The Alliance Leader cut off the rising chaos, lest the Black Heaven Dark Ghost or the Sword Sovereign launch a full-on battle.“I’ll break the front. Sword Sovereign and Black Heaven Dark Ghost, take left and right. Wu So and the Hall Administrator, hold the rear so the others can focus on retreat. The rest of you, fill any gaps that open.”Even at that distance, the Red Blood Hall Lord must have heard, for he snorted. It was the reaction of someone who found it absurd.He glanced back at the subordinates behind him and asked,“Do I need to stay here?”“No. We are sufficient.”“A lucky prey that fell into our hands. Don’t let a single one get out.”“Yes.”The Alliance Leader sprang straight forward. To protect the Red Blood Hall Lord, a dozen cultists rushed him at once.Blocked, the Alliance Leader raised his arm.KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG.His sword did not appear to move, yet the grassland flipped and the earth turned black.Even so, the Red Blood Hall elites did not take heavy damage.Crack, crack.The torn flesh knit at once, and twisted bones set back into place. With their inner energy drawn up, they charged the Alliance Leader.While he dealt with the cultists swarming like midges, the Red Blood Hall Lord slipped past him.“Let’s meet again.”In an instant, the man’s figure had gone so far it could no longer be seen.He looked like a bandit robbed of a treasured toy—nothing else in his eyes.Just then, the Sagye Hall Administrator urged the stunned Zhuge Cheonyu.“No time to dawdle!”She came to her senses and started running.The party did not do the foolish thing and chase the Red Blood Hall Lord; they ran for the opening the Alliance Leader had made.KWA-AAANG.The Alliance Leader raged greatly. His exaggerated movements were like a fisherman herding fish to one side. Luring the Blood Cult, he carved a retreat.Black Heaven Dark Ghost and the Sword Sovereign understood his order to take left and right. It meant: protect those with less martial strength so none fell behind.The vanguard was blocked by the Tang Clan elites who had come with them.But there was something the Alliance Leader had overlooked.Unlike the Honin formation, the cultists here were not weak.KWAANG.“Argh!”A Zhuge youth hastily slowed.He did not know when the giant cultist had appeared, but the man thrust his claws at him.KWAANG.Hurling a dart, the Black Heaven Dark Ghost shouted,“Run instead of cringing!”The cultist twisted away fast from the incoming hidden weapon.The dart pierced the man’s body but could not be retrieved.With bleeding heart, the Black Heaven Dark Ghost muttered,“Short as it is already—what a waste.”Because he was watching over the youngsters as he ran, he could not throw to his heart’s content.He carefully launched the few darts of Tang Hak he had left—only when a Blood fiend obstructed the path.KWAANG. THUD.From the left came the sound of the Sword Sovereign’s blade meeting claws.If their target had been the Sword Sovereign, he would have finished them quickly. But these ones evaded his attacks and doggedly hunted the young martial artists.They figured, per orthodox nature, that these people would not abandon disciples far younger and go on ahead.Wu So and the Sagye Hall Administrator at the rear did not add their hands; they focused on the retreat. If they left their posts, the rear would be pierced.Faintly, a new force was felt from behind.With a hardened face, Wu So glanced at the Sagye Hall Administrator.A crease had formed between the Administrator’s brows. If he had felt it, the Administrator would hardly have failed to feel it.It was not inner energy or presence.Rather, the opposite.Something that erased even the qi of nature, as if pressing down with gravity.He could not gauge the distance; that meant it was very far away, yet its presence was on a different order.‘…The Blood Demon?’Wu So looked back to the Alliance Leader.Because the Blood fiends kept charging doggedly even with limbs severed, the Alliance Leader had, by necessity, been drawn far off.Though he knew he had to hold the rear, Wu So sent out sword-qi that way. The moment the crimson-curved sword-qi reached the cultist’s back—KWA-AAANG.As if waiting for it, the cultist twisted and charged this way, and the sword-qi moved toward the Alliance Leader.The Alliance Leader easily broke Wu So’s sword-qi, but a hair’s-breadth opening formed.Seizing that gap, a cultist closed on the rear.When Wu So moved to leave his position, the Sagye Hall Administrator shouted,“Perfected Wu So!”Staring straight ahead, he said,“Do not create an opening! What matters is getting everyone to the gate. The moment the Alliance Leader opens it, hold your ground so they can cross without delay.”He seemed to believe that, if the Alliance Leader wished, he could take the lead at any time.Wu So did not trust the Alliance Leader to that extent, but he kept his post as the Administrator said.Only the Alliance Leader could open the gate to cross to the Central Plains.The Alliance Leader could not be ignorant of this; seeing him hold them off from behind meant these foes were not his match.He was guarding against the very weakest of the group dropping out. He was fixated on everyone’s survival. Thus, they could not help but follow his thinking.Even in this moment, the force charging from afar came nearer.Just then, Zhuge Inhwi’s eyes narrowed.‘The wind changed direction.’Something was drawing in the air like a vortex, warping the wind.‘A formation?’Up ahead there seemed to be ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ a gate leading to the Central Plains.Gauging the intervals of the warped wind, Zhuge Inhwi’s face darkened.For a closed gate, the distorted range was far too wide.Sensing the reason at once, Zhuge Inhwi shouted urgently,“Alliance Leader!”KWAANG.With a thunderous roar, the Alliance Leader’s presence came right up close.Wu So sent out sword-gang at the Blood fiend that had followed him. This time, even Zhuge Inhwi did not stop it.In an instant, the Alliance Leader shot past the Tang elites and sprinted far ahead.Soon Blood fiends crested the ridge and showed themselves.It seemed the following force that had come after the Red Blood Hall Lord had now arrived.They halted and raised their claws. Seeing their comrades pursue the Central Plains people, they quickly judged to block the way.Accelerating, the Alliance Leader shouted,“Do not stop!”He seemed intent on handling them alone; he rushed them head-on, but the Blood fiends scattered like dandelion seeds.The Blood Cultists batted away the flying darts, blocked sword-qi with their hands, and bored toward the center. As their comrades had done, they aimed to gouge out the soft underbelly.In that instant, razor claws came at Zhuge Cheonyu.For the first time, the Sagye Hall Administrator left his post.KWAANG.With an iron wire, he blocked the sharp claws, then stood in front of Zhuge Cheonyu.“The gate they used is open. I don’t know how much time is left, but the Alliance Leader said at most half a gak—so it won’t be long.”The Administrator spoke quickly.“Run ahead. You must cross before it closes.”He seemed intent on sending her first.“Ah, yes, yes!”Zhuge Cheonyu did not slow, but she could not get ahead. Then, as if frustrated, the Administrator yanked her by the arm.“Elder Brother!”Startled, Zhuge Cheonyu, for the first time in years, called him not Administrator but by kinship—yet Zhuge Inhwi said nothing, slung her over his shoulder, and ran.Thanks to the Blood fiends’ line being disrupted, there were many gaps. Even Zhuge Cheonyu could see the gate.Fortunately, it was not yet closed.It was when they had reached a jang short of it.When strength coiled into the Administrator’s arm, Zhuge Cheonyu guessed what he meant to do and widened her eyes.“Ah—no. Wait just a—!”But the third elder brother was not one to warmheartedly heed his sister’s words.The Administrator swiftly hurled her through the gate. It was already closing.Zhuge Cheonyu cried something, but her voice was lost as the gate shut.At once the Administrator turned and ran back to where the Blood fiends raged.The Tang elites, out of hidden weapons, were meeting them with daggers, and those holding left, right, and rear focused on driving off the rampaging Blood fiends.There was no one left still running.Perhaps because they had stopped, the Blood Demon’s force drew nearer at a maddened speed.Of course, the situation was—needless to say—in their favor. In a quarter of an hour they could slaughter the Blood fiends.But that Blood Demon would arrive before a quarter-hour.They could not evacuate everyone.It seemed better—not to help with the slaughter—but, while the others held the Blood fiends, to spirit people out one by one and get as many as possible through.Zhuge Inhwi shouted urgently,“Alliance Leader, open the gate for us!”Better that more than one survive than a total annihilation.The Alliance Leader, understanding that intent, seemed to hesitate.“Alliance Leader!”Even though no form yet showed, the Blood Demon’s presence felt close enough to touch the face.Prodded by the Administrator, the Alliance Leader at last shoved the Blood fiends aside and ran for the entrance. In an instant he reached the formation’s locus and opened the gate.Ssssshh.Zhuge Inhwi went straight to the Clan Head.“I’ll move the Young Clan Head first. Clan Head, please guard the others.”“I ask it of you.”At once the Clan Head handed Tang Hak to the Administrator.As if there was not even time to answer, he lifted him and sprinted for the entrance. Spotting Zhuge Cheonyu standing beyond, the Administrator trusted her and tossed Tang Hak through.With the Clan Head now fighting in the rear, the gaps vanished.In that time, Zhuge Inhwi slung the remaining Zhuge youths over shoulders and pitched them outside.“Ad—Administrator, I can walk… waaah!”It was not that his arms bent inward and he spirited the Zhuge youths first.It was the opposite. With the Clan Head and Tang Min glued to Tang Sohwa’s side, guarding only that direction, these boys were in danger.When the entrance shut, the Alliance Leader stopped fighting the Blood fiends and opened it again—before the Administrator could even ask. He seemed to deem the method correct.The problem was, the Alliance Leader was not the only one who thought so.“Administrator, thank y— uwaaaaah!”The instant the Administrator bent to grab the last Zhuge youth, five hands dug into his back. A martial artist called Daejeong cried out in horror, but Zhuge Inhwi ignored it and slung the man up.KWA-AAANG.The Sword Sovereign cut down the Blood fiend he faced and shielded the Administrator’s back.Zhuge Inhwi’s gaze lingered a moment on the one standing beside him.The woman with a hawk in her arms wore an impassive face.Adjusting the half-fainted Daejeong on his back, the Administrator spoke low,“Wait.”She gave a small nod.She did not seem to have any particular complaint that she was not being taken first.Since this whole trouble had arisen because of her, it would be hard for her to say anything.‘There are Tang people with a conscience.’Hardly had Zhuge Inhwi sprinted for the gate when a conscienceless voice sounded from behind.“Hey now, Administrator! Who did you come here to save? You should spirit her out first! I was going to keep quiet, but aren’t you just openly looking after the Zhuge clan kids!”It was the Black Heaven Dark Ghost, raging wildly.He wasn’t just raging. He strode toward Tang Sohwa and shouted,“You get on, now!”Without even waiting for Tang Sohwa’s answer, the Black Heaven Dark Ghost slung her up and said,“Now we withdraw!”A strange force was felt at arm’s length.It was not only the Central Plains people who felt it. The Blood fiends went taut and raged even harder.As if by prior promise, they swarmed the Black Heaven Dark Ghost.Instead of meeting them with a dagger, he ran, evading the claws. His lightness skill was so fast the surroundings blurred from sight.KWAANG. KWAKWANG. KWA-AAANG.One after another, razor hands flew and punched through the ground. With attacks pouring in without a breath, it was hard to control speed.KWA-AAANG.When claws thrust for Tang Sohwa’s head, Tang Min twisted too far and lost his hold on her. He snatched out a hand, but by inertia Tang Sohwa slipped away fast.Tap.Landing, Tang Sohwa immediately pulled back.KWAANG.One of the ones chasing the Black Heaven Dark Ghost sprang straight at her.Tang Sohwa threw the flying dagger in her hand.KAANG.But he flicked it aside lightly, like batting a mayfly.She wanted to draw another flying dagger, but one hand held Maehwa, and her sleeve was packed with secret texts, so she could not counter.In that split-second, a cultist seized her shoulder.No—tried to seize it.If the man’s body had not been cut in half.Suddenly the Blood fiend’s waist split, and his upper body fell to the side.Thud.Through the cleared line of sight, the one who had stood behind the fiend was revealed.Namgung Jin at once held out a hand and lifted her up.“Young Lady Tang’s letters always show me something I did not expect.”Setting his sword upright, he added, self-mocking,“From now on, when I receive a letter, I should brace myself first.”

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