From the start, the ones killed by Hongbi’s sphere, the Murim Alliance, and the Imperial Iron Cavalry did not even amount to ten thousand.

The ones Hongbi killed—maybe around five thousand?

If the troops had been massed, it might be different, but since those guys had surrounded us on three sides, there weren’t many stationed at the encampment.

The density wasn’t that high, either.

But when things the brain can’t process kept happening in succession, everyone began to run.

War is originally a contest of momentum.

Across history there have been many times when smaller numbers achieved unbelievable battle results.

What always appears when such feats occur is rout.

Enemies whose formation collapses and who retreat are easy prey.

From the air, I pursued like mad the ones fleeing like red cockroaches.

“Cho! Go get ahead of them so they can’t run! If you spray venom on the ones in front, they’ll have to scatter sideways, which will buy us time. There are a lot of enemies, so don’t over-focus on one spot.”

—Tzrrrr! 『Got it, Dad!』

“Yeondu, you go get ahead too and block them from going forward!”

—Shaa! 『Understood, So-ryong-nim!』

Where they bunched up and fled, Cho chased and sprayed deadly venom, and Yeondu speared down to the ground and gave them a taste of a missile.

All the masters had vanished, so there was no one who could injure the children with protective energy; the kids could rampage to their hearts’ content.

Those who were hit by Cho’s venom melted, and the ones who fell on top of them had their limbs melt away.

Those struck by shards of rock smashed by Yeondu’s headbutt suffered shrapnel wounds.

—Chuaaa!

“Gyaaah—m-my face!”

“Uwaaaah—my leg! My leg!”

—Bang!

“Guhk!”

“Th-that’s a spirit creature! Run!”

And Juhwang chased from behind.

Groups of three or four of the fleeing were swallowed into the ground at once.

“Gyaaah! S-save me!”

“Let go! Let go of me! Don’t grab me too!”

The pursuit lasted all day and even continued into the night.

They must have thought that at night they could hide and evade eyes, but they couldn’t evade the eyes of me, Yeondu, Juhwang, or Cho.

We have vision that can see something even at night.

Once the sun set, the ones hiding in the jungle grass were found one by one and dealt with.

“Well now—were you hiding here? You worked so hard to do something useless.”

“Hiiik!”

“S-spare us. Please, spare us!”

“When people whose vital blood you were sucking begged you to spare them, did you?”

—Crunch!

The mopping up of the routed troops was carried out with brutal thoroughness.

Blood Cult scum gained their strength by sucking the vital blood of people.

They were no different from murderers and cannibals, so there was no forgiving them.

Around the time dawn broke, the suppression ended; after I finished off the last one hiding in the grass and stopped, exhausted, a wind blew from behind, thick with the smell of blood.

“Hoo—so this is the end?”

I called Yeondu and took to the sky; even though the jungle of Dai Viet—infamous even in my previous life’s Vietnam War—was thick with the bodies of nearly forty thousand Blood Cultists, from the air it revealed nothing.

I could see why the U.S. Army sprayed defoliants because of this dense jungle.

The jungle was simply swallowing all.

I must have chased farthest; no allies in sight.

When I returned to the city, the ones who arrived first were gathering to prepare a place to rest and a meal.

Since the Blood Cult scum had left their tents and provisions as they fled, there was no problem at all with a place to rest or with food.

“You’re back!”

“Little brother! You worked hard! Come have a bite. You must be hungry.”

“You’ve come? Sit and eat. Thanks to you, we lived.”

When I landed in the center of the garrison, the Five Elders who had returned ahead of me came to express their thanks.

They invited me to eat, and though I was hungry, I decided to greet them briefly and go check on Hongbi first.

By now the sphere should have vanished; because of the pursuit, I had asked Cheong-yu Sojeo to watch over him.

He’d said he might fall asleep earlier, so I had to go bring him.

“I’ll step out and bring a friend.”

“A friend?”

“My frog.”

“Oh—the one who made that black sphere?”

“Yes.”

“A f-fearsome friend.”

As I approached where the sphere had been, the sphere, as expected, had now vanished.

The ground had turned pitch-black and was breathing out miasma, like earth blackened by Jimjo’s poison.

When a few of the Imperial Iron Cavalry tossed the Blood Cult scum who had turned into corpses onto that earth, they scattered there and vanished.

—Sia! 『So-ryong!』

When I flew to one side of where the sphere had been, Cheong-yu Sojeo’s voice rose from below.

Near the trace where the sphere had formed, Cheong-yu Sojeo had spread a mat and was waiting.

In the basket at her chest, little snakes were cutely poking out their heads.

Juhwang was looking after the children in Yeondu’s place.

“Hyungnim!”

—S. 『Uncle.』

—Siii. 『It’s Uncle.』

I came closer, petted the children’s heads, and asked Cheong-yu Sojeo,

“Where’s Hongbi?”

—Sia. 『Over there. He’s not responding. I think he’s asleep.』

Looking where Cheong-yu Sojeo pointed, I saw Hongbi’s red, blue, and golden ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) body in the distance.

He lay flat on the ground, not moving a bit.

He’d said he was sleepy before; it seemed he’d really fallen asleep just like that.

It wasn’t ordinary venom, and he had spewed it over dozens—no, hundreds—of times his usual range, so it was only natural he’d be sleepy.

To go fetch Hongbi, who had strained himself for us, I quickly took off my shoes and rolled up my pants.

If I didn’t touch anything, the miasma wouldn’t invade; I would go barefoot.

As for me, it didn’t matter even if I did touch it.

I was a bit nervous, but if I was going to bring Hongbi, it was right to go alone.

“I’ll be back. Everyone wait here.”

—Siaa. 『Be careful, So-ryong.』

“Yes, I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

I rolled my pants up to the knees and set my feet on the black earth.

—Sarak.

A rustling sound came.

A land full of black sand.

To my soles it felt like very soft sand.

I walked across it toward the center of the circle for quite a while, and there, Hongbi came into view, eyes closed in sleep.

Supporting him, I carefully lifted him in my hands; Hongbi slightly opened his eyes and, closing them again, spoke.

—Kwaa. 『I... will sleep a little. So-ryong...』

A very sleepy voice.

He did seem a bit tired.

“Got it. Just trust me and sleep deep. You worked hard.”

After bringing Hongbi out of the land of death, I washed his body clean with water, but he didn’t wake even as I bathed him.

He went limp, entrusting his body entirely.

Hearing my voice, he seemed to have fallen into a perfect sleep.

For now, I used cloth the Blood Cult scum had left behind to make a chest-sling and put Hongbi inside.

We had to move, so he needed a place to ride.

Then, when I returned to where the Five Elders had been, a good smell was drifting.

It seemed the Blood Cult scum had been using water buffalo to haul goods; over the campfire, water-buffalo meat was roasting, and porridge had been prepared as well.

I hadn’t eaten anything for two days, so hunger set in.

“You’re back. Did you get things in order?”

“Yes.”

“Come, eat.”

“Thank you.”

After eating that, we discussed what came next.

“I intend to depart as soon as the sun rises. I need to go help on the other side.”

“Right, you’ve worked hard. Rest well today, and don’t worry about things here—leave at dawn.”

For today, I would eat here and head out as soon as it got light.

If the children rested that long, they’d recover, and I would too.

Then came the voice of Senior Wheel Lady, Heo Muha.

“We’ll rally our troops and catch up as quickly as possible, little brother. No—better that those with stronger martial skill depart first. What do you think, Staff King?”

“Ah, true. That would be best. Then we’ll depart with you when you set out.”

A proposal came to have those strong in martial arts depart first, timed with my departure.

For those with lower skill, who knew, but those with high skill would be a great help even in small numbers—so not a bad idea.

In that case, I decided to bring the three seniors along.

“In that case, let’s move together. I have some room.”

“Room?”

At the word “room,” the three tilted their heads.

I pointed to Cho and Yeondu.

“We can take about three more riders.”

“O-on those children?”

“Yes. We can probably arrive in a day or two.”

“Hmm...”

The three seniors’ expressions turned peculiar.

***

The force that had been slowly pressing in along the river halted far off.

Hwa-eun watched that sight and remembered that time.

The red army mounts that had swarmed toward the Beast Palace.

Now was not so different from then.

Those in red martial uniforms swarmed like ants.

Hwa-eun stroked Mother’s back beside her, then climbed onto it and said,

“Mother, let’s go up. We need a closer look.”

[Understood.]

—Buuuuung.

From the stone mountain of the Beast Palace they rose to the sky and looked down below; red-clad warriors spread without end.

They slowed and halted, then began preparing a camp.

It seemed they were making camp before launching a full-scale incursion.

Originally, the first thing before attacking a target is to set up a camp.

So-ryong had said the ones routed this way numbered about fifty thousand, but within sight there were too many to gauge.

Is this the number called fifty thousand?

It’s enormous.

As she thought that, Mother Hoja’s voice came.

[Shall we go interfere?]

“Interfere?”

[If we can hinder their setting up a place to rest, their assault will be delayed, no?]

It was a good idea.

But she didn’t forget to tell her to be careful.

If Mother were hurt, she’d have no face to show So-ryong.

“Just in case, be careful, Mother. If you get hurt, I won’t have the face to see So-ryong.”

[Understood. I won’t create anything that leaves you without face before So-ryong.]

Mounted on Mother Hoja’s back, Hwa-eun swiftly reached the air above where they were building their camp.

As she quickly wrapped her whole body with protective energy, Mother descended.

A sound wave that made the world resound thunderously spread from Mother Hoja’s wings.

—Buuuuung!

Diving swiftly from the air and arriving above where they were just setting up the camp, many fell, blood leaking from their ears.

“Gyaaaah! I-it’s Hoja!”

“P-protect your ears!”

Between, between the great beats of Mother’s wings, screams rose.

But perhaps because of the Five Venoms Sect scum, they knew the countermeasures and we couldn’t inflict heavy damage.

Those who had been writhing in pain quickly gathered themselves and shot arrow-like things up into the sky.

Seeing that it wouldn’t deal heavy damage, they were about to give one big shake and turn back.

—Swaeeek!

A sound of rending air grazed her ear.

[Hold tight!]

“Yes!”

At the sound of something tearing the air, Mother Hoja twisted her body sharply.

In that instant, something brushed Mother’s wing and flew past.

Mother’s wing was fine, but Hwa-eun’s collar was torn by a spear filled with mighty force.

Looking back at what receded behind, it was a crimson spear.

Turning her head toward the direction the spear had come from, far off a foxlike woman was clutching the neck of a Blood Cult warrior in one hand, a spear gripped in the other.

The woman’s bewitching voice came from here and there.

[Hehe... a welcome greeting?]

Seeing that the spear was connected to the Blood Cult warrior’s neck, it was probably a spear made of blood.

The instant she saw the woman, Hwa-eun knew she was a Blood Demon.

The inaugural Blood Demon, an elder of the Blood Cult from the Heavenly Demon Cult that Gun Hye-rin had spoken of.

She’d heard it was a woman.

Ignoring the woman’s question, Hwa-eun asked Mother,

“Are you all right?”

[I am fine. But we likely cannot go any closer. Any closer and I might not be able to evade.]

The Blood Demon was a Manifestation Realm master.

It was just as So-ryong had feared.

Before he left, So-ryong entrusted the children and spoke:

Though the children possess great power, we must not let them run wild.

Before a Manifestation Realm master, even a spirit creature cannot guarantee life.

The spirit creatures might help with defense, but we had to be careful.

If struck by a spear like that, unless it was the hard-bodied Hyang or Cheongwol, the other children’s lives would be in danger.

Others might think of spirit creatures however they pleased, but to us, spirit creatures are family.

We must keep them from harm.

“It didn’t look like we could cause heavy damage, but it’s a bit of a shame. Their response is quick. Let’s withdraw, Mother.”

[Understood.]

As they withdrew, the Blood Demon’s voice brushed Hwa-eun’s ear again.

[We’ll be meeting again soon. Hehe.]

And then, from dawn the next day, the assault began.