Chapter 194: Justice Alliance (2)
Chapter 194: Justice Alliance (2)
Finally, the Justice Alliance was revealed to the world.
After declaring the existence of the Justice Alliance and its pursuit of justice, King Jinseong did not forget to make his own statement.
The current emperor was another person wearing the skin of the true Emperor, and the entire Imperial Court was playing in the hands of the Cult of the Inverted Sky. It was a statement proclaiming King Jinseong would stand up and correct this wrong, protecting the crown.
There was no commotion this time, since evidence had already been released by the Justice Alliance.
Of course, that did not mean there was no turmoil.
King Jinseong had just declared that he would act against his own kin.
It was also announced that the Demonic Army had reached an agreement with King Jinseong and the Justice Alliance.
The Cult of the Heavenly Demon had lost their cult leader to the Inverted Sky, so they had entered Zhongyuan in order to take revenge. Since it would be difficult for either group to deal with the Inverted Sky alone, they would cooperate.
The people who were there spread such gossip throughout Kangho.
“The Hebei Peng Clan was actually part of it.”
“I guess it’s true that old water rots then?”
“You won’t believe me, but there’s even more.”
“Even though the Emei and Mount Hua weren’t part of it, most of the noble clans or great sects were!”
“How can they do that without guilt?”
Rumors and discussion were widespread. In addition to talk within Murim, public opinion had turned against the Inverted Sky and all related parties.
The evidence presented by the Justice Alliance contained everything the Cult of the Inverted Sky had done. Even if they wanted to deny it and claim the information to be fabricated, it was too detailed for that to be possible.
As a result, there were few options available to the factions which had joined the Inverted Sky — they could either lock their doors and go into hiding, or try to fight it out and die.
The Hebei Peng Clan was one such faction contemplating their future.
Boom-
The leader of the Peng Clan smashed his fist down. The cup which had been in front of him split in two and crumbled.
Tak, tak.
However, Clan Head Peng only snorted harshly.
Although he was the leader of a noble family, Clan Head Peng had a personality that could be considered violent and temperamental.
Infuriated, Clan Head Peng yelled at the elders gathered.
“What the hell did that boy do to make this happen?!”
One of the elders in the lower ranks answered with difficulty, “He has already lost his life in the hands of the Heavenly Demon…”
Bang—
Clan Head Peng slammed a fist against the table again.
“Damn it.”
He couldn’t help cursing aloud.
Unlike other sect-gates, where only a few members joined the Inverted Sky, the Hebei Peng Clan, which was located next to the Imperial Palace in Beijing, had fully allied itself with the Cult of the Inverted Sky.
In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that all members of the Peng Clan had dipped their feet into the Inverted Sky.
Clan Head Peng was worried, but there weren’t many options.
He could either shut the clan indoors, or keep cooperating with the Inverted Sky.
He had to choose between the two.
Sitting at the seat of honor, his worries only deepened. He asked, “What happened to Hak-ie?”
Leader of the Hebei Peng Clan, the ‘Great Mountain Cleaver’; the man’s name was Peng Ga-hyuk. He was given such a nickname because he was the strongest martial artist in the Peng Clan at the moment.
The elders were silent.
“I asked, what happened?”
Ooh-ooh-ooh-
His voice echoed; a turbulent force stretched out.
If asked to choose who was the strongest person in the world, it would be difficult to pick. But if someone was asked to choose the strongest out of the 72 Stars Beneath the Heavens, it was Peng Ga-hyuk without hesitation. [1]
It was quite obvious why once you felt his presence.
One of the elders kept his voice low, but reluctantly answered tremulously, “We know that Peng Hak is currently being held captive by the Cult of the Heavenly Demon and living a life of servitude.”
By saying ‘servitude’, the elder was being cautious.
He was not the only person who was holding his tongue and walking on eggshells.
It was due to Peng Ga-hyuk’s nature.
Of course, the man had not been so temperamental at birth.
His personality had been quite blunt, but he did not easily hurt people.
After joining the Inverted Sky and gaining strength, Peng Ga-gyuk had become a completely different person.
Instead of a king, he began to act like a tyrant.
“Come again?” Peng Ga-gyuk’s eyebrows twitched.
The elder flinched. However, he could not take the man’s glare and continued, “In addition, in light of the Heavenly Demon’s actions so far, Peng Hak may have ended up like the child of the Tang—”
Fur-Seok-
At that moment, the elder could no longer speak. A huge aura from somewhere had crushed his head.
Fragmented pieces of skull and blood blasted about.
The terrible scene caused everyone to close their eyes for a moment.
Peng Ga-hyuk took a moment to recover before saying, “Our choice has been made after all. Irreconcilable enemies. What becomes of us if I surrender to those who have harmed my immediate family?”
The elders trembled. It seems they would end up fighting the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
“We will have no choice but to work with the Imperial Palace, which is no doubt allied with the Cult of the Inverted Sky. They would be able to move Beijing’s defense forces.”
The elders all turned their heads to stare at the clan head. As long as the evidence about how the Imperial Court was in the hands of the Inverted Sky had been revealed, even the Beijing defense forces would not listen to the crown.
No, even if they listened, suspicion had blossomed in their hearts. If King Jinseong appeared to persuade them, they might easily be swayed.
But why did the man sound so confident that the Imperial Palace still controlled the Beijing forces?
At that moment, someone’s voice echoed from outside.
“His Majesty asks me to convey a message to Clan Head Peng.”
Everyone turned towards the voice. Peng Ga-hyuk swung his hand to open the door.
Standing there was a man dressed in golden robes.
With blazing eyes, he lowered his head to Peng Ga-gyuk.
“Before we are ready to move the Beijing defense forces, don’t even think about it. His Majesty asks you to bring your own troops into the Imperial Palace.”
…
After the establishment of the Justice Alliance, the Cult of the Heavenly Demon formed an alliance with them to create the Justice-Demon Alliance.
There was more.
Now that the Martial Alliance had collapsed and the Justice Alliance was established, there was no place to stop the advancement of the Justice-Demon forces.
And thus the Justice-Demon Alliance marched through Murim without a single proper battle.
Of course, that did not mean there was no turmoil at all. There was no need for the Justice-Demon Alliance to fight, but there was a commotion with the military troops in each province.
Now that King Jinseong had decided to turn against the emperor, there would be clashes between King Jinseong’s forces and the imperial forces.
But it wasn’t that frequent.
King Jinseong had a strong political sense and was well liked, attracting many talented people to his side.
People partnered with King Jinseong occupied important positions in each city.
When King Jinseong stepped forward to persuade them, they would think for a while and open the way. In fact, the evidence from the Justice Alliance was so detailed that even they doubted the Imperial Palace.
Moreover, even if not everything was true, the current emperor was clearly insane. Rumor was he made a hobby out of killing people.
Thus, these people thought it would be better to allow King Jinseong and the Justice-Demon Alliance through, to let the revolutionary forces through.
People in power opened the way.
Of course, while there were those who let them pass, there were those who did not.
That meant some battles were inevitable, but they were easier than predicted.
Although Murim forces might be fewer in number than civilian armed forces, it was certain that an individual martial artist was far more capable on the battlefield.
For example, Sang Gwan-chuk ordered Demons to sneak inside the fortresses, assassinating the commanders or city governors and ending the battles in one night.
Of course, cutting the head of a lord or commander would not end the war. There was no guarantee that the next commander would open the way.
But that didn’t mean much either.
You could just slash the next lord’s throat too.
As for failure?
If the first assassin failed, then a Demonic Master could be moved. No matter how well you defended yourself, it would be hard to defend against a Demonic Master coming to kill you.
“We have fulfilled the commandment given by the Heavenly Demon!”
The Wind Demon Fist King laid the head of the lord of Zhengzhou, a city in the Henan Province, at his feet.
“It seems that your men are skilled, Cult Leader.”
Seeing this, King Jinseong laughed helplessly. I prepared for a fierce war, but I didn’t expect it to be so simple.
It was a sight to realize that the Cult of the Heavenly Demon was the most powerful of the independent forces.
And above all, what was important was not the skills of the demonic peoples who went in alone and killed the lord.
It was the plan that turned a great war between the imperial forces and Murim into a game of assassination in one fell swoop.
The brain of the man who planned it all was terrifying.
Not only had the ‘Brain of the Heavenly Demon’ changed the battlefield, he had changed the type of war fought and shortened the amount of time necessary.
King Jinseong swallowed as he observed Sang Gwan-chuk, then turned to Woon-seong.
“Hmm.”
It was a deep sound of contemplation.
A lord who reigns at the top of it all…
King Jinseong was suddenly filled with the thought that he should never turn against the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
It seems that my decision to make the Cult of the Heavenly Demon the state religion was correct.
When King Jinseong first made this decision and borrowed the hands of the Demonic Cult, how much had he worried? He understood now that his choice had been correct.
Moreover, the man who ruled the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, a man named Hyuk Woon-seong, did not seem to be a man who coveted power.
The man gives back as much as he takes.
That was how King Jinseong rated Woon-seong.
Hmm, he looks old enough to get married.
King Jinseong tapped his chin as he estimated Woon-seong’s age. He had heard that martial artists often looked younger than their age. For example, ‘Venerable Dragon’ Jegal Sung had regained his youthful looks through some regenerative phenomenon. But apparently the Cult Leader was truly just over twenty.
It was a thought he should not be having.
But he thought about it anyway.
Which noble daughters are of marriageable age…?
King Jinseong suddenly had some absurd thoughts for a revolutionary in wartime.
Then Woon-seong spoke:
“We will soon be in Beijing.”
[1] 72 Stars Beneath the Heavens = 72 Supreme Masters
TN: So updates are going to be a bit irregular because I just moved into a new apartment and classes are starting _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_