WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
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◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 79: Massacre
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He ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath.
Two hundred.
It was by no means a small number.
Although the strongest among them had only reached Five Dragons Honoring the Sage, their numbers could not be ignored.
He was still recovering from his injuries.
He had sent his wife and child to someone he trusted.
They would certainly be safe for at least five years.
And whom did he owe all of this to?
Yi Do.
Yi Do had given him trust, so he had to repay it.
Two hundred assassins.
It would be difficult alone, but manageable.
“Hey, junior.”
Un Do-hyeon turned his head.
“I’ll cut them down. You stay as far to the rear as possible and chase down anyone who flees.”
“I’m the Deputy Branch Leader. Is it right for you to order me around?”
“Ahem.”
Un Do-hyeon snickered.
“You’re my senior, so I’ll let you save face.”
“The more I see you, the cuter you get, you brat.”
Un Do-hyeon waved a hand as if that was enough and drew his sword.
It happened almost instantly. Myeong-hyeon’s sword plunged into the head of the assassin rushing toward them.
Thud.
Before the sound had even faded, Slice. Another assassin beside him lost their head.
“Ah, sorry. There’s someone I need to impress today.”
Smiling faintly, Myeong-hyeon kicked out. An assassin’s abdomen exploded. Blood and flesh sprayed through the air.
Beyond that, he hurled the sword he was holding.
It pierced the heads of two assassins. Myeong-hyeon drew another sword from his waist.
Yaksha.
Who was he?
A martial artist who concealed his identity and cleaned up after the Sword Sovereign.
The name Yaksha was unknown to the world.
Yet the deeds he had carried out left traces behind. Those who saw those traces called the culprit the Blood-Shadow Sword.
Since no one knew his name, they all called him Nameless.
The Blood-Shadow Sword scattered blood everywhere and left no witnesses behind. All that remained was a clear trace of demonic qi.
Myeong-hyeon valued the swift sword.
The sword art he had previously used was the Ink Dragon Asura Sword Art.
Linked to the Ink Dragon Asura Art, it combined the principles of swift swordsmanship with demonic qi unleashed all at once, tearing opponents apart in an instant.
Even without a trace of demonic qi, the path of his sword did not change.
Myeong-hyeon’s sword split the head of the assassin charging at him in two. A sword came at him. He seized it with one hand, poured internal energy into its tip, and thrust it forward.
Thud.
A head was pierced, then exploded.
Blood drenched Myeong-hyeon’s face. He did not even blink. Spinning, he swung his sword wide.
Three heads fell to the ground. He licked his lips.
He picked up a sword from the ground and rushed forward. He saw an assassin. Their eyes met. He brought his sword down. The assassin reacted, but the blade sank deeply into their shoulder.
He let go of the sword, then drove the sword in his other hand into the assassin’s neck. Pulling it free, he knocked away a sword flying at him from behind.
He spun and kicked.
Crunch!
Fragments of an assassin’s exploded head scattered everywhere.
He killed.
Then killed again.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Laughing maniacally, Myeong-hyeon slaughtered the assassins.
Beside him, Un Do-hyeon was also slaughtering assassins, releasing clear internal energy. Their personalities differed, and so did their movements.
Myeong-hyeon was sharp and unrestrained, while Un Do-hyeon was controlled and steady.
Un Do-hyeon’s sword knocked away a sword flying toward him. He stepped back. Two throwing knives flew at him. He knocked them away one by one.
He saw an opening.
He thrust forward. A faint aura of the Five Elements gathered around his sword.
Crackcrackcrack!
Three assassins within its path were torn apart.
He drew back his sword and tilted his head back. A throwing knife passed before him.
He stepped back. A descending sword grazed the space before his nose and struck the ground. He thrust his sword forward.
Thud.
An assassin’s neck was pierced.
Un Do-hyeon and Myeong-hyeon moved steadily.
They killed and killed again.
Some fled, and Un Do-hyeon ran after them to finish them off. More wounds accumulated on Myeong-hyeon’s body, and more wounds accumulated on Un Do-hyeon’s body.
Unlike the terrified assassins, those two possessed absolute faith.
The source of that faith was, naturally, Yi Do.
Un Do-hyeon glanced to the side.
Yi Do was cutting apart a massive wave falling from the sky with his sword.
Clangggg!
The sound rang clearly in Myeong-hyeon and Un Do-hyeon’s ears.
Baaang!
The storm of qi unleashed by their collision made the assassins stagger.
It was an opportunity.
The two men charged in and beheaded five bewildered assassins at once.
Myeong-hyeon smiled.
And Un Do-hyeon smiled as well.
* * *
What did it mean to reach Five Qis Return to Origin?
It did not simply mean becoming stronger than those of lower realms.
Reaching Five Qis Return to Origin meant one could perceive intent.
There were countless things within that intent. And it shone in battle.
Where the opponent would attack. What kind of attack they would use.
One could read it.
That was why martial artists at the level of Five Qis Return to Origin were respected wherever they went.
I raised the Cloud Dragon Sword toward Han Beom-seong’s incoming fist.
The fist struck.
Booom!
My body slid backward. Its destructive power was considerable.
A strange brown light was pouring from Han Beom-seong’s body. It was the energy of earth among the Five Elements.
Reaching the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth meant one could use the energy of the Five Elements. Ordinarily, martial artists below that level could not face those of the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth.
Their energy was vastly superior to ordinary energy. Fighting them at all was impossible.
However.
I could do it.
Because I used Properly Aligned Qi.
Three rings spun fiercely. I knocked away Han Beom-seong’s incoming fist, then deflected the next one.
Strength flowed into my legs.
Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning.
My body shot forward with lightning speed. Matching that speed, I swung the Cloud Dragon Sword.
Heaven-Crossing Thunder Sword Formula.
Rumble!
With a clap of thunder, Slice. Han Beom-seong’s shoulder was cut open. I turned my head faster than the spraying blood.
His fist was coming.
I tilted my head aside.
Slice.
My cheek was cut.
We were close. I swung the sword hilt. It was blocked by Han Beom-seong’s wrist. Then his arm moved, and he grabbed the blade of the Cloud Dragon Sword.
That was fine.
I had expected it.
I reached out with my left hand and grabbed Han Beom-seong by the solar plexus. His brow furrowed. I shoved hard to the side, and Han Beom-seong’s body spun through the air.
I kicked out.
Even with his balance broken, Han Beom-seong threw a punch.
My foot struck Han Beom-seong’s solar plexus, and Han Beom-seong’s fist struck mine.
Booom!
Han Beom-seong crashed into the ground, while I was flung far away. I planted the Cloud Dragon Sword, which I still had not released, into the ground and regained my balance.
The moment I raised my head, a fist shot toward my face.
Fast.
He had regained his balance before me and rushed over in an instant with the power of Natural Qi.
The direction.
And.
Han Beom-seong’s intent that I could sense.
That was definitely the Heaven-Breaking Twelve-Link Fist.
Its defining trait was twelve attacks coming in succession from unpredictable postures and directions.
I did not evade. I slammed my forehead into the fist.
Bang!
Han Beom-seong was startled. Yet his fist came again. I tensed my legs and moved.
Heavenly Mechanism Divine Steps.
Kunlun’s footwork unfolded at its peak. I avoided the incoming fist. I avoided the fist coming from my blind spot as well.
A fist came straight at me.
I brought my elbow down hard.
Booom!
His fist embedded itself in the ground. The cratered floor could not disrupt my balance.
I had expected it.
I thrust the Cloud Dragon Sword forward. Its target was Han Beom-seong’s neck. Shocked, he desperately threw his head aside.
Slice!
I cut his neck, precisely one inch deep.
Not enough.
I pushed off the ground and reached out. My hand seized Han Beom-seong’s shoulder.
Cloud Dragon Grappling.
Even if my arm was crushed, I had no intention of letting go.
Once I had gained the advantage, I had to settle the fight there.
No matter how Properly Aligned Qi allowed me to contend with him, and no matter how I could read a certain degree of intent after reaching Five Qis Return to Origin.
The difference in realm could never be ignored.
The flustered Han Beom-seong was startled once more by what I did next.
I released the Cloud Dragon Sword.
My hand felt light. I clenched it into a fist and struck.
Crack!
Han Beom-seong’s face snapped back. I struck again.
Thud.
This time, he blocked it.
“You caught it?”
I drove my knee upward.
Crack!
Han Beom-seong’s body bent back. At the same time, his grip on my arm tightened.
Crush.
Flesh twisted and bone shattered. It hurt, but I showed nothing. Only then did he release me.
I extended my ruined hand behind me.
Even if it was crushed, I could still use it.
That was enough.
I gathered all my energy into the index finger of my right hand.
An immense light, bright enough to illuminate the dark night in an instant, gathered at my fingertip.
Han Beom-seong was aghast.
I ignored him.
And thrust forward.
Thud.
My index finger sank into Han Beom-seong’s solar plexus.
It was Heaven-Trunk One-Finger Art, one of Kunlun’s ultimate techniques.
They said Kunlun’s Sect Leader had once blown apart a mountain with it.
I was not at that level, but blowing apart one person was not difficult.
Properly Aligned Qi.
I detonated it all at once.
Booom!
Han Beom-seong’s body exploded. At the same time, I frowned.
It hurt. It felt as though my index finger had been torn off.
Properly Aligned Qi was extraordinary, but the body supporting it still had to be healthy. I had contained so much Properly Aligned Qi in a shattered hand. This pain was only natural.
I grabbed the Cloud Dragon Sword from the ground with my left hand and walked forward.
Han Beom-seong stared blankly at the sky.
He could not help it.
Both his arms had been severed, and his upper and lower body had been separated.
I had intended to explode his entire body at once, but Han Beom-seong’s effort to somehow disperse that energy at the last moment had paid off.
At least he had prevented his whole body from exploding.
He was impressive enough, but the fight was over.
“...Cough... You... What exactly are you...?”
Han Beom-seong seemed to have many questions.
Understandably so.
“...How can you, someone no more than Five Qis Return to Origin... read and react to the intent of someone in the Creation Realm?!”
I looked down at the enraged Han Beom-seong. I understood perfectly.
Even before reaching Five Qis Return to Origin, I had predicted my opponents’ attacks. Those movements had relied entirely on my experience.
After reaching Five Qis Return to Origin, I could read even a small degree of intent from masters of the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth. Combined with my experience, this result was only natural.
I had faced more than thousands of opponents. A mere master of the Creation Realm?
It truly was not difficult.
I pointed the Cloud Dragon Sword at Han Beom-seong’s neck.
“Are those your final words?”
“...You are a demonic practitioner. There is no other way to explain this situation unless you are one!”
I snickered.
“I do not wish to blame your ignorance, but if you wish to excuse your own inadequacies in that way... I have nothing to say.”
I slowly pushed my sword forward.
“Farewell.”
Thud.
I turned my head.
Myeong-hyeon, who had just driven a sword into the last assassin’s neck, turned his head as well.
He smiled and walked toward me.
He staggered, but he walked over nonetheless.
He spoke.
“You worked hard.”
I quietly looked over his body.
He looked as though he had bathed in blood. Wounds were visible all over him. Stab wounds. Cuts.
It was horrific.
Even so, he had not lost his smile. It was surely habitual.
“You overdid it.”
“I have to overdo it if I want to impress the Branch Master.”
I shook my head.
“What use is that if you die?”
“...”
“You did well.”
He smiled brightly. This smile was surely sincere.
Then.
“You did well too.”
“No.”
Compared to Myeong-hyeon, Un Do-hyeon was relatively unscathed. Of course, he was not without injuries, but it was obvious that Myeong-hyeon had fought at the front while Un Do-hyeon supported him.
My right hand throbbed. My wrist was completely crushed.
“...Shouldn’t you treat that?”
“It’s fine. It’ll heal after I sleep.”
“...Is that so? Could you give me your arm for a moment?”
I held it out.
Un Do-hyeon tore the clean inner garment he wore, then broke his own scabbard. He placed fragments of the broken scabbard against my wrist and bound it with the torn cloth.
The pain of protruding bone fragments being forced back inside rang through my mind, but I did not show it.
“...I set the bones.”
I nodded.
Myeong-hyeon, who had been watching Un Do-hyeon and me with an odd expression, pointed at the dead Han Beom-seong beneath my feet.
“So, you’re not really some master from an earlier generation who underwent Rejuvenation... right?”
“No.”
“...But you killed a master of the Creation Realm even though you are not.”
I had once been one of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven. No matter how lacking my realm was, it made no sense that I could not kill him.
I extended my sword and cut off Han Beom-seong’s head.
Then I sheathed the Cloud Dragon Sword and picked up Han Beom-seong’s head.
“Why are you taking that? Do you collect them?”
“I have a use for it.”
“...You’re not planning to send it to the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, are you?”
I smiled.
“There is a time for everything.”
“...”
“I will send it, but not now.”
Myeong-hyeon shrugged.
I spoke calmly.
“Erase as many traces as possible of Han Beom-seong and me fighting here. Especially Han Beom-seong’s corpse. Burn it, melt it, erase it somehow.”
These two understood what that meant.
I had never fought Han Beom-seong here.
Han Beom-seong had never come here.
Or perhaps he had run away alone before arriving here.
To force the story together somehow, there could be no trace that he and I had fought.
Myeong-hyeon seemed to have roughly caught on.
“You must have done this with the Golden Heaven Divine Sword too.”
“You two are here now.”
“...”
“Erase it.”
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