HDCLSSRS Ch 14

Chapter 14 Is This What It Means to Live? (7)

 

Seong Muyeon stared blankly at the battle. He had known that Baek Ryeoil was strong. But seeing him fight with his own eyes was a completely different feeling.

Baek Ryeoil kicked the head of a Heukui-in and leapt into the air. His black hair fluttered midair.

A red-glowing sword strike pierced down above the Heukui-in’s head.

“Aaaargh!”

“Ugh!”

Blood splattered in all directions. Baek Ryeoil didn’t care at all about being drenched in it and continued his rampage. His movements were flawless, achieving maximum efficiency with minimum motion.

It was astonishing.

There was no better way to describe such martial prowess…

“Seventh Young Lord. This won’t do. At this rate, the Heukui-in will be annihilated.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Reluctantly, Seong Muyeon tore his eyes from the battle and turned to the task he had to do.

Seong Muyeon dragged out Namgung Cheonchu, whom he had hidden behind him. Then he held a sword to his neck.

“Baek Ryeoil! If you want this man to stay alive, surrender!”

“…!”

Baek Ryeoil’s agitation was clear the moment he recognized Namgung Cheonchu. He hadn’t expected to see him here after hearing he’d gone missing a few days ago. Namgung Cheonchu was completely bound and even gagged, unable to speak.

“There are dozens more hostages besides him. You’d be better off not thinking of resisting!”

“You…! Guh!”

A massive crescent blade stabbed deep into Baek Ryeoil’s thigh. They had seized the opening he showed.

Baek Ryeoil no longer fought back fiercely. He simply stared at Namgung Cheonchu and Seong Muyeon in turn. The Heukui-in also stepped back and waited.

“Namgung Cheonchu… I always knew that useless bastard would drag me down one day.”

Baek Ryeoil muttered.

Namgung Cheonchu seemed like he wanted to say something, but only muffled noises came from his gagged mouth.

“Drop your weapon.”

“…”

At Seong Muyeon’s command, Baek Ryeoil let his sword fall with a clatter.

A Heukui-in quickly retrieved the blade.

“Bring him here.”

Georyang unsheathed his crescent blade without hesitation. Baek Ryeoil winced briefly from the pain and stumbled. Georyang shoved him roughly, not caring in the least about his pain. Blood flowed freely from the wound in his pierced thigh.

“…Those useless Namgung clan bastards… What were they even doing, not having found Namgung Cheonchu yet.”

The closer Baek Ryeoil came, the more Seong Muyeon felt a strange sensation.

This man had the power to wipe out the entire gathered demonic cult alone, yet he surrendered without resistance. All to save Namgung Cheonchu.

Truth be told, the two of them weren’t even that close. Their relationship consisted only of a loose camaraderie between the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families, and the occasional exchange.

And yet, even at the risk of endangering himself, he had stopped his attack.

Finally, Baek Ryeoil and Seong Muyeon stood face to face.

Baek Ryeoil’s gaze was different now.

In the short time he had interacted with Baek Ryeoil, Seong Muyeon realized that the man had never once truly shown hostility toward him.

This was the real thing.

So this is how Baek Ryeoil looked when facing an enemy. The cold, oppressive presence made one’s chest turn cold. A faint-hearted person might have lost the will to fight just from his gaze.

“Ptoo.”

Baek Ryeoil spat out the blood pooling in his mouth. His cheek was red—he must’ve been struck, splitting the inside of his mouth.

“…”

“…Seventh Young Lord?”

When Seong Muyeon didn’t move for a while, the branch leader called out to him cautiously.

Coming to his senses, Seong Muyeon handed Namgung Cheonchu over to the branch leader.

“Don’t get too close!”

“It’s fine.”

He said that, but Seong Muyeon was anything but fine.

Baek Ryeoil hadn’t been scary at all before. Back then, it had just seemed like bluffing.

But now, facing his true anger… he couldn’t even meet his eyes.

“Baek Ryeoil.”

Seong Muyeon forced down the tremble in his voice and called out casually, but the man didn’t respond.

He simply looked down loftily. There was no longer any reason to exchange words with Seong Muyeon.

His icy eyes swept over Seong Muyeon from top to bottom. As if declaring he would kill him the moment he showed even a slight opening.

It was then.

“Mmph mmph!”

Namgung Cheonchu began twisting his bound body furiously in resistance.

“Can’t you stay still?!”

“Mmmph mmph!”

The flustered branch leader struggled to restrain Namgung Cheonchu again. In the midst of the commotion, Georyang ran toward him as well.

Now was the time.

“Listen carefully from now on, Master Baek. You must trust me.”

Even though Namgung Cheonchu had risked his entire body to buy him time, Baek Ryeoil merely snorted, not listening at all.

This was not the time for argument.

Seong Muyeon glanced around quickly and grabbed Baek Ryeoil by the collar to pull him down. Or tried to. But Baek Ryeoil stood too straight and didn’t budge at all.

‘Tch.’

Nothing was going smoothly.

“Namgung Cheonchu will be safe. So go wild. Just… don’t let a single one of them live.”

Only then did Baek Ryeoil look Seong Muyeon directly in the eyes.

“…What?”

“It’ll be easier if you kill everyone here.”

“Whew! Finally caught him!”

At that moment, they finally managed to subdue Namgung Cheonchu. He collapsed, apparently struck in the abdomen for his wild resistance. It was a miracle he wasn’t dead yet.

“Bind Baek Ryeoil too!”

Because of the branch leader’s command, Seong Muyeon had to turn around. Until the end, Baek Ryeoil wore a confused expression.

Seong Muyeon received Namgung Cheonchu back from the branch leader.

“People of the righteous sects never know how to give up. Be careful! He might go wild again!”

“Give me a sword first.”

Just as Seong Muyeon took a sword from the branch leader, his eyes met Baek Ryeoil’s for a brief moment.

It was the final moment where Baek Ryeoil had to decide whether to trust him or not. Seong Muyeon looked at him with desperate eyes.

‘Please, believe me.’

“…Hah.”

Baek Ryeoil scratched the back of his head in irritation. Meanwhile, the Heukui-in were closing in to restrain him.

If he didn’t trust Seong Muyeon, he would have to allow himself to be bound quietly. That was the only way to keep Namgung Cheonchu alive for now.

But if he did trust him…?

“Damn it!”

Baek Ryeoil finally made his decision. Instead of getting tied up, he drove his knee into Georyang’s chin.

“Guh!”

Georyang’s massive body went flying in an instant. The branch leader and the Heukui-in were caught off guard by the unexpected situation.

“B-Baek Ryeoil! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you not care if Namgung Cheonchu dies?!”

“Kill him or don’t!”

Baek Ryeoil shouted.

From that moment on, Baek Ryeoil held nothing back. Even without a sword, he felled Georyang and struck down the charging Heukui-in with his bare hands.

“Aaagh!”

“G-Get him! He doesn’t even have a weapon now!”

Even without a weapon, they were no match for Baek Ryeoil. In the blink of an eye, the clearing turned into complete chaos.

“I-Is that guy really part of the righteous sects?”

“I-I know, right… Ha ha…”

“Seventh Young Lord, you must get to safety! I’ll deal with him somehow!”

“Okay! Got it!”

Seong Muyeon quickly fled with Namgung Cheonchu. One warrior followed them.

Seong Muyeon quietly heaved a sigh of relief. Baek Ryeoil had moved just as he had hoped. The memory of that cold gaze still made him shudder.

They returned to a nearby hideout.

Seong Muyeon shouted at the warrior who had come with them.

“What are you doing here? The branch leader is out there busting his ass, so go help him right now!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Seong Muyeon turned sharply to the warriors guarding the hallway.

“You too! And you! All of you, go help! The branch leader is in danger! Baek Ryeoil is rampaging out there!”

Seong Muyeon went around thoroughly driving the warriors out.

“Living in the cult is comfy, huh? If the branch leader dies, you’ll be responsible! Aren’t you running out yet?!”

Though confused at first, the warriors quickly rushed out as the urgency of the situation became apparent.

The hallway emptied in no time.

“Young Lord! You must’ve been uncomfortable. I’ll untie you right now.”

“…Thank you.”

Namgung Cheonchu expressed his thanks in a slightly hoarse voice. Seong Muyeon bowed his head as well.

“Thank you earlier. If you hadn’t helped, we would’ve been in serious trouble.”

“…”

Namgung Cheonchu looked like he had bitten into something foul. No wonder—he’d had to cooperate with the son of the enemy commander.

Before heading to the clearing, Seong Muyeon had secretly tipped Namgung Cheonchu off. That if he had the chance to speak with Baek Ryeoil, he’d need Namgung Cheonchu to create a distraction and draw attention.

“Well then, shall we go rescue the other hostages?”

Seong Muyeon began to move, but Namgung Cheonchu didn’t follow.

“Young Lord. Is there a problem?”

Namgung Cheonchu wore a complicated expression.

“…I don’t understand. Aren’t you the Seventh Young Lord of the demonic cult? Why are you helping us?”