WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 17: Flag (4)
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Whoooooosh!
Grasping the dead boy’s head, Mok GyeongUn used the movement of Adhesion.
Before long, he had absorbed all the deathly energy remaining in the boy.
‘Nice.’
Mok GyeongUn smiled.
He had absorbed deathly aura from no fewer than sixteen people.
Even though his ki gateways were sealed and he could not gather it in his dantian, the energy flowing through his blood meridians was enough to fill his entire body.
He had been quite fortunate.
Eleven had died fighting among themselves from the start, and the remaining five had been badly exhausted.
That was why he had been able to kill them with almost no effort.
“This is convenient.”
-Those fools brought this upon themselves.
Blue Spirit agreed with Mok GyeongUn.
Because the Golden Gate Locks had sealed everyone’s ki gateways, the situation favored Mok GyeongUn.
If they had been able to use internal energy, killing the boys like this would have been difficult.
But thanks to that, he was easily securing deathly aura.
‘Well, if they were all going to die through this competition anyway, it is better for them to become this mortal’s deathly aura.’
She had been a vengeful spirit from the beginning.
Thus, she did not feel particularly sorry for them.
Besides, this was a place where they killed one another to pass the gate. There was no point in dwelling on such things.
-So that must be the flag.
“It seems so.”
Mok GyeongUn set down the head he had been holding and approached the flag.
He had no intention of claiming it yet, but since it was the objective of this gate, he could not help looking at it.
-What will you do with the flag? If you do not intend to claim it now, break it and throw it away.
“I should.”
-Or carrying one around beforehand may be useful later.
“That is not a bad idea either.”
As he spoke, Mok GyeongUn reached for the flagpole, then abruptly stared at a spot on it.
Even with his internal energy sealed, his five senses were far sharper than an ordinary person’s.
-What is it?
“There is something written on the flagpole, just below the flag.”
-What is?
“Hmm. Three-Form Sword Finger, Bright Rain Startling Flash, Sword Has a Constant Stance...”
Blue Spirit immediately recognized what it was as she listened to Mok GyeongUn read the verse formula.
-That... is a verse formula for techniques of a sword style.
“A sword style? It sounds like it.”
Since it was a verse formula that described the movements of techniques, Mok GyeongUn agreed.
“But why would something like this be written here?”
-Read the rest.
“Non-Abiding Immortal Formula, Sword and Self as One, Spiritual Beast’s Slumbering Stance...”
After reading on, Mok GyeongUn said,
“That is all.”
-What? That is all?
Mok GyeongUn asked, puzzled by Blue Spirit’s questioning voice.
“Is there a problem?”
-The technique seems to cut off midway.
“It cuts off midway?”
-Yes. If this is all there is to the technique, it leaves openings at four vital acupoints: Crooked Pool, Body Pillar, Kunlun, and Crook’s Center.
“Then it is an incomplete technique?”
-It does not seem to be. It is more grounded than an advanced sword style, and the movements are arranged so they do not overlap...
“So?”
-It seems to be a technique created for a Sword Formation.
“A Sword Formation is like a Formation Array formed with swords?”
-That is right. But with these techniques alone, its weaknesses are obvious. Even if you form a Sword Formation, its combined attacks will only be crude.
“Crude? Ha. That is an amusing expression.”
-I did not say it to amuse you. More importantly, there must be a reason they deliberately wrote an incomplete sword technique here.
Mok GyeongUn nodded at Blue Spirit’s opinion.
Like the numbers written on the iron beads, it was likely some hidden task within the gate.
Staring intently at the verse formula, Mok GyeongUn said,
“There may be more flags.”
-Did they not say there were forty?
“I do not mean the number. I mean different kinds.”
-Different kinds?
“Yes. Could there not be flags with the remaining techniques written on them?”
-Ho. That seems plausible.
This time, Blue Spirit agreed with Mok GyeongUn.
It was entirely possible.
-If, as you say, there are two kinds of flags hiding techniques, those who discover them will inevitably seek other flags instead of defending their own.
“That is what I think too.”
Two kinds of flags.
Finding one flag did not mean it was over.
In the end, having eight people wait where a flag stood until dawn was only the visible task. The hidden task seemed to be completing the divided sword technique.
“This is interesting.”
They were encouraging conflict one way or another.
Those who failed to notice would simply end there, but anyone even slightly observant would move to seek other flags.
Which meant Mok GyeongUn had to find a flag of the other kind as well.
And naturally, he would need seven other group members along with that flag.
-This has become a little troublesome.
“Still, now that we know how it works, we can select people accordingly.”
With that, Mok GyeongUn snapped the pole bearing the verse formula with one hand.
Clang!
He did so to dispose of the flag, just as Blue Spirit had said earlier.
But the instant it broke,
Mok GyeongUn flinched, then frowned as he looked at the flag.
“Ha...”
-What is it?
“There was spell power inside the flagpole.”
-Spell power?
Spell power.
As the name implied, it was the power of occult arts or sorcery.
Since learning occult arts after absorbing deathly aura through reverse ki circulation, Mok GyeongUn had become more sensitive to many kinds of energy.
Yet the instant he broke it, he felt the spell power drain away.
Blue Spirit, who could not sense spell power from within the wooden doll, asked,
-Could it be a trap?
“I do not think so.”
If it were a trap, the spell power would have remained.
But since the spell power vanished the moment the pole broke...
Pheeeeeee!
Then a horn-like sound rang throughout the mountain.
Since the sound was steady, it seemed to be a signal.
Crunch.
Hearing it, Mok GyeongUn easily crumpled the broken flagpole in one hand and muttered,
“It seems there is something else besides this.”
* * *
Not far away.
Another struggle for a flag was about to erupt at a spot on a mountain ridge where a flag had been planted.
The first group of eight to find it was trying to defend the flag, while the group that arrived later was trying to take it from them.
The group defending the flag was led by a boy named Yeom Ga from Scarlet Slaughter Valley.
Thud!
“Urk!”
A boy was sent flying backward after taking Yeom Ga’s swift kick.
‘Damn it. He is too strong.’
The boy who had been sent flying was startled as he rolled into a safe fall.
Since everyone’s internal energy was restricted, he had thought they could fight Scarlet Slaughter Valley’s members on fairly even terms.
But their fundamentals were on another level.
Perhaps Yeom Ga had trained his external energy consistently as well, because the force of his kick was no ordinary thing.
‘No wonder they are from Scarlet Slaughter Valley.’
Perhaps they had chosen the wrong opponents.
He looked to see whether the others were doing any better.
Crash!
“Argh!”
Unfortunately, there was not much difference.
They were clearly being overwhelmed.
Perhaps because only those at the very top had been gathered during the First Gate’s iron-ball struggle, their basic ability was different even without internal energy.
They were no match from the start.
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley seemed to recognize the difference in skill as well. He gestured and provoked them.
“Hey. If you came at us, at least show some backbone.”
‘Damn it!’
They were angry, but there was nothing they could do.
Crack!
“Urk!”
“Ojae!”
One of the boys had his neck broken by a boy from Yeom Ga’s group.
Two had already lost their lives not long after the fight began.
If they took any more losses, their group would be wiped out.
Judging that they could not win, the boy leading them shouted,
“Run!”
The other boys, who had desperately tried to reclaim the flag, seemed to agree. Without looking back, they tried to flee.
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley smirked coldly and muttered,
“Who said you could leave?”
They were free to attack, but did they think he would let them go so easily?
He needed to kill them all and hang their heads on display, so the others would no longer dare set their sights on their flag.
“Catch them all...”
Crunch!
“Argh!”
‘!?’
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley abruptly stopped speaking.
What had that been?
A black shadow swept past the boy who had tried to flee most quickly toward the bushes opposite them. The boy vanished with a scream.
A brief silence fell.
The boys whose fighting spirits had risen to chase, as well as those who had tried to flee, all stared in alarm at the spot where the shadow had passed.
Crunch. Crunch.
The bushes shook, and the sound of something chewing came from within.
The sound was horrifying.
“W-what is that?”
“What was that?”
Unable to bear the sound, the boys unknowingly stepped backward.
Then a noise came from the shaking bushes.
Squeal! Squeal!
What was that?
At first, it sounded like a pig’s cry.
But the strange gleam of eyes glimpsed through the bushes was more than enough to send chills down their spines.
As the boys who had tried to flee backed away, the bushes shook.
Then something emerged from within.
‘!?’
Every boy who saw it froze.
Tap.
It was not human.
It extended forepaws shaped like hooks.
It resembled a wolf, yet was unlike one as well.
It looked nearly twice the size of an ordinary wolf. The fur on its forehead was red, and its eyes were completely black like a rat’s.
‘W-what is that?’
‘A wolf? Is there a wolf like that?’
‘It is too... big.’
Squeal! Squeal!
The ferocious beast that made pig-like cries opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth that filled its entire maw.
Gulp.
One tense boy swallowed dryly and shouted,
“Run!”
Before the shout had even ended, the boys turned toward the right.
Whoosh!
The red-haired wolf-like ferocious beast caught up to the boy at the rear in an instant.
Crunch!
“Argh!”
It seized the boy’s calf in its jaws.
Then, with tremendous bite force, it slammed him to the ground.
Thud! Thud!
“Urk!”
After only throwing him down a few times, the boy lost consciousness, whether dead or unconscious.
His calf was left mangled, nearly severed by those sharp teeth.
The wolf-shaped ferocious beast approached the boy’s head and took it into its jaws in a single bite.
Crunch. Crunch.
‘!!!!!’
The boys defending the flag turned pale at the sight.
A ferocious beast was chewing a person’s head right before their eyes. It would have been stranger not to feel fear.
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley felt the same.
‘Damn it!’
Of all times, why did such a grotesque creature appear when their internal energy was restricted?
It did not seem to be an ordinary ferocious beast.
Without internal energy, even fighting an ordinary wolf with their bare bodies would be difficult.
A ferocious beast of that size was beyond difficult.
They might have to risk their lives.
‘Should we avoid it?’
This did not seem like the time to be defending a flag.
But abandoning the flag they had worked so hard to obtain because of some ferocious beast was equally absurd.
Then it happened.
Squeal! Squeal!
After crushing and swallowing the boy’s head, the ferocious beast looked toward them.
As if it had chosen them as its next target, it scraped its hind legs against the ground and prepared to leap forward.
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley tried to shout.
“Ru...”
Whoosh!
Screeeeech!
The charging ferocious beast had covered only about five steps when it suddenly saw something and let out a scream. It stumbled backward in blind panic.
Then, snorting heavily, it turned around.
Whoosh!
It headed toward the group of boys that had tried to take their flag and fled.
One boy, who had been preparing to run in terror, said,
“W-what? Why did it suddenly do that?”
Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley muttered irritably,
“Fuck. How would I know?”
He did not know why the ferocious beast had suddenly reacted that way either.
It looked as though it had been startled by something.
He turned toward the direction it had been looking.
‘The flag?’
* * *
“Pant! Pant!”
“Ugh...”
Three boys ran as though their lives depended on it.
They had no destination. They simply ran wherever they could see.
The terrified boys felt as though their hearts would burst.
‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’
Another one of them had been taken while they fled.
With their internal energy restricted, they could not use movement skills. They could only run slightly faster than ordinary adult men.
But that ferocious beast was different.
It seemed faster than a galloping horse.
‘Are we all going to die like this?’
Then one of the running boys spotted a figure standing ahead of them.
Startled, he tried to change direction, but realizing it was a person, he felt inwardly relieved.
‘What? Who is that?’
The instant he saw the figure, he recognized him.
It was the one who had passed first during the iron-ball struggle through brutally ruthless methods.
Under different circumstances, the boy would have ignored or avoided him because he found him unsettling. But hoping for a chance, he shouted,
“H-hey! Help us!”
That boy had clearly secured a group as well.
If everyone in that group helped, perhaps they could deal with this ferocious beast.
But what was with that boy’s clothes, and why was there so much blood on his hands?
The boy flinched.
Moreover, the figure was watching them flee toward him with a smile so broad that the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears.
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