Return of the Mount Hua

Now it’s just the beginning. (1)

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Geum Yangbaek widened his eyes in disbelief. Another disciple was ruthlessly pierced by the enemy’s sword.

He tried to rise immediately, but at that moment, a heavy weight settled on Geum Yangbaek’s fingertips. Looking down, he unconsciously let out a groan.

“Uh…”

The warmth lingering on Jin Gwan’s lifeless body had yet to dissipate. No, it had only been a few breaths since his last one.

“Uh… Uwaaaah!”

However, Geum Yangbaek ultimately cast aside Jin Gwan’s body and had no choice but to rush towards his disciples. While the dead were important, they couldn’t be compared to the living.

“These filthy Sapa bastards!”

Geum Yangbaek’s fierce strikes swept away two enemies in an instant.

“Kwaaaah!”

The enemy whose body was torn apart screamed as he collapsed to the ground.

Death is supposed to be heavy. It should be mournful and heart-wrenching. However, in this place, death no longer carries the same weight it once did. It’s been like that since stepping onto the battlefield. This realization was unbearable for Geum Yangbaek.

“Akho, are you okay?”

Akho, with a shoulder pierced through, nodded weakly. Geum Yangbaek noticed his disciple’s lips turning pale blue. His own face paled.

“Damn it! This is poison! We can’t allow the enemy’s attacks! We can’t afford to get injured!”

He shouted, yet it made no sense. Who in the world would willingly face a blade?

It was a futile command, but it was all Geum Yangbaek could do now. No matter how hard he and the elders tried, it was impossible to stop the enemy’s blades from flying towards their disciples.

“Kill them!”

“Aim for the rear! Aim for the rear!”

A wounded beast fights fiercer as it nears its end. Sapas didn’t miss the swaying rear. Thinking they had the upper hand, they charged even more fiercely towards their targets.

“Stop them!”

“We can’t allow their attacks.”

The momentum of Haenam elders against this assault was not the same as before. The poison didn’t make the blades sharper, nor did it increase the wielders’ prowess. So, if dealt with as usual, it was just a regular attack, but more difficult to sustain injuries from than usual.

However, from the moment he realized that the shiny black liquid on the blades of the swords was poison, Geum Yangbaek’s body involuntarily flinched. His hands wouldn’t reach out as he intended.

“Aaargh!”

“Elder Jo!”

As the elder collapsed, blood pouring from his chest, Geum Yangbaek let out a desperate scream. It shouldn’t have happened. The attackers’ skill was at best of a third rate sect, and the one they had just injured was none other than the elder of Haenam, a great sect of Gupailbang.

Under normal circumstances, even if a dozen or more attackers had rushed in, there would have been no chance of them prevailing. But it was the combination of Geum Yangbaek’s loud warning, the chaotic situation on the battlefield, and the overwhelming malice pressing in from all sides that resulted in an outcome unrelated to skill.

‘What have I done…’

If only he had remained ignorant, none of this would have happened!

Geum Yangbaek belatedly realized his mistake, but it was already too late to rectify it.

“Aaaargh!”

Once again, screams echoed. The disciples of Haenam fell one after another to the relentless onslaught of the enemy’s attacks. It was helpless. Just when Geum Yangbaek was almost losing his senses in the midst of the overwhelming chaos and despair, it happened.

“Haaaargh!”

As if a fierce roar was about to echo from above, a storm of crimson petals swept over his field of vision.

“Aaaargh!”

“Aaaargh!”

The enemies charging forward with powerful momentum were engulfed in the storm of red petals, unleashing desperate screams. Those with dozens of holes pierced through their bodies convulsed in agony before collapsing helplessly.

Geum Yangbaek stared blankly at the back of the figure in front of him.

“Vice Sect Le…”

“Sect Leader!”

Baek Cheon turned to Geum Yangbaek with a stern face, shouting. He, who had been at the forefront, had rushed here in a single breath.

“You need to go!”

“Vice Sect Leader?”

“The distance between you and the frontline is widening. If you fall behind now, everyone here will die!”

His furious voice made Geum Yangbaek realize the harsh reality.

Looking around, he saw that the gap between where he stood and the main force had already widened. If it continued to grow, the gap would be filled by the enemy, sealing their fate.

‘No, this can’t happen.’

Even though experiencing a proper battlefield for the first time, Geum Yangbaek is still the Sect Leader of Haenam. He wasn’t so foolish as to be unsure of what to do next.

“Everyone, charge! We must stick with the frontline!”

Geum Yangbaek urgently raised his voice to command. Regretting his mistake and mourning the fallen would have to wait until they survived this ordeal.

Haenam’s disciples, fighting with all their might, responded.

“Yes, Sect Leader!”

“Elders, protect the disciples with all your might!”

“Yes!”

Then, some disciples were seen trying to gather the cooling bodies of the fallen scattered on the ground. Geum Yangbaek bit his lip until it bled. Then, he shouted calmly:

“Stop it!”

“S-Sect Leader.”

He glared at his disciples with bloodshot eyes as they turned to him.

He knew the hearts of his disciples. Who would want to leave the body of someone who had been like family on this distant land of Gangnam? Especially when they didn’t know what atrocities the fallen body might suffer at the hands of the vengeful Sapas.

Ironically, it was Geum Yangbaek himself who wanted to handle the bodies the most. Although he couldn’t take them back to his hometown of Hainan, he at least wanted to bury them in a decent place.

But it was greedy. It was a desire that must not be inflated.

“Don’t worry about the dead! We must prioritize the living!”

“Sect Leader! How can you say such a thing…!”

“Silence!”

When Geum Yangbaek shouted angrily, his disciples bit their lips. It wasn’t a look of complete submission, but they didn’t dare to protest.

“We’ll talk later! Go! Quickly!”

“Yes…”

Despite lingering reluctance and several backward glances, they eventually ran forward, leaving the bodies behind. Among the abandoned corpses was Jin Gwan, who had died in Geum Yangbaek’s arms.

“Damn it!”

One of the disciples cursed harshly. It was unclear whether the anger was directed at the situation or at Geum Yangbaek himself. Or perhaps it was a mixture of both.

Geum Yangbaek, having sent the disciples away, simply clenched his fists as he looked at the chillingly cold bodies of the disciples.

‘Forgive me.’

With that farewell, he too ran, roughly wiping the tears streaming down his face. Whatever actions he took here would only serve as solace for himself. For those who were already gone, there could be no comfort.

The only way to unleash the overwhelming frustration surging within him was one.

“Oooohhh!”

With a surge of energy boiling from within, Geum Yangbaek’s body shot forward like a streak of light. He thrust his sword straight into the body of the charging Sapa, aiming to block the path ahead.

Crunch!

His pierced body shattered into pieces as if hit by a cannonball, scattering apart. With warm, acrid blood splattering, Geum Yangbaek roared like a wounded beast.

It was because of him. Because of his mistake.

If only he had been a little stronger, a little calmer, they could have been spared. Why did they have to close their eyes in such a pitiful state here?

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen!’

Blood and tears poured from his heart.

The deaths he had envisioned for them should have been more fierce, more honorable than this. The pitiful end, as if a fleeing deer had its ankle caught by a woolf and finally succumbed, should not have been like this.

Yet, he had made it so.

His incompetence brought upon them worthless deaths. Because of the ineptitude of Geum Yangbaek, the Sect Leader of Haenam!

How could it be so heavy, burdensome, and difficult? Who could have imagined that bearing someone’s death on one’s shoulders would be such a painful ordeal?

“Attack!”

Geum Yangbaek unleashed his inner strength like a person possessed. He swung his charged blade towards the approaching Sapas, unleashing a fierce wave of sword energy.

“I’ll kill them all! These worthless wretches!”

They took away his disciples. They caused his lifelong companion, his disciple, to scream to death.

“Dieeeee!”

“Sect Leader.”

“I’ll kill these basta…”

“Sect Leader!”

At that moment, a rough shout filled with inner strength pierced through Geum Yangbaek’s ears.

What does he know? Could Hwasan’s Sect Leader imagine the pain of losing a disciple like a child, a brother like a brother? How could he understand the feelings of someone who has more days ahead of him than he has lived, and now has nothing left to lose? If he thinks he can console with that reckless mouth of his…

“Are you planning to make the same mistake again?”

At that moment, Baek Cheon’s cold voice cut through Geum Yangbaek’s anger like a cold dagger.

“Sect Leader, if you lose control, more people will die!”

Slowly, reason returned. A complex expression washed over Geum Yangbaek’s face as he stared blankly at Baek Cheon. Contrary to the tense battlefield, he couldn’t help but let out a helpless laugh.

Baek Cheon’s words were true. Incredibly true. And that’s why he had to acknowledge it.

‘I don’t even have the freedom to be angry.’

He realized. No, it’s not that Geum Yangbaek doesn’t have the freedom to be angry. It’s just that he doesn’t have the freedom to be angry as someone who goes by the title “Sect Leader.”

He attempted to say something, but Baek Cheon spoke first.

“I’m sorry. I realized the situation too late, and reinforcements were delayed.”

“Vice Sect Leader…”

“But Sect Leader! Please don’t forget what you should do now.”

Geum Yangbaek nodded weakly. Baek Cheon continued with a heavy voice.

“Prepare yourself.”

And he added.

“Now… now it’s just the beginning.”

With those words, everyone realized anew.

They were already in hell.

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