WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 48: Invincible (2)
──────
-Clank!
One of the Ki-Restraining Bracelets, which had suppressed Mumu's strength as much as possible, was released.
-Goooooooo!
‘W-what is this...?’
-Flinch!
Overwhelmed by an unimaginable pressure, Yang Mu-o instinctively pulled a hand away from Mumu and stepped back.
At that moment, Mumu grabbed Yang Mu-o by the head.
-Grab!
Startled, Yang Mu-o tried to shake Mumu off with a palm strike carrying a wave of force, but could not so much as scratch Mumu, let alone make Mumu budge.
Mumu's strength had become incomparably greater than it had been moments ago.
‘This bastard's strength...’
The difference was impossible to miss.
Even the being possessing Yang Mu-o had not expected such a sudden change.
Yang Mu-o realized one thing with certainty.
‘If I don't bring him down completely, I can't reclaim this vessel.’
Yang Mu-o's goal had been to reclaim the vessel with as little damage as possible, but that no longer seemed possible, so Yang Mu-o changed his approach.
Yang Mu-o could not use full strength in this body, but wielding the sword of will posed no problem.
‘Heart Sword!’
The Heart Sword was, as its name implied, a sword of the heart.
The Heart Sword could be used at any time as long as its consumption of mental strength remained low, regardless of the vessel occupied.
Yang Mu-o extended the sword-finger seal toward Mumu.
With powerful will, Yang Mu-o formed a mental image of slashing Mumu's heart and every internal organ with a sword.
A powerful will ultimately makes such an image real.
‘Heart Means Death!’
Yang Mu-o would kill this bastard with the sword of the heart and seize the vessel.
-Swooooooosh!
The instant Yang Mu-o's powerful will activated, sharp ki weapons radiated in every direction.
The cavern floor split apart, and sword marks appeared even across the ceiling.
‘Die!’
Yang Mu-o glared at Mumu with eyes full of killing intent.
Then...
“What am I supposed to do about that?”
‘!?’
Mumu stood there without a care.
His insides should have been torn to shreds by the Heart Sword. He should have been unable to endure the pain.
Yet Mumu only raised one eyebrow, as though asking what Yang Mu-o thought he was doing.
Yang Mu-o's face stiffened.
“How are you unaffected by the Heart Sword?”
The Heart Sword was called the highest realm.
The sword of will could break even steel and overcome all things.
How could Mumu stand there with such an untroubled expression?
Mumu answered casually.
“A sword of the heart or whatever, isn't it just something you're imagining by yourself?”
“What?”
“There doesn't seem to be any reason to believe a sword that isn't even there exists.”
‘!!!!!’
At those words, Yang Mu-o was dumbfounded.
Though the Heart Sword was a sword of will, it was not nothing. It was something real, a manifestation of will.
Yet Mumu had firmly believed that the sword of the heart had never existed in the first place, denying the Heart Sword itself.
This was not a simple denial.
‘Did he wield a will stronger than mine, strong enough to negate my will?’
It was bewildering.
Mumu was Martial Nothing. Because Mumu lacked Martial Arts, Extreme had been chosen.
Yet through his own will, Mumu had denied and canceled out the Heart Sword that Yang Mu-o had attained over many years by means of his innate talent.
The more single-minded the will, the more clearly it manifested.
For Mumu to cancel out the Heart Sword meant that he had fewer distracting thoughts than Yang Mu-o and was closer to pure single-mindedness.
‘A vessel unaffected by the Heart Sword...’
Yang Mu-o's lips twitched with delight.
This was an unexpected opportunity.
Yang Mu-o had wanted to reclaim Mumu because the body had surpassed the limits of flesh, but now it had revealed an even more exceptional quality.
Mumu had reached completion in a direction unlike Extreme.
“Excellent.”
Yang Mu-o admitted it.
Like Extreme, this body was the vessel Yang Mu-o had sought.
That only deepened Yang Mu-o's desire for it.
Smiling darkly, Yang Mu-o spoke to Mumu.
“I'll withdraw for today, my other self. Before long, you'll come to me on your own two feet...”
At that very moment...
“Who said I'd let you?”
-Bang!
In an instant, Mumu closed the distance between them.
Mumu was right in front of Yang Mu-o, but Yang Mu-o had already decided to abandon this body and did not dodge, only smiled.
Mumu clenched his fist and drew it back.
The instant he did, Yang Mu-o's eyes wavered.
‘This is...?’
As Mumu pulled back his fist, Yang Mu-o saw space itself distort.
The moment Yang Mu-o saw it, instinct warned that this punch was unlike ordinary force.
Rather than take the blow, Yang Mu-o chose to destroy the body instead.
-Bulge! Bulge!
Black veins rose across Yang Mu-o's face.
Self-destruction was not difficult.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Mu-o's skin split apart as the body swelled on the verge of exploding.
Then Mumu's fist struck at the instant the attempted self-destruction began.
-Bang!
-Kwaaaaaaang!
Mumu's upward-angled punch blew away Yang Mu-o's head just as the body was about to explode, then tore through the deep earth with unstoppable force.
Once the aftermath ended, half the cavern had vanished, and brilliant sunlight poured down from above.
“...Ha.”
Kang Mu-i was left speechless by the sight.
They had been ten li underground.
Yet now the blue sky and sun were visible above them.
Mumu had blown away about ten li of solid ground.
‘Are you truly some godlike being?’
Calling it power beyond human limits was not enough.
It was the power of disaster, a calamity given form.
It was invincibility itself, a power no one could resist.
-Gulp!
Kang Mu-i could not speak as he swallowed hard.
Mumu looked at him.
“Is your body all right?”
Kang Mu-i finally came to his senses and nodded.
“I'm fine.”
But...
‘...Yang Mu-o.’
Yang Mu-o's body had exploded and become nothing but blood.
Yang Mu-o had resisted being a vessel so fiercely, yet in the end, had died as one.
Kang Mu-i could only feel sorrow for that end.
-Grit!
For some reason, anger welled up inside him.
It was not because he shared some deep bond with Yang Mu-o.
The situation itself enraged him.
They had been born for no purpose other than becoming vessels for that damned bastard.
Seeing the dead Yang Mu-o made that reality strike home even harder.
Staring at what remained of Yang Mu-o, Kang Mu-i spoke with fury.
“We need to find him before he does anything.”
With Mumu's strength, perhaps he could stand against that bastard.
Kang Mu-i had just watched Mumu remain untouched even by the Heart Sword, called the highest realm.
Perhaps Mumu was their hope.
“Otherwise, he'll come after you and my body somehow. All he ever talks about is vessels.”
“That's true.”
Mumu nodded in agreement.
The problem was that they had no idea where that bastard was.
Kang Mu-i believed Grand Guardian Seo Yong-chu, the Towering Giant, held the answer.
Yet Ho Gye-rang, Chief of Heavenly Kill Valley, who knew Seo Yong-chu's location, was dead.
To prevent that, the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter had likely appeared through Neung Man-ha, another of his vessels, and killed Ho Gye-rang.
Still, he had overlooked something.
‘He took Ho Gye-rang and Yang Mu-o too lightly.’
Before dying, Ho Gye-rang had used every last bit of strength to mouth something silently.
It had been a location.
[Bosan... Bosan... Bosan...]
Ho Gye-rang had definitely said Bosan.
Yang Mu-o had noticed it and, before dying, desperately relayed the same thing to Kang Mu-i, just as Ho Gye-rang had.
“I can't be certain, but Ho Gye-rang and Yang Mu-o mentioned a location before they died.”
“A location?”
“Yes. I think it's where the Grand Guardian is.”
“Where is it?”
“If I read their lips correctly, it's a place called Bosan.”
Bosan.
It was a mountain region full of deep valleys in western Yunnan.
* * *
The southernmost reaches of Gansu.
A vast cavern hidden deep within Wudu.
-Fwoosh!
Countless torches hung on the walls, lighting the dark cavern.
At its center, around two hundred people of various ages had their eyes closed, focused on something.
Strangely, their expressions all looked alike.
It was as if they could see the same thing despite having their eyes shut.
For a while, silence filled the cavern.
Then it suddenly broke.
-Flash!
Around one hundred people opened their eyes at once and threw back their heads.
Some clutched their heads as if suffering from a terrible headache, while others broke into a cold sweat and furrowed their brows.
Then they all muttered the same words.
“We've been struck.”
As around two hundred people spoke at once, their voices echoed through the cavern.
They wore the same expressions and said the same words, a sight so unsettling it was almost monstrous.
Their lips curled into sinister smiles.
Then their eyes turned toward the platform in the cavern.
A massive stone throne rose there like a dragon throne, and a handsome boy who looked about eighteen sat upon it.
-Trickle...
A drop of blood ran down from the boy's forehead.
‘!?’
The eyes of the two hundred people sharpened.
The boy seated on the stone throne was the core, holding at least forty percent of the soul.
Someone beside the throne spoke to the boy.
“What happened?”
The one who asked was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties.
That young man was Mu Il.
At Mu Il's question, the boy on the throne slowly wiped away the blood running from the forehead to the cheek.
“Why are you bleeding?”
The being wearing Mu Il's appearance asked.
The reason was simple.
At the final moment, they had all seen the same thing and suffered pain indirectly.
That pain came from sharing the soul.
Yet the boy on the throne had taken a direct hit.
“...It seems that bastard's punch struck the soul directly.”
“A direct strike against the soul? Is that possible?”
“This is no longer a question of possibility. He has completely surpassed everything we envisioned for the vessel. It means another vessel has appeared, one that could replace even Extreme, the finest body.”
“I agree,” Mu Il said with a nod.
They had seen the same things and shared the same soul, emotions, and memories. They understood one another's thoughts without needing lengthy discussions.
“We need to bring that vessel into our fold.”
“The vessel's strength has surpassed what we anticipated. Only One or Extreme, who can exert full power, can subdue him.”
“I agree. You are One, and I am Extreme. We will reclaim the vessel.”
“Understood.”
“But to make certain, it seems we need to apply some mental pressure as well.”
At those words, a middle-aged figure below the platform climbed up and spoke.
“If we bring down the people around Nothing one by one, it should lead to a mental collapse.”
A woman beside them continued.
“We only need to target those connected to Nothing. Inspector Censor Yu Jin-sung at the Imperial Palace.”
An elderly figure behind them picked up the rest.
“Yu Jin-hyeok at Changcheon Martial Academy, and Yu Yeop-kyung, the adoptive father who raised Mumu, the man known as Nothing who later disappeared from Kaifeng.”
Mu Il smiled darkly.
“If we pressure the others who are close to him one by one as well, we should be able to wear down his mind.”
“I, Extreme, agree with that scheme.”
“We agree!!!!”
Around two hundred people spoke the same words at once.
The sight of them wearing identical expressions and speaking in unison was deeply chilling.
Extreme rose from the stone throne.
“Since everyone agrees, we will proceed with the plan...”
-Rumble!
‘!?’
-Kwaaaang!
Before the words could finish, the cavern shook as if an earthquake had struck.
A huge crash came from above, and a hole burst through the ceiling as someone landed on the floor.
-Bang!
The ground around the person's firmly planted feet cracked and collapsed for about ten jang.
Everyone's eyes turned there at once.
As the dust cleared, a peculiar gleam appeared in the eyes of the two hundred people.
The person who had suddenly broken through the ceiling was Mumu.
-Crack! Crack!
Mumu lightly rolled his neck, then spoke in a pointed voice as he gestured toward Extreme seated on the stone throne.
“Who said I'd let you do that?”
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
