Chapter 50: Top-Tier Swordsmanship-2
Chapter 50: Top-Tier Swordsmanship-2
It was while I was still agonizing over where and how to obtain a supreme sword technique.
Squad Leader Seolpung, who had been summoned abruptly by the commander, gathered all the squad members and spoke.
"It seems our squad will be going on a dispatch mission."
A dispatch?
It couldn't have been more sudden.
At those words, everyone's eyes went round as they asked.
"What?"
"A dispatch, all of a sudden?"
"Where to, exactly?"
At that, Squad Leader Seolpung explained the situation with a somewhat serious expression.
"I hear there was an incident at the Twelfth Unit a few days ago. News is that Georyeokma Jeo Woong-won led his subordinates and annihilated two squads before crossing the front lines. So it seems the Twelfth Commander, Man Jong-im Daehyeop, the Evil-Slaying Blade, has requested dispatch reinforcements from the Eleventh and Thirteenth Units for pursuit."
Only after hearing that was I able to recall that this incident had also occurred in my past life.
Georyeokma Jeo Woong-won, a Blood Cult demon head known to possess over ninety years of internal energy, was a fairly renowned master who had also been active during the last Great Blood War. And around this time, apparently, he had broken away from the Blood Demon, clashed with the Eleventh Unit, and crossed the front lines heading north.
Blood Cultists resisting the Blood Demon's powerful dominance and leaving Yunnan was actually a fairly frequent occurrence.
From the start, the Blood Cult's demon heads had lived without caring for the world's attention or rules, so it might actually have been stranger for them to follow a Blood Demon who made a non-aggression pact with the Murim Alliance and trapped them confined to Yunnan alone.
Of course, some people viewed this as the Blood Demon's borrowed-knife murder.
The sense that he was using the Murim Alliance's hands to eliminate Blood Cultists who didn't obey him?
Considering the Blood Demon who, in my past life, would later escape Yunnan and begin extending his influence, it was also a fairly convincing opinion.
Anyway, I also remembered that at that time, the dispatched personnel who had tried to pursue the bastards had returned empty-handed due to the Murim Alliance's recall order.
The only difference was that back then, Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong's First Squad had gone on the dispatch, so I hadn't paid much attention, but this time, it seemed our squad would be the one going.
Hmm, if that was the case?
I suddenly asked the squad leader.
"It seems our squad has been recognized as the Thirteenth Unit's greatest fighting force."
At that, Squad Leader Seolpung grinned and answered.
"Well, isn't it only natural? We're the only squad whose entire membership has entered the first-rate realm, and we have as many as four squad-leader-class talents."
And so it was.
It was customary to send the finest elites of each unit on dispatch, so our squad going on dispatch instead of the First Squad was as good as being acknowledged as the Thirteenth Unit's finest elites.
Hearing those words, the squad members burst out in astonished admiration with bright faces.
"Ooooh!"
"Isn't that awesome?!"
I also felt not bad. No, I felt quite good.
Wasn't this saying that our entire squad as a whole was being recognized, not just any one individual?
The squad leader's expression was probably so bright for that reason as well.
He suddenly looked at me and continued speaking.
"In truth, there was also an opinion that the vacant Fourth Squad leader position should be filled from our squad. However, it fell through because the opinion that a peak-level master should take the Fourth Squad leader post held more weight."
Having said that, the squad leader glanced at Miss Cheongyeon and me with a meaningful look.
Hm, that was a bit...
I felt anew how fortunate it was that I had hidden my attainment of the peak realm.
Naturally, I didn't fancy leaving Squad Leader Seolpung, Miss Na, or our squad members to transfer to another squad.
At that moment, Bi Sa-yeong laughed as if amused and said.
"If that brat Jin had become the Fourth Squad leader, it really would've been hilarious. That bastard Ju Tae-gyeong, didn't he run away to the Fourth Squad to avoid Jin? But what if they suddenly end up meeting again with Jin as his squad leader? Keukeukeu, Jin! Do you have any intention of going as the Fourth Squad leader, by chance? I really want to see that spectacle."
Ugh, meeting that bastard again was a bit much for me too.
But imagining it was still funny.
If we did meet again, I'd have to make him properly address me as "hyung" from the start, right?
But while thinking such thoughts, I suddenly recalled that I hadn't paid attention to that aspect.
I had only thought about developing our squad members; I hadn't even considered that squad members who grew that way might go on to become squad leaders of other squads.
If you thought about it, it was already absurd that Squad Leader Seolpung, who alongside the First Squad's Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong could be called the strongest in the Thirteenth Unit, was the leader of a lower squad like the Seventh Squad.
Furthermore, weren't Miss Cheongyeon and I at a level of skill where it wouldn't be strange for us to be appointed as squad leaders for any single squad right away? And of an upper squad at that.
Miss Na and Bi Sa-yeong also had sufficient ability to be squad leaders if it were a lower squad.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
'Perhaps the time we can all be gathered together like this isn't long.'
I suddenly looked around at the squad members' faces.
Now like family—no, to me, feeling even closer than family—their faces felt newly precious.
It was when everyone, having heard the squad leader's words, began packing their personal belongings for the dispatch.
I alone moved my steps outside the quarters.
There were about two issues I needed to resolve before going on the dispatch.
One was the problem of Cheol-gwi, who might just happen to appear while I was away on dispatch, and the other was the matter of the supreme sword technique.
When I had visited Lady Dang last time, I ultimately hadn't been able to bring up the subject of Hwagolsan.
To her, who had cried for a long time, barely steadied herself, and said she was grateful I had come, I couldn't actually bring myself to say I had come because of Hwagolsan.
But now, even if she seemed troubled, I had to speak.
Because it was a matter where my comrades—and perhaps Dang Yeoeun herself—could be sacrificed to Cheol-gwi.
But my footsteps as I headed toward her felt somehow a bit strange.
'No, is it not my footsteps but my feelings that are strange?'
A strange state where I felt tense but my steps felt light.
Unconsciously, I gulped.
Why was I being like this?
For some reason, in a intensely nervous state, I went to the Third Squad's quarters and found that despite it already having grown dark, all the Third Squad members were outside immersed in training.
I didn't know what motivation they had received, but it was an impressive fervor comparable to our squad's.
I also caught sight of Lady Dang busily moving among them, giving instruction.
Suddenly feeling like I would be disturbing their training, I hesitated a bit to call out to her.
But there was no helping it.
Because now there would be no more time.
"Lady Dang, could you spare a moment?!"
When I raised my voice to call her, her gaze turned toward me.
It was the same cold and haughty expression as usual.
She walked over to me and asked.
"As you can see, we are in the middle of training. Is your business urgent?"
Her tone was cold beyond measure.
While I felt relieved that she seemed to have returned to her usual self, I also felt a bit hurt for some reason.
I answered with a slightly wry smile.
"Yes, somewhat urgent business. It will only take a moment."
"Then let's talk over there."
She led me to a place somewhat apart from the squad members. A place out of their sight.
And as soon as we arrived there, she wiped away her cold expression entirely and spoke to me with an utterly apologetic look.
"I'm sorry. I thought it wouldn't be right to seem too glad in front of the squad members. Did it... hurt your feelings, by any chance?"
The sight of her looking at me, anxious and flustered with the worry that my feelings might have been hurt...
Was truly so unbelievably adorable.
A smile naturally spilled out.
"No. It's fine. You looked cool."
"Ah, yes."
She bowed her head deeply.
Even though it was too dark to see well, her face looked slightly reddened for some reason.
While I hesitated for a moment about how to bring up Hwagolsan, she spoke first.
"I heard... you'll be going on a dispatch."
"Ah, yes. That's correct."
At that, with her head still bowed, she whispered quietly.
"I wanted... to tell you to take care of yourself and come back anyway."
Watching her, who couldn't even say those words directly and instead phrased it as having wanted to say them, I could feel anew just how greatly people had been misunderstanding her all this time.
I smiled gently and answered her.
"Thank you. I'll go and come back safely."
Having said that, we stood there for a moment without speaking.
It was a strange feeling. A feeling as if time would pass endlessly if we just stayed like this.
Part of me wanted to keep doing this, and it was a bit regretful, but now it seemed I should discuss my business.
"Lady Dang, you'll recall that Squad Leader Seolpung and I entered the jungle not long ago. At that time, we met a man named Seok Gyeong-dal..."
The reason I knew about the Iron Ghost, I planned to say I'd learned through Seok old man.
Including the fact that Fire Bone Powder could weaken that bastard.
Her eyes went round as she focused on my story.
Then she told me that while she didn't possess much Fire Bone Powder, she would distribute it to each squad leader.
For something I had agonized over for so long, it was an absurdly simple solution.
After carefully exchanging farewells with her, I decided to go personally find the other squad leaders.
It seemed better to deliver the warning about the Iron Ghost directly, in person.
Starting with Grand Master Poong Yang, who had temporarily assumed command of the Fourth Squad, the squad leaders who heard my story generally responded with gratitude.
'Squad Leader Dok Su-gwang of the Fifth Squad's attitude was a little unsettling, but well, nothing more I can do about that.'
After visiting five squad leaders, I was now down to the final one.
I took a deep breath and organized what I needed to say.
The reason I was visiting him last was to solve my second problem at the same time.
Namely, the issue concerning a supreme swordsmanship.
I had kept agonizing over it, but the problem of sword techniques was utterly impossible to solve with what I currently knew.
While I had memorized quite a few sword arts, not only was none of them the Sahil Sword Technique, there was absolutely nothing that could even approach the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords.
So ultimately, the only conclusion was to learn and master something new.
A sword art that surpassed, or at the very least rivaled, the ultimate techniques of the Nine Great Sects.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
It was easy to say, but where in the world could I obtain such a thing?
'No, forget obtaining it, does such a sword art even exist? Should I go searching for the legacy of the legendary Sword God?'
While racking my brain like that, I had suddenly realized that while I didn't know about surpassing the ultimate techniques of the Nine Sects, there were already three sword arts around me that reached a level comparable to them.
Namely, the Cheongpung Sword Technique of the Mount Qingcheng Sect mastered by First Squad Leader Han Gyo-seong, the Stellar Net Sword Art of the Sword Saint Elder mastered by Lady Cheongyeon, and the Sahil Sword Technique of the Jeomchang Sect — these three.
Come to think of it, three ultimate-arts-level sword techniques of the Nine Great Sects were right beside me.
And of these, the one that held even the slightest possibility for me to learn was....
Without hesitation, I moved my feet and called out the name of a man who had been immersed in meditation at his personal training ground.
"Squad Leader Sa Gun-il."
He was the Second Squad Leader, the Jeomchang Sword Dragon, Sa Gun-il.
He softly opened his eyes and looked at me.
Finding it unexpected that I had come looking for him, there was a faint glint of curiosity in his gaze.
"It's Seonwoo Jin. What is it?"
I had agonized for a long while about how to say this to him.
But when it came to a man like Sa Gun-il, beating around the bush seemed utterly meaningless.
So I decided to be direct.
"I wish to learn the Sahil Sword Technique."
Now that I thought about it, the peak-level sword art most suitable for me to master was precisely the Sahil Sword Technique.
Hadn't I already known the external forms of the stances since my past life, even if I didn't know the heart method or operational principles?
So if I could just learn it, I would be able to assimilate it faster than anything else.
Furthermore, compared to the sword art of the Mount Qingcheng Sect, which still flourished as a great sect of the Nine Factions, or the Sword Saint's Stellar Net Sword Art, the sword art of the fallen Jeomchang Sect was far more likely to be within reach.
However, Squad Leader Sa Gun-il wore a slightly dumbfounded expression before asking me,
"You want to learn the Sahil Sword Technique? You, specifically?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Perhaps my utterly unapologetic attitude left him momentarily speechless. Sa Gun-il stared at me for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"Do you know what Ju Tae-gyeong has been coming to me and babbling about lately?"
Huh? Ju Tae-gyeong? Suddenly talking about that bastard?
He continued speaking.
"He told me. That you dragged the honor of the Jeomchang Sect through the mud."
A hollow laugh came out of me.
It seemed I could guess exactly what that bastard had been thinking.
He probably wanted to claim that exposing the crimes of Ma Yu-gyeom, a disciple of Jeomchang, had damaged the sect's honor.
Well, it wasn't entirely wrong, but the fact that he blamed me, who exposed the crime, rather than Ma Yu-gyeom, who committed it — that was such a quintessentially Ju Tae-gyeong way of thinking that it couldn't be anything else.
"I do not imagine you agree with that nonsense."
At that, Sa Gun-il also smirked and replied.
"Of course not. If anything, it was a fortunate thing. Had it not been for you, I can't even imagine how many more sins he might have committed in Jeomchang's name. It's just... I wanted to say that there are certainly people who think that way. So, never mind the questions of 'why' and 'how' — wouldn't it look a bit strange for someone like you to learn Jeomchang's Sahil Sword Technique?"
He had phrased it euphemistically, but the meaning was that he could not teach me.
Yet I was satisfied, in my own way.
I thought the response was decent enough simply because he hadn't gotten angry, demanding, 'Why should I teach you that?'
I shook my head and answered.
"If anything, for that very reason, I believe I must learn the Sahil Sword Technique all the more."
At that, he furrowed his brow and asked in return,
"...What do you mean?"
"If I were a complete outsider with no relation to Jeomchang, the shame of a traitor would have been revealed to an outsider. But if I am someone connected to Jeomchang, then it becomes a case of Jeomchang punishing its own traitor. Moreover."
Even as he listened to me, Sa Gun-il's furrowed expression did not ease.
It seemed the persuasiveness was still lacking.
But what I truly wanted to say came next.
Looking him straight in the eye, I answered.
"I will elevate the honor of Jeomchang with the Sahil Sword Technique."
At those words, for the first time, his expression shifted to one of surprise as he asked back,
"...What did you say?"
"I believe that within five years, we absolutely must strike into the Blood Cult. Because after that, there will be no more opportunities."
In five years, the Blood Demons would appear.
Peak-level masters whose demonic bodies could withstand sword qi.
When that time came, far from defending the frontline, even surviving would become difficult.
So before that, we had to strike the Blood Cult first.
As he heard my words, his eyes shook violently.
It couldn't be helped.
Because charging into the Blood Cult would be the longstanding desire of a disciple of the Jeomchang Sect like him.
I continued speaking, my eyes burning intensely, my words filled with sincerity.
"When that time comes, I will sweep away the demon heads of the Blood Cult with the Sahil Sword Technique. I will make it so that the Sahil Sword Technique is remembered by the world not as the sword art of a traitor who defected to the Blood Cult, but as the sword art that shattered the Blood Cult."
This was what I had truly wanted to say.
And there was not a single falsehood mixed into these words.
Sa Gun-il's expression was no longer furrowed.
Rather, he simply stared at me for a long while with an intense gaze.
Then he opened his mouth.
"Arrogant to the extreme... and wild indeed. But now I understand well why Yu-gyeom took such a liking to you back when he was in his right mind. You're saying you'll charge into the Blood Cult."
As he repeated those words, his eyes blazed with a fierce light. It was a wild gaze, one I had never once seen from him in ordinary times.
He asked again.
"Let me ask one more thing. Why are you so fixated on the Sahil Sword Technique? The Seonwoo Thirteen Swords I saw last time was a perfectly superb sword art as well."
I shook my head and answered him.
"Of course, I thought so too. But after fighting Ma Yu-gyeom, my thoughts changed. I realized the Seonwoo Thirteen Swords could never be a match for the Sahil Sword Technique."
At that, his eyes flashed in an instant.
"You fought Ma Yu-gyeom? It didn't seem like you mentioned that last time?"
When I reported to the Grand Master and the squad leaders, I had only said that I had fled using my movement technique, and that Lady Dang had awakened in time to defeat Ma Yu-gyeom.
Saying I had fought him would have meant revealing that I had reached the peak level, after all.
"I didn't particularly want to reveal it."
But what I didn't want to reveal, he seemed to have already guessed.
"Does Seol Pung also know?"
"Yes, though I asked him to keep it a secret. I don't want to leave the Seventh Squad just yet."
At that, he gave a hollow laugh and said,
"Seol Pung is truly blessed. You're saying that in just a few months, you rose from second-rate to peak-level?"
Then, with a heated gaze, he said to me,
"Very well. I'll trust in you. That you can elevate the honor of Jeomchang, that is. In exchange... you absolutely must not leave me out when you charge into the Blood Cult."
I grinned and answered him.
"I will absolutely not disappoint you."
On this day, I was at last able to complete the Jeomchang Sect's Sahil Sword Technique, whose forms alone I had been memorizing since my past life.