WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 68: Total Annihilation
──────
Is this really right?
That was Myeong-hyeon’s thought.
Pung Bi-chang sprang from his seat. His fist shot toward Yi Do’s face. Yi Do swung his sword.
KRAAASH!!
Yi Do took two steps back, while Pung Bi-chang took one.
Pung Bi-chang shouted.
“I’ll hack that bastard’s limbs off and kill him myself, so kill the other two bastards!”
The Jangam Branch members shouted back.
“Yes, sir!”
They charged.
That was right.
They charged.
Myeong-hyeon raised his head.
Excluding Pung Bi-chang, there were nineteen Jangam Branch members in total.
Ten of them were charging at Myeong-hyeon.
The strongest among them had reached Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. The man rushing at him as though Myeong-hyeon were the mortal enemy who had killed his parents was In Hak, the Jangam Branch’s Deputy Branch Leader.
Myeong-hyeon clicked his tongue.
Tsk.
Assuming he did not use Demonic arts, the greatest power Myeong-hyeon could draw out was Five Dragons Honoring the Sage.
He wore Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows on both arms.
Honestly, Myeong-hyeon did not particularly like using concealed weapons like these, but he had no choice.
More importantly, the ten men charging at him had not even stopped to think.
They were rushing in so stupidly that Myeong-hyeon was almost taken aback.
A glance to the side showed Un Do-hyeon in much the same situation. The only difference was that Un Do-hyeon was smiling.
There was not a single sane person anywhere.
Or perhaps I’m not sane either.
Myeong-hyeon stretched out both arms and fired the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows.
Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft!
Hundreds of needles flew at the Jangam Branch martial artists in an instant.
Only one person reacted.
In Hak, the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown master, stopped short with a horrified expression and bent his body sharply backward. He nearly fell to the ground.
It was the right choice.
The other nine branch members were all struck by the Bone-Melting Needles.
“AAAAARGH!!”
Their screams rang through Three Phoenix County.
It was gruesome. Their robes melted, then their flesh, then their bones. Those struck in the head died immediately. Those struck in the limbs writhed in agony before dying as the bone-melting acid spread through them.
“You... demonic bastards...”
Myeong-hyeon snickered at In Hak’s words.
“This isn’t even a life-and-death duel, and you came at us as a group. What were we supposed to do? Just die?”
In Hak clenched his teeth, apparently having nothing to say. More importantly...
“...That must have been all the concealed weapons you had.”
Myeong-hyeon shrugged.
Then he set the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow on his left arm on the ground. It had indeed been spent. He left the one on his right arm in place.
In Hak charged. His fist flew toward Myeong-hyeon’s head.
Startled, Myeong-hyeon threw his head back. The fist grazed past him by an inch. He stepped back and swung a kick at In Hak’s side, but it was blocked by In Hak’s elbow.
Myeong-hyeon smiled.
The Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow on his right arm was aimed directly at In Hak’s face.
The needles fired.
In Hak forcefully shoved Myeong-hyeon’s leg aside and threw his head back. He was lucky. The needles skimmed past him.
But a sword cut across his back.
Slice!
It was Un Do-hyeon.
In Hak’s brow furrowed deeply.
“...You bastards...”
In Hak’s fist shot out in an instant and struck Un Do-hyeon in the solar plexus. Un Do-hyeon’s face twisted in pain as he staggered back.
Myeong-hyeon, meanwhile, was looking around.
There were people watching, but they were far away.
Their realms were, at most, Five Dragons Honoring the Sage.
He would swear that none of them could notice.
Myeong-hyeon opened some of his sealed qi channels. Every sense in his body awakened.
His foot pushed off the ground, and his kick struck In Hak in the abdomen.
“Urgh...”
In Hak slid backward. His face was full of surprise.
No, it was shock.
“...You, surely...”
He could not finish.
This time, Un Do-hyeon moved.
Un Do-hyeon’s sword thrust straight ahead. Small spheres floated around it. They were faint, but they contained the energy of the Five Elements.
In Hak threw a punch.
KRAAASH!!
Un Do-hyeon’s sword arm bent backward under the tremendous force. He desperately regained his balance.
The Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow in his other hand was aimed directly at In Hak’s face.
The needles immediately fired.
In Hak hurriedly twisted aside and avoided them again.
But he could not avoid Myeong-hyeon’s sword.
Thunk!
Myeong-hyeon’s sword pierced In Hak’s solar plexus.
As In Hak fell with a thud, Un Do-hyeon aimed the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow at his face.
There were exactly three needles left.
“St... stop... Let’s talk first...”
They had talked enough.
Even if it had been a lucky victory, winning was what mattered.
Un Do-hyeon smiled.
“Farewell.”
He shifted the Bone-Melting Needle Crossbow’s aim.
Not at In Hak’s face, but his throat.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
All three needles struck In Hak’s throat.
“Kh... kkh...”
His throat melted away.
Un Do-hyeon turned his head.
“...Thank you.”
“Our junior is more polite than I expected.”
Myeong-hyeon patted Un Do-hyeon’s shoulder.
“As long as you know that.”
“Close your qi channels first.”
Myeong-hyeon snickered and turned his head. Un Do-hyeon did the same.
Yi Do and Pung Bi-chang were fighting as they destroyed the ground and buildings around them.
* * *
Pung Bi-chang’s fist shot straight toward me.
I twisted my body aside.
BOOM!
A tremendous amount of inner energy burst from his fist as it struck empty air, wreaking havoc in every direction.
I used Heavenly Steed Divine Steps to move back. His fist darted toward me again and swept past my front. I avoided it, but the building across from us collapsed.
I knew that martial art.
Heaven-Breaking Single Fist.
It was a martial art learned by elder-ranking members of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect.
Shin Gong-baek, the Hundred-Household Commander I had faced before, had used the Yellow Dragon Fist Art. This was similar.
The difference was that the Yellow Dragon Fist Art required the direction of one’s footwork to align properly for its full power. This did not.
At any time and in any situation, its fist could carry a consistent level of destructive force.
At the Creation Realm or Divine Entrance Realm, that destructive force could nearly split a mountain in half.
Just as it had brought down that building.
I thrust the Cloud Dragon Sword forward. He knocked it aside.
I spun and swung a kick at the side of his head, but he did not so much as flinch. A killing smile spread across his lips.
As I set my foot down and regained my stance, his fist shot toward me.
I brought down the Cloud Dragon Sword.
Heaven-Crossing Thunder Sword Formula.
My sword and his fist met.
KRAAASH!!
I slid backward.
A considerable distance opened between us. Even so, Pung Bi-chang did not relax his stance. From there, he threw three punches in succession.
Reading their paths, I twisted my body. Masses of inner energy shaped like fists flew from his punches, one grazing past me, then another.
I cut the one coming straight at me apart with the Cloud Dragon Sword.
Heaven-Crossing Thunder Sword Formula.
RUMBLE!
Slice!
I glanced behind me.
Two taverns were collapsing.
Heaven-Breaking Three Dagger Fists.
That was another martial art taught only to elders of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect.
I had only seen it in passing before, but I had heard that Pung Bi-chang was the direct disciple of Han Beom-seong, an elder of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect.
It was unmistakably his martial art.
“You’re not bad, but you’re only this much. Now our branch members will deal with your two subordinates...”
Pung Bi-chang suddenly froze.
Only then did he realize what had happened outside.
He had realized that everyone but him was dead.
Crack.
His fist clenched tightly.
“...I-I’ll kill you all.”
He kicked off the ground.
I watched him calmly.
My martial realm was Heavenly Flowers Scattering.
If I used the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Arts, I could take his life in a single move. But there were too many watching eyes here.
I had to face him using only the power of Heavenly Flowers Scattering.
It was not enough to fight a master who had fully reached Five Qis Return to Origin.
But I could draw out the power of Five Qis Return to Origin, if only temporarily.
He did not know that.
I had already set the board.
Now it was time to end this.
I kicked off the ground and used Heavenly Steed Divine Steps with all my strength.
His fist shot toward me.
I brought down the Cloud Dragon Sword.
It was the same situation as before. A sneer appeared at Pung Bi-chang’s lips.
Until now, I had never managed to properly deflect his fist. I had always been pushed back.
I had to shatter his expectations of what would come next.
Only then did the three rings begin to spin.
The light surrounding my sword grew denser.
It was not ordinary sword aura.
It was concentrated force aura.
His fist and my sword met.
KRAAASH!!
I did not get pushed back.
Instead, Pung Bi-chang was forced back.
“Uh... uh...?”
I rushed forward.
Startled, he threw out a kick.
Heaven-Breaking Kick.
I avoided it with Heavenly Steed Divine Steps and circled to his side in an instant.
I brought down the Cloud Dragon Sword.
Not at his head, but at his leg.
Crunch!
I couldn't cut through it, but the sword lodged in the middle of his thigh.
Pung Bi-chang’s eyes flashed.
His palm shot toward me.
It was faster than anything he had shown so far.
I swung the Cloud Dragon Sword upward with all my strength.
BANG!
The sword lodged in his palm, but his hand continued toward me.
I let go of the Cloud Dragon Sword and twisted aside.
His palm skimmed past my face.
I drew Properly Aligned Qi to its limit, through my muscles, arms, nerves, and joints.
A refreshing energy enveloped my entire body.
Then I threw a punch.
Crack!
Pung Bi-chang’s body bent sideways.
I swung my other fist.
BANG!
Struck in the solar plexus, he staggered backward.
I spun and swung a kick.
Thwack!
Pung Bi-chang’s left shoulder shattered completely.
Startled, he brought down his elbow.
But I had read it all.
Its power, direction, and destructive force.
I opened my hand and extended it gently. The instant it touched the side of Pung Bi-chang’s elbow, my eyes flashed.
Moving Flowers, Grafting Trees.
The direction of his attack changed.
More than that, Pung Bi-chang’s balance completely collapsed.
His expression was filled with questions.
As though he could not understand how I knew the secret of such a supreme art.
As though he could not understand how this was possible.
But I had no reason to answer.
His opening was fully exposed.
I reached out and grabbed his Adam’s apple.
Despair filled Pung Bi-chang’s eyes.
Crunch.
I crushed it and threw him behind me.
I turned my head.
Myeong-hyeon and Un Do-hyeon were looking at me with admiration.
I spoke briefly.
“Good work.”
“No, sir.”
Un Do-hyeon answered, while Myeong-hyeon shrugged.
That longing in Un Do-hyeon’s eyes was not bad.
“Un Do-hyeon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Now, the promise made back then can be kept.”
“...My lord...”
“A person does not die immediately just because their neck is crushed.”
I looked down at Pung Bi-chang, who lay on the ground, twitching.
“They remain conscious for a while. And that bastard is probably listening to our conversation right now. So...”
So.
“Cut off his head yourself.”
Un Do-hyeon gripped his sword tightly.
“Thank you!”
Slice!
Pung Bi-chang’s neck was severed.
Today, the Jangam Branch had been annihilated.
After remaining silent, Myeong-hyeon asked,
“What will you do now?”
“Is there not only one choice?”
“...Surely, you do not mean that?”
A smile formed on my lips.
I took a letter from my robes.
“Un Do-hyeon, go deliver this letter to No Dae-won.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Un Do-hyeon left.
Myeong-hyeon sighed and approached me.
“I think my worst suspicion was right, but are there not too few people?”
I did not deny it.
“Wait.”
Myeong-hyeon tilted his head in confusion. Then he slowly turned around.
Around thirty martial artists were approaching us.
“...When did you call them?”
“Before I came here.”
“...Then could you not have called them a little earlier?”
I shook my head.
The Three Phoenix Branch had to be the one to annihilate the Jangam Branch. If we borrowed someone else’s hands, the meaning would be diminished.
No matter what happened, Un Do-hyeon, Myeong-hyeon, and I had to kill all twenty of them ourselves.
And we had.
That was enough.
“I sent letters to the clans that had affixed their blood handprints. I told them to come if they wished to stand with us, and to remain silent if they did not.”
“...”
“Still, not all of them remained silent.”
There were around thirty martial artists.
Judging by their clothes, they were all warriors of the Hong Clan.
Hong Ja-myeong, the Hong Clan’s second son, stood at the front. He approached me and offered a respectful cupped-fist salute.
“We wish to help.”
“Will you not regret this?”
“No, we will not. We believe this is right.”
“The result may be the extermination of your clans.”
“Others may not be prepared for that, but we are.”
This was only the beginning.
The Cheonggang Sword Gate, Un Clan Manor, and the Myeong Clan of Three Phoenix County.
The martial artists of those three groups joined us. There were around sixty of them in total.
Together with the Hong Clan warriors, there were ninety.
Not long afterward, Un Do-hyeon returned.
Without the slightest hesitation, he came before me and knelt.
Myeong-hyeon knelt as well. Following their lead, all ninety martial artists behind them knelt.
Looking down at them, I slowly opened my mouth.
“I never leave debts and grudges unsettled.”
It felt strange to say it myself, but it was true.
“I do not intend to speak at length. If this ends badly, all your clans will be exterminated. But if it succeeds, what you gain will exceed your imagination.”
That was certain.
The reason was clear.
“Today, we will exterminate the thirteen sects of Jangam County and seize the entire county. Are you prepared?”
“Yes!”
Their voices rang out loudly.
I liked that.
“Let us depart.”
Still kneeling, everyone offered a cupped-fist salute.
“Yes, my lord!”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
