Eunho formed a new formation.

At the very front of the arrowhead-shaped offensive formation stood Nam Hwaseong and Geumpyo, and Dongryong and Saryeon followed behind to compensate for the two who prioritized defense.

Centered around our squad members, the personnel who had been incorporated into our squad followed behind.

"Let's go!"

Along with Nam Hwaseong's shout, Geumpyo dashed forward with him.

When they smashed the opponent's formation at once and dug deep like a meteor hammer piercing a castle gate, Dongryong, Saryeon, and I suppressed the opponents.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Even though we were the same Red Army, them blocking our path was not to get a high score.

Anger over the fact that we, who should be below them, kept climbing higher.

An inferiority complex that shot the frustration and resentment of falling short of their expectations onto others.

And the stupidity of not noticing Cheol Sunjik's malice digging into their weakened hearts.

All of those things acted in complex ways to make them move shortsightedly.

"B-Block them!"

"The flagbearer! Find the flagbearer!"

"The White Army will come to help!"

They became someone else's puppets and danced in the palms of their hands.

They became no different from scarecrow chess pieces.

Did they want us to kneel so badly that they were willing to endure this?

Have they ever thought even once about what kind of effort we put in or what kind of resolve we made?

"Aaaargh!"

"You ignorant bastards!"

"You think you're the only great ones!"

It's a shame, but I have no intention of foolishly playing along with your malice.

I have no intention of letting our efforts be broken by such petty jealousy.

That's why we move forward.

Forward, and forward again.

"Go!"

I swung the Black Dragon Sword to knock out two academy students, and unfolded the Flowing Cloud Divine Art to bend and snap another guy's wrist.

"Aaaargh!"

"Damn it!"

I didn't leave even a shred of mercy for those who fell.

The price of being jealous of others was originally supposed to be bone-chillingly painful.

I was just making them pay the rightful price for the malice they sent.

"Representative!"

Jang Ujae, who was suddenly surrounded by enemy academy students, shouted.

"If we keep going like this, we'll be surrounded."

"It doesn't matter! We'll break through just like this!"

There is no resolve in petty feelings of jealousy.

Those who settled in a comfortable place and only wished for others to fall would flinch and retreat even if they got a splinter under their fingernail.

It was the same now.

Everyone had eyes that wanted to kill us, but no one actually stepped forward.

They were all just talk.

"Block them! Block them! Make those bastards drop!"

"Hey you! Don't step back!"

"You don't step back either, you bastard!"

If you want to see us fall that badly.

If that's really the case, then try and knock us down.

Watch clearly amidst a situation where your bones are broken and flesh is torn.

"F-Fuck, isn't this too much!"

"It's just an evaluation!"

The meaningless outcry of greenhouse flowers who had never once thought about the price of malice, or rather, who had never needed to think about it.

However, the members of our squad, who had received countless rough malice and tenaciously survived like weeds by the roadside, knocked out a few of their teeth to shut up their childish outcry.

"Then get lost, you bastards!"

"Can you even call yourselves men saying that kind of crap now!"

I encouraged the troops and moved forward.

Step by step.

We continued forward, smashing those who blocked our path.

"It's the White Army!"

As we passed the chaos of the Red Army, the true enemy appeared before our eyes.

"Charge!"

Nam Hwaseong and Geumpyo didn't stop their steps even with their bodies covered in wounds.

Our goal was strictly Cheol Sunjik on Mount Baek.

Whatever blocked our way was nothing more than an obstacle.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Those who had never fought without internal energy had exhausted all their stamina early on, and tried to face the enemy with significantly slower martial arts.

The fighting of ordinary people with no experience in close-quarters combat was no different from a game of war played by neighborhood kids.

Clumsily swung fists, weakly extended kicks.

Stamina that had clear limits despite gritting their teeth and trying to endure.

Those who were full of nothing but malice, without resolve or training, could not unleash skills matching their anger.

"Urgh!"

"Gah!"

"Keugh!"

They fell over with their eyes rolled back and noses bleeding.

We passed them and moved forward, ever forward.

"Eldest Senior Brother! The rear guard has been cut off."

It wasn't like there were no disadvantageous elements for us.

Because uncoordinated movements would sometimes make us lose our rear guard.

But it didn't matter.

"Keep going!"

"Is that alright?"

I asked Eunho.

"How many people in our squad received a Mu evaluation in the written evaluation?"

"Two people."

"Then we just need to keep two people alive!"

"... Understood."

At my words, Eunho firmly closed his mouth and changed the sword array to be even sharper.

Our squad now dug into the opponent's formation like the shape of a spearhead.

There were two things they overlooked.

First was that the only ones subject to dropping out in our squad were Seong Moran and Geumpyo.

To put it conversely, if only those two survived this evaluation, the rest didn't have to worry about dropping out.

Second was that I was thoroughly accustomed to this kind of battle.

The Minor Orthodox Unit had never once fought with the goal of everyone's safe return.

We only decided each person's life or death (生死) by drawing lots that morning, and did our best to save only them.

"Representative! The personnel's stamina is at its limit!"

We had only climbed halfway up Mount Baek, yet there were already people getting exhausted and falling behind.

I shouted toward those following behind me.

"From now on, do not hold back your strikes!"

"Pardon?"

Jang Ujae looked at me with eyes as wide as a startled rabbit.

"If you feel your stamina reaching its limit, just get eliminated! Take one guy down with you and drop out!"

Jang Ujae, who had hesitated for a moment, nodded his head with firmly closed lips.

"... Yes!"

Perhaps he had slowly realized my intention by now, as Jang Ujae didn't add much else.

He was smart, as expected.

Or maybe his anger had surged considerably at what happened in this practical evaluation.

SLASH!

"Aaaargh!"

"F-Foul! That's a foul!"

"Go Myeongjin! Eliminated!"

The squad members who reached the limits of their stamina incapacitated their opponents and began to drop out of the battle.

As excessive strikes erupted here and there, the enemies could not hide their confusion.

Since their originally intended purpose was thwarted from the start, they should have resolved themselves to endure whatever happened, but they panicked as if they couldn't predict the opponent's unexpected actions.

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

Anger flared against malice.

The pain encroaching on their whole bodies once again became fuel for anger and exploded, and this was powerful enough to completely engulf them in madness.

Panic slowly began to color the faces of the enemies surrounding us on all sides.

Those expressions once again roused the anger of our squad members.

Is this all you amount to?

Did you charge at us with only this much resolve?

"Hah...!"

You emitted such petty jealousy when you would be easily panicked by just this much?

As if answering their anger, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Kill them all!!!"

Following that, as if answering my voice, the squad members replied.

"Kill them all!"

The spiteful voices rang out loudly across the entirety of Mount Baek.

The members of the Red Army continued to take steps forward right until the moment they fell.

With a desperate feeling as if I had come to the battlefield of the Orthodox-Demonic Great War in my past life, I relentlessly swung my sword and fists.

* * *

The peak of Mount Baek.

The camp of the White Army.

"Nngh..."

Cheol Hyeonjik, the eldest son of the Jukhyeon Gang, let out a low groan.

"Isn't it the orthodox strategy to gather personnel, expand the troops, and defend?"

Cheol Hyeonjik spoke ambiguously, as if talking to himself yet asking a question, and looked at Cheol Sunjik standing beside him.

"..."

But Cheol Sunjik, whatever he was thinking, kept his mouth tightly shut and just watched the battlefield.

A moment later, Cheol Sunjik asked quietly.

"If it were you, Brother... what would you have done?"

Cheol Hyeonjik asked back again.

"If I were Jin Sowoon?"

"Yes. If our allies opened the way, and the enemies were only targeting us."

"Hmm..."

Cheol Hyeonjik, who pondered for a moment, gave a textbook answer.

"As expected, I would have followed the traditional strategy. I would have gathered the troops, expanded our forces, and focused on defense."

At that answer, Cheol Sunjik shook his head.

"If he did that, he would have been eliminated early."

"Hm? Is that so?"

Cheol Hyeonjik, who quietly stared at Cheol Sunjik for a moment, soon grinned.

"Still, I have you, so I won't suffer something like that. Right?"

"..."

Cheol Sunjik, with a stiff face, turned his gaze to the battlefield instead of answering.

At this, Cheol Hyeonjik tilted his head.

"Why? Did I say something wrong?"

"... No. That is the average response."

Cheol Sunjik's voice was unbelievably cold.

His gaze was once again fixed on Jin Sowoon's squad.

Those who came down Mount Hong eventually entered Mount Baek.

The troop members they had managed to gather were cut in half, but they obstinately continued to climb Mount Baek.

At that sight, Cheol Hyeonjik muttered as if puzzled.

"They won't be able to get many points even if they do that."

At that question, Cheol Sunjik lightly clenched his fists.

"... Because his goal isn't points."

"Huh?"

Then he added with a stiff face.

"Because Jin Sowoon's goal is to catch me, he's pushing himself to climb Mount Baek."

Cheol Hyeonjik's eyes gradually widened.

"Don't tell me... He knows that this is your doing?"

"..."

"But you definitely didn't step forward at all..."

Cheol Sunjik recalled the eccentricities Jin Sowoon had casually shown up until now.

"Because he's a peculiar person."

"Hmm..."

Then he stared intently into Cheol Hyeonjik's eyes.

"Brother."

"Yeah?"

"Could you do as Jin Sowoon does?"

In an instant, Cheol Hyeonjik's brow furrowed.

An expression as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

"Do what?"

Jin Sowoon had always shattered expectations and carved out his own path, just like now.

"I'm asking if you could fiercely charge forward for a goal like that."

So much so that an ordinary person wouldn't even dare to imitate it.

"Haha. You're talking nonsense. Didn't you always say it? That only the unprepared shout 'all out'. Those who are perfectly prepared swing their swords leisurely."

"... That's true."

Cheol Sunjik smiled bitterly without realizing it.

Because the more he tried to look away, the purer the light Jin Sowoon emitted shone.

"Anyway, it's impressive."

Cheol Hyeonjik, not realizing Cheol Sunjik's intentions at all, carefully watched Jin Sowoon.

"To think there's a martial artist so skilled in close-quarters combat... Anyone watching would think he was from the Northern Army."

Just as Cheol Hyeonjik said, Jin Sowoon's movements were not those of a martial artist whose internal energy was completely sealed.

They were the movements of a soldier who seemed to have never learned internal energy in the first place.

No, to be precise, they were the movements of a hardened brawler from a gambling den.

He swung his hands without mercy and dug into the opponents' weak points.

The academy students, who had never trained without using internal energy, displayed movements that were less than half their usual skill before soon collapsing.

'But Jin Sowoon, how are you...'

However, Jin Sowoon was moving even more fluidly than when he normally used internal energy.

As if he was the only one using internal energy.

He clearly felt once again that they were on different levels.

It wasn't just Jin Sowoon.

Though not comparable to him, all his squad members showed themselves to be skilled in close-quarters combat.

It was a stark contrast to the elites of the Orthodox Council and the White Path Council, who were dropping like flies.

"Still, without internal energy, there's ultimately a limit. It seems he doesn't know that."

Cheol Hyeonjik, still certain of Jin Sowoon's defeat, clicked his tongue.

Of course, there was some truth to his words.

Because the speed of Jin Sowoon's squad, which had been advancing while smashing through troops, had slowly started to decrease.

From the beginning, the current situation was not a martial artist's battle of overcoming numerical inferiority with overwhelming internal energy.

By restricting internal energy, it was strictly a strategy and tactics evaluation that transparently tested one person's intellect and skill.

You couldn't slaughter countless enemies and paint illusions like the protagonist in a novel.

At that moment.

"H-Huh?"

Cheol Hyeonjik, who had been leisurely observing the battlefield, suddenly furrowed his brow.

"What in the..."

The instructors who were evaluating outside the testing grounds also looked flustered.

The members of the White Army who had been running fearlessly also hesitated.

Some of them even turned back the way they came while running.

Cheol Hyeonjik spat out a curse like a scream.

"C-Crazy!"

He was panicked by the sight that entered his two eyes.

Something that had not been on the battlefield until now began to appear.

It was a massive amount of blood.

Even though there was a rule that inflicting heavy injuries or worse on an opponent resulted in elimination, the members of the Red Army ruthlessly began leaving deep wounds on their opponents.

"A-Aaaargh...!"

Facing unprecedentedly vicious strikes, the White Army could not hide their panic.

Cheol Hyeonjik also barely squeezed out his voice and looked at Cheol Sunjik.

"Unless they're prepared for elimination..."

Deep bewilderment also settled on Cheol Sunjik's face.

Their suddenly changed attitude.

Just what was their intention...

"...!"

Cheol Sunjik, who was observing the battlefield with wide eyes, finally realized it.

They hadn't resolved themselves for elimination.

Since they were expected to be eliminated due to reaching their physical limits, they 'intentionally' began to injure their opponents using the edge of their blades instead of the flat sides so that 'their elimination wouldn't be in vain.'

"Crazy..."

If they were going to be eliminated anyway, it didn't matter if they inflicted heavy injuries on the opponent.

They were reversing the restriction and using it.

But from the opponents' perspective, it would be an unexpectedly massive amount of damage.

At the behavior of the Red Army that seemed to have lost their minds, the White Army hesitated and began to step back.

"W-What are you doing! Block them right now!"

Cheol Hyeonjik shouted furiously, but there was no one willing to easily charge at the Red Army, who were covered in blood.

What was more, Jin Sowoon's Red Army was running in a straight line as if exclusively targeting the White Army's camp where Cheol Sunjik was.

Realizing that they were not the targets, the members of the White Army stepped back without hesitation.

Just like how the Red Army had wide-open a path in the early stages.

"S-Sunjik, what should we do now..."

"Can you do nothing unless I order it?"

"What do you mean..."

Cheol Sunjik's contemptuous gaze.

Cheol Hyeonjik flinched and poured out words of resentment.

"Y-You said it would work out if we did this."

Cheol Sunjik ground his teeth instead of answering.

GRIND.

'Once again... he's moving in an unpredictable direction.'

He didn't know how many times this was now.

Jin Sowoon had repeatedly scattered ashes over the grand plan meant for everyone.

He had ruined the opportunity to overturn Jianghu, which had been stagnant for hundreds of years, over and over again.

Even so, there was nowhere to back down now.

Cheol Sunjik spitefully commanded.

"All White Army forces, attack!"

Cheol Sunjik's company, which had been stationed around the camp, completed their battle lines in an instant.

By nature, defense was more advantageous from high ground.

Cheol Sunjik's company, unlike the others, fearlessly blocked Jin Sowoon's squad.

Cheol Sunjik tightly clenched his fists with both hands.

"It won't go your way this time."

He had a goal.

He could not fall here.

He didn't have the slightest intention of giving up on his goal because of Jin Sowoon, who was nothing more than a stumbling block.

The two groups suddenly confronted each other head-on.

Cheol Sunjik's gaze fixed on the person standing at the very front of Jin Sowoon's squad.

The person who originally should have stood at the very front of his own squad, or company.

"Nam Hwaseong..."

He had become an enemy and was aiming for his neck.

"Aaaargh!"

He hadn't used internal energy, but he crushed the enemies with his innate brute strength and approached.

Even when swords passed by and sabers cut into his flesh, he didn't stop moving.

Nam Hwaseong fought madly, exhausting even his last bit of life as if he had staked his life on this battle.

"Just why...!"

If he had remained part of the Twelve Peaks and Castles, would he have fought like that?

The idle thought that suddenly came to mind made his head dizzy.

It seemed like the answer would come out even without having to think hard about it.

That's why he struggled not to face the answer that naturally came out.

Because if he faced that answer, he would be even less able to understand why Nam Hwaseong was doing this.

GRIND.

Instead, he poured his resentment and anger onto the main culprit.

The entity fighting at the very front using Nam Hwaseong and Lee Geumpyo as shields.

"Sunjik, stop stepping forward. You need to command!"

Cheol Hyeonjik's voice coming from behind lingered in his ears and vanished.

Right now, only one person was visible in Cheol Sunjik's field of vision.

"Jin Sowoon..."

Did he hear the low growl?

Jin Sowoon, whose hair was disheveled, looked in this direction.

"Cheol Sunjik!!!"

At his booming shout, Cheol Sunjik also felt the fine hairs all over his body stand on end.

And at the same time, he was relieved.

'Thank goodness.'

Because he was also angry just like me.

Because this anger wasn't one-sided.

But no matter how angry he was, it wouldn't compare to his own.

Because he wanted to kill Jin Sowoon right now if he only could.

That's right. At this very moment, he was that furious.

"Jin Sowoon!!!!"

Cheol Sunjik began to do something he had never done even once in his entire life.

Moving exactly according to his emotions.

"Aaaaargh!!!!"

His footsteps dashed madly as he headed toward Jin Sowoon.