The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 84

[ … words ]

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During my time with the So-jeong-dae, I had seen the sea for the first time while fleeing from the Demonic Cult members.

It was larger and more massive than the Yangtze River, and a place where a salty taste, as strong as if it had been mixed with precious salt, lingered so intensely that one could not even bring it to their lips.

We had advanced further, closer to the sea, forgetting the fact that we were being chased by the Demonic Cult’s pursuit party while hovering between life and death.

The muddy flats that sank up to our ankles were cumbersome, but we forgot even that cumbersome feeling due to the overwhelming and marvelous scenery of the vast nature captured in our eyes.

And when we had been staring at the sea, lost in thought for a long time like that.

Slowly, the water began to rise.

The seawater that had been brushing against our ankles at first had risen to our chests before we knew it the moment we came to our senses, and the moment we desperately tried to get out to land, the seawater swallowed us whole.

The sea, which had presented a terror so frightening that being chased by the Demonic Cult members could not even be compared.

Right now, we felt as if we were submerged in such a sea.

“Hoo…… hoo…… it’s becoming harder and harder to breathe. Senior brother.”

The deluge of killing intent that tightened everything around us, as if the seawater had risen to the top of our heads.

The children’s expressions began to turn pale white.

The state of Dong-ryong, who was wearing the Tang-ma-ryeong-ju, seemed okay, but that did not mean I could hand the Tang-ma-ryeong-ju over to Geum-pyo or Eun-ho.

Because the moment I took it off, Dong-ryong’s killing nature might awaken within the thick killing intent.

“We are going higher.”

Those who had spread the Heavenly Net (Cheon-ra-ji-mang) from the entrance of Mount Mak-gan were constantly spraying killing intent as if to fill the entire Mount Mak-gan with it.

The Hwang-geom-mun and the Cheong-do-bang were each forming a group of five to spread the Heavenly Net, and other sects were forming groups with larger numbers, from ten to fifteen, to spread the Heavenly Net.

They were replacing the difference in martial arts proficiency with the number of warriors.

Just as we were running up to a higher place, my head turned on its own at the noisy sound from below the mountain.

Flap, flap, flap-

The wild birds that had been holding their breath in the killing intent flew up above the forest all at once.

Rustle, rustle, rustle-

Even though the wind was not blowing, the forest swayed.

Following that, herds of wild animals in the forest, as if they had met a predator, were mixed together regardless of species and running toward the bottom of the mountain.

Krrraaa-

Roaaar!

The surprising thing was that at the end of the herd of wild animals, bears and tigers were also together. The two predators were also spitting out saliva and letting out desperate cries as if they had met their natural enemies.

“Shoot!”

Simultaneously with someone’s shout, hidden weapons (bi-geom) and arrows flew in from all sides.

Krrrooo.

Krrong!

Starting from the smallest rabbits, deer, wild boars, roe deer, etc., all lost their shapes and fell down, becoming hedgehogs under the hidden weapons flying from all sides.

The bears and tigers ran without flinching despite several arrows, but soon the warriors forming the Heavenly Net jumped into the Heavenly Net all at once and slaughtered them in an instant.

The predators that had ruled Mount Mak-gan fell like reeds.

All these things ended within a single breath.

Gulp.

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers swallowed thick saliva as if they had seen their own future.

“There is no time to delay. Let’s move.”

“……Ye-yes.”

“Yes!”

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, who had come to their senses, moved quickly again to avoid suffocating in the killing intent.

However, just like the water of the sea, the speed at which it rose past their chests was faster than when it first wrapped around their ankles.

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

It was gradually reaching a level that could not be handled even with internal energy circulation (Haeng-gong).

The summit of the mountain.

There was nowhere left to climb to avoid the killing intent.

“Listen carefully. Hold on here for just two gak.”

“Yes?”

Eun-ho, who had surprised eyes, muttered.

“……I think I’ll be missing at least one arm by then.”

“Don’t worry. I also know the secret techniques of the Poison-Hand Flying Sword (Dok-su-bi-geom). If you lose one arm, I will teach you that.”

“……I will try to hold on.”

Then, I immediately threw my body down the sheer cliff.

“…….”

Eun-ho’s face, which had been full of laughter, hardened immediately.

Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong, who had not grasped the situation, looked at Eun-ho.

“What? What did you talk about with senior brother beforehand?”

“No.”

“Then how did you know what he meant when you said you understood?”

Eun-ho looked steadily at Geum-pyo.

“Do you think our senior brother would abandon us?”

Geum-pyo, who was about to answer asking what kind of nonsense that was, stood blankly and answered.

“No.”

“Then isn’t that enough? Even if he abandoned us, we came here prepared for that. Didn’t we?”

“……Trying to look cool.”

Geum-pyo drew his sword and stood two steps ahead.

The forward position of the White Tiger Sword Formation.

A strong determination not to back down no matter who the opponent was.

Eun-ho stood on the left flank.

And Dong-ryong, who had been hesitating, stood on the right flank.

“It’s two gak. Two gak! Don’t lose your arms or legs.”

At Geum-pyo’s words, the two brothers spat out the slogan they had shouted every time they practiced the sword formation in the past.

“Let’s do it!”

“Let’s do it!”

<><><>

I, who was in free fall below the cliff, saw a cave that looked like two stone slabs overlapped, just as I had seen in the report, so I shot the flying dragon claw (bi-ryong-jo) and threw my body.

As I walked inside along the narrow cave, I saw a small spring that smelled humid as recorded, and as I passed the spring, a fishy smell vibrated throughout the cave as if I had come to a swamp.

“I wonder if it’s hibernating.”

On the wall of the cave, which was large enough to stand three or four people, there were things like golden tiles attached here and there.

However, it was not a brilliant golden light, but a yellowish color like dried-up mud.

“That’s a gluttonous fellow.”

Following that, one side of the cave was full of a huge graveyard of bones that the fellow seemed to have eaten.

Starting with small things like roe deer or rabbits, there were also bones that looked like those of bears or tigers.

“Don’t snakes usually swallow their prey whole?”

Ssssss-

Did it wake up because it heard me?

Or do those that transcend the original principles not hibernate?

The sound of scraping metal that the fellow made throughout the cave pierced my eardrums.

Soon, two red eyes flashed in the darkness.

“You are the master of Mount Mak-gan.”

A head the size of an ox.

Golden scales covering its entire body.

It was a 200-year-old Golden Scaled Blue Serpent (Geum-rin-cheong-seon-sa).

Approximately three hundred…… no, is it five hundred?

Dong-ryong thought of the time when all the members of the Tae-eul-mun gathered to hold a feast.

‘That was really fun back then.’

Oops.

Now is not the time for other thoughts.

The faces of Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung in front of him were pale.

After avoiding the arrows and flying swords pouring in from all sides, warriors approached within the killing intent.

Slow movements, as if swinging a sword underwater.

It felt incomparably slower than when they were matching the sword formation.

If they moved that slowly, it would be a big problem…….

Even so, they couldn’t move carelessly.

Because if they did, the sword formation would collapse.

He knew.

It was not that his hyungs’ movements had slowed down.

Relatively, the enemies’ movements were not that fast either.

So they were somehow blocking it well.

But soon, wounds appeared.

‘Can we hold on like this?’

Senior brother said to hold on for just two gak, but there was no possibility of that happening.

He realized it instinctively.

Ah, in a little while, my hyungs will die.

Things he didn’t know before were felt intuitively.

And he could see them.

The countless corpses he had seen so many times during that time.

Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung lying in between.

Even if senior brother returned after two gak, there was no way to solve it.

No, it was impossible from the beginning.

He had felt the Heavenly Net that senior brother spoke of for the first time, but he could also realize this instinctively.

That this was a method to catch people like wild beasts.

Actually, even if senior brother were here, nothing would change.

‘Moreover, there are also scary people.’

The warriors standing next to Jong Seo-gang of the Hwang-geom-mun.

Those people were very scary people.

Individuals might not be able to oppose senior brother, but if they worked together to form a sword formation like our brothers, senior brother wouldn’t be able to do much either.

And those scary people were mixed in between the warriors who had formed the Heavenly Net now.

‘All because of me…….’

He knew that he was holding back his hyungs and senior brother.

Still, he wanted to be together.

Because he hated being left alone.

Because he couldn’t accept the fact that he was of no help alone.

The result of being stubborn like that was this.

If I had gone back, would Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung have gone back too?

If so, they might not have died here.

“Dong-ryong!”

Geum-pyo-hyung took the sword of the warrior who was moving slowly on his behalf.

Even though he knew that I was faster now, Geum-pyo-hyung always did that.

“Geum-pyo-hyung!”

Eun-ho-hyung covered Geum-pyo-hyung’s back. The sword formation was broken again.

It was always like this.

He was continuously holding his hyungs back like this.

“Form the sword formation again!”

Just as the sword formation was about to be formed, two warriors squeezed in between Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung.

We split into two in an instant to deal with the enemies.

Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung’s hands crossed.

Even though the wounds were increasing, the two people’s gazes were fixed on me.

“Eun-ho-hyung!”

I quickly dealt with the warriors who had shown their backs to me and approached them.

This wouldn’t do.

In this state, we would all surely die.

“Dong-ryong! Stand behind me!”

Geum-pyo and Eun-ho-hyung, whose faces were now gradually turning black, ignored the sword formation and stood behind them.

I didn’t come for this.

“Hyung…….”

“Don’t worry! We will definitely send you back alive and well!”

“Damn it. Geum-pyo-hyung, even so, wouldn’t it be better if I were the one without an arm?”

“No! I will be better! Instead, you take over the mill!”

“No, why is the succession issue coming out of nowhere here!”

Even though the ominous enemies were scattering killing intent right in front of their noses, the two hyungs still did not stop joking.

Dong-ryong chuckled without knowing it.

Then Eun-ho smiled broadly.

“Yeah, Dong-ryong. It’s nothing. So don’t worry. It will end well.”

No, it didn’t seem like it would.

Eun-ho-hyung told an obvious lie.

And Dong-ryong wanted to hear such trivial jokes from his hyung for longer.

‘…….’

The thoughts he had been hesitant about until now were organized.

And then… he took off the Tang-ma-ryeong-ju wrapped around his neck.

“Dong-ryong! I told you not to take that off!”

In an instant, vitality bloomed throughout his body. It felt as if something hot was pounding his chest, as if his body, which seemed like it would collapse at any moment, had all recovered.

“Hyung……. Let’s all go back safely together.”

Now Dong-ryong also told an obvious lie like Eun-ho.

Thump, thump.

His heart, which had been racing, calmed down.

Instead, his two eyes became heated as if they would burn.

One, two, three.

Sword techniques drawn in his mind.

Dong-ryong lightly fitted himself into that picture.

“Kugh.”

“Hic.”

“Kugh.”

Three enemies fell in an instant.

Five, six…… nine.

One person in one breath.

As if he had forgotten the fear of his first murder, his body moved so naturally to take away the opponent’s breath.

He was afraid.

No, he wasn’t afraid.

What he was truly afraid of was Geum-pyo-hyung, Eun-ho-hyung, and senior brother dying here.

He swung his sword wildly to avoid fear.

……Because if he swung his sword like that, the only corpse left here would be me.

“Damn it! You can’t even handle one brat!”

His sensitive hearing distinguished Jong Seo-gang’s voice.

Then, the terrifying man who was standing next to him ran forward.

‘Scary person.’

He was different from the others.

The fight with this person had jerky, broken pictures.

What that meant would be his own death.

But he did not stop.

Clang, clang, clang.

In the instant they exchanged three movements, the man’s two eyes widened in surprise and he swallowed a groan.

“Khem.”

Pictures drawn again.

Now it looked about half complete.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.

After exchanging ten movements in an instant, the scary man’s front flap was cut off.

“You…… What is your identity?”

The picture drawn again was complete. He could win. At the end of the picture, the scary man was bleeding.

Just as Dong-ryong was about to fly his sword.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.

Two more scary men rushed in.

Now no picture was drawn.

“Killing Star…… it’s a brat with a Killing Star!”

“Are you talking about the Heavenly Killing Star?”

“That monster?”

Scornful gazes flew in and pierced him.

He was hurt.

No, he wasn’t hurt.

Even if he was a monster, if he could save his hyungs and senior brother…….

Dong-ryong threw his body again to draw a picture.

Geum-pyo-hyung and Eun-ho-hyung tried to intervene but were blocked by other warriors.

‘Don’t come…….’

At least if it were only them, senior brother and hyungs could live.

‘So please don’t come….’

Red paint popped out from between the jerky, broken pictures.

A picture he hadn’t seen before.

The picture drawn with red paint continued without a break.

It was a picture where he could defeat the enemy as Dong-ryong wished.

But at the end of the picture, Dong-ryong himself fell.

A miracle that can be created by a constant craving to want to kill humans, a persistent obsession to do so even if it means sacrificing one’s own life.

-Dong-ryong! Get a hold of yourself!

-If you keep doing this, I’m going to leave you behind!

He could hear his hyungs’ voices that he had heard faintly at Mount Cheon-mok. Desperate voices that had barely made him come to his senses.

For some reason, thinking of his hyungs’ voices made even the fear of death he had last felt disappear completely.

“He is a guy who must be killed!”

“To think he is a Heavenly Killing Star…….”

Since the fear of death disappeared, more vitality bloomed in his body.

He drew out the Tae-eul-jin-gyeong beyond the level he had originally learned.

Like a gourmet trying to enjoy a feast to the fullest, like a calligrapher writing the best calligraphy.

The Heavenly Killing Star drew out all of Dong-ryong’s potential to perform the best final killing.

Is this it?

Now he couldn’t play with his hyungs, and he couldn’t see senior brother enter the Moorim Academy?

It was a pity.

If only he could play with his hyungs and senior brother again.

If only he could see senior brother enter the Moorim Academy proudly…….

But he decided not to be greedy anymore. Wasn’t he already doing everything he could just by being able to save his hyungs?

He threw his body following the red picture where his end was the conclusion.

Just like in some past when senior brother had calmly thrown his body into a dangerous situation.

Dong-ryong also threw his body as calmly as possible.

At that moment.

“Aren’t you ashamed as adults? Against a single child.”

His two ears twitched.

No way.

Already?

He turned his head, forgetting that there was an enemy in front of him.

Senior brother was there.

“Senior broth…….”

Dong-ryong’s mouth, which had been continuing his words, fell wide open.

The enemies who were flying their swords toward Dong-ryong also flinched in surprise and stopped their swords.

Senior brother was being chased by a golden snake as big as a mountain village and was running toward this side.

A curse burst out from the mouth of Gam Cheol-jin, who had a solemn expression.

“What the hell is that, f*ck!”