The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 342

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Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 342: Life and Death (3)

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“Wait! Why are we going this way?”

Look at this one. Go Aryeom was still speaking so informally.

“Commander.”

“...Why are we going this way, Commander... sir? This is... the opposite direction from the entrance.”

I answered Go Aryeom, a former Kunlun Sect disciple who was now a member of the First Unit.

“The east isn't the only exit.”

It was only natural to assume that the way we came in was also the way out.

The deserters led by the Kongtong Sect had chosen the eastern entrance as well.

“...Then where are we going?”

“West, obviously.”

“...W-West?”

“That's right.”

“But that's where...”

“Yes. The Demonic Realm is there.”

There was one question I had kept considering while planning this operation.

Why had they done this?

I was certain their goal was to wipe us out.

Then why had they chosen this method?

There had to be more efficient, effective ways.

Even without relying on something as trivial as a divine spirit's curse, those battlefield lunatics could have charged at us like cannibals, heedless of anything in their way.

But why hadn't they?

The answer was surprisingly simple.

The spirit vein.

They had hidden themselves until we gathered in the center of the camp.

They had led survivors into the camp and thrown them in.

The Heavenly Net and Earthly Web spread out before us carried less killing intent than the one they usually used.

It was all for the same reason.

They, too, could not completely escape the spirit vein's flow.

No, it was highly likely that the spirit vein's energy clashed with the distinctive demonic qi they emitted.

With that assumption, a lot of things fell into place.

The monsters that had not attacked until they felt threatened had begun charging at us.

They had planned our extermination, yet deployed the Red Yin Demon Wolf Unit, whose demonic qi was not particularly strong.

It all fit perfectly.

That was why we were heading for the Demonic Realm.

The road ahead would become harsher and more difficult, but it would be just as hard for our enemies.

If they wanted to attack us, they would have to deal with the monsters as well.

This was the first handful of ashes I intended to throw into their feast.

“M-Monster!”

Before we had even reached the Demonic Cult forces forming the perimeter, we encountered a monster steeped in killing intent inside the encircled area.

“I-Its eyes are bloodshot!”

Perhaps it had suffered a nervous breakdown from prolonged exposure to killing intent. The One-Horned Divine Lion lunged at us the moment it saw us.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bang! Bang!

We had gathered the people with the greatest destructive power and internal energy, so the One-Horned Divine Lion was killed so thoroughly that not even its bones remained. Still, no one had anything good to say about such wasteful attacks.

“Are we only going to fight today and tomorrow?! Don't throw everything out at once!”

The monsters were not our true enemy.

If we wasted internal energy like this, reducing them beyond recognition, there would not be many people in the First Unit still standing before the day was over.

“There will be no breaks. For at least three days, you won't have time to sleep or regulate your qi.”

“Yes, sir!”

Their response was taut with discipline.

They must have finally understood exactly what situation they were in.

“...”

We simply ran.

When a monster appeared, we fought it, and little by little, we learned to move together through the process.

The reason I had demanded absolute obedience from the Academy students in the first place was to create a charging formation.

The charging formation used late in the Orthodox-Demonic War.

Not a unit assembled by political forces.

A tactic for a unit created to truly fight and truly escape.

The heart of this escape strategy was getting as many people out as possible with the fewest casualties.

That was why I gave a single absolute command.

[Never stop moving.]

The same applied when we met enemies.

If we could not kill them, we left them behind and kept running. The people behind us would handle them.

That was the purpose of this formation and this unit arrangement.

I did not know how many would die.

Even in my previous life, I had never formed a unit with this many inexperienced people.

Even so, I believed in them.

I had gathered the elites of every sect here.

If they displayed even as much skill as they had boasted about, we could escape with truly minimal sacrifices.

How long had we been running?

Ilgak, drenched in monster blood, called out to me urgently.

“Benefactor Jin!”

I'm the commander.

When I raised my head, Demonic Cult underlings flickered into view among the trees.

“All units, prepare for battle!!!”

Not only the First Unit, which usually cleared the way, but every unit drew their weapons.

“Let's go!!!”

At my shout, the Third and Fourth Units took the left and right flanks.

Unlike the First Unit members, whose abilities had developed evenly, the Third and Fourth Units were made up of people with one decisive killing move. They became the arrowhead that would pierce the enemy encirclement.

Rumble!

Bang! Bang!

With deafening explosions, the two sides collided.

It was the Academy students' first large-scale battle.

Naturally, people began dying in rapid succession.

“Argh!”

“Ghk!”

In an ordinary spar, fighters begin with the Opening Stance and show their opponents feints to gauge their level.

But.

“Guh!”

They would not survive on a battlefield if they could not break that habit.

One strike, one kill!

Every move had to take the opponent's life.

Otherwise, the opponent's next move would take theirs.

'I told them again and again...!'

A habit ingrained over a lifetime would not disappear so easily.

Especially not in such a desperate situation, with countless enemies rushing at them.

It could not be easy to keep their heads clear.

'I need to conserve internal energy.'

There was no time for lengthy calculations.

If our losses grew, our odds of survival would keep dropping.

Rumble.

An uncontainable vibration writhed in my palm.

“Get your heads straight, you bastards!”

Cursing, I unleashed the Mad Heaven Divine Palm.

KRAAASH!

For an instant, a path opened before us. Yet like water rushing back into a scooped-out space, Demonic Cult underlings filled the gap.

“Forget your feints! Every strike must kill! If we can't break through this, we'll all die here!”

“Break through!”

“Push!!!”

The Third and Fourth Unit members snapped out of it and roared.

The Fifth and Sixth Units, our support units, filled the places left by fallen Third and Fourth Unit members.

The Life-and-Death Unit became a single arrow and began forcing its way through the encirclement.

I unleashed the Lesser Heaven Sword Art.

Just as I had in my previous life.

I swung my sword frantically.

With one thought in mind.

To survive.

But there was one difference.

The result.

In my previous life, the Lesser Heaven Sword Art had only been enough to desperately block the demonic beings' swords.

Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice!

Now, the Lesser Heaven Sword Art cut through demonic beings with sword force.

Instead of being drenched in and swallowing my blood and my comrades' blood, the Lesser Heaven Sword Art was drenched in and swallowing the filthy blood of demonic beings.

One step.

Then another.

I moved forward.

Unlike my previous life, when I had retreated one step at a time.

And for the first time, I realized something.

At the tip of the sword I swung while retreating, there had always been fallen comrades.

At the tip of the sword I swung while advancing, only enemies fell.

“Let's go!!!”

I poured the storm of emotions threatening to burst from me into my voice.

Like dense vines.

Like an unyielding iron wall.

Gaps slowly began appearing among the enemies who had not budged an inch.

The scenery of Mukrim, once hidden behind their packed ranks, began to come into view.

“Let's go!!!”

I turned my head slightly and saw Nam Hwaseong, covered in blood, roaring like a bear.

The Second Unit seemed to have already become united in spirit, judging by how they shouted after Nam Hwaseong in unison.

“Let's go!!!”

“Kill them!!!”

The First and Second Units pushed forward together.

The arrowhead grew sharper, and the encirclement began to bend.

Then.

“They're being pushed back!!!”

“Let's go!!!”

At last, they began retreating.

I drew the Taeul True Scripture to its limit and unleashed the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art.

Six Ten Thousand Swords formed. As I unleashed the Twin Heavens Sword Art, a massive storm of swords swept through every direction.

CRAAASH!

Sensing the danger, they broke formation and poured out the demonic qi they had kept hidden.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Ten Thousand Swords and demonic qi collided in a chain of massive explosions. Then Ilgak unleashed the Great Vehicle Brahma Divine Art, filling the area with explosions and radiance.

The First Unit members followed, pouring out their ultimate moves one after another.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The area was reduced to ruins as if Thunderclap Bombs had swept through it.

The Demonic Cult members who failed to retreat in time were caught fully in the attacks, and a breach finally opened in the encirclement.

“Run!!!”

What had been only a small hole grew wider as the Third and Fourth Units cleared out the surrounding enemies while charging through.

By the time the enemies recovered from the explosions, the remaining unit members, including the Fifth Unit, attacked them and escaped the encirclement.

“Pant! Pant! Pant! Pant!”

“Ghk! Pant...!”

We panted, hot breath spilling from our mouths.

For the others, this was their first experience with such a chaotic battlefield.

Many had completely exhausted their stamina.

They had faced too much in too short a time and spent an immense amount of energy.

But we could not stop.

The moment we stopped, we would be surrounded again.

For now, it was enough that we had escaped the killing-intent-filled Heavenly Net and Earthly Web.

I repeated our one absolute command.

“The Demonic Realm! Run until we reach the Demonic Realm! Then we'll slow down!”

I did not tell them they could rest.

If they forced their bodies to move for the sake of false hope, they would collapse quickly.

I only made them understand that we were struggling and flailing within despair, that this was what we had to do and what we could do.

So they would keep moving without thinking of anything else.

“B-Benefactor Jin. Those people earlier...”

Right. People who let their minds wander like this always caused trouble.

“Ilgak. After everything is over.”

“...”

Those with decent instincts had probably already realized it.

What sort of martial arts our enemies practiced.

The demonic qi was too thick and distinctly unpleasant to dismiss as a mistake or coincidence.

“Who they are doesn't matter right now. Getting out alive somehow. That is the only thing that matters.”

Would the encirclement be the end of it?

If so, the deserters would not have fired a red signal flare.

They would have prepared for what came next, and what came after that.

I turned to look at the Fifth Unit, the unit where most of my own team members were assigned.

Eunho met my eyes while running.

Fortunately, Eunho's expression was grave and serious.

Even Eunho could not hide that expression completely.

'I hope they're all right...'

With that thought, I pushed my team members from my mind.

Otherwise, I would not be able to save all of them.

It was not something I should say to people who had just escaped a life-and-death ordeal, but I still had to say it.

“Never stop! Life lies ahead of us!”

“Yes, sir!”

Unlike when we first set out, replies came from all around.

They must have realized after only one clash.

What sect they belonged to and what position they held at the Academy no longer mattered.

The same was true for me.

It was time to become the meat shield from my previous life, not the Black Flame Dragon of this life.

“Three jang ahead. Five jang around the brush!”

At my shout, the First Unit members gathered their palm force.

“Fire!”

At the signal, they released their palm force all at once.

Not too much, not too little.

The natural formation shattered in one blow, opening a path for the Academy students.

It was risky because it revealed our location to the enemy, but what choice did we have?

Without doing this, we could not lead everyone through.

“Pant, pant, pant!”

As expected, some people were left exhausted after shattering the natural formation.

Then.

“Time to switch!”

Nam Hwaseong, the Second Unit Leader, shouted, and the First Unit members fell back.

It was nothing compared to qi-regulating breathing.

But since we were not even using movement arts, they could at least recover a little internal energy by running slowly in the rear.

“...Jin Sowoon, fall back!”

Nam Hwaseong spoke to me anxiously.

Of course I wanted to rest too.

I was using qi circulation, but I had spent too much internal energy breaking through the encirclement.

But...

“You don't give orders to the Unit Commander, you arrogant bastard.”

What concerned me was finding the route.

“...We have guides too. You can rest a little.”

There were Demonic Cult bastards in this forest as well.

Reading the spirit vein alone would have been manageable, but we also needed a countermeasure for Demonic Cult members who could emerge at any moment.

The Namgwon Sect members were rather lacking in energy sense when it came to that.

That was why I had to stay here.

“I'm fine. Don't worry.”

“Damn it, if you collapse, I'm not taking responsibility. I'll leave you behind, so keep that in mind.”

“Don't you know you shouldn't say damn it to the Unit Commander?”

“If you want to punish me, make sure you survive.”

What a funny bastard.

He gave encouragement in such a strange way.

Ilgak and the First Unit members fell back, and Second Unit members began filling in at my side.

“Those with strength left, come to the front first. We need to break the natural formations.”

“Are you all right, Unit Commander? You look terrible.”

“Go rest in the rear for a while. You've been pushing yourself too hard...”

I probably looked terrible because I was covered in Demonic Cult blood and the remains of monsters.

“I'm still fine. Don't worry.”

“You're such an idiot...”

How dare they speak so rebelliously to the Unit Commander.

Just as I was considering whether to punish them on the spot, they pulled a small wooden box from their robes.

“You've got a wound on your shoulder. It won't heal right away just because you apply this, but put it on for now. If it gets infected, you might have to cut your arm off later.”

As they said, there was a long sword wound across my shoulder.

When had I gotten that?

I accepted the wooden box.

“I'll use it well.”

“...If you lose an arm, you won't be able to stand at the front anymore.”

Saying that, they ran half a step ahead of me.

Why were Orthodox Society bastards so incapable of being honest?

'Focus!'

This was not the time to worry about other things.

I raised my sword, poured internal energy into it, and swung.

I broke through natural formations, cut down monsters, and kept moving forward.

Thud! Thud! Bang! Bang!