Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1776

“Sect Leader!”

Jin Songwon gritted his teeth, as if he would crush them.

“They! They are breaking through the inner gate! Sect Leader!”

Red blood flowed from the blade stuck in his shoulder and back.

“Hoo… Hoo!”

Jin Songwon gripped his sword with all his might.

‘The Demonic Sect bastards…’

Jin Songwon turned his head and slowly scanned his surroundings.

Red flames licked at the wooden buildings, casting dancing shadows on the terrified faces of the disciples. Beyond the inner walls surrounding the Sect Leader’s residence, the sounds of hell rose – screams mixed with the clang of metal and the sickening thud of bodies falling. The air carried the sharp smell of smoke and the metallic tang of blood. The strength of Mount Hua was too weak to stop them.

The name of Mount Hua, respected for centuries, would become nothing but ashes today. And Jin Songwon’s name would be remembered as a disgrace.

No… perhaps even that was too much to hope for. Perhaps even the name of Mount Hua would disappear from the world, and no one would remember it.

“Hoo…”

A sad groan escaped Jin Songwon, like a man broken by too much weight.

“Sect Leader, what now…?”

His disciple looked at Jin Songwon with a pale face, pleading and wailing. But at that moment, Jin Songwon slapped his disciple’s cheek instead of offering comfort.

Whack!

The sound echoed. The surprised disciples of Mount Hua stared at Jin Songwon with wide eyes.

“Don’t make that kind of face!”

“S-Sect Leader.”

“Do you think you can live if you come up with a plan?”

Jin Songwon bit his lip. His chapped lips cracked open, and bright red blood flowed down his chin.

“We are all going to die anyway!”

The sight of the disciples’ trembling hands caught Jin Songwon’s attention.

It was too much.

Everything was too much for him, who had not been the Sect Leader of Mount Hua for very long.

Facing those enemies, and encouraging the disciples when the only result left was death.

“So, raise your heads!”

Jin Songwon shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Begging won’t save you! They are not the kind of people who will show mercy just because you lower your head in a cowardly manner. So, if we are going to die anyway, don’t show those bastards a frightened face. If we die, we take them with us! That is the last bit of pride we must protect as disciples of Mount Hua!”

It was an outcry as if his blood was boiling. The disciples of Mount Hua who heard those words bit their lips and strengthened their resolve.

It was not because Jin Songwon’s words shook them. It was simply because they had accepted the fact that the only thing left for them was death.

The only thing left was how to die.

No disciple of the Great Mount Hua would want to die with a frightened face before the Demonic Sect. If they could avoid death, they would, but once death was decided, there was no room for hesitation.

“Are you ready!”

“Yes!”

Jin Songwon looked ahead with a distorted face.

Sorrow filled his heart, but he couldn’t show it to his disciples. This last image of him would be what they remembered.

“Mount Hua does not yield to the Demonic Sect!”

If they had no pride, they would not have held swords, and if they had no sense of justice in their hearts, they would not have become righteous people full of cumbersome things.

“Senior Brother…”

Jin Songwon said in a whisper to the voice that came from beside him.

“I’m sorry, Junior Brother. I am incompetent…”

His junior brother, Hyeon Yeonbaek, slowly shook his head.

“Don’t say such things. How could this be Senior Brother’s fault?”

“It’s no one’s fault. We just need to die without bringing shame to the name of Mount Hua.”

“They’re coming.”

Bang!

Before Jin Songwon could even answer, the front gate was shattered into pieces, scattering fragments in all directions. Among those fragments, the corpses of disciples, turned into lumps of blood, flew in with a miserable appearance.

Thud. Thud!

“Lee Myungah!”

“Junior Brother!”

Sorrowful cries erupted from all directions. It was when those who rushed over were grabbing the fallen ones.

“Ugh!”

“Th-This…”

Suffocated groans and suppressed voices flowed out together.

The bodies were mangled, not just from battle, but with cuts that spoke of deliberate cruelty. It was clear these disciples had suffered before death.

“How could they…?”

This couldn’t be happening. People couldn’t do this.

No matter how much they were from the Demonic Sect, and how much they regarded human lives as light as feathers, they could not have butchered and killed perfectly fine people so horribly.

“These beasts!”

Those who realized that fact let out a roar as if spitting out blood.

But at the same time, the disciples of Mount Hua had to feel it. That another emotion, which could not be hidden, was melting into the voices of the senior and junior brothers who were denouncing the enemy.

A terrible death. The moment they saw with their own eyes what form the imagined thing took, an unwelcome fear began to creep up and devour them.

Thud. Thud.

At that moment, dozens of Demonic Sect members walked in through the broken gate.

Their appearance was different from what the Mount Hua disciples expected.

They moved with a chilling calm, their black robes swaying in unison. Their faces were like masks, showing no emotion as they marched through the broken gate.

They were suffocating.

Because they had no choice but to imagine. They had no choice but to recall how those who seemed to have no emotions were butchering and inflicting pain on those who were dying.

Death. The faces of those who recalled their inevitable future began to turn pale again.

Bang!

At that time, Jin Songwon stepped forward intensely. An attack that put so much force that the solid blue stone was finely broken. The attack momentarily changed the atmosphere.

“I have no business with small fries.”

Jin Songwon stretched out his sword and aimed it at those in front of him.

“Where is your leader, Jang Il-so, the Overlord?”

Cold eyes that did not feel any agitation stared at Jin Songwon.

“Jang Il-so! Where are you! Don’t tell me you’re afraid and hiding behind! If you are a man, come forward! Do you have the courage to receive my sword!”

Jin Songwon drew on all his strength and let out a thunderous shout.

Jang Il-so stepped forward, his voice soft as silk, yet somehow colder than ice. “Oh, dear… It would be nice if you could say it a little softer.”

Those who stood in front of him parted to the left and right, and a man slowly walked out.

A red robe, a snow-white face, and a crown on his head.

Just by that attire, everyone in the world would recognize him. The leader of the Demonic Sect, Jang Il-so, the Overlord.

“I’m a man with a smaller liver than I look. If you shout like that, my heart trembles.”

Red veins showed in Jin Songyuan’s eyes.

It’s him. It’s this man.

This is the one who turned Jeomchang into a sea of fire and killed his disciples easily.

“Come here! I’ll cut off your head myself!”

Hearing those words, Jang Il-So slowly raised his second finger to his temple. Then, as if he had a headache, he tilted his head.

“Ga-myeong.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Why do these righteous people always think I’ll do what they want?”

“I guess their weak minds can’t think of anything else.”

“Ugh. How frustrating.”

Jang Il-So sighed deeply.

“Like I said, I’m not brave, and I don’t want to fight.”

“Do you call yourself the leader of the Demonic Sect, acting like this?”

“How foolish. That’s exactly why I’m the leader of the Demonic Sect! If I lived so righteously, why would I choose the Demonic path?”

“You…!”

“Enough.”

Jang Il-So waved his hand grandly. His sleeves fluttered with the movement.

“Even if you were to take my head, you wouldn’t survive. You know it. You will all end up as just dead bodies before me. Every single one… yes, without exception.”

The Jeomchang disciples couldn’t help but look at the corpses on the ground. They knew they shouldn’t, but their eyes showed fear.

“Understand?”

At that moment, many members of the Demonic Sect appeared on the walls around them.

The disciples of Jeomchang felt like mice trapped in a jar under that burning gaze.

“I promise you, there’s no way you can survive. Unless… it depends not on you, but on what I want to do.”

“Whims?”

“Ugh. Climbing this wretched mountain has made my legs ache. Let’s sit down first.”

With a wave of his hand, Jang Il-So had his men bring forward a chair. He calmly sat down and crossed his legs.

“Now, that’s much better.”

Jin Songyuan and the Jeomchang disciples stared at Jang Il-So, shocked.

A chair?

Even if they were winning, to calmly bring a chair to this battlefield and sit down?

How little he must think of them to do that?

“Jang Il-So!”

“Yes. Whims, just whims.”

Jang Il-So continued as if having a pleasant chat.

“I don’t spare enemies. That’s stupid. And I don’t spare pigs either. Just being near them makes me feel like there’s a bad smell.”

Jang Il-So pinched his nose and frowned, as if he could already smell it.

“So, there’s only one thing I spare.”

Jang Il-So’s red lips twisted into a strange smile.

“Only dogs.”

As soon as he said those words, Jin Songyuan’s face twisted in pain.

“Are you calling us…”

“Ah, ah.”

Jang Il-So smiled, his eyes shining with evil as he looked at Jin Songyuan.

“No need to be so happy yet. Though I know you’re excited to get such a rare chance.”

“You see, we’ve lost a lot too.”

Jang Il-So sighed deeply.

“Normally, I wouldn’t care about dirty dogs, but now I’m lonely and sad. If a dog wants to lick my boots, I can’t refuse.”

Jin Songyuan’s eyes shook.

“So, decide. Will you die there, or…”

Jang Il-So slowly put one foot forward.

“Come here, lick my shoes, and bark like a dog.”

The world went white before Jin Songyuan’s eyes.

What was he hearing?

No insult could be worse than this. Was he really being told to lick the shoes of the Demonic Sect leader and bark like a dog?

“Enough of this dog talk! Even if I die, I won’t be humiliated like that!”

Jin Songyuan gripped his sword tightly, preparing himself.

“A martial artist can die, but they won’t be disgraced! We will die and protect the honor of Jeomchang!”

“Hmm. Is that so…?”

Jang Il-So smiled at Jin Songyuan, as if impressed.

“Then let’s see if you really mean it.”

“…What?”

“Bring them here.”

Doubt filled Jin Songyuan’s eyes.

“What trick…”

But the angry words died in his throat.

“You…”

Those who appeared from behind Jang Il-So…

Jin Songyuan knew their terrified faces all too well.

“Head… Headmaster.”

“M-Master!”

Children.

The young disciples of Jeomchang whom Jin Songyuan had quickly sent away when he sensed the enemy’s attack.

The small children, their faces red and tear-stained, were terrified.

“You… Jang Il…”

“That promise isn’t just yours, is it? It’s for all the disciples of Jeomchang, right?”

“What do you say?”

Jang Il-So reached out and grabbed the chest of the child next to him. Jin Songyuan saw the Jeomchang symbol on the small uniform.

“Answer me. You are disciples of Jeomchang, aren’t you?”

No.

Jin Songyuan didn’t say the word. But the child whose chest was grabbed bit his lip and nodded, even with his tear-streaked face.

That nod.

The most wanted, and yet most unwanted. Jang Il-So smiled at that small gesture.

“Indeed…”

A very gentle smile.

Crack!

The child’s chest was crushed.

“Aaaaargh! Jang Il-Sooooo!”

Jin Songyuan screamed, a sound that seemed to come from deep inside him, as he watched the child fall, blood pouring from his mouth.