◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 449: The Definition of Justice (4)
──────
If a little bloodshed could prevent a greater sacrifice, then that blood had to be spilled.
That was what Yong Soa believed.
It was the only way to prepare for the end.
“…We need to check this again.”
Namgung San frowned as he looked over the Death List.
“Where?”
“Mount Mao…”
Namgung San shook his head, visibly unsettled.
There had to be some mistake.
“What reason would Mount Mao Sect have to be on the Death List?”
Everyone in the martial world knew that Mount Mao Sect, which had once stood between the righteous path and heresy, had become an ally of the Martial Alliance and worked tirelessly to erase every trace of unorthodox methods from its sect.
At this point, it was considered even closer to the righteous path than Hyeongsan Sect.
“Could their competitors have slipped their name in because the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation they recently unveiled has become so popular?”
Mount Mao Sect had nearly reached the point of surpassing the Jegal Clan’s influence with its new arcane formation.
Naturally, countless people who studied mystic formations envied them.
This needed to be checked again.
“This isn’t why we started the purge.”
Namgung San’s voice was full of regret.
“…”
Yong Soa took the Death List.
His indifferent eyes carefully examined the information written on it.
“First, we should confirm this with the Inspectorate and receive the Martial Alliance’s orders again…”
“There’s no need.”
“Hm?”
Still looking at the Death List, Yong Soa set it ablaze with Samadhi True Fire.
“They are… evil.”
Namgung San’s face hardened.
“Yong Soa. They aren’t like the people who have clearly committed crimes so far. There’s still no definite evidence.”
Evidence mattered more than anything else in this operation.
“Do you know what a hasty judgment can lead to?”
Not even the slightest suspicion of wrongdoing could be overlooked.
This was the most serious matter in the martial world.
Yet…
“It isn’t hasty.”
“…”
“They are the ones who will bring great death before the Demonic Cult.”
Namgung San was stunned by the certainty in Yong Soa’s voice.
Yong Soa spoke to him.
“If a little bloodshed can prevent a greater sacrifice.”
Without the slightest hesitation, he continued.
“Then that blood must be spilled.”
Namgung San did not back down either.
This was not something he could easily yield on.
“How can you be so certain?”
Namgung San placed a hand on his sword hilt.
Yong Soa looked at him without emotion.
“I saw it.”
“…!”
Namgung San’s hand fell away from his sword.
No further explanation was necessary.
#
Just before the newly completed Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation could activate, Gu Songbaek collapsed, bleeding heavily.
“Sect Leader!”
Amid Yu Jiryang’s desperate cry, Gu Songbaek barely raised his head. One of his eyes was gone, yet he smiled bleakly.
“I’m fine.”
Behind him, the Black Officers rushed in like a pack of dogs, trying to stop the Soul-Destroying Formation from activating.
The one who had dealt Gu Songbaek a critical wound was about to cut off his head in a single stroke. Whether Gu Songbaek knew it or not, he was gesturing for someone to leave first.
“Sect Leader…”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With the sound of air exploding, a streak of black light shot across the space toward Gu Songbaek.
Clang!
The sword meant to sever Gu Songbaek’s neck was cut apart, hilt and all.
Gu Songbaek looked at the falling blade, then found the person who had displayed such unbelievable power.
“Young Hero Jin…”
Shrrrnk!
His beloved sword spread open like a fan, instantly suppressing the Black Officers.
Hummm!
Sword qi shot from his blade like arrows, denying the enemy any chance to approach.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“What do you…?”
Before Gu Songbaek could finish, he was already on Jin Sowoon’s back.
“It’s not time to give up yet.”
The destruction of the sect he had devoted his entire life to was right before him, yet Gu Songbaek’s heart swelled for some reason.
He thought he had pushed himself beyond his limits, but whenever he saw this young man, he wondered whether he had truly reached them.
Once again, his life was saved.
Once again, he found the strength to struggle.
‘That’s right. It isn’t over until the very end…’
Bang!
“…!”
The world flipped upside down as a shock tore through his entire body.
‘What was that?’
The Black Officers had been driven far away by Jin Sowoon’s power, so who had attacked him?
Then something like a bird’s talon began pulling at his clothes.
The one who caught him as he fell was none other than Jin Sowoon.
“Are you all right?”
“What happened to me…?”
“…”
Jin Sowoon did not answer.
He only stared straight ahead with a grim expression.
‘A grim expression?’
It was a hard look Gu Songbaek had never seen on him before.
At the end of that gaze, an indifferent voice rang out.
“Even after I warned you…”
For some reason, the instant Gu Songbaek heard that cold voice, his heart dropped like a stone.
“You came after all, Jin Sowoon.”
#
A wind swept through the area.
Wind flowed from the ruined mystic formation, carrying white smoke in a single direction.
At its center stood a figure alone, executing the Whirlwind Sword Art.
“Jin Sowoon.”
His presence filled the space more completely than the Black Officers who had rushed in like a pack of dogs.
“Is this your choice?”
Yong Soa.
Whoooooo…
White smoke swirled around his unmoving sword.
His indifferent eyes stared down at Gu Songbaek, who had fallen behind me.
“A wrong choice. He is an evil man.”
I had suspected it after what happened with the Fourfold Gate Sect, but I never expected the real Yong Soa to appear.
I measured the distance between him, me, and our escape route.
‘It’ll be hard to escape with him.’
Then…
“By whose standards?”
“Standards?”
There was no choice but to face him head-on.
“I’m asking where the standard for a good man and an evil man comes from.”
At my question, his indifferent gaze returned to the wounded Gu Songbaek.
The white smoke around his sword began forming denser rings.
Did he know his qi was visible or not?
I took another step toward Yong Soa.
“The fact that this operation isn’t an official Martial Alliance operation…”
My words did not continue.
“Yong So… You bastard!”
Swoosh!
The Whirlwind Sword Art flew straight at Gu Songbaek.
I struck down the attack with all my strength.
Bang!
A strange rebounding force knocked the Scarlet Radiance Sword aside, and the Whirlwind Sword Art drove straight for Gu Songbaek’s heart.
I turned and pulled him away, letting its sharp edge scrape across my waist.
Slash!
Carrying the momentum of my turn, I swung the Scarlet Radiance Sword.
Yong Soa, who had shot forward like lightning, retreated like the wind.
“Hah.”
I checked the wound left by the Whirlwind Sword Art.
Fortunately, it was not deep.
The Black Officers who had retreated began rushing in again.
At this rate, both of us would have no choice but to remain here before the Soul-Destroying Formation activated.
I made my decision.
“Go first.”
“Young Hero Jin, what are you…?”
Instead of answering, I grabbed Gu Songbaek’s clothes and was about to throw him toward the rear.
Slash!
As if it had been waiting for this moment, a sword wind flew in and barely passed between my hand and his clothes.
Thud!
Gu Songbaek, already badly wounded, rolled across the ground again.
“You cannot escape.”
There was an odd obsession in Yong Soa’s indifferent voice.
‘Why?’
As though Gu Songbaek were his mortal enemy, Yong Soa focused solely on him.
Yong Soa had no reason to form a grudge against anyone to begin with. Even if he had, Yong Soa was clearly the one at fault, so why was he so obsessed with targeting Gu Songbaek?
‘Then I definitely have to save him.’
I had wanted to save him already, but now I wanted to save him even more.
“Let’s clear out the riffraff first.”
Rumble…
The force of thunder and lightning gathering in my palm trembled.
“W-What is that?!”
“It’s his palm force!”
“Get out of the way!”
Having reached the Dansang stage, the Mad Heaven Divine Palm had become even faster, sweeping through them before they had time to react.
Kwakakakakaboom!
With a roar that seemed to split heaven and earth, the smoke flowing from the ruined mystic formation blew back in the opposite direction.
Those who fled in panic were swept up by the Mad Heaven Divine Palm. Those who avoided it and entered the ruined mystic formation never returned.
Normally, taking Gu Songbaek and fleeing would have been the right choice.
For some reason, though, my feet would not move.
The reason was…
Swoosh!
A figure emerged through the thick sand and dust.
‘Yong Soa.’
He was the reason.
The reason I had felt that if I tried to escape with Gu Songbaek, I would die.
Following that bad feeling had been the right call.
But I had not prepared enough for what came after.
Shrrrrnk!
Countless illusion swords and Changing Swords unfolded in a dazzling display.
A storm of swords claimed a territory as vast as the Mad Heaven Divine Palm and rushed at Yong Soa.
Still, Yong Soa did not panic even once as he executed the Whirlwind Sword Art.
Smoke flowing from the mystic formation traced smooth curves along his sword.
Countless taiji symbols filled the air.
Then, at the perfect moment,
Hummm…
he rendered the Twin Heavens Sword Art futile.
That strange discordance made suspicion take root.
All the suspicions I had built up about Yong Soa until now.
Even for Wudang Sect, which followed the principle of Softness Overcomes Hardness, this phenomenon was too strange.
‘As if he knows.’
Why was Move after, control first called Move after, control first?
Because one could let an opponent’s strength flow away with the least possible response, depending on the force they used.
Yong Soa, on the other hand, responded beforehand as though he already knew what was coming. He suppressed my attacks before their power could even unfold.
Too many times for it to be coincidence.
Not believing what I saw and turning away from reality was the fastest path to death.
If I had been a proper White Path martial artist, I would have shouted, “Dark arts!”
But I was not a proper White Path martial artist, and the Inspectorate’s Black Officers were all on that bastard’s side.
‘Then I might as well!’
I immediately changed the flow of my internal energy and swung my sword.
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms
First Form
Extreme Swiftness.
The Scarlet Radiance Sword cut through space.
Swoosh!
At the end of the bursting air, I unleashed the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art once more.
The abrupt shift in my internal energy made my insides feel as though they were turning over.
‘But I have to confirm it.’
It was an unavoidable choice if I wanted to turn suspicion into certainty.
Three Ten Thousand Swords unfolded the Twin Heavens Sword Art, creating countless variations.
Clangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclang!
Everything within the space became a sharp Scarlet Radiance Sword.
Then I fired sword qi through the gaps.
It was pressure made possible because I stood between two mystic formations.
But…
‘Not enough.’
It was an overwhelming barrage that no ordinary martial artist, not even an exceptional one, could have emerged from unscathed.
Still, it was not enough to turn suspicion into certainty, because Yong Soa was gradually drawing closer through swords that even I had trouble distinguishing.
‘Then.’
I raised my internal energy, which had started to sink again, to its limit.
Sword forms and sword qi too fast for the eye to follow raged around us.
Into that storm, I drove the Lesser Heaven Sword Art.
Swoosh!
The space filled with swords distorted, and sword qi shot toward Yong Soa’s heart.
Without pause, I immediately launched another swift sword strike.
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms
First Form
Extreme Swiftness.
He used a Tiger Claw Hand with his left hand to protect his heart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same time, space split apart, and Yong Soa’s body appeared to be cut in two.
Swoosh!
But it was only an afterimage Yong Soa had left behind.
Yong Soa broke through the countless attacks without a single scratch on his body.
“…Hah!”
A hollow laugh escaped me as certainty filled my mind.
The combination I had just used was not a killing combination.
At Yong Soa’s level, he could defend against it.
But he should not have been able to stop me from escaping during that process.
Instead, Yong Soa had avoided my combination and blocked my retreat.
That could only mean one thing.
“You…”
The possibility I had hoped was not true.
“Can you see the future?”
He did not look proud of what he had done. His expression remained indifferent.
Then his lips slowly parted.
“Is that all you have to say?”
It was the most chilling voice I had heard in both my past life and this one.
Footnotes:
