Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Chapter 48. The Invincible Sect (2)

The party stepped outside the inn.

They walked towards the source of the commotion.

They didn't have to go very far.

As if they weren't even concerned about the intervention of the authorities, the battle was taking place in the middle of the main road, just a few feet away.

Chaeng! Cha-chaeng! Peo-eok!

“Y-you despicable righteous faction bastards! Do you, Jang Mak-su, still go around spouting nonsense about righteousness and chivalry with that mouth of yours?!”

“Hmph! Well said! I've turned a blind eye until now, but today I will surely teach you what true chivalry is!!”

The battle was a chaotic melee.

About fifty people in total from both sides were entangled, fighting like madmen.

Fortunately, it was not difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.

One group was using swords in unison, while the other was clashing with trained bare bodies and fist and kick techniques.

But for all their spirited clash, the fight was tilting quite one-sidedly.

The bare-bodied men fell to the ground one by one.

Those who were still standing did not look to be in good condition either.

It seemed they had already sustained some injuries before the battle began.

“…Unfortunately, the side that is losing miserably seems to be the Invincible Sect we were about to visit.”

At that moment, Gongson Su spoke.

A head-on clash between the righteous and evil factions.

She didn't know the reason, but since she had seen it, she couldn't just pass by. Haa, letting out a small sigh, Gongson Su placed her hand on Eon Mi-hee's shoulder.

“Unni, could you take care of the leader of those sword-wielding righteous faction guys?”

Flinch, Eon Mi-hee flinched.

In the center of the main road where the battle was taking place, those who appeared to be the leaders of both sides were facing each other.

But like their fellow disciples, the bald man on the Invincible Sect side was on the verge of collapsing.

The sword of the man from the righteous faction, called Jang Mak-su, began to leave sword wounds all over the bald man's body.

“He seems to be around the first-rate level… it’s difficult for me or Young Master Pa to fight without killing.”

Finally, she would face the righteous faction.

Eon Mi-hee, with a slightly complicated expression, finally nodded her head. Lee Byeok also took a step forward and was about to draw his sword.

“Ah, Orabeoni, you stay put.”

“It seems we can handle it on our own. We don’t even know the situation well, so there’s no need to pull out a butcher’s knife to catch a chicken, right?”

Lee Byeok felt awkward.

Gongson Su turned back to Eon Mi-hee.

“Please, Unni. The sooner you finish, the less blood of the enemies will flow.”

Eon Mi-hee, who had already equipped her gauntlets, immediately kicked off the ground. She blocked the sword of Jang Mak-su, who was just about to deliver the final blow.

Jang Mak-su, who had been wearing a triumphant expression with victory in sight, let out a flustered sound.

Eon Mi-hee did not speak. Nor did she give her opponent time to speak.

The attacks extending from her entire body relentlessly stormed and began to corner Jang Mak-su.

“Wow, she fights well, as expected. That Unni gets serious right away when people’s lives are on the line.”

“Alright, shall we go too? I said that, but let’s try not to kill if possible. If we see blood, it will be difficult to clean up the aftermath.”

Soon, Gongson Su and Pa Jin-seong also joined the melee.

And as soon as the two joined, the tide of the battle began to turn rapidly.

The twenty or so enemies all seemed to be at the level of just having reached the second-rate at best.

Even as individuals, they were no match for Gongson Su and Pa Jin-seong.

Let alone when the two were coordinating, it would be even more difficult to inflict a single wound.

The enemies who had charged in without knowing any better began to fall with sword wounds here and there.

There was no need to worry about the two.

In Lee Byeok's judgment, if it was just about holding on, there would be no problem even if they were surrounded by not just twenty, but more than double that number of enemies.

In the meantime, a fierce impact sound erupted.

When Lee Byeok turned his gaze, he saw the enemy leader kneeling on the ground, clutching his chest with a defeated expression.

“…Withdraw your disciples. Before it’s too late.”

Opposite him stood Eon Mi-hee in a posture of having just thrown a straight punch. She quietly withdrew her fist.

“Y-you wench…! How dare you!!”

The great disciple of the Righteous Sword Sect, Jang Mak-su, only then looked around. He confirmed that the disciples of his sect were rapidly falling.

Eudeudeuk, his teeth ground.

It had been a done deal.

But due to some unknown brats who suddenly appeared, he had lost the upper hand.

However, the momentum had clearly shifted to the other side. There was no point in stubbornly holding on here.

Jang Mak-su pulled back.

He let out a furious cry.

“Disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect, listen!! The villains have brought reinforcements!! For a future victory, we will retreat from this place for now!!”

“G-great senior brother?!”

The disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect, who were being relentlessly ravaged by the blades of Pa Jin-seong and Gongson Su, only then turned around.

Seeing their great senior brother showing his back, they hastily followed. They did not look back at their fellow disciples who were groaning on the ground.

“Hmph, what a great righteous sect we have here?”

Pa Jin-seong sneered, resting his sword on his shoulder.

The party did not pursue them.

Thus, all the disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect who could walk on their own two feet left the place in an instant.

When they looked back, the blank gazes of the bloodied and battered Invincible Sect men were pouring onto the party.

“A pleasure to meet you. You are the disciples of the Invincible Sect, right?”

Gongson Su stepped forward.

“Greetings. I am Gongson Su of the Flying Dragon Squad, a newly established military unit of the Evil Faction Alliance. And this is—”

“E-Evil Faction Alliance?!”

“Did you say Evil Faction Alliance?!!”

The moment the words ‘Evil Faction Alliance’ came out of Gongson Su's mouth, a commotion began to spread.

“Keuuu! See! I told you, you bastards! The Evil Faction Alliance, the Paewang Family wouldn't abandon us! There's no way! Sob, keuhung-hung! Euhung-hung-hung!”

At that moment, the bald man slammed his fist on the ground. And then he suddenly began to cry his heart out.

But that was only the beginning. Starting with the bald man, loud wails erupted from here and there.

“Keuhung, keo-heo-heo-heong!”

Gongson Su let out a troubled sound.

It was only two years ago that the Righteous Sword Sect, a new martial sect advocating the righteous path, established its base in Huaihua and began to recruit disciples.

Thus, Huaihua, which until then had been recognized as the territory of the evil faction led by the Invincible Sect, instantly became a land in the middle of the righteous and evil factions.

Naturally, the Invincible Sect resisted.

Wasn't the righteous faction setting foot on the land south of the Yangtze River a direct violation of the Pact of Yueyang?

But all that came back from the Righteous Path Alliance was a formal reply that they could not interfere in the affairs of a sect that did not belong to the alliance.

“Hmph, it’s a matter where the typical dark intentions of the righteous faction guys are clearly visible! Yes! Heaven and earth know that the Righteous Sword Sect leader is from a vassal family of Diancang, so how could there be no relationship?!”

Tang! Pyo Wang-ho, the great disciple of the Invincible Sect, beat his chest in frustration.

In any case, there was no way a small and medium-sized evil faction in the vicinity could easily stand up to the martial arts of the Righteous Sword Sect, which inherited the lineage of Diancang.

The Righteous Sword Sect quickly expanded its influence and soon began to gnaw away at the territories of the nearby evil factions under all sorts of forced pretexts.

The evil faction forces, which had belatedly united around the Invincible Sect, barely managed to stop them, but they could not curb the growth of the Righteous Sword Sect.

Therefore, the Invincible Sect tried to seek help.

“But… by that time, there was no one left around to ask for help.”

Originally, Hunan was a territory protected by the Paewang Family, but the Paewang Family had virtually closed its doors.

In the first place, if the Paewang Family had not been in a state of seclusion, the likes of the Righteous Sword Sect would not have been able to set foot on the land of Hunan.

And the situation in other regions of Hunan was the same as or even worse than that of Huaihua, where the Invincible Sect was located.

As if by arrangement, the forces of the righteous faction began to take root in almost all regions of Hunan at once.

The only fortunate thing was that the Diancang Sect, perhaps conscious of the Evil Faction Alliance’s intervention, did not directly provide support.

Thus, for about two years, a precarious coexistence between the righteous and evil factions had continued on the land of Hunan. However.

It was just fifteen days ago.

The Righteous Sword Sect declared that its disciples had been attacked by mysterious assailants and that they would hold the evil faction forces responsible.

The small and medium-sized sects of Huaihua, who were not even properly prepared, suffered the humiliation of having their sects occupied one after another by the sudden attack.

Enraged by this, the leader of the Invincible Sect personally led his disciples to recapture them, but he too was defeated by the Righteous Sword Sect leader and barely escaped with his life, his condition now critical.

“Keuheuh, d-damn it……!”

Currently, the training ground of the Invincible Sect, where the party was located, was packed to the brim with the injured.

It wasn't just the disciples of the Invincible Sect.

It seemed that most of the disciples from the nearby small and medium-sized evil factions, who had barely escaped with their lives and taken refuge in the Invincible Sect, were gathered there.

It was, so to speak, the last bastion.

But of course, with their battered bodies, they couldn't even be a proper fighting force.

It seemed that the remaining disciples of the Invincible Sect, who had been fighting the disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect earlier, were in fact the last fighting force on the evil faction's side.

And even they were injured.

“…Even so, it’s hard to believe. That the local forces were wiped out at once by a righteous sect that was established only two years ago……”

Gongson Su thought of the battle a little while ago.

The disciples of the Righteous Sword Sect were not weak, but they were not at such a difficult level either.

If the Invincible Sect disciples had been in good condition, it would have been a fight worth trying even without them.

But… why were the enemies fine in the first place, while only the Invincible Sect disciples were unilaterally injured?

“Th-that… is truly shameful, but! Those bastards despicably crossed the line! Yes!”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ppadeudeuk, Pyo Wang-ho ground his teeth.

“We’ve clashed with those bastards for a long time, so whether we like it or not, we roughly know their faces… but this time, for some reason, there were some guys we’d never seen before sneakily mixed in. Yes!”

“I-I don’t think they were there a little while ago, but… D-Diancang must have secretly sent people to intervene!”

“…Is that really true?”

“O-of course! Keuk, otherwise, there’s no way we would have been so one-sidedly beaten by the likes of the Righteous Sword Sect!”

Gongson Su's complexion hardened slightly.

Diancang, a member of the prestigious Nine Sects One Gang.

It was not a name to be taken lightly.

“B-but it's alright! Yes! This Pyo Wang-ho, although I failed to protect the Sect Leader, can still fight alongside you!!”

Pyo Wang-ho stomped his foot and shouted.

“How dare those bastards stand up to the prestige of the Evil Faction Alliance on this land of Hunan! Since you young masters have come to punish those despicable righteous faction bastards, all that’s left is to wipe them all out! Wahaha!”

Pyo Wang-ho, who had let out a spirited cry, suddenly turned his sparkling gaze to Eon Mi-hee. Newest update provıded by novᴇlfire.net

“I will not forget the grace of saving my life! I was impressed by the Squad Leader's martial arts! Just give the order! Though this body is lacking, I will be at the forefront and smash the skulls of all those wicked righteous faction bastards!!”

“…Pardon? M-me? The righteous faction?”

Pyo Wang-ho suddenly made a clasped hands greeting.

It seemed he recognized her as the squad leader, as she had blocked and even repelled the attack of the Righteous Sword Sect's great disciple, Jang Mak-su.

Euk, Eon Mi-hee’s expression contorted complexly.

Gongson Su let out a sigh.

In other words, instead of recruiting Flying Dragon Squad members, they were being asked for help by those whose foundations were on the verge of collapse.

It was unpleasantly timely to be a coincidence.

Heul-kkeut, heul-kkeut, the gazes of the injured, strewn about here and there, were fixed on the party.

Desperation could be read in their eyes.

To those who had their sects taken and their families and fellow disciples held hostage, the name of the Evil Faction Alliance, which had appeared like a comet, was truly their last hope.

Even if those bearing that name were brats not even twenty years of age.

“…Hm? Did I say something wrong?”

Pyo Wang-ho’s face, which had been observing the complexions of Eon Mi-hee and Gongson Su, soon showed a question.

Deruk, deruk, his eyes rolled.

He turned his head and looked around.

“B-but come to think of it, where are the rest of the squad members? Surely the four young masters here aren't all of you… right?”