"I'm going to take you hostage and tell your father to stop the fight."
Soyak's eyes widened. Fear quickly filled those round eyes. As the child hesitated and tried to step back, Seolhwa grabbed his shoulder.
"The reason I'm stopping this fight is to save you and your father."
"To save... me and my father...?"
Seolhwa nodded.
"You're not... lying to me, are you?"
Of course, the main goal was to save the people of Namgung. But it wasn't a lie that it was also to save the two of them. Seolhwa planned to use the fact that Maeng Deungho was not yet one of the Six Blood Lords.
'A father's love for his son.' Given the paternal love Maeng Deungho had shown while she was in this river fortress, it was entirely possible. For that, she needed Jin Soyak.
"Choose. Will you let me use you to save your father, or will you keep hiding here even if your father gets hurt?"
"I don't want Father to get hurt!"
The words that flew out reflexively were the child's true feelings.
"Then?"
“…”
"Then what do you want to do?"
Soyak's eyes wavered with confusion.
"If I let you use me, will my father really not get hurt?"
"Yes. But we must hurry. The fight is still going on."
The child still looked afraid. But soon, he nodded.
"I... I'll do it..."
A child more worried about his father getting hurt than the fear of being captured and used as a hostage. The face of Jin Soyak from her past life, who had craved blood, briefly overlapped with the innocent child's face. Seolhwa let out a hollow laugh.
"Don't forget. This is your choice. You're not being used because you're your father's weakness; you're intentionally letting me capture you to save your father. Understand?"
Soyak nodded his head. The child's eyes were no longer filled with fear, but with determination.
"Let's go."
Seolhwa took Soyak's hand. Soyak, too, gripped her hand tightly.
Clang, clash!
"Kuaaak!"
"Strike! Kill them!"
A fierce battle raged on, with blood splashing and killing intent running rampant. Namgung Cheongsan, Moyong Yeonhwa, and the Yellow Dragon Unit Leader were struggling against the forces of the river fortress. At the center of the battle, two men whom no one could easily approach were facing each other.
They were Namgung Cheongun and Maeng Deungho, the chieftain of the Ghost Shadow Fortress.
"Chieftain of Ghost Shadow Fortress. Why did you take our children?"
At Namgung Cheongun's words, Maeng Deungho frowned.
'Children?'
"What is it that you want?"
"... Nothing."
What he wanted was not from Namgung, but what he was promised from the chieftain of Blood Evil Fortress in exchange for Namgung's child. Ma Jong-ui, a man from the Blood Evil Fortress, had confirmed the child and had clearly promised. He had said he would tell him how to save Soyak.
"Did you not take the children because there was something you wanted?"
"Nothing."
So, he wanted nothing from Namgung. He just couldn't hand over Namgung's child here, for the sake of saving Soyak.
"Enough chattering. Come at me."
Maeng Deungho raised his spear toward Cheongun. Energy slowly enveloped the spear.
'Damn it.'
Cheongun also raised his sword. 'I don't know when the main family's forces will arrive.' They were outmatched.
He had tried to bring the children back by giving them what they wanted through conversation, but even that was not working. There has to be something they want to make a deal! Whoosh- In the blink of an eye, Maeng Deungho's spear rushed toward Cheongun.
Kaaang-!
Barely blocking the spearhead, Cheongun twisted his body to escape the path of the spear shaft. The spear, moving at Maeng Deungho's fingertips, seemed to be alive, like a snake.
Shhhk- Kakang!
The bent spear shaft changed direction in mid-air, and the spearhead flew straight toward Cheongun.
Kakang-! Kang!
'There's no opening to break through!' Cheongun was bewildered. To attack Maeng Deungho, he needed to close the distance, but the spear, enveloped in energy, was so sharp that even its shaft carried a keen edge.
It was so ferocious that getting hit squarely by the relentlessly thrashing spear shaft felt like it would tear his flesh apart.
"Keuk..."
Kakang-! Kang!
"I've heard that the sword of Namgung is strong, but this power is unexpected. You are the first to last this long against me."
Maeng Deungho looked at ease. He, too, knew that Cheongun was at the supreme master level.
"But, you're still just a novice!"
Maeng Deungho leaped up and swung his spear downward as if to crush him. It was an attack filled with such strong energy that one could hear the sound of it tearing through the air. 'This is dangerous...!'
An attack that could neither be deflected nor dodged. Cheongun gathered all his remaining inner energy and channeled it into his sword. With a tremendous explosion, a dust storm erupted around the two men.
"Uwaaak!"
"Keuk!"
The bandits and sword unit members fighting around the two men were pushed back, unable to withstand the pressure of the wind, and some were sent flying, tumbling on the ground.
"Elder Brother...!"
"First Young Master!"
Namgung Cheongsan, Moyong Yeonhwa, and the Yellow Dragon Unit Leader too.
"Chie-Chieftain!"
The bandits of the river fortress as well. Everyone stared with open mouths at the center of the hazy dust cloud. Time passed, shrouded in a moment of silence.
Soon, the dust settled, revealing the figures of the two men. It was Maeng Deungho, pressing down with his spear held in both hands, and Cheongun, blocking it with his sword. After another moment passed.
"Cough...!"
The one who coughed up blood and faltered was Cheongun. Leaning on his sword to barely support his body, Cheongun placed a hand on his chest. Blood burst from his mouth once more.
It was proof of a severe internal injury.
"Hmph."
Looking down at Cheongun, Maeng Deungho was still at ease.
"It seems you haven't been at this Realm for long. If you knew how to handle your energy, it wouldn't have been easy for me either."
Maeng Deungho turned his spear around and aimed it at Cheongun.
"B-Brother!"
"No!"
Just as Namgung Cheongsan and Moyong Yeonhwa screamed.
"Maeng Deungho!"
A youthful voice rang out in the river fortress, which had fallen quiet due to the battle between Cheongun and Maeng Deungho. The gazes of everyone in the river fortress, including Maeng Deungho and the Namgung people, turned simultaneously toward the direction the voice came from.
On the roof of a tent, a short distance from the battle, two figures were visible.
"!"
Seeing this, Maeng Deungho's eyes widened. It was because the young girl who had newly arrived at the river fortress two days ago, the one he had paid no attention to, was threatening his son Soyak with a sword to his neck.
"Soyak!"
A crack appeared in the composure of Maeng Deungho, who had remained calm all this time.
"Nobody move! If you take even one step, this child's life is forfeit!"
Maeng Deungho, who was about to kick off the ground and rush forward, froze in place. Although she seemed to be addressing everyone in the river fortress, the gaze of the child holding Soyak hostage was fixed solely on him.
“…”
Looking at the frozen Maeng Deungho, Seolhwa slowly steadied her breath.
"Father..."
Soyak was trembling with fear, his earlier resolve forgotten. She had to end this before the child was truly consumed by fear. It would be a disaster if he forgot that this was a staged hostage situation based on their deal.
"Maeng Deungho! I already know this child is your son!"
Maeng Deungho's expression wavered again.
"So if you want to save your son, drop your weapon and make your subordinates stand down!"
However, Maeng Deungho did not easily drop his weapon. No matter that she had a sword to his son's throat, she was just a child. If he could create even a slight opening, before her sword could even move...
Shhhk- Grrrk... Kuung-!
Seolhwa's sword instantly sliced off the edge of the tent's roof. The severed part of the roof slid down along the slanted cut, fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces. Even if it was a building crudely made of mixed earth and straw, it was not something that could be easily cut with an ordinary sword.
The speed at which she moved the sword was also not ordinary. It was as if she was warning Maeng Deungho for underestimating her just because she was a child.
“…”
The strength in Maeng Deungho's hand, which was gripping the spear, loosened. But just as Maeng Deungho was about to put down his spear.
"If that child dies, this child dies too!"
Ma Jong-ui, who had been observing the battle from behind Maeng Deungho, suddenly shouted.
"You haven't forgotten that Namgung's child is over here, have you! If you touch the chieftain's son, the Namgung young lady's life is forfeit!"
Seolhwa looked at Ma Jong-ui. Ma Jong-ui's lips curved slightly, as if certain of victory.
"If you want to save the Namgung young lady, then release that child at once..."
"Go ahead."
"W-What?!"
"I said, go ahead."
Contrary to Ma Jong-ui's expectation, Seolhwa did not shrink back at all. No, she looked at Ma Jong-ui as if he were pathetic and asked.
"So where is this Namgung child you were going to kill?"
At her arrogant gaze, Ma Jong-ui gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Where else! Right here behind me...! What?! Where did she go?!"
When Ma Jong-ui turned around, the Namgung child and the boy who had been holding her were gone. They were right behind me just a moment ago?
Wha-What?!
Ma Jong-ui looked around in a panic. And then he found him.
Pat-pat-pat-!
"Hwarin!"
The boy, who had already run over to the Namgung's side.
"You bastard...!"