Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 516

A wind like sharp knives howled fiercely.

The Ice Palace guards on the wall groaned and pulled their fur hoods tighter. Even people who grew up in the cold Northern Sea found this winter wind very hard. This year was especially freezing.

The guards hunched, trying to keep their fingers from freezing.

Usually, they would huddle together to stay warm when the wind blew so hard.

But just yesterday, the Palace Lord had been killed, and a new leader took over.

Now, no one dared to relax.

“Not even an ant in sight.”

“Hmm.”

The patrol leader, a strong man named Jeon, walked to the wall and looked out, his eyes narrowed.

It was hard to believe there had been a big fight just yesterday. The snow had covered everything.

“Um… Patrol Leader Jeon?” a guard asked, his voice a little shaky.

“Hmm?” Jeon replied.

“Think things will be… different now, Patrol Leader?” the guard asked. “Now that the Palace Lord has changed?”

Jeon quickly glanced back, even though he knew no one was watching them on the cold wall. He still felt uneasy. The guards nodded, but their eyes kept darting around nervously, and they shifted their weight from foot to foot in the snow.

“Nothing will change,” Jeon said firmly, looking ahead again. “We are still Ice Palace warriors. Only the Palace Lord is different. Elder Yeo Saheon and Chief Manager Han I-myeong led the Ice Palace before, right?”

“That’s true, but…” the guard mumbled.

“We just do what we’re told,” Jeon said.

The guards nodded, still worried. Jeon sighed quietly so they wouldn’t hear. ‘They have a right to be anxious,’ he thought.

Elder Yeo said she would not punish people who followed Seol Cheon-sang. But you never know what might happen. Seol Cheon-sang had killed the old Palace Lord and taken his place. So, Seol So-baek, the new Palace Lord, would probably be angry at Seol Cheon-sang.

And maybe he would be angry at the palace members who followed Seol Cheon-sang. Everyone worried about this.

“People like us just do what we’re told,” Jeon muttered.

Seol Cheon-sang had been cruel, but he was still from the Seol family. What could an ordinary Ice Palace member have done?

Just then, another guard spoke quietly. “I hate to say it, but isn’t the new Palace Lord very young?”

Jeon glared at him. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“But he is the rightful heir to the Seol family. Who else would be Palace Lord?” Jeon asked.

“I didn’t think clearly,” the guard replied.

“Don’t have silly thoughts. Just stand guard!” Jeon ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the guard said.

Jeon frowned, but sighed again. ‘This is confusing,’ he thought. He felt frustrated.

Another strong gust of wind swept over the wall. The guards hunched over, trying to avoid the freezing wind. They never got used to it.

One of the guards turned away from the snow, then frowned and looked out at the plains. And then he noticed something.

“Huh?” he said, narrowing his eyes. He watched the plains beyond the wall carefully.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination. In this blizzard, it was easy to see things that weren’t there.

But what if it wasn’t a mistake?

The guard flinched and said quickly, “P-Patrol Leader! There’s something over there!”

“What?” Jeon asked.

The other guards looked up, straining their eyes. But they didn’t see anything at first.

“What do you mean, ‘something over there’?” one asked.

“There’s something dark over there…” the first guard said.

Jeon stared hard at the spot the guard was pointing to.

“Hmm?” he said.

He stared until his eyes hurt in the cold wind. Then he started to see something too. The heavy snow made it hard to see, but he could see a dark shape on the snowy field.

‘Animals?’ he wondered.

But if it was visible from this far away, it couldn’t be just a few animals.

“What should we do? Should we tell someone?” a guard asked.

“Let’s watch for a bit,” Jeon said. “It might be nothing. No need to worry yet…”

Just then, Jeon stopped talking and looked surprised.

‘That?’ he thought.

The dark shape was clearer now. And it seemed bigger. It was moving toward them quickly.

‘I should report this…’ he thought.

The guards cried out, “They’re coming closer!”

“They’re getting closer fast!”

“Patrol Leader!”

Jeon turned and looked at the bell on the wall.

“Ring the bell!” he shouted. “It might be hard to hear in the blizzard! Jaho, go to the palace and tell them people are coming to the wall! Now!”

“Yes, sir!” Jaho yelled, jumping off the wall.

“Tell the other guards to get ready! Hurry!” Jeon ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

Jeon turned back and stared. His eyes widened.

‘Already?!’ he thought.

He had only given a few orders, but the dark shapes were close enough to see clearly.

‘How fast are they?’

Jeon felt cold sweat. He swallowed hard and looked at the figures. His back tingled with fear.

‘People!’ he realized.

They were people in black cloaks, coming to the Ice Palace very fast. At this speed…

The figures sped up even more.

Jeon shouted, “Get the bows! Now! Now!”

The black figures reached the wall and started climbing. Jeon yelled, “Shoot them down! Shoot! Shoot!”

But it was at that moment.

“No.”

An unfamiliar voice murmured right beside his ear.

It was a voice so chilling that just hearing it made him feel like something was terribly wrong.

The squad leader slowly turned his head. His heart dropped. A wave of icy fear went through him.

‘How, when?’

He hadn’t taken his eyes off them for a single moment, so how on earth had they climbed up onto the ramparts?

At that moment, something incredibly cold gripped his neck. The instant he realized it was a human hand, his heart began to race out of control, threatening to burst.

A harsh voice whispered in his ear.

“Death is the only punishment for those who don’t believe in the Order’s teachings. And anyone who attacks our followers will also die.”

“Ghh, grrk⋯⋯.”

The hand gripping his neck began to dig in deeper and deeper.

And then.

Crack!

The sound of bones crushing echoed with a spine-chilling clarity, and at the same time, the squad leader’s neck snapped completely to the side.

“⋯⋯.”

The faces of the Ice Palace disciples turned as pale as the snows of the Northern Sea as they stared at his limp body.

Plop!

The man, having released the squad leader’s neck as if discarding something insignificant, slowly scanned them with a chilling expression.

“From the beginning, I have⋯⋯.”

The man, the Order’s Law Enforcer, said in a contemptuous tone, his eyes turning red.

“I was disgusted even to breathe in the same place as you unbelievers.”

Whoosh!

Suddenly, with a *whoosh*, black figures leaped over the wall. Shouts and screams erupted as they landed among the guards.

“Kill them all. Do not leave a single one of those who interfered with the Order’s ceremony alive.”

“Heavenly Demon Reborn! Myriad Demons Answer!”

They shouted a battle cry about their leader, the ‘Heavenly Demon,’ a figure of great evil. The black fiends cried out in unison and swarmed over the Ice Palace disciples on the ramparts.

“Aaaargh!”

“Aaaargh!”

The once-quiet ramparts instantly began to be stained with blood.

The Law Enforcer watched the scene with indifferent eyes before walking towards the opposite side of the ramparts.

The Ice Palace spread out before him, a massive structure of pure white ice that glittered coldly under the pale sky. The wind howled around its sharp towers, and the air smelled of snow and ice.

“⋯⋯Foolish fools.”

If they had obediently submitted and offered the Ice Crystal, they could have at least prolonged their insignificant lives until the day the great Heavenly Demon was resurrected.

Having rejected this grace, the Ice Palace’s fate was as good as sealed.

However.

‘The Central Plains fellows must have the Ice Crystal.’

The Law Enforcer did not forget his mission for even a moment.

Punishing the Ice Palace for daring to ignore the Order and replace their Palace Lord on their own was important, but recovering the Ice Crystal was an incomparably more crucial task.

He had to recover it at the risk of his life.

His red eyes burned with a fanatical belief. The Law Enforcer’s coldly sunken gaze pierced through the Ice Palace.

“Heavenly Demon Reborn, Myriad Demons Answer.”

A voice filled with chilling conviction spread out in the snowstorm.

“Someone’s attacking?”

Yeo Sahon shot up from his seat.

“We, we haven’t yet identified the enemy’s forces!”

“This⋯⋯.”

Yeo Sahon gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly.

“Are they remnants of that Seol Cheonsang?”

“Rather than that⋯⋯ judging by their attire, it seems to be the Demonic Sect.”

“De, Demonic Sect?”

Yeo Sahon’s face turned blue in an instant at the unexpected bad news.

Why would the Demonic Sect suddenly attack? Yeo Sahon was momentarily at a loss, unsure how to react.

‘No. Even if the Demonic Sect were targeting the Ice Palace, why so suddenly?’

“H-how many are they?”

“W-we couldn’t determine the exact number! I came straight away⋯⋯.”

“You fool!”

Yeo Sahon roared.

“The enemy is attacking, and you don’t know how many there are, nor do you know exactly who they are! Are there no real guards on the walls?”

Yeo Sahon was furious, and the one who had rushed to report lowered his head, looking ashamed. It was Han Imyeong who calmed him down.

“Calm down, Elder. Shouldn’t we prioritize dealing with the situation first?”

At his words, Yeo Sahon’s expression hardened. And then, with a determined face, he shouted.

“Immediately announce that the enemy is attacking and gather all the forces in the Ice Palace!”

However, the one who received the order did not immediately comply but cautiously watched Yeo Sahon’s reaction.

“Wait,” the man hesitated. “What about the Palace Lord?”

Yeo Sahon exploded. “Palace Lord! Are you crazy? Enemies are here! We don’t have time for that! Are you going to stand around waiting for orders while they kill us all?”

“A-ah, no! I will follow the order!”

The startled man quickly ran out. Yeo Sahon stared at the closed door and slammed his hand on the table.

‘What is this all of a sudden⋯⋯.’

He was about to go outside in a hurry, but Han Imyeong cautiously spoke up.

“Elder.”

“What is it?”

“⋯⋯If the enemy attacking now is really from the Demonic Sect, what do you intend to do?”

Yeo Sahon was momentarily speechless and closed his mouth.

If it was really them attacking, it was the worst of the worst. But there was only one thing he could say.

“It’s not like we were afraid of them and avoided war! We were just worried about the damage it would cause. If they really target the Ice Palace, we’ll have to make them pay the price!”

“⋯⋯Yes.”

It was just words, and Yeo Sahon didn’t really want that either.

“Chief Han, summon the guards to protect the Palace Lord.”

“Understood.”

“And⋯⋯.”

Yeo Sahon opened his mouth as if to say something, but hesitated and couldn’t continue.

After pondering with a slightly awkward expression, he spoke in a slightly lowered voice after a while.

“Check what the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect are doing.”

“Why them⋯⋯.”

“Just check!”

“⋯⋯Understood.”

Yeo Sahon left the room with a stiff face. Han Imyeong, who was watching his retreating figure, let out a sigh he had been holding back.

‘Nothing is easy.’

He thought that if they just drove out Seol Cheonsang, things would somehow work out, but it was too naive of him.

‘First, we have to stop the enemy. And protect the Palace Lord.’

Han Imyeong tried to calm his confused mind, steeled himself, and ran towards the inner palace.

Unfortunately⋯⋯ Yeo Sahon and Han Imyeong, including everyone else in the Ice Palace, did not properly know what it meant to face the Demonic Sect.

Why the name Demonic Sect remained a synonym for terror even after a hundred years. Not knowing that was their most fatal mistake.