Chapter 1128: This is Hell, This Place (Part 3)

Deep dawn.

While most of the world was shrouded in darkness, the residence of Ho Gakmyung, the ruthless and ambitious military leader of the Evil Tyrant Alliance, still glowed brightly with light.

Ho Gakmyung, seated at a large desk, peered at documents and rubbed his stiff eyes, leaning back in his chair.

"Not an easy task."

He, too, was tireless. Trivial matters hardly wore him out. Yet, the nearly ten consecutive nights of vigilance had been enough to fatigue even him.

Nevertheless, the journey ahead was long, and there was no room for rest.

"...Sometimes you want too much."

He muttered to himself.

He fully understood Jang Ilso's intentions. And now, he perfectly understood that those intentions were undeniably reasonable.

The problem lay in the fact that implementing Jang Ilso's grand goal, casually thrown out over a drink, was now up no other than Ho Gakmyung.

It was easier said than done.

Executing the almost one thousand executions this time created a significant personnel vacuum within the Evil Tyrant Alliance. The deaths of ordinary members mattered little. However, among those to be executed this time were several individuals close to the core of each sect.

With their disappearance, administrative gaps needed minimizing, and new individuals had to be appointed to suitable positions. Simultaneously, inefficient and disorderly operations within each sect needed to be identified and efficiently reorganized.

And that wasn't all. The forces that were once divided between the Black Ghost Castle, Myriad Man Manor, and Su Lo Chae now needed to be unified and coordinated.

This was a task far more arduous than creating an entirely new sect.

Even those who had witnessed Ho Gakmyung's workload during the days of Myriad Man Manor were astounded. But now, instead of Myriad Man Manor, he had to streamline the significantly larger Evil Tyrant Alliance, much like he did in the past, while also handling the aftermath of Jang Ilso's misdeeds.

Who could handle all this? Even if talented deputies from the Imperial Palace were brought in, they would likely last only a few days before running away.

However, Ho Gakmyung endured all these tasks silently.

If Chung Myung knew about this, he might forget about the past and come, shedding tears, to plead with Ho Gakmyung to work together.

To put it bluntly, if Ho Gakmyung were in Mount Hua, he would be taking on all the responsibilities that Chung Myung, Hyun Young, Hyun Sang, Un Am, and even Eunha Guild handled.

Anyway, given the situation, with Jang Ilso giving instructions with a casual wave, even until this deep dawn when Jang Ilso was deeply asleep, Ho Gakmyung was left alone, unable to avoid the tasks at hand.

The Evil Tyrant Alliance could not exist without Jang Ilso, and it could not function without Ho Gakmyung.

"Let's see."

Ho Gakmyung reached out and brought the report that had arrived from the Hao Sect a while ago in front of him.

Even amidst organizing the system, information couldn't be missed. Information was the most precious thing. And information going up to Jang Ilso was even more critical.

Sorting out this information, which couldn't be entrusted to others, and presenting only the essentials to Jang Ilso were also among the tasks assigned to Ho Gakmyung.

"Beast Palace and Ice Palace..."

Moreover, the report that had just come in was none other than a matter concerning the Heavenly Comrade Alliance. Recently, information related to the movements of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance has been classified as important within the Evil Tyrant Alliance.

"Why are they summoning all of them?"

Ho Gakmyung frowned and muttered.

It wasn't efficient. It wasn't like a war was about to break out immediately, was it? But if you brought in that many people to the Yangtze River, just feeding and housing them would cost a fortune.

Furthermore, bringing together individuals with different inclinations would inevitably lead to conflicts and incidents. Even now, the Evil Tyrant Alliance was struggling with that problem, shedding countless lives.

But why deliberately provoke disputes by doing something that doesn't need to be done? This was obviously foolish.

"Damn it..."

A disappointed sigh escaped from Ho Gakmyung's mouth.

However, the reason he couldn't simply dismiss this information as foolishness was one. The one orchestrating this was none other than Chung Myung.

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword."

He didn't want to admit it, but Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword was an existence that Ho Gakmyung's mind couldn't handle.

Of course, Ho Gakmyung understood. He wasn't an exceptional strategist. To ordinary people, Ho Gakmyung might seem like an outstanding military commander, but in a battlefield where monsters twisted the world to their wills, Ho Gakmyung was at best an ordinary, if not a dull, human.

That's how inaccessible the battlefield they faced was.

Ho Gakmyung habitually pressed his temples.

'I've never really felt unfair about that fact.'

After all, he had his strengths to showcase.

His value lay not in scheming but in administrative and operational skills, as well as the ability to execute Jang Ilso's words no matter what. In the entire world, there might be numerous individuals, but there was only one person who could handle tasks to satisfy Jang Ilso, and that was Ho Gakmyung.

Ho Gakmyung took pride in that fact.

However, at times like this... he couldn't help but feel frustrated that he couldn't see the intricate battles unfolding among them. Yes, only at times like this.

"...Annoying."

Muttering quietly, Ho Gakmyung moved the report he had been holding to the left. On the left were reports that couldn't be handled within his jurisdiction and needed to be forwarded to Jang Ilso.

Recently, especially after experiencing the events in Hangzhou, reports related to the Heavenly Comrade Alliance had frequently been moved to the left.

'It must have been quite... impressive.'

Ho Gakmyung's eyes sank into darkness.

To put it bluntly, the one who resolved the events in Hangzhou, especially the one who killed the bishop of that demonic sect, was not Jang Ilso or the Evil Tyrant Alliance, but Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword.

The actions and strategies he displayed that day left an indelible mark on Ho Gakmyung's mind.

Ho Gakmyung was a composed person and knew that. He never overestimated himself. He admitted that, with his own capabilities, his head couldn't handle Chung Myung.

'Still, it's hard to understand.'

The reason Ho Gakmyung obediently carried out Jang Ilso's unreasonable order to deal with those who showed signs of resistance without leaving any behind was one: there was no time to accept and reform all of them. War was not far off. So, rather than letting wounds fester, he chose to cut them out before the wounds became deep.

On the other hand, what about the Heavenly Comrade Alliance?

What Chung Myung was doing now was no different from carving wounds all over his body. Why would he do such a thing?

'Could it be a preemptive strike before the problem gets bigger?'

Ho Gakmyung chuckled. Even as a passing thought, it was an absurd idea.

"There's a reason. There must be a reason. But that reason is something I can't easily guess..."

Ho Gakmyung chuckled softly, tapping the report in his hand.

He was human. Humans couldn't understand the reasons or methods when monsters fought each other. All he could do was guess, like licking the surface of a watermelon.

The fight between Jang Ilso and Chung Myung was that kind of thing for Ho Gakmyung. He just hoped he wouldn't become a threat to Jang Ilso. That's all he wished for. 

'Too much thinking.'

Without hesitation, Ho Gakmyung threw the report he held in his hand to the side and picked up a new one. Even in his urgency, his thoughts didn't immediately turn to the new report.

'Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword'

Recently, thoughts of them made his chest feel tight.

That person called Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword...Ho Gakmyung hated to admit it, but that man resembled Jang Ilso astonishingly. A completely different yet similar existence. That meant Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword was as formidable as that implied.

'He must be confident enough to handle it.'

A sigh involuntarily escaped Ho Gakmyung's lips. Regardless, there must have been some intention behind their actions, and that intention probably stemmed from the confidence of Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword.

'But in the end, we'll be the ones in the right, Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword.'

Gazing towards the north, Ho Gakmyung bit his lip slightly. Then, he focused on the documents again.

There was no time to rest in order to make Jang Ilso's and his own will a reality.

* * *

The place where Ho Gakmyung, with effort, tried to interpret and guard against Chung Myung's intentions.

In a similar fashion, seated at a large desk, Chung Myung wiped his wrinkled face and pulled at his hair, lost in thought.

At that moment, the door flung open urgently.

"Chung Myungahhhhh!"

With half his soul flown away, Chung Myung looked at the figure that rushed. He muttered with a dying voice as he confirmed Baek Cheon's face.

"Why... again..."

"There's another fight!"

"..."

"The Tang Family and Namgung are fighting!"

"...Why?"

No, seriously, what kind of combination was that?

"I don't know! They were just eating, and suddenly, they started fighting!"

"...Calm down a bit."

"They even pulled out their swords!"

"..."

"Do something! The whole building is in chaos."

"Well..."

Just as Chung Myung was about to say something, Jo Gol pushed his way in, shoving Baek Cheon's face aside.

"Chung Myung! There's a fight between Nokrim and our guys!"

"...Then stop it."

"No, they're not listening even if I try to stop them! ...Hey? Baek Cheon Sasuk! Why are you here? This is not the time; you should be stopping the others."

"You do it! I need to stop Namgung and the Tang Family right now!"

"No, those are strangers! Our guys are beating up the Nokrim guys like they're catching mice."

"If our guys are winning, it doesn't matter. It's not like they're doing anything wrong."

"What?"

Jo Gol mumbled dumbfoundedly.

"Come to think of it, why did I run here?"

"..."

The remaining half of Chung Myung's soul slipped away.

Why is that okay? You crazy bastards.

But his ordeal was not over yet.

"Sahyeooooooong!"

Chung Myung looked blankly at Tang Soso, who had turned Jo Gol's face to the side.

"...Why? Is there a fight between the Ice Palace and the Beast Palace?"

"No! Sahyung, it's not that!"

"Well, then what is it?"

"The beasts brought from the Beast Palace broke out of the warehouse and attacked the village!"

"...Why are you just standing there? You should catch them!"

"I'm short-handed! Other Sahyungs are currently fighting with Nokrim."

"What about the Beast Palace?"

"They're currently fighting with the Ice Palace."

"Huh?"

Chung Myung looked at Tang Soso with a blank expression.

"You just said they're not fighting..."

"That meant it's not my business. Whether they fight among themselves or not, what do I care?"

"..."

"They probably escaped because they couldn't concentrate on giving them food due to the chaos of the fights. It might be difficult to suppress them with the remaining people, but can we take a few down as an example?"

The melted Chung Myung slumped into the chair.

"Hey, what do we do about this?"

"The fight is still going on?"

"Yeah. Was it a mistake to let them take a break? Since we didn't officially arrange a sparring session, they still have the energy to fight among themselves."

Chung Myung chuckled at the voice constantly poking at his ears, murmured while staring blankly at the ceiling.

"You know."

"Yeah. What should we do?"

"Let's..."

"Let's?"

"I hope everything goes away."

"..."

"You bastards..."

A single tear rolled down Chung Myung's cheek.

Frienship? Talking about friendship now?

Oh, Sect Leader sahyung.

This is hell, this place. Oh dear.