they had to keep climbing. That was the way of the Evil Tyrant Alliance.
Instead of wasting time on useless thoughts, it was better...
The man looked toward the top of the cliff.
He had cut so many rocks that the top of the cliff had changed shape. His eyes were bloodshot.
“Damn bastard!”
How much internal energy was needed to continue this madness?
“Climb! Don’t stop until we chew the flesh of that damned one!”
The venomous voice echoed through the dark gorge.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
The hand holding the sword trembled like a leaf.
Heo Gong’s body was drenched in sweat. Every cut he made to split the rocks required an incredible amount of energy, and Heo Gong had already performed almost a dozen of those cuts.
“Sa... Sasuk!”
The members of the Mu Generation, who were protecting him from behind, shouted with pale faces.
Anyone could see that Heo Gong was at his limit, but no one could replace his role. Not even the elders of the Heo Generation could dare to attempt something like this.
Maybe if they had learned the sword of Namgung or the sword of Peng, it might be different, but performing these cuts with the sword of Wudang, which emphasizes balance and harmony, was simply astonishing.
Even if someone stronger than Heo Gong were there, they couldn’t perform such cuts.
Crack!
The joints in Heo Gong’s hand holding the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword cracked. Clenching his lips, he looked again toward the edge of the cliff.
“Sa, Sasuk! You must stop!”
“We’ll descend the cliff! We can face them from the top!”
Despite the disciples’ pleas, Heo Gong simply tightened his grip on the sword.
They couldn’t yield this place.
His comrades were defending the slope with their lives. He could clearly hear their screams and the last breaths of the dying.
He knew exactly with what determination they were risking their lives. If this place fell... their deaths would be in vain.
If the center broke, Wudang couldn’t handle the overwhelming number of enemies.
Eventually, they would have to stop them from the top of the cliff. But that would involve sacrifices, and even though they had perfected the Je Yun Jong technique, it wasn’t easy to fight from the top of the cliff.
Heo Gong didn’t want to endanger his disciples.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Heo Gong’s sword shone once more.
As long as his Dantian didn’t break, he had to wield his sword once more to stop the enemy’s advance.
Swish!
The crescent moon of cutting energy flew unimpeded, slicing the cliff at an angle. A massive rock was split and slid back down.
“Oh... oh!”
The eyes of the warriors of the Evil Tyrant Alliance filled with despair as they saw the rocks fall faster than before.
“Damn bastards!”
Just as they were about to curse and charge again.
“Chst, it’s painful to watch.”
Someone easily surpassed those in the lead and hurled themselves upward, heading directly toward the massive rock falling with terrifying force.
“What, what?”
At the moment everyone was engrossed in this seemingly reckless action.
Fwoosh!
A brilliant white barrier, so clear it seemed transparent, covered the sky. More than ten, a hundred, more!
Countless shadows of hands struck the falling rock, each with a different movement.
Boom!
The numerous blows resonated in a brief moment, sounding like a great thunderclap.
The direction of the falling rock shifted. It veered significantly away from the cliff.
“Apply yourselves!”
The massive rock, weighing thousands of pounds, narrowly missed the backs of the warriors of the Evil Tyrant Alliance hanging from the cliff.
Boom!
Moments later, a loud crash was heard from the bottom of the cliff.
This meant that the rock that had been tormenting the climbers would no longer roll down the cliff and had finally fallen.
In this nearly miraculous situation, the warriors of the Evil Tyrant Alliance instinctively looked at the man who had intervened. Some of them opened their eyes in disbelief.
“Lord of the Clan!”
“Thousand-Faced Gentleman!”
The Thousand-Faced Gentleman, who stood with his hands behind his back as if the cliff were flat ground, paid no attention to the shouts from behind and squinted toward the top of the cliff.
Though he had slightly diverted the rock’s trajectory, he couldn’t help but admire whoever had been cutting those enormous rocks.
“I don’t remember seeing a swordsman like that before...”
In the past, he had faced a monk from the Shaolin Sect at the Yangtze River. But that monk was no longer in this world.
Moreover, the Master Heo Dojin of the Wudang Sect, who had faced the Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold on equal terms, wasn’t someone who used a sword technique like that.
This meant there was another swordsman at the top of the cliff. One who could match or even surpass Heo Dojin.
If the Heo Generation had reached that level, they would have already shown it at the Yangtze River, so it must be a younger disciple who had achieved this mastery during the years of isolation.
“...Truly, Wudang is impressive. It’s impossible to gauge its depth.”
Before the glory of one generation ends, another begins to shine. That is the most fearsome characteristic of a prestigious sect, unlike the sects of the Evil Faction.
In the Evil Faction, where they don’t care about training the next generation, they could never have this advantage.
The Thousand-Faced Gentleman, Dam Yeohae, sketched a peculiar smile.
He had no intention of intervening directly in this battle. But if it involved such a great sacrifice, especially when most of the sacrifices were members of the Hao Sect, the situation changed.
And also...
A sinister blue aura glimmered on Dam Yeohae’s youthful face.
“If it’s a young dragon...”
He had learned this lesson enough times. Both in the Evil Faction and in the Righteous Faction.
If they don’t crush the snake while it’s still young, one day it will become a monster capable of tearing them apart with just the tip of its claws.
“This time, I’ll make sure he dies before he becomes a dragon.”
Swoosh!
Like a lightning bolt, Dam Yeohae ascended the cliff.
A truly terrifying speed.
Dam Yeohae’s movement technique, known as one of the best in the Evil Faction, unfolded to its fullest, leaving a blue shadow that seemed to split the white cliff like lightning.
Swoosh!
‘I must stop him!’
From the top of the cliff, Heo Gong opened his eyes wide upon seeing the scene. He had to prevent that man from reaching the top.
But in his current state...
“Stop him!”
Before Heo Gong could even shout, the members of the Mu Generation who were protecting him launched themselves toward the cliff.
“What are you doing?!”
“We’ll handle it, Sasuk.”
Heo Gong instinctively extended his hand, but it was useless. His disciples had already begun to descend the cliff.
“You can’t climb here, damned bastard of the Evil Faction!”
“We won’t let you reach Sasuk! We’ll defend him with our lives!”
The eyes of the Wudang swordsmen shone with a blue determination.
Maybe it was better this way, having the chance to fight with their swords instead of staying behind watching Heo Gong fight alone.
“Damn it!”
The one leading the charge descended the cliff, wielding his sword toward the Thousand-Faced Gentleman.
Like a stream flowing through a mountain valley, the clear blue energy of the sword headed determinedly toward the Thousand-Faced Gentleman.
Surprisingly, the sword struck his body.
‘What?’
In an instant, the Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s body dissolved into mist.
“Too naive.”
Thud!
Before the feeling of emptiness from missing the strike could fade, the Thousand-Faced Gentleman struck the side of the Wudang swordsman with a hand technique.
Not intending to knock him down, but simply to push him with an impossible-to-follow speed.
“Ack!”
The Wudang swordsman was hurled off the cliff by the impact.
The Thousand-Faced Gentleman had barely set foot on the cliff when countless swords were launched toward him.
Swoosh!
White, black, blue.
It seemed like a storm of sword energy. A terrifying sight, but the Thousand-Faced Gentleman remained expressionless as he moved indifferently among the falling swords.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The swords sliced through the air.
In a brief moment, the Thousand-Faced Gentleman changed positions dozens of times. Like lightning in the middle of a storm, his movement technique was so fast that even those who had dedicated their lives to the sword were astonished.
Swoosh!
The Thousand-Faced Gentleman pierced through the storm of swords in an instant, ascending higher and higher.
Though those facing him were of an exceptional level, he had also risen among the best of the Hao Sect, excelling to reach his current position.
If it weren’t for the existence of Jang Ilso, his name would be proudly engraved in the history of the Kangho.
“De... detain him...!”
Those who had descended determinedly looked back in despair. They saw the Thousand-Faced Gentleman ascending, his hands creating countless shadows in the air.
But...
Boom!
Moments later, a deafening crash echoed and the Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s hand stopped in mid-air.
“Impressive.”
Among the countless hand shadows, a single true sword had struck him precisely.
The Thousand-Faced Gentleman smiled slightly as he pushed the hand that had collided with the sword.
“What’s your name?”
“Heo Gong.”
“I am the Thousand-Faced Gentleman. Remember it. I will be the one to take your life.”
At the top of BaekAnAm, the hand of the Thousand-Faced Gentleman and the sword of Heo Gong met.
The hand of the giant who controlled the past and the sword of the warrior who had to advance toward the future.
