Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: 16. Fragments of Memory (1)
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The man raised his head.
Behind the warm sunlight pouring down from the sky, he saw men flying toward him with faces full of murderous intent.
"Die!"
"Avenge the young master!"
He didn't even know their faces.
But he knew all too well why they were so enraged.
Nangong Baek, the Azure Clarity Sword.
Right after killing him and his daughter, he had been pursued by the Nangong Clan's assassination squads for the past few weeks. No matter how many times he shook them off, they somehow tracked him down and gave chase. Countless battles had erupted in the process, and the man's body had already reached its limits. His parched mouth and the dizziness washing over him made him want to give up everything, but he kept his eyes wide open, not missing a single movement from his enemies.
Flash—
He didn't dodge.
Bursting through the space tangled with killing intent, he swung his sword in an explosive arc.
"Blood Demon Sword Art, Third Form: Explosive Kill."
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
"Kaaak!"
"Argh!"
Limbs were torn apart.
Weaving through the scattering droplets of blood, the man slaughtered every enemy he faced without mercy. The Blood Demon Art grew stronger the more blood it drank. Dark shadows hung under his eyes, and his face had withered to resemble a skull, but in contrast, his martial prowess was steadily sharpening. The enemies who had gauged his limits were, without fail, unable to withstand even a few exchanges before their limbs flew off.
Thud.
"Y-You bastard... The clan will surely avenge..."
Splat—!
The same as always.
He decapitated the last remaining foe.
The man staggered.
It was the limit.
In battles fought without even a sip of water, he began to think he might not survive this time. The Nangong Clan's pursuit wasn't over yet. And because they had even put a bounty on his head, not just the assassination squads—every person he encountered changed their expression and drew their blades first.
He looked up at the sky.
The warm sunlight was overwhelming, sending the world spinning in dizziness.
"...I'm not dying like this. Never."
For him,
there was a reason he had to survive.
He forced his body to move.
Blood dripped steadily with each step, and the man had no choice but to seek a hiding spot.
He desperately needed rest.
Even just a little.
To regain the strength to fight again, he concealed himself in a depression in the ground and roughly covered his body with the surrounding grass.
He closed his eyes.
Hoping that when he opened them again, he would still be in the land of the living.
Rustle.
Snap.
The man snapped his eyes open.
The sound of someone stepping on the grass awakened his hypersensitive senses.
'Assassination squad?'
No.
The chaotic sounds weren't those of martial artists, and there wasn't even the slightest intent to hide their movements. If anything, they sounded frantic. The man steadied his breathing while remaining hidden. Having slept for quite a while until sunset, his body had recovered somewhat, though not fully to normal.
Crunch.
He chewed on a spirit herb.
It was a temporary measure to restore his energy, and with sharp eyes, he watched the direction the sounds were coming from.
Whoosh.
Thud!
"Aaaah!"
It was a boy's scream.
The boy, who had tripped over a tree root, hurriedly turned around and shouted.
"Wh-What the hell is this! What did we do wrong to deserve this?!"
"Heh heh heh. What do you mean? You know the situation full well."
From beyond the darkness,
unidentified figures emerged.
Among the masked men, the one who appeared to be the leader approached, dangling a sword that gleamed in the moonlight.
"In this world, there are realities you just have to accept—no matter how irrational or incomprehensible—simply because you're weak. You should have known better. Because your clan spoke out of turn without knowing its place, it caused trouble for a lot of people."
The boy trembled violently.
The opponent's words
revealed their identity without hiding it.
Speaking so openly about clues to their origins was no different from declaring their intent to kill him right here. At just thirteen years old, it was a situation the boy couldn't handle. Faced with the certainty of death, rather than begging for his life, he swallowed his tears and didn't avert his gaze.
"Fine, go ahead! Kill me. My father was slain by vile scum like you for speaking the truth, but the world will remember our cause. They will clearly expose the tragedy that befell our clan, ensuring our deaths weren't meaningless. My name is Baek Hyun. Born as the eldest son of the Baek Clan, I won't show weakness by begging villains like you for my life."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Contrary to his words.
His voice shook more with each sentence, and he had to grit his teeth to hide the sobs.
It was a final act of defiance.
Terrifyingly scared as he was, with no choice over life or death, he wanted to hold onto at least the resolve in his heart.
"Insolent brat. Can't let you live."
Swish.
The sound of approach grew closer.
He was going to die.
There was no way to survive.
But then.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Reveal yourself!"
Amid the commotion, Baek Hyun—the boy who had named himself—slowly opened his eyes.
And saw.
A man covered in dried blood, his face devoid of any emotion, blocking the assassins' path.
Why?
He didn't know the reason.
When he came to, he was blocking the assassins, and the man asked in a calm voice,
"Convince me."
"What?"
"Explain why you have to kill this child."
The assassins exchanged glances.
After a moment of flustered hesitation, they signaled each other and suddenly kicked off the ground.
"Convince you?!"
"Die!"
It was killing intent.
They revealed their intent to murder.
As expected.
By trying to kill the boy, they had admitted their own injustice.
"Means you can't convince me, then."
Flash.
He deflected the attack.
They were slow.
Compared to the Nangong Clan's assassination squads, it was yawn-inducingly sluggish. Before the assassin could react, he decapitated him. Crimson blood sprayed into the air. The assassins charging in afterward instinctively sensed something was wrong from the scene before them.
"Be caref—Gurk!"
"Kaaak!"
A massacre unfolded.
The man butchered the assassins.
He tore apart every one he faced, and nearly ten men became corpses rolling on the ground in an instant.
"What... are you...?"
One of the assassins.
Looking up at the man as his consciousness faded.
They couldn't understand.
What was this man's identity, and what motive did he have for intervening?
Crack.
The man grabbed his hair.
As the assassin groaned, he met his gaze and grinned.
"That's why I told you to convince me properly."
Crunch-grind-crunch.
He severed the neck.
Roughly hacking through the stubborn vertebrae, he separated the head from the body of a man who had been alive moments ago. The man casually tossed the head aside. As the boy's eyes followed the rolling head, he sat atop the headless corpse and beckoned indifferently with his hand.
It meant come closer.
Baek Hyun was terrified.
But having seen the fate of those who didn't obey, he trembled as he stepped forward.
The man met his gaze.
And asked,
"Explain from now on. Whether I killed them rightly or not."
It was an absurd situation.
But he had to answer.
Baek Hyun wasn't foolish enough not to know what would happen if he didn't.
"...They're villains trying to exterminate my clan. We're a respected clan in northern Hunan, and recently, we uncovered the Geumho Merchant Group's scheme of extortion and exploitation through usury. So we rallied like-minded martial artists and raised our voices. We warned that if they continued their atrocities, everyone would cut ties with the Geumho Merchant Group. And lately, we contacted the Wudang Sect to find real ways to stop them."
The tremor in his voice gradually faded.
As he spoke, his fear of the situation was overshadowed by rage toward the 'Geumho Merchant Group' that attacked his clan.
"And today, we were suddenly attacked by these thugs. I barely escaped, but my father and the clan's retainers were massacred by them. You asked why they had to die? They tried to wipe out the Baek Clan. We only spoke out for what we believed was right, yet they flayed the flesh from our bones with their blades. If such villains don't die, then who should? I don't know who you are, but I think you did what needed to be done."
He didn't avert his eyes.
Even if this man killed him.
As the last survivor of the Baek Clan, he had to speak of the tragedy they endured for the sake of justice.
The man stared intently at Baek Hyun.
Then he grinned.
"Want me to avenge you?"
"Pardon?"
Baek Hyun was taken aback.
Avenge?
It was an utterly unexpected response.
"If you say you want revenge, I'll head to the Geumho Merchant Group right now and slaughter them all the same way. Not a single survivor—not even an ant. I'll flay them piece by piece until living itself is torment."
Baek Hyun didn't know.
The man's situation.
The Nangong Clan's assassination squads were hot on his heels, and endless battles had pushed him to his limits. Helping someone else in this state? Let alone dismantling an entire merchant group? It didn't make sense. If he got caught up, he wouldn't be able to escape anymore and would lose his life.
Yet.
His blood boiled.
His heart stirred.
That was enough to decide.
Amid the acrid stench of blood, Baek Hyun's eyes wavered.
His father had said,
Live honorably under heaven.
Even in death, he said,
We lived like true humans.
But Baek Hyun was different.
"Yes, kill them. Don't leave a single bastard alive—not even their spawn. Slaughter every one of those dogs who massacred my clan."
His voice, choked with rage, could no longer follow his father's will.
He started walking.
Down from the mountain, finally arriving at the village.
Pointing to the fence enclosing a vast estate in the distance, Baek Hyun glared with bloodshot eyes.
"That's it. That's where the Geumho Merchant Group's families live."
"I see."
He didn't look back.
He went ahead alone.
Baek Hyun, unable to follow, asked urgently,
"You're not planning to take them all on by yourself, are you?"
"........."
"You're insane. I thought you were off from the start, but why risk your life for someone else's business?"
He kept going.
The man neither stopped nor slowed.
Baek Hyun felt conflicted.
No matter who the man was, he hoped the revenge would succeed, but it gnawed at him that a stranger was risking his life for the Baek Clan's affairs. Yet he couldn't stop him. These were the murderers of his family. When someone offered to avenge them willingly, even a saint would push his back at a time like this.
His lips twitched.
Then he shouted.
"What's your name? At least tell me your name before you go!"
He stopped.
The man halted.
His name.
There had been a time when such a thing existed.
Now it was meaningless.
"Who are you?"
"State your identity."
At the main gate,
the guards bared their ferocity.
The man drew his sword with a friendly smile.
Shing.
"My name is—"
Not for the guards.
For the one boy watching from behind.
"the Blood Demon."
Flash.
Splurt.
"Kaaak!"
He slashed the guards.
In a single strike, the guards blocking the way spewed blood and collapsed.
He passed them by.
Then, with all his might, he flung open the Geumho Merchant Group's gate.
Creeeak—
Bam!