Chapter 235: A True Warrior Always Recognizes A Kindred Spirit (1)

The Supreme Demon Squad were the hunting dogs the Silent Night unleashed upon the Central Plains, though calling them mere hunting dogs was an understatement. Their military might was too powerful and too cruel. Proficient in mounted warfare and cavalry formations, they were more like soldiers than martial artists.

This did not mean that their individual martial arts skills were weak. They were each formidable warriors. Each warrior’s prowess approached the peak realm, and they were said to be especially adept with military-grade weapons.

The Supreme Demon Squad consisted of three hundred men, divided into three companies of one hundred with independent operational authority. Their mission was to eliminate any enemy threatening the Silent Night and to sow chaos throughout the Central Plains.

Their General was Cheok Cheong-Yeong. Rumor had it that he led his troops with such uncanny skill that no one dared to face his cavalry formations.

Whenever the Supreme Demon Squad appeared, calamity ensued. Their cavalry formations were so shocking that they overturned martial artists’ common sense entirely.

Battles in the murim were usually small-scale affairs, with the stronger martial artists winning. This had been the unwritten rule for centuries, and it was the pride of every martial artist.

The Supreme Demon Squad demolished this notion in one fell swoop. Like a battering ram against a castle wall, they charged at full speed and crashed into their foes. No one could withstand the immense weight and destructive power of warhorses combined with powerful martial arts.

The combined forces of numerous sects, the Justice Sect and the Hidden Blood Clan being the most prominent, were trampled beneath their hooves.

Both sects had long maintained close ties with the military and dispatched their disciples to serve, so they were well versed in army formations and troop management. Consequently, they attempted to stop the Supreme Demon Squad with their own mounted troops.

The result was the annihilation of both sects. From that day on, the Supreme Demon Squad became synonymous with terror.

Cheok Cheong-Yeong had two Commanders under him, each of whom led a company. They were deployed to the fiercest battlefields, where they operated freely, sometimes together, sometimes independently. Wherever they passed, nothing survived—neither a blade of grass nor an ant.

Gwak Sung’s face turned deathly pale. “How did they get here?”

The Supreme Demon Squad’s distinctive blood-red war robes and heavily armored warhorses were its symbols. They always operated on the front lines, but this place could hardly be called one.

In other words, they had no business being here at all.

“The Supreme Demon Squad...!”

“Why is the Supreme Demon Squad here...?”

The mercenaries were the first to stir. They didn’t think twice about risking their lives for money, yet even they couldn’t hide their fear of the infamous squad. The Supreme Demon Squad were just that shocking to behold.

At their head rode a man with an exceptionally large physique on a similarly enormous horse. His build was so colossal that he resembled a giant bear riding a mighty behemoth.

Gwak Sung groaned. “Hong Ak-San, Commander of the Supreme Demon Squad.”

Hong Ak-San was one of Cheok Cheong-Yeong’s two Commanders. Known as the Crimson Flame Demon, he was the master of a devastating axe technique that suited his massive frame. No one knew how many martial artists had lost their lives to his giant axe, because no one who faced him ever survived.

With the arrival of Hong Ak-San, who was famous for his savagery even within the Supreme Demon Squad, the atmosphere instantly thickened.

Hong Ak-San rode his massive horse forward.

THUD! THUD!

The sound of its hooves striking the ground reverberated like a hammer striking rock. Each time the horse’s hooves hit the ground, everyone present felt a tremendous vibration climb through the soles of their feet.

“Keuk!”

The Demon Slaying Army and the mercenaries winced under the unbearable pressure. In contrast, a savage smile played on the lips of the Supreme Demon Squad’s Commander.

Hong Ak-San sneered. “We’ll be taking the supplies headed for Fu County.”

“I-In your dreams! Who do you think would let you take them?” Gwak Sung shouted, mustering his courage. Contrary to his words, however, his body trembled uncontrollably.

Hong Ak-San bared his yellowed teeth. “Who said anything about asking permission? Hehe!”

Behind him, a hundred members of the Supreme Demon Squad closed in.

SHIIING!

They drew their weapons in unison. Rather than light blades like swords, they favored heavy arms, from daos and axes to spears and halberds.

Overwhelmed by the crushing momentum rolling off their bodies, the Demon Slaying Army and the mercenaries faltered and stepped back.

Jongri Mu-Hwan’s eyes wavered at the sight. “Damn it! To think we’d run into the Supreme Demon Squad here of all places.”

“If Commander Hong Ak-San is here, then General Cheok Cheong-Yeong must be nearby too,” Chae Yak-Ran added, biting her lip hard.

Cheok Cheong-Yeong was a dangerous man that even Heaven’s Summit handled with extreme caution. The Supreme Demon Squad’s military power was so immense that even the entire Iron Sect would struggle to guarantee victory against them.

Worse, there were only five martial artists of note present: Jongri Mu-Hwan, Chae Yak-Ran, Gongson Chang, Go Cheon-Hu, and Gi San-Ha. With that much strength, they couldn’t beat the Supreme Demon Squad even if they died and came back to life.

“Fuck!” Jongri Mu-Hwan cursed.

Besides them, there were two hundred Demon Slaying Army recruits and three hundred mercenaries. Their side held superior numbers, but a difference like that meant nothing to the Supreme Demon Squad.

We’re surrounded. There’s no escaping from this.

The enemy rode warhorses whose muscle, bone, and stamina were on another level entirely from the packhorses their own side rode. If the Supreme Demon Squad decided to give chase, they would be run down in an instant.

As Jongri Mu-Hwan agonized over their predicament, the Supreme Demon Squad charged toward the Demon Slaying Army and the mercenaries.

The thunder of hooves shook heaven and earth, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. There were no battle cries to raise morale, no intimidating shouts. They simply bore down on their enemies at a terrifying speed.

A hundred warhorses crashed directly into the massed ranks of the Demon Slaying Army and the mercenaries.

CRUNCH!

“GAAH!”

“S-Stop them!”

The sounds of breaking bone and crushing flesh mingled with screams of pain and despair, turning the road into a hellscape.

“Demon Slaying Army, don’t retreat! Stop the Supreme Demon Squad!” Gwak Sung yelled at the top of his lungs, urging his men on.

Unfortunately, his orders had no effect on untrained boys overwhelmed by the might of the Supreme Demon Squad.

Only the mercenaries came to their senses and stepped forward.

“You motherfucking sons of bitches! Let’s see who dies first.”

“UAAAAH! Die! You think you’re all that just because you’re on horses!”

The mercenaries charged at the Supreme Demon Squad like mad dogs.

And they were sent flying back twice as fast as they had charged.

“GAAH!”

Deafening shrieks filled the air amid the gruesome carnage.

The Supreme Demon Squad never once dismounted. They rode their warhorses as if they were their own limbs, slaughtering everyone in their path. A huge axe split a wanderer’s body in two, and a long spear punched through a stomach and jutted out the back.

The mercenaries circled them, watching vigilantly for an opening.

They’re human too. There must be a blind spot, they thought, but they soon fell into despair.

The Supreme Demon Squad had no blind spots. They were like a single giant living creature, a hundred men who seemed to share one set of senses, showing not the slightest opening.

Terrified by the might of the Supreme Demon Squad, the mercenaries faltered and pulled back.

Once their formation broke, there was no savaging the situation. It was the beginning of a massacre.

“Uwaaack!”

“Save me!”

Gwak Sung shouted at the surviving soldiers of the Demon Slaying Army, “What are you all doing? I said stop them! I won’t forgive anyone who takes even a single step back!”

Even so, the boys couldn’t bring themselves to charge.

War was too harsh a reality for boys of merely fifteen or sixteen to endure. The formidable power of the Supreme Demon Squad left them frozen in fear. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably like aspen leaves, and their feet felt as heavy as lead.

“Hic!”

The hiccups wouldn’t stop. Some of the boys wet their pants yet were too scared to even notice.

“You bastards! Can’t you hear me?”

Gwak Sung cut down one of his own boys as he retreated.

“AAACK!”

The boy collapsed with a desperate scream, and Gwak Sung proceeded to cut down three or four more in succession.

“Anyone who retreats will die by my hand! If you’re going to die anyway, at least die fighting, you cowards!”

The boys’ eyes wavered at their commander’s crazed shout. The Supreme Demon Squad stood in front of them and Gwak Sung behind them. They could neither advance nor retreat.

Ultimately, they chose to fight the Supreme Demon Squad. After all, most of them believed they were chosen to fight the Silent Night, and had received all sorts of benefits for that purpose.

“UWAAAAH!”

“Dammit!”

They spat curses as they charged toward the Supreme Demon Squad, a whirlwind of madness raging in their eyes.

“Oh!”

For the first time, a look of interest appeared on Hong Ak-San’s face.

A boy with a dagger clenched in his teeth leaped fearlessly toward him. He jumped a good ten meters into the air, then plummeted straight down. As he fell, he transferred the dagger to his hand, aiming right between Hong Ak-San’s brows.

“Die!”

A smile spread across Hong Ak-San’s lips as he reached his hand into the air.

CRACK!

“Gak!”

He caught the boy’s neck in his massive palm. The boy thrashed in his grip but couldn’t overcome his immense strength.

Hong Ak-San drew the boy’s face close to his own. The boy’s bloodshot eyes filled his vision, and he did not miss the chaotic energy swirling within that red.

Woah woah! Is he on drugs?

He identified the source of the madness radiating from the boy at once.

Despite his surprisingly well-developed physique, the boy’s insides were incredibly unstable. Anyone could see this was no normal condition.

Hong Ak-San quickly put the root cause down to drugs.

Creating a decent martial artist in just two years? And out of boys with no foundation at all?

According to Hong Ak-San’s common sense, it was an impossible feat. But now, the truth behind the mystery dangled from his hand.

“Creating soldiers with drugs... I’d like to see whose handiwork this is for myself.”

“Knghhh!”

The color drained from the face of the boy in his grip. Unable to breathe, his lungs were failing, and his heartbeat was slowing.

“Heaven’s Summit must be quite desperate to create things like this. Hehe!”

SNAP!

Hong Ak-San squeezed, and the boy’s neck shattered with a gruesome cracking sound. His body went limp, his tongue lolling out between his slack lips. He died instantly.

Hong Ak-San hurled the corpse at the rest of the Demon Slaying Army.

CRASH!

The corpse struck the other boys, sending them tumbling to the ground, their arms and legs bent at unnatural angles.

Hong Ak-San snorted at the pathetic sight and rode toward Gwak Sung, who was still yelling at the top of his lungs.

The instant their eyes met, Gwak Sung’s face turned deathly pale. “Huk!”

“Instead of sending out defective products like that, why don’t you step up yourself?”

“I...” Gwak Sung, who had so brutally driven the boys forward, faltered and stepped back.

Hong Ak-San sneered at the display unbecoming of the alias ‘Ghostly Apparition Hand’. “Just as I thought, old man.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“The idea that one becomes more detached with age is a lie. The older you get, the greedier one gets. You’d sacrifice the young just to live one more day. Do you really want to live that long, old man?”

“Don’t insult me. I am...”

“Blinded by fame? You’re just human trash, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Keuk!”

Hong Ak-San beckoned with his finger. “How long are you going to keep muttering, old man? I’m right here.”

Despite the clear provocation, Gwak Sung did not charge.

“Tsk! It seems you’ve sold off your pride as a warrior.”

Gwak Sung glanced at the nearby boys, urging desperately, “Dammit! What are you doing? Hurry up and attack him!”

None of the boys moved. They were just as afraid as he was, if not more.

Suddenly, Hong Ak-San swung his arm. The giant axe strapped to his back flew toward Gwak Sung at lightning speed.

WHOOSH!

“Keuk!”

Gwak Sung recoiled in dismay. He knew instinctively that it was too late to dodge. He gathered all his inner qi into his hands, preparing to strike the axe down with his prized palm technique.

“A thing like this, I’ll just... Keuk!”

The moment his palms touched the axe, they shattered like dried reeds. The giant blade severed his wrists and split his chest in two.

THUD!

Gwak Sung’s body toppled backward. It was a futile end for the old martial artist who had made a name for himself as the Ghostly Apparition Hand.

“As expected, just a worthless old man.”

Hong Ak-San bent down and pulled the great axe free of the corpse. He looked at Jongri Mu-Hwan and the Iron Sect martial artists standing nearby. Behind them was the carriage that Jin Mu-Won was riding in.

“Hehe!”

Their mission was to secure the supplies, but Hong Ak-San had no intention of only settling for that.