447: The End of the Alliance (4)

The weight of sacrificing others.

It was different from sacrificing oneself.

Even leader Mu Gu-cheon, who tried to raise up the warriors’ morale by sacrificing himself, couldn’t hide his shock when he heard Chun Yeowun’s words.

‘Family and relatives…’

The opportunity suggested by Chun Yeowun was something he came up with by finding loopholes in Mu Gu-cheon’s words.

Rather, if he had chosen to ask for the lives of the leaders, all the clans would have chosen to fight as one.

However, he was testing them by involving their families.

‘He brought in a dilemma.’

Not just him. Even the other leaders were the same.

Fortunately, Monk Sathi and the other monks of her clan had no family members.

But everyone’s reaction indicated that they were troubled by Chun Yeowun’s words. Even Peng-gyu felt lost.

‘This…’

Peng-gyu didn’t know what to do as he looked at the cold gaze of Chun Yeowun.

Anything else would have been fine, but Chun Yeowun’s attempt to shake the warriors succeeded.

‘I knew he was clever, but this Lord of the Demonic Cult is really…’

Hong Palwoo shook his head.

He, the head of the Beggars Association, also didn’t have any family members.

So he was able to look at the entire situation in a broad and calm manner. This one move of Chun Yeowun was enough to divide the faction.

‘I know about the warriors, but the others…’

There were groups of voluntary soldiers and warriors who joined them.

And they were believers of justice as their ideology, but it would be impossible for them to choose death without a cause.

‘This needs to be overcome!’

They had to come up with a proper solution.

Not just Hong Palwoo but all the other leaders who were in a dilemma couldn’t speak out.

It was difficult to lay down one’s own life, but there was no way they could drive their own family to their deaths.

As thoughts rose, the ripples grew.

Woong!

‘If their families are important, do we die?’

‘Even during scouting, they all spoke about sacrifice for justice, but isn’t this just plain nonsense?’

‘Such hypocrisy!’

Small whispers from all over the place could be heard.

Chun Yeowun looked at them.

It was funny that the leaders who advocated for sacrifice were in a dilemma when needed.

‘Regardless of the time or age, this never changes.’

It was like seeing the six clans of the Demonic Cult.

Giving them any more time seemed like a waste.

Chun Yeowun raised his hand.

Srrrr!

A blue hue appeared on the ice swords, which were waiting in the air, waiting to fire at any moment.

He spoke, looking at the bewildered people.

“It seems that the choice made by your leaders is their families’ survival. I hope you will respect the choice made by your leaders who are of the same faction.”

With those words, Chun Yeowun tried to lower his hand, and screams erupted.

“S-stop! Why do we have to sacrifice for their families?”

“Right! Family is important to everyone, but who will care for our families if we die?”

The leaders were confused.

They couldn’t open their mouths because they knew that such a situation would pop up, but with Chun Yeowun’s sly act, it burst out.

As one shouted, people began to join in.

“Why must we sacrifice for them?”

“I won’t! Shouldn’t the leaders who lead the Yulin be the ones to set an example?”

“How can you all force us to sacrifice ourselves?”

‘… this is bad.’

Even the commanders couldn’t hide their flustered expressions at the complaints from the warriors.

If the leaders spoke, then the division in the troops would turn into reality.

If that was the case, then the evil Demon God, Chun Yeowun, would get what he wanted.

Yeon Young-in called out Chun Yeowun.

“Lord Chun! What is this cowardly act? The task here needs to end here! To bring our families into this!”

As a response to his cry, the other leaders shouted too.

“Everyone of the Yulin faction, do not fall prey to this evil man’s plan! Everything he is doing is to tear us apart!”

“If we divide like this, everything will go according to the Demon God’s plan! We need to work together and defeat this evil!”

Despite their heated shouts, people didn’t seem convinced.

On the contrary, it seemed to rile them up.

One of the members of the White Sword came forward and pointed at Yeon Young-in and shouted.

“Do you think we are fools! Of course, we know that he is trying to divide us! But why do you leaders and clan heads remain silent without saying a single word?”

“Yes, he is right! If the leaders really think of us as your people, then you should have spoken up before, but why did you choose to keep your mouths closed?”

In a moment, Yeon Young-in’s mouth shut.

As they said, not a single leader had come forward to sacrifice their families for the sake of the warriors.

It was difficult to answer as their families were brought in, but in the end, they’d rather lose the warriors than their own bloodline.

“And how great was your team up against the Demon God? Not a single leader could do anything to him… tch! In the end, it’s no different from saying that we are the only ones who will die!”

As the number of people who spoke increased, different words came in.

‘Huh, did we fall for such a shallow ploy?’

‘This is bad!’

Not everyone was shaken.

Among the clans, some respected the leaders, while some were dissatisfied.

The latter was more abundant because their lives were at stake.

At that time, one person spoke.

“If you really think of us as your siblings of war, don’t the leaders have to be the ones making the sacrifice? Do you people think that your families are the only important ones? More lives are at stake if our families are left alone.”

It was simple math.

As a result, if the warriors of the Yulin died, thousands of people would end up being killed for the sake of a couple leaders.

Such dissatisfaction caused the clan heads to speak out.

“No. So you want us to kill family members who have nothing to do with this? How can you people speak such words?”

“R-right! You people are easily putting the blame on us, but you avoid the fact that you would never sacrifice yourself for the heads of the clan and the faction?”

At that desperate situation, Sathi mumbled.

“Ahhh… Amitabha.”

In the end, the words which should never be said were spoken.

As she feared, even the leaders who kept silent till then were disappointed at the cries of the clan heads.

Even those who dedicated their lives to the Forces of Justice couldn’t hide their disappointment.

Thanks to that, the voices of dissatisfaction only grew louder.

“Has everyone heard? How can we trust them and their concept of justice! Lord Chun! We cannot make sacrifices for the leaders.”

“I agree with their words! I can’t give up my life.”

As one or two and then hundreds of people spoke, the leaders were pushed into a dead end.

The leaders decided that the situation could no longer be reversed.

Once everyone feels the same, persuading them is difficult.

[Monk Sathi.]

[Leader Hong?]

[This is a pity. But there is nothing we can do.]

Hong Palwoo looked at the leaders and clan heads.

It was shameful because there was no way to change the minds of the warriors, and escaping seemed better.

The other leaders nodded as if they understood.

“I am from the White Sword too. I agree with the opinion of many people here. How can we make sacrifices…”

It was then that someone interrupted and shouted.

“Amitabha! Brothers of the Forces of Justice. How can we fall for the devil’s game and fight among us! On behalf of the commander, I will speak here. I order a retreat by turning a blind eye to what happened here!”

“Retreat?”

It was Gak-yeon who had given the order.

Hong Palwoo was the one who wanted to declare retreat before further damage was done.

When they were confused, Gak-yeon shouted once more.

“You don’t have to decide! You don’t have to be struck by the Sky Flash. Run, retreat!”

The only way to save the warriors was if they escaped.

Pah!

As soon as his order fell, some people were shocked.

They were the clan heads.

“Ah!”

“A-are we running away now?”

It was shameful and humiliating.

The only thoughts in the leaders’ minds were that they had to get out of this place and protect their family members.

They were currently in a place that was surrounded on three sides.

At their pathetic plan, Chun Yeowun shook his head.

“You people shake a lot of hands.” (Meaning no fixed trait)

Starting with the leaders and then the warriors, they all tried to retreat.

“Follow the clan heads.”

“Divide and run away!”

Woong!

Around four hundred people.

Leaders, who noticed it, took advantage of the situation and made way to run.

‘Ugh, Lord of the Demonic Cult!’

‘One day, we will definitely pay off this debt!’

Thinking that this was the worst humiliation they ever faced, they ground their teeth and vowed to seek revenge.

Their plan was to avoid the Sky Flash as much as possible.

No matter how skilled the Demon God was, there was a limit to what he could do with that Sky Flash, which meant they had to get far away from Chun Yeowun.

It was then,

Kick!

Yeon Young-in stopped in his tracks.

He saw something shocking ahead.

“Th-this…”

“An ambush?”

Shockingly, hundreds of cultists were blocking their way out of the mountains.

At the forefront stood a man with a unique mask,

“The Dark King!”

He was the Great Guardian, Marakim.

Along with him, the man who stays beside the Lord of the Demonic Cult at all times was the Six Swords and their warriors, all blocking their escape.

“Kuk! He didn’t come here alone.”

Peng-gyu looked at them with fearful eyes.

The strength of the Demon God’s subordinates was widely known ever since the battle in Jin Castle.

But, even if it was his first time seeing them, he saw how dangerous they looked.

‘The silver-haired man on the right and those with fur coats… is he?’

To their shock, people were dressed in the North Sea Ice Palace attire.

Around a hundred, they all looked like royal warriors from the Ice Palace.

‘Why are they here?’

Even Mak Wijong, who returned to the base right away, didn’t know what had happened in the Ice Palace, so no one could even imagine that the Ice Palace was in Chun Yeowun’s hands.

What was certain was that the Ice Palace was cooperating with the Demonic Cult.

‘The internal energy from that person is unusual.’

The one Peng-gyu looked at was Dan Jucheon.

And then he looked at a woman, who had sharp eyes. Although she looked strong, it didn’t seem like she could defend herself.

‘That girl seems to be weak.’

Maybe because of the huge energy being released by the cult, he decided to go for the woman who looked weak.

The only way he could escape was if he could break through their line.

Phat!

“Follow me!”

Peng-gyu closed the distance at once and jumped to the left where the woman was standing.

Seeing him do that, Ko Wanghur of the Six Swords smirked.

“He must have a death wish.”

Peng-gyu was totally unaware as his mind was clouded with the desire to run away alive.

Rather than killing her, it was his desire to defeat her and then escape from the path she was blocking.

But,

Chachachang!

“H-how is that frail girl taking my attacks so easily?”

Shockingly, the woman was able to stop Peng-gyu’s attacks.

As if that wasn’t enough, she unfolded sword qi, which cut his head off at once.

Slash!

“Kuak!”

With a short scream, Peng-gyu’s head dropped to the ground and rolled.

The young woman mumbled as she stepped on the head.

“Young one? I have outlived you. You whiny little girl.”

At the confident attack of Peng-gyu and his immediate death, those who followed him were shocked.

“Leader Peng-gyuuuu!”

“No!”

Although he lost one arm, Peng-gyu was still a leader of the Forces of Justice. They never expected him to lose in such a manner.

“You rushed it, elder Yin Moha. Tch!”

Although she looked young, she was an elder of the Demonic Cult, a Superior Master.

In recent years, she managed to learn the twenty-four Demon Swords, and she was even one of the top three swordsmen in the Demonic Cult. She was someone who the enemies should fear the most.

Chachacha!

“Woahhh!”

Screams came from the right side.

The body of Yeon Young-in, who was taken down by the warriors of the Ice Palace, was found.

It was no use trying to drive away the cold qi which was already in his body.

“Wh-who is this monster…”

He looked at Dan Jucheon, who didn’t move a single step.

He, who was the strongest in the North, was on the same level as the five strongest warriors.

“Sorry to my old allies, but no one can go past this place.”

Wheein!

Cold qi rose around as he took each step.

The eyes of the leaders of Yulin who looked at him were dyed in despair.

The heads who looked at this clicked their tongues.

‘He didn’t stop us on purpose.’

‘They were already blocking our way out?’

There was a reason why Chun Yeowun didn’t make his Air Swords follow them.

He was confident that his men would stop them, while the Yulin thought he couldn’t control the Air Swords after a certain distance.

Although many tried to retreat, around 3000 were still on the site.

‘… they chose.’

‘Because I didn’t choose allies as fellows, I only tried to save my own family…’

They looked bitterly at the leaders.

Even though they led the Yulin, the leaders couldn’t just sacrifice thousands of people.

All that was left was hope that Chun Yeowun would keep his promise.

The ice swords showed no signs of disappearing.

That was when one spoke.

“Lord Chun! We accept your offer. I doubt that you would break your oath…”

He glanced at the ice swords above.

He didn’t have to say anything. He asked Chun Yeowun to get rid of the ice swords and not threaten them.

As Chun Yeowun raised his hand, the swords disappeared.

Swosh!

“Ah!… uh?”

But, the other ice swords were still moving in the air.

What did that mean?

“… Lord Chun. Why didn’t you disperse all the swords…”

“Don’t worry. I keep my promises.”

“Sigh….”

At the words of Chun Yeowun, the warriors sighed.

If he changed his mind and decided to kill them, no one could stop him.

“Move!”

“Huh?”

At that time, warriors of the Demonic Cult crossed the site and brought in five large wooden boxes, and placed them near Chun Yeowun.

As they put down the boxes, the man in the red hood, who seemed to be responsible for those boxes, spoke out.

“Lieutenant Hu Bong brought ‘it’ to the Lord as ordered.”

“Good work.”

The young man was Hu Bong, lieutenant of the Six Swords.

Hu Bong glanced at the warriors with curious eyes and spoke to Chun Yeowun.

“You could just bring them with you. Why did we have to put them in the boxes?”

What on earth was in those boxes?

The cultists opened the lids of the wooden boxes.

They were all filled with tiny black items.

Woong!

Looking at the uneasy feelings and expressions on their faces, Chun Yeowun spoke.

“Everyone will take a piece of it, and then you can leave.”

“What does this mean? No… is this poison?”

A warrior asked in a trembling voice.

Chun Yeowun nodded his head casually.

‘!?’

All the members were shocked at the honest answer.

Clan head, Seong Jin-kyeong, couldn’t hide his anger and shouted out.

“Lo-Lord Chun! Didn’t you say that you would spare us? Then why are you feeding us with such dogmatism?”

It was obvious for anyone to act like that.

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With a cynical smile, Chun Yeowun answered.

“You want to live, right?”

This man had no intention of letting anyone live.

The ice swords spun around, emitting huge energy, urging the leaders and clan heads to decide.