Chapter 446
## Chapter 446. The Definition of Justice (1)
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“W-What do you mean by that?”
Yu Ji-ryang’s voice trembled violently.
“It is exactly as I said. Only the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation can save the Mosan Sect now.”
Carried on Eun-ho’s back, he seemed ready to fall back into deep agonizing thought.
I firmly grabbed his shoulder.
“I am telling you that with the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, we can save the Mosan Sect.”
“I know that…… But, the formation currently installed is…….”
“I am aware.”
The Mosan Sect possessed the improved blueprints for the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, but they had not constructed it themselves. This was because their existing formation was already a magnificent technique that rivaled the Seven Stars Seven Captures Formation of the Zhuge Clan.
“It would take a full month just to dismantle the existing formation. Even if we were to install the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, it would take at least a month at the very fastest…….”
I cut his words off instantly.
“Does it need to be perfect?”
“Yes?”
“There is absolutely no need for it to be perfect. Furthermore, what if we use the existing formation and only newly construct the parts where holes have been punched through?”
Though the only commonality they might share would be the Eight Trigrams, the completeness of the formation was not what was important right now.
“Besides, not all of the existing formations have been dismantled yet, have they?”
True to their reputation as a prestigious family of formations, even while parts of the array were broken, other formations remained. Therefore, they would maintain the current formation while installing the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation in the empty spaces.
It was difficult, but if these two things could be achieved…….
“We can save the people.”
“……!”
Yu Ji-ryang’s two eyes, which had been shaking violently, grew deep.
“But…….”
“Do you need another excuse?”
The reason formation arrays were difficult was because three conditions had to be met: they must thoroughly protect allies, they must not cause harm to innocent people, and they must block the enemy.
If even one of these three conditions was removed, the installation of a formation became much easier. There was no way Yu Ji-ryang did not know this. It was simply that he had reached for surrender before grasping at a thread-like possibility.
It was a natural choice for a human being.
And
“I will see this through to the end. I will even offer up my own life so that even one more person of the Mosan Sect can live.”
If even just one person would hold onto that possibility together.
“……Jin So-hyeop!”
A human can find courage. That was how history had been changed, and how it would continue to be changed.
Yu Ji-ryang slowly raised his head and stared into my two eyes. More strength than ever before entered his voice.
“Whether it succeeds or fails, I shall give the entirety of my life after this to you.”
Then, he immediately closed his eyes and began to mutter numbers. He had started the calculations required to unfold the Infinite Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation.
“Dae-hyeong, the number of people is becoming greater and greater.”
Sa-ryeon spoke while pointing at the hundreds of Black Coffins standing in the way of the formation.
“It will take time to break through.”
“We aren’t going that way.”
“Then?”
“Over there.”
I pointed straight toward the main gate.
“The formation has been activated there, hasn’t it?”
“What does it matter? We have a person here who has gone back and forth through that formation countless times.”
When I pointed at Yu Ji-ryang, he nodded his head.
“Let’s go! Geum-pyo and I will open the path. The destination is the Mosan Sect!”
“Yes!”
We began to run once more. Martial artists surged in like rough waves.
“Catch them!!!”
At Heo Gwan-jung’s desperate command, the Black Coffins moved with frantic haste.
“……We lost them.”
“Damn it!”
He knew they possessed extraordinary footwork. After all, they had run from the village to Mount Mosan while shaking off all the Black Coffins, who would be saddened to be called second-best in terms of lightfoot techniques. It was a lightfoot technique truly worthy of being called the best in the world.
However, he had not imagined that they would even break through the personnel who had established a perimeter in the midst of a complex battle.
“Blast it!”
Furthermore, what was difficult to understand was the behavior of Jin So-un and his party, who had plunged without hesitation into this carnage—a situation where the sect’s destruction was certain.
“I heard they weren’t sane, but to think they were madmen to this extent…….”
The operation had already been in progress before Jin So-un’s party reached the village. No matter how fast they ran, the destruction of the Mosan Sect could not be stopped. What should have unfolded before their eyes was the futile collapse of a three-hundred-year tradition and the overwhelming majesty of the Martial Alliance.
Yet, those bastards threw themselves into the pit of fire.
“What shall we do?”
“There is no way they will come back out this way. It will take a long time to pass through the formation! When those bastards finally do come out, let them see nothing but corpses and ashes!”
“Yes!”
Excessive courage is indistinguishable from foolishness. That is why the word ‘recklessness’ exists. And there has never been a time when the result of recklessness was good. It was already a decided matter that the Mosan Sect would disappear today.
The response of the Mosan Sect had been far too common-sense.
Who was there that had lived in the Jianghu for a long time without ever being falsely accused? The Hwasan Sect had once been misunderstood as seeking the Hegemonic Way, and the Wudang Sect had been treated as a cult.
In this Jianghu, where jealousy and rivalry—these sticky emotions—were entangled, it was not strange for anything to happen. Therefore, the Mosan Sect responded within the bounds of common sense.
They were a bit frightened by the fact that the ‘Black Coffins’ had stepped forward, but they thought it was an issue that would pass with time. The influence of the Mosan Sect within the Jianghu was by no means weak, and the bribes they had scattered to the Martial Alliance were not small. In addition, the Mosan Sect was one of the most important business partners of the Martial Alliance.
They did not think that such a Mosan Sect would be exterminated under the false accusation of practicing forbidden arts. No, they did not even consider it. No one did.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Ack!”
“Kyah!”
And the result of that unfolded as a gruesome sight.
The sorcerers who had been cracking jokes until that very morning. The children who had been hiding and eating snacks. Those who had been confirming their differences while conducting heated discussions. All of them were bleeding and dying.
The hastily changed formation array ultimately broke down without functioning properly, and from the shadow-like holes that were blown wide open, murderers poured in endlessly.
“We are the Mosan Sect! How can the Martial Alliance attack the Mosan Sect……!?”
Despite the desperate cries, they continued the slaughter. If they had at least explained the reason why they had to die, they could have cursed and poured out insults, but the opponents remained consistently silent.
No, they did say one thing.
“Die for the sake of Justice!”
Justice.
That which the Mosan Sect had nobly protected for hundreds of years. They claimed that was the reason for their death.
But it was not understood. Why was it justice for them to die? On the contrary, had not their formation array been for the purpose of protecting justice!
“Aaaaaargh!”
The Hall Master of the Geon-gon Hall of the Mosan Sect, Hwang Sa-gong, died without being able to solve that question.
It was not only Hwang Sa-gong. Numerous people of the Mosan Sect lost their lives helplessly, and even the colleagues who had to witness that sight powerlessly died as well.
“Mun-ju-nim! The enemies…… more enemies are swarming in.”
“What do you mean by that!”
“There seem to be three hundred! No, four hundred……!”
At the sorcerer’s report, the Mosan Sect Leader Gu Song-baek lost the strength in his knees and slumped to the floor.
“The Heavens…… the Heavens have abandoned our Mosan!”
He had sent disciples to seek help from the sects they had always exchanged aid with, and he had hurriedly sent disciples to the officials of the Martial Alliance to whom he had given bribes. However, not a single one of the disciples who should have arrived in time returned.
Did all those many people happen to meet with an accident on the way?
‘……That couldn’t be the case.’
It is said that everything has its rise and fall and that nothing is eternal. However, the members of the sect, who had never thought the end of the Mosan Sect would be like this, could not steady their bodies in their deep sense of despair.
“Aaargh—”
“Keuh-heok!”
The martial artists of the sect stepped forward to try and defend, but they were outnumbered and outmatched.
“If I had known it would be like this…… if it was going to be like this! I should not have sealed the spells.”
They had sealed dozens of powerful spells that could be dismissed as “evil arts.” Because of that, the Mosan Sect had no way to respond to their attacks.
As an era of peace and a golden age arrived, and judging that there was zero possibility of the seal on the spells being released in the future, the people of the Mosan Sect had even tried to completely destroy the sealed spells to erase even the smallest suspicion directed toward them.
But
“Why…….”
The actions taken for the sake of justice were ultimately killing the disciples who had lived righteously.
“Mun-ju-nim! First, we must evacuate……! Evacuation is the priority!”
Despite the struggles of the Hall Masters who were trying their best to protect him until the end, Mosan Sect Leader Gu Song-baek avoided their hands.
“M-Mun-ju-nim!”
“Hall Masters, listen!”
“Give us your command!”
“I will now release the seal on the Four Dragon Pavilion!”
“……Mun-ju-nim?”
Gu Song-baek’s determined voice instantly overwhelmed the chaotic air.
“Right this moment, take the young disciples and escape this place. And…… never again!”
Red blood was flowing from his two eyes. Whether he knew it or not, Gu Song-baek continued his resolute words.
“Never again…… form a connection with the Martial Alliance!”
“Mun-ju-nim!”
“That is what you must do now. I shall do what I must do!”
“…….”
“This is the last command I give as the Sect Leader. Hurry!”
Blood seeped out over his tightly bitten lips.
“Let’s go!”
The Hall Masters began to run toward the Four Dragon Pavilion while etching the image of the Sect Leader’s back into their eyes. Those who remained prepared for the end alongside the Sect Leader.
*Chwarak—*
His long robe spread open, and dozens of cylindrical pillars extended from Gu Song-baek’s hands.
*Tak— tak— tak— tak— tak— tak— tak—*
The cylindrical wooden pillars took their positions in the area with fierce momentum. Between the pillars standing upright, a clicking sound echoed.
The moment those who thought it was a formation rushed in to quickly destroy it.
*A-heung!*
A tiger the size of a house appeared and opened its mouth wide.
“W-What is this!”
The intruder desperately twisted his running body and barely managed to change direction.
*A-heung!*
The Black Coffin, who had barely avoided the tiger’s maw in terror, realized he had been deceived by an illusion after seeing the tiger whose colors were blurred.
“What a ridiculous prank!”
Angered by the fact that he had been frightened by something trivial, the Black Coffin rushed toward the Mosan Sect with the momentum of a ‘leaping bow and chasing shadow.’ The blurred tiger opened its mouth again, but he did not hesitate.
The moment he swung his sword to finish off the remnants of the Mosan Sect.
*Kwak!*
The Black Coffin’s entire body froze at a sudden pain. An incredible, unspeakable pain was felt from his shoulder to the nape of his neck.
Just how, why…….
The moment he turned his head, he saw it. He saw the sight of the blurred tiger created by an illusion biting his shoulder and the nape of his neck. Blood that had burst from the wound flowed down in all directions.
“What kind of……!”
Before he could even continue his words, the tiger created by illusion shook its head wildly. At the same time, the Black Coffin’s form floated up and fluttered like a toy.
“Aaaaaargh!”
The Black Coffin was thrown to the ground after being ravaged while spraying blood like a fountain. Before anyone knew it, his shoulder and arm had been torn away.
“Does this appear to be a mere illusion to you!”
Soon, five talismans were fired from Gu Song-baek’s grip. Along with them, the Dragon, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, Qilin, and White Tiger—beasts that should only exist in fantasy—began to pour out wildly.
“A-Aaaaaargh!”
“Avoid it!”
“Evil arts, it’s evil arts!”
At the cries of the Black Coffins, his heart plummeted. How much sacrifice had they made to change this perception? How much had they held the realizations of their ancestors in contempt? And the price of killing their own precious things while walking on eggshells like that was.
“It was an evil art after all!”
The efforts of that time, the sacrifices of that time, the pain of that time, and the sorrow of that time were all crumbling like sand into pieces at a single word.
All the pain they had experienced while building it up disappeared as if it were nothing. Before that sad futility, Gu Song-baek roared.
“Fine……. You bastards are right!”
A thick sense of emptiness was contained in his voice.
“This is the evil art (Sa-sul) of the Mosan Sect!”
The phantom beasts immediately threw their bodies toward the people.
“They’re coming! Block them!”
The Black Coffins gathered their strength all at once to respond, but strangely, the phantom beasts allowed all their attacks to pass through. The attacks of the Black Coffins merely whipped through the empty air in vain.
Conversely, the attacks of the phantom beasts were effective against the Black Coffins.
“Keuh-heok!”
“A-Avoid them!”
Black Coffins were bitten by the dragon, struck by the black tortoise, and sent flying by the swipe of the white tiger’s paw. As the damage to the Black Coffins grew bit by bit, the tide of the one-sided slaughter began to tilt slightly.
“Master!”
“Go! I told you to go!”
“Now is the last chance!”
While those trying to send the disciples away and those trying to stop them confronted each other amidst the gap of briefly halted despair.
*Ping—*
Until he appeared.
*Ping— ping— ping— ping—*
Five flying daggers attacked a phantom beast. Naturally, the flying daggers passed right through the phantom beast. However, the flying daggers that passed through the beast wrapped around one of the several cylindrical pillars thrown by Gu Song-baek as if that had been their original trajectory.
*Chak— chak— chak— chak—*
The moment the flying dagger, fired last after surrounding the area, struck the cylindrical pillar.
*Pasak—*
The pillar collapsed feebly, and the phantom beast, the Black Tortoise, immediately disappeared. In its place, only a single burning talisman fluttered in the wind, leaving behind ashes as it was extinguished.
“You idiots, did you not even know that the Sect Leader of the Mosan Sect had mastered the Phantom Illusion Technique?”
The one who revealed himself was, surprisingly, a boy who did not yet look twenty years old.
“You are…….”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mun-ju-nim. I am the person currently called Heo Gwan-jung.”
“……Even while knowing it is an illusion technique, you are committing such an act?”
A faint sneer hung on the corners of Heo Gwan-jung’s mouth.
“A person of your stature, a Sect Leader, is quite naive. That is why the sect suffers such a fate.”
“Just what is the reason! Why! Just why!”
“That is because…….”
Blue claw energy (Jo-gi) gathered on his fingers.
“Justice!”
The four phantom beasts rushed toward Heo Gwan-jung all at once. Heo Gwan-jung avoided only the teeth and claws of the phantom beasts by a hair’s breadth with agile movements. It was as if he knew that was their weakness. Then, he headed straight for Gu Song-baek.
“……Is the reason, is it not!”
“You villain!”
Heo Gwan-jung’s bloodthirsty claw energy, which had approached within arm’s reach before anyone knew it, slashed through the Mosan Sect disciples. As if he held ten swords, blood flowed like a river wherever his hands passed.
“So, please go quietly. Things have become difficult because a bothersome meddler has joined in.”
“Even in death, I shall not forget this resentment!”
“Hmm…… this is a bit scary. A curse left by the Sect Leader of the Mosan Sect.”
Contrary to his words, the corners of his mouth curled up into a grin.
“Still, I am studying hard because of the command to re-study the arts of breaking evil and exorcising spirits, so I am not too worried.”
In an instant, the tide turned again.
“Ah……”
When Gu Song-baek could not hide his sense of futility at the sight of the remaining four talismans being vainly extinguished.
“Is this the end……”
Ten streaks of claw energy drew a cruel trajectory in the air above Gu Song-baek’s body. At the moment Gu Song-baek closed his eyes, sensing the end.
*Swaaaa-eaek—*
The sound of something piercing the air penetrated the battlefield.
*Puck!*
Heo Gwan-jung was struck by something and was instantly sent flying five jang away, crashing into a burning building.
“Keuaaaa-argh!”
As if filled with soaring rage, the claw energy flashed and sliced through all the burning materials of the building. Soon, Heo Gwan-jung, scorched by the fire, walked out from the heap of ashes where everything had collapsed, his eyes flashing.
“Who is it!”
His yellow, flashing gaze left a trail as it whipped around, digging into the surroundings. At that moment, Heo Gwan-jung sensed a strange atmosphere in the vicinity.
A silent field where even the sound of breathing had stopped. Everyone’s gaze was focused on one place. The Mosan Sect’s formation array. The place is filled with white mist.
Right from that place, the mists cleared like a curtain and a single man walked out.
“Where does a piece of rat dung like you think you’re talking about Justice?”
A voice full of dissatisfaction broke the silence. And a crooked posture that overflowed with leisure.
“You’ve made quite a mess. Quite a mess.”
The owner of the voice, who was clicking his tongue, discovered Gu Song-baek and politely clasped his hands in a martial salute.
“I am a bit late. You are Sect Leader Gu Song-baek, correct?”
“Y-You, who are you?”
Not only had he broken through the Mosan Sect’s formation, but he had also blown away the leader of the Black Coffins in a single move. Gu Song-baek looked up at the man before him, forgetting the fact that his life had been in danger just a moment ago.
The man before his eyes spoke.
“I am Jin So-un of the Tae-eul Sect.”
“Jin So-un?!”
With a voice that held not a speck of fear or tremor. He made his name known. Gu Song-baek felt as though he had witnessed the descent of a Heavenly Being with his own two eyes.
