Chapter 219

Chapter 219

It goes without saying, but finding people in one zone of the Gate Opening Ceremony isn’t an easy task.

No matter how much you limit it to one zone, the area of a single zone is quite vast. It’s a natural thing to hide since it’s an environment where everyone targets everyone, and that environmental vastness makes it immeasurably difficult to find people.

The seventeenth zone, which consisted mostly of ocean, was a place where that was especially maximized. And the zone where Seomun Cheok first landed was the seventeenth zone.

That’s why Seomun Cheok, reflecting on his experience, thought finding the other disciples would be difficult. No matter how much better the environment was compared to the seventeenth zone, finding others wasn’t that easy.

He would surely have to hold his breath, avoid combat with enemies as much as possible, and somehow search. He didn’t know what hardships and adversities he would face in the process, so he needed to firmly steel his resolve.

Certainly, until he entered this zone, Seomun Cheok had been thinking that way. 

Now that he had entered the zone.

Seomun Cheok was thinking again.

There was nothing to search for.

Kwang! Kwaaaaang! Kwaaaaaang!

Explosions erupting continuously.

The giant stomped and a bald-headed monk struck the giant’s foot. When blue sword energy embroidered the sky, white flames rushed down the path that sword energy had pierced. All sorts of martial arts ran rampant in this scene of chaos.

“What a mess.”

Finding familiar faces in that scene, Seomun Cheok sighed deeply. As he suspected, they were already magnificently causing trouble.

‘Wang Pal is one thing, but I knew Baek Risan wouldn’t stay still given her personality.’

Who in Uicheonmun had the most fiery personality?

That was naturally Baek Risan. Baek Risan, who was Baek Riyun’s younger sister but didn’t inherit that brilliant intellect, had both a beast’s heart and a beast’s brain—truly a person like a beast.

If a zone master appeared and they had to catch it to advance to the central zone, naturally she would have charged in without looking ahead or behind. He had thought so. In reality, the situation unfolding before his eyes was exactly that.

But this was a bit different, wasn’t it?

‘That monk is Bulgoe.’

The oldest of the Ten Heavens. The excommunicated monk Bulgoe.

Seomun Cheok let out a groan at Bulgoe’s overwhelming martial prowess as he single-handedly beat and pushed back the zone master. It was a three-way battle with no distinction between friend and foe, but even while receiving what could be called a combined attack in the gap between the zone master and the survivors, he was calmly deflecting everything.

‘He shows some signs of fatigue, but Bulgoe’s stamina still seems intact. Compared to that, the zone master is already half-dead.’

If it continued like this, the zone master would probably collapse first, then Bulgoe would massacre the rest. And in that case, it would be difficult to extract Baek Risan and Wang Pal who were participating in that battle.

‘What should I do?‘

If he felt like it, he wanted to join Baek Risan’s side and quickly break their bracelets to escape, but if someone whose face he didn’t know approached in the current situation where friend-foe identification wasn’t working, nine out of ten times he’d be attacked.

What should he do? How could he break through this situation?

‘I need to balance it.’

The reason this situation was precarious was because the balance was broken. Wasn’t it because Bulgoe was strong enough to annihilate both sides by himself right now?

No matter how outstanding Seomun Cheok was among the Late-Stage Rising Stars, he wasn’t outstanding enough in martial prowess to create variables in a place where such stellar figures were gathered. So it would be foolish for Seomun Cheok himself to intervene.

‘There’s no need for me to intervene directly.’

Right.

In the end, he just needed to match the difference in strength. The reason the giant, who possessed overwhelming power, durability, and stamina, was being pushed back now was simply because it had no armor or weapons on its body.

Then if he matched that.

Seomun Cheok, who quickly organized his thoughts, opened his mouth to the shop owner beside him.

“Do you happen to sell hammers?”

“Mm? Of course I’ll sell if you give me points. What kind of hammer do you want?”

“A hammer that a giant over five jang tall could use.”

Preparations proceeded quickly.

Paaaaang—!!!

“Urk.”

“Be careful.”

At Dang Seol, who unconsciously frowned at the shock wave spreading from afar, Namgung Hyeon, who was standing beside her, quietly supported her. And at such a Namgung Hyeon, Dang Seol blushed.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m a bit dizzy.”

“Go ahead and have a romance. A romance.”

“I have a fiancée.”

“Yes. Yes. I’m sure you do.”

Paeng Jin, who watched Namgung Hyeon answer bluntly with a piseuk laugh, shook his head and turned his gaze toward the fox yokai visible in the distance. It seemed to be fighting someone, as it had stopped its gaze that had been searching for survivors.

“It really is tremendous…….”

“Hm? What is?”

“Both that yokai and the person fighting that yokai.”

The great yokai Heukya.

Everyone had at least heard stories about this yokai. The master of Sinseon Valley who single-handedly half-destroyed the imperial palace—a yokai among yokai worthy of being called so.

No matter how much it was an illusion, that was a manifestation of a part of Heukya. Considering that illusions gained substance within this formation, that could be considered a fragment of Heukya in his prime. An ordinary martial artist would be unable to endure and have their entire body burst and die just from briefly confronting it.

“They’ve already been holding out for one gak. It’s monstrous. At the very least, they’re at the level of a major sect’s leader. Maybe even Ten Heavens level.”

Perhaps a Ten Heavens level martial artist. With this composition of only Late-Stage Rising Stars, if they encountered such a person, they’d be eliminated that instant.

“Let’s avoid that side as much as possible.”

Everyone let out groans and agreed with Paeng Jin’s appearance shaking his head. No one wanted to be burned by sparks that suddenly flew their way.

“Good. We’ve finished packing. Then shall we devise a plan?”

“A plan? What plan do we need?”

“Even if the inner palace is smaller in area than the outer palace, it’s too vast to search one by one.”

“In normal circumstances, we’d spread out our senses to search, but that side is a complete mess right now. Searching by spreading out senses will have limits too.”

“……Mm.”

“So we need to go to places where people would gather from the start. The more suitable a palace is for hiding or defensive warfare, the more people will gather there.”

“That’s not wrong.”

Namgung Hyeon, who nodded, agreed with Paeng Jin’s words and spread out the map he’d bought from the shop. The surrounding terrain clearly visible.

“First, our current location is here. The southeast of the outer palace. The red-light district.”

“……This place was a red-light district……?”

“It’s called a red-light district, but it’s an old red-light district. Now only ruined palaces remain, so you could actually call it a tavern street. Anyway, this side is mostly wooden buildings, so while there are many rooms, there are virtually no defensive facilities.”

Since the rooms were divided, it was vulnerable to attacks from outside, and the building’s durability itself was weak. That was why large groups couldn’t stay in this place.

“Compared to that, this side of the inner palace is sturdy.”

“Which side is that?”

“The armory.”

Namgung Hyeon paused briefly and continued.

“Anywhere, places that store weapons have tight security. Especially the inner palace armory boasts thick walls and doors. The wall thickness alone exceeds one jang, and there are even stories that the door was made entirely of cold iron.”

“……There’s no better place for large groups who’ve secured large quantities of candles to hold out.”

“Exactly. Invasion from outside isn’t easy.”

Those occupying such places were large groups, so naturally they wouldn’t all be covered by one candle’s range. Naturally, they’d have plenty of remaining candles and earned points.

“Danger follows, but the reward is certain. You could see it as such a place. Though it’s questionable whether we can win with our forces.”

“That’s true.”

“The other place is here.”

At Seonwoo Gang’s affirmation, Namgung Hyeon, who nodded, turned his gaze and this time pointed to the north of the map. A small separate palace in a place distant from the armory.

“Where is this?”

“It’s a separate palace where the princes resided. Do you know about the imperial palace’s power struggles?”

“To some extent……they even kill each other to become emperor, right?”

“Right. Whether external threats or internal threats, princes are targeted by many things. That’s why the separate palaces where princes reside have quite good durability and security facilities, though less than the main palace where the emperor stays. If personnel are sufficient, it’s especially structured to be strong against ambushes and such.”

Though its scale wasn’t large, it was still a separate palace. Considering living convenience, the separate palace would be far superior to the armory.

“I don’t know if it’s empty or occupied, but there’s a high possibility that a mid-sized group of roughly ten to twenty people is staying here. If it’s fewer than that, gaps appear in security, and if it’s more, the separate palace is cramped. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Roughly. You mean it’s an environment that can only accommodate that many people?”

“That’s right.”

Namgung Hyeon, who lightly affirmed Seonwoo Gang’s words, continued.

“There are three separate palaces. About one hundred people dropped in one zone, so at most one separate palace would be occupied and about two places would be empty. Compared to the armory, it’s harder to search, but the difficulty itself should be seen as lower. Though it would still be high for us.”

“……Mm.”

Seonwoo Gang, who let out a groan, stroked his chin. Because those words were truly correct.

Namgung Hyeon’s words were right. Right now they had five people, but dealing with over ten people wouldn’t be easy, would it?

Even though they had the achievement of defeating ten Yeomwangjeon martial artists, that was because the martial artists here were relatively low-level Late-Stage Rising Stars. Moreover, it was easier because they started after eliminating about two people with Dang Seol and Namgung Hyeon’s ambush. Even so, it hadn’t been easy.

Yet dealing with ten or more who were even more skilled?

‘It’s not completely impossible, but the probability of failure is high.’

Assuming Dang Seol, a Tang Family martial artist, fully utilized poison and succeeded in the ambush, they’d have about a thirty percent chance of victory. The armory would naturally be even more dangerous.

“No matter what, the danger level is too high. Isn’t there a smaller group?”

“……Mm.”

Namgung Hyeon, who thought briefly at Seonwoo Gang’s answer, scanned the map with his eyes. The vast inner palace map.

“The imperial palace is large.”

“Common sense says small groups could hide in countless places within this. I can’t definitively say ‘the bastards are here’ by pinpointing a spot. However.”

“……However?”

“If I were in the position of a small group with insufficient force, there’s one place I’d go.”

“Where’s that?”

“The main palace.”

Words and simultaneously, watching Seonwoo Gang blink while looking at the zone on the map Namgung Hyeon pointed to. Far away, the sight of Heukya rampaging.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“……Really?”

At Namgung Hyeon’s words, Seonwoo Gang let out a deflated voice and shook his head. Well, because.

“You’re saying we have to go confront that?”

Because the name of the place where Heukya was rampaging right now was.

The main palace.