As Prophet - Chapter 189



Only Noblemtl

Episode 189. Just Kill Them All

Dalcheon pulled out his sword and swung it. The black warriors formed a formation and responded.

“It’s him! Strike him at once!”

Several flying scorpions flew into all the spaces in front, back, left, and right. Dalcheon jumped up from his horse. Weapons swept under him, cutting down two people on the same side. His floating body flipped over, and Dalcheon’s sword drew a circle toward the weapons that were being retrieved.

“Eww!”

As the scream erupted, the arm and shoulder were cut off. He grabbed the shoulder of the man sitting on the horse, kicked his face with his other foot, and jumped to the side. He swung his sword vertically into the center of the crowd of men who were scattering and gathering. Pure white sword energy rose up from the sword and cut down both men and horses. The ground was dug up thickly.

The black drones rushed in one after another, but they flew away in vain like flies flying to the light of a lamp. Dalcheon found the one who was injured among the silver-faced ones. Since he had been hit in the buttocks, he would not be able to sit properly on the horse.

“You’ve rolled your head over heels! Nothing will change. Just kill them all!”

Dalcheon repeated three times that he would kill them all, and the guys looked fed up.

He cut down those who rushed at him, those who ran away, those who were cautious, and those who shouted without thinking. One of the men ran away, but his sitting posture was crooked. He didn’t remember where or how he was hurt, but his body remembered the dull, thumping force that came up.

‘It’s like that guy.’

Dalcheon jumped up towards the guy. When he got down in front of the direction the guy was trying to run away, a dozen or so people were blocking his way. The other Eunmyeon didn’t react much even when he died, but seeing that he discriminated against people’s lives, he could clearly see that it was the guy.

Dalcheon swung his sword. The sword energy stretched out to the length of three or four jang. One of the men in the path was pierced in the chest and died instantly. Two men avoided the sword strike with their strength. They were warriors who could do their own thing. They were not ordinary soldiers.

“Hoo.”

Dalcheon spun around and slashed at the bottom of the men. Screams continued and blood spurted out. The men retreated, swaying. A flying sword flew from Dalcheon’s hand. The one guarding him tried to block it, but it was in the wrong direction. The sword that Dalcheon threw hit the horse that Eunmyeon was riding. The horse jumped up in an unexpected place that was not too dangerous, but more painful and startling than other places. Eunmyeon also jumped up. The horse kicked and lifted its body, causing it to shoot forward. Even if it had fallen, it would have broken somewhere, but the three men jumped down from their horses and threw themselves to catch Eunmyeon.

Dalcheon’s body grew longer. It seemed to grow longer like a stick of candy. In front of the eyes of the men blocking him, he grew longer like a stick of candy and struck down the fallen silver face. The two men raised their swords and blocked them with their bodies. He cut the swords and broke the armor of the men, and slammed them down whole. It was no use blocking them.

There was fear in Eun-myeon’s surprised eyes. It was the look in his eyes when he was dying, when death was imminent, or when he realized that he was going to die.

A red line was drawn on the back of the guy who staggered and turned his back. He screamed and fell down. His head hit the ground and he was shaking like crazy, and he looked like he was going to die soon. Dalcheon ran over and stabbed him deeply in the left side of his back. The human body flailed like a fish caught on a hook. He was a man with no strength at all. How could he have tried to do something about the world with his tricks? I had a feeling that he was like this guy, but I couldn’t be sure.

Dalcheon was about to cut off the head of the bastard, but three men rushed at him from the left and right, leaving him without a chance. He spun around and knocked away the swords of the three men, then spun around halfway and twisted his waist to cut off the heads of two more men before leaving.

He jumped up and left the area, but his eyes turned back without him knowing it. Was it that guy? Was it that guy? He wasn’t sure. It’s true that he looked like Yeoui, but he might have acted like Yeoui in order to die instead. He might have pretended to be dead.

‘Let’s stop here.’

Dalcheon went into the forest, climbed far up the mountaintop, and stood on the top of the tree. It took some time for the chaotic formation of the whole army to be reorganized. He stepped aside and let the rear guard go first to collect the dead. Another twenty or thirty people died, but he did his job. After a while, when he saw them rejoin the middle of the procession, Dalcheon was sure that the man was not dead.

* * *

After that, Dalcheon did not look for Nohoraha Teuk-a, but chose and killed the commanders of each military camp. It was a very simple task that could be sent with one arrow from afar. If you put your energy into the tong-a and focus your mind on the arrow that bounces and flies, any target will fly and hit accurately. It is not Igi-eogeom (以氣馭劍), but Igi-eosi (以氣馭矢). You shoot quickly and adjust your energy to hit the target. The arrow swings left and right and bends, and it goes around the person blocking the front and hits the guy behind. You dropped the guys so that both of your traditional weapons were empty.

The chaos in the army camp after the commander disappeared lasted longer than expected. Although the Yeojin army was capable of moving on its own in any situation, the army camp was in disarray until a new commander took over.

Dalcheon emptied two of his traditional weapons and went to the enemy camp to get more arrows. The long march to Hanyang was Dalcheon’s target. The order to protect the commander was belatedly delivered, but many people had already died.

Moreover, from the second choke, the Joseon army blocked them. No, to be precise, they harassed them by shooting arrows from the side of their path. Arrows flew like rain from the ships that were close together. They could not fire many shots in return because of the thin four-row column. Furthermore, they could not advance freely because they fell into the traps blocking their way and were stabbed, so they could not escape quickly.

When a road is blocked, all the troops on the road stop. They shout from behind that they will not go forward, and those in front are helpless. The commander who realized the situation ordered return fire and a hasty escape, but it did not go as planned. Only when all the traps were activated and there was nothing more to harass them did they slowly advance.

The vanguard was in a state of death. Jal-an-jang-gin died, and five of the ten Niru-jang-gin died at the hands of Dal-cheon. The army that was supposed to be the vanguard was the bravest army, but they failed to show their strength. They were hit countless times by blind arrows and traps, and nearly half of the 2,000 cavalry were rendered incapable of fighting.

Noh Ho-ra-ha, who realized the situation late, pulled the vanguard aside and placed the left army in the vanguard. The Joseon army intercepted the enemy in five places in total, rendering thousands of men incapacitated.

Before dawn, a beacon fire was lit on a high mountain across the river, and the Joseon navy turned its ships around. Dalcheondo, who confirmed the fire, also turned back.

Jo Dong-gil reported the progress of the night battle in front of Heunginjimun Gate and then ordered the navy to rest.

“What about the real person? What happened to the real person?”

As soon as Jo Dong-gil’s report was finished, the king took care of Dalcheon.

“The signal fire has gone up, so they must be coming back.”

The king climbed up to the gate tower and looked far east. It was said that the darkness just before dawn was the darkest. The generals asked the king to return to the temporary residence and rest, but the king loitered around the gate tower and did not return.

Dalcheon arrived at dawn.

“True man!”

At the king’s shout, Dalcheon slowed down, passed through the fortress, and climbed up the gate tower.

“Loyalty. The bastards were using their brains. They made several rows of the same space, so they couldn’t find and kill Nohoraha Teuk-a. It was the same in Yeouido. We caught one, but I’m not sure. Instead, they killed the commanders of each army, that is, about a hundred people above Niru Jang-geung-geup.”

“The navy fought hard and rendered the enemy’s vanguard incapacitated. The enemy’s left wing took the lead… … .”

It’s time to check if everything is going according to plan. Dalcheon smiled faintly.

* * *

When the sun rose and they had an early breakfast, the vanguard of the men arrived at the bridge. As soon as the report came in, Dalcheon requested the king to allow him to leave the palace.

“I think it would be best to go to Ganghwa Island now.”

“I will go fight.”

“They will block the retreat route first. The enemy’s reserve forces will circle around Yangju Plain, come down from Gupabal, and aim for Mapo.”

“That’s not a guess.”

“Yes, that’s right, but my expectations were not far off. Let’s hurry and go to Ganghwa Island.”

“Yeah. And you?”

“I will go to Bukhansanseong.”

“I wish we could have gone together.”

“I understand, but the most important thing is communication. We must do everything we can to secure a network of contacts.”

“Okay, then. When is the expected attack time?”

“It’s three days later. It could be a day or two earlier or later.”

“What are the criteria for deciding that?”

“This is the state of the enemy camp. This is the depth of frustration they must feel in an empty Hanyang city with nothing to take.”

“When is the date?”

“The whole army is entering Amro and driving out the enemies of Hanyangseong. You must go before the road is blocked. If they have reached Seopdari, those who are taking a detour will be looking at Gupabal.”

“How can you be sure that you can bypass it?”

“Their basic tactics: flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks.”

“Okay.”

The king was speechless.

“I wish you good luck.”

“His Majesty is leaving. Please hurry.”

The soldiers who had been preparing came running. The royal guard soldiers of Jo Dong-gil, who had been working as a naval force all night, rose up and escorted the king. A long procession headed west continued. Dalcheon moved only after hearing the news that the king had boarded the ship.

He waved his arms and turned his head, then smiled brightly. Yoo Seok-do asked him with his eyes why he was doing that.

“It is a relief. The King is gone, and there are no people. How free we are. We seem to desire money, power, and strength, but if we think about it carefully, we wonder if we are not actually desiring the freedom that these things can bring.”

“Freedom… … .”

Yoo Seok-do’s eyes looked up at the distant place. He remembered the ten-year-old boy coming down and sticking next to him and harassing him. He saw him almost every day during the time he lost his memory. The young boy Dal-cheon was more intelligent than Yoo Seok-do, who had become a fool, and now he acknowledged that he was a great person with a noble character. He was not only a bold boy who readily took care of things in difficult and challenging situations, but if you listened carefully to what he said, he was a life teacher.

Dalcheon urged Yoo Seok-do, who was lost in thought, to hurry up.

“Let’s get started.”

“Loyalty!”

He mobilized the soldiers gathered at Heunginjimun Gate. He brought forward the artillery emplacements placed at the back of the main street and gave the order to load the artillery emplacements on the wall.

* * *

They are brave and agile, but they cannot climb over the walls. So, while they are fighting at the gate, they will try to open the secret passage on the other hand. This may be the reason why Yeo-ui’s group is staying in their camp.

I searched the walls for secret passages. I found a few and blocked the paths, but I didn’t think that was all. These were guys who had been preparing for a rebellion for decades.

The countermeasure was to have the cavalry that had been gathered with difficulty stand by the main road. Heavy cavalry was stationed on each main road, ready to intercept them as soon as they emerged from the dark road, and firecrackers and rockets were used as signals. As soon as they were discovered, thousands of cavalry would rush toward them.

It would be nice to find the dark path and block the front and back, but we haven’t found it yet. It’s not right to blame the soldiers who couldn’t find the entrance. It’s a dark path that they’ve been preparing for decades. We’ve posted sentries every twenty or so jang inside the castle walls, and we’ve made sure to closely watch the movements of the Jurchen army from the inside and outside.

I waited after doing everything a person can do. Even waiting can seem insincere. She came when I was sitting on a bench in front of a closed store with a clear view of Heunginjimun.

“You were here.”

“Oh, yes. I just got back. You really weren’t there.”

“I will do whatever it takes to build my family.”

Behind her stood several armed men of the Baek family.

“What about the people behind you?”

“They are like-minded people.”

Dalcheon nodded and exchanged greetings with each person.

“It will start soon. If you can supplement and complement the parts that are lacking as you said, it will be a great help.”

There is little that can be done by less than ten men. They are simply given tasks and duties to do. It is not helpful in battle to go out and fight without thinking or to run around in surprise. It would be better for someone with a keen eye to assign roles… … .