WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 336: Division (3)
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Crash!
Rocks crumbled apart.
Boom!
Trees exploded into powder.
Clang, clang, clang!
Sharp blades and surging sword qi.
“Aaargh!”
A body struck by that sword qi became another wandering ghost.
“Brother Gang!”
The person who had been alive and voicing complaints just yesterday was no longer breathing.
There wasn't even time to cling to the corpse and grieve.
“Get a hold of yourself!”
If grief consumed them, death would come for them next.
The horrors of the battlefield had not changed much between the past and present.
“Are you planning to die with them?!”
“Jin Sowoon...”
I pulled the despondent Academy student to their feet, but they could not even display half their usual skill.
A sudden ambush, the unexpected death of a friend, and the harsh climate and environment.
All of it had come together, turning this place into hell for the Academy students.
“Eunho, what about our unit members?”
“They're holding out with the White Tiger Sword Formation. But if the other areas collapse, we'll be in danger too.”
“...”
I wanted to rush to my unit at once, but it looked like we still had some time.
Of course, if I failed to resolve this situation first, everyone would be dead by the time I reached them.
‘Remember. Remember.’
What did I need to do right now?
I needed to find a way for us to survive.
Not just me.
Together with my people.
‘That's right. Together with my people.’
Once I had sorted out my thoughts, I spoke to Eunho.
“Go back to the unit.”
“Senior Brother...!”
“And make sure none of our unit members die.”
The White Tiger Sword Formation changed in subtle ways depending on how it was employed.
Where Eunho needed to be now was among the unit members.
“Understood.”
Eunho nodded, then met my eyes again.
Perhaps Eunho understood my intention. Determination filled Eunho's eyes.
“Senior Brother, don't die either.”
Watching Eunho run off, I drew the Taeul True Scripture to its limit.
Don't die. Don't die...
The Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force blazed to life, driving back the darkness.
I turned my gaze away from Eunho, who had already vanished into the distance.
“Of course not.”
The eyes of a black-clad figure hiding in the darkness widened.
“Hup!”
Instinctive fear made the figure try to retreat.
It was a strange feeling.
In my previous life, we had always been the ones retreating.
So I would return everything I had received back then.
“I have no intention of dying until I've slaughtered every last one of you!”
Slash.
The black-clad figure fell without even letting out a final scream.
Blood spurted from the severed neck like a signal flare.
#
Shrrrriiing.
I scattered the Greater Heaven Sword Art, wrapped in Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force, in every direction.
Not to deceive anyone.
To keep from being deceived.
For a brief moment, the light of the Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force revealed them. I fixed their forms in my mind and compared them to memories from my previous life.
‘A rudimentary stealth art, excessively efficient saber arts, demonic qi that doesn't clearly reveal itself.’
A Demonic Cult combat unit known within the Martial Alliance in my previous life as the Stealth Wolves.
The Red Yin Demon Wolf Unit.
Because they did not openly reveal their demonic qi, they excelled at infiltration and surprise attacks.
They looked like an awkward, mediocre combat unit, but that was exactly why they could be used effectively in all kinds of situations.
‘But there were definitely traces of demonic qi.’
I stopped myself before my thoughts could become more tangled.
For now, dealing with these bastards came first.
The problem was that people who made stealth arts part of their daily lives wore black as well, making them even harder to see.
Even when I spread my energy sense, they were difficult to deal with because they did not differ much from the Academy students.
“Argh!”
“Ghk!”
Those supposedly impressive Academy students fell and died without being able to properly use their skills.
“...Damn it.”
All I could do was make the light shine as brightly as possible.
But the more I did that, the Demon Wolf Unit members simply hid in the shadows cast by my light.
“JIN SOWOON!”
Then some bear-like bastard came charging toward me like a madman, barely shielding his head with both arms.
Thud!
Two Demon Wolf Unit members hiding in my shadow sprang out, and I immediately struck at them.
Slash, slash.
One collapsed with blood pouring from their neck, while the other disappeared into the darkness again with an arm severed.
Both had clearly suffered fatal wounds, yet neither let out so much as a groan.
The bear-like man clicked his tongue in disgust at the sight.
“Damn it... Where did these bastards come from?”
The bear-like man was none other than Nam Hwaseong.
“Nam Hwaseong. Why did you come here?”
He should have been with the Twelve Peak Alliance right now. Why had he come all the way here?
“What the hell is going on, Jin Sowoon?”
At his question, which made it clear he firmly believed I knew everything, I turned toward him despite the battle raging around us.
“...You came all the way here just to ask that?”
Steadfast trust filled his eyes.
“Isn't this kind of fucked-up situation your specialty?”
...Was that a compliment?
Either way, since he was here, I might as well put him to use.
“Good. Start setting fires.”
“Fire?”
I gestured around us.
“You need to be able to see if you're going to fight.”
Nam Hwaseong frowned.
“Do you know how damp Mukrim is? Even if you burn firewood, it'll just smoke and...”
“Who told you to burn the forest?”
“...Then what?”
I kicked a fallen torch toward a tent.
Whoosh.
Flames spread in an instant, brightly illuminating the area.
The tents were made from oiled cloth to keep out rain, so they had been set up away from torches.
Which meant they made excellent kindling.
Nam Hwaseong coughed as smoke billowed from the burning tent.
“W-where are we supposed to sleep? Cough, cough.”
He was worried about sleeping at a time like this. It was so like him that it actually gave me strength.
I stared hard at the back of his head.
“Would you rather sleep in hell or sleep under the dew?”
“...I've done plenty of good deeds, so I'm not going to hell.”
“Bullshit.”
Thanks to the sudden burst of light, the Academy students struggling against the figures in the darkness nimbly avoided the Demon Wolf Unit's blades.
Then Nam Hwaseong threw a torch into another tent, just as I had, making the surroundings even brighter.
It seemed some of them had finally come to their senses after seeing what we did.
“Fire! Light fires!”
“Burn the tents!”
“Quickly! They're using stealth arts!”
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Bright flames rose throughout the encampment.
For a moment, it became as bright as day, and the battle that had been completely one-sided gradually began to stabilize.
“You bastards... Who the hell are you?!”
“Do you know who I am?! I'm one of Wudang Sect's Three Great Swords!”
“I'll find out your sect and take revenge!”
Counterattacks began everywhere, and some people even started overwhelming the Demon Wolf Unit.
Still, the battle remained unfavorable.
“Nam Hwaseong. Where's Cheol Sunjik?”
“Brother Cheol? Why?”
“We can't fight all night like this! Find him and come to the center of the encampment.”
“...In this situation?”
“If you wanted to work in safety, why did you learn martial arts instead of studying?”
Nam Hwaseong's shoulders seemed to droop, but I had no time to care.
“Be there within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
“Ah, all right.”
I used the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps, creating five afterimages as I unleashed the Lesser Heaven Sword Art and Greater Heaven Sword Art in succession.
Shrrriiing.
Slash, slash, slash, slash.
A strange sensation I had never felt in my previous life lingered at my fingertips.
‘Was this what killing felt like?’
The satisfaction of proving my own efforts.
The confidence that I could do anything.
The sense of omnipotence that another person's life or death rested in my hands.
Though I was committing murder, a strange, positive feeling made my head burn.
Had the demonic beings who crossed battlefields felt this way?
As soon as I wondered whether that was why demonic beings had smiled so much on the battlefield, my chest turned cold.
Thud.
The Scarlet Radiance Sword pierced a vital spot.
The bastard would die even if I pulled the sword out now.
Instead, I twisted it half a turn.
Crack, crack, crack!
Bones shattered, and the Demon Wolf Unit member's eyes widened as though a dying flame were scorching their nerves.
“Yes, keep your mouth shut until the end.”
I pulled out the sword, stabbed it into the bastard's thigh, and twisted again.
“Ghk...”
For the first time, a scream leaked from the dying bastard's mouth.
Perhaps their failing heart had prevented their mind from forcing any more restraint.
The others hiding in the darkness to escape the Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force's light must have sensed something strange, because they charged at me together.
Eight in total.
I pulled the Scarlet Radiance Sword from the thigh and immediately unleashed the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art.
Shrrrriiing.
The Ten Thousand Swords, split into six blades, unleashed the Twin Heavens Sword Art.
Shrrrriiiiiing!
Sword qi from illusion swords and true swords, spreading into dozens, then hundreds of blades, consumed the area like a storm.
Then...
Within that storm of sword qi, black demonic qi fiercely pushed back.
Boom, boom, boom!
The air rang with a deep hum, and the flames consuming the tents scattered like sleet from the shockwaves.
“You think I'd let you get away...!”
I gripped the Scarlet Radiance Sword more tightly and brought it down on them.
Slash, slash, slash.
Three bodies fell with spurting blood.
Boom, boom, boom!
The remaining Demon Wolf Unit members could not withstand the explosions of sword qi. Parts of their bodies burst apart as they rolled across the ground.
By the time most of the encampment's tents were burning and there was no longer any need to light the area...
I withdrew the Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force and raised my killing intent.
“Aaaaaaargh!”
A chilling scream swept through the encampment, and the Scarlet Radiance Sword became even sharper than usual as it began carving the Demon Wolf Unit apart.
“Ghk!”
Was it because of the killing intent pouring from the Scarlet Radiance Sword?
A scream leaked from the mouth of a Demon Wolf Unit member whose vital spot had been pierced.
It was nothing like the image I knew, an utterly weak sight.
“...Why aren't you smiling? Don't you bastards smile when you fight?”
I twisted the Scarlet Radiance Sword again, shredding bones and nerves to pieces.
“Argh...!”
Instead of smiling, the bastard screamed and died.
At the horrible sight of the Demon Wolf Unit member screaming as they died, an Academy student shook their head with a pale face, looking sickened.
“What are you doing? Do you want to die?”
“...”
“If you want to live, pick up your sword and come to the center of the encampment.”
“Now...?”
“How many times do I have to say it before you understand?! If you hated danger, you shouldn't have picked up a sword!”
“Y-yes!”
Leaving the student, who seemed terrified, behind, I ran off again and scanned the surroundings.
I had thought a shining head would make him easy to spot.
“ILGAK!”
Where the hell was that bald bastard?
As I killed Demon Wolf Unit members, I asked the Orthodox Society members where Ilgak was, but none of them knew for sure.
What was even more ridiculous was that one of them, wearing a frightened expression, said this.
“Don't tell me... You're going to e-eliminate Ilgak?”
What kind of nonsense was this lunatic talking about now?
“If we stay scattered, we'll die. Didn't you learn that at the Academy?! Where is Ilgak?!”
“Ah... I-if that's what you mean, over there...”
Damn it, he had positioned himself far away.
The Academy student pointed toward the very edge of the encampment. I cut down one Demon Wolf Unit member and kicked off the ground.
“ILGAK! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Only after eliminating seven Demon Wolf Unit members did I finally spot that damned bald man.
But then...
Just as I rushed toward him at high speed...
He sharply thrust the staff in his hand at me.
‘This crazy...’
I barely twisted my body in midair, kicked the staff away, and landed heavily on the ground.
“Can't you tell friend from foe, Baldy?!”
“Benefactor Jin?”
Only then did Ilgak recognize me, letting out a small sigh.
“Your killing intent was too strong... I naturally thought you were an enemy.”
“...”
“By the way, Benefactor Jin, these people are extremely cruel. Even as they die, they do not let out a single scream.”
I knew. I had fought them all on the way here.
No, I had known since my previous life.
“Let's go to the center of the encampment.”
“The center?”
“I'll explain when we get there!”
As Ilgak fell back, the outer perimeter slowly began to collapse.
I quickly shouted to the other Academy students.
“Gather in the center! There's no end to this if we stay here!”
Boom!
Boom!
Since I was focused on moving, I had no time to chase down fleeing Demon Wolf Unit members.
Instead, I made sure to kill every enemy before my eyes.
“Aaargh!”
“...”
For some reason, Ilgak was looking at me strangely.
“...They scream when struck by Benefactor Jin's sword.”
I had no idea what his problem was, so I ignored him and kept running.
When we reached the center of the encampment, Cheol Sunjik, Nam Hwaseong, and Namgung Seonhwa were already there.
The moment our eyes met, Namgung Seonhwa spoke.
“It seemed you intended to group people by affiliation, so I came.”
She was certainly clever.
There was a reason she had not hesitated to enter the Demon Spirit Plateau.
“I'm glad you came.”
I was a little worried about my unit members, but with Eunho and Geumpyo there, they would not fall so easily.
“What do you mean by this, Benefactor Jin? Are you trying to encourage division at a time like this?”
Ilgak spoke in alarm.
Unexpectedly, Cheol Sunjik was quietly listening without objection.
Shouldn't their reactions have been the other way around?
“What can people who have never worked together accomplish now? Gather with the people you're close to. That's why I gathered everyone here.”
“...What do you intend to do afterward? We won't be able to stop them like this.”
“Who says we're stopping them?”
“Benefactor Jin...!”
There was no good way to take a beating when you were being driven into a corner.
Block with your arms, and your arms hurt. Block with your head, and your head hurts.
The best defense against a gang beating was to drive an awl into the other person's stomach.
“We're counterattacking now.”
Let's see whether you bastards retreat or not!
Footnotes:
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