WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 209: A Favor from an Enemy (2)

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The Martial Arts Academy's Great Training Ground.

The place where the Martial Arts Academy usually kept and cared for its horses was packed with people instead.

At the center of the training ground stood a makeshift pavilion.

It seemed to have been built as a symbolic structure for testing the arcane formation.

"Something is definitely wrong..."

As Song Jeongmu said, the arcane formation spread across the Great Training Ground looked extremely strange.

Normally, an arcane formation used ordinary scenery, such as trees and rocks, to lower people's guard.

Then, once people entered, it confused their senses and guided them out of the formation.

The Seven Stars Seven Locks Formation was famous throughout the martial world because it could freely control the Eight Gates, naturally leading those who entered into traps or dropping them into the Golden Prison.

Yet the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation spread across the Great Training Ground was clearly visible in its original form, surrounded by black fog.

It could not conceal its form and lead people to their deaths, as an arcane formation was meant to.

"Aaaaagh!"

"Sob... sob..."

"Please... please..."

Moreover, agonized screams kept coming from inside the formation.

"What happened here?"

When I approached one of the formation masters and asked, an irritated reply came back.

"We're dealing with it. Step back!"

Despite the pale-faced formation master's rudeness, I took another step forward.

"I'm Jin Sowoon, the Martial Arts Academy Representative. I need to know what happened."

Only then did the formation master's deeply furrowed expression shift.

"Jin Sowoon?"

"Yes. I'm that Jin Sowoon."

"...This is none of your concern. Step back."

"..."

Hah, there was no getting through to them.

I imbued my voice with a measure of internal energy and asked again.

"Where is Jegal Jeonggi?"

"I-I said step back!"

"Do I sound like I'm joking right now?"

Overwhelmed by my aura, the formation master and the martial artists around them glanced about helplessly.

When it became clear the situation would not move forward, Song Jeongmu finally stepped in.

"I'm Song Jeongmu of the Hyeongsan Sect. I heard my help was needed."

"Ah! Great Hero Seven Slaying Soul-Destroyer!"

The formation master suddenly brightened and bowed deeply.

Look at these bastards. I couldn't stand this filthy behavior.

When my expression darkened, Song Jeongmu glanced at me before asking the formation master.

"What exactly is happening inside the arcane formation? Why did you suddenly summon me?"

"Th-that is..."

The formation master dragged out the words while watching me carefully.

What, they would rather die than speak while I was here?

Just as I was about to say something, Song Jeongmu barked at the formation master.

"What are you doing? If you called even me, then the situation must be urgent. Yet you'll keep playing power games and leave the people inside to die?"

"..."

Song Jeongmu drove the point home.

"If this is how it will be, I can't help you either."

"N-no, that isn't it."

After watching everyone's reactions for a while, the formation master finally let out a long sigh.

"The truth is, the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation..."

Just as the formation master was about to explain what had happened, another voice cut them off.

"What are you saying!"

The academy students gathered near the furious shout moved aside to make a path.

The person shouting with a flushed face was none other than Jegal Jeonggi.

He stormed toward the formation master, breathing hard as he tried to reprimand the formation master.

"Are you planning to reveal the clan's secrets to someone uninvolved...!"

The formation master's gaze moved past Jegal Jeonggi, who was yapping like an angry puppy.

Everyone followed the formation master's gaze.

"Supreme Sect Leader... no, Grand Strategist?"

The academy students who had been making a commotion all fell silent.

The Great Training Ground, which had been as noisy as a market, fell silent as a library in an instant.

Even that silence seemed to bother Jegal Somyeong, and they quietly spoke to the Academy Head beside them.

"Too noisy."

"I'll handle it."

Buk Wonpyeong nodded at the lecturers, and they promptly led the academy students out of the Great Training Ground.

The academy students also sensed that the Grand Strategist's appearance meant this situation was serious and quickly left.

Complete silence fell over the Great Training Ground.

Only then did Jegal Somyeong, wearing a solemn expression, turn to Jegal Jeonggi.

"Well? What happened?"

At the Grand Strategist's question, asked with their hands behind their back, Jegal Jeonggi was about to answer quickly when he glared at me again.

His wary eyes asked why I was still here.

It was a clear order for me to leave.

Jegal Somyeong's eyebrows rose at that look.

"I was told the situation was urgent enough to summon me. Was that not the case?"

At Jegal Somyeong's indirect order to leave me alone, Jegal Jeonggi bit his lip once before speaking.

"...There is a problem with the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation."

"I have eyes. Do you not know the basics of making a report?"

Jegal Jeonggi's shoulders shrank under Jegal Somyeong's icy rebuke.

"...We were trying to present an improved version..."

"Hah! Even a newly completed arcane formation may have unforeseen problems, yet you tampered with an improved version that hadn't even finished testing?"

"I'm sorry, Grandfather..."

"You fool!"

Jegal Somyeong's shout rang out.

The air in the Great Training Ground froze at once.

"Did I come here as your grandfather?"

"..."

Just then.

"Sob... sob..."

"S-stop! Please, stop! I... I was wrong!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry!"

"It wasn't me... I said it wasn't me! I didn't do it!!"

The screams from inside the arcane formation suddenly filled the Great Training Ground.

With a sigh, Jegal Somyeong turned toward Song Jeongmu and me.

"It seems the steadfast hearts of those inside are being shaken. Is that why you brought someone from the Hyeongsan Sect?"

Song Jeongmu stepped forward and clasped hands in salute.

"It has been a long time, Grand Strategist."

"It has been a long time, yet we meet in such an unpleasant place. What do you think? Would the Hyeongsan Sect's banishing evil be of help?"

"..."

At Song Jeongmu's silence, Jegal Jeonggi quickly raised his head and stepped forward.

"The Hyeongsan Sect's banishing evil and suppressing spirits are the best under heaven! They will surely help the people inside..."

"I did not ask you!"

"..."

Jegal Somyeong looked at Jegal Jeonggi as if Jegal Jeonggi were pathetic, then shifted their gaze to Song Jeongmu.

Song Jeongmu let out a quiet sigh.

"The Grand Strategist must already know. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do."

Jegal Jeonggi flinched in surprise.

"W-what do you mean? D-don't tell me you intend to turn your back on the Jegal Clan just because you're helping Jin Sowoon?!"

Song Jeongmu's eyes sharpened at Jegal Jeonggi's words.

It was an openly contemptuous look.

"Do you take me... and our Hyeongsan Sect so lightly?"

"..."

Every time he opened his mouth, Jegal Jeonggi only made the situation worse for himself.

Jegal Somyeong seemed to sigh while looking back and forth between their grandson and me.

"My apologies. Jinmyeong indulged him too much. I told Jinmyeong many times not to do so."

"Did you not come here as the Grand Strategist?"

"I'll speak to the Sect Leader myself later."

Jegal Jeonggi wore a complicated expression at the exchange between Jegal Somyeong and Song Jeongmu.

"Grandfa... no, Grand Strategist, what does that mean?"

"Do you not even know the difference between the energy of unorthodox methods and the energy of orthodox methods?"

"...What? What do you mean...?"

Jegal Somyeong clicked their tongue as if they found Jegal Jeonggi pathetic.

"The Hyeongsan Sect's banishing evil is the power to dispel wickedness with righteousness. Would an illusion created by the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation, which was formed from righteous energy in the first place, be dispelled by the Hyeongsan Sect's energy?"

"..."

Only then did Jegal Jeonggi's face turn white in realization.

"How many people are inside?"

At Jegal Somyeong's question, the formation master spoke tensely.

"S-seventy-eight people."

Jegal Somyeong's eyes sharpened at the number, which exceeded their expectations.

"You put quite a few people in there. How long has it been since they entered?"

"It has been about half an hour... no, nearly forty-five minutes."

"Hoo... How long would formation breaking take?"

"Th-that is..."

The formation masters gathered together and quietly discussed it. After a while, one of them swallowed hard and spoke.

"I-it will likely take three days..."

Jegal Somyeong pressed their temples as though they had a headache.

"That is the minimum estimate, correct?"

"...That is..."

"Because you don't know what effect the improved equipment is having inside the formation."

"Yes..."

At the formation master's weak answer, everyone present sighed.

The situation was becoming grave.

Now that the White Path Society's event had resumed, most of those inside the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation had close ties to the White Path Society.

In other words, they were people of considerable standing, whether within the White Path Society or across the martial world.

That immense pressure was why Jegal Jeonggi had brought even Jegal Somyeong here.

"Grandfa... no, Grand Strategist. You have a way, don't you?"

Despite the desperate question, Jegal Somyeong did not answer easily.

‘Of course Jegal Somyeong doesn't... What kind of peerless formation is the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation?’

It was an unprecedented arcane formation created by the Jegal Clan after twenty years of research.

An arcane formation that had reached an exalted level through endless improvements.

People criticized the Jegal Clan for being obsessed with money and playing around with arcane formations, but those improved versions would eventually save countless lives from the Demonic Cult's clutches.

That was far in the future, though.

At this point, the Jegal Clan had only one way to break the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation.

Jegal Somyeong looked into Jegal Jeonggi's hopeful eyes.

"There is."

"Th-then... please, do it quickly!"

Then Jegal Somyeong mercilessly extinguished the light of hope in those eyes.

"But everyone inside will die."

"What? What do you mean...?"

"The stable arcane formation is being disrupted by the improved equipment. That is why the steadfast hearts of those inside are being shaken."

The Jegal Clan members swallowed at Jegal Somyeong's explanation.

Jegal Somyeong spoke in an indifferent voice.

"But that is also why it can be destroyed."

"Destroyed?"

Jegal Jeonggi looked horrified, as if he were about to rush forward.

Yet Jegal Somyeong did not even blink.

"Do you have another method?"

Destroying the arcane formation now meant collapsing every gate, including the Eight Gates, all at once.

It was no different from setting fire to a thatched house with people inside because it had bedbugs.

Jegal Jeonggi trembled as if he could not accept it.

"Then... the people inside will die!"

"Or you can see them after they go mad in three days."

"...!"

Jegal Somyeong spoke with eyes colder and more clear-headed than ever.

"Choose. Will you see corpses? Or will you see children who have gone mad?"

"...Urgh."

"When you gave this order, you must have prepared yourself to take responsibility."

Jegal Somyeong was pressing Jegal Jeonggi as though Jegal Jeonggi were a criminal rather than Jegal Somyeong's grandson.

Jegal Somyeong did not seem to have any intention of letting this matter go, even after it was over.

‘What should I do...?’

Even as that happened, I was racking my brain no less than Jegal Jeonggi.

The question was whether I should step forward in this situation.

If I acted carelessly, I could end up at odds with the Jegal Clan, whose relationship with me had not been bad so far.

If I did not act, the White Path Society might collapse, and I could use that chance to secure my position.

‘That is true, but...’

"Aaaaagh!"

"M-mother! Father!!!!"

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

Once again, screams burst out from inside the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation.

The answer I needed to choose was clear.

After organizing my thoughts, I let out a quiet sigh.

"Grand Strategist."

Everyone's eyes turned to me at once.

I looked straight at Jegal Somyeong.

"I don't think this is the time to assign responsibility."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A cold silence settled over the Great Training Ground at my words.

Not only the Academy instructors but also the Jegal Clan's formation masters looked at me as if I were insane.

Yet there was only one person.

Jegal Somyeong alone looked directly at me and asked, "Then?"

"Shouldn't saving the people inside come first?"

For some reason, the corner of Jegal Somyeong's mouth seemed to rise slightly.

"...Do you have a way to save them? The formation paths keep changing because the inner pillars have twisted. No matter how good your memory is, what use is it if the paths change?"

"I'm not confident I can enter and find them either."

Confusion appeared in their eyes.

"Then?"

I swept my gaze across the Jegal Clan formation masters before asking Jegal Somyeong.

"May I... break the formation?"

"Break the formation?"

At that moment, Jegal Jeonggi's eyes widened as he cried out.

"Jin Sowoon! How dare you speak of breaking the formation! What do you think the Jegal Clan's arcane formation is...! What are you doing? Seize that bastard at once...!"

Slap!

A sharp slap rang out, and Jegal Jeonggi stared at Jegal Somyeong with a shocked expression.

"G-Grandfather..."

Jegal Jeonggi looked as though a trusted companion had stabbed him in the back.

Jegal Somyeong shouted with a fury greater than ever.

"You fool! People's lives are hanging by a thread! Is the prestige of your clan so important to you!"

"..."

Their gaze paused on me briefly before returning to Jegal Jeonggi.

"You are not even fit to remain here! What are you doing? Drag him out at once!"

The martial artists hesitated, and another furious order came down.

"Did I not tell you to drag him out at once!"

"Y-yes!"

Jegal Jeonggi was dragged away, limp like a corpse, his feet scraping along the ground.

Jegal Somyeong looked at me with a hard expression.

"You can break the formation?"

Jegal Somyeong and the Jegal Clan formation masters looked at me with disbelief.

If Jegal Somyeong had not been here, they looked as though they would have rushed at me.

That was only natural. Formation breaking meant knowing an arcane formation's weaknesses and forcibly dismantling it from outside.

They would not easily believe that I could neutralize the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation, which contained the culmination of twenty years of genius work.

Before the Demon Brain appeared in my previous life, no one had ever broken the Dualities Eight Trigrams Myriad Manifestations Formation.

Of course, I did not know whether I could break the formation exactly as the Demon Brain had.

Still, compared to seeing dozens of corpses crushed beneath the arcane formation or academy students emerge having gone mad...

‘Isn't this better?’

I could not even predict what kind of relationship this would leave me with the Jegal Clan.

"Aaaaagh!"

"Sob... sob..."

"Please... please..."

"Forgive me! I was wrong!"

But saving people first was the right choice.

"Yes. I believe I can."

That was all I thought about now.

Only that.

Footnotes:

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