Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 13

Nine Dragons Chronicle (13)

“What is the Fierce Tiger Death Squad?”

A member of the Demonic Sect asked.

“There’s a rumor circulating in the martial arts world outside the Central Plains about the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, a special forces unit within the Imperial Guards of the Heungchin Army.”

Hwa-rin recounted what he knew. Upon hearing this, the Demonic Sect member was momentarily perplexed.

—Brother Jisan, it’s not wise to antagonize the military, is it?

Tang San sent a telepathic message, and Jisan nodded in agreement.

—If even one of them survives and rumors spread that our sect is involved, then…

If things went wrong, they might have to wage war against the Heungchin Imperial Guards.

—What if we kill them all?

—That would be ideal, but considering his martial prowess, it seems difficult to kill them all.

The thought that Hwa-rin, who had incinerated one of the Twenty-Four Demon Shadows with a single move, could easily escape their grasp if he so desired crossed their minds.

—What if we kill Harrison and retreat from here instead?

—That would be more advantageous for us.

Even the mighty Demonic Sect couldn’t fight against the military of the Central Plains.

“If that’s true, then he’s stronger than we thought, so let’s combine our attacks.”

Jisan Magun said to Harrison, and Tang San drew his weapon.

“Let’s do that.”

Harrison drew his unique weapon, the sword.

“I’ll take the right!”

“Then I’ll take the left.”

As Harrison was about to step forward after hearing Tang San and Jisan’s words, he felt a burning sensation on his right and left sides. He looked back and forth at the two men standing beside him.

His face held a question: ‘Why?’

“Forgive us. We can’t afford to fight the Heungchin Imperial Guards.”

Harrison’s expression twisted in anger at those words.

“You…!”

Harrison’s fury exploded, and he swung the sword in his hand violently.

“Kuh-uh-uh!”

As Tang San Magun and Jisan Magun evaded Harrison’s attack and withdrew the swords they had stabbed into his waist, blood gushed out from both sides like a fountain.

“Look here. We have no intention of fighting you. We’ll retreat now, so I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”

Jisan Magun spoke to Hwa-rin, and Hwa-rin nodded in agreement.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”

“Thank you!”

Jisan Magun exchanged glances with Tang San Magun, then fled. Seeing this, Harrison was so enraged that he couldn’t control his emotions.

‘With the help of the Demonic Sect, I might have been able to capture Harrison surprisingly easily.’

Consumed by anger, Harrison roared and vented his rage alone. Hwa-rin watched him for a moment before moving.

Clang!

Despite his serious injuries, he blocked Hwa-rin’s attack and even counterattacked.

Hwa-rin baited him to attack more violently, knowing that the more he raged, the larger his wounds would become, and his stamina would quickly deplete.

Clang!

Hwa-rin barely managed to block Harrison’s attacks, stalling for time. Harrison, unaware of Hwa-rin’s plan, thought he could kill Hwa-rin if he pushed just a little harder, so he pressed on even more fiercely.

The more he did, the worse his injuries became, but his anger seemed to devour the pain, and his momentum didn’t wane.

“Die!”

Harrison’s sword fell from above Hwa-rin’s head. He hurriedly raised his sword to block it, but he lost his balance and staggered backward.

Seeing this, Harrison thought he had gained the upper hand. A powerful energy gathered in Harrison’s sword, an energy that seemed to devour everything in the world.

Harrison’s sword moved towards Hwa-rin, and the energy that burst from the tip of the sword tore through the air and rushed towards Hwa-rin’s chest.

Seeing Harrison’s sword energy, Hwa-rin’s sword moved. Unlike Harrison’s fierce and violent energy, Hwa-rin’s sword contained a gentle energy.

Each time the sword moved, it seemed to embroider the air with blue, creating a delicate net.

Then, Harrison’s sword energy was caught in the net that Hwa-rin had spread in the air.

Hwa-rin didn’t stop there and continued to move his sword. As the sword moved, the net that wrapped around the sword energy followed the tip of the sword.

It was a technique that returned the opponent’s power entirely, not quite like the technique of using four ounces of force to control a thousand pounds [a principle of leverage in martial arts].

In some ways, it was similar to the technique of transferring force, but in another way, it was similar to the Returning Strength Skill.

Feeling the immense force returning in an instant, Harrison was startled. As he held the sword and raised both hands to strike down, he felt excruciating pain in both sides of his waist.

‘Oh no…’

Only then did Harrison realize that he had suffered serious injuries, and it was too late.

Seeing his own powerful sword energy returning, he mustered all his strength to strike down the sword he had raised.

He intended to cut the sword energy in half, but Hwa-rin wouldn’t let him. Seeing Harrison’s actions, he threw a hidden sword imbued with his energy, slightly delayed.

The moment Harrison’s sword split the sword energy in two and fell, the hidden sword that Hwa-rin threw pierced Harrison’s neck right below.

Harrison, with a hole in his body so large that he could see through to the back, looked down at his body.

“I…”

“You should have made friends with people you could trust.”

Hwa-rin approached Harrison and spoke.

“Anyway, thanks to the Demonic Sect, I was able to solve this easily. And don’t be too upset. When I get discharged and go out into the martial world, I’ll take down all the members of the Demonic Sect for you.”

Harrison’s body collapsed upon hearing Hwa-rin’s words.

“Whew…”

Hwa-rin took a deep breath in and out, retrieved Harrison’s sword, and waited there until the squad leaders arrived.

About an hour passed.

Those who came to where Hwa-rin was waiting were not the squad leaders but others.

Hwa-rin narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at them.

‘Did they all fall?’

They were the heads of the Iron Lion Castle. There were three of them, and the traces of a fierce battle remained on their clothes.

Hwa-rin looked at the heads, threw the retrieved sword onto Harrison’s corpse, and drew his own sword.

“Looks like you killed my men. Did you kill them all?”

The heads looked back and forth between Hwa-rin and Harrison’s corpse.

“You killed the Castle Lord…”

“I don’t like these evasive answers. Well, you’ll find out when you return to the unit.”

As Hwa-rin was about to move, four people landed behind them.

They were the squad leaders of each squad.

Five out of the nine, excluding Hwa-rin, were dead.

Namgung Suyeon attacked the heads first, followed by the other squad leaders.

Hwa-rin stepped aside and watched their fight.

The martial arts of each squad leader were not ordinary, but Namgung Suyeon’s martial arts were a cut above the other squad leaders.

Based on the martial arts of the Namgung family and having accumulated practical experience, she had established her own martial arts to some extent.

“Kuh-uh-uh!”

Namgung Suyeon stabbed a sword into the chest of one of the heads.

“Rest now.”

She kicked his abdomen, naturally pulled out the sword from his chest, and swung it in the air, causing a sword energy to extend out and cut the head’s waist.

The other squad leaders were also holding their own in the fight against the heads, so it seemed like the fight would end soon.

Namgung Suyeon came to Hwa-rin’s side and said quietly.

“You survived this mission too.”

Hwa-rin nodded at Namgung Suyeon’s words. As she said, he had survived this mission as well. The meaning of this was that he might become one of the few soldiers in the Fierce Tiger Death Squad to survive and be discharged.

“Yes, I survived this time too.”

* * *

The destruction of the Iron Lion Castle was a major event in the outer regions, but it was quickly buried.

Of the two hundred and fifty members of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad who returned to the unit after destroying the Iron Lion Castle, only seventy survived, excluding the fifty who had deserted or returned to the unit earlier.

The members of Gujo and Squad Ten, who had retreated from the front lines to secure their escape route, suffered little damage, but the other squad members who had directly participated in the battle all suffered heavy losses.

The spoils obtained from destroying the Iron Lion Castle were divided equally among the members who had returned alive from the battle. Hwa-rin exchanged the spoils for money, left it on the battlefield, and took the receipt.

Hwa-rin had quite a bit of money saved up one way or another.

“Everyone else is busy spending their monthly salary, but why are you so desperately saving money?”

Namgung Suyeon asked.

“It’s an obsession with life. If I die after entrusting this money [to someone else], it would be unfair, so it’s an obsession with life to desperately return alive.”

Namgung Suyeon wondered if something like that would be of great help, as Hwa-rin said, but she also thought that if you gave meaning to something, you might become more desperate.

“You can think of it as similar to you trying to gain recognition from your family.”

“Ah… I see. But why don’t you come to our dumpling shop, senior? You used to come often. Don’t you miss me?”

“Let’s just say what we need to say. The reason I don’t go is because the dumplings at your shop are not tasty. They used to be delicious.”

“Still, our dumpling shop is the most successful one here.”

“That’s probably because people’s tastes are different. Anyway, it doesn’t suit my taste right now.”

Namgung Suyeon pouted.

“And if you have time to have conversations like this with me, you should train your martial arts more. Because you’re the only one who can face the enemy general after I get discharged.”

As everyone died after entering the unit, Namgung Suyeon had become the third strongest martial artist in the unit.

“There’s the commander, you know.”

“Have you seen the commander go on a mission?”

“Ah, that’s true. Well, he might not go out because you’re here, senior. If you’re not here, the commander will step up.”

However, since he came here, he had never seen the commander go on a mission even once.

“That could be true. Do you have three years left?”

“I have three years and a little more left.”

Hwa-rin nodded.

“When I get discharged, I’ll inform your family of your obituary.”

“Senior, why are you like this!”

“As you already know, no one here will fight for you. The reason I took on the enemy general was the same. I fought them to survive, not to save you.”

“Tch.”

Every time she came to talk to Hwa-rin and got scolded, but Namgung Suyeon always lingered by Hwa-rin’s side, as if she didn’t dislike it. It wasn’t that she had feelings for Hwa-rin.

She didn’t even know it herself, but it was just that she felt a sense of stability when she was by Hwa-rin’s side.

“Anyway, it’s no fun.”

As Namgung Suyeon kicked off from her seat and left the inn, the squad members who were working glanced at Hwa-rin.

“Is there nothing to see? If you’re going to do the evening business, clean up a bit.”

In the trade city, he was always the same. The squad members hurried to move. Watching those squad members, Hwa-rin slowly left the inn.

“See you later.”

Hwa-rin waved his hand to show that he didn’t care and walked the path he wanted to go.