WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 339: Despair (3)
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My heart sank.
My thoughts tangled.
The killing intent rising around my feet was not yet enough to threaten my life.
Still.
The future it revealed.
The fact it implied.
It all felt hopeless.
‘I hoped the Red Yin Demon Wolf Unit was the end of it...’
I did not know whether the others had sensed it, but the faint demonic qi within the killing intent suggested that this Heavenly Net and Earthly Web had not been deployed by the Red Yin Demon Wolf Unit alone.
There was no way the Demon Wolf Unit alone could create a Heavenly Net and Earthly Web of this scale in the first place.
It would take at least three units, or at least one Pavilion-level combat organization.
‘The most damned part is that that is only the minimum.’
Could that really be all?
The people here were Academy students with considerable skill. They could break through a thin encirclement if they were willing to accept some losses.
Our enemies had to know that. Which meant they had prepared more than a simple encirclement.
Their behavior bothered me most of all.
They had spread the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web while they already held an overwhelming advantage.
Their goal was not simply to surround us and inflict damage.
Their intention was painfully clear.
Total annihilation.
Complete extermination.
Now I understood why they had not bothered covering their tracks after attacking Academy students along the way.
It was not that they did not care if the world learned who they were.
They did not care if their identities were exposed here in Mukrim.
After all, the only ones leaving Mukrim would be demonic beings.
‘Why? Why go this far? This is not just some scheme anymore.’
Everywhere I looked, there were signs that they were committing all their forces as though they intended to wage an all-out war.
Then I remembered a survivor's voice.
[Jin Sowoon only needs to die... Jin Sowoon only needs to die...!!!!]
That look in their eyes, as though they truly believed everything would be solved if I died.
Now that things had come this far, I started wondering if it really was because of me.
‘Is it because that creepy bastard Gwak Gung is watching me?’
But the scale of this operation was too large for them to be targeting me alone.
It was not like I was some future Martial Alliance Leader.
Would they really carry out something like this just to catch a fledgling like me while they were in their right minds...
‘Huh?’
But those demonic bastards were not in their right minds to begin with. If I looked at it that way, maybe it really was because of me...
“Senior Brother!”
Eunho grabbed my shoulders and shook me, bringing me back to my senses.
“Get a hold of yourself!!!”
“...”
“Get a hold of yourself!”
Eunho even raised a hand.
“Get a hold of yourself, Jin...!”
“Freeze.”
Was this bastard really about to slap the Senior Brother who stood higher than the heavens?
I punished Eunho with a knuckle rap.
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
“Argh... Who puts internal energy into a knuckle rap?”
“I did not use internal energy. Forget that. What is going on?”
“...Then why did it hurt so much? Anyway, the atmosphere is getting dangerous.”
“What is wrong now?”
“I think some people are trying to run away.”
“Run away?”
“They are saying we have to break through the encirclement before it is too late.”
“...”
The killing intent that had crept in flowed through the center of the camp. What had barely reached our feet had risen to our ankles.
Our capable Academy students had reacted sharply to that killing intent and realized they were trapped within the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web.
Even so, I had not expected them to fall apart this quickly.
After being worn down by injuries and exposed to constant killing intent, anyone's nerves would be on edge.
With faint demonic qi mixed into it as well, they could not possibly remain clear-headed.
“Did they say it openly?”
“No. They were talking among themselves quietly...”
“Who?”
“Pardon?”
“Who were the idiots who thought that?”
“Disciples from the Kongtong Sect and Wudang Sect, Senior Brother.”
“Got it.”
I started toward the Kongtong Sect's people, then turned back to Eunho.
“What is it?”
“Is Dongryong all right?”
The Heavenly Killing Star was vulnerable to killing intent.
Dongryong's mastery of the Taeul True Scripture had improved greatly, so he would not be easily overwhelmed by his innate killing nature. Still, even the elites of the Orthodox Society and White Path Society were collapsing this helplessly. I would be lying if I said I was not worried.
“He is fine. He has reached the point where he can regulate it himself now.”
“Still, give him this. Just in case.”
I handed Eunho the Demon-Expelling Four-Spirit Bead.
“Seriously, how much stuff do you carry around in your clothes?”
“Tell everyone to eat and prepare to leave at any moment.”
“You are going to move?”
“Waiting here is not the answer.”
Some people seemed to be waiting for the lecturers or those standing by outside Mukrim to come rescue us, but that was a hopeless idea.
By the time they arrived, every battle would already be over.
#
On my way to the Orthodox Society's camp, I quickly checked on the Academy students.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and they were all under extreme tension.
They said even ordinary people would waste away and die if exposed to the killing intent of a wild animal like a tiger.
Martial artists with keen energy sense would suffer even more.
And since these were Academy students without battlefield experience, there was no way they knew how to rest properly in a situation like this.
As I drew closer to my destination, a disturbance broke out.
‘Am I too late?’
I hurried over, only to find chaos inside.
“You fucking bastards! You are leaving without us?!”
“If you were going, you should have said so!”
It was not only the Orthodox Society's camp.
Shouts rose from the White Path Society's camp as well.
“You damned bastards! What are we supposed to do if you take the guides with you?!”
“What about the injured?!”
I approached one of the White Path Society members who was shouting in anger.
“What happened?”
“...”
They stopped cursing when they saw my face and awkwardly looked away.
“I asked what happened!”
“...Looks like some of them took off.”
Members of the Ak Clan and Jegal Clan, along with lay disciples. Twenty people in total.
“Ha... Some people?”
When I looked dumbfounded, the White Path Society member added,
“Not everyone from the Ak Clan and Jegal Clan left. They abandoned some people.”
“Some?”
I looked where they pointed and saw injured people sitting there blankly.
“Ha...”
They must have left them because they were injured.
Those bastards. No, it was such a rational decision that I could not even get angry.
The Orthodox Society was not much different.
Some disciples of Wudang and Kongtong, along with the lay disciples who followed them.
They had picked out only the strongest ones, people who ranked near the top in both grades and internal energy.
We were already short on people who could fight, and now we had suffered another loss in martial strength.
“They may have gone to organize a rescue party... Maybe it is better this way.”
An Orthodox Society member was desperately trying to escape reality, unable to believe they had been abandoned.
“For people who boasted that the Orthodox Society was practically the Martial Alliance, they are utterly disgraceful.”
Cheol Sunjik had appeared at some point and clicked his tongue.
I asked him, “Did anyone from the Twelve Peak Alliance run away?”
“Do you think the Twelve Peak Alliance is like the others?”
“I thought everyone from the Twelve Peak Alliance would be the first to run.”
“...”
Cheol Sunjik was especially sensitive about situations like this.
Like a rat being the first to flee a sinking ship.
Honestly, I could not believe he was still here.
Whenever there was a crisis, he was always the first bastard to disappear...
“...You have a plan, do you not, Academy Representative Jin?”
“Do you not have one?”
“I did. But I threw it away.”
“You threw it away? Why?”
More than what his plan had been, I wanted to know why he had abandoned it.
When I looked at Cheol Sunjik, he met my gaze with strangely heated eyes.
It was a little burdensome...
“I heard that if we followed Academy Representative Jin, you would make sure we returned alive.”
Huh?
“So you must have a plan. ...You have to.”
“...”
“Because I believe in you, Academy Representative Jin.”
...Who believed in what?
What was wrong with him?
Had the demonic qi already messed with his head?
#
The Academy students' condition continued deteriorating, just like Cheol Sunjik's.
Once word spread that some people had secretly fled, the confusion worsened.
The lay martial sect members who had followed Wudang, Kongtong, the Jegal Clan, and the Ak Clan but had not escaped with them were especially bad.
“You fucking bastards!!! When did you think it was fine to use people like that? Now you are running off by yourselves...?!”
“You acted like nothing in the world scared you, then you ran away alone! You sons of bitches!!!”
The people who had once treated them with respect and flattered them felt an even greater sense of betrayal.
The leaders had ordered them around as they pleased, acting as though it were their natural right. Now, when it was time to take responsibility, they had run away. That stirred up a deep, fundamental rage.
On top of that, though they did not realize it, the demonic qi was affecting them as well.
Their rage grew far stronger than usual, and their murderous intent intensified, eventually turning toward those who had been left behind injured.
Smack!
“You son of a bitch! Why did you not run away too, huh?!”
Unable to move properly, they could not even defend themselves.
“You should have run away too!”
“Urgh... I, I...”
“Go on, abandon us and run away too!!!”
Others began joining in.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“You bastards! Do you know how much liquor and meat we fed you?!”
“When you used to oppress our sects, that was fine, but now you are abandoning us?!”
“Yeah, we are going to die anyway. I will kill you with my own hands first!”
Some forced themselves to stand and fight back despite their injuries, but most could only take the blows.
“This cannot be... This cannot be...”
People stared blankly as they were beaten, like their minds had already broken.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
The violence quickly spread. Even those with no direct connection rushed in to vent their anger.
I brushed off my hands and stood.
“Let us go.”
“...Where are we going? Do not tell me... we are going to stop them?”
Cheol Sunjik frowned deeply.
“...This is their business. They should deal with it themselves. Even I would probably want to do the same...”
“You said you wanted to know my plan earlier, right?”
“...”
“That is my plan. Hurry up and stop them.”
I ran forward without waiting for his answer.
Cheol Sunjik sighed and followed.
When he moved, the Twelve Peak Alliance members followed behind him.
Then.
“Enough!!!”
Ilgak dropped into the center of the violence.
“Stop this at once!!! What do you think you are doing!!!”
What nonsense was that bald monk going to say now?
“This is... Huh?”
Luckily, Ilgak was attacked by several people and shoved back before he could finish whatever nonsense he was about to say.
Useless bald monk. Did he think merely breaking up this kind of mess would be enough?
I said to Cheol Sunjik, “It will not be enough just to stop them. Yeah... just punch them hard enough to knock some sense into them.”
“What are you talking about? If we attack them in a situation like this, a real battle will break out.”
The excessive violence was probably due in large part to demonic qi poisoning.
That was why ending this atmosphere mattered.
I gathered internal energy in my hand and replied, “Then subdue them in one blow.”
“...Are you telling us to kill them?”
“Why can you not understand something so simple?”
“Because it is that difficult, Academy Representative Jin.”
“Is anything going to be easy in this situation?”
The moment I finished speaking, I kicked the bastard trying to kick an injured person.
Bang!
Caught off guard, the Academy student flew more than twenty feet away and rolled across the ground.
“Stop it! Does killing them solve anything?!”
The attacked student wiped blood from the corner of their mouth and gritted their teeth.
“Jin Sowoon! Do you want to die too?!”
See? They had definitely lost their minds from demonic qi poisoning. They were trying to kill the Academy Representative.
I spun two and a half times and sent a kick into their face.
Crack.
The kick, strengthened by extreme rotational force, had enough power to knock out someone who had lost their reason.
It was also flashy enough to draw everyone's attention.
I shouted at the people around me.
“This is your final warning! Stop right now. Killing them will not help us get out of here alive.”
Cheol Sunjik, Nam Hwaseong, and the elites of the Twelve Peak Alliance stepped forward as a group. The people committing violence gradually stopped.
Instead, they began howling like animals.
“Fuuuuuck!!! Then what are we supposed to do?! We are all going to die here anyway...! Should we sit around smiling and wait for a rescue party?!”
The flames of their rage, which had burned fiercely only moments ago, died out. Fear of death rushed in to take its place.
The bastards who had been beating people like they wanted to kill them suddenly shed huge tears and despaired before their own deaths.
“Sniff... I should not have come to the Academy.”
“Mother!!!!”
“Fuck... I should not have trusted those lecturer bastards.”
What a complete mess.
Even Cheol Sunjik, who was usually cold as ice, looked at a loss in this situation.
Well, nobody knew about demonic qi yet.
This was before even the existence of the Demonic Cult had been revealed.
Even if I told them about the Demonic Cult, no one would believe me.
That was why I had to keep my head clear now.
“Stop it! Do you think crying will solve anything?!”
“I never even got to be a good son... Father, I am sorry...”
“Stop...”
“In my next life, I will definitely be filial...”
“I said stop, you bastard!”
Smack!
I really could not listen to this anymore.
After smacking one bastard on the head, I looked around.
The area had gone quiet.
“Anyone else want to cry?”
“...”
“...”
Thankfully, it did not seem like it.
Elites really were elites.
“If anyone wants to die here, raise your hand.”
Cheol Sunjik's expression became strange.
If I had to put it into words, it probably said, What is he planning to do now?
“Did you not hear me? If you want to die, raise your hand!”
“That crazy bastard... Who in the world wants to die?!”
“You were acting like you were all dead already, so I thought you wanted to die.”
“...”
I did not know what the Demonic Cult bastards were doing in Mukrim or why they were going this far.
I did not want to know.
But there was one thing I did know.
They planned to kill every one of us.
“Jin Sowoon... What are you planning to do?”
And I had no intention of letting those Demonic Cult bastards carry out their plan.
“Anything. Anything that gets us out alive.”
“...”
“Are you all prepared to do the same?”
It was time to show off my special talent.
My talent for ruining other people's feasts.
Footnotes:
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