Chapter 291
At Jungchil’s words, Jin So-eun looked at him with a worried expression.
“What do you mean, ‘there’s no other way’?”
Jungchil chuckled darkly and replied, “We can’t just let those bastards go, can we? I wanted to follow the youngest’s plan if possible, but now there’s no choice left. We have to attack them.”
“But—!” Jin So-eun tried to stop him.
Yet even Yeon Tae-jin nodded in agreement with Jungchil this time.
“So-eun, I think Jung brother is right this time. We can’t just let them pass through the harbor like this. No matter who those two are, they can’t protect everyone against such a large force. Fighting here, where no one else is around, is our best option.”
Satisfied by Tae-jin’s support, Jungchil let out a hearty laugh.
“Heh heh heh! You’re learning well, you bare-skinned woman!”
With their opinions aligned, Jin So-eun realized there was no stopping them. And honestly, their reasoning made sense.
The three of them charged toward the bandits racing past them.
Jungchil surged ahead fastest, channeling his inner energy as he shouted loudly.
“You filthy hoof-stomping bastards! Old man Jung Hae-a is here—where do you think you’re going?! Are your eyes just holes punched through your skin?!”
A response came immediately.
The bandits changed direction and started charging toward Jungchil.
They hadn’t intended to chase Jungchil’s group at first, but since they were coming to meet them, there was no reason to just let them pass.
Thundering hooves pounded the earth as Jungchil met the charge head-on.
The deafening sound of galloping horses and the massive cavalry’s momentum didn’t intimidate him.
When the enemies closed within five steps, Jungchil swung both arms with all his might.
“Yaaah!”
Whoosh!
Shadow needles shot out from his hands at lightning speed.
Thud! Thud!
“Argh!”
“Heeheehee!”
“Shadow needles!”
Jungchil’s needles struck three bandits at the front and two horses.
The hit bandits were thrown from their mounts, and the horses rolled on the ground, flinging their riders off.
“How do you like that?!”
With a bold shout, Jungchil swung his arms again, releasing more needles.
Whoosh!
Three more bandits were pierced.
Thud! Thud!
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
His shadow needles were devastating in the first clash.
Nearly ten bandits had fallen without even landing a single blow on him.
But the bandits weren’t fools.
“Die!”
“Haah!”
Whoosh!
A dozen throwing spears flew toward Jungchil in return.
The bandits matched his ranged attack weapon for weapon.
The spears, propelled by the speed of their horses, came flying with terrifying force, forcing Jungchil to leap aside in surprise.
“Eek!”
Whoosh!
The spears whizzed past his feet.
Jungchil spun in midair, scattering needles in all directions.
“Take this!”
Whoosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
His needles struck a dozen bandits instantly.
Thrown from above, they hit even more targets.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
But being airborne also exposed Jungchil to more attacks.
Spears flew at him from all sides.
The bandits gritted their teeth, determined to take down the needle user.
Whoosh!
“Oi!”
Unable to dodge while suspended in the air, Jungchil activated his protective energy shield.
Whoosh!
Thud! Thud!
The transparent barrier deflected the spears weakly.
As Jungchil landed, a long iron club swung toward him.
Finally, direct contact with the bandits.
Whoosh!
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Jungchil ducked just in time to avoid the blow and counterattacked.
But a spear thrust came from right behind the attacker.
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
He twisted his body to dodge the spear; the club-wielder had already passed.
Another bandit charged from behind the spearman, swinging a curved sword sharply at Jungchil.
Swish!
Only then did Jungchil realize the situation was serious.
The horsemen were attacking one by one as they passed, their speed and power no joke.
What was most threatening was the relentless pace.
Even a master like Jungchil felt overwhelmed by the continuous onslaught.
“Damn bastards!”
He roared in anger, dodged the curved sword, leapt up, and kicked the attacker.
Smash!
“Argh!”
Spinning midair, he threw a needle at a bandit swinging a mace at him.
Whoosh! Thud!
“Ugh!”
Furious, Jungchil went berserk.
Dodging attacks, kicking enemies, and throwing needles, he single-handedly overwhelmed the charging bandits.
Soon, Yeon Tae-jin and Jin So-eun joined the fray.
Tae-jin leapt up, smashed the head of a bandit passing Jungchil, and shouted,
“Awesome, Brother Jung!”
It wasn’t flattery.
Jungchil’s performance was truly impressive.
Tae-jin expected Jungchil to laugh arrogantly at the compliment.
But his reaction was different.
With a serious expression, Jungchil warned,
“Be careful! These guys aren’t easy!”
“Huh?”
Tae-jin looked at him puzzled, noticing Jungchil’s clothes were already soaked with sweat.
In the short time before she joined, Jungchil had already been drenched.
Seeing that, Tae-jin’s expression grew serious.
Meanwhile, Jungchil had managed to hold the bandits’ charge and split their formation.
The bandits who passed him formed a semicircle, regrouping about ten steps away.
Thundering hooves!
Jungchil glanced at the bandits he had knocked down.
Roughly thirty or forty lay dead.
Thirty or forty in one clash—an impressive result, but the bandits still numbered around a thousand.
They hadn’t significantly reduced their numbers.
Jungchil called out to Tae-jin and So-eun with a tense look.
“The speed of their horses makes their attacks faster and more powerful than usual! Their range is longer than ours, and their attacks come in rapid succession! There’s almost no gap between strikes! Stay sharp!”
At that moment, the regrouped bandits charged again.
Thundering hooves!
The ground shook as the bandits rapidly closed in.
Jungchil lowered his body, tension mounting.
He reached into his needle pouch but found only five left.
He gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand.
Better to save them until things got desperate.
“Yah!”
“Die, old man!”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Whoosh!
As the distance closed, the bandits’ throwing spears flew first.
Jungchil was out of needles, but not spears.
He frowned at the changed situation.
Suddenly, Jin So-eun dashed forward, swinging her wooden staff.
Whirl!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The staff spun at incredible speed, forming a circular shield that deflected all the spears.
It was the power of her natural staff technique.
But the moment she deflected the spears, the charging bandits swarmed the three of them.
“Haah!”
Whoosh!
A mace swung at terrifying speed.
So-eun’s staff tapped the mace aside, changing its trajectory as it flew over her head.
Swoosh!
“Ugh?!”
The bandit, caught off guard, made a startled noise.
At that moment, Jungchil leapt up and struck the bandit with a powerful kick.
Smash!
“Ugh!”
Behind the mace-wielder, a spear thrust came in.
But So-eun’s staff flicked the spear shaft aside, successfully deflecting it.
“?!”
The surprised bandit had to block a palm strike from Yeon Tae-jin, who had jumped in from behind.
Smack!
So-eun continued to deflect several attacks with light taps.
Her natural staff was truly formidable when used defensively.
With So-eun blocking upfront, Jungchil and Tae-jin took down the bandits behind.
They handled the enemies much more steadily and easily than when Jungchil fought alone.
Finally regaining some breathing room, Jungchil laughed lightly.
“Heh heh heh! Not bad, short-haired woman!”
But then, the bandits suddenly changed tactics.
The charging bandits split wide to both sides, revealing large iron nets in their hands.
Snap!
It was the net attack that had once troubled Chu Je-gu.
“Ugh?!”
Jin So-eun hesitated slightly.
It was hard to counter such a wide, pressing attack with her natural staff.
Then Yeon Tae-jin stepped forward, shouting,
“I’ll handle this!”
She swung her energy-charged hand blade in a wide arc.
The iron net tore apart like cloth cut by a knife.
Shing!
The bandits holding the net passed through uselessly, their trap destroyed.
But the net attack was only just beginning.
Right behind, two more figures wielding nets charged forward.
And this time, they came armed with throwing spears as well.
Sshhhk!
“Damn it!”
Yeon Tae-jin instinctively realized he couldn’t handle both the spears and the nets at the same time as he saw a dozen spears flying toward the iron net.
There was no choice.
He shouted forcefully, “Dodge!”
Then, launching himself forward, he leapt over the net and the spears together.
Glancing back, he saw Jin So-eun and Jeung Chil also springing into the air to avoid the nets.
Feeling a slight relief, Yeon Tae-jin turned his gaze forward again.
But another iron net was already descending upon him.
“Hah!”
He sliced through the net with a hand blade charged with energy, then dodged the swinging iron flail behind it by throwing his body aside.
And in that moment, he realized something.
He had become separated from Jeung Chil and Jin So-eun.
In evading the attack, the three had scattered in different directions.
But there was no time to worry about them now.
A spear was still thrusting straight at him.
Dealing with the enemies in front of him was the priority.
Gritting his teeth, Yeon Tae-jin hurled a throwing ring at the mounted bandit who was lunging with the spear.
Sshhhk! Thwack!
“Ugh!”
He had to admit his fighting style wasn’t very effective against mounted foes.
Unlike Jeung Chil, who used secret techniques, Yeon Tae-jin’s hand blade couldn’t match their reach.
The range difference was just too great.
He slashed through another iron net with his hand blade and quickly dodged the bandits’ attacks.
Alone, all he could do was evade; chances to counterattack were rare.
‘I have to regroup with the others…’
Anxious, Yeon Tae-jin faced the relentless wave of enemy assaults.
Meanwhile, the one in the most immediate danger wasn’t Yeon Tae-jin, but Jin So-eun.
Without Yeon Tae-jin tearing the iron net apart, it was difficult for her to deal with it using her wooden staff.
She charged her staff with energy and swung it at the net.
“Hah!”
Thwack! The net rippled.
But the energy-charged staff, being a blunt weapon, was sturdy but not sharp.
Unable to tear the net, Jin So-eun had to leap again to avoid the net closing in on her.
“Hah!”
As she sprang into the air, an iron flail came hurtling toward her.
Whoosh!
“Ugh!”
Caught off guard, she couldn’t dodge this time.
She had no choice but to block it head-on.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Though her staff was reinforced with energy and didn’t break, the force of the flail combined with the horse’s charge was too much.
Jin So-eun was knocked back lightly.
“Damn it!”
Falling backward toward the ground, she barely managed to twist midair and land on her feet.
Tap!
The impact was strong enough to force her several steps back, but at least she avoided the worst.
But the moment she touched down, two mounted bandits wielding nets charged at her again.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
“!”
Startled, Jin So-eun leapt up once more to clear the nets.
“Hah!”
Whoosh!
As she rose, a greatsword flashed behind the net.
It was swung upward from below, glowing with a flickering red energy.
Sshhhk!
“!”
Jin So-eun hurriedly raised her energy-charged staff to block it.
Thwack! Crack!
“Ahhh!”
The impact was too much; despite the energy reinforcement, her staff cracked slightly.
Then, while she was still airborne, a dozen throwing spears came flying toward her.
Sshhhhk!
“Hah!”
Thwack!
Yeon Tae-jin smashed the head of a bandit swinging an iron flail with a throwing ring.
Behind him, two more bandits charging with iron nets met the same fate.
“Die!”
Thwack!
Feeling his internal energy draining rapidly, Yeon Tae-jin gritted his teeth.
He couldn’t afford to waste throwing rings like this unless he was confident he could kill all a thousand enemies this way.
His energy would be depleted in no time.
But there was no other choice.
He figured it was better to push himself now and regroup with his comrades than to conserve energy and be overwhelmed.
Yeon Tae-jin hurled a throwing ring at a bandit charging with a curved sword and tried to move toward Jin So-eun.
But he couldn’t.
Sshhhk!
Swish!
“!”
At the sound, completely different from before, Yeon Tae-jin quickly turned his gaze back to the bandits.
The bandit who had just sliced through his throwing ring was now swinging her curved sword at him.
The blade shimmered with red energy.
‘Jeoljeong!’
Yeon Tae-jin leapt aside to dodge.
If it were a one-on-one fight, she wouldn’t be a terrifying opponent, but in this situation, a Jeoljeong-level warrior was as dangerous as a supreme master.
Sshhhk!
The red blade grazed her collar.
Fortunately, she avoided the energy.
But the spot she landed was right where another mounted bandit was charging.
She rolled on the ground and sprang up, punching the horse.
Thwack!
“Heeheeheehee-hin!”
The horse coughed up blood and rolled past her.
The rider was thrown off as well.
But Yeon Tae-jin couldn’t just watch.
Right behind her, bandits wielding nets were closing in.
The iron net was almost within reach.
“Hah!”
Yeon Tae-jin quickly released her defensive energy.
Whoosh!
Thwack!
Her body was lifted and dragged backward.
The defensive energy prevented her from being torn apart, but she couldn’t avoid being caught in the net.
“Grrrgh!”
She hurriedly withdrew her energy and charged her hand blade to tear the net apart.
Shhhhk!
Landing on the ground, Yeon Tae-jin realized she’d been pushed quite far back in that brief moment.
She had no idea where she was or where her allies were.
All she could see were the bandits relentlessly charging.
And then, another mounted bandit collided head-on with her.
“Ugh!”
Thwack!
She released her defensive energy again to absorb the impact but was still knocked backward.
Her mind was in chaos.
The net came crashing down again.
Before her feet even touched the ground, all she could do was release defensive energy.
Whoosh!
She felt her internal energy drain in chunks.
But she was too disoriented to care.
Her body, caught in the net and defensive energy, was yanked backward.
Yeon Tae-jin immediately released the defensive energy and charged her hand blade to tear the net apart.
Shhhhk!
Right behind the net, more mounted bandits were charging.
“Yahh!”
“Kyaaah!”
Yeon Tae-jin braced herself to defend.
But the attack came from a place she hadn’t seen.
Behind her, a bandit wielding an iron rod swung it at the back of her head.
Because the attack came from the opposite direction of the mounted charge, its force was reduced, but Yeon Tae-jin, focused on the front, hadn’t prepared for it.
Thwack!
“Ahhh!”
A sharp blow to the back of her head sent her collapsing forward.
And the bandits surged forward over her.
Jeung Chil was fighting the best among the three.
Using his superior techniques and the Wind Dragon Kick, he darted among the bandits, kicking and striking, making it hard for them to catch him.
But despite his impressive performance, his expression was grim.
He couldn’t see where the scattered Yeon Tae-jin and Jin So-eun were.
Kicking the head of a bandit to crush it, he shouted desperately, “You bare-skinned woman! Short-haired woman! Where are you?! Where are you?!”
His heart pounded as if it would burst from anxiety.
He was the one who had sent them to fight the bandits.
Though Yeon Tae-jin had agreed, they had only followed his orders.
If anything happened to them, Jeung Chil knew he could never forgive himself.
He poured his energy into his voice and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Tae-jin! So-eun! Where are you?! Answer me!”
At that moment—
“Ahhh!”
Jeung Chil’s eyes caught sight of Jin So-eun being flung into the air with a scream in the distance.
“So-eun!”
He tried to launch himself toward her.
Then, another scream reached his ears.
“Ahhh!”
Buried in the chaos, the voice was faint but unmistakable.
It was Yeon Tae-jin’s.
He whipped his head toward the sound.
Far off, through the bandits, he saw Yeon Tae-jin collapsing weakly.
Turning back to Jin So-eun, he saw a dozen throwing spears flying toward her, who was still suspended in midair.
Helpless, Jeung Chil shouted desperately.
“No!”
He couldn’t go to either of them.
Instinctively, he knew that no matter which way he went, he couldn’t save them.
As he stared helplessly at the spears aimed at Jin So-eun—
A sharp cry pierced the air.
With a brilliant cry, a massive phoenix suddenly swooped in front of Jin So-eun.
Its body looked larger than a person’s, radiating a soft, pale violet glow.
“What is that?!”
Jeung Chil and everyone else’s eyes widened in astonishment.