Chapter 36
Chapter 36
************************-
Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Sima One Sword
************************-
"Little Ak."
Sima Ak dropped the sword he was holding. The marks left on his palm wouldn't fade easily.
Sima Gon laughed.
"There's no need to force yourself to master something you're not good at."
"I want to be like Grandfather."
"Your heart's in the right place, but you don't really love the sword that much, do you? To me, it seems like you love sitting around more."
He might be right. He'd never truly loved the sword to begin with.
Honestly, he even hated moving his body. He'd picked up the sword to imitate his grandfather, but he got bored quickly.
Still, he swung it to follow in his footsteps.
Sima Ak let out a sigh.
"As someone who will one day become the head of the Sima family, I think I need to learn martial arts to some degree. The Sima family is a martial house, after all."
"So mature. That's not something a mere ten-year-old should say."
"Without parents, I've had to grow up fast since I was young."
"Kuh. My grandson is so clever-what more could I ask for?"
Sima Gon hoisted Sima Ak onto his back. He strolled lightly through the garden with the boy riding on his shoulders.
"As the future head of the Sima family, that's a fine reason. But Little Ak, that doesn't mean you have to be perfect at everything."
"If your mind isn't strong, your body will collapse."
"That's true too. But on the flip side, if your body is strong, your mind won't collapse, right?"
"......"
"They're connected, Little Ak. The Sima family members will cover your weaknesses."
"But the Sima family is a martial house."
"All the prestigious families in the cult are martial houses. But that doesn't mean the head has to be the strongest."
Sima Gon picked up a sword.
"Look here. Do you know why the Sima family's sword ends with just one stance?"
"...I don't know."
"It's born from the mindset that one stance is enough to end it-or so the world speculates. But that's wrong. The reason the Sima sword is called Sima One Sword starts from the fact that when the family head swings his blade, a single moment is all that's needed."
"Huh?"
"You've been neglecting the family history books, haven't you? Well, you like new things, not old ones."
Sima Gon drew the sword with a swish.
It was a light sword. Clean at the same time.
"Though the Sima family is a martial house, not every generation's head has been strong. In fact, there were many with weak bodies but brilliant minds. Sima One Sword-that title has been diluted since I, one of the stronger ones in the bloodline, took it... But up to my predecessor's time, it was a title meant for just one thing."
"...What do you mean?"
"Does the family head really need to be strong? As I said earlier, others can cover the weaknesses. Sima One Sword represents the entire Sima family, Little Ak. Even if its meaning has faded, reclaim it in your generation."
Sima Gon looked up at him.
"You're my clever grandson-you can do it. Right?"
"......"
Sima Ak held his tongue. He simply asked,
"Grandfather... do you think I can become a family head like you?"
"What a foolish thing to say."
Sima Gon grinned.
"You'll be a far better family head than I ever was. You will."
......
He had no talent for martial arts.
But in exchange, his mind was exceptionally sharp.
Studying was enjoyable. That brilliance meant learning one thing brought ten more.
So he learned everything he could.
From the Intelligence Division's information gathering,
to handling the Finance Division's funds,
to politics as the Sima family head and how to survive in the cult.
But there was one thing he could never learn. The sole link to the previous family head.
Sima One Sword.
That one thing eluded him.
He understood it with his mind, but his body wouldn't follow. No matter how much he swung and swung, he couldn't reach it.
His grandfather said it was fine, but Sima Ak was far from fine.
He respected him.
He respected him so much he wanted to be like him.
Yet there were things he simply couldn't do. As if fate was decided from birth.
...But even so.
---Was there really no sword he could wield?
No.
That's why he'd studied something else even more diligently.
Something he'd taught to the entire Sima family.
"Unleash the Sima Sword Formation!"
His first real battle.
The first proper deployment of the Sima family's sword formation.
At his command, the Intelligence Division warriors formed up. They took the same positions as before.
Sima Ak stood at the center. Chu Ui-gyeong swung his sword.
"What can a basic formation with no real combat experience do...?! I've already broken it once! I'll crush it the same way!"
They clashed. It shattered.
One expert caused the formation to crumble in an instant.
But that wasn't the end. What looked shattered was merely twisted.
The formation's movements shifted.
What was a sword formation?
It wasn't just about seizing advantageous terrain. By sharing internal energy within it, they could sometimes lead each other weakly, sometimes strongly.
A method for weak beasts to band together and devour the strong.
That was the sword formation.
"Cheap tricks...!"
It had collapsed moments ago. But not now.
Those who gripped their swords with resolve to throw away their lives held their positions firm. They swung with the determination not to yield even if their heads were severed.
As their spirit changed, the situation changed.
As the situation changed, the sword formation finally unleashed its power.
Internal energy gathered according to the altered formation. Sima Ak, at the center, swiftly directed its flow without hesitation.
Like a horse loaded with cargo. Like a beast running endlessly.
This much he could do. He was merely the conduit, after all.
Adding strength when advancing.
Withdrawing it when retreating.
He moved his mind. Relentlessly. Sending signals to the warriors through complex hand signs.
Five pulled back as three charged.
The full internal energy of the remaining two surged toward him.
---Kaaaaang!!!
The clashing swords sang like iron. They tangled complexly, pouring in from all directions.
Chu Ui-gyeong's expression crumbled. His arrogant face twisted.
The pinnacle of perfection.
The man who had reached that undeniable realm struck down the three incoming swords at once.
"Pointless struggling!"
Sword qi rent the air. The Sima family's martial arts were infused within.
The complex yet concise group of Sima One Sword sought to split the three at once.
But at that instant, Sima Ak exerted his strength. He sent the gathered internal energy in one burst, supporting the three.
---Kududududuk!
In the gruesome sound, veins bulged in the eyes of the three warriors. But for the first time, their three blades bouncing back Chu Ui-gyeong's sword.
"What?!"
"Move! Intelligence Lord!"
Intelligence Lord Jin San-wol kicked off the ground. He exploited the gap in Chu Ui-gyeong's crumbling stance.
He reacted immediately, but the narrowly missing sword stroke returned with modest results.
Chu Ui-gyeong clutched his shoulder. Faint blood seeped between his fingers.
"A mere basic sword formation doing this...? Such diverse changes...?!"
"It depends on who's commanding."
Unable to swing a sword himself, he'd researched and researched endlessly.
To keep the Sima family from collapsing, he'd carved out time to teach them the sword formation.
A formation unremarkable on its own. But under his command, who knew its directions intimately, it became something else entirely.
From merely forming up, it could move like a single living creature.
Whirling and twisting.
Surge like a tidal wave, then withdraw all at once.
A blade with free strikes.
A martial art only his brilliant mind could wield.
That was his sword. He could wield the sword formation-something every Sima family warrior learned-like a blade fresh from its sheath.
"Kuh...! But...!"
Chu Ui-gyeong, nursing a minor wound, raged.
"In the end, it's just childish play!"
In an instant, the formation crumbled. Two warriors slammed into the wall.
He was right. Against a true expert, the sword formation couldn't reliably gain the upper hand.
So...
He'd never intended to settle for this.
He gripped the hilt. Gripped the Bloodless Sword.
This treasured blade didn't suit him. No matter how much he'd swung Sima One Sword, he'd never reached its end.
He probably never would. Even if he swung a sword his whole life, he wouldn't.
He'd never loved the sword that much to begin with.
Nor been that desperate.
It was merely an unfulfilled aspiration.
But now was different.
There was a reason to grip the sword. The Sima family never forgot grudges.
He had to advance. Toward the one holding the Soul Escaping Sword alone.
Once.
Just once was enough.
"There's no need to force yourself to master something you're not good at."
But there are times when you must grip it anyway, Grandfather.
Times when you must grip and swing the sword.
The one who first reached out was him. The first goodwill extended since he took this seat-something he'd never received before.
It didn't suit the cult. He knew that better than anyone.
However...
If he'd taken the offered hand, shouldn't he now offer his own in return?
"Training isn't the duty of a bodyguard, but..."
He infused his aspiration into the sword's tip.
Yes.
It had always been that way.
A family head's swing needed just one moment.
An Intelligence Division warrior thrust his sword. It was deflected.
An Intelligence Division warrior thrust his sword. It split.
An Intelligence Division warrior thrust his sword. It shattered.
Chu Ui-gyeong approached like a wounded beast. But the fallen ones, still alive, poured their energy into him.
Following the signals, feigning death.
Obeying his command...
---For that one moment...!
"The entire Sima family is busy, so mustn't I handle two roles as well?"
It approached. Death.
The sword was before his nose. His legs trembled, and the first real battle dizzied his mind.
But even so, he exhaled. Clutching the Bloodless Sword's hilt tight, he aimed for that one moment.
That man had taught him. Supplemented him, and even guided his hand.
He'd received it.
Pure goodwill from another for the first time in his life.
Trust, and swordsmanship at the same time.
Innocence unfit for a cult member. In the end, he'd even confided his true feelings first, believing in him.
"Grandfather... do you think I can become a family head like you?"
From his childhood.
The tremor of that moment, remembered only in his mind, he poured into the sword tip. Full internal energy bolstered it, rising for that one moment.
Veins burst in his straining hand. His body broke for that single thrust.
"What a foolish thing to say."
The last warrior fell. At the same instant, Chu Ui-gyeong's sword flashed before his eyes.
"It's over! Sima Ak!"
Time where reality and past intertwined.
Within it, Sima Ak sent the final signal.
Numerous warriors rose from the fallen, throwing away their lives.
In that instant, Chu Ui-gyeong's body locked. His movements slowed, pupils dilating.
"Petty tricks...!"
Crossing blades. Countless swords converging for one moment.
In that brief instant, Chu Ui-gyeong flailed in the air. The Bloodless Sword, seizing the gap, bared its fangs.
Falling blood. Warriors' shouts.
Amid it all, Sima Ak gritted his teeth.
The chance was once only. He had to unleash everything in that one strike.
Circulating his condensed energy with all his might. To surpass that seemingly defenseless yet firm sword...
---With full power!
"Wha...?!"
Chu Ui-gyeong's face twisted. The Sima One Sword technique unfolded belatedly from his hand.
Blood vessels and muscles bursting. In that drawn-out moment, Sima Ak let out a scream-like shout.
He needed little.
"You'll be a far better family head than I ever was. You will."
A sword sufficient in one instant.
That was his...
"Sima One Sword."
Something he couldn't have done before.
Through the teachings of someone who'd learned the sword from the basics, its form was grasped for that one moment.
Bearing the Sima family name.
Emitting light.
---Devouring even the death before his eyes.
"...Ha?"
The sword in Chu Ui-gyeong's hand, as he passed by, wavered. His glaring eyes, full of disbelief, shook.
He staggered back. He switched his grip on the sword several times before opening his mouth.
"You... how... that sword..."
"...My mind is brilliant."
His twitching hand finally dropped the sword. The falling sound swallowed the room.
"I knew the manual from the start. Unlike a dullard like you."
"...This... this doesn't... make sense..."
A diagonal line etched across his trembling body.
Sima Ak spat blood-mixed saliva onto it.
"I told you to shut up, you bastard I'm about to devour."
A red line starting from the throat.
The sword stroke that split the blade whole swallowed Chu Ui-gyeong's neck entirely.
......
"Tch."
The Soul Escaping Sword spoke.
It didn't come through clearly.
Just mumbling. Nothing more.
"You're on the verge of breaking, Number 30. Gonna keep going?"
He gripped the sword.
Gripped the sword.
Gripped the sword to...
"...Yes."
Prolong his life.
To keep his oath.
"I... haven't fallen yet."
"...Kuhuhu!"
He laughed.
I couldn't laugh.
Gripped the sword.
Did what had to be done.
...That was all.
I stepped forward once more.
Into the twisted, crumbling blood-soaked battlefield.