WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 44: King Jin (4)
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King Jin Hong Myeong-in's eyes reddened.
When the circular formation that had been desperately resisting was breached, he had thought this might be the end.
Yet could such a miracle truly happen?
His beloved daughter had appeared right before his eyes.
"Father!"
"Na-yeon!"
Father and daughter rushed into each other's arms.
As father and daughter reunited amid danger, tears streamed endlessly from their eyes.
For a moment, even the battle came to a halt at the sight.
No one could help being moved by the reunion between father and daughter.
Of course, not everyone was.
'How did this happen?'
Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader of the Flying Horse Brigade, wore a fierce demon mask.
He couldn't hide his bewilderment at Hong Na-yeon's sudden appearance.
He had clearly confirmed the location of Princess Seo and the Censorate guards before sending the Bell Suppression Unit and Gu Squad Leader.
Even if there had been a formidable master among them, he had believed that force would be enough.
They had enough strength to deploy the 108 Flying Horse Formation.
So how had she gotten here?
And besides...
'They were nearly twenty li[1] away. How did she get here?'
No matter how he calculated it, something didn't add up.
Even if she had somehow escaped the Bell Suppression Unit by sheer luck, reaching this place would have taken time.
Gi Nan-hang, a man skilled in strategy, couldn't understand the situation at all.
'Could that man be the variable?'
Whoooooosh!
A fearsome-looking middle-aged man stood there, steam billowing from his entire body. His blackened, heated skin, absurd muscles, and the enormous pressure they gave off all warned Gi Nan-hang that this was no ordinary person.
Yet strangely, unlike that pressure, the ki he sensed through his Ki sense fell short of the Advanced level.
'What should I do?'
The unexpected variable made Gi Nan-hang hesitate.
Someone else had a very different thought.
It was Mok Squad Leader of the Gale Force Unit.
'Princess Seo!'
King Jin's daughter, Princess Seo, had appeared before them.
Who had brought her here and how she had arrived were secondary matters.
An opportunity had fallen into their lap to deal with both her and King Jin at once. There was no reason to stand by and watch.
Whoosh!
Having made up their mind, Mok Squad Leader slipped to the left.
It looked as though they were heading elsewhere, but they had chosen that direction because it was the only point that would take them out of everyone's sight.
Thud!
Using the ground as a foothold, Mok Squad Leader launched a saber strike at King Jin and Princess Seo Hong Na-yeon as they embraced.
'Got them!'
This strike would cut down both father and daughter at once.
Or so Mok Squad Leader thought.
Clang!
Their saber was knocked upward.
The weapon that stopped it was a great saber.
'The Wanderer King!'
Mok Squad Leader's face twisted.
The one who had blocked them was none other than Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King.
Had Mok Squad Leader been any faster, Agong couldn't have stopped the attack. Even in this chaos, he hadn't let down his guard.
The clash of metal behind him startled King Jin.
"Ah?"
"Father, get back!"
Thud!
Hong Na-yeon shoved her father behind her.
Then she sprang back and spun through the air in a light, butterfly-like flip.
Whirl!
With swift hands, she drew an arrow and nocked it on the string of the famed bow Flowing Fire Scarlet Star.
The foundation of archery as Martial Arts was rapid shooting.
As her body turned upside down in midair, Hong Na-yeon fired at Mok Squad Leader's neck, their saber still raised by Agong's great saber.
Twang!
'Damn it!'
Mok Squad Leader hurriedly twisted aside and avoided the arrow.
Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, didn't miss the opening and swung the great saber in his left hand at Mok Squad Leader.
Their head was about to fly off in one stroke.
But then...
Clang!
In that brief instant, Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader in the fierce demon mask, blocked Agong's great saber with his sword.
The moment sword and saber collided, a blast of wind erupted, and sharp ki weapon radiated out around them.
Clangclangclangclangclangclangclang!
Gi Nan-hang's eyes narrowed behind the mask.
The instant their weapons met, he knew.
Their internal energy was evenly matched.
Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, was equally astonished.
'As expected.'
The man in the fierce demon mask was, as Agong had expected, a supreme master who could match him, one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
That meant he alone could deal with this man.
Agong glanced toward Mumu and shouted.
"I don't know who you are, but you seem to be an ally. Please protect His Highness King Jin and Her Highness Princess Seo! Hup!"
Whooosh!
No sooner had he spoken than Agong swung the great saber in his right hand.
Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader in the fierce demon mask, used a step and deftly withdrew his sword from the clash before blocking the blow.
Clangclangclang!
In an instant, the sword and great saber of the two supreme masters exchanged four blows, scattering blue sparks.
Neither showed any sign of yielding.
"Mok Squad Leader!"
Gi Nan-hang shouted amid the clash.
It was only a simple call, but it carried two meanings.
One was to take command of everyone in his place.
The other was to seize King Jin and Princess Seo.
Understanding, Mok Squad Leader nodded.
Then they moved to target King Jin again.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Prepared for it, Hong Na-yeon lowered her form and fired three arrows at once.
'Flowing Fire Bow Art: Second Technique, Threefold Might Life-Seeking Arrow!'
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three arrows flew toward Mok Squad Leader's upper, middle, and lower body.
"Hmph!"
Mok Squad Leader was a Master.
No matter how fast the arrows were, they weren't beyond the ability of a Master to block at close range.
Clangclangclang!
After knocking away the arrows with their saber, Mok Squad Leader closed the distance to Hong Na-yeon in an instant.
Hong Na-yeon leaped backward in alarm, but they were too fast.
"Heh!"
'If I seize this girl!'
They could take control of the situation.
But there was one fact Mok Squad Leader had overlooked.
Thud!
Someone grabbed their head as they rushed toward Hong Na-yeon and lifted them into the air.
Thud!
"Huh?"
It was Mumu, wearing a fearsome-looking Skin Mask.
Mok Squad Leader had been far too confident in their Ki sense, believing that the situation would end as long as they captured either Princess Seo Hong Na-yeon or King Jin.
"Let go!"
Mok Squad Leader swung a saber imbued with Force of ki at the tenth level toward Mumu's neck.
They naturally expected to cut his head off.
But then...
Clang!
'!?'
The moment the saber's edge touched Mumu's neck, it snapped cleanly in two.
Mok Squad Leader's eyes widened in disbelief.
"A-an indestructible golden body?"
"......"
Ignoring them, Mumu drove Mok Squad Leader straight down into the ground.
Crunch!
"Ghk!"
With a grotesque cry, Mok Squad Leader's body crumpled.
Their neck, lower spine, and both legs twisted and broke. Hong Na-yeon could only stare in astonishment at Mok Squad Leader's lifeless body.
It wasn't even Martial Arts. Mumu had crushed a Master to death through brute strength alone.
No matter how many times she saw it, she couldn't get used to that monstrous strength.
"N-Na-yeon. Who is this person?"
Clangclangclang!
Hong Na-yeon wasn't the only one shocked.
King Jin had not learned Martial Arts, but he knew there were vast differences in martial prowess even among masters. He couldn't help being stunned by what he had witnessed.
"This kid, no, this person is Master Yu from our academy."
"A master from the academy?"
Unable to reveal Mumu's identity immediately, Hong Na-yeon told her father that.
King Jin let out an exclamation, then performed a Fist-and-palm salute to Mumu in thanks.
"Ah! So you are a master of Changcheon Martial Academy. I am this child's father. I do not know how this Hong can ever repay such kindness."
Despite being royalty, King Jin humbled himself.
Mumu's eyes flickered at the sight.
His father, Yu Yeop-kyung, had said that royals and powerful ministers were unbearably arrogant, acting as though nobody else mattered because of their power and authority. King Jin was nothing like that.
'He seems like a good person.'
Mumu clasped his hands and bowed in return.
He wanted to speak, but he remembered Vice-Master Dan Pil-hu's and his older brother Yu Jin-sung's warnings, so he held back.
King Jin, a royal and a feudal king, might have found Mumu's manner somewhat disrespectful, but he didn't mind at all.
The situation wasn't over yet, so he asked for help instead.
"Master Yu, I apologize, but if you don't mind, could you also help my older brother... no, Great Hero Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King?"
King Jin cautiously pointed as he spoke.
Where he pointed, Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, and Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader in the fierce demon mask, were locked in a fierce fight.
Neither of the two evenly matched supreme masters yielded an inch.
Clangclangclangclangclangclang!
The aftershocks were so great that the wanderers and masked figures had to keep their distance.
Saber ki manifestation and sword ki manifestation churned through their fight. It was a clash between the finest masters, dangerous beyond measure.
"Is that a fight between masters on the level of the Ten Great Masters?"
"They aren't human."
"Don't go near them. If you get caught in it, your arms and legs will be cut off."
No one even dared approach.
Even the two supreme masters locked in that suffocating battle didn't relax their focus.
A single mistake could lead to a fatal defeat, and before long, neither of them paid attention to anything around them.
'He isn't one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice for nothing. He's strong. Very strong.'
'For the imperial court to have raised a supreme master of this level, it cannot be taken lightly.'
The two masters fighting fiercely couldn't hide their admiration for each other's ability.
Their battle was perfectly even.
They both realized it.
'This could take a while.'
If they were this evenly matched, there was no telling whether the duel would take half a day or several days.
Yet their prediction proved wrong.
Whoosh!
Someone stepped between the two supreme masters, where sword ki manifestation and saber ki manifestation ran wild.
'What?'
'Who is that?'
Entering the middle of that clash was no different from suicide.
Yet the one who entered that deadly battle was none other than Mumu.
'Damn it!'
Slash!
Caught off guard by Mumu's sudden intrusion, Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, could not stop the great saber carrying saber ki manifestation.
If he withdrew the strength from his strike, Gi Nan-hang's sword might strike him instead.
'Fool!'
Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader, naturally had no intention of stopping his sword either.
Then...
Sizzle!
'!?'
The saber ki manifestation and sword ki manifestation that struck Mumu's body could not pierce his flesh in the slightest.
Gi Nan-hang and Agong's eyes widened.
Ki manifestation was ki refined and condensed with even greater precision.
Yet that ki manifestation could not penetrate Mumu's muscles.
'W-what is this...?'
'He's blocking ki manifestation with his muscles?'
Swish!
Mumu raised a hand.
Then he lightly slapped Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader in the fierce demon mask.
Crunch!
At that moment, the fierce demon mask spun violently like a top.
Then...
Thud!
The masked head lost all strength and fell to the ground.
'!!!!!!!'
Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, unconsciously opened his mouth as he looked down at the fallen head.
King Jin was equally stunned. In a low voice, he asked his daughter Hong Na-yeon, "......That person is just an academy master?"
[1] li, a traditional Chinese distance unit, roughly 400 meters (about a quarter mile).
Footnotes:
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