WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 524: The Monster That Feeds on Despair (9)
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Battle plans are not as neat as a game of chess.
The pieces do not always move as intended, and sometimes people die while carrying out the plan.
According to Jegal Cheongi, that was why those who devised strategies had to account even for death.
The reason things had dragged on until now was that I had not been confident I could take on that role.
No, it was because I did not want to.
The thought of making the same choices as the people I had despised so much in my previous life disgusted me beyond measure.
But we could not delay any longer.
The situation was driving us to the edge of a cliff, and at the end of it, nothing but death awaited us all.
When I told them there would be no more rest, everyone sat down and began qi-regulating breathing.
As each person awoke, I asked the same question.
“Have you ever learned the White Tiger Sword Forms?”
They looked at me as if wondering what I was suddenly talking about.
I showed them the White Tiger Sword Forms that Yuseong Hall had learned.
“With our current numbers, wouldn’t it be difficult to use the original forms?”
Shaolin Temple no longer had the proper number of people, and the Moyong Clan had lost members as well.
They could force the sword formation into place, but it would be unstable. Something was bound to go wrong along the way.
“I understand. Please teach us.”
I had worried that they might insist on their own formations until the end, but Shaolin Sect and the Moyong Clan accepted without resistance.
I taught them the modified White Tiger Sword Forms one by one as they awoke. Since they had all reached a certain level, they memorized them quickly and began getting used to them.
Yuseong Hall kept its members as they were, while the Moyong Clan and Shaolin Temple mixed their people together.
Once the preparations were mostly complete, I said, “We’ll be leaving.”
Then I stepped forward.
#
Every cave was littered with corpses.
Corpses that appeared to be Black Path martial artists.
Corpses that appeared to be White Path martial artists.
People who had never shared the same space for even a moment while alive were tangled together like intertwined branches.
Their deaths looked like a desperate struggle to deny the time they had spent hating one another.
At the same time, they were proof that their hatred had meant nothing.
None of that mattered.
All that chilled us to the bone was the fact that the countless people we had encountered in the caves had become corpses.
We had fought off Soul Jiangshi and demonic beings well enough so far.
Our deaths would be no more than scenes like these.
Even knowing that, facing death always drained one’s mental strength and broke one’s resolve.
I glanced behind me.
Do Gwangsu was still following behind me, his eyes anxious and his shoulders drawn in.
It was hard to believe that, a few years later, he would put me behind him and charge madly toward the battlefield.
Judging by his martial skill, there would not be much difference between him now and then.
Yet Do Gwangsu had always kept me behind him, roaring as he pressed forward again and again.
Back then, I had frowned at his foolish behavior. Now, I understood.
He had not shouted to intimidate the enemy or raise our side’s morale.
It had been for himself alone.
A desperate struggle to keep from being consumed by an unidentifiable fear.
“Hup!”
“Uaaaaah!”
I shouted into the empty space.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
It contained no internal energy, but the tremendous cry shook my body and spread throughout the cave.
Do Gwangsu flinched.
“W-why are you doing that?”
“I just felt like it.”
“What?”
“You try it too.”
“Try what?”
“Shout.”
Do Gwangsu’s eyes darted about.
His expression clearly said, Has he lost his mind?
“Are you not going to? Why? Do you want me to put you in front...?”
“You fucking bastard!”
Do Gwangsu’s vulgar curse filled the cave.
“...”
“Ah! I do feel much better. Thank you, Great Hero. May I do it once more?”
He had clearly shouted toward the front, but for some reason, I felt bad.
“...No.”
“Why not? I feel much better now.”
“Enemies are starting to come. Stay behind if you want to fight them.”
“Eek!”
After shouting, I did feel lighter.
When I raised my intent, internal energy immediately flowed into the tip of my sword.
The Drifting Current Formless Sword was not the fastest sword art.
But no sword art could move more efficiently than this.
I thrust my sword at the demonic beings rushing toward us.
Slash!
I stabbed the most dangerous vital acupoint, then twisted the sword as I pulled it free.
“Aaargh!”
The infamous demonic beings of the Demonic Cult screamed in agony.
They were pitiful screams, yet strangely, they sounded like music to me.
I wanted to dig into the wound again, but I could not stop moving. I launched a Silent Sound Azure Water Hand, kicked them away, and threw myself toward the next demonic being.
Slash!
The Scarlet Radiance Sword slipped in like a snake and bit deeply into the demonic being’s wrist.
With their tendons severed, they could no longer use that arm. They reached into their robes with their other hand and drew a concealed weapon.
Whoosh!
The Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand blossomed from my left hand and struck the demonic being’s face.
“Aaargh!”
The Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand reacted to demonic qi and began burning fiercely in an instant. I threw them into the center of the demonic beings.
Perhaps sensing something ominous from the flames, they hurriedly fled, only to be struck by Ilgak’s fist force and Dang Seohui’s concealed weapons before collapsing one after another.
I did not finish them off.
Someone among those following behind would reach them and do it.
“Guh...”
A final scream rang out as a life came to an end.
There was no time to check.
A Soul Jiangshi was bending its knees before us, as though it intended to break through our formation.
Boom!
With the sound of a Thunderclap Bomb exploding, stone and dirt scattered from the ground beneath the jiangshi’s feet.
Its aim was clear.
It intended to charge through me and cut across the center of our formation.
I swung the Scarlet Radiance Sword with everything I had.
[Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms]
[Second Form]
[Extreme Strength]
A thick bundle of qi force intercepted the Soul Jiangshi as it shot forward like an arrow.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A normal person would have had their head shattered several times over by that violent qi force, but it endured and endured, gradually drawing closer.
‘At this rate, it’ll break through!’
If we intended to stop and fight, that would be one thing. But if we kept running, we could not let it pierce through us.
I used the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art and sprang forward at a speed equal to its own.
At the same time, I raised the Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force and diverted its path.
Thud!
Even when I honed holy qi into a sharp edge and cut at it, only a dull sound rang out.
Still, the blow made it change direction and crash into the wall.
I approached it, and the beast wildly swung its black nails, tearing at my arm and body.
“Kyaaaah!”
I thrust the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand into its wounds.
Whoosh!
“Kyaaaaaah!”
It screamed even more painfully than before.
Using the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps, I gracefully escaped its reach and returned to the front of the group.
“A-are you all right?”
Do Gwangsu went pale when he saw my wounds.
Strangely, his question reminded me of something I had once asked him in my previous life.
What had Do Gwangsu said when a demonic being’s blade barely missed his vital acupoint?
“It’s nothing. Feels like a mosquito bit me.”
Thinking about it now, he had been putting on quite the show despite not even being first-rate.
‘What kind of lunatic was that?’
My reaction back then had not been much different from Do Gwangsu’s now.
The difference was that Do Gwangsu had collapsed after acting cool, while I was slowly recovering beneath my clothes.
When I glanced back, one martial artist from the Moyong Clan was missing.
I should not have looked.
I moved my feet again and continued forward.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
The shout boomed through the cave, making my steps feel lighter.
Demonic beings continued appearing before us.
As before, some were accompanied by jiangshi, while others were not.
All useless flourishes vanished from my movements.
My movements took the shortest possible path toward the enemy.
I did not look back to see what was happening behind me.
I felt that if I looked back one more time, I would no longer be able to move forward.
All I could do was kill and destroy the enemies directly before my eyes with everything I had.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
One by one, more people began screaming behind me.
Geumpyo was the first to join in, followed by Nam Hwaseong, Yayul Geuk, the Shaolin Temple disciples, and then the Moyong Clan martial artists.
Even so, our speed gradually began to slow.
Even I was continuously using qi circulation, but the amount I consumed exceeded what I could recover.
Those who had not learned qi circulation, or whose attainment was lower, were likely having an even harder time.
Now, we truly could not stop.
If we did, the people we had left behind would catch up to us from the rear.
I drew my sword against even more enemies and pressed onward.
When we did not encounter demonic beings, we encountered corpses. When there were no corpses, demonic beings and jiangshi sprang out at us.
Among the corpses, I spotted the martial uniforms of the Wudang Sect.
I did not know why.
They had simply caught my eye.
Perhaps they were connected to the survivor we had met.
What had made a Wudang Sect disciple, with their tremendous pride, flee while avoiding other people?
Jiangshi and demonic beings did not seem likely, considering I Hwagyu and his group’s reactions.
Jiangshi and demonic beings were frightening, but not enough to make someone lose their mind.
Martial artists, especially those of the Wudang Sect, an orthodox sect of the White Path, possessed stronger willpower than most through harsh training and mental cultivation.
Something capable of terrifying people like that...
My thoughts suddenly turned to Yong Soa.
‘That bastard... Did he know the Wudang Sect people would die?’
Yong Soa had said he could not see everything, but had he not even seen the deaths of the Wudang Sect investigation team?
Or had he seen them and simply left?
I did not know whether he had made that choice because he believed he could not save them, or because he believed saving them would be pointless.
Yet strangely, Yong Soa’s choice did not feel as hateful as it had before.
“...”
I almost looked back, but instead took another step forward.
I felt that if I looked back now, I would disgust myself.
At the same time, I spread my energy sense and confirmed that the members of Yuseong Hall and Moyong Seol were safe.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
A jiangshi’s thrusting nails dug into my abdomen.
I stabbed its neck with the Scarlet Radiance Sword, then used the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand through the poisonous blood flowing from the wound.
Even that was not enough, so I slashed its chest again and drove the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand into its heart.
My lower abdomen began to ache as my internal energy slowly ran dry.
But the more that happened, the stronger my intent became. My dantian sucked in every trace of internal energy scattered throughout my body and moved it according to my will.
Slash! Slash!
Without even thinking about where or how I should cut, I cut down everything in sight again and again.
Just as I had on that battlefield in my previous life.
Once I no longer had enough internal energy to use the Drifting Current Formless Sword, the Lesser Heaven Sword Art naturally took over.
With its variations reduced to a minimum, the Scarlet Radiance Sword’s movements were closer to threats than swordsmanship.
Even so, my understanding in this life differed from that of my previous life, so I cut down demonic beings I had been unable to cut down before.
I crushed the head of a demonic being clinging to my leg, slammed one wrapped around my arm into the wall, and shredded its chest with the Ascending Heaven Dagger.
With every movement, more wounds covered my body.
In return, the number of enemies began to decrease.
Then.
“!”
While I was walking, Do Gwangsu moved in close to me.
Wondering what he was doing, I tried to push him away.
Tap.
He supported my shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“It looked like you were having trouble walking.”
“Move. Do you want to die?”
“...There are no more enemies appearing.”
“What are you...”
He was right.
The end of the cave had begun to come into view. The light shining from its far end looked even brighter against the darkness here.
There were no more corpses either.
The demonic qi given off by demonic beings was nowhere to be found. A rough energy and a pure energy emanated strongly from the bright point at the end of the path.
“The Central Wing.”
“...”
“I have a knack for finding paths, don’t I?”
A faint smile rested on his lips.
For some reason, Do Gwangsu was making a joke.
“Yeah. You really are good at it.”
“...?”
As I stepped toward the light.
“Stop!”
A thunderous Lion’s Roar tore through our eardrums.
And before us...
Step. Step.
Hundreds of people surrounded the cave we had emerged from, their daggers aimed at us.
Before I could understand what was happening, the Lion’s Roar shook the air again.
“Fire!”
Footnotes:
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