Chapter 32: The Celestial Fortress of Cheonhwaseogo
The distance between them was about thirty zhang (approximately 90 meters).
It was still unclear whether the illusionary formation had been activated.
“Lord, we sent gifts and a peace letter through the envoy. Why are you so hostile?”
“You seem fond of wordplay.”
“Hahaha! So it seems. You’re right. I spoke nonsense to gauge your reaction.”
His laughter was unnervingly cheerful. Seomoon Chu furrowed his brows, sensing no tension. Did this man have a hidden card?
“Answer me one thing. Did you harm my son?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Lord Seomoon, it’s pathetic you still don’t know.”
Pathetic indeed.
From Hougong’s perspective, the question wasn’t worth answering.
Hadn’t Seomoon Chu himself, the father, ruined Seomoon Woong?
Who was truly seeking vengeance here?
“You’re remarkably arrogant.”
“Not at all. Why take pride in facing the likes of the Seomoon Family? Let’s hear your plan first. What becomes of Cheonhwaseogo tonight?”
“I won’t kill you.”
“Good news, yet it unsettles me. Why?”
The Grand Duke scratched his ear.
Seomoon Chu nodded.
“I promise you’ll live long. I’ll rip out your tongue, gouge your eyes, tear off your limbs, and keep your torso alive indefinitely.”
“Hahaha! Lord, anyone hearing this would mistake you for a demonic cultist! Books say they’re this vicious. Regardless, Cheonhwaseogo falls tonight. Is this your scheme? Let the Black Unit ravage the fortress in your name, then have the Seomoon Family swoop in to ‘grieve’ and claim it?”
Seomoon Chu smirked.
“Hoho. Not entirely dull-witted, I see.”
Justifications could be fabricated later.
Reasons for destruction were mere semantics.
Such details could wait until after Cheonhwaseogo’s fall.
“No trickery will save you. I’ll show you hell itself.”
“Ah, is that so? I wonder.”
At that moment—
“Kekeke! Lord Seomoon, what a disappointment. I’d longed to see your famed swordsmanship. Today, I shall.”
A middle-aged man with a grating laugh stepped beside the Grand Duke.
Seomoon Chu’s eyes widened.
Even the Black Flame Demon Extermination Squad stirred uneasily.
The short, radiant man was unmistakable.
“Leader of Cheongwolmun… How…?”
“Kekeke! Did you think I’d come alone?”
“……What?”
Before the words faded, an elder emerged.
“Lord Seomoon, I can scarcely believe my eyes. To think you’d confess your crimes outright!”
“Master Yeomhwak… You too?!”
The Cheongwolmun leader and Yeomhwak’s master were merely the beginning.
Before Seomoon Chu could recover, more figures materialized.
“Lord Seomoon, how dare you sink to such depravity?!”
“Is this the noble lord I once knew? I refused to believe the rumors… Yet here you stand, exposed!”
“Monster! You’d destroy Cheonhwaseogo, feign grief, then marry my battlefield-hardened niece? Despicable!”
Cheongwolmun’s Leader Bangwang. Yeomhwak’s Master Jangim-in.
Next came Baekhwa’s Myo Unryo, Cheolgeum’s Hoeju, and the Continental Battlefield’s Deputy Commander.
An elderly man stood apart, sighing deeply but silent.
Seomoon Chu paled upon recognizing him.
“……How?”
The man was Seomoon Bong, an elder exiled years ago for trivial reasons. To face him here—unthinkable!
Lastly, Chwi Wun-gae of Gaebang arrived, completing the assembly.
“Haha! Grand Duke, Lord Seomoon’s shock proves our guests’ stature!”
“Thanks to Gaebang’s efforts.”
Northern Anhui’s eminent clan leaders and Gaebang’s elites.
After a hearty beef feast, Chwi Wun-gae had spent dawn leveraging Gaebang’s influence to gather them—a feat possible only through the sect’s prestige.
Chwi Wun-gae grinned.
“Lord Seomoon, what now? No escape routes remain. Kneel now, and spare yourself humiliation.”
Yet Seomoon Chu regained composure, lips curling.
“Hoho. Admirable trap. But did you truly think this enough? You’ve only joined Cheonhwaseogo in doom.”
“You fiend!”
“Heartless wretch!”
“Not a shred of conscience!”
The leaders erupted in fury.
Seomoon Chu’s smile deepened.
“Conscience belongs to the defeated. Did you think I’d come unprepared?”
“……?”
All eyes locked on him.
“Bring the Jincheonroe!”
“J-Jincheonroe?!”
Shock rippled through the crowd.
Black Flame Squad members hauled forward two coffin-sized crates. Packed with Jincheonroe—enough explosives to obliterate a mountain.
A single Jincheonroe could reduce buildings to ash. No mystical formation could withstand them.
“Why tremble now? Cheonhwaseogo’s ‘celestial fortress’ deserves this tribute.”
Silence gripped the onlookers—
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The Grand Duke applauded, beaming.
“Lord, I’d feared you came empty-handed. But Jincheonroe! Truly, the Seomoon Family lives up to its name. We gladly accept this gift.”
“Gift?!”
Seomoon Chu and the leaders stared, bewildered.
While others scrambled for countermeasures, the Grand Duke remained unperturbed.
“Let’s converse after the fall.”
“Haha! Your jokes—Gasp!”
CRACK!
The ground split violently.
“My Lord!”
“W-What?!”
“The cliff—!”
The edge crumbled instantly, swallowing Seomoon Chu and his squad into the abyss.
“AAAAARGH!”
Bodies cartwheeled downward, screams echoing. Some struck jagged outcrops—one’s skull burst, another’s torso shredded mid-air.
Seomoon Chu’s mind reeled.
This must be an illusion!
No warning. Only their position collapsed. Yet the Grand Duke floated serenely above.
But every sense screamed reality—wind tearing at robes, hair whipping wildly, cheeks flapping.
An illusion consuming consciousness itself.
He forced calm.
Slow the fall.
Spreading his limbs, he maximized air resistance. Still too fast. Shing! He slammed his sword into the cliffside.
SCREEEECH!
The blade sparked against stone, slowing his descent—
Whoosh!
A Black Flame member plummeted past, screaming: “Lord, save me!”
BANG!
Seomoon Chu’s palm strike obliterated the man’s chest, diverting his corpse upward. But the recoil dislodged his sword, sending him tumbling again.
“Stay calm!” he roared, robes flapping madly. “This isn’t real! A mere illusion! We’re not actually—Ghk!”
Wind stifled his words.
Two more unconscious members hurtled past. Others spread-eagled, desperately gliding.
Where’s the ground?!
The mountain wasn’t this tall. By now, they should’ve hit bedrock.
Hope surged—this impossible height confirmed the illusion.
“Don’t be fooled! The wind, cold, our clothes—all false! We’re still on the—Hurk!”
Damn it!
His choppy breaths undermined his commands.
The ground rushed up—
“NOOOO!”
“I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”
Even Seomoon Chu blanched, delusions forgotten.
Above, the watching leaders gaped in disbelief.
The moment the Grand Duke muttered “Fall,” Seomoon Chu’s forces had staggered, collapsed, and begun writhing on the ground—screaming as though plunging through empty air.
