Chapter 127. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (23)

Although the Fist Emperor had just ”patted” him on the back because he was happy, the force of his blow was still staggering, even without any qi imbued into it. After all, the Fist Emperor was a generous but completely tactless person.

“I-I’ll take my leave now.”

“Oh! Good. I’ll see you later on the battlefield.”

“Understood!”

On his way back to his quarters with the members of the Wind Sword Battalion, Woo-Moon ran into Lee Chung.

‘This really is a tiresome relationship, you damned geezer.’

Now, the way Woo-Moon referred to him had shifted from “old man” to “damned geezer.”

As soon as Lee Chung saw Woo-Moon, he looked surprised before trying to pass by him with an uncomfortable expression. However, Woo-Moon called out to him from behind.

“Looking forward to our future collaboration, Rear Guard Battalion Leader.”

“What do you mean?”

Woo-Moon just smiled and drew his new identity plaque from his pocket. The identity plaque personally modified by the Fist Emperor had the words “Wind Sword Squadron Battalion Leader” clearly inscribed on it.

“B-battalion leader?!”

Lee Chung was shocked. If that was true, then that meant Woo-Moon now had the same military rank as he did. As he realized the implications, his face turned sour, as if he’d just tasted a particularly unripe lemon.

“H-how did the Wind Sword Squadron become the Wind Sword Battalion? The Wind Sword Squadron is one of the Five Swords of Heavenly Justice!”

“There, there, are you doubting me again? Do you really think I’m the kind of person who would forge an identity plaque just to deceive someone like

you

?” Woo-Moon responded with a sly smile.

Lee Chung’s anger almost reached the point of boiling over. However, he realized that fighting Woo-Moon would not end well for him, so he suppressed it. He turned around and headed toward the military barracks, intent on finding out what the hell was going on.

After confirming the facts with the leadership, Lee Chung gritted his teeth.

“Damn it!”

Long ago, he had suffered because of the Palm Martial Emperor. Now, the thought of that bastard’s grandson showing up and tormenting him made him feel like he was going to die of rage.

***

The next morning.

The Black Bull Gang and the Justice Coalition were both standing at attention, facing off at a distance of three hundred meters. Worried that their situation would become increasingly disadvantageous as time passed, the Black Bull Gang had decided to engage in a direct battle to overcome the discrepancy while they could.

As all diversionary operations using hidden forces had failed, this was their last remaining method.

They assumed that it would be worth a try as they still had a terrifying army—the Deathly Souls Army. This consisted of the remaining six of the Ten Demon Generals, the survivors among the Twenty-Four Ghost Generals, and their newly arrived reinforcements, two hundred of the Black Bull Gang’s Peak Class experts.

Fearing that someone would stop him due to the obvious danger of this exploit, the Lust Emperor’s twenty-seventh son, Woo Cheon-Myeong, didn’t let anyone know his intentions. He simply ran out of the Black Bull Gang’s ranks, shouting at the opposing army.

“I am Woo Cheon-Myeong, the twenty-seventh son of the Lust Emperor, the Black Bull Gang Boss! If you truly consider yourself a hero, Song Woo-Moon, come out now! I’ll take you down and show you the true strength of the Black Hand!”

“Who the hell is this crazy bastard?” Woo-Moon asked in confusion.

Mu-Bi smiled from next to him.

“You should go forward. They’re calling you, aren’t they?”

“Not really. He’s calling for someone who considers himself a hero.”

However, things weren’t as easy as Woo-Moon hoped. Once Woo Cheon-Myeong shouted for him to come out for the third time, the commander gave him the order to go and fight.

“Ugh.”

Seeing Woo-Moon finally emerge from the ranks, Woo Cheon-Myeong pointed his saber, engraved with the likeness of Asura.

“Haha! You must be shaking in your boots! I mean, it only makes sense. You Righteous Faction bastards are nothing but cowards who pay lip service to those stronger than you!”

At this moment, the leadership of the Black Bull Gang was greatly disconcerted. They knew very well why Woo-Moon was disinclined to come out, so they could not help but feel dismay when they heard Woo Cheon-Myeong’s words.

As Woo-Moon walked calmly toward Woo Cheon-Myeong, the Lust Emperor’s son finally crossed the line.

“I also know that your grandfather, that Fart Martial Emperor, only became a member of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors through a false reputation. Hahaha. I heard that he’s actually a coward who pees himself at the mere mention of my father’s name.”

Flames seemed to erupt from Woo-Moon’s eyes.

“Hey, you... are you done?”

“Yeh, I’m done. What the hell are you going to do about—

ugh...

”

Suddenly, Woo-Moon blurred and disappeared before Woo Cheon-Myeong’s eyes. The next moment, the latter felt a searing pain in his heart.

He looked down and saw Woo-Moon’s sword impaled right through him.

“Well, if you’re done, then let’s finish this, it’s getting boring.”

Woo-Moon immediately pulled out Lightflash before swinging it again and beheading Woo Cheon-Myeong.

Both sides, who had been watching nervously, forgot what to say for a moment. None of them had expected the duel to end so quickly. However, Ho Mu-Bok was quick on the uptake, and he signaled to one of his adjutants, who immediately understood the message.

He turned around and shouted loudly, “We’ve won!! Young Hero Song won! Attack and wipe out those Black Bull Gang bastards!”

“AHHHHHH!!!”

The leadership of the Black Bull Gang had initially planned to change the momentum if Woo Cheon-Myeong were to lose by putting up another Transcendent class expert to defeat Woo-Moon, pride and etiquette be damned. However, they were so surprised and flustered that they were unable to even consider who to send forward before Ho Mu-Bok declared the results.

“Damn it!”

The Black Mask Asura, the eldest of the Ten Demon Generals and the commander of the Black Bull Gang Army, cursed to himself. He could never have expected that such a situation would suddenly arise because of some brat who still smelled of his mother’s milk.

With morale at an all-time high, the Justice Coalition warriors rushed like a tidal wave and attacked the Black Bull Gang army, whose morale was, conversely, at rock bottom. Woo-Moon also followed the troops, with the Wind Sword Battalion close behind.

Thrum!

So Gun-Pil elegantly placed his

gayageum

onto the ground and strummed it once, blasting a sound wave that struck the twenty gang members at the front simultaneously.

“Ugh!”

“Agh!!!”

Without ever realizing what had attacked them, they all collapsed at the same time, blood spewing from all five orifices. The sound-based techniques he used were most ideally suited for large-scale attacks in the first place, so they were much more impactful in a large battle setting than against a single person.

Meanwhile, the others weren’t messing around either. Zhou Mubai held a pair of long scissors and hacked away at various enemies. Tang Yuk continued to throw his hidden weapons, and Ha Gun-Chung mysteriously became stark naked again, just moments after jumping into the fray.

Peng Tianhao and Mu Bi also used their respective saber and fist techniques to sweep away the enemies, while Ma-Ra and Woo-Moon stood off to the side, pushing an entire line of enemies back.

None of the enemies in the Wind Sword Battalion’s vicinity were left standing; they were blasted away like dry leaves in the autumn wind.

It seemed as though this all-out battle would ultimately end in an overwhelming victory for the Justice Coalition.

The Black Bull Gang’s army gradually fell as the Fist Emperor slayed one of the remaining Ten Demon Generals and a third of their leadership.

Suddenly, something happened that turned the battle upside down.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A middle-aged man in a gorgeous golden coat flew in like a bird from far in the distance and attacked the rear of the Justice Coalition army.

“Ahahahaha!!!”

With a loud laugh, he grabbed the purple whip wrapped around his waist and swung it viciously.

“W-what the hell is that?”

Woo-Moon’s eyes widened until they were almost perfectly round.

An incredibly long whip swung toward the rear of the Justice Coalition army, lashing directly into the throng of warriors.

The heads of hundreds of coalition warriors flew into the air at once.

“You smelly Righteous Faction brats!”

The man shouted again, causing the warriors near him to collapse on the spot; their brains turned into mush. Those far enough not to be immediately killed by the shout still fell, clutching their bleeding ears.

“Lust Emperor, you piece of shit!”

With a great roar, the Fist Emperor, who was violently pummeling the Ten Demon Generals, lashed out with three fists simultaneously and killed three more of them. Then, he kicked the ground and flew toward the man who had just slaughtered countless of the coalition’s warriors.

“OOOORAHHHHH!”

As he bolted toward the Lust Emperor, the Fist Emperor struck the void and punched violently.

BANG!!!

A storm broke out around them as fist aura blasted forward, leaving behind a long trail.

“Ahaha! It’s been a while, Fist Emperor!”

The whip that had stretched to an incredible length to kill a large number of coalition warriors in a brief moment now suddenly shortened and spun, blocking the fist.

“Today, I will do something to create a better world and exterminate you!” the Fist Emperor cried.

“To create a better world? Ha! Don’t be absurd! This world was made just for me!”

The Fist Emperor and the Lust Emperor began a fierce battle that shook the heavens.

“Ugh!”

“Aghk!!!”

The Justice Coalition warriors around them died in droves like shrimps caught in the middle of a whale fight.

“Lord Fist Emperor! Your fight is causing us casualties! Please move away!” Woo-Moon shouted with all his might as Ho Mu-Bok sent his adjutant to deliver orders.

“Full speed forward! Move out to destroy the Black Bull Gang!”

By moving forward, they intended to escape the battlefield between the Lust Emperor and the Fist Emperor, which was developing in the rear. Now, it was no longer just a question of winning the battle; if they didn’t want to die, the Justice Coalition simply had no choice but to push against the Black Bull Gang with all they had.

Although the Fist Emperor had to leave the main battlefield because of the Lust Emperor, the Black Bull Gang had no choice but to allow themselves to be pushed back, and the Justice Coalition’s ferocious march cost them dearly.

“Retreat, retreat! Retreat!”

The Black Bull Gang retreated at the Black Mask Asura’s command. The Black Mask Asura wasn’t worried for the Lust Emperor—no, he didn’t need to worry.

His master, the Lust Emperor, was just as skilled as the Fist Emperor. Moreover, if the situation really did become unfavorable for his master, he would escape on his own. If he were to go and try to save him, the Black Mask Asura would lose all of his troops, putting them in an even worse situation.

The victorious Justice Coalition soldiers continued to chase after the fleeing Black Bull Gang and took ground exceptionally quickly. It was important to take down their opponent whenever they had the opportunity.

On the other hand, the members of the Wind Sword Battalion, including Woo-Moon, stopped chasing the enemy; instead, they watched the fight between the Fist Emperor and the Lust Emperor.

“Incredible!”

“Shhh. Don’t speak, just watch!”

There was a lot to learn from their fight. Woo-Moon was completely focused.

Because the Lust Emperor was trying to buy time, the fight between the Emperors lasted quite a long time. It was only after about an hour that the Lust Emperor unleashed a flurry of strong attacks with his whip before using his movement technique and began to flee.

“Ahahaha! See you later, you stupid Fist Emperor!”

“You cowardly bastard!!! Are you running away again?”

The Fist Emperor chased after the Lust Emperor, and Woo-Moon let out a sigh as he relaxed.

‘Just when will I reach that level?’

By this point, the Justice Coalition’s chase had ended.

The Black Bull Gang ended up retreating with less than half of the initial force. However, for some reason, the Justice Coalition stopped pursuing their retreating forces after some point and instead prepared to retreat.

It seemed that the war situation had changed significantly. However, as a junior-level commander, Woo-Moon hadn’t yet heard about it.

After the battle, Woo-Moon did as he always did and went to the barracks of the Baek Family, only to discover that there was no one there.

‘Where is everyone?’

Flustered, he headed toward the central barracks where the rest of the warriors would be.

As he got closer, he could hear the conversation within the main tent.

“What about the troops from the Iron Sword Baek Family? They pursued too deeply into enemy lines and they’ve been surrounded by the enemy.”

“And what about them? Did they not hear the messenger? It seems the Lust Emperor even brought the reserve force guarding the Black Bull Gang’s stronghold to support their troops. How are we supposed to save them in the midst of our own retreat?”

Crack.

Woo-Moon roughly tore open the barracks door and went inside.

“What sort of bullshit are you spewing?”

Ho Mu-Bok, who had just ordered the others to give up on the troops from the Baek Family, was slightly disconcerted by Woo-Moon’s sudden appearance. However, his expression immediately hardened.

“What on earth are you doing right now, Battalion Leader Song?”

“Send support troops to save the Iron Sword Baek Family troops immediately!”

“I thought you were smart, but it turns out you’re still quite lacking. Are you still acting all confused about why we can’t save them even after hearing us from outside the barracks?!”

“Shut up! I don’t care about that! Fine, if you want to throw them away, I guess you don’t have any other choice. I also have no choice but to rescue them myself!”

“Wind Sword Battalion Leader!”

Woo-Moon stomped away from the barracks as he let Ho Mu-Bok’s roar go in one ear and out the other. He walked over to the map hanging in the center of the barracks, found the last-seen location of the Baek Family troops, and immediately ran as fast as possible.

‘Please don’t let anyone die until I get there. Please!’