When the leader swung his greatsword, a flash of light burst forth. The sword qi, flying out in a great curve, felled a massive tree.
Boom.
The horses screamed loudly and came to a stop, and among them were some that could not overcome their own speed and crashed into the tree trunk.
The Tang people who were thrown from their horses immediately got up, either running away or facing the charging outsiders. Grand Madam leapt from her horse and hurriedly lowered Yuhwa and Yehwa to the ground.
In that moment, a sword touched Grand Madam’s neck.
Without wavering, Grand Madam spoke to the outsiders’ leader.
“Take everything. I will hand over all the things we brought to you...”
“Do I look like a fool to you? As soon as we get out of here, you’ll report that we took them and sic pursuit on us.”
Clang. Clang.
The outsider lightly knocked aside the throwing dagger that flew at him and went on.
“Tsk, tsk. The fact that I know the Martial Alliance bastards so well is truly unfortunate for you, Madam.”
Behind his sneer, the sounds of battle followed.
The once-quiet forest turned into a battlefield in an instant.
The mercenaries who had become enemies blocked the road and lusted after the pouches tied to the horses.
“Aaagh!”
Demonic warriors dropping from the branches began grabbing the fleeing ladies and children.
Slash.
The Red Tiger Unit warriors did their best to block them, but they were outnumbered. On top of that, the demonic warriors kept pouring in.
“Run!”
From a distance, the Red Tiger Unit leader’s voice rang out.
While the leader’s attention was fixed on the pouches, Grand Madam ran into the forest with the twins. The mercenaries tried to block her path, but the Red Tiger Unit was faster.
At the rain of concealed weapons, the mercenaries pulled back.
Once they broke free of the group, a sharp sound like arrows whistling rang out from the sky.
Whoosh.
It was the sound of the demonic warriors closing in.
“Argh!”
A scream echoed from behind, as if a demonic warrior had tackled someone.
Grand Madam did not waver and ran with Yehwa and Yuhwa.
Slash.
Just then, a streak of sword qi flew toward Grand Madam’s back. Sensing the energy, she twisted her body, but the sword qi grazed her shoulder.
Yehwa cried out in shock.
“M-Mother!”
The demonic warriors reacted to Yehwa’s voice.
“Over there. She’s Grand Madam.”
Again, that sound that shook the bones rang out.
Yehwa and Yuhwa looked up at the sky with terrified faces.
Swoooosh.
Along with the violently shaking branches, they heard a sound like a sudden downpour.
The twins felt as if the demonic warriors might drop down at any moment and were afraid.
That prediction soon became reality.
Bang. Boom.
The demonic warriors who landed on the ground immediately swung their swords. They had no intention of letting the direct line live. Their goal was not to take hostages, but instant killing.
Boom.
Grand Madam stopped and drew the sword at her waist, blocking the demonic warriors’ strikes.
Before coming to the Tang manor, she had learned the sword. From a young age she had gone back and forth on trade routes following her father, and martial arts had been essential to deal with bandit attacks. Thanks to having learned from an especially skilled armed escort, Grand Madam’s ability was in no way inferior to that of a highly paid escort.
But perhaps because she had set the sword aside for so long, even facing a single demonic warrior was difficult for her.
Boom.
Even so, Grand Madam summoned superhuman strength to block the sword aimed at the twins.
“Haa, run northeast. Whether it’s down a slope or wherever, as long as it’s in the direction of the village, don’t stop and just keep running.”
At Grand Madam’s words, Yehwa grabbed Yuhwa’s hand and began to run.
“W-we can’t! Mother!”
Yuhwa tried to yank her hand free, but Yehwa only pulled her twin sister’s hand harder.
“If we stay here, it’ll be more dangerous! Those bastards have to chase us so they won’t all rush your way!”
At that, Yuhwa stopped resisting and ran in the same direction as Yehwa.
Their speed was such that it was hard to think of them as children.
It was still too soon for them to use lightness skill, but thanks to steady training, they could run faster than most adults.
Swoooosh.
Once again, that chilling rain-like sound came from the sky.
It meant the branches were moving violently.
Yehwa stared up at the sky between the leaves. Northeast. She let that word their mother had said slip past her.
Their mother would never have told the ones following her what direction she was sending them.
“Run toward the village” had probably been meant to sow confusion.
Through the gap between two branches, Yehwa spotted the clouds. The direction in which the clouds were moving looked the same as when they had been traveling on horseback.
Once, when they had gotten lost in the mountains, their mother had taught them how to find their way.
'We just have to keep going this way.'
Certain of the direction, Yehwa sprinted.
But the ones following them were not ordinary martial artists.
Running a step behind, Yuhwa suddenly yanked Yehwa toward her.
Boom.
A blade that had fallen from the sky shattered a rock. It was exactly where Yehwa had been heading.
“Mm...”
Yuhwa swallowed her words and sobbed. Yehwa felt she knew what that swallowed sound was. It was probably the question of what they were supposed to do now.
It would not have been strange if they lost their lives to the demonic warriors’ swords at any moment.
Yehwa’s eyes suddenly welled with tears. She had never once thought about death, and she had never imagined her end would be this futile.
Just then, a huge tree came into Yehwa’s view.
More precisely, she saw a hole under its thick roots. It looked like a burrow some animal had dug into the earth to hide in and rest.
Yehwa hurriedly put her hand into her sleeve.
“Eat this!”
She shoved half of a pill into Yuhwa’s mouth.
Without protest, Yuhwa swallowed it at once.
“Over there!”
Without explaining her idea, Yehwa simply spoke first. Fortunately, her twin sister understood what she meant and ran toward the giant tree.
The moment Yuhwa slipped under the tree, Yehwa, with her back to the trunk, opened her pouch and scattered something all around.
Slash.
“Aaaagh!”
The demonic warrior who had been thrusting his sword toward her from directly behind screamed and stumbled backward. His face melted and turned red.
“What in the...”
Yehwa muttered without meaning to. Even the demonic warrior’s sword had melted away into the sand.
And that was not all.
Sizzle.
The sand that had fallen to the ground bubbled as it burned through the piled-up fallen leaves.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Seeing the demonic warriors approaching, Yehwa shook out the pouch, scattering its contents. The remaining powder spread in all directions.
“Guh-heuk!”
When one who had inhaled the sand-laden air toppled backward, the demonic warriors who had been charging so boldly stopped in their tracks.
Yehwa looked back and forth between the pouch in her hand and the demonic warriors.
'That crazy Tang Hae-han! Just what did he give me?'
Did the Oral Transmission Pavilion just carry around things like this?
Yehwa’s face went white.
But there was no time to be flustered now. She had to pull herself together quickly.
Yehwa pulled a fresh cloth pouch from her sleeve.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Like someone brandishing a torch to scare off an animal, Yehwa waved the pouch and rolled her eyes.
'One, two, three, four...'
She counted the demonic warriors she could see, but there were far too many. She was so scared she felt like she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Don’t come closer. If you do, I’ll kill you all!”
Her terrified voice shook.
Because of that, the demonic warriors realized that the poison in the child’s hand was not as great as it seemed.
Squish.
One demonic warrior, who arrived late, stepped forward.
Perhaps he outranked the others, because the demonic warriors in front of him made way for him.
The one who approached stepped onto the poison sand without hesitation.
Sizzle.
His shoe melted and smoke rose, but the demonic warrior did not care.
His massive frame cast a deep shadow, and Yehwa, swallowed by the darkness, took a step back.
The demonic warrior’s blade flashed in the sunlight. The spotless, unblemished sword held a strange aura.
“Huuuhk.”
In the end, Yehwa threw the pouch and ran for the tree. Yuhwa, who was hiding in the burrow, hurriedly grabbed her and pulled her inside.
Like two squirrels curling up to hide from a natural enemy, the girls trembled.
Squish.
As the demonic warrior stepped closer, his upper body was hidden by the tree roots.
At the same time, the sword that had been angled toward the ground rose up and vanished from sight.
Knowing exactly what the demonic warrior was about to strike, the twins squeezed their eyes shut and clung to each other.
Boom.
The sound of blades clashing rang out.
But it was not the sound of a tree or flesh being cut.
Peeking through slitted eyes, Yehwa saw a sword driven straight into the ground.
It was not the demonic warrior’s sword.
Blood flowed down from the black hilt and traced a red line along the blade.
The demonic warrior’s entire body came into view as he stepped back. He was looking up into the tree.
Soon, his gaze dropped.
Thock.
A martial artist dropped and landed with one foot on the embedded hilt. Using the rebound, the martial artist sprang high and vanished behind the tree roots.
Clang.
At the sound of blades clashing, the demonic warrior lurched far backward.
A woman in white martial robes landed right in front of the demonic warrior. Her movements were extremely light. She moved as if she were one with her sword, flowing smoothly.
Her sword’s path was so fast it looked as if she were cracking a whip.
Clang. Clang.
The demonic warrior put all his strength into bringing his sword down on the woman’s blade. But it was like cutting water with a sword. Letting the attack slide off, the woman spun her body rapidly.
As if unfolding a movement art, the woman glided far to the left and lowered her stance, then delivered a powerful cut to the waist of another demonic warrior who had been coming in from the side.
Boom.
“Guh-euugh!”
As the woman turned back to the massive demonic warrior and blocked his strike, a scream sounded at the same time.
Her movements were incredibly fast.
“That person...”
Yuhwa murmured in amazement without realizing it.
Eyes wide, Yehwa also could not look away from the woman’s back.
Boom. Bang.
Blocking the rain of attacks, the woman focused all her strength on driving back the demonic warrior who looked the strongest.
The group of demonic warriors that had been surrounding the twins had already been pushed back nearly a full zhang. Now, even from beneath the roots, the woman’s face was clearly visible.
Her height had grown and her face had changed a great deal, but she was unmistakably Young Lady Jeom-chil.
The ragged woman whom Tang Sohwa had once brought back was now wearing Wudang Sect robes and single-handedly holding off countless demonic warriors.
At the unbelievable sight, the twins forgot their fear and stuck their heads out.
Tap.
Leaping far back, the woman put her back to the great tree and spoke.
“Do not come out.”
The twins, who had come to their senses, crawled back under the roots.
“Everyone else will be joining us soon. Just hold on a little longer.”
Riding the wind, her voice drifted over, unclear whether she was speaking to herself or to the two frightened girls.
Letting out a small breath, Yeon-a steadied her breathing once.
Fully composed now, Yeon-a raised her sword in front of her chest as she fixed her gaze on the enemy.
Slash.
Facing nine demonic warriors, the late-generation Wudang disciple unfolded the ready stance as if steadying her heart and mind.
