Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 173

Chapter 173 – Written in the Booklet (1)

***

“Crossbows?”

Peng Ah-hu screamed with his eyes wide. 

Bolts and crossbows. 

Those were the arrows raining down on them and the bow shooting them. 

Cross-bolts and arrows flew from some distance away, sinking into the soldiers’ bodies. 

Weng— 

Weng—

Puchi—

Fwing—

These arrows flew so fast through the air that it was almost confusing whether they hit first or were shot first. 

The arrows were coming from the outer edge of the basin.

To be precise, they were coming from where the basin met the mountains. 

The sky had darkened because of all the arrows, as if it were actually raining. 

“When did they set up so many traps?!” Peng Ah-hu roared, knocking a bolt away with a swing of his fist. 

At his shout, one of the other 72 Supreme Masters, who was also busy stopping the volley of arrows, snapped, “This is no time to be surprised!”

That was true. 

If all of these arrows hit, the number of Murim allied troops gathered in Anshun would be reduced by nearly half. 

They had to prevent that. 

“Damn it!” cursed Peng Ah-hu. “Overlord Demon Slaying Squadron of the Peng Clan, listen to me!”

The cavalry and troops of Peng bowed and shouted, “Yes, my lord!” 

“Set up a wall of qi, block the flying arrows and reduce the damage!”

“Understood!”

The men scattered, setting up a defensive formation. 

Fwi-bing—

All arrows that collided with the wall bounced off. 

Indeed, worthy of one of the strongest forces of the Peng Clan. 

However, the number of men in the Overlord Demon Slaying Squadron was less than 100, so the cover they created was not enough to protect all of their allies. 

“Khhh!”

“Knng!”

Away from the cover, Martial Alliance soldiers were pierced by arrows and killed. 

“Not only those who can make walls of qi, those who can use blades to knock back the arrows, come forward. We must stop the raining arrows!”

Did they agree with that?

Several of the men swung their weapons. At the same time, various layers of qi appeared in front of them. 

Arrows bounced off the swords. 

“Ah, I’m alive!”

“I’m not dead!”

Thanks to that, many of the soldiers who avoided death cheered. 

But not all soldiers were able to experience such luck. 

The only people who could make a wall of qi with their weapons were those who were at least first-rate. 

There were not many first-rate warriors in the entire Murim allied forces. 

And they couldn’t protect everyone. 

Arrows rained down on the soldiers outside of the cover. 

That meant at the very least, whoever had their heads under the cover wouldn’t die. 

“Arrrgh!”

“Uagh!”

They did not have to feel their arms and legs cut off, or their abdomens screaming from pain as they bled out. 

“Damn it. I didn’t expect the Cult of the Heavenly Demon to be equipped with so many arrows.”

Peng Ah-hu growled as he formed qi wall larger than everyone else’s, the arrows bouncing off it. A trickle of blood flowed from his lips. 

Despite all of this, the soldiers of the Alliance were still falling. 

Already, about 600 people had fallen. The damage did not spread further because they had begun using the dead as shields. 

Using the corpse of a friend to block an enemy offensive. 

And this was seen from the factions shouting about a noble cause and justice. 

But they couldn’t help it. 

Because war was like this. 

While you might discuss righteousness before, the intense desire to survive will be the first thing to bloom in chaos. 

What the hell is going on here? The Lord said that it would be a sure victory, but the current situation…

A word that Jwa Do-gyul said suddenly crossed Peng Ah-hu’s mind. 

“Sacrifice?”

He blanked like he had been struck by a bolt. His hands stopped, causing the shield to soften. 

At the same time, arrows continued to fly towards him. 

“What are you doing?!” 

Another master took over his position, but Peng Ah-hu still could not move. He just stared, hands trembling. “Haha, haha…”

The Lord, Jwa Do-gyul, had clearly said: A sacrifice is needed to attract some of the Taoist factions and Five Great Sword Sects out, the ones who did not attend even though the Lord’s Order has been used.

At the time, Peng Ah-hu hadn’t thought much about it. He only thought that the Lord had been planning something. 

But he only now did he realize. 

I never thought the victim would be myself!

The sacrifice of others was tolerable. After all, he had lived that life, too. 

But what if the victim was himself? 

Peng Ah-hu, who had been born and raised as a prestigious nobleman, could not accept such a fate. 

Maybe that was why a fierce anger rose behind his devastation. And that anger was not directed at Jwa Do-gyul, but at the Heavenly Demon, who was firing arrows at them. 

And so, after a moment, 

“Heavenly Demonnnnnn!”

Peng Ah-hu roared in anger. 

At that moment, the arrows stopped. 

As if responding, Woon-seong muttered, “Shut up.”

It was a coincidence that the arrows had stopped as soon as Peng Ah-hu yelled. 

At that moment, the Cult had run out of arrows. More arrows would have done more damage, but the result wasn’t so bad. 

There wasn’t enough time to prepare more arrows, Woon-seong sighed with regret. Still, more than 800 of the Orthodox soldiers had been struck by the arrows, so that was good. 

Woon-seong slowly approached the Alliance. 

His eyes met with Peng Ah-hu’s. 

They were quite a distance apart, but Peng Ah-hu felt a chill crawl down his spine. It was like his brain had been pierced through with one glance. How could a person’s gaze be so cold?

As Peng Ah-hu was thinking, Woon-seong was contemplating Peng Ah-hu. 

Hmm, Peng. Woon-seong shook his hands lightly. He could see the man’s gaze on him. 

At this time, Peng Ah-hu’s eyes trembled, as if he were afraid. 

Like a mouse trying to escape. 

Was it that small?

He was not talking about the man’s stature. He was not talking about the size of the forces. He was just talking about qi. 

Peng Ah-hu’s qi presence felt small. 

This conclusion wasn’t simply because Peng Ah-hu was one of Nok Yu-on’s enemies. 

Peng Ah-hu was one of the 72 Supreme Masters, but as Woon-seong grew stronger, his perspective on the man named Peng Ah-hu changed. 

This man was jealous of Master.

And in the end, took his life. 

It is a seed of vengeance no different from Jwa Do-gyul.

Woon-seong’s eyes sank into iciness. At this time, a stream of gray qi flowed from his body. 

Intimidation Qi wrapped around the area, slowly spreading out close to the ground. It was like a fog, unrolling like a carpet. 

Woon-seong threw something in his hand without stopping his approach. 

Peng Ah-hu was frightened as soon as he saw it. 

The round thing that Woon-seong threw drew an arc in the air, then dropped and rolled. 

With a small thud, it stopped at Peng Ah-hu’s feet. 

Peng Ah-hu subconsciously drew back. 

It was a head. 

A severed head.

The head of someone he knew well. 

Not just Peng Ah-hu, but the Overlord Demon Slaying Squadron, who were members of the Peng Clan, also recognized the owner of the head. 

No, how could they not know. 

“Peng Hak!”

The owner of the severed head had also been a member of the Peng Clan. 

It was Peng Hak. 

He was a member of the New Dragon Battalion and was caught and imprisoned at the time. 

Just as Tang So-bung had died in front of the Sichuan Tang, Peng Hak’s head was thrown before the Peng Clan. 

At this time, Woon-seong greeted Peng Ah-hu. 

“It’s been a while.”

Peng Ah-hu retreated several steps and was unable to hide his trembling voice as he asked, “Do you know me?”

“Do I?” chuckled Woon-seong. 

It was a hollow laugh, one that could shorten one’s lifespan. 

Peng Ah-hu felt like it belonged to a god of death. 

That was why he clung to the blade which had kept him alive so far. 

***

Meanwhile, demonic soldiers ran behind Woon-seong. 

There was a confrontation between the two leaders, Woon-seong and Peng Ah-hu, while the soldiers stared at each other. 

There had been skirmishes, but the two forces looked different.

The Alliance forces, who had been harrassed for days and demoralized by the volley of arrows, could not be compared to the Demonic Army. 

Woon-seong said, “Peng Ah-hu, elder of the Mount Hua Sect.”

That was the man’s status. 

And Peng Ah-hu got the vague feeling the Heavenly Demon knew him well. So he asked again, “Do you know me?”

Woon-seong grabbed the White Night Spear, then opened his mouth. 

It was a voice transfer. 

His words reached Peng Ah-hu and only Peng Ah-hu’s ears.

At the words, Peng Ah-hu’s eyes widened in surprise. He pointed and yelled, “You, you!” 

His voice was one of agitation. Many of the others were surprised to see the man so angry all of a sudden.  

But his face looked confused too. 

Ignoring the eyes on him, Peng Ah-hu shouted, “How do you know that?”

Woon-seong snickered, revealing his fangs. “I guess it is true, seeing that you did not deny it.”

Peng Ah-hu’s shoulders shook as he spat, “Oh, no. He was really learning demonic arts!” He was huffing at this point. 

What Woon-seong had said to Peng Ah-hu was about the story of Hyuk Woon-seong and Nok Yu-on’s death. 

Something you would never know unless you were there that day. 

That was also why Peng Ah-hu was so agitated. He shouted again, “Who the hell are you? Who are you to know about this?”

Woon-seong titled his head. “I don’t know.”

The Divine Flame burned in his left hand. 

Hot air blew in Peng Ah-hu’s face. 

Watching him, Woon-seong spoke coldly. 

“There may be someone in the afterlife who can answer that question.”

At this time, a new technique from Woon-seong erupted. 

Against his Master’s, against Nok Yu-on’s enemy. 

Whoo—