MFESW 49

Chapter : 49

My Opportunity Is a Status Window (49)

There were a lot of enemy ships.

We were moving with eight vessels, while more than twenty waited for us.

No need to be scared just because they outnumber us.

But they were clearly lying in wait, prepared.

“Gwangcheol!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“I’ve ordered the ships to turn toward the riverbank. They’ll rush us any moment—form a defensive line with the members and engage!”

“Yes!”

The moment the enemy ships were spotted, Captain Go summoned the captain of the vessel and ordered him to steer toward the shore.

It was probably so some of us could escape onto land if needed.

Then he gathered all the unit members—led by Naeng Gwangcheol—onto the ship loaded with silver ingots and ordered them to form a defensive formation.

“Number 4!”

“Yes!”

“You stay back and observe. If a high expert appears, hunt them down and kill them.”

“Understood.”

My job was simple.

Wait until a top expert appeared, then pursue and kill.

A “top expert” meant someone at the Absolute Peak.

Simple in wording, nearly impossible in reality.

‘But what if more than one Absolute Peak shows up?’

At best, I could handle one—and even that only if they were lower-mid Absolute Peak.
If they were mid-to-high, I’d be the one running.

If the enemy had multiple top experts, escape was the wisest course.

Assuming Go Ilak took one,
and I held another at bay,
we might manage two.

But if there were three or more—

My life would be hanging by a thread.

Then I would have to run.

Leave the Cultists behind?
Forget the reward?

Probably the correct choice.

Life is worth more than money.

Besides, I wasn’t even using my real face right now—my appearance was altered.
I could just revert and live a new life.

Then the Status Window would assign a new mission.

Or maybe only after the deadline passed?

Lots to think about.

“Form the barrier formation!”

Naeng Gwangcheol shouted.

The unit moved as one, swiftly forming a formation aboard the ship.

They pressed back to back, weapons pointed outward, ready to strike down anything that entered.

Highly trained.

‘The Demonic Cult’s discipline is no joke.’

Impressive.

In the Murim Alliance, I’d never seen anything like this.

The White Tiger Unit never practiced battle formations—they were more like a school organization.

Sure, maybe higher up in the Alliance things might look different.

“Enemy distance—about twenty jang!”

A sailor still perched up high shouted the distance.

I strengthened my vision and peered ahead.
Enemy ships were closing in, and many fighters had already disembarked and were running along the riverbank toward us.

“Haaaah!”

Unable to hold himself back, Go Ilak shot forward like an arrow.

Frost gathered along the massive blade he wielded.

Shadow-Slaying Blade: Nether Yin Formation Break.

The same terrifying slash that had flown at me days ago.

This time it rained down upon the horde of Sado Alliance warriors charging like a pack of wild dogs.

— Shrrraaack! Craaaack!

“Graagh!”

A clean, horizontal slash carrying both frost and aura—

Bodies were severed cleanly at the waist.
Within two gan of the strike, warriors froze solid.

“Die, bugs!”

— KWA-BOOM!

Go Ilak’s sword energy exploded into the frozen men.

No need to waste inner power with Sword Waves—simple sword aura was enough.

Frozen bodies shattered like glass, fragments flying everywhere.

‘Holy… what even is that?’

Go Ilak’s strength was monstrous.

One man halting the charge of an entire vanguard.

Felt like watching the reincarnation of Zhang Fei of Changban Bridge.

And somehow, I’d fought him evenly.

I didn’t quite realize it when we were up close—

But watching from afar,
I understood just how monstrous Absolute Peak masters truly were.

“Enemy ship impact incoming!”

While I was distracted watching Go Ilak’s slaughter—

The enemy ship rammed ours.

Naeng Gwangcheol bellowed for everyone to brace and hold onto something.

— KWOOM! CRRRAAAASH!

The two ships smashed together, our stern crushing inward.

We didn’t have reinforced plating or rams—we weren’t warships.

The smashed stern tangled with the enemy ship like two mouths locked in a rough kiss, and enemy warriors gleefully charged across the wreckage.

Our ship’s stern was in pieces; theirs, intact enough—they’d planned for collisions.

“They’re boarding! Ready yourselves!”

The unit quickly reformed, meeting the flood of attackers head-on.

—Clang! Clang-clang!

The real clash began.

Sado Alliance warriors poured in like waves, but the Demonic Cultists held formation and cut them down mercilessly.

Under Naeng Gwangcheol’s ice-cold command, they moved like a single organism and repelled enemies from all sides.

“Port side! High expert detected!”

“I’m on it!”

The instant “high expert” was called, Naeng Gwangcheol darted like lightning.

The defensive formation was circular—unit members formed the shell, while elite experts waited inside to deploy where needed.

If any section weakened, the experts would reinforce or face enemy elites.

Where Naeng Gwangcheol sprinted, a woman wielding dual short blades cut down another unit fighter.

She was Fox Gleam, Seo Yeonsim—
one of the Seven Great Masters of the Green Forest, same rank as Maeng Sopyeong.

This was a joint operation between Sado Alliance and Green Forest.

Seo Yeonsim had been dispatched to sabotage the Demonic Cult’s illicit trade.

Two blood-rain unit members already lay dead, and the formation threatened to collapse.

“You wretch! Who do you think you’re messing with?!”

Naeng Gwangcheol charged furiously.

‘No!’

No one else sensed it, but I could.

A brief footwork flash—precise, lethal.

She was Absolute Peak.

Naeng Gwangcheol was outmatched.

‘I have to save him!’

Buddha’s Shadow Immortal Mist Step — Neither Coming Nor Going.

I shot forward.

Using the footwork I rarely showed, I glided silently toward her.

Naeng Gwangcheol’s wild slash—

She slipped past with ease, and her blade shot for his throat.

My hidden sword thrust toward her flank at the same instant.

‘If you stab him, you die too.’

With death at her side, her eyes widened.

“HAAAA!”

She twisted with insane flexibility, abandoning her kill to avoid me.

“Deputy Naeng! I’ll handle her—support elsewhere!”

“…Understood!”

He realized everything in an instant—
How close he was to death,
that I saved him,
and that his interference would only hinder.

“So you’re the bastard who killed Hongbu.”

She looked mid to late thirties.
Not exactly beautiful, but sharp-featured and agile.

Fox Gleam Seo Yeonsim.

“You knew Hongbu?”

“Very well.”

“How?”

“He was my lover.”

“Oh…”

Lover?

Ah hell.

Awkward.

I killed Maeng Sopyeong—but Hongbu had been his lover?
And now she’s here?

“Why did you kill him?”

“He tried to kill me. I retaliated.”

“At Red Cliff?”

“No. Before that—in Kaifeng.”

“Kaifeng? What are you talking about?”

“It’s a long story. He struck first, I defended. You don’t lie down and die just because you’re asked nicely, do you?”

Truthfully spoken.

But her eyes narrowed.

She didn’t believe me—and why would she?
I was the stranger who killed her beloved.

No way around it.

Today ends with one of us dead.

And it won’t be me.

“Then you should’ve just died quietly.”

“What?”

“If you had just died when he tried to kill you, he’d still be alive—and I wouldn’t be this furious.”

Her eyes reddened.
Tears welled.

Lovers, huh.

Emotions clouding judgment on a battlefield this chaotic—

Not ideal.

“Why would I die? My life matters too.”

“What life? The filthy life of a Demonic Cult rat—worthless!”

Ah.

Misunderstanding.

Lady, I’m not Demonic Cult.

Not that I can say that now.

“One Demonic worm dying is nothing! My dear husband’s life mattered infinitely more! Damn you Cult bastards!”

Her fury crescendoed.

Killing intent poured from her, aura crackling.

She’d attack blindly—but blind rage can be dangerous.

I couldn’t drop my guard.

“Die!”

Fox Howl Mist Art — Nine-Tailed Phantom Fog.

Her secret art unfolded.

Mist billowed, silhouettes multiplied—illusory clones wielding daggers, impossible to distinguish.

Deadly in humid environments—
And we were literally on a river.

‘Which one is real?!’

Dozens of blades flew at me.

But I’d seen similar before—
the illusionist Seomyeongryun in the Miao lands.

‘Don’t rely on vision.’

If sight is deceived,
rely on instinct and qi sense.

I closed my eyes.

My senses sharpened.

‘Upper left!’

With eyes open, attacks seemed to come from everywhere.

With focus—only one carried real killing qi.

— KANG!

I slashed upward-left and knocked the real dagger away.

The others vanished like mirages before touching me.

She was Absolute Peak, same as me.

Not Transcendent Realm—so she couldn’t manifest true shaped illusions.

There was always one real body.

Hold steady, and you can survive.

Mist and images—just tricks.

“You bastard! How dare you!”

Her voice cracked with rage.

Ha.

Getting desperate?

Understandable—she’s about to die.

Try not to cling to life too tightly.

Maybe—
you’ll reincarnate and live happily ever after with Maeng Sopyeong.

Heh.

Look forward to it.

I’ll send you to him myself.