Volcanic Age - Chapter 24
The expectations of the two brothers that would be called geniuses in the future was right on target. Their worries had turned into reality.
The warriors of Weng An had left the place due to the appearance of the Three Headed Mad Dog.
The remaining ones were only the injured, women and kids. And there were also a few low ranked warriors protecting them.
“Wh, what is that!”
A warrior that was standing on the watchtower screamed and then, the warrior that was at the opposite side turned his eyes to look at what was going on.
“Agh! It’s the River of Death!”
They could see a group of the River of Death approaching from a distance.
There were at least a hundred and at most a hundred and fifty of them.
The warriors saw them and realized that the appearance of the Three Headed Mad Dog was just bait. But it was already too late.
“Uh, what do we do?”
All the people that had the authority to command had gone out to battle.
And the strongest of them was a second rate warrior that had just become one. There were a few high ranked warriors among the injured but they haven’t even regained consciousness.
“We, we have to escape!”
There were about thirty warriors if you included the people that were slightly injured and the warriors that could somewhat move.
On top of that, the strongest person in this group was a second rate martial artist. They wouldn’t be able to defeat the group of a hundred with these numbers at all.
“What do we do with the injured, the women and the children?”
Someone asked and the atmosphere became heavy at those words.
It felt like something was about to break down from their chests but that was only unavoidable speaking realistically.
While they were thinking about what they should do, a kid that seemed like he had just become an adult walked towards them.
“Oh my, I never thought that it would be a decoy.”
The kid, Ju Seo Cheon, jumped high and climbed the watchtower.
The martial artists got surprised and opened a path.
“Hm, there are about a hundred of them. There may be experts among them but there is no way that is true as senior uncle is out in the battlefield.”
Ju Seo Cheon crossed his arms and fell in thought.
The warriors that were looking at Ju Seo Cheon below the watchtower showed various reactions.
“That’s right! We had a disciple of Mount Hua! On top of that he belongs to the Lotus Peak! We are saved!”
“You idiot, that kid is only twelve even if he looks like that!”
“What?”
The people that had extended their arms and became happy put on confused expressions when they heard that the kid was only twelve.
Part of it was because he was bigger than kids his age but also because the atmosphere around him was quite mature.
“Sob sob sob! Why are you so slow on catching up? That kid is the flashy yet frail one. He is a useless guy that has ignorantly high internal energy but is completely empty besides that!”
Another third rate warrior pulled out the hair from his head and despaired.
“We are all dead!”
“Will they spare us if we surrender?”
“Didn’t the geniuses of the Zhuge Sega also come? So why weren’t they able to think of this being a bait!”
The warriors stuck together and despaired. They started to curse out as they fell into a desperate situation.
Ju Seo Cheon looked down at the martial artists that were filled with chaos and despair from the watchtower and smirked.
There were countless cases where they gave up on their base at the age of war and escaped when they fell into a trap.
They also left behind the injured, the women and the children saying that they hindered them on their escape.
Compared to that, the third rate warriors of this place didn’t escape even if they did curse their fate.
“Even if your martial arts is at the third rate it doesn’t mean that your hearts are the same. That’s merely a prejudice. Look how excellent they are. Ha, but I am so unlucky.”
Ju Seo Cheon stopped laughing and his brows curved. He formed a smile praising the actions of the martial artists but his situation wasn’t that good.
‘If I exclude the injured there are twenty third rate warriors and one second rate warrior. There’s too few.’
They didn’t know what kind of strategy the enemy had but it was hard to fight with this number coupled with the fact that their morale was at an all time low.
‘If it’s those geniuses, they may notice that this is a trap. I’m sure they will send reinforcements so I just have to hold on until then.’
Ju Seo Cheon came down from the watchtower and checked his surroundings. Everyone was despairing saying that they would die today.
‘….Originally the place in this place should have been annihilated because they fell on the bait or got caught as hostages…probably.’
The person called Ju Seo Cheon wasn’t originally at this place. It was an obvious thing as he didn’t belong to the Lotus Peak.
It was the same for Zhuge Seung Kye. He shouldn’t be here originally.
In the beginning Zhuge Sak was planning on only showing the battlefield to Zhuge Seung Kye but Zhuge Sang had stopped him saying
‘Uncle. The situation isn’t good so it would be better to leave him behind. Isn’t there fellow disciple Ju?’.
Even though he had an overwhelming amount of internal energy, in Zhuge Sang’s opinion Ju Seo Cheon was more normal than Zhuge Seung Kye.
It seemed like he had proper concepts compared to his age so they were able to trust and leave it to him.
‘It seems like he heard the commotion and hid himself. Well, that’s for the better. I didn’t think that he would fight anyways.’
Zhuge Seung Kye couldn’t practice martial arts. He had learned an energy circulating method but that was only at the second star. How could he tell him to fight with just that?
It was doubtful whether he would even be able to defeat a normal person. He would only hinder him down so it would be better to just stay hidden.
“Now, shall we start?”
Sruuung.
Ju Seo Cheon pulled out his sword.
The gates of Weng An got crushed with a loud sound.
Several warriors among the River of Death tried to enter through the door that wasn’t that big.
“Kyaak!”
The nurse that was treating the injured, screamed. Her face that didn’t even blink once after seeing blood.
“Kuahaha! Come here!”
The warrior of the Death Faction that was at the forefront yelled. Their characteristic was that they had messy beards as if they were mountain bandits.
“I am Mak Won Gap, the one that even makes crying children stop… huh? What is this brat?”
Mak Won Gap looked in front of him with a dumbfounded expression.
Inside the manor, the one that looked like he had just become an adult, Ju Seo Cheon was standing with his sword hanging low and looking at the infiltrators.
“I don’t need to state my name to someone that will die anyways.”
Ju Seo Cheon raised his sword and took a stance.
“What? Kuhahaha!”
Mak Won Gap burst out in laughter at Ju Seo Cheon’s words. His laugh was filled half with outrageousness and sneer.
“Brat, are you planning on facing us alone?”
“No. I’m not alone.”
Ju Seo Cheon raised his left hand. And then, about twenty third rate warriors came out and surrounded the entrance.
‘Damn.’
Mak Won Gap realized his mistake. There were still many warriors that hadn’t been able to cross the gate yet and were following from behind.
They knew that there was no one left in Weng An to fight them so they all took their time.
There were about fifteen people that appeared from the gate and they were all uselessly big so there was not much space either.
“Defending position.”
Thud.
The third rate warriors changed their postures at Ju Seo Cheon’s orders. They were all filled with nervousness and uneasiness.
“I compliment you on having used the gate but don’t think that you will be able to stop us.”
Mak Won Gap put on an uneasy expression for a short instant and then put on a smile that was filled with confidence.
There shouldn’t be any experts inside Weng An so there was no need to be scared.
“Brat, I was a bit flustered at how bold you were. I will let you repent for your sin of having seen us lightly with this sword!”
Mak Won Gap pointed at Ju Seo Cheon with the point of his sword.
“Strike!”
“Waaaa!”
The martial artists belonging to theRiver of Death shouted. The warriors that were gathered at the gate swung their swords in a threatening way.
The warriors of Weng An hesitated but they realized that they had nowhere to run to and exchanged sword blows desperately.
“Brat, i’m wondering about why you are acting so confidently!”
The biggest man among the River of Death broke out from the encirclement and charged like a boar.
He didn’t have the fangs of a boar but instead was holding a crude blade.
“Die!”
A sword came flying towards him. From his torso to his lower body. It was a blade technique that drew a clean straight line.
That swing wasn’t great at all.
It was merely at the third rate level.
His eyes closed up and the world flowed slowly. The sound of the surroundings passed his eardrums and rang in his brain.
Waaaaaa!
A really short instant. The memories of the past passed in that short moment and influenced his surroundings.
The age of war. An age where they only knew how to fight.
Corpses formed a mountain and blood formed a river.
When he got a hold of himself he saw himself standing in that place. His clothes were dyed with blood that he couldn’t know who it belonged to.
He was holding a sword and his legs trembled. He could see the back of someone. It was the back of a hero.
‘I have only seen their backs until now.’
He had seen the reliable back of someone.
Someone he couldn’t distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman.
Or if it even belonged to an old man, a kid or an adult.
But the only thing he could know was that that back had felt like such a huge mountain.
“But now.”
Ju Seo Cheon put more strength in his sword.
“Haha, did you get so scared that you are pissing yourself!”
The big warrior looked at Ju Seo Cheon that was standing still and laughed.
“I…”
Ju Seo Cheon raised the internal energy from his dantian.
The internal energy he obtained from the Plum Blossom displayed an explosive power.
The internal energy that came out from his dantian flowed through his solid veins and blood vessels and headed to the sword that was connected with his hand. It somewhat felt like they could sense the scent of the Plum Blossom.
“Will be that back.”
Slaaaaash!
“Huh?”
The sword split the wind and drew a line. It was a line that was drawn in a perfect straight line.
That line shone in a white light and then burned in a red light and transformed into a line of blood.
The sword of the big bodied martial artist stopped in the air.
His eyes turned round. It seemed like he didn’t know what was going to happen to him.
The crown of his head split and a line of blood was formed up to his crotch.
Thud.
Water drops fell from his crotch. No, it was blood.
Blood flowed from his unseemly chest.
“Impossib….”
He couldn’t finish what he was about to say.
Riiiiip!
The body of the big man couldn’t endure it any longer.
His body split in two like lumber and fell down.
Silence filled the battlefield at that moment. The warriors of Weng An, that were stopping the River of Death desperately in an encirclement, and even their enemies didn’t understand what had happened.
“Plum Blossom Alongside The Road.”
Ju Seo Cheon took a defensive stance without moving and mumbled.
“Plum Blossom Dancing Like a Butterfly.”
Ju Seo Cheon’s body had seemingly disappeared. He moved at a speed that third rates couldn’t follow with their eyes.
Ju Seo Cheon dug into the group of the River of Death and spun around in a flashy way.
“Plum Blossom Releasing Smoke.”
Ju Seo Cheon swung his sword. An aura that couldn’t be seen with the eye swayed in the sword and passed through the surroundings.
There were three River of Death fodder in his surroundings.
“Plum Blossom Blooming Sharply.”
And that aura blossomed in full bloom and released a fierce aura. A certain something stabbed the three men.
“Kyaaaak!”
The three warriors of the River of Death screamed and collapsed backwardly.
If you saw in detail you could see holes in various parts of their bodies like in their chests.
“Wh, what are you?”
Bak Won Gap’s voice trembled. No one in this place noticed which ascending sword technique he used.
“What are you!”
Bak Won Gap opened his eyes widely and yelled.
Ju Seo Cheon dusted off the blood in his sword and cleaned it.
The martial artists of Weng An stared at Ju Seo Cheon dumbfoundedly.
His back was small yet seemed enormous.
“I’m a passing….
Ju Seo Cheon’s mouth curled up.
“Sword Examiner of Mount Hua!”