The Monster’s Desert
The second time. He was alone back then, but now, powerful warriors were by his side.
Book 1-5.1 Let Us Fight You
“Yulian-nim, everyone is present and accounted for.”
Haisha informed Yulian of Red Storm’s gathering.
Technically speaking, Haisha was never given any formal authority, but for the past year, Haisha had taken on the role of leading the Red Storm. He knew every member’s situation and personality, working diligently as the second-in-command informing Yulian about anything he needed to know.
Yulian nodded his head at Haisha and moved to the location where the troops had gathered.
“Everybody, attention.”
Even without Haisha saying so, when Yulian appeared, the warriors stopped what they were doing and looked to Yulian.
Yulian was satisfied as he looked at each of his warriors as they exuded power.
These were the warriors who kept up with his endless training schedule for the past year.
“I gathered you all here today because I believe it is time to start getting some real experience. The training until now was just to increase your affinity with a new weapon.”
The warriors were all nervous inside. They did not know what kind of training method he would use to torment them next.
As if he caught on to their anxiety, Yulian laughed inside as he continued.
“Even I know that the training has been difficult until now. For that, I am very thankful. The fact that we did not have even one deserter proves that the warriors we have gathered here are strong. However, we have a reason to become even stronger.”
The reason Yulian created the Red Storm brigade and trained them was to fight against the Shuarei’s Desert Sword. However, as the warriors started to get comfortable with the training and the weapon, he felt that he needed to explain it to them in greater detail while researching their teamwork with him as well.
“The Red Storm brigade will always serve as the vanguard in Pareia’s wars. Using the advantages of our weapon, we will slash through a multitude of enemies to create a path for the other warriors to quickly disrupt the enemies formations. That will be our mission. In order to make that happen, I know we will need to have strong physiques and excellent martial arts abilities.”
The Red Storm warriors quieted their breathing to pay attention to Yulian’s words. Their commander was finally talking about war.
“As you know, we are a small brigade with less than sixty people. In order to force our way through thousands of enemies and their formations with this number, you need more than the average amount of courage. However, I believe that whether it is strength, persistence, or confidence, we are not lacking when compared to any other warrior. Am I wrong?”
“You are right!”
“The relationship with each other has to be on equal footing, but Red Storm’s abilities have to be above excellent. Even when we are amongst other warriors who are also putting their lives on the line, we must make sure to show results. Danger will always follow us, but as the greatest warrioes, we will push forward until we take the head of the opponent’s commanding officer. That is the Red Storm I am dreaming of creating. Are you confident in making this happen?”
“Of course!”
The Red Storm erupted in response.
Triquel started to laugh as he spoke.
“After suffering through all that training, to lose to someone… I can’t even imagine dying because of a lack of training. And maybe one day, even with Yulian-nim… hehehe…”
Haisha gave Triquel a look of caution, but Triquel looked at Yulian and continued to laugh.
Yulian also started to laugh as he responded.
“Are you saying that you wish to fight me once?”
“Well, more like we want to show off our strength at least once. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is Yulian-nim or not, but if it is Yulian-nim, I feel like we would put in even more effort.”
“Do you all have the same thoughts?”
Yulian saw the fire in their eyes as he looked around. How long had they been insulted? The amount of insults they ate the past year in Red Storm was tens of times more than how much they had eaten before entering Red Storm (TL: It’s a Korean saying to say you ate it, more like they had to just suck it up and take it, so rather than heard, I kept it as ate).
They had developed some confidence; all of the warriors thought there was no way they would end up embarrassed.
“Triquel, watch your words. We developed our strength for the sake of protecting our tribe, not to show off our strength.”
Haisha scolded him on the side but Yulian shook his head.
“No. Whether it is me or any of the Red Storm warriors, we are young and brimming with energy. I also had the intention of sparring with you, but I never said anything because I was worried you will be too shocked and lose your confidence based on the result.”
“OOOOOOOOOooooooo~!”
The warriors couldn’t believe what Yulian just said.
They started to smile as they continued to rag at Yulian. Looking at Yulian, it felt like their year long training filled with eating insults was finally over.
“Then, me first.”
The first warrior to stand in front of Yulian was surprisingly Haisha.
The person who could not believe the warriors were being disrespectful to Yulian was the first to step up as soon as Yulian finished speaking.
“You?”
Yulian was also surprised, but Haisha nodded his head.
“If you will allow me.”
“Haisha-hyungnim, no cuts, no buts, no coconuts!” (TL: Okay fine, they didn’t really say that, but doesn’t it sound funny?!”
“Haisha-hyungnim, let’s not cut in line.”
Some of the warriors started to protest but it looked like Haisha had no intentions of stepping aside.
“If we are being honest, I can confirm that Big bro Haisha has the most complaints against Yulian-nim.”
Shubeon started to gossip and Triquel started to laugh.
“I guess it is understandable. He suffered from us and he suffered from Yulian-nim. Fine. I am able to step aside and let him be first.”
“Ah, if we are all going to do it, I wanted to be first. That way, even if I ended up losing, I would at least have an excuse.”
Hearing Shubeon talk again, even some of the warriors who were ragging on Haisha for cutting started to laugh and stepped back.
Yulian felt like he had become some type of toy and laughed inside.
If he had it his way, he would fight at least five of them at once, but starting off that way would be ignoring the efforts of the warriors who had overcome the difficult training. So he just stood there with a smile on his face.
“Then it is confirmed? Haisha, you are first?”
“Yes, Yulian-nim.”
Yulian could feel Haisha’s burning passion as Haisha responded while holding tightly to the two greatswords. Yulian also took out his two greatswords.
“As your teacher, I will allow you the first shot. Attack with all your might.”
The warriors started to yell at Yulian’s words. Among warriors, unless it was a special occasion, they did not use titles. Warrior X, Warrior Y, these were the only terms used. That meant that regardless of age, you are accepting the other person as an adult and as a warrior.
However, after surviving that difficult training together, nobody else could break their solidarity. That’s why rather than being fellow warriors, they felt like a family. This was why they were able to use such familiar titles such as Hyung-nim and Ah-woo. (TL: Ah-woo is a term used for a younger sibling).
“Haisha hyung-nim~! Fighting~!”
“Show us the results of our trip to hell!”
“Hyung-nim, we can’t always lose to him. We have to use our own strength to take down the vicious teacher!”
All of the warriors’ cheering was one-sided and focused on Haisha.
“Vicious teacher? Are you talking about me?”
Haisha nodded yes at Yulian’s question.
‘I wonder how he would respond if he knew that his nickname is a scorpion with a poisonous tongue and not a poisonous tail.’
Haisha did not ask to find out.
Deciding that was the smart decision, Haisha rested the greatsword on his right side against his shoulder, while lowering the greatsword in his left hand in front of him to take his starting stance.
“You take too long to get ready. Do you think an opponent would wait that long for you to prepare?”
Yulian just stood there with his two greatswords facing downward, but the moment he started to speak, Haisha let out a long yell as he started to run towards Yulian.
“Ya~~~~~~ahhh!”
The greatsword in Haisha’s right hand was strongly swung towards Yulian while the greatsword on the left was swung towards the lower part of the body to prepare for any potential counterattack.
Hearing that Yulian was allowing him the first shot, he attacked with all his strength. He did not expect Yulian to get hurt even in his dreams, so he was able to attack with all of his strength without holding back.
“I can tell you’ve been practicing a lot. However.”
Yulian quickly shouted before taking one step back. He used the greatsword in his right hand to parry Haisha’s right greatsword, and then lowered the sword to block the greatsword attacking down below.
Then, in an instant, he shot his foot forward.
Shocked, Haisha tried to bring his swords back and swing again, but as Yulian suddenly entered past the greatsword’s range, he did not know what to do.
‘Throw the sword away and use my fists?’
As Haisha started to think about what to do next, he felt an intense pain in his chest as Yulian disappeared and was replaced with the bright desert sky.
Crash.
Haisha’s slender body made a loud noise as it fell onto the desert sand.