NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
“A ship! A ship is coming! They’re attacking!”
It was a dark night, with only moonlight illuminating the land.
Watching the sea beyond the wooden fence, a martial artist spotted a large vessel approaching.
The sentry shouted warnings until his voice was hoarse, relentlessly pounding the war drum to announce the enemy’s approach. Soon after, the beacon fire was lit.
“Everyone, set your arrows on fire!”
What’s the best way to sink a ship navigating the sea from a distance?
The best method would be to blast it with a cannon and sink it, but unless you’re the military, you can’t use cannons. Thus, the secondary option is…
“Prepare the fire arrows!”
With this cry from Elder Lee Du-seung of the Hainam Sword Sect, who was responsible for the northern port, the villagers who volunteered for the war against the Demonic Sect and the sect’s martial artists picked up their bows.
“FIRE ARROWS, but if the enemies get too close, the villagers should hide in the pre-arranged safe places!”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got this. We’ll show you the strength of our sea-trained muscles!”
The village headman volunteered for the task, shouting boldly as he was the first to draw his bowstring.
If the oldest elder in the village was stepping forward to fight rather than fleeing, how could the young village men not follow?
Even without talent in martial arts, the seasoned strength from years of fishing would be enough to draw a bowstring. Though the accuracy might not be guaranteed, it could be compensated by quantity.
Thus, dozens of young men picked up their bows.
‘Is it a headwind? But it’s not too strong…’
Elder Lee stiffened as he felt the wind blowing against his body.
What does a ship need to move forward? It’s the wind. No ship can easily move forward against the wind. But now, it was a tailwind.
In other words, the arrows wouldn’t reach far and would be bent by the wind.
The wooden fence surrounding the port was soaked with seawater, so it wasn’t likely to catch fire, but the possibility couldn’t be entirely ignored.
‘Should I take the risk?’
The headman silenced his thoughts and stared beyond the wooden fence.
Just a little more…
Closer…
A bit more…
The distance was decreasing.
The ship, which had initially appeared as a dot, began to look as big as a thumb, increasing the tension on people’s faces.
At that moment, Elder Lee shouted.
“Release the arrow once the ship is palm-sized!”
No one replied verbally, but everyone understood and held their breaths.
Their arms were trembling.
But no one released their strings.
Because the fate of Hainam depended on their one draw.
Finally, the time of decisive battle approached.
“Release!”
The moment Elder Lee Du-seung’s words ended, a rain of fire fell into the sky. Most arrows fell into the sea and were extinguished, but some headed towards the ship.
At this rate, the ship would catch fire before reaching the shore.
But this special force wasn’t inexperienced with such situations.
“Deflect all!”
“Block it with your bodies if you have to!”
In some way, the ship had to be docked at the port. For the Wallbreaker Bombs to work properly, the ship needed to reach Haenam Island. The swords of the special force covered the sky, batting away the fiery rain.
“Damn it…”
“Pahlho!”
“Don’t lose focus and block it! No matter what, we must defend the mast!”
Even if the ship catches fire, it doesn’t matter as long as it reaches.
But if the sails burn…
Their final adventure would end meaninglessly. Clenching their teeth, the special force fought fiercely to save even one mast.
Was it good fortune, or merely a prelude to entering hell?
When the first flurry of arrows ended, the special force sighed in relief as the sails didn’t catch fire.
Just the deck was alight.
“Shihyukho, is there any way to extinguish it?”
“No such thing… So let’s dock it as it is.”
The ship’s speed didn’t decrease.
This was not a good signal for the martial artists defending the northern port.
“Enemies are attempting to dock! Warriors of Hainan Sword Sect, draw your swords!”
Annoyingly, the wind was on their side.
The speed showed no signs of slowing, so the burning ship would soon collide with the pier.
Elder Lee Du-seung drew his sword from the sheath attached to his waist and began to channel his inner energy from his lower abdomen.
The inner energy, departing from the lower abdomen and racing through his blood vessels, finally manifested as a green aura through his sword.
Sword Qi.
‘I don’t know their intentions…’
Was it merely to draw our attention or did they have some larger plan?
The elder looked as the ship collided with the pier and shattered into pieces.
And also at the eight warriors who leapt out from the ship.
“Return of the Thousand Horses! Ten Thousand Horses Roar!”
The moment sixteenho leaped onto the pier, his arm drew a circle. A typical throwing posture. Elder Lee’s gaze momentarily met sixteenho’s, and he leapt in simultaneously.
As an experienced warrior, his instincts warned him that object was dangerous.
‘I don’t know what that is… but I must stop it!’
The elder’s powerful left-hand sword, imbued with fierce inner power, fiercely swung at the sphere flying towards it, its fuse lit. When the 1-cheok-long sword qi cut through the Wallbreaker Bomb, it exploded with a loud sound, flooding the northern port with light.
“Elder!”
“We seem to have disposed of one of their important figures…”
“So what? We’re about to die anyway.”
“Try swimming or something.”
“With this body?”
Thirty-twoho chuckled while waving his arrow-pierced arm for all to see. Was it due to the alcohol he consumed earlier? The pain was faint.
‘Or, am I just feeling this way because I’m dying?’
The bloodied thirty-twoho’s vision blurred.
‘Damn life, only getting trained all my life and now it’s ending…’
The sharp pain felt in his throat, the dizzy feeling in his head.
Thirty-twoho’s head flew into the air.
——————
The explosion?
I recalled ominous possibilities at the explosion that occurred at the northern port.
Could they really have a Wallbreaker Bomb?
The Wallbreaker Bomb that appears in the late part of the story?
“An explosion came from the north…”
The perplexed voice of Muguang echoed behind me. But there was no time to worry about that.
Given the explosion that resembled a Wallbreaker Bomb,
Now that I have learned that the enemy possesses a tactic that could reverse their disadvantage, it was necessary to reconsider the tactics we had planned so far,
Even if we were overwhelmingly winning, our troops could be swept away by a single Wallbreaker Bomb.
Though we wouldn’t be completely annihilated, we were sure to take considerable damage.
“Young Lord (Long Master), if possible, we should eliminate them with poison arrows before they get too close.”
“…Understood.”
The Sect Leader seemed to understand something from the recent explosion and nodded solemnly.
“Uncle…”
“Master Hye-ryeong.”
“Hye-ryeong-ah, I may not be able to take care of you now, so please go back and wait.”
“Nngh…”
With a trembling voice, Hye-ryeong went back. She must understand the severity of the situation and is obeying me without question.
Once the surroundings quieted down, I asked the Sect Leader immediately.
“The explosion earlier seems to have been artificial.”
“…I felt the same way. Recalling an incident from decades ago…could it be the Wallbreaker Bomb? Is it really back…”
The Sect Leader’s sigh mingled with the night air and dispersed.
I guess he must have seen Wallbreaker Bombs before, given how he immediately stiffened at the sight of the explosion.
That was somewhat fortunate news.
Because knowing or not knowing the danger of Wallbreaker Bombs makes a huge difference.
It’s odd that I, a Colored-Eyed Person, know about Wallbreaker Bombs, so it’s fortunate that there is no need for explanation.
“If they dive underwater, they wouldn’t be able to use Wallbreaker Bombs or something like that. But there’s a possibility they might have it well-sealed in a compartment, so don’t get too complacent.”
If it’s well-sealed, it won’t completely get wet even if it goes underwater.
“How do you know about that?”
“Something similar exists in the Western Regions.”
I fumbled past the Elder’s curious inquiry. It was a tough question to answer.
And… right now, that’s irrelevant.
“Grandmaster. Can you have the three top disciples draw water, bring it up, and also bring me a flask with water?”
Wallbreaker Bombs are rare treasures according to the original story, so they wouldn’t have carried too many.
There were around ten Wallbreaker Bombs used in the final battles of the original story,
So, at most, they might have three.
If one was detonated in the north…
“About twice.”
At worst, I just have to handle two more.
“Asher! I’ve brought water!”
Did Hye-ryeong carry the water herself? Taking the full flask from her, I felt the damp and cold flask.
This much water would be enough.
“Hye-ryeong, remember, don’t come out.”
“…Yes!”
Was it because I warned her in a grave tone? Hye-ryeong replied with a brisk voice, sounding like a newly transferred soldier. I averted my gaze from her and said gently,
“Stay safe.”
“You too, Asher. And Elder…no, Uncle shouldn’t get hurt either.”
“Ho ho, don’t worry. Do you think I would lose to those greenhorns?”
With a bold laugh dismissing her worry, the Sect Leader patted Hye-ryeong’s head warmly. The affectionate gesture had her concerned gaze shift from him to me.
“Don’t worry. We have defeated armies of 10,000 with merely 200 before.”
Thinking back to that time, this isn’t such a huge crisis.
“Grandmaster! The signal fire to the south is burning!”
Reciting these words to myself, I looked down to the south from the mountain.
It’s about to start, then.
I tried calming my excited heart and took the halberd embedded in the dirt, resting it on my shoulder.
“Then, let’s see who survives.”