hundreds of arrows continued to pour down.
The mass pushing from behind became densely packed as the front was blocked and the rear continued to press forward.
Into that congestion, hundreds of arrows continued to pour down.
Pipipipiping— aaaaagh—
pipipipiping— aaaaagh—
The arrows were fired mechanically toward the base of Sinbong Gate, and they did not stop until the screams themselves vanished.
It was brutal.
The brutality repeated itself.
The sight of over a thousand private soldiers collapsing before Sinbong Gate was delivered intact to the rebel command.
The faces of the generals who had been shouting "Push through!" moments before turned pale all at once.
The front ranks sank as if their waists had been cut through.
The void spread backward until it reached the very front of the command formation.
One general spoke in a trembling voice.
"This isn't… a plan.
This is… annihilation."
The point of retreat had already passed.
They had lost their land.
They had lost their private armies.
Now, they had to wager their lives.
The final conclusion was one.
"We go ourselves."
Voices rose from behind the command.
"We can't let it end like this."
"If this fails, we die tomorrow."
"No— we die today."
Three core masters of the command stepped forward.
One carried an axe.
One carried a spear.
The last held a bow, but the generals lined up and shouted.
"Push from behind. We break through Sinbong Gate ourselves."
"Park Seong-jin is one man. We break through."
Fear and rage tangled together and collided with the command's final resolve.
The three generals leapt forward simultaneously.
There was no strategy in their steps.
No tactics.
Only the thrashing of bodies at the edge of death.
They charged up the steps like boulders tumbling downhill, axe-light, spear-force, and blade flashing through the darkness.
They shouted,
"Park Seong-jin. Come out.
Let it end here today."
That cry was madness, despair, and courage fused into one.
They were no longer rebels threatening the king.
They were men trying to delay their own destruction.
At that moment, Park Seong-jin slowly descended from above Sinbong Gate.
Though the momentum of the three commanders shook the darkness, he did not even steady his breath.
At the foot of the steps, he quietly observed the frenzied killing intent and said,
"Right.
You should try once, at least."
The moment the words fell, the commanders' feet touched the ground beneath the gate.
It was their final foothold.
Everything they had was wagered on that single step.
The first to reach him was the axe wielder.
The thick axe blade drove straight down toward Park Seong-jin's head.
Raw strength tore through the darkness.
But— clang.
A single point of silver scraped past the blade.
The axe shattered.
The commander's arm was severed with it.
He collapsed to the ground without even screaming.
The second commander's spear flew toward Park Seong-jin's heart.
Shhk.
Before the spearhead could touch him, the commander's body crumpled.
Park Seong-jin's sword had already pierced through his chest.
It was unseen.
Unfollowable.
The third commander threw away his bow and lunged forward, trying to seize Park Seong-jin's neck with his hands.
Before his fingers could reach, a silver line passed across his chest.
The commander's feet lifted briefly into the air—
then his body bent backward and fell.
Sheathing his sword, Park Seong-jin said,
"Was that the last of it?"
The words spread low across the entire battlefield.
After the three commanders fell at the base of the steps, the battlefield paused.
More precisely, everyone became unable to move.
Amid the stench of blood, Park Seong-jin sheathed his blade and said,
"Next."
That word pierced the rebels' chests deeper than any sword.
From the rear of the rebel ranks, someone sobbed.
"It's over…"
It was not despair, but a sigh of accepting reality.
That sigh spread backward, giving birth to a deeper silence.
The force that had numbered over a thousand was instantly trapped within stillness.
There were no footsteps.
No scrape of armor.
It no longer mattered who held a weapon and who was bare-handed.
They were all human.
On the opposite side stood only Park Seong-jin.
At first, they had not feared the king.
They believed they could win.
They were certain they could overturn the Jeonmin Byeonjeongdogaem.
Now, no objective held meaning.
Even justification had lost its value.
They had gathered facing the king.
And before Park Seong-jin, the word army disappeared.
An army collapses when command collapses.
When commanders fall, existence itself is severed.
That scene unfolded before their eyes.
One soldier threw away his spear and raised both hands.
Then he slowly knelt.
Then two more.
Three.
Ten.
"Spare us…"
"The罪— we'll die for it… please…"
The words differed.
The actions were the same.
Dozens in the formation bent their knees.
After them, the collapse followed in a chain.
The sound of knees hitting the ground continued like rain.
Thud.
Thud-thud.
Thud.
It was not the sound of people falling.
It was the sound of the concept of army breaking apart.
Spears, shields, axes, and bows began to fall to the ground in heaps.
Clatter.
Thump.
Chrrring.
This sound was the last remaining will—
the sound of placing that will onto the ground.
Even the thought of escape vanished.
When the command fell, it went with it.
Hundreds of rebels raised both hands above their heads among the corpses.
It was not the posture of those awaiting death.
It was the instinct to survive.
One soldier crawled forward.
"We… did not intend… to attack the palace…"
Looking down at them, Park Seong-jin said,
"If you want to live, throw your weapons far away first."
"What you throw now will be forgiven."
In that instant, dozens— then hundreds— of weapons flew into the darkness.
It was not the sound of swords flying.
It was the sound of rebellion being extinguished.
A rebel force that had numbered over a thousand collapsed within barely ten breaths after the command fell.
They were no longer an army.
They were a mass of humans who could not even flee.
Before the palace walls, a silence descended—
without blades, without screams, without shouts.
Closing his scabbard, Park Seong-jin said,
"The battle is over."
At that moment, the rebellion in Gaegyeong came to its end.