Cheong Yeong-ja calculated the battle situation with a hardened face.
'While it's welcome that Wei Yan-ho captured Gwang Mu-ryang…'
Unfortunately, the fact that Gwang Mu-ryang had been defeated didn't seem to have much effect on the morale of the Demonic Cult members.
'This is what makes the Demonic Cult terrifying.'
Forces combined with religion cannot be interpreted with common sense. With other sects, the fact that their leader had fallen would cause morale to plummet dramatically, but the Demonic Cult members, who believed they would become one with the Sacred Fire upon death, felt no fear of death whatsoever.
If anything, they seemed even more frenzied.
'This won't be easy.'
No matter how he thought about it, the difference in strength was too great. Even with Wei Yan-ho, the Dark King, Do Wan, and the Plum Blossom Sword Saint—though his body wasn't in perfect condition—their overall power was being overwhelmingly pushed back.
'We'll have to bury our bones here today.'
If he had known the Demonic Cult members were this strong, he would have tried to break through and escape the moment the battle began, no matter what it took. Thinking of the Demonic Cult as they were in the past had been a fatal mistake.
"Even if I die, I won't show any disgraceful behavior."
Drawing his plum blossom sword, Cheong Yeong-ja flew through the air and landed beside Wei Yan-ho.
"I'll fight alongside you."
"Oh my, old man. You'll break your bones. Go stand in the back and just watch."
"…I'm still in my prime! If Master Uncle is fighting, I can't just stand around doing nothing."
"Really now, you're not much help anyway."
Wei Yan-ho let out deep sighs.
'This is bad.'
Anyone could see the situation was grim. Even with several tigers, they couldn't stop hundreds of wolves.
"Groan."
Though their numbers were greater, if those enemies were wolves, then most of their people had to be considered sheep. They could fill the numbers, but they weren't particularly helpful.
However…
"Block them!"
"Don't retreat! Retreating means defeat!"
The Demonic Cult members rushing at Wei Yan-ho couldn't advance forward easily because of those who blocked their path without regard for their lives.
'Ah, I really hate this kind of thing.'
Wei Yan-ho's insides boiled with frustration.
"Everyone get out of the way!"
"Yan-ho, calm down."
Wei Jeong-han blocked Wei Yan-ho's path.
"No, they're targeting me anyway, so why are you blocking the way? You're just increasing the number of deaths for nothing!"
Wei Yan-ho burst out shouting.
"Damn Demonic Cult bastards, I'll let you see the Sacred Fire today, so all of you come at once!"
"You fool! I told you to calm down!"
"Argh! So frustrating!"
Wei Yan-ho shook off Wei Jeong-han's hand and rushed forward.
"Oh no! You crazy bastard!"
Watching Wei Yan-ho charge forward, stepping over people's heads toward the front, Wei San-ho opened his mouth and laughed.
"That's the way!"
"What! You fool!"
"I'm going first! Father!"
Seeing Wei San-ho charging forward following Wei Yan-ho, Wei Jeong-han clutched his head.
"I'll fry you in sewage water, you bastards! You've never known how to show filial piety in your entire lives! Jumping into danger right in front of your father?"
"Heh heh heh."
The Dark King chuckled with amusement.
"I was getting stomach aches thinking the Guangdong Wei Family would make a name for themselves, but there's no need for stomach aches. If both sons are such warriors, of course they should make a name for themselves."
"Indeed."
Do Wan and the Dark King looked at each other, then flew through the sky chasing after Wei Yan-ho.
"Hey, you fools! It's not right for young ones to lead the charge!"
Watching this scene, Cheong Yeong-ja smiled broadly.
'At least our spirit won't be broken.'
Perhaps they might all bury their bones here today, but that didn't mean they had lost. The Demonic Cult bastards would come to realize why the Central Plains had been able to withstand their merciless offensive.
"Uraaaaaaaa!"
Wei Yan-ho's sword erupted with white light.
"One shot!"
BOOOOOOOOM!
The white light that fell crashed into the ground, causing a massive explosion.
The Demonic Cult members caught in the explosion spat blood as they were sent flying.
"Two shots!"
BOOOOOOOOM!
That a human could unleash sword energy of such power with a sword was something unbelievable even when seen with one's own eyes.
"Three shots! Four shots! Ugh, I'm dying!"
Wei Yan-ho landed on the ground, stuck his sword into the earth, and panted heavily.
Having unleashed powerful sword energy consecutively in an instant, his internal energy was rapidly depleting. Though Wei Yan-ho took pride in his internal energy being second to none in the world, having absorbed a portion of Baek Mu-han's power, dealing with the endlessly surging Demonic Cult members was no easy task.
"Uraaaaaaaa! One more shot!"
Seeing the white light soaring to the heavens, the Demonic Cult members' momentum began to falter.
"He's, he's not human."
"What kind of creature is he!"
"…Damn it!"
"Don't retreat! The path to the Sacred Fire lies there."
Their minds understood. Even if they died here, it wouldn't be death. It was a sacred process of becoming one with the Sacred Fire.
But their bodies were different.
Their trembling legs and shaking hands were honest.
'This is just a dog's death.'
While returning to the Sacred Fire was the wish of all who belonged to the Divine Cult, this case was different. No one would want to die engulfed in that white light, unable to even leave a corpse behind.
"Aaaaaaah!"
A scream came from behind.
When the startled Demonic Cult members turned around, they saw Gwang Mu-ryang standing behind a fallen Demonic Cult member who was spitting blood, his face ghostly.
"We will not retreat even unto death! Was that not the spirit of our cult! Those who disturb the cult's spirit, I shall personally send to hell! Can those who retreat in fear of the enemy become one with the Sacred Fire!"
With both practical threats and religious threats applied simultaneously, life returned to the eyes of the Demonic Cult members.
"Kill them!"
"Death to the heretics!"
Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue as he watched the Demonic Cult members charging at him.
'I don't understand.'
What in the world could be more important than one's own life?
To Wei Yan-ho, the Demonic Cult members charging forward disregarding their own lives felt like incomprehensible creatures.
So much so that he couldn't even think of them as fellow humans.
"Damn it."
This was why he didn't want to come to Mount Hua.
Wei Yan-ho infused internal energy into the sword in his hand. The internal energy that once seemed inexhaustible no matter how much he used it was now showing its bottom. His dantian ached as if being pricked by needles.
Wei Yan-ho let out a battle cry and unleashed sword energy once more. The charging Demonic Cult members were engulfed in the light Wei Yan-ho emitted and turned into bloody pulp as they were sent flying.
Even so, their momentum didn't stop.
"So damn persistent, really!"
He could understand why Wei Jeong-han had constantly warned him to be careful of the Demonic Cult, drumming it into his ears until they hurt. Thinking of them the same as other martial artists was a perfect way to get hurt.
"Aaaaah!"
Wei Yan-ho, who had been about to unleash sword energy, bit down hard on his teeth as he felt his internal energy failing to gather.
"Groan! Let's see how this goes!"
Raising his sword straight up, Wei Yan-ho charged forward and engaged the rushing Demonic Cult members.
Swoosh! Swooosh!
With sounds like threatening snakes, the Demonic Cult members' hooked blades sliced through the air toward his body.
Five toward his head, three toward his body!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Wei Yan-ho's white sword struck down each of the flying hooked blades.
He thrust his sword through the opening between the deflected hooked blades.
Squelch!
A chilling sensation reached his fingertips.
The feeling of a sword cutting through and piercing human flesh.
Just as Wei Yan-ho was about to withdraw his arm, the Demonic Cult member whose body had been pierced grabbed the sword with both hands and curled his body around it.
"Cough… heh heh, you will die."
"Damn it!"
Seeing the Demonic Cult member who had grabbed his sword with full strength by tensing his muscles, Wei Yan-ho spat out curses.
"What kind of crazy bastards are these!"
Wei Yan-ho lifted the Demonic Cult member still gripping his sword and swung him around wildly.
"Let go!"
"Damn…"
Jang-il's mouth fell open as he watched this scene.
The Demonic Cult member who used his own body to grab the sword was already insane, but Wei Yan-ho, who lifted that member to use as a weapon, was going one step further.
'What kind of total chaos is this?'
This guy, that guy—there wasn't a single normal person anywhere.
"Eek!"
Seeing a hooked blade pass right by his face, Jang-il gasped in shock and retreated.
"Get your head together!"
"Uh… Yes!"
Wei San-ho shouted loudly. Jang-il quickly came to his senses.
'I'm not Wei Yan-ho.'
The reason Wei Yan-ho remained unharmed despite doing such things was because Wei Yan-ho was ridiculously strong. But this battlefield was a place where his life would be in danger if he let his guard down even slightly.
"Yan-ho!"
Wei San-ho shouted and rushed toward Wei Yan-ho.
He could see Demonic Cult members swarming around Wei Yan-ho. Being human, Wei Yan-ho seemed to have reached his limit with internal energy. As his sword's power decreased, the Demonic Cult members began confidently surrounding and attacking Wei Yan-ho.
Swish.
A burning sensation was felt on his face as a hooked blade grazed his cheek.
'Dangerous.'
Wei Yan-ho's face was unusually rigid and hardened.
'This is really dangerous at this rate.'
He had struck down countless Demonic Cult members, but their numbers seemed not to have decreased at all. Though it couldn't be true, watching the Demonic Cult members maintain their momentum without wavering even as their comrades died made it feel like this attack would never end.
Wei Yan-ho stopped his attacks and let his sword hang down.
He had stopped attacking right in the middle of a battlefield where lives hung in the balance. The Demonic Cult members couldn't easily rush at Wei Yan-ho either. Surrounding him densely with their hooked blades aimed, the Demonic Cult members glared at Wei Yan-ho with menacing faces.
"You guys are making a mistake."
Demonic energy blazed in Wei Yan-ho's eyes.
"Perhaps we are."
Gwang Mu-ryang, who had been watching the situation from behind, spoke up.
The match was already decided.
Wei Yan-ho was perfectly surrounded, and those trying to save Wei Yan-ho by fighting frantically couldn't break through the wall of people the Demonic Cult members had formed.
"Yan-ho! Damn it! Get out of the way! You damned bastards!"
Wei San-ho spat blood with his cry and wildly swung his sword, but with his injured body, he could barely handle even one Demonic Cult member.
To anyone watching, Wei Yan-ho's death seemed predetermined.
"This will be the first and last time in my life that I show respect to an enemy while still alive. Perhaps you might be able to receive the Sacred Fire's blessing. So I shall put aside my reservations."
"Playing both drum and janggu all by yourself, aren't you?"
Wei Yan-ho let out a low sigh. From far away, he could hear his brother's shouts and his father's blood-spitting voice.
"Really now."
So even the Hero of Righteous Chivalry has days when he feels flustered.
Wei Yan-ho let out deep sighs.
"I don't know why you're all acting like you're already dead."
This side is just getting started, after all.
"You said you'd regret it, didn't you?"
Wei Yan-ho slowly raised his sword.
"Do you know what I'm really good at?"
Gwang Mu-ryang didn't answer and just quietly stared at Wei Yan-ho.
"Street fighting is my specialty. If you swing a sword against monsters for five years, you eventually become able to use your sword even while sleeping. Today you'll learn just how terrifying that can be."
"I see."
Gwang Mu-ryang quietly nodded.
"What are you doing! Kill him!"
With Gwang Mu-ryang's cry, the Demonic Cult members all rushed toward Wei Yan-ho at once.
And at that moment.
"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A tremendous battle cry began echoing from the main gate.