Reduce speed.
"When they crossed the last ridgeline leading into Nangju, even the wind smelled different."
The stench of burning was thick.
Human scent was mixed into it.
And at the end of it all, there clung a sharp smell—like metal rubbed raw.
From horseback, Park Seong-jin lifted his left hand in signal.
"Reduce speed."
The Cheongi unit eased down like a rolling wave.
All the training they had built on the way showed itself at once.
Even as they slowed, the formation did not loosen.
As hoofbeats thinned, the forest's stillness seeped in.
Silence deepened until even the small sound of wind brushing leaves struck the ear.
Then Song I-jeong half-drew his blade from the scabbard.
"General."
Park Seong-jin nodded without a word.
From here on, it was not a war of running.
It was a war of hiding.
A gap in the woods trembled.
The first thing to move was the brush.
Leaves shivered in a grain that did not match the wind's flow.
Park Seong-jin did not dismount.
He lowered his body and pierced through the presence.
The pressure was strong.
Not one or two.
Two scouts ran in and reported.
"Thirty jang ahead, multiple presences in the woods."
"Tracks confirmed—looks like they hid in a hurry."
Park Seong-jin asked, short.
"Numbers."
"Fifty to sixty."
"Could be more."
Part of the Cheongi unit tightened, straightening their spear line.
If an ambush hit in a forest, formation could wobble regardless of numbers.
Park Seong-jin signaled with a flick, as if snapping a finger.
"Hold formation."
"I go first."
Song I-jeong rushed forward and blocked him.
"General, it's dangerous."
Park Seong-jin did not look back.
"If we widen it here, we lose."
"In tight ground, cut the head."
He dismounted and stepped into the forest.
Low branches shook once.
He sprang up and forward.
The wind slipped aside and the ground seemed to give way.
With one leap, several jang vanished.
The forest was quiet.
No enemy showed.
Even their presence seemed gone.
Park Seong-jin spoke low.
"Stand up."
The stillness shivered.
And then the woods suddenly lived.
The first sound was a clipped breath.
"Kh—!"
Then they burst out from left and right at once.
Shraak. Shraaak.
From shadow and darkness, swords, spears, and long pikes poured out in a rush.
There were many.
Twenty. Thirty. Forty.
In an instant, nearly fifty men surrounded him.
Blades flashed together and came flying.
Shrring—!
Clang! Clang!
Shraak!
Metal exploded in a chain.
Park Seong-jin drew his ring-hilted saber.
It was a blink.
A thin, white light clung to the edge and flowed horizontal.
It snapped vertical.
It tore diagonal.
The white grain spun like a disc and burst outward.
He was not even running, yet the blade ran first.
The first man's neck folded.
The second man's chest split.
The third collapsed before he could even extend his sword.
Puhk!
Park Seong-jin's toe smashed one man's solar plexus and sent him flying.
The sound of falling drowned under the next scream.
"Kiiyaaak!"
Park Seong-jin's breath did not change.
Even the sensation of swinging the sword was faint.
He simply passed through.
And wherever he passed, blood rose.
Then, from behind, the Cheongi unit's roar cleaved the forest.
"Cheongi unit—charge in!"
The cavalry leapt down from their horses.
Spears lowered.
Spearpoints pressing into the woods pinned the Wae who had been rushing toward Park Seong-jin from both sides.
The spear tips struck with disciplined precision.
Armor jolted.
Penetrations followed.
Pak. Pak. Pak.
Short, heavy, unmistakable sounds hammered in sequence through the trees.
Park Seong-jin spoke.
"Press the left."
"They're swinging around behind."
Song I-jeong shouted immediately from behind him.
"Left pressure!"
Pressed from both sides, the Wae in the woods began to wobble in panic.
The vanguard that had first rushed Park Seong-jin was already shattered.
Sword arms were cut away.
Spears snapped.
Screams tangled, and the forest shook.
As latecomers twisted to flee—
Park Seong-jin's voice struck the back of their heads.
"Don't show your backs."
The saber was already on their spines.
It skimmed waist and back and head as it passed.
Seogeok.
A thin, short sound ended everything.
The remaining men staggered and fell.
Cheongi soldiers caught their breath and said,
"It's over."
Park Seong-jin flicked blood from his blade and said, short.
"Vanguard."
"The main force is there."
As soon as those words landed, a grotesque horn call tore the forest from far away.
It was the signal of the Wae main force.