Chapter 403

Chapter 403

As Il-mok plunged into the dense combat, cleaving through enemy formations alongside the female fighters.

A singular attendant from their group remained behind, failing to track his advance.

‘Of all people, why must it be me…’

Stationed far in the rear where glimpses of Il-mok’s form were entirely blocked, Jeong Hyeon lamented her position internally while placing an arrow upon her bow string and pulling back.

Logically, she comprehended the rationale behind her isolation.

Her role was that of an archer.

Her utility maximized when striking opponents from a distance alongside friendly units rather than driving into the front lines.

Consequently, when Il-mok deployed his devastating World-Annihilating Pure Jade Palm and advanced rapidly with the remaining maidservants, her duty mandated she maintain her position and delay her entry.

Only after the combatants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult launched their fierce assault on the opposing battle lines did she merge into the swirling conflict.

Surrounded by a chaotic struggle where allies and adversaries collided indiscriminately, she loosed her weapon.

Ziiiiing.

Thwack!

The projectile zipped narrowly past an allied Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warrior, embedding itself directly in an opposing soldier’s brow.

The accuracy achieved bordered on the miraculous.

The ache of being unable to fight directly alongside the person she cherished.

Her feelings lacked the gentle quality possessed by the others.

Ha! Gaze upon the magnificent technique of this Ch. 403/571

“Behold the Hundred Flowers Demonic Art of the Bai Clan!!”

“Cast your eyes upon me! Observe the splendid skill of this magnificent form!”

Her position was shared by fellow family members discharging projectiles right beside her. The eccentric combatants of the Bai Clan.

‘There are four senior members of the Baek Cheon family…’

Those wealthy, unhinged aristocrats suffered from an absolute craving for recognition, unable to suppress their antics even amidst a life-or-death confrontation.

Puzzlingly, even Baek Un-hak, who had ascended to the revered Transcending Demon realm, exhibited identical behavior, though Jeong Hyeon chose not to ponder the mystery.

‘Please, extend your protection to me, Young Master.’

Her fragile disposition lacked the capacity to process the antics of that unstable family leader.

Though she sustained zero physical harm, she felt as though mental instability and Qi deviation were impending at any moment.

Nevertheless, ignoring her increasingly pale expression, the unstoppable waves of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult forces pushed deeper forward.

The opposing primary regiment numbering forty thousand appeared as mere prey before them, while they acted as apex predators tearing the ranks apart.

Yet, the opposing leaders clearly refused to let their subordinates perish without mounting a counteroffensive.

Riiip.

“Ugh…”

The enemy commanders finally directed their elite shock troops into the theater of war.

The specialized forces recognized as the Eastern Depot.

“Exterminate the defiled heretics of the Demonic Cult!”

“Yaaah!”

Foremost among them, an elderly commander leading the charge brandished his weapon with brutal efficiency.

With every sweep of that aged eunuch’s blade, the vital fluids of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult soldiers sprayed across the terrain.

“Aaaah!”

‘Their total forces comprise merely around two hundred personnel.’

The elite shock troops possessed limited numbers.

The true complication stemmed from the massive congestion hindering the Ch. 403/571 Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors’ offensive flow.

Opponents who previously collapsed instantly under pressure now formed physical barriers blocking the path forward.

Screeech.

To assist the distant Cult combatants, she extended her bow string to its absolute maximum, sharpening her concentration.

An icy perception, as though time and motion across the battlefield had completely solidified, washed over her consciousness.

Twang.

The precise moment of release.

Swoooosh!

The projectile cut sharply through the air, targeting the elderly vanguard commander.

Clang!

“Insolent fool!!”

The aged eunuch redirected his weapon in a frantic defensive maneuver, narrowly parrying her hidden strike, and emitted a piercing scream.

The vocalization was intensely familiar.

‘That is the exact eunuch who shouted commands at the opening of the conflict.’

Undeniably the figure who had overridden the regional officer while attempting to stabilize the enemy formation.

“You worthless woman!”

From across the distance, the elderly eunuch directed an intensely hostile glare toward Jeong Hyeon.

Yet, she remained entirely unperturbed by his malice.

Engaging enemies in close proximity caused her anxiety, but from a safe distance, the murderous look of an advanced combatant held no sway over her.

Despite his overt hostility, Jeong Hyeon methodically prepared another projectile.

Twang!

With a sharp resonance, the missile once again tore through the intervening space.

“Hmph!”

The seasoned commander scoffed, intending to dismiss the threat easily.

However…

As the projectile’s path altered unexpectedly right before his face, panic seized him, forcing a frantic deflection with his blade.

“Yeeek!!”

The old eunuch glared murderously at Ch. 403/571 producing an enraged cry.

She paid no attention to the evasion of her trick.

Operating with mechanical precision, she readied a subsequent arrow, sending it flying toward the elderly eunuch.

Terminating his life was never her primary objective, given her immediate assessment that his capabilities far exceeded her own.

Her intent focused entirely on disrupting his systematic execution of her allies.

She bombarded him continuously with a barrage of missiles, embedding elements of a partial Spirit Arrow Stance twice during the sequence.

As throbbing pains assaulted her mind, a subtle grin appeared on Jeong Hyeon’s face.

The duration she secured enabled Baek Un-hak to close the distance utilizing high-tier movement techniques.

“Hahaha! You castrated servant of the throne lacking manhood, how dare you cause such an uproar on this field!”

Fury ignited within the old eunuch’s gaze upon hearing Baek Un-hak’s crude provocations.

True to his nature as a seeker of recognition, the warrior mastered the art of centering attention upon himself.

“Aaaah! I shall tear you limb from limb without fail!!”

When the infuriated elderly eunuch lunged directly toward him, Baek Un-hak burst into boisterous laughter.

“Hahaha! It is common knowledge that the degenerates of the Eastern Depot harbor unnatural desires—it appears even you have become infatuated with the splendor of this magnificent form! Regrettably, this sublime body possesses zero attraction toward males, so remove yourself from my sight.”

Accompanying his declaration, Baek Un-hak thrust his hands forward in an abrupt offensive, discharging a violent wave of internal energy to repel the elderly eunuch.

Hidden within the concussive force were concealed toxic projectiles.

Clang!

“Devious strategies of the Demonic Cult, completely predictable!”

Yet the commander proved highly capable; stabilizing his stance with the Thousand-Jin Weights technique to withstand the kinetic impact, he erected a defensive circle with his sword to deflect the concealed projectiles.

“Your hideous appearance holds no value to me! In my capacity as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, I shall dismantle your physical form entirely!”

An assault launched by a Deputy Commander targeting physical features would normally offend, but to someone driven by a desire for attention, any acknowledgment sufficed.

“Hahaha! They say age brings shamelessness—”

The insults hurled by the Deputy Commander failed to penetrate Baek Un-hak’s demeanor.

Any high-level martial artist—or anyone acquainted with the methodology of Baek Un-hak—would find the display astonishing.

Despite his profound mastery over ranged combat, he refrained from expanding the distance between them.

Instead, he intentionally preserved a razor-thin gap Ch. 403/571.

Creating too much space carried the risk that the provoked adversary might ignore the taunt entirely or redirect his hostility toward vulnerable Cult warriors nearby.

Though it bore the semblance of erratic, attention-seeking madness, Baek Un-hak executed every action with deliberate calculation.

Decades spent operating under such eccentric impulses left undeniable behavioral patterns even after ascending to the Transcending Demon tier, yet he no longer existed as a puppet to those urges.

In a similar fashion, Il-mok, who achieved the Transcending Demon state through the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, maintained an incredibly meticulous approach to minor details; Jin Ha-yeon, utilizing the Bare Hand Demon Art, retained her characteristically detached countenance; and Dokgo Ryong, relying on the Dokgo Lone Spear, continuously opted for direct, aggressive charges.

Attaining the Transcending Demon tier eradicated the adverse internal consequences of these arts, though behavioral echoes persisted without the driving psychological compulsion.

Baek Un-hak was no exception to this rule.

Meanwhile.

Observing Baek Un-hak managing the Deputy Commander single-handedly, while the Baek Cheon siblings and the broader Bai Clan forces converged to neutralize the remaining Eastern Depot personnel, Jeong Hyeon released a gentle breath.

“Haaah.”

Partially out of relief that her fellow cultists were temporarily out of harm’s way.

“Perhaps things will quiet down now…?”

Mainly because the excessively boisterous aristocrats of the Bai Clan had moved a sufficient distance away for her chaotic internal thoughts to finally settle.

In stark contrast to Jeong Hyeon, who could exhale without a single anxiety, the supreme leader of the Western Army lacked even the freedom to vent his frustration.

With the conflict unfolding in such an unorthodox manner, an open display of distress from the supreme commander risked decimating the psychological resolve of his officers.

The vanguard of four individuals—a lone male and three females—advanced like unstoppable forces across the field.

Resembling mythical lances capable of penetrating any barrier.

The casualties resulting directly from their actions had comfortably surpassed several hundred.

In fact, factoring in the mounted units decimated by the young commander’s profound technique, the number likely exceeded a thousand.

Yet, those four individuals alone had not completely ruined the strategic outlook of the Western Army.

A loss of a thousand troops constituted a minor setback against an aggregate force of eighty thousand combatants.

Observing the steppe fighters decimating his western wing, intense anguish gripped his heart.

At this current trajectory, the western sector faced imminent destruction. Twenty thousand allied troops were falling like harvested grain before a scythe.

His singular prospect for success remained tied to the eastern wing.

No specialized units obstructed that sector.

Ch. 403/571

Nevertheless, the hostile militia he had initially discounted as disorganized peasants refused to yield.

The leader of the Western Army identified the mechanism keeping them stable.

“Combat the oppressors!!”

“Honor! Ho-nor to the Hea-ven-ly De-mon Di-vine Cult!!”

They maintained their positions through zealous vocalizations, fighting with absolute desperation.

Seasoned imperial troops fractured oppositional skulls and impaled vital organs.

Despite the mounting casualties, the adversaries showed no signs of retreating in panic—instead, they chanted their proclamations louder, locked their defensive armaments, and extended their lances.

This display of absolute conviction even induced trepidation within the ranks of the Western Army’s regular forces.

“Cursed fanatical heretics…”

Unable to suppress his vocal irritation, he redirected his attention to monitor the central division.

The main body, disorganized by the mere entry of a thousand infiltrators, was now engaged in a chaotic melee with the arriving bulk of the insurgent forces.

The most prominent spectacle featured the Deputy Commander locked in combat against a projectile-wielding practitioner from the Demonic Cult.

The supreme leader of the Western Army compressed his jaw, suppressing another wave of visible frustration.

“My directives explicitly stated they were to contain the front line.”

The Deputy Commander along with the Eastern Depot assets were actively bypassing the four vanguard spearheads, choosing instead to engage secondary threats in the rear.

Their underlying motivation was glaringly apparent, causing his anger to flare.

His subordinate officers perceived the situation identically, expressing disapproval.

“That catastrophic martial display undoubtedly terrified them.”

“They intend to remain on the periphery until the young practitioner depletes his internal energy, intending to step in solely to claim credit for the victory.”

The self-serving strategies of the Eastern Depot were utterly transparent.

The supreme commander concurred with the assessment, yet the urgency of the situation left no room for idle commentary.

“Authorize the deployment of the Heavenly Thunderbolts immediately!”

“The Heavenly Thunderbolts, Commander!? Midst this chaotic engagement, our own troops face certain annihilation!”

He comprehended that exact hazard, which explained his hesitation up to this juncture.

But conditions had changed.

The momentum of battle has completely deserted us! It is time to Ch. 403/571.

Had the steppe forces not been actively dismantling his western wing, he would never contemplate unleashing the destructive power of the Heavenly Thunderbolts upon his own operational area.

“We shall execute the directive!”

As the subordinate officers dispersed to fulfill the mandate.

An anomalies occurrence arrested the supreme commander’s focus.

“At what point did they…?”

Those four initial instigators of the assault.

They had advanced to within roughly thirty yards of the centralized command platform.

An expert in high-tier movement methodologies could bridge such a distance in a fraction of a second. Granted, the intervening space was choked with thousands of battling soldiers.

Nonetheless, a terrifying sensation fixed his gaze completely upon them.

The leading youth, practitioner of that devastating esoteric style, cleaved through a blocking imperial soldier.

A smirk appeared on his face.

His gaze locked precisely onto the leader of the Western Army, his expression twisting into a confident smile.

“At last, you are within my range.”

Amidst the overwhelming cacophony of war cries, the supreme commander discerned the precise movement of the young man’s lips.

“Preposterous!?”

Understanding dawned upon him in that instant.

That reckless breakthrough was never intended merely to induce panic or elevate the morale of the insurgent forces.

The spearhead that penetrated every line of defense possessed an exclusive objective from the very beginning.

‘Targeting me since the outset?’

The decapitation of the opposing supreme military commander.

A flash of movement!

The young warrior initiated a high-level lightness technique, launching his body into the air.

“The adversary has taken flight!”

He maneuvered through the air as if ascending an invisible staircase, traveling forward with immense velocity.

Deploying the Void Treading technique, he closed the distance to the strategic command platform in a heartbeat.

A senior officer stationed beside the supreme commander lunged forward, raising his weapon.

“You wretched bastard!!”

Concentrated blade energy saturated the defensive strike.

Sliiiit!

An absolute, decisive bisection occurred with shocking ease—leaving the senior officer severed in two.

The physical form split completely apart.

The leader of the Western Army watched the scene unfold, trapped in a detached state of disbelief.

Subsequently, a muted impact resonated as the youthful warrior made contact with the surface of the elevated stage.

Thud.

Incredibly unnerving.

The broader engagement reverberated with agonized cries across the field.

Yet, within this precise perimeter, an oppressive silence seemed to take hold.

Thud.

The divided remains rolled across the floor, painting the command area in a deep crimson hue.

“Gulp.”

An individual on the platform swallowed audibly—the sound echoing sharply within the sudden vacuum of stillness.