Chapter 330
Under cover of night, an orderly column of warriors was marching toward the Martial Alliance’s Outer Fortress gate.
TAP-TAP-TAP!
After receiving a report from his subordinate, Gamcheon Corps Unit Leader Han Chan-seong hurried up the rampart tower.
“Who the hell are they?”
The guard stationed atop the tower answered at once.
“The corps banner bears the character Gon, so they appear to be the Goncheon Corps.”
“The Goncheon Corps?”
Han Chan-seong, captain of the Outer Fortress gate guards that night, continued in disbelief.
“Didn’t the Goncheon Corps leave the Outer Fortress yesterday evening?”
“They did. But as you can see for yourself, that is unmistakably the Goncheon Corps banner.”
At his subordinate’s words, Han Chan-seong sharpened his vision.
The banner fluttering over the broad road leading to the Outer Fortress gate was indeed the Goncheon Corps banner.
“Now I’ve seen everything. The Goncheon Corps should be well on its way to Wuchang by now. Why would they be coming back?”
“Perhaps they left something behind?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They would send a few warriors back to retrieve it. Why would the entire corps return?”
“Ah! You’re right.”
“Whatever the reason, we cannot point bows and spears at the Goncheon Corps Commander. Pull back the archers and spearmen on the battlements for now.”
“Understood. Shall we open the gate as well?”
Han Chan-seong shook his head.
“Keep it closed. We cannot open the gate without the Corps Commander’s orders.”
As the guards hurried along the fortress wall to carry out his instructions, Goncheon Corps Commander Geum Yulcheok finally stepped into the firelight cast by the braziers illuminating the rampart tower.
The rest of the Goncheon Corps remained halted on the road in darkness, making them difficult to see clearly.
“Goncheon Corps Commander, why have you turned back?”
Geum Yulcheok looked up at the rampart tower and frowned at Han Chan-seong’s question.
“What do you mean, why? Unit Leader Han, why are you asking me? You saw the Goncheon Corps banner, yet the gate remains closed.”
His response left Han Chan-seong bewildered.
“Goncheon Corps Commander, I do not understand what you mean.”
“Well... It appears you haven’t received the notice yet.”
“What? What notice are you referring to?”
“The Left Military Strategist sent a messenger hawk notifying us that the Goncheon Corps’s deployment had been canceled. That is why we have returned.”
“Ah! So that is why you reproached me for keeping the gate closed.”
Geum Yulcheok nodded.
“Exactly. Had you received the Left Military Strategist’s notice, you naturally would have opened the gate in advance.”
“My apologies, but I have not yet received any notice from the Left Military Strategist.”
“Well, these things happen.”
Geum Yulcheok nodded and continued.
“Your superior, the Gamcheon Corps Commander, must have forgotten to inform you. Either that, or the Left Military Strategist neglected to send word. He has been so overwhelmed handling all the work of the Strategists’ Office by himself, after all.”
That was entirely plausible. The Left Military Strategist was single-handedly managing work that had originally been divided among three Military Strategists.
“Now that you understand, open the gate.”
“As you know, Goncheon Corps Commander, I require my Corps Commander’s authorization before opening it. If you wait a moment, I will report to him and open the gate as soon as I receive his orders.”
“I have no objection to waiting if you ask it of me, Unit Leader Han. We are all family under the Outer Court’s roof, after all. But I cannot say what the unit leaders and warriors of my corps will think of you.”
His words were polite, but the threat was blatant.
How dare a mere Unit Leader disregard the command of a Corps Commander?
Han Chan-seong knew Geum Yulcheok’s vicious temper all too well, which only made his predicament worse.
He’ll hound me over this for the rest of my life.
As Han Chan-seong’s face turned pale, Geum Yulcheok tossed out another remark.
“Unit Leader Han, every warrior in my corps, from the highest to the lowest, is exhausted after marching all night. They’re also starving. All because we chose the wrong patron, while certain people get to eat their fill and roll around on warm beds.”
It was an open accusation: they had returned after suffering through the night, yet Han Chan-seong, who had chosen the right connections and remained comfortable, was treating them with contempt.
Damn it!
Han Chan-seong decided there was no need to earn the pointless resentment of everyone in the Goncheon Corps.
He already felt guilty for leaving them standing on the road when they were practically family as fellow members of the Martial Alliance’s Outer Court.
“Goncheon Corps Commander, I was being shortsighted. I will open the gate immediately.”
Geum Yulcheok smiled faintly.
“A very wise decision.”
“Open the gate!”
At Han Chan-seong’s shout, the massive steel gate began opening with a deafening noise.
CREEEAK! CREEE-EAK!
THOOM!
The Outer Fortress gate swung wide with a tremendous reverberation. Han Chan-seong had descended from the rampart tower at some point and now greeted Geum Yulcheok with a clasped-hands bow.
“Goncheon Corps Commander, please enter.”
“My thanks. I will not forget your kindness tonight, Unit Leader Han.”
With the Goncheon Corps Commander at their head, the Goncheon Corps warriors passed through the gate and proceeded toward the Inner Fortress.
The night was too dark to make out their faces, particularly since most of them kept their heads slightly bowed.
They really must be exhausted.
Relieved that he had avoided earning their resentment, Han Chan-seong turned away.
“Close the gate! Everyone, return to your positions.”
As the gate closed, the torches that had been extended beyond the wall to illuminate the area outside the Outer Fortress were withdrawn.
The Outer Fortress gate guards were too busy returning to their positions to pay attention to anything else. As a result, not one of them noticed the black shadows approaching from outside the fortress.
The deeper the Goncheon Corps column marched along the broad road inside the Outer Fortress, the smaller it became.
One group after another broke away from the column and vanished into the darkness.
SWISH!
As another group of warriors slipped into an alley beside the road, Geum Yulcheok smiled in satisfaction.
Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.
The warriors leaving the column were demons of the Demonic Eight Divisions. Goncheon Corps warriors—or rather, warriors of the Heavenfall Society—who knew the Outer Fortress’s layout were guiding them.
Their targets were the quarters and main camps of the Martial Alliance’s martial contingents.
Trusting in the formidable protection of the Outer Fortress, the Martial Alliance warriors were deep in their predawn sleep. The simultaneous surprise attack would slaughter them before they could even gather their wits.
Once the resulting chaos spread through the Outer Fortress, the handful of Martial Alliance warriors guarding the walls and gates would be thrown into complete confusion.
At that point, the group of demons Geum Yulcheok had left near the gate would seize it and open the way for the Demonic Eight Divisions forces waiting outside to enter the Outer Fortress.
Once that happens, the Martial Alliance’s fate will be as good as sealed.
First, however, Geum Yulcheok had to send the signal ordering the demons concealed throughout the Outer Fortress to launch their attacks simultaneously.
When he saw that they were approaching the place from which he would raise that signal, the smile vanished from his lips.
By the time the Goncheon Corps reached the Inner Fortress gate, only around twenty warriors remained behind Geum Yulcheok.
“Why, isn’t that the Goncheon Corps Commander?”
Icheon Corps Unit Leader Go Cheon-gi stared down in surprise from the gatehouse, where he stood with his warriors.
“So Unit Leader Go is guarding the Inner Fortress gate tonight.”
“That is correct, but how are you here, Goncheon Corps Commander...?”
“I received an urgent mission from the Grand Strategist and had to return immediately. It is not a matter I can discuss with you. Summon the Icheon Corps Commander at once.”
The mention of a secret order from the Grand Strategist, combined with the sight of the Goncheon Corps Commander returning in haste with only a handful of warriors, dispelled Go Cheon-gi’s doubts. He hurriedly bowed.
“Understood.”
As captain of the Inner Fortress gate, Unit Leader Go could only assume that the Goncheon Corps Commander had already spoken with the Gamcheon Corps Commander before passing through the Outer Fortress gate.
PATTER-PATTER!
Go Cheon-gi disappeared beyond the gatehouse with hurried footsteps. A short while later, the Inner Fortress gate opened, and Icheon Corps Commander Hwang Ya-seong came striding out.
“Corps Commander Geum, what could be so urgent that you returned in the middle of the night? What urgent mission did the Grand Strategist give you?”
“Corps Commander Hwang, dismiss everyone first. This is not something that should be discussed openly.”
Icheon Corps Commander Hwang Ya-seong gestured to his warriors.
“All of you, withdraw.”
Once Unit Leader Go and the Icheon Corps warriors had disappeared into the Inner Fortress, Geum Yulcheok stepped closer to Hwang Ya-seong and spoke in a low voice.
“The Grand Strategist said that traitors would rise in rebellion within the Martial Alliance before this night was over.”
Hwang Ya-seong’s body stiffened.
“What in the world are you talking about?”
His eyes widened at the utterly unexpected claim, but Geum Yulcheok raised an index finger to his lips.
“Shh. Lower your voice.”
Hwang Ya-seong looked troubled.
“My apologies. Your news took me completely by surprise....”
“How could it not? I understand.”
Geum Yulcheok nodded and continued.
“It must seem so absurd that you can hardly believe it, but that was the Grand Strategist’s message. What else can we do?”
Hwang Ya-seong had no choice but to accept his reasoning.
Grand Strategist Sagong Ui oversaw every major and minor affair within the Martial Alliance.
The Grand Strategist had no reason to invent such a claim. Moreover, the fact that the Goncheon Corps Commander had returned in the middle of the night appeared to prove it true.
Even so, Hwang Ya-seong’s doubts did not vanish completely.
“...If that message truly came from the Grand Strategist, then I suppose it must be so.”
For a matter this grave, the Grand Strategist should have sent a dispatch directly to the Alliance Leader’s Office—or, if unavoidable circumstances prevented that, at least to the Strategists’ Office.
It made no sense to send a dispatch to the Goncheon Corps Commander in the middle of his march and order him back to the Martial Alliance to handle the situation.
Geum Yulcheok narrowed his eyes.
“Corps Commander Hwang, you seem to be wondering whether the message truly came from the Grand Strategist.”
RUSTLE!
Geum Yulcheok pulled a dispatch from inside his robes and stepped closer.
“Read it yourself.”
As Hwang Ya-seong unfolded the dispatch and read it, he failed to notice the dark dagger sliding from Geum Yulcheok’s sleeve into his right hand.
“This is undoubtedly a dispatch from the Grand Strategist.”
Hwang Ya-seong looked up from it.
“But the most important information is missing.”
“The rebels’ identities?”
“Exactly.”
Hwang Ya-seong nodded and continued.
“Surely the Grand Strategist would not have omitted something so crucial.”
“He did tell me who they were. He merely feared that the dispatch might be intercepted, so he had their identities conveyed verbally.”
It was certainly prudent not to record the rebels’ identities in a dispatch that might be lost.
“Who are the traitors?”
Hwang Ya-seong asked urgently. He needed to know their identities before he could begin bringing the situation under control.
“Corps Commander Hwang, lend me your ear.”
When Hwang Ya-seong leaned close, Geum Yulcheok whispered into his ear.
“The traitor... is me.”
SLASH!
The dagger flashed across Icheon Corps Commander Hwang Ya-seong’s throat.