Secret of the Two Kings (89 CHAPTERS - ON HOLD)

제 24 부

Ancient-brown foliage and broken branches from the sleeping forest ground flew into the mid-air as the enemies' rumbling feet sprinted into the circling hwarangs—an enormous wave of monster rushing in. The platoon of enemies swung their swords and ran to the attackers.

"Protect the carriage!" the hwarangdo leader shouted.

Swords started clanking and ringing with each other as the two opposing forces engaged in a fatal sword duel. Loud screams and grunts echoed through the forest canopies and bushes. Out of nowhere, an army of arrows hissing in the mid-air, stroke and impaled some hwarangs. Gravelly and running short breaths were heard and scarlet-red blood showered to the oak-brown ground. With feet as agile a lightning and arms as slick as a sidewinder—skills which the enemies were more developed and advanced, they had outnumbered a number of hwarangs in an instant.

As the battle went on, Chil Yook and Lady Jang, from the inside, struggled to get out of their carriage—both looking very helpless. With their hands chained, and their bodies tied, the two desperately called for help, while seeing the imbalance fight between the hwarangs and the atrocious enemies. Chil Yook scanned the dead men on the ground. Most of them were hwarangs; there were only a few from the enemies' side. Their torsos were slashed, blood starting to clot, internal organs peeking slightly out of their fleshes. Others were slashed or stabbed in their throats, killed with both of their bloody eyes and mouth full of blood hanging open, as flies and ants started to feast their once moist ball of sight.

Gritting his teeth, Chil Yook crawled closer to the carriage's wooden bars as he surveyed the continuous battle arena. The sight of the men fighting did not catch his attention anymore, knowing that the hwarangs would all be outnumbered in the immediate future. What caught his attention was the leader of the enemies, who stood beside a tall tree, a few paces away from him. He was just watching his men slaughter the poor hwarangs. Chil Yook looked closely into the leader, and he noticed something strange.

Those eyes. I am sure that I have seen those somewhere. He is very familiar. 

The leader of the men in black turned his head into him and gazed intently. Chil Yook examined carefully the man's eyes. After a few moments, a deep gasp just escaped from his mouth, as the man standing in the tree, winked at him. He gulped and pulled himself back.

"What was that? You are getting pale," Lady Jang asked.

"Nothing..." he shook his head. He immediately sat up and stared intently to the former Head Priestess. "Lady Jang, one thing is for sure. We are both going to die in here!"

"What? No!"

"That man over there... The one standing at the tree, I know who he is," Chil Yook whispered, pointing his lips to the leader of the men in black.

"What do you mean, you know who he is?"

"He is—"

Before Chil Yook could have finished his statement, the remaining enemies (around fifteen) walked right through their carriage and shook it a number of times. The two stumbled and rolled on the carriage floor in a thump. Then, they heard a rustling footstep towards them. It was the leader of the unknown men. He strutted closely to the carriage, swinging a set of keys with his right hand.

The leader unlocked the carriage, and the other men pulled the two out. They dragged and pushed them to the ground, making them kneel.

"What do you want?" Chil Yook roared.

"Who are you?" Lady Jang asked, quivering.

The leader did not respond. Instead, he signaled two of his men from the back. The men walked forward and gagged the two criminals with white cloths. The two squirmed, struggling and fighting for their consciousness. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful; the odor of the cloths lulled their noses to sleep, knocking them off.