WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 96: Divine Sword Unit (2)

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“Sword Corps Leader.”

It was the Namgung Family Head who spoke. Glancing at the corpses of Namgung Se-jin and Namgung Mi, he said,

“I will bear the shame of a rotating assault.”

“...I accept your order.”

The Celestial Firmament Sword Corps Leader turned away and cupped his hands.

The Family Head’s meaning was clear. A rotating assault literally referred to a cart wheel.

In the martial world, it meant a tactic in which many fighters took turns facing a smaller number of enemies.

He was telling the Corps Leader to risk death and wear down the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s strength while he accepted the disgrace.

“Impressive.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader smiled.

The Celestial Firmament Sword Corps Leader turned back, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

“If you mean to mock me, speak with your sword.”

“No. That is how it should be. The Namgung Family Head’s life is at stake, is it not? Using every means available is only right.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader looked pleased.

The bearing of Desolate Fortress’s foremost Purple Uniform expert was extraordinary.

It was a disposition Yeon-shin had never seen before. Was this what a strategist who devised plans was like?

The way the Divine Sword Squad Leader spoke of using any means necessary seemed utterly natural.

Then their eyes met. The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s gentle, scholar-like eyes curved into crescents.

“You should head back now. I do not know how many new wrinkles the old man from the previous generation has gained. He looked ready to have a fit when you crossed swords with Clear Qilin.”

“...May martial fortune favor you.”

Yeon-shin spoke as he offered a cupped-fist salute. The Divine Sword Squad Leader looked momentarily flustered.

“Someone is wishing me martial fortune. What a thing to live long enough to see.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader soon laughed cheerfully and gave a short nod.

“Demon Wings Seom-ye. You have worked hard.”

Yeon-shin offered his thanks, then turned back toward the Desolate Fortress formation. His steps felt heavy.

It was as though Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin’s shadow lay heavily over him. As he walked, he noticed neither the people nor the scenery.

“Hey, hey. You were rather interesting, you know?”

“Granny Ak, have some dignity.”

Several Divine Sword Squad experts, including Ak Su-rim, moved forward. Before they could reach him, an old man strode over first.

“Yeon-shin!”

It was the first time Ma Yeon-jeok had called him so warmly in that voice.

Yeon-shin raised his head.

Ma Yeon-jeok had come within a few steps of him, studying him with wrinkled eyes.

The titles of former Divine Sword Squad Leader and Desolate Ma Family Head felt distant. To Yeon-shin, he was simply his maternal grandfather.

“You are not badly hurt. I am so, so proud of you. You do not have any other internal injuries, do you?”

“Yes. We can talk later.”

Yeon-shin nodded slowly. He had no room to look at Ma Yeon-jeok.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader was facing the Celestial Firmament Sword Corps Leader.

They were the commanders of the martial forces standing at the forefront of Desolate Fortress and the Namgung Family, respectively. It was a sparring match rarely seen under heaven.

The boy considered activating his ocular ability. A fight between experts of that caliber might offer him inspiration.

He only worried that his eye technique had not reached a level where he could follow their movements.

‘I should not think about keeping up with them through my eyes. I will not be able to. I should just take in whatever enters my sight.’

With that resolve, he set his qi in motion.

An invisible flame bloomed from the Baihui acupoint atop his head. A moment later, a sky-blue radiance glimmered in his eyes. It was the flash of his upper dantian.

‘Divine Sword Squad Leader. Just how strong are you?’

There stood the goal of the boy’s life, an unrivaled expert who had already reached the rank that had become his purpose.

Even if he gained nothing now, he hoped he would someday be able to draw upon what he saw.

As Yeon-shin stared silently ahead, Ma Yeon-jeok wore a rare smile.

“Did you say we could talk later? To me?”

Joy seeped into the mutter. His face seemed ready to melt with contentment.

His grandson had always maintained an attitude honed as sharply as a blade toward the Desolate Ma family and himself.

He would speak with him later? Even that absentminded remark was good. Even if it had not been sincere.

The Divine Sword Squad experts watching from the side each pulled strange faces.

Their expressions plainly said they had witnessed something they should not have. Desolate Divine Spear Ak Su-rim even contorted her mouth as though she were about to vomit.

“Something is wrong with him, is it not?”

“I think so too.”

“So-ha, Yeon So-ha. Where is Seom-ye’s family home?”

“Why would we care about that? We are busy enough roaming the Central Plains.”

“That nasty old Ma man is humbling himself like that. Doesn’t that make you feel wronged? Ah, our So-ha was not even a White Uniform nobody back then. I do not know how much that old man made me suffer when he was the Squad Leader. His name was Seom-ye Jeong Yeon-shin, right? I cannot figure that boy out. The more I think about it... Maybe he has hold of one of the Ma family’s shameful secrets...”

“Granny Ak, they can hear you all the way over there.”

As the Black Uniform girl in a long robe from Desolate Fortress and the young man named Yeon So-ha spoke, the third sparring match between Desolate Fortress and the Namgung Family began.

Anyone could have guessed it from how the wind blowing from ahead suddenly stopped.

The Divine Sword Squad experts fell silent. This was on a completely different level from the fights between younger martial artists.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader and the Celestial Firmament Sword Corps Leader.

The fierce wind in the gorge blew without pause, yet not even a speck of dust rose in the space where the two experts faced each other.

Their aura was so dense that it formed a barrier. No outside force could enter.

Shhk.

It was different from the very first move. The moment their sleeves stirred, sword light flashed.

Namgung Ryeok, the Celestial Firmament Sword Corps Leader, had mastered the Heavy Sword. It was not the Imperial Sword Art.

His sword art, which had refined the Namgung Family’s Boundless Firmament Sword to its limit, was said to be unmatched in the martial world.

He freely mixed destructive sword force into an unfettered sword path.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader was empty-handed, meeting Namgung Ryeok’s Heavy Sword with bare hands.

Boom!

The gorge shook. A monstrous vibration spread in every direction.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s hand blade unleashed a sword force more powerful than Namgung Ryeok’s Heavy Sword and knocked it aside.

It meant their sword forces, carrying the same profound principle, had clashed.

Whooosh!

Yet the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s purple silk robe did not move at all. Its hem rested quietly amid the raging gale.

Protective Qi Technique. Such a sight could only exist if a peerless inner-energy barrier covered the entire body.

“That sword is quite sturdy. The material is not ordinary either. Was it made by the dwarven race?”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader asked calmly, like a scholar out for a stroll.

“Hup!”

Namgung Ryeok had been pushed back over three meters, and his feet scraped across the earth. Qi exploded from his Yongquan acupoints and brought his body to a halt.

The moment he stopped, he stepped into the two furrows he had made and charged again.

His movement was truly explosive. The ground trembled once more with a single True Step.

Shhkk!

The treasured sword cut through the air, filled with white light. It was a sword strike like lightning.

A swift sword.

The Boundless Firmament Sword took an unfettered sword path across the vast sky as its central principle. Unhindered and unbound.

The swift sword and Heavy Sword each displayed their full power within the same mnemonic formula.

There was not even a sound of air splitting. The sword strike reached the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s face in an instant.

At the same time, sharp energy wrapped around the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s hand blade. It was as though an invisible sword blade rested there.

When Namgung Ryeok’s sword neared the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s shoulder, the latter alone moved through another time.

He first shifted his step by an inch.

The sleeve on his right arm blurred and warped along with the hand blade.

Shhk.

Namgung Ryeok’s body, clad in dark blue martial robes, brushed past the Divine Sword Squad Leader. His body rose as if it would fly away, then sprawled across the ground.

He could not stop his swift movement. His balance completely collapsed, and he rolled across the ground. All dignity of a supreme expert was gone.

Then...

He did not move. He had died instantly.

“...”

The gathering froze once again.

The commotion of sending carrier pigeons, exchanging opinions, and using lightness skills in every direction gradually ceased.

It was difficult even to discuss what it meant. A sword wielded at the front lines by a great martial family had shattered. Their exchange had not even lasted long.

Namgung Mi, Namgung Se-jin, and now Namgung Ryeok.

The events that had been set in motion were growing ever more dire.

“Sword Corps Leader. You have forgotten how an inferior fighter should fight.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader straightened his collar. With the broad gesture, the disheveled purple silk robe became neat again. There was not even a trace of blood on it.

“You should have known you were several levels beneath me. Had you been more careful, you could have exchanged a few more moves.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader spoke in an everyday tone.

It was a provocation uttered as naturally as breathing, directed at a corpse. Yet no one answered.

In the silence, the Divine Sword Squad Leader turned toward the Namgung Family.

“It seems you shamelessly objected to the youngest-first age order. Shall we proceed as planned and have the Elder Council Head next?”

“No. Enough.”

Step.

The person who answered was not the Namgung Family’s Elder Council Head.

At last.

The Namgung Family Head slowly stepped forward. The heavy momentum of the Imperial Sword Art wrapped around his entire body.

His presence pressed down on the surroundings like a fortress wall.

He was a fully accomplished martial artist, one of the Eight Family Heads. His bearing was different from that of his son, Clear Qilin.

“Come to think of it...”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader tilted his head slightly.

Though he showed a playful manner unbefitting a renowned peerless expert, it only made the sight more frightening.

“That old fool who refuses to act his age is still absent.”

“Divine Sword Squad Leader. Show some decorum.”

The Namgung Family Head spoke in a low voice.

His voice contained enough inner energy to make anyone feel as though they faced an abyss, but the Divine Sword Squad Leader only furrowed his brow as though annoyed.

“Family Head, stop talking nonsense. Where has the Namgung Elder Council Head gone?”

“I know that Desolate Fortress’s Elder Council Head left long ago. We only matched the Namgung Family’s numbers to yours. Do you have the face to raise an objection?”

As Yeon-shin listened, something suddenly came to mind. Ma Yeon-jeok had told him before that the Elder Council Head of the main fortress was pursuing the Seventh Apostle.

‘It has been days already. Still?’

The Elder Council Head was one of only three people in Desolate Fortress who wore purple long robes. The Seventh Apostle’s lightness skills could not possibly be enough to shake off even a Purple Uniform expert.

Perhaps the Seventh Apostle was concentrating on enduring through the restorative ability of Blood Arts cultivated to their peak.

Then it happened.

“You have played a petty trick. You mean to leave enough strength to lead your family?”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s voice rang out, and his tone had somehow grown languid.

“An excellent decision. It cannot be helped. I will have to clear away the immediate problem first, then think about the rest.”

Then Yeon-shin witnessed a sight he could scarcely believe.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader, facing the Namgung Family Head, raised his right hand.

Crackle.

A ray of light rose within his grasp. At the same time, space cracked open in a long line.

A sword took shape in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a sudden pulse of qi.

Hummm!

It was as though the colors of a rainbow had been compressed and forged into a single blade. A treasured sword made of seven-colored radiance rested in the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s right hand.

It was a sword of dazzling light in the truest sense. Monstrous aura surged out like a tidal wave.

‘It is on a different level from my Radiant Sword Flow. That is simply a light sword.’

It felt like a strike that could not be resisted. Simply holding it gave that impression.

‘A sword... made of qi.’

Yeon-shin saw through it.

It was a realm where one forged a sword out of inner energy. Though it was the first time he had seen such a secret art, he understood at once.

That was because the tangible qi was so dense and concentrated.

“...It is as flamboyant as your nature.”

Even before an art that bordered on the divine, the Namgung Family Head seemed unshaken.

His expression was solemn from the start. Perhaps anything could happen in the realm of a leader of a major faction.

“Come.”

Those were the Namgung Family Head’s final words after drawing his treasured sword.

Boom!

The two peerless experts vanished. Only the lingering trail of light left by the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s flashing sword slowly dispersed.

Yeon-shin could not see the movement that surged forth in that instant. How many exchanges had there been?

――――!

Pressure came before sound. The aftermath of their collision surpassed even the realm of a thunderous roar.

He had to struggle to avoid being swept away.

Yeon-shin pushed the Jeong Family Youth Technique to its limit. Even that was not enough.

He unleashed the forms of Sihwa Boundless Hand into the air. He had to cut through the waves of aura crashing over him.

Crash! Craaash!

His hands ached with cold. He did not know how many forms he had thrown out.

‘How long...’

A single breath felt like an eternity.

Then, when he blinked once, he finally saw the Divine Sword Squad Leader and the Namgung Family Head.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s qi sword had scattered and vanished. Yet he remained standing alone, looking down.

The opponent was different.

The Namgung Family’s sole master. The Family Head of one of the Eight Great Families recognized by the entire martial world.

That giant of the era lay on the ground, eyes wide open. His entire upper body had been blown away.

In the end, he had become like his son, Namgung Se-jin. He did not look at his family, blood relatives, or children.

Without even turning his head, he stared at the Divine Sword Squad Leader. The fighting spirit and resentment on his face were laid bare.

“...”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader was the one who broke the terrible silence.

He glanced toward the Namgung Family. Every expert of the family stood frozen, unable to move.

They were not the only ones. Everyone in the vast Clear Night Valley was the same.

The Family Head of one of the Eight Great Families had died. No one knew what consequences would follow.

“Hey, collect the corpse.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader clicked his tongue and spoke.

Then he started walking, heading straight toward the Desolate Fortress formation.

“Our Squad Leader took quite a few sword strikes, huh? I counted up to five.”

Ak Su-rim said.

Yeon-shin’s eyes went to the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s tattered purple silk robe.

It was surely made of heavenly silkworm silk, yet it appeared unable to withstand the Namgung Family Head’s sword strikes.

“Mm. He was quite strong.”

“Putting on airs again. I can feel your breath trembling. Should you not regulate your inner energy through your cultivation method?”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader nodded absentmindedly. Then Yeon So-ha stepped in with an innocent expression.

“The matter is settled for now. More importantly, I am curious about the reward you promised Seom-ye. You called it friendship in the martial world, did you not? You had something like that?”

“...”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader suddenly looked at Yeon-shin. Their eyes met at once.

The lips of the Purple Uniform peerless expert curved upward, but it was a rather awkward smile.

“What bonds could we have in our line of work... What martial sect in the martial world welcomes the Divine Sword Squad? We should be grateful if they do not chant sutras to ward off defilement.”

Footnotes:

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