WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 234: Episode 43: Sky-Splitting Sword Saint (6)

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The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog was strong. It sounded ridiculous, but there was probably no dog in the Star Stream stronger than the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog.

Of course, there were hardly any humans stronger than it either.

Crackle!

The auras of Yu Junghyeok and the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog collided. Sparks from Transcendent Form, First Stage clashed, warping the landscape.

It was the interference caused when the paths walked by Transcendents crossed.

They were beings who had reached Transcendence by walking a single path. That was why a battle between Transcendents was always a series of mutual denials.

Your path is wrong. Mine is right.

Through those denials, Transcendents grew stronger and more steadfast until they finally broke. Amid the overwhelming presence of the Transcendents dominating the area, Junghyeok's thoughts flowed into my head.

「It's been a long time, senior brother.」

Anyone watching would have laughed. He was calling a dog his senior brother.

But Junghyeok didn't laugh.

The fleeting expression that crossed his face struck my heart. Memories that couldn't be fully captured in words, memories he had shoved into the past without giving himself time to dwell on them, began to unravel. Junghyeok's second round, when he met the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint and learned martial arts alongside the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog.

「Here, Yu Junghyeok learned human warmth, if only for a while.」

Here, Junghyeok learned martial arts, trained, and lived alongside a master who was hardly human in any sense and a senior brother who truly wasn't human.

If any trace of human warmth remained in Junghyeok today, then the First Martial World surely deserved some credit.

Yet if someone were to look for what had taken that warmth away from him, it would probably be the First Martial World as well.

「...I never wanted to see him again.」

The strongest Divine Dog, the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog, had died when the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint fought the Returnee Alliance.

Slash! Crash!

The Divine Dog's forepaw collided with the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds, letting out a violent crack. The steps of [phoenix walk], pushed to their limit, tangled in midair. As the Divine Dog's snapping forepaws and Junghyeok's sword strikes clashed again and again, the sparks in the air grew fiercer.

Before long, the tide of battle gradually began to turn.

The protagonist really was the protagonist.

The Divine Dog's fables, which had grown from imitating the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, couldn't stand against the fables of a man who had lived to prevent the world's destruction. The lonely years Junghyeok had spent living for nothing but the next Scenario were contained in every sword strike.

「He doesn't hold back.」

There was no mourning in Junghyeok's time. After all, he would have to go through that same time again anyway. Fighting, then fighting again, and simply moving forward. That was the best mourning he could offer the past he had lived through.

Whine!

Unable to bear the weight of the successive sword strikes, the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog groaned. Junghyeok's assault accelerated. His sword grew more relentless, and the speed at which he exploited openings became more vicious.

Hayoung, standing beside me, stared with their mouth hanging open.

"...Wow. Seriously."

It was probably their first time seeing a battle like this up close.

It was an incredible battle, but it was too early to be impressed. Compared to the fights ahead of us, this was no more than a passing spectacle.

Whine! Yip!

In the end, the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog lost the contest of strength and retreated, drawing in its hind legs.

Junghyeok didn't miss the opening.

His follow-up strikes subdued the Divine Dog's forepaws and restricted its movements. The Divine Dog's expression clouded as its breathing grew ragged. Then Junghyeok's final blow was about to pierce the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog's waist.

More precisely, it was about to pierce it.

A chilling sensation brushed the back of my neck.

Someone was standing behind me.

...Since when had they been there?

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband is startled.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is curious.]

[Some Constellations are wary of the aura coming from the estate.]

"The sky is especially noisy today. Is there some kind of spectacle going on?"

The owner of the voice stood there as leisurely as if she had just come out for a stroll.

She was much larger than Junghyeok.

A woman who looked well over three meters tall passed by me, radiating the pressure of a giant. I didn't need to ask who she was. Her mere presence made my heart tingle.

She was one of the strongest Transcendents in TWSA, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

Amid a storm of Aether raging through the air, Junghyeok's Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds froze in midair.

"You're beating up a dog that can't even talk? You people have no decency."

The blade of the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds trembled. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint held Junghyeok's sword between two fingers as if it were a toy.

Woof!

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog, which had been lying on the ground and whimpering, ran over with its tongue hanging out.

Meanwhile, Junghyeok abandoned even the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds and activated [phoenix walk] to flee the estate. It was the fastest I had ever seen him move.

Watching Junghyeok flee with his tail tucked between his legs, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint muttered with interest.

"He's quick. I'll catch that one last... Now then."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's indifferent gaze swept over our group. The instant it seemed our eyes met, she was right in front of me. She moved so fast that cold sweat formed down my back. Even if I used [Electrification], I wasn't sure I could move faster than that.

"First, there's one who looks hard to figure out."

She had only grabbed my chin, but my vision shook heavily. When I staggered back, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint was already holding Hayoung's chin.

"...Kgh?"

"Oh, this one's pretty much my type. You pass."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint vanished, leaving only an afterimage.

That must have been the realm of Shifting Positions I had only heard about. Before I knew it, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint was poking Han Myeongoh's cheek with a branch as he lay facedown.

"...You look like a beast species. If I kill you, will an inner core come out?"

"Wh-what?"

"For now, you're sentenced to death."

The moment Han Myeongoh was struck with the branch and lost consciousness, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's figure vanished from the estate. There was a sound like compressed air exploding, followed by something detonating far beyond the sky.

A little later, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint returned to the estate with a gust of wind.

"Whew, he's quite fast. His face passes, at least..."

Junghyeok, his face covered in blue bruises, was caught in the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's grasp. His whole body was in tatters, yet he was still activating [phoenix walk].

But Junghyeok's feet only kicked uselessly through empty air.

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's huge hand was dangling him by the nape of his neck.

* * *

I knew very well why Junghyeok had been reluctant to meet the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

Even by common sense, meeting her at this point came with many risks.

Junghyeok had learned swordsmanship from the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint in his second round. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint of the third round knew absolutely nothing about him.

"...You. How do you know my martial arts?"

Junghyeok didn't answer. Instead, he glared at me with eyes full of tremendous resentment.

「Kim Dokja! Do something! Hurry!」

For the record, the Junghyeok of the eighteenth round had been beaten to death after mouthing off to the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint. That was the end of the bastard who had become a Transcendent early and then got cocky with his master.

I decided to get straight to the point.

"Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, we're gathering Transcendents to fight the nebulae."

"...Hmm. So?"

"We need your help."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint looked me over as if I were some unusual toy. Then she rummaged through her clothes and took out a large smoking pipe. Tobacco smoke burned hotly inside it. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint watched me in silence before suddenly blowing smoke in my direction.

"You seem to be mistaken about something. I'm not a volunteer. If you aren't here to become my Disciple, get lost."

Her immense Mana was mixed into the fine smoke particles.

The smoke surrounded me as if laying siege. If I said even one wrong thing, she would kill me on the spot.

Of course, I was going to say the wrong thing.

"Do you really need Disciples?"

"...What?"

"Actually, you aren't expecting much either."

The dreamlike tobacco smoke swayed like waves. I continued as if provoking her.

"You will probably be the final inheritor of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect. Because the martial world will soon be destroyed."

For the first time, curiosity crossed the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's eyes. She frowned as she looked back and forth between Junghyeok's head in her grasp and me.

"That's an interesting story."

"Would you like to hear it?"

"It's interesting, but I'll hear it later. First, there's someone I need to straighten out."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint slung Junghyeok, whose pressure points had been sealed, over her shoulder, smacked his backside with her pipe, and walked deeper into the estate. Junghyeok's bloodcurdling shout echoed in my head.

「Kim Dokja!!」

"Divine Dog, entertain those friends."

Woof!

Thick tobacco smoke filled the area around the hut in an instant, and the figures of the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint and Junghyeok disappeared within it. There seemed to be an Absolute Formation around the hut. Even if I chased after them now, I would only get lost in the smoke.

Hayoung asked worriedly, "Is it okay to leave him like that? Isn't he going to die?"

"He'll be fine... probably."

It was unfortunate that the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint hadn't listened to me first, but since she had shown us some goodwill, the situation wasn't the worst it could be.

Giving the master and disciple some time alone wouldn't be bad.

All I could do was hope Junghyeok watched his mouth.

"Should we sit down and rest for a bit?"

Hayoung and I helped Myeongoh up and laid him on the wooden platform. Something nudged my leg.

When I looked back, the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog was standing there with a bowl of dumplings in its mouth.

...I think Junghyeok bought these earlier.

Good. I was hungry anyway.

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog looked up at me with bright eyes and barked.

「Please, eat.」

It was polite enough to make me feel guilty.

As I awkwardly picked up a dumpling, the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog drooled and followed it with its eyes. It really was a patient dog.

"Want one?"

I cut a dumpling in half and held it out.

Woof.

「You are a good person.」

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog gave a rumbling laugh and came to sit beside the platform where I was sitting. It stretched out a forepaw like a person and blew on the dumpling.

I said to the Divine Dog, "The estate is very quiet."

Woof.

「It has been a long time since a Disciple came.」

A few steps away, Hayoung was looking at me as if I were insane. I grinned at them, then pressed a finger to my lips to tell them to be quiet.

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog barked again.

Woof.

「It wasn't like this before.」

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog licked the dumpling wrapper with a foolish look on its face as it stared beyond the wall. When I followed its gaze, I saw the bleak path beyond the crumbling wall. It was the road we had followed all the way here.

All I could see was an old estate covered in cobwebs and dust, but the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog, which had spent a hundred years here, was probably seeing something completely different.

I could vaguely imagine it.

Woof.

「There were many martial arts schools.」

Woof.

「There were many Disciples.」

This had originally been a street of martial arts schools. A street where young people full of chivalry had once pursued their aspirations and trained in martial arts.

Martial artists filled with passion, who could devote years or even decades to becoming masters, had gathered here.

「If you sweated and worked hard, you could be rewarded.」

But now there was no one here. I knew why without asking. The countless sights I had seen on the way here showed all too clearly why this street had declined.

The Divine Dog barked sadly.

「No one wants to learn martial arts the old way anymore.」

"That makes sense."

I knew well enough why this martial world had ended up like this.

Still, it was only the natural result. Those who once called themselves the Top Ten Masters of the martial world had fallen before Constellations who used the system, while masters who had trained in martial arts for over a decade lost to Incarnations who spent coins to learn skills in only five minutes.

「That is why I am glad you have come.」

It seemed to be seriously misunderstanding something, but naturally, I had no intention of learning martial arts here.

So I told it, "Well... old things aren't always better, are they? If you can learn easily and become strong, that's good too."

「What are you saying! Anything easy is bad! Everything those dokkaebis and Constellations brought is bad!」

Apparently, after learning martial arts for around a hundred years, even a Divine Dog developed its own Divine Dog philosophy.

"I understand that you dislike Constellations and dokkaebis, but the old way isn't always right either. The old martial world wasn't exactly fair."

「In the old days, anyone who worked hard could become an unmatched master!」

"Do you really think so?"

I knew what the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog wanted to say. Of course, I understood the value of those words as well.

But I couldn't simply agree with it.

If I left them like this, both the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog and the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint would be buried by the tide of the times and meet the same end as in the original story.

At least in the third round where I existed, I wouldn't allow that to happen.

Then the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog's expression changed.

Grrr.

At first, I thought it was angry at my words, but that wasn't it. A dangerous aura could be felt outside the estate. Someone was approaching.

[Sky-Splitting Sword Saint. Hand over your martial arts already.]

The estate gate burst open, and a group of dokkaebis appeared. I had a rough idea what was happening. Come to think of it, this event should have been happening around now too.

The Sky-Splitting Divine Dog raised its Mana and barked furiously.

[All the nearby martial arts schools have already sold their martial arts! How long will you keep protecting those old techniques? I told you that if you keep holding out, you'll miss your chance. How long do you think we'll keep offering to buy your martial arts at such a high price...]

Then I noticed that one of the dokkaebis looked very familiar.

The dokkaebi that met my eyes trembled badly.

[You...?]

Footnotes:

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