WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 234: Darkness Within Darkness (4)
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After considering it, I concluded that the murderer had made three mistakes.
First, they had gone out of their way to leave the Ak Clan's mark on Gu Gyeak's body.
Second, they had not expected Ak Byeongbi to cling so stubbornly to life.
Well, there was room to argue that one.
If they had known that bastard's life was as tenacious as a cockroach's, they would have punched a hole through his heart like they did Gu Gyeak's.
And the last mistake...
Was including me in that scheme.
Above all, the third mistake was the gravest.
They had chosen me, already burdened by an unlucky life and filled with resentment, as the target of their crime.
There was no excuse for that, even if I beat them to death.
“What are you thinking?”
Blood Brawl, who had followed me, furrowed his brow.
I casually shrugged.
“Hmm... We need to draw out the murderer, don't we?”
“What are you talking about? How are you supposed to draw out someone who's hiding...?”
“A criminal can't help taking an interest in their own crime. It's an instinct no criminal can escape. You know that well too, Blood Brawl.”
“What did you say?”
This wasn't the Martial Alliance.
This was the Black Alliance, where strength and violence ran rampant.
The law of the jungle ruled here, and I already had the alliance lord's permission. What did I have to hold back for?
Bang.
I kicked open the main gate and strode inside. The martial artists sprawled across the courtyard glared at me with sharp eyes.
Ignoring their stares, I called out boldly.
“I've come to see Bae Hwanjang, vice-leader of the Yellow Sand Sect.”
Bae Hwanjang was a notorious swordsman and a master of the Dual Energy Art.
Unlike Gu Gyeak, who had come from elsewhere, he had belonged to the Yellow Sand Sect from the beginning. That had led to frequent conflicts between the two.
In other words, he was one of the prime murder suspects.
“What kind of crazy bastard comes in here acting like this?”
“Isn't that guy completely insane?”
“That bastard's lost his mind.”
The atmosphere here really was different from the Martial Alliance, starting with the curses.
Members of White Path sects would at least start by talking about manners. These bastards drew their weapons before they had even gotten to their feet.
Then...
“How dare you speak the name of Vice-Leader Bae, one of this sect's honored elders!”
An angry voice rang out.
The person who pushed through the martial artists and stepped forward was none other than Gal Cheongi.
He looked like a dutiful son who had just heard someone insult his parents.
But hadn't he only joined the Yellow Sand Sect recently?
Anyone watching would think he'd been born there.
“Ah, Gal Cheongi. Good to see you, but I came to ask the vice-leader something today, so... hmm. Go bring him out.”
“Y-you bastard!”
True to form for someone with no control over his temper, he thrust his saber out before even asking what was going on.
What a nuisance.
All right, then. I'll send this nuisance over there...
I shifted slightly and used Lotus, sending him flying toward Blood Brawl.
“Huh?”
Blood Brawl had been standing with his hands behind his back, merely watching. When Gal Cheongi's saber came stabbing toward him, he clicked his tongue and casually moved his foot.
Then...
Boom! Crash!
Gal Cheongi flew through the air and slammed into the wall.
Blood Brawl raised his voice in irritation.
“What do you think you're doing?”
I put on a surprised expression, as though I had no idea.
“Oh? Why were you standing right there? I'm working.”
“...You're saying this is my fault?”
“Yes. Or you could've simply moved out of the way.”
“Hah! You little bastard, I've let this slide long enough.”
In the meantime, Yellow Sand Sect martial artists rushed at me.
I grabbed another Yellow Sand Sect martial artist by the arm, took his saber, and kicked him to the ground.
“Urgh.”
After kicking the fallen martial artist in the jaw and knocking him unconscious, I blocked two saw-toothed sabers thrusting at me.
Screeeech.
The rough blades tangled together, and the grating scrape of metal rang through the courtyard.
I relaxed my strength for an instant and used Lotus again.
Then I threw another martial artist at Blood Brawl.
“Jin Sowoon, you bastard! Why do you keep...!”
Boom! Crash!
Wow, he really was quick.
His reaction speed was incredible.
With a single step from Blood Brawl, the martial artist crashed into Gal Cheongi, who had just been trying to stand up.
“Hey, why do you keep getting in the way? I told you not to interfere.”
“You bastard! You keep...”
“I'm saying you should move out of the way.”
“I've never avoided anything in my life... You bastard! Stop it!”
I continued throwing martial artists at him one at a time.
Boom! Crash!
Boom! Crash!
Five times, whenever Gal Cheongi tried to rise, a flying martial artist smashed him back into the wall.
At last, the Yellow Sand Sect martial artists hesitated and began backing away.
In this respect, the Black Path was easy to deal with.
At least when they realized someone was stronger than them, they stopped rushing in.
I pointed at Gal Cheongi, who was twitching on the ground, with my chin and spoke to them.
“Go bring Vice-Leader Bae Hwanjang.”
The Yellow Sand Sect martial artists shifted their gazes around nervously, unsure what to do.
If they went to summon their vice-leader, it would feel like surrendering to a White Path brat they had dismissed until now.
If they didn't, they'd soon be playing house against the wall with Gal Cheongi.
Then...
“Yellow Sand Sect martial artists, listen!”
A booming voice rang out from deeper inside the pavilion, followed by dozens of people rushing outside.
Judging from their presence alone, they were far stronger than the rabble I had faced just now.
The man surveyed the wrecked courtyard, then fixed his gaze on me.
“A White Path nobody thinks the Yellow Sand Sect is a joke. Teach him that the Yellow Sand Sect is not so easily trifled with!”
“Yes!”
Dozens of people shouted their acknowledgment, took up positions in all eight directions, and formed a saber formation.
This was going to be difficult...
Whoosh.
At the sudden sound of wind, I raised my head.
...Blood Brawl had lightly kicked off the ground and landed on the roof above the main gate.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“I thought you said you never avoided anything?”
“Shut up. I hate troublesome things.”
“Of course you do.”
It wasn't as if I had expected anything from him in the first place.
I drew the Black Dragon Sword and circulated the Taeul True Scripture.
Then...
Four Ten Thousand Swords, exact copies of the Black Dragon Sword, appeared and surrounded me.
Facing the Yellow Sand Sect members, I grinned.
“Go on, then. Show me how impressive the Yellow Sand Sect is.”
As though my words were a signal, the saber formation moved, and tremendous pressure began closing in from every direction.
#
Blood Brawl had acted on Cha Seokdu's earnest request, but Jin Sowoon interested him more than that request did.
War between the Black Alliance and the Martial Alliance was on the verge of breaking out.
The delegation was in danger, and its leader lay injured in bed.
With no clues or support, Jin Sowoon had to resolve this crisis.
Blood Brawl had been looking forward to seeing how the Black Flame Dragon, said to be such a promising talent, would handle the problem.
But...
‘What is this?!’
The noise was so loud that his brow furrowed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Massive explosions shook the area.
The newly laid Azure Steel Stone floor flipped over, while the neatly leveled mounds of dirt were torn apart and exposed.
It was clearly a fight of one against many, yet the screams and curses came from the Yellow Sand Sect.
“Damn it! What the hell is that bastard?”
“It's an illusion sword! Don't be afraid, break through!”
“Fuck! You call that advice? That illusion sword nearly took my arm off, bastard!”
Blood Brawl let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah. This is absurd.”
He had assessed Jin Sowoon's martial talent on the way here, but this easily surpassed what he had estimated.
No, it didn't even look as though Jin Sowoon was fighting at full strength.
He used bold, rough attacks as though he were deliberately trying to cause a commotion, yet no one suffered serious injuries or died.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sudden uproar at the Yellow Sand Sect quickly spread to the surrounding Black Path martial artists. Being the sort who loved a fight, they gathered faster than anyone else and found places to watch.
“What? Why are the Black Flame Dragon and the Yellow Sand Sect fighting?”
“I heard he came to investigate the vice-leader, and a conflict broke out.”
“Investigate? What investigation is the Black Flame Dragon carrying out?”
“They say he's investigating Gu Gyeak's murder.”
“What kind of insane bastard is this? They killed him themselves, and now they're investigating someone else?”
As the truth behind the incident spread from person to person, some Black Path martial artists could no longer hide their anger.
The Yellow Sand Sect was being overwhelmed one-sidedly by the Black Flame Dragon's tremendous power, and that only made more people furious.
In the end, they rose to their feet.
“Let's teach that damned bastard a lesson!”
“Fine! How long are we supposed to suffer under the Martial Alliance's oppression?”
“Let's go!”
“Waaaaah!”
The Yellow Sand Sect's saber formation had already been broken.
As though to fill the gaps, Black Path martial artists who had rushed over after hearing the commotion began climbing over the walls and charging at Jin Sowoon.
As dozens rushed him at once, Jin Sowoon's movements grew even faster.
“I've never seen such a mad bastard...”
Blood Brawl could not hide his astonishment as he watched Jin Sowoon's prowess.
He too had done every reckless thing imaginable in his hot-blooded youth, but there had been limits.
He had never provoked enemies in the center of their own territory, then faced endlessly surging enemy forces alone.
It was truly terrifying prowess.
Without realizing it, Blood Brawl began following Jin Sowoon's movements one by one.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Jin Sowoon's body slid across the ground as though he were walking on ice, creating space.
Black Path martial artists wielding swords, axes, and pitchforks filled that space and swung their sharp weapons at Jin Sowoon.
When Jin Sowoon's left fist shot out and painted dozens of fist shadows through the air, the weapons trying to pierce him could no longer advance, as though they had struck a stone wall.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Four martial artists fell beneath those fist shadows.
Six more Black Path martial artists immediately filled the spaces behind them.
A battle like this would never end, no matter how long it continued.
“Hah... Were the Taeul Sect's martial arts always this powerful?”
Blood Brawl let out an unconscious exclamation of admiration.
Then he shook his head.
‘No. This is an insight he reached entirely on his own!’
He used the principle of Change to confuse his opponents, then subdued them in a single strike with the principle of Swiftness.
‘Hah...!’
Illusion and Reality blended together so thoroughly that even Blood Brawl could barely distinguish what was real from what was false.
A man who had only just passed twenty freely wielded the principle of Combat, which Blood Brawl himself had only grasped after surviving life-and-death struggles hundreds of times.
‘What kind of monster is he?’
That thought did not last long.
By the time half an hour had passed, Jin Sowoon began to show signs of faltering.
It didn't feel like much time had passed, but considering he had subdued two or three people with every breath, his physical strength could not keep up, even setting aside his internal energy.
The biggest problem was that Jin Sowoon was holding back.
The people he had knocked down could not rise again, but none were seriously injured. That only emboldened the lowly Black Path martial artists to rush in with even greater confidence.
“He's tired! Just a little more!”
“Cut off that bastard's head! Hang it from a pole at the Black Alliance's main gate!”
“Kill him!”
Amid violence, screams, blood, and teeth, the Black Path martial artists, driven to the height of their excitement, gathered even more strength and rushed Jin Sowoon.
Jin Sowoon, on the other hand, gradually appeared more exhausted.
-Jin Sowoon! What the hell are you thinking?
Unable to stand it any longer, Blood Brawl sent a sound transmission, but Jin Sowoon gave no reply.
As though he had immersed himself completely in the fight, he swung his sword, fists, and feet in a state of selflessness. The moment he put one man down, he moved on to the next.
Even his graceful footwork from earlier began catching on the injured people filling the courtyard. He stumbled often, exposing openings as he fell.
Clang!
Eventually, small cuts began appearing on Jin Sowoon's arms and legs.
The Black Path martial artists did not miss the chance and lunged at him.
“He's bleeding!”
“Kill him!”
“This is the end!”
Unable to watch any longer, Blood Brawl finally leaped into the fight.
He quickly took a position back-to-back with Jin Sowoon.
“You lunatic...! Are you trying to die like this?”
Jin Sowoon did not even respond. In the end, Blood Brawl forcibly grabbed him and jumped onto the roof.
Contrary to Blood Brawl's expectation that Jin Sowoon would struggle fiercely, Jin Sowoon casually shook the blood from his sword and sheathed the Black Dragon Sword.
“Huh?”
What was more, there was no sign of exhaustion on Jin Sowoon's face now.
“What the hell is going on?”
Blood Brawl stared at him in disbelief, but Jin Sowoon remained calm.
“You said it was troublesome, yet you ended up interfering.”
“What?”
Blood Brawl was left speechless as Jin Sowoon gave him a playful smile.
“What the hell were you thinking, causing this mess? Weren't you trying to find the murderer?”
Still calm, Jin Sowoon brushed the dust from his clothes and said,
“I can gain two things from this.”
“Two things?”
Jin Sowoon nodded lightly.
“Yes. First, the Black Alliance will cooperate willingly with the investigation from now on.”
Blood Brawl nodded before he could stop himself. Rather than enduring this sort of chaos every time, cooperating would at least be slightly better.
Then he shook his head. That would only apply to some people.
“You don't understand how lowly Black Path bastards are.”
“Of course I do. But once they know I have your help, Blood Brawl, they won't dare start fights with me so carelessly anymore.”
Blood Brawl's mouth fell open.
“You were aiming for that from the beginning?”
“I'm part of the Martial Alliance delegation. No matter how much I ask Black Path martial artists for cooperation, they would never help me.”
“Hah... Crazy bastard. What if I hadn't stepped in?”
Jin Sowoon smiled calmly, as though he knew everything.
“If you were only here to watch me, plenty of others could have done it instead of you. You also had no reason to show yourself where I could see you. Doesn't that mean you're here to protect the delegation as well?”
He had known that?
Since when?
“Also, if simple protection had been the goal, the alliance lord could have used martial artists from the Four Emperors Association, his own sect. The fact that he attached the two of you as escorts means he wanted to prepare for any unexpected danger, doesn't it?”
“...”
The boy's mind was no ordinary thing.
Maybe it had been inevitable that Blood Brawl lost their game of Go.
For the first time in more than sixty years of life, Blood Brawl felt goosebumps rise on his arms.
“Black Flame Dragon... Seokdu gave you one hell of an epithet.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Even so, this is too much trouble to say you've gained something from it. Every Black Path martial artist gathered in the Black Alliance will now want to kill all of you. Are you all right with that?”
Jin Sowoon smiled triumphantly.
“That is one of the two things I gain.”
Blood Brawl asked again, unable to understand.
“A threat to your life?”
Jin Sowoon nodded deeply.
“The atmosphere has finally begun to take shape. From the murderer's perspective, someone who wants conflict between the Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance...”
Jin Sowoon's eyes began to shine.
“Isn't this an opportunity they cannot afford to miss?”
“...”
Blood Brawl had never feared anyone or anything.
Yet strangely, as he looked at the smiling youngster before him, he felt an uneasy chill for the first time in his life.
Footnotes:
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