Chapter 388: Non-Aggression Treaty (1)
Two days later, the announcement of the Forces of Justice spread all around Wulin.
The disbanding of the Demon Justice Alliance in less than a year.
Everyone in the Yulin knew that this wasn’t an alliance which would last very long, but this seemed too quick.
Even the Forces of Evil, which didn’t know about the outside situation because of the recent internal affairs, were interested in it.
The headquarters of the Forces of Evil located in the northwest of Sichuan.
In the headquarters, the room used by their leader was the largest.
There, a large man with scars all over his body was being informed by a middle-aged man who was wearing an eye patch on his left eye.
“That is the current report on the status of Yulin.”
“Kul, kul, this is going to be really fun.”
The big man seemed like this was an interesting turn of events.
It was because this was too good of an opportunity to let go.
“Even if we just aim for the Dano Festival, we will end up getting satisfying results… But we are going to miss out on the great opportunity of killing everyone, all thanks to that d.a.m.n ‘b.a.s.t.a.r.d‘!”
For the first time, the balance between the three largest factions in Wulin broke down.
The Blade G.o.d Six Martial Clan was one of the triggers.
Unfortunately, because of the internal conflicts, the Forces of Evil didn’t have a chance to take this opportunity.
“If the Master recovers his internal wounds, you can take them down at any time.”
The big man didn’t respond to the words of the middle-aged man at all.
It was because he had joined hands with this man for a better benefit, but it seemed like the future couldn’t be guaranteed.
“… Master.”
“Right, this isn’t strange or anything. This could be a very natural procedure. What was it again? The old waves of Yangtze river push the new waves ahead? I have been waiting for a long time for this moment to come.”
The old waves of Yangtze river push the new waves ahead to replace the old waves.
Just as the back waves in the Yangtze river will push the new waves ahead, it is said that a man of the new generation will soon replace the era of an old man.
This big man was proud at heart, but he never believed that he could be the top person forever.
“Leader! Don’t say such things! Aren’t you the Great Master ‘West Strong’ King?!”
It has been a very long time since the middle-aged man worked for the Master, but seeing the weak figure before him, he couldn’t help but feel sorry.
The true ident.i.ty of the man, the one called master, was none other than Hang Yen, one of the five strongest warriors, the West Strong King!
Who would have guessed that he, who had been in the Forces of Evil for thirty years, would receive treatment for internal injuries?
If the information about his health had escaped this room, it would have caused a major change in the hierarchy of the Forces of Evil.
“There are tens of thousands of soldiers looking forward to Master’s return. Shake off your injuries to get rid of that man as soon as possible! Please refrain yourself from speaking such weak things in front of your subordinates.”
“Kul, you. I brought you because you used to be meek with your words, but look at your nagging now, Gar Mojam.”
The middle-aged man.
His true ident.i.ty was Gar Mojam, the leader of the 18 River families of the Yellow River.
He was a top skilled warrior in the Forces of Evil’s alliance.
He was also the uncle of the three Gar brothers, who died at the hands of Chun Yeowun.
“You are being too much, Master. I am responsible for 3 percent of this alliance’s funds, this is upsetting.”
“Kul, kul, kul.”
Those words, which were spoken out to make Hang yen feel better, were taken as a light joke.
That was how much they valued and trusted each other.
West Strong King, Hang Yen went back to the main point.
“After listening to your words, I feel like I need to show people that the West Strong King is still alive and well.”
“Master, you mean?”
“I am talking about the non-aggression treaty which will be made.”
A gleam could be seen in Gar Mojam’s eyes.
The King himself was injured, and although he was quiet when compared to before, it was a hard reality that the West Strong King couldn’t mobilize power because of the internal conflicts and civil war in his region.
“Master. How about we focus on treating your injuries first…”
“No. If we don’t make myself present in the festival, the people of Wulin and ‘that guy’ will notice something is wrong.”
“Ah!”
Something he never thought of before.
Certainly, as Hang Yen spoke, ‘that guy’ might be paying close attention to this festival as well.
If the West Strong King didn’t send people to the non-aggression treaty by trying to focus on internal power, there was a high probability that ‘that guy’ would attack again.
“It is our luck that every time the treaty got renewed, the Master had never gone there in person.”
Hang Yen was someone who never attended the treaty because of his extreme pride, not once did he even consider visiting neither the Demonic Cult nor the Imperial Palace.
But even if he didn’t attend, if he didn’t send a plausible and sensible person, ‘that guy’ was bound to notice.
“Gar Mojam. Make sure to attend it.”
“Sorry?”
Gar Mojam was perplexed at the unexpected command from Hang Yen.
“Master! Under the current circ.u.mstances, if I leave and…”
“Doesn’t matter. This place is guarded by the most skilled swordsmen.”
Currently, the Master of Forces of Evil is being guarded by Gar Mojam, the 2nd in rank Gong Yun and the 5th ranked member of the Forces of Evil, Geum Jongsa.
Although those three were guarding him, if one of them went missing, the safety of the injured Hang Yen might get compromised.
Hang Yen smiled bitterly at Gar Mojam, who seemed worried.
“I am not going to just send you away.”
“Then?”
“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds of the Demonic Cult killed my nephews.”
It was a fact that was found out after hurting the head of the Osang family.
In the beginning, he didn’t hear anything from him, but after killing half of his family, he finally decided to speak up.
“… we have some debts to pay.”
He spoke calmly, but his eyes held rage.
Gar Mojam, who wasn’t married, never let anyone who touched his family or friends lead a happy life.
It was just that, because of the civil war, his chance of getting revenge had been delayed.
“Give me the chance to pay off the debt. When the treaty is done, confusion is sure to arise. And when the confusion starts, we’ll get to know if the Forces of Justice will be the first target or not, right?”
Due to the announcement of the Forces of Justice alliance breaking news, the other incidents about the Forces of Justice were being dug out and the matter about the imperial palace had spread out too.
Just combining the information they gathered, it was obvious who of the two factions would get targeted.
Even if they decided to break ties, the Demonic Cult will be the first to move.
“That son of Chun Yujong is running wild these days, someone has to teach him that people can’t run rampant in Wulin just because they‘re ignorant.”
Thud!
Hang Yen looked at the chest which was covered in scars.
The wounds he had suffered from the former Lord of the Demonic Cult, Chun Yujong.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t help but retreat when he was facing the former Lord of the Demonic Cult.
‘I will repay you for the disgrace I had to face with the life of your child’s!’
Gooooo!
Even though he was injured, the energy Hang Yen was releasing would make anyone think that he was in good health.
“Understood. I will make sure to fulfil my Master’s orders and return.”
As Hang Yen ordered, he had to leave in a hurry to attend the treaty.
It took 8 days to get to the Tongho region.
When Gar Mojam went to greet the Master before he left, Hang Yen asked something he was curious about.
“By the way, when they decided to break the alliance this time, what was the Lord of the Demonic Cult called?”
“… he was called the Changing Demon because he broke down the trust of the alliance by cutting the arms off of the three leaders of the Forces of Justice who went to the emperor as their envoys.”
“Changing Demon? It is so like the Yulin to give out such names.”
Except for those of their own faction, they would always give the worst kind of t.i.tles to the warriors of other factions.
No matter how mad they were, to call the Lord of the Demonic Cult as a Changing Demon was like trying to belittle him.
“But the warriors of Wulin don’t call him that. They use a very broad t.i.tle for him.”
“Broad?”
“Even the emperor, the great emperor of the empire, said that he could never call the Lord of the Demonic Cult with such a reckless and belittling name, so he called the Lord of Demonic Cult the ‘Demon Emperor’.”
“Emperor? Ha!”
Hang Yen’s eyebrows rose.
Even though he himself, a member of the five strongest warriors, only got to call himself ‘king’, this t.i.tle for the Lord of the Demonic Cult made him furious.
And, ever since the non-aggression treaty was signed, not a single person from the Wulin dared to threaten the Imperial palace directly either.
“Make sure that he never gets called with that name ever again.”
“Gar Mojam from Yellow River. I obey the command of the Master!”
Four days before the non-aggression treaty.
The imperial palace envoys arrived at the main hall of the Forces of Justice.
In the main hall, eight leaders of the Forces of Justice and the envoy from the Imperial Palace were bowing their heads to greet each other.
The person who was from the Imperial palace to deliver the news was Yeongjo, the Northern Commander.
Standing in front of the first seat, Yeongjo opened a scroll which had a name on it and proceeded to recite its contents.
“… the location will be held in the Jin Castle in Tongho. As it is a peaceful place for both the Wulin and the Imperial family to attend, the number of escorts apart from the heads of each faction shouldn’t exceed 100, and during the ceremony…”
As they read the contents, the leader’s expression turned strange.
All the three largest factions would probably feel the same way about the treaty.
‘The moment the treaty comes to an end, war will start.’
So, once the meeting came to an end, the leaders tried to prepare for an emergency situation and mobilized the elite warriors from North Justice Blades, the best armed groups in the entirety of Yulin.
But, with the content of the emperor’s message, their plan was blocked.
‘Only one group can be sent.’
Of course, that didn’t mean that it was the only way.
Representatives of each faction could enter without any restrictions.
For example, if the representative of a third clan from Yulin was present there, they might have an edge over the other factions in terms of power.
And such a thing would only happen for the Forces of Justice because it was formed by various clans.
‘I know very well who came up with those thoughts. Huhuhu’
A smile crept across the lips of 3rd leader Nam Gung-kyong, who was bowing his head.
The current Lord of the Demonic Cult, Chun Yeowun, was still residing in the Imperial palace.
Even so, when the alliance gets broken up, the Lord of the Demonic Cult was in the middle of the Yulin’s realm.
There were already people of the North Justice Blade of Yeon Buso around the palace.
Whenever the Lord of Demonic Cult came out, they would be ready to hit him.
‘This is no use. Lord of the Demonic Cult, no matter what you do to move His Majesty, you will not be able to come out of Tongho alive.’
There were more than a hundred small and medium sized factions which had the same thoughts as the Extremists.
Moreover, in case of any emergency, they had already hidden their men everywhere in Tongho, which meant that, in case of an emergency, the Yulin had enough warriors on their side.
‘On the other hand, the Lord of the Demonic Cult’s troops are stranded south of Yellow River.’
Before announcing the break in the alliance, the seven clans of Yulin and six clans from the Hubei region, as well as the disciples of clans which were at the borders of the Yellow River, were prepared to block the forces of the Demonic Cult who would try to advance to the north of the festival.
Even if the members of the Demonic Cult wanted to use other methods, they wouldn’t find any way out.
‘This is quite clever.’
As if that wasn’t enough, the Blade G.o.d Six Martial clan and the Forces of Evil were keeping an eye on their borders to block the movement of the Demonic Cult’s members too.
This was done without any agreement with each other.
‘Even they know that this is a great opportunity. There was only one mistake you made, Lord of the Demonic Cult and that was to create a sense of crisis for everyone!’
And with their members being blocked off at the borders, the Lord of the Demonic Cult, Chun Yeowun, could only mobilize about 50 members who were currently residing in the Imperial palace.
And this was great news to others.
A perfect chance to kill Chun Yeowun, the worst kind of enemy, who reached Divine Master level.
‘This is the perfect time to reach our goal!’
A member of the Extremists had managed to complete the Extreme Martial Body.
But due to the lack of time, their technique wasn’t tested on many people, but it was said that it had great effect on the successfully completed eighty members.
‘Demon Emperor? Don’t joke with me. Evil never crosses the sky. For the sake of the clear blue sky, Tongho will be your grave!’
Nam Gung Kyong ‘s eyes flashed as they looked at the floor.
Starting from the festival, the situation of Wulin would change completely.
Time flew by quickly.
The long awaited festival had arrived.
Dano, the great day, which fell on the 5th lunar month, was known to be auspicious.
The Dano Festival, the day when the yang is most prosperous in the year, the festival originated the reign of King Hui of the Chu Dynasty and spread all over.
Jin Castle was located in the heart of Tongho.
Tongho was the first capital where Zhu Won-myeong, the first emperor, had initially resided and it is a place where he made an oath to the G.o.ds of heaven and earth to save the people of his kingdom.
In commemoration of that, the non-aggression treaty between the Imperial Family and the people of Wulin was being held in Tongho.
It wasn’t a very big castle because it was a small region, but it was enough to accommodate 20,000 people.
Before the treaty ceremony started at noon, officials of the Imperial palace, 200 Guards and three thousand soldiers were lined up in five rows.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Guards of the Imperial palace, who were guarding the Castle Gates, were beating the drums as they shouted.
“The leaders of Yulin and the heads of each faction have arrived!”
The first to arrive were the Yulin clan.
It was natural since this place came under their realm.
Thud!
The first person to step through the entrance of the castle gate was the Great Leader of the Forces of Justice.
Yi Mok took a deep breath while examining the castle and the decorations which were put up for the ceremony.
‘Finally, is it going to start?’
Starting today, new changes are going to occur.
Five leaders, leading the 243 warriors of each clan, the heads of multiple small factions and a hundred elite warriors of the North Justice Blade, who came back from the Imperial Palace in defeat, entered the palace with determination.