WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 47: Fragments of Truth (5)
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Within the Mighty Conqueror Council's House of the Eight Villains, there was an organization considered the greatest alongside the Paralysis Blade Estate.
That organization was Heavenly Kill Valley.
During the War Between Justice and Evil, they had stood at the forefront and swept across the battlefield. Even after the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter's death, they had risked their lives to resist the force of justice members pressing them relentlessly.
Had it not been for their desperate resistance, perhaps half of the House of the Eight Villains would not have survived.
After fulfilling their duty and losing nearly eighty percent of their forces, Heavenly Kill Valley had hidden beneath Guizhou and gradually rebuilt its strength.
Ten li beneath a dry valley lay a vast underground settlement capable of housing more than two thousand people.
Seventeen years had passed since they had settled there.
Over that time, the people of Heavenly Kill Valley had developed bodies adapted to life deep underground.
Keen eyes that could see in darkness.
Lung capacity that allowed them to survive on thin air alone.
Five senses sharpened to the slightest vibration.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that their bodies, hardened by such a harsh environment, had become far stronger than those of other martial artists.
Then...
-Rrrrrrumble!
Disaster suddenly struck.
A fierce-looking middle-aged man appeared in a beam of light after breaking through the ceiling of their dwelling cavern.
The masters of Heavenly Kill Valley could not hide their shock at his appearance.
“An intruder!”
“Catch him!”
With their heightened senses, honed by the harsh environment, they gathered at the breached passage and tried to subdue the enemy who had invaded their home.
Yet the intruder was nothing less than a monster.
-Flick!
“Aaagh!”
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Heavenly Kill Valley masters who rushed at him were sent flying with nothing more than a flick of his fingers, often screaming as they crashed into the walls.
“I said I didn't come here to fight. Valley Chief... Hoo.”
-Flick!
“Urk!”
The fierce-looking middle-aged man was Mumu, wearing Skin Masks.
Though they were terrified of him, another Heavenly Kill Valley master charged at him wildly, so Mumu sent them flying with a forehead flick.
“I wish you'd stop already.”
Mumu shook his head.
He had asked where the Valley Chief was, yet they kept charging at him while calling him an enemy.
Of course, he understood why.
He had not arrived through a normal route, but bored straight down from above. They were extremely tense and vigilant.
“Valley...”
“Shh.”
In truth, the officers of Heavenly Kill Valley and its Valley Chief had already arrived at the cavern.
They were simply watching the situation unfold.
The bright light streaming through the hole in the ceiling was unmistakably sunlight.
They could not hide their disbelief.
‘Impossible.’
Even if someone had spent a long time digging a tunnel, it would have been absurd. The members of Heavenly Kill Valley were far more sensitive to vibrations than ordinary people.
With even a slight tremor, they could usually estimate how many people had entered and what they were doing.
Yet this hole had appeared in an incredibly short time.
Which meant...
‘What in the world is that monster?’
Was it even possible that the monster casually dealing with Heavenly Kill Valley's masters through finger flicks had broken through alone?
It was utterly bewildering.
Ho Gye-rang, the Chief of Heavenly Kill Valley, was a supreme master a step above even the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
Normally, Ho Gye-rang was not someone who would lose their will to fight before battle. Yet no matter how they thought about it, they could not find an answer for how to subdue that monster.
-Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!
A sound of something scraping against the walls came from the hole in the ceiling where sunlight poured in.
Soon, someone descended through the opening and landed on the cavern floor.
-Thud!
“Damn it.”
It was Kang Mu-i.
He had followed Mumu into the hole, but because it went straight down, he had picked up too much speed. Rather than fall blindly, he had carefully kicked off the walls in a zigzag as he descended.
Had he simply fallen, it would have been no different from falling from a height of ten li.
“What is this?”
Kang Mu-i frowned as he looked around.
Luminous Stones embedded in the walls and sunlight pouring through the hole made the cavern easy to see. Hundreds of masters with pale faces and constricted pupils surrounded Mumu.
‘Was that the sound of weapons?’
That fellow caused trouble wherever he went.
At that moment, the Heavenly Kill Valley masters, who regarded the suddenly appearing Kang Mu-i as another enemy, moved to attack.
Kang Mu-i snorted and shouted.
“Hey! Heavenly Kill Valley! I am Kang Mu-i, the owner of the Jade Medallion!”
“The owner of the Jade Medallion?”
“Kang Mu-i?”
-Murmur, murmur!
The Heavenly Kill Valley masters who had been about to attack all froze.
After all, the owner of the Jade Medallion was the future Master.
‘Young Master Mui?’
Ho Gye-rang also seemed to recognize Kang Mu-i from his shout, and a strange light flashed in their eyes.
Then someone else lightly descended through the hole in the ceiling and landed on the cavern floor.
-Tap!
It was Yang Mu-o.
The expressions of the Heavenly Kill Valley masters, who had yet to lower their guard, completely changed when Yang Mu-o appeared underground.
They had a deep connection with Yang Mu-o.
‘Even Young Master Mu O?’
Ho Gye-rang could not hide their confusion.
* * *
The cavern, its walls lit by Luminous Stones, was Ho Gye-rang's residence.
Ho Gye-rang, the Chief of Heavenly Kill Valley, sat beside Neung Man-ha, the Deputy Chief. Across from them sat Mumu in the middle, with Yang Mu-o and Kang Mu-i on either side.
Ho Gye-rang could not help feeling puzzled by the sight.
They had not asked while leading them inside and arranging seats, but both Yang Mu-o and Kang Mu-i seemed strangely mindful of the middle-aged man seated in the center.
In the end, Ho Gye-rang asked.
“Young Master Yang, may I ask who this person is?”
“I don't know whether news has reached this place.”
“What news?”
“Have you heard of Peerless Herculean Strength?”
Ho Gye-rang's and Neung Man-ha's eyes widened at the question.
Though Guizhou was far in the southwest, they had continued gathering information from across the Central Plains. There was no way they would not know.
“Peerless Herculean Strength, Mumu!”
Neung Man-ha could not hide their surprise.
Mumu was the supreme master causing the most controversy lately.
No one could easily believe that a seventeen-year-old new cadet of Changcheon Martial Academy had defeated two of the Four Immortal Masters, the Eastern River Sword Sage and the Western Wind Lone Angle.
Ho Gye-rang stared at Mumu's face in disbelief.
“But you seem far older than I heard...”
“He's wearing Skin Masks.”
Kang Mu-i cut in.
He had answered, but seemed uneasy about revealing Skin Masks. Without realizing it, he glanced sideways at Mumu.
Mumu did not seem to mind.
“I have my reasons for wearing Skin Masks.”
“Ah.” The youthful voice that did not suit the fierce middle-aged face made Ho Gye-rang nod in understanding.
Even so, Ho Gye-rang marveled inwardly.
They had thought it might be a false rumor, but perhaps it was not.
Ho Gye-rang cautiously spoke again.
“Then has Sir Peerless Herculean Strength perhaps been recruited by our Council...?”
“Recruited? Pfft.”
Kang Mu-i laughed.
His attitude annoyed Ho Gye-rang, but they were intimidated by Yang Mu-o's presence and Mumu's strength, so they hid their thoughts and asked, “Why do you say that?”
“This fellow is also the owner of a Jade Medallion.”
“What?”
Ho Gye-rang's expression stiffened as they looked at Mumu.
They seemed quite shocked.
Yang Mu-o let out a quiet breath and asked directly.
“Valley Chief, like the Grand Guardian, you served that person closely. Do you know of anyone besides the five of us who received a Jade Medallion?”
“...”
Ho Gye-rang's expression became strange.
Their reaction did not suggest ignorance. It felt as if they knew something.
Kang Mu-i seemed to sense it too. He interlaced his fingers on the table, rested his chin on them, and spoke in a low voice.
“If you know something, say it. This is extremely important, regardless of who becomes the future Master.”
“Ha...”
A quiet sigh escaped Ho Gye-rang.
They truly did know something.
After hesitating for a moment, Ho Gye-rang looked at Mumu and said,
“...I believed all of that person's vessels had been destroyed when the fortress burned. So that person truly made arrangements for a completed vessel.”
“Arrangements?”
“Yes. Aren't you Extreme?”
“Extreme?”
Mumu tilted his head.
What was that supposed to mean?
Seeing his confusion, Ho Gye-rang continued.
“I had wondered how someone only seventeen years old could possess such divine might. As expected, you must be Extreme's...”
-Crunch!
“Urk!”
Before they could finish speaking, a hand burst through Ho Gye-rang's chest, clutching their heart.
‘!!!!!’
“You!”
No one could hide their shock.
The owner of the hand that had pierced Ho Gye-rang from behind was none other than Neung Man-ha, the Deputy Chief.
Though Ho Gye-rang had let their guard down, they stared in stunned disbelief at Neung Man-ha, who had pierced straight through their body and seized their heart.
“Cough, cough...”
Yet there was something strange about Neung Man-ha.
Their two pupils rolled in different directions as if moving independently.
“What are you?”
-Crackle!
Kang Mu-i shouted as he unleashed thunder ki, one of the Three Spirit Beasts' powers.
Then Neung Man-ha's wandering pupils drew together at the center, and a voice different from before emerged from their mouth.
“So you have gathered in one place, my other selves.”
‘!?’
Yang Mu-o and Kang Mu-i's expressions stiffened at once.
Yang Mu-o, in particular, knew that voice all too well. Yang Mu-o's face turned white in an instant.
As that happened, Ho Gye-rang coughed and forced out a few words.
“Wh... why...?”
“Don't babble such pointless things.”
-Crunch!
The moment those words left Neung Man-ha's mouth, Ho Gye-rang's still-beating heart was crushed.
As their heart was crushed, Ho Gye-rang shed tears of blood and muttered something in shock.
Then their head dropped, and they died.
-Grind!
Kang Mu-i gritted his teeth.
“What are you? Did you really revive through the Crimson Profound Soul-Shifting Art?”
Instinctively, Kang Mu-i suspected that the person calling them other selves might be that damned bastard.
Rather than fear, rage rose within him.
“If you revived, you should've appeared before us properly. What kind of sick joke is this? To use someone no different from your right hand like this...”
-Squelch!
Before he could finish, Neung Man-ha pulled their hand from Ho Gye-rang's body.
Then, as if it were a trophy, they crunched into the crushed heart and ate it.
-Shiver!
Kang Mu-i was speechless for a moment.
The Overlord of Blood and Slaughter he had imagined all this time, believing the man to be his father, was someone who walked the tyrant's road without yielding even before thousands or tens of thousands of powerful foes.
But this was simply a demon.
After chewing the heart, Neung Man-ha smiled.
“I have no need for anything besides myself anymore, my other selves.”
‘Anything besides “me”?’
Yang Mu-o frowned.
What was this monstrous bastard talking about?
He could not understand it.
Then Neung Man-ha raised a hand toward them.
“The time has come. Join me...”
-Bang!
Before they could finish, Mumu split the table apart, seized Neung Man-ha by the neck, and slammed them into the cavern wall.
“You're becoming quite irritating.”
At Mumu's words, Neung Man-ha's pupils moved in different directions.
Though Mumu had them by the throat, they opened their mouth as if they felt no pain at all.
“You are Nothing.”
“Yes. But I don't feel like having a friendly conversation with you right now. You killed the Valley Chief, so I'll ask you directly.”
The corner of Neung Man-ha's mouth rose.
-Creak! Creak!
The muscles in Neung Man-ha's neck, no, throughout their entire body, swelled grotesquely, but the change did not stop there.
-Clench!
They seized Mumu's wrist, and their grip was incredibly powerful.
Neung Man-ha spoke to Mumu calmly.
“This vessel is quite different from the last one, so such a clumsy provocation will only harm you...”
Neung Man-ha could not finish.
They had tried to break Mumu's wrist, but it would not budge at all.
-Hissssss!
At that moment, Mumu's entire body turned black with heat, and steam poured from him.
Neung Man-ha, who had maintained a smile until then, narrowed their eyes.
Mumu spoke in a heavier voice than usual.
“I think you're the one provoking me. That clumsy body of yours is an insult to muscles.”
Footnotes:
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