Chapter 41, Gaining an Extraordinary Friend
Only groans filled with pain remained on the battlefield after the fighting ended.
The ground, which had once been yellowish brown, had turned deep crimson.
It showed just how much blood the soil had absorbed.
Heads and severed arms and legs whose owners could no longer be identified were scattered everywhere, creating a grotesque scene.
The area with the most unidentifiable limbs belonged to the Vermilion Bird Unit.
Out of nearly one hundred Vermilion Bird Unit warriors, more than fifty had died and over twenty were seriously injured.
It was damage close to complete destruction.
Un Daeryong looked across the battlefield with gloomy eyes.
Very few of his subordinates remained standing without injuries.
That was because almost every enemy they had faced had been either a top-tier master or peak master.
Hwancheonma and his guards were all top-tier experts, while Hwancheonma himself had surpassed even the peak level.
The Western Gorge Sect's Venerated Retainers and Twelve Protectors were also all masters beyond the top-tier level.
No matter that the Vermilion Bird Unit was one of the Martial Alliance's four strongest combat units, such losses were unavoidable when fighting enemies of this level.
If they had possessed peak masters capable of holding back Hwancheonma and Ma Gi, their losses would not have been this severe.
Un Daeryong sighed.
"I'm sorry!"
He felt guilty, as though his subordinates had died meaningless deaths because of him.
Dang Jong carefully gathered the corpses of the Tang Clan's Five Heroes.
He sat beside them with his head lowered.
No one approached him.
Namgung Cheol was still unconscious, so the corpses of the Namgung Seven Swords had not even been properly collected yet.
Paeng Umyeong was equally depressed.
Three of the New Five Tiger Sabers, men who had been like brothers to him, had died fighting Go Deung.
The two survivors wept beside their fallen companions.
Paeng Umyeong comforted himself by thinking that his situation was still better than Dang Jong's or Namgung Cheol's.
The Tang Clan's Five Heroes and Namgung Seven Swords were all dead.
At least two of his own retainers had survived.
Magae stood covered in blood.
"Too many died."
He believed surviving this bloody battle was nothing less than incredible luck.
Every branch warrior and subordinate Songrim had brought was dead.
Only Songrim himself survived.
Their enemies had simply been too strong.
Hwancheonma and his guards had been overwhelming opponents.
Songrim had always believed his own martial arts were respectable wherever he went.
But after actually clashing with those people, he realized how lacking he was.
Because of that, he had lost every subordinate and branch warrior under him.
He could no longer be certain he would even keep his position as Hall Master of the Inspection Hall.
Even so, Songrim was worried about Un Daeryong.
Un Daeryong would definitely face punishment from the Martial Alliance over this incident.
No one knew what kind of punishment it would be.
The Vermilion Bird Unit had suffered near destruction.
As commander, Un Daeryong would be held responsible.
Goeui had been treating the injured when he suddenly stood up, walked toward Dang Jong, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him toward Paeng Umyeong.
"Ugh! What are you doing?!"
"You little bastards. I was going to stay out of it because it had nothing to do with me, but I'm too angry to ignore this anymore."
"Why are you acting like this?!"
Dang Jong glared and shouted.
Goeui slapped him across the face.
"What did a useless little bastard like you accomplish that gives you the right to shout?! Look around! Look at how many lives your childishness cost! If you hadn't put on airs about capturing Hwancheonma or Ma Gi, these people would still be alive! You swallowed a few spiritual medicines at home, built up some internal energy, learned some advanced martial arts, and suddenly thought the entire world looked easy? To me, you're nothing more than chicks flapping their wings! Do you think I'm the only one who sees you that way? Everyone else does too! Look carefully and remember this. Remember how much destruction useless arrogance can cause. If brats like you become heads of your families, I'd bet my own fingers those families won't last more than a few years!"
Paeng Umyeong muttered,
"Isn't that too harsh? We were trying to fight in accordance with the principle of destroying evil and suppressing demons. The losses were large, but our intentions weren't wrong."
Hearing that, Goeui suddenly lost all strength.
He no longer had the energy to keep arguing.
Then Jaha cursed at Paeng Umyeong.
"You useless bastard. Why do you think Commander Un wanted to avoid fighting? Because he predicted something like this! If our side doesn't have peak masters capable of dealing with their peak masters, then ordinary warriors have to die in huge numbers. You idiots don't even understand something that basic about real battle, yet you wanted to capture Hwancheonma? Even a passing dog would laugh at you, you damn fools!"
For some reason, Byeok Ho did not restrain Jaha despite his enthusiastic stream of curses.
Perhaps Byeok Ho also wanted to curse them.
"You powerless fools get praised as Young Family Heads and suddenly think you can capture the Demon Cult Leader himself, don't you? Should I tell you the truth? You survived because the Vermilion Bird Unit died for you, you little bastards. Until the day you die, you should be grateful before the spirits of those Vermilion Bird Unit warriors. People beneath you die like dogs because of idiots like you."
It was somewhat absurd that Jaha, who was around the same age as them, kept calling them little brats.
However, no one laughed.
Even without saying it aloud, everyone had been thinking exactly the same thing.
Hearing Jaha shout it openly even made them feel relieved.
Paeng Umyeong had never been cursed like this in his life.
Strangely, instead of anger, he felt shame.
"How dare you insult him!"
The two surviving New Five Tiger Sabers drew their sabers and released their presence toward Jaha.
Jaha did not become angry with them.
Instead, he looked at Paeng Umyeong.
"You want to keep loyal men like those alive, don't you? Then you need to change the way you think from now on. Men this loyal are hard to find."
Seeing them ready to fight for Paeng Umyeong reminded Jaha of his own past.
That statement struck Paeng Umyeong even harder than anger would have.
"Young Family Head, give the order. We'll kill the bastard who insulted you immediately."
Watching the two New Five Tiger Sabers boil with anger because he had been insulted, Paeng Umyeong gave a bitter smile.
"Jomyeong, Gusun. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was foolish."
When Paeng Umyeong suddenly called their names and apologized, the surviving Paeng Jomyeong and Paeng Gusun lowered their heads.
"Don't say things like that. Even if you fail or make a mistake, our lord must never bow his head."
Their words made Paeng Umyeong swear to himself that he would never again make a careless decision.
"I'm truly glad that at least you two survived."
Paeng Umyeong looked around the battlefield once more.
He watched the surviving Vermilion Bird Unit warriors collect the bodies of their comrades with gloomy eyes.
"We were frogs inside a well."
Zhuge Yuyeon watched the self-mocking Paeng Umyeong with pity.
