◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 447: The Definition of Justice (2)
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“Are you all ri…?”
The word “right” caught in my throat.
The Mount Mao Sect was in no state that could be called all right, even as an empty courtesy.
“Arghhh!”
“Urgh!”
“S-save… save me…”
Buildings burned as black-clad men swung their swords.
Their blades showed no mercy and spared no one.
No one could stand against them.
Martial artists threw themselves forward to protect spirit practitioners, while adults braced themselves for death to save the children.
[Arghhh!]
[Urgh!]
[S-save… save me…]
Why?
A scene of the Taeul Sect suffering a calamity I had never witnessed rose in my mind.
The swords of demonic beings radiating demonic qi showed no mercy, cutting down Taeul Sect members without distinction.
No one from the Taeul Sect could stand against their blades.
Martial artists threw themselves forward for their families, and hall leaders prepared to die for their disciples.
It was a memory I had never experienced.
The attackers and circumstances were entirely different.
Yet…
For some reason, the same rage surged within me.
“Sect Leader!”
I pushed back the nightmare crashing over me like a tide and looked toward the Black Officials rushing at Gu Songbaek, the Sect Leader of the Mount Mao Sect.
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms
First Form
Extreme Swiftness
Four Black Officials leaped behind Gu Songbaek.
Space split across their chests.
Screech!
Blood burst from the rifts with the sound of tearing air.
Before it could pour over Gu Songbaek’s head, I pulled him away.
“Are you all right?”
The words caught in my throat as I barely whispered them, then looked at him.
Having just escaped death, Gu Songbaek had no time to tend to his wounds. Instead, he stared in one direction.
His injured disciples lay collapsed there, trembling in terror.
“Sect Leader.”
“…”
“Sect Leader!”
Only after I called him twice did Gu Songbaek finally turn toward me.
“Jin Sowoon… Young Hero Jin… Are you Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing here…?”
“I came after hearing Yu Jiryang’s account.”
“Jiryang… Jiryang went to the Taeul Sect to find you?”
“Yes.”
A shadow crossed Gu Songbaek’s face.
“Why did Jiryang go to the Taeul Sect…?”
Trust and gratitude toward me, yet also helpless despair and disappointment.
All those emotions mingled on his face.
Still, I could not feel hurt by it.
Anyone in this situation would want help from a powerful sect.
“Please stay with your disciples for now.”
“No! No, you mustn’t! I can’t let you get caught up in this disaster as well. Tell Jiryang to leave this place and never come back.”
As Gu Songbaek clutched my arm, desperation filled his entire body.
The desperation to save even one more person.
“The Black Officials do not allow anyone to escape. You know running away won’t solve anything.”
“…”
“If it gives you any hope, Chief Strategist Jegal and the Alliance Leader know what has happened to the Mount Mao Sect. They are furious over this.”
“W-what does that mean?!”
“But it will take time for them to mobilize the Martial Alliance and stop the Black Officials.”
Gu Songbaek’s eyes shook violently.
There was no time to explain everything in such an urgent situation.
“If you hold out, you can live. Will you hold on with the Mount Mao Sect members a little longer?”
His violently shaking eyes gradually calmed.
Then they hardened with resolve.
His trembling body settled, and his voice became steady.
“Young Hero Jin, what do you intend to do?”
“My junior disciples and Hero Yu are moving to seal the breached mystic formation.”
“Seal the mystic formation?”
“We plan to place the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation there and block anyone trying to enter from outside.”
“…”
“To do that, we first need to stop the Black Officials already inside and those coming in from outsi…”
Boom!
At that moment, one of the burning halls collapsed completely.
Boom!
Vivid blue claw qi shot out from within.
Geumpyo rushed forward like an arrow and blocked it with the Vajra Shield.
“You wicked bastards! How dare you…!”
A man stood there, his yellow eyes gleaming fiercely.
It was Heo Gwanjung, the bastard we had encountered in the village.
“What are you doing? The Taeul Sect is defending the Mount Mao Sect! Kill them all!”
“Yes!”
There was no more time to waste.
“So please hold on a little longer, Sect Leader…”
Grip.
Gu Songbaek clutched my robe.
“Let me help as well!”
“What?”
“No one knows the Mount Mao Sect better than I do.”
“But your disciples…”
“I don’t know what your plan is, but I know it’s our only hope. So…”
There was no longer even a trace of doubt or hesitation on his face.
“I will help you.”
Screech!
Heo Gwanjung’s claw qi shot toward Gu Songbaek and me.
Just as I drew the Scarlet Radiance Sword to respond, Geumpyo stepped in front of me.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ten streams of claw qi struck the Vajra Shield and exploded.
After retreating three steps, Geumpyo’s gaze changed.
“Dongryong and I will handle this side.”
Gu Songbaek’s hand still clutched my robe tightly.
If we had to accept someone’s help anyway, it was best to take it from the person who knew this place best.
“Be careful. Someone who commands operations at that age is no ordinary monster.”
“If he’s that kind of monster… we have one too.”
Geumpyo gestured toward Dongryong.
The Black Dragon Sword, which Dongryong always held in his arms, had already left its sheath and was aimed at the enemy’s claws.
“See you later!”
“Yes!”
I immediately moved out with Gu Songbaek.
#
Heo Gwanjung immediately deployed his movement art to pursue Jin Sowoon and Gu Songbaek.
Shiver!
A sudden sensation made him stop at once.
At that instant, sword qi passed within an inch of him and cut several strands of his hair.
‘What?!’
He turned toward the chilling strike that had almost killed him.
Geumpyo, holding a shield, and Dongryong, gripping a black sword too large for his body, were staring at him.
“You can’t go.”
Dongryong pointed the black sword at Heo Gwanjung as he spoke.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Heo Gwanjung’s lips.
Children who had achieved a little at that age often mistook him for an easy opponent because they looked about the same age.
But once they saw his strength, they would wet themselves and beg for their lives.
Children, adults, and elders, they were all the same.
He felt nothing about it, but there was one thing he found regrettable.
He could not feel the fear they felt.
“You aren’t even the Black Flame Dragon. Do you really think brats like you can face me?”
The Eighteen Azure Flame Claws, designated the Inspectorate’s deadliest martial art, began to bare their fangs in earnest.
Rumble!
Claw qi expanded to the size of a handspan and swept across the ground before shooting forward.
Fragments of stone and dirt flew with it like concealed weapons, battering the Vajra Shield.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They somehow blocked the claw qi, but the small Vajra Shield could not fully protect both of them.
Blood began to spread across their arms and legs amid small wounds.
“A tiny shield can’t protect anything!”
The Eighteen Azure Flame Claws raked through space again, fiercely closing in on their arms and legs.
At that moment, a sword shot out from beneath the shield and blocked the claw qi.
Clang!
“We have swords too.”
“!”
At Geumpyo’s words from behind the Vajra Shield, Heo Gwanjung realized Dongryong was no longer where he should have been.
‘Where?’
Dongryong appeared to his left.
Heo Gwanjung was about to fire claw qi toward him when he froze.
‘An afterimage!’
Dongryong’s form remained behind him and to his right as well.
As Dongryong completed a circuit around him, Geumpyo thrust his sword sharply at him from behind.
“Can’t you see me?”
“Hah!”
Heo Gwanjung quickly tried to create space by firing claw qi.
“This is why I carry a shield.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Vajra Shield easily deflected the vivid blue claw qi.
The moment Heo Gwanjung raised both hands to block Geumpyo’s sword, he sensed a sharp edge above his head.
Dongryong was spinning through the air, cutting down at him.
‘What kind of coordinated attack is this?!’
Every movement followed at exactly the right time, like a rehearsed stage performance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Two newly deployed Black Officials rushed in and attacked Geumpyo.
“Are you all right?!”
“Kill him!”
“Yes!”
Leaving Geumpyo to them, Heo Gwanjung fired claw qi toward Dongryong.
Twenty streams of claw qi rose into the air, intending to mince Dongryong’s body apart.
The greatest weakness of aerial combat was having nowhere to step in midair.
But as if he had anticipated even that, white silk thread shot from Dongryong’s left hand and pulled him out of the claw qi’s reach.
“So you knew about the Flying Dragon Claw too!”
Heo Gwanjung chased after Dongryong and scattered claw qi without restraint.
The tree anchoring Dongryong’s Flying Dragon Claw was cut apart, and Dongryong was about to be torn apart between the claw qi once more.
Dongryong twisted his body wildly and scattered sword qi.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The claw qi that had reached close to Dongryong burst apart against the sword qi, leaving small wounds across his body.
The corner of Heo Gwanjung’s lips curled up cruelly.
“This is as far as you go.”
It was a passable coordinated attack, but in the end, they were just inexperienced…
“No.”
The instant Dongryong landed, the ground sank beneath him as he shot forward like lightning.
Screech!
Startled by the lightning-fast sword, Heo Gwanjung sharply turned his head.
“Urgh…!”
His earlobe was cut off, and blood flowed down.
‘F-fast!’
Before he could use the Eighteen Azure Flame Claws again, the Black Dragon Sword slithered toward his vital acupoints like a snake.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was only a sword without even a coating of sword qi, yet it did not gain so much as a nick when it struck the Azure Flame Claws.
No, even when Heo Gwanjung swung his claws to shake it off, the Black Dragon Sword clung to him stubbornly.
The moment he stepped back to escape the sword’s range…
“Gasp!”
A storm of illusion swords had somehow formed over his head, just about to swallow him whole.
“Arghhh!”
He brought out ten-tenths of his power and unleashed the final move of the Eighteen Azure Flame Claws.
Semicircular claw qi rose like a rain of arrows and collided with the storm of illusion swords.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The recoil felt as though it shook his insides apart.
“Blegh!”
After vomiting a mouthful of blood, the tightness in his chest eased slightly.
Yet the burning in his stomach at the thought of being injured by the youngest of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers did not fade.
“How dare you…”
“You can’t win.”
There was no tension in Dongryong’s eyes as he looked at Heo Gwanjung.
He was injured and bleeding, but he did not look afraid in the slightest.
“You’re weak.”
It was a gaze like he was looking down at an insignificant insect.
What made Heo Gwanjung even more furious was that, while he was coughing up blood, Dongryong inspected the Mount Mao Sect members without even the slightest caution.
“I’m one year older than you! Don’t talk down to me!”
He knew it was a foolish thing to be upset about, but the helplessness he was experiencing for the first time made Heo Gwanjung furious.
Then…
“…Sorry.”
“…”
Dongryong briefly drew back his shoulders, as if genuinely surprised.
But when he returned to normal, an inexplicable, strange aura lingered in his eyes.
“But it’s true… sir.”
Could he really be wary of something?
Unable to accept that sensation, Heo Gwanjung shook his head.
“Hmph! Let’s see how long you can keep acting arrogant before the Eighteen Azure Flame Claws!”
He was about to pour out blue claw qi, thinking not merely of killing Dongryong but of shredding his corpse into pieces.
Screech!
Dongryong’s sword moved strangely and attacked his fingers.
‘…?!’
It was clearly an attack using the Lesser Heaven Sword Art, like before, but an unfamiliar sense sharpened within him and sounded a warning.
‘D-dangerous?’
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
At the last moment, Heo Gwanjung sharply altered the path of his attack.
For some reason, he felt he had to.
Then he retreated with all his strength.
“You avoided that.”
Dongryong muttered without emotion.
He bent down to pick something up from the ground, then added, “I thought I could cut them all off.”
It was a finger.
“…!”
It had fallen from Heo Gwanjung’s left hand.
A finger severed before he even had time to feel pain.
“H-how?”
“That’s fortunate.”
“What?”
Dongryong’s sword rose into the air again, indifferent.
“You seem curious. I’ll show you again.”
“…!”
Heo Gwanjung, raised from birth as an elite of the Inspectorate and afraid of nothing, learned for the first time what it felt like to wet himself.
Footnotes:
