Deployment-4
Man Jongrim, held back by Seonu Jin's warning, frowned deeply as he demanded,
"Why did you tell me not to pursue them?!"
Earlier, Seonu Jin had predicted that the Alliance men would try to stop them, and had asked Man Jongrim to heed his words if that came true.
And Seonu Jin had also forewarned him of this ambush.
So now, Man Jongrim could no longer simply dismiss his words.
Still, frustration gnawed at him.
Watching the fleeing enemies vanish, he roared,
"If we let them go now, they'll come back with more next time! Don't you see that?!"
Seonu Jin only smirked and nodded calmly.
"Yes. You're right, Commander."
The easy agreement left Man Jongrim startled.
"What? Then why—why not pursue them?"
"If we chase immediately, they'll only run farther. But since we didn't, they'll assume they're safe and stop soon."
"…What?"
Man Jongrim's face twisted.
He could not understand what use that would be, when the enemy was already gone from sight.
But Seonu Jin offered no further explanation, only smiling as he looked around.
"Well then, shall we move? Not everyone needs to come—only those who've reached the pinnacle."
Though puzzled, Man Jongrim, First Squad's Do Mugon, Eleventh Squad's Je Won-yeong, and with them Seol Pung and Hae Cheongyeon, followed after Seonu Jin.
The foresight he had shown in such a short time made them suspect he had more yet to reveal.
***
Hyu Jasung soon realized they were not being pursued. But just in case, he kept running, changing direction repeatedly, until he was certain they could not be tracked. Only then did he stop.
Seven Shadow Unit warriors landed one after another behind him.
He muttered bitterly,
"Seven… only seven left. From twenty-two to seven in just that moment?"
It was devastating.
Not once in his life had he imagined such a result, let alone experienced it.
The others were the same—faces downcast, swallowing grief and humiliation.
Hyu Jasung stared at the survivors in silence.
It was clear now: they could not handle those enemies alone. But—
Whiiistle!
With eyes burning, Hyu Jasung whistled to the sky.
Moments later, his personal messenger dove arrived, fluttering down.
Flutter, flutter.
Grinding his teeth, Hyu Jasung thought,
If we can't have revenge by our own hands, then I'll borrow the Alliance's. We may be eight now—but none of you will survive!
He was certain.
Their foes would not last even a month.
Even if they had destroyed two Shadow Unit squads, no one could live once they were marked for elimination by the Martial Alliance.
Hyu Jasung resolved to exaggerate their threat, to request the dispatch of official martial forces.
Two squads crippled—there was truth enough in that.
He tied the letter to the dove's leg and released it.
Flutter, flutter.
Watching it soar into the sky, Hyu Jasung smiled cruelly.
It's over for them now.
But then—
From the rear, one of the Shadow Unit warriors suddenly darted forward like the wind, seizing the bird mid-flight.
Whoosh!
"Coo!"
To snatch a messenger bird from the air—such speed was astonishing.
But more shocking still was the betrayal.
"What are you doing?!" Hyu Jasung bellowed.
Judging by the unfamiliar face, he must have been one of the Ninth Squad's survivors.
But why would a Ninth Squad man stop him from sending the message?
And such footwork—swift enough to snatch a bird already in flight! Comparable even to Yang Wondang, the late Ninth Squad commander.
Hyu Jasung's eyes blazed as he shouted at the warrior clutching the bird.
"I asked you what you're doing! Who are you—what number in the Ninth Squad?!"
The warrior smirked beneath his hat.
That mocking smile twisted Hyu Jasung's face further.
Then, one of the Ninth Squad men behind him stammered, pale-faced.
"H-he isn't Ninth Squad, Commander."
"…What?"
"There's no one like him in our squad. I thought he was one of yours…."
"What?!"
Hyu Jasung's mind flashed back to the earlier ambush—the one ruined by the warrior who had leapt out alone.
If that had not been a mistake in orders—
If someone had deliberately ruined the ambush to expose them—
Hyu Jasung's eyes widened in horror as he shouted,
"Who—who are you?!"
The man beneath the bamboo hat smiled gently.
"This isn't the time to worry about my identity."
"What?!"
Sak Muhun lifted a finger, pointing behind him.
"Look behind you."
Grinding his teeth, Hyu Jasung snarled,
"What kind of trick—?!"
That was when it came.
From the rear, Seol Pung led the charge as the Flying Dragon Division's pinnacle masters surged forward like a tidal wave.
Slash!
"Gaaahhh!"
Seol Pung, Man Jongrim, Je Won-yeong, Seonu Jin, Hae Cheongyeon, Do Mugon.
Every pinnacle master in the deployment party.
Hardened by countless battles on the frontlines—veterans of a hundred wars.
Now they descended like a storm, butchering the Shadow Unit.
Whooosh!
"Uwaaaahhh!"
Ssst!
"Urghhh!"
The Shadow Unit warriors died without even managing proper resistance.
They no longer had the strength to stand against six pinnacle masters.
No—more precisely, they no longer had the strength even to resist.
They were already broken, crushed beneath the despair of being utterly outmaneuvered, and the confusion of realizing one of their own Shadow Unit comrades had led them into a trap.
Slash!
"Gaaahhh!"
"Aaaghhh!"
Two Shadow Unit warriors were shredded in a storm of blood as Seol Pung, like a raging tiger, came bearing down on Hyu Jasung.
But Hyu Jasung did not even think to defend.
Instead, he turned his head blankly, glancing back.
The Shadow Unit soldier who had betrayed them was already gone.
And that was the last thing Hyu Jasung ever saw.
Stab!
…
***
"So, according to you, what you mean is that lackeys of the Blood Cult have wormed their way into the reporting system itself?"
"I cannot say I'm certain. But if not, how else could they have claimed to be Alliance warriors, confirmed your report, and ambushed us? Surely the Martial Alliance, the very pillar of the orthodox sects, would not wish to kill us."
"Hrrm. That's true enough."
I was lying through my teeth to Commander Man Jongrim.
This blockheaded man would hardly accept any explanation involving Jegal Jigang or the Shadow Unit, and even if he did, it would only put us in more danger. So I fed him what he wanted to hear.
"I suspect Blood Cult forces, like that Giant Demon Horse, have infiltrated the frontline, intercepting reports. That's why I asked you not to send word back immediately."
"Indeed! Yes, if not for such infiltrators, they could never have seen my report, nor struck at us so. That the Blood Cult's vermin have slipped into the Alliance's communications—that is an outrage worthy of lament!"
"I agree entirely."
Man Jongrim ranted for some time, cursing the Blood Cult, then turned to me again.
"Then what do you think we should do now?"
All eyes turned toward me.
The bright, expectant stares weighed heavily.
Since the ambush, they seemed to have decided I was the strategist of this expedition.
It was embarrassing.
The truth was, I owed everything to memories of my past life, my knowledge of the Shadow Unit, and the help of Sak Muhun.
If it were purely a matter of wit, wasn't Lady Cheongyeon far sharper than I?
But when I glanced at her, she only smiled and shook her head.
Plainly, she had no intention of stepping forward herself, pushing it onto me instead.
How she knew what I was thinking from just a look—I would never understand. Truly an extraordinary woman.
She should be leading, not me.
But since she would not, I decided not to step back either.
On this matter, it was easier if I held the initiative anyway.
So I straightened and began.
"As for the reporting issue, I asked that a genuine Alliance warrior deliver it. The Alliance will soon investigate, no doubt. Let us leave that to them, and in the meantime focus entirely on the Giant Demon Horse."
By "genuine warrior," I meant Brother Sak.
I had asked him to alter the contents of the messenger bird the Shadow Unit commander had tried to send, before letting it fly again.
The message we sent was this: the expedition had returned to the frontline, and it seemed Blood Cult forces had infiltrated Guizhou; please investigate.
We also made sure the Flying Dragon Division was informed.
I asked Je Won-yeong, commander of the Eleventh Division's First Squad, to send back his weakest warrior with that report for both the Eleventh and our Thirteenth Division. As for the Twelfth Division, their commander was here in person, so there was no problem.
Man Jongrim was now following my words without hesitation.
Now, I wonder how the Martial Alliance will choose.
We told them the Giant Demon Horses had gone to Guizhou—but not where.
If Jegal Jigang had any true will to hunt them, he would scour all of Guizhou.
Would he reach the same conclusion as I—that the Blood Cult's forward base must lie among the Zhenghyupbang, the Yun clan, or Mount Sword Sect?
If they did not investigate at all, that would be a grave matter indeed. It would mean the Alliance was ignoring—or perhaps even abetting—the Blood Cult's northern invasion.
But that was for later.
For now, I laid out our plan.
"As I said before, I believe one of three—the Zhenghyupbang, the Yun clan, or Mount Sword Sect—must be hosting the Giant Demon Horses. So our first task is to discover which."
Man Jongrim scoffed.
"Hmph! Then the answer is obvious. Zhenghyupbang can be dismissed at once. It must be either the Yun clan or Mount Sword Sect. And since Mount Sword Sect is in dire straits, it's most likely the Yun clan."
I smiled faintly.
Exactly as I had expected him to answer.
"Is that so?"
"Of course! Zhenghyupbang is orthodox. If the Blood Cult set up a base, it would obviously be within the heterodox Yun clan or Mount Sword Sect."
"But consider this: Zhenghyupbang has been the one pushing into Guizhou, while the Yun clan and Mount Sword Sect joined forces to resist. Reports say Zhenghyupbang is winning. Doesn't that suggest it could be them?"
He bristled, violently rejecting my reasoning.
"Impossible! Zhenghyupbang even sends men to the frontlines to fight the demonic race! Our Twelfth Division has one of their warriors—he's cut down many demons himself. If they were part of the Blood Cult, that would mean they sent their own men to die resisting their headquarters. Absurd!"
I left unsaid the obvious: that such a move would make their warriors on the frontlines all the more dangerous.
And that ordinary members could be orthodox, while the leadership was not.
Instead I only said,
"Very well. Then what do you think of this?"
"What's that?"
"We've already been exposed to the Blood Cult. To move all together would be dangerous; too obvious. We could be ambushed again. So my thought is: let us split into three groups, each to investigate one of the three sects. What say you?"
Of course, I knew another ambush was impossible.
The Shadow Unit squads who knew of us were dead, their reports intercepted, and the Martial Alliance's gaze diverted to the Giant Demon Horses in Guizhou.
But if we wanted to remain unseen, splitting up truly was best.
And more than anything—I wanted to separate from Commander Man Jongrim.
His martial strength was formidable, but in every other way he was a hindrance.
Worse, his company suffocated me.
Unaware of my private relief, Man Jongrim nodded readily.
"A fine idea. Then I and the Twelfth Division will investigate the Yun clan."
I smiled brightly.
Success.