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Chapter 337. Despair
Sim Hyeon-gak.
The classified document archive located at the deepest heart of the Murim Alliance.
No one knew who managed it, or how its intelligence was gathered. It was a place coveted by anyone with aspirations to power.
Because it held everything from the shameful secrets of each sect's key figures to all manner of critical intelligence.
The reason I'd been able to expose Blue Bamboo Fortress' dirty secrets when they'd picked a fight with the Iron Sword Sect was precisely because I'd used information stored inside Sim Hyeon-gak.
Wе̄ b n̈о̇v̈еl Е́ňù m a
Valuable as this intelligence alone was, the true core value of Sim Hyeon-gak lay elsewhere.
Namely, information on the martial arts of the Central Plains.
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The martial arts intelligence of sects that had relied on the Murim Alliance for five hundred years — and that the Murim Alliance had relied on in turn.
Gathering fragments revealed in battle, in duels, in demonstrations, in war — piece by piece, assembling a complete picture of each martial art.
This was Sim Hyeon-gak's most vital function.
The complete pictures assembled from those fragments made analysis possible, allowing both weaknesses and strengths to be identified.
W̌ eb̌n̄öv е̇l Е ṅ um̊а
If the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans — no, if any sect learned of this, it would be information devastating enough to overturn the world.
Why Sim Hyeon-gak had gathered such intelligence was something I neither could nor needed to know.
After all, this intelligence was destined to slumber forever inside Sim Hyeon-gak, never revealed to the world.
'At least until today, that is......'
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Amidst the screaming, Il-gak's voice rang out clearly.
"BENEFACTOR JIN!!!"
Ẅ ẽ b̄ n о̂v̂ ё l̆ Е̌ n um̂ a_
The enemy had come fully prepared, striking at an utterly unexpected moment.
Meanwhile, we had nothing — no unit organization, no strategy, no countermeasures.
"Hoo......"
It was clearly a desperate situation, but I took a slow, deep breath.
I pulled out every Sim Hyeon-gak document from the mental archive in my head, analyzing and reassembling them.
I wasn't looking for the best method.
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The moment we'd allowed the ambush, "best" had fled all the way to Bukhae.
What I needed to prepare for was the worst.
"Benefactor Jin! The enemy is closing in!"
Hoping an unbuilt defensive line would hold was no different from hoping a candle set before the wind wouldn't go out.
"Ngh...... They're putting out the fires!"
"They're hiding in the darkness again!"
E ǹ ùḿ ȧ. i̊d́
What needed to be done right now wasn't building a defensive line. Rather, we needed to actively shake the enemy's formation.
"Benefactor Jin......!"
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Sim Hyeon-gak's classified files and memories from the war.
How the Murim Alliance's military units had fought, how the Demon Wolf Unit had fought — I recalled it all.
"BENEFACTOR JIN!!!"
And gradually, a countermeasure took shape.
Ѐnu mа̃._і̆ d̈
"Il-gak. How many Eighteen Arhat Formations can you set up?"
"What are you saying? The Eighteen Arhat Formation is originally exclusive to the main mountain's......"
"There are lay disciples who learn the Arhat Formation too! Including those, how many?!"
Perhaps startled that I knew this, Il-gak's eyes rolled before he finally answered.
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"Three. I can operate three, but they won't be complete......"
"Doesn't matter. Set them up now!"
Еnüm а̄
"What do you......"
I immediately pivoted.
There was no time to wait for answers. I had to find the next person immediately.
"Any Wudang Sect members here?!"
"......"
On one side, a Wudang disciple silently raised a hand.
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"How many disciples can execute the Taiji Seven Stars Sword Formation?"
"......What are you thinking?"
The question was so stupid that a curse nearly escaped on its own.
"Shit, do you think this is the time for questions?"
"......"
"If you want to live, follow me. Otherwise, go die for all I care."
Е̃ ñ üm̄а.
"......Sixteen."
"That's two formations then. Exclude the two who've learned the Whirlwind Sword and set up the formations to support Shaolin. Tell the two with Whirlwind Sword to engage the enemy from between the Eighteen Arhat Formations."
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"Placing them between formations would actually cause friendly fire......"
"Those with the Whirlwind Sword will draw power from it instead, so just do it!"
There was no time. I strained the veins in my neck and shouted again.
"Next, Diancang! Where's Diancang?!"
Eñ u ḿа̃
"Right here!"
Once Wudang's Taiji Seven Stars Sword Formation was established around Shaolin's Eighteen Arhat Formation as its core, the ferocious enemy pressure became far more manageable to absorb.
"How many have learned the Sun-Shooting Sword Art?"
"Most of us have."
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"Then support Wudang."
I built it up layer by layer, like stacking bricks.
Еnum̃а̃
There was no time to practice coordination, so each person relied on their individual ability.
Even if their coordination was off, it didn't matter.
At minimum, getting injured was better than dying at the enemy's hands.
"......What are you thinking, Representative Jin?"
"Cheol Sun-jik. You know this isn't the time for questions. Nam Hwa-seong!!!"
"Right here!"
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The Twelve Peak Citadels formed their line with the Three Origins Sect at the core.
The One Pillar Sect and Asura Sect supported the Three Origins Sect, and the Bamboo String Gang served as the spearhead.
Next, the Five Great Clans.
How fortunate that Namgung Seon-hwa was here.
Without a single question, she relayed my instructions exactly and built the formation.
Once defenses were established on three sides, the cries of anguish that had been spreading across the entire base camp began to subside.
Ẃе b̌ ǹȯ vе l̇ Е̃ nu m а̇
The structure of the formation was simple.
The vanguard took charge of defense, while the left and right flanks supported the defense and attempted counterattacks.
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The rear guard functioned as an attack force pursuing extreme efficiency, inflicting massive damage on the enemy in single strikes.
A tactic that would never be attempted in the current era — a strategy from the distant future.
The cross-sect grand strategy attempted by the Murim Alliance after the continuous defeats of the Great Righteous-Demonic War had whittled its forces down to a quarter.
That strategy was now deployed, reaching back across ten years of time.
Ě n̈ ŭ m̄ а
"Watch out! Mind the sword's radius!"
"Damn, if I'd known it'd be like this, I'd have memorized the Sword Paths of the Demon-Subduing Sword Art."
Coordination was still lacking, and friendly fire incidents were not uncommon, but no longer were people being senselessly dragged into the darkness to die at Demon Wolf Unit hands.
"Our sect's Defensive Square meshes perfectly with the Three Origins Sect's Fist Formation...... What an odd feeling."
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"Chat later, there are still people who haven't joined up!"
"Damn it......! Can't I just step out for a moment?"
Е́ n̄ūṁ a
Casualties began shifting increasingly toward the outer edges of the formation.
Once the formations settled into place, the Demon Wolf Unit members who'd been avoiding the bright light found it increasingly difficult to counter the formations, and their attention turned to those who hadn't yet joined.
"Geum-pyo! When the formation advances, go rescue the stragglers."
"Will you give a signal?"
"You'll know when you see it!"
I immediately launched myself toward the Righteous Path Association's line.
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"Il-gak! Getting the hang of the coordination yet?"
"Benefactor Jin! It's still rough. More people are getting hit by friendly swords than enemy ones."
"Is that so? Good enough. We advance."
"What do you......"
"I told you earlier. We're counterattacking."
"......"
W̃ е̇ b̄ ǹ о̄vе̃ l Ёn um̂_ä
Il-gak stared at me like I was a madman, but there was no other way.
No matter what anyone said, the strongest group in terms of raw skill was the Righteous Path Association.
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In a crisis like this, what you could trust wasn't loyalty or faith. Only skill.
That was why the Righteous Path Association had to lead the counterattack.
"LET'S GO!!!!"
"Benefactor Jin......"
W e̊ bnоv е̊l Е̌ nüm а
"LET'S GO!!!!"
At my booming shout, the formation began advancing.
The target: the southeast, where the most personnel were concentrated.
As the formation began moving, the Academy students were shaken once again.
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"Hold your stance! Shorten your strides — that way you won't hurt your allies!"
As expected, the Righteous Path Association members each knew exactly what they needed to do.
È n um_а
They maintained the formation by force if necessary, imitating a Sword Formation even if imperfectly.
This ultimately became the force that protected the formation and the foundation that allowed the column to advance.
"SKREEEE—!"
"GURK!"
"Ngh!"
Head-on clashes produced casualties from Demon Wolf Unit blades, but none were killed.
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I moved one step further ahead than everyone else.
"Damn it...... Jin So-un! Are you planning to charge out alone?!"
"Benefactor Jin......! Don't worry! We'll catch up!"
SLASH— SLASH— SLASH—
I cut and cut again, pressing forward ahead of the vanguard.
I couldn't eliminate them all. But it didn't matter.
Еn ù m á. іd̃
The Righteous Path Association elites following behind would handle the remaining Demon Wolf Unit members.
I simply poured out attacks to rattle the enemy as much as possible.
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RUMBLE—
Then I fired the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, loaded with Tenth Star power.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH—
I vividly felt my inner arts plummet, but the effect was definitive.
Еǹ u ṁа̇
An entire section of the forest had been blown clean away.
A Demon Wolf Unit member frantically twisted to dodge the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm.
I launched myself at him.
SLASH— SLASH— SLASH—
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This time I wasn't satisfied with just hearing screams — I committed fully to killing.
The goal was to drive them back.
W̆е̃b n о̂v е̌ l̄. Е̇ň ú ṁа̇
'Red Wolf! Where's Red Wolf?'
I didn't know how many of them there were or what they were scheming here, but the enemies present right now were exclusively Demon Wolf Unit members.
SHIIING-SHIIING-SHIIING-SHIIING-SHIIING—
If I could take their leader, the rest would be far easier to handle.
"GURK!"
"GAAAH!"
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I tore through the endlessly charging Demon Wolf Unit members and ran forward, forward.
SCREEEE—!
A formidable surge of energy snapped my eyes wide open.
I drew the Taeul True Scripture to its limit and swung the Red Radiance Sword with everything I had.
CLANG—!
Sword Force collided, but I couldn't cut through the opponent.
W е̌b̆ n̄ о̊ṽ êľ .Ѐn̄u m̆а
The enemy was also a master at the Sword Force level.
The white smoke cleared, and unlike the other black-clad figures, a red-clad figure appeared.
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"Red Wolf......"
I ground his name through my teeth, and the eyes above the mask widened slightly.
But that was all.
He moved immediately, as if he knew exactly what he needed to do.
Ě ňŭ m ā . іd̄
SCREEEE—!
His blade, slightly shorter than a standard saber, was designed for simultaneous slashing and thrusting — the thrusting speed was savage.
When I stepped back two paces to create distance, Red Wolf pressed in even closer, refusing to yield a single inch.
'So that's how it is.'
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I drove the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist at the closing enemy.
DONG— DONG— DONG—
Ěñ ũ mа̄
Fist met saber, yet what rang out was a bell-like tone.
I'd loaded Force Qi.
How strange. The man showed no trace of Saber Force, yet he was absorbing Force Qi just fine.
An extreme efficiency fanatic?
If controlled well, bloated Force Qi that consumed massive inner arts would only eat into yourself.
He engaged the opponent according to his own plan. Befitting the leader of the Demon Wolf Unit, perhaps.
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"But that's your plan."
An extreme efficiency fanatic ultimately can't handle someone who fights with sheer volume.
"Try blocking this efficiently!"
I deployed the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula, creating six blades of Ten Thousand Swords. Then I layered Sword Force on top, literally trapping the man inside a storm of Force Qi.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BANG—!
Just as when I'd called his name, the man's eyes flew wide, and the paper-thin black Force Qi swelled enormously.
Wë b ñ ŏv̀ ẽl̈ E n u m̀ а
In the end, you too have no choice but to be swept up by your opponent.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH— BOOM-BOOM-CRASH—!
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Even from within the massive explosion, savage Saber Force came pouring out.
Shit, one wrong move and I nearly got skewered.
When the explosions subsided, Red Wolf rose from the gouged-out crater — his right hand blown clean off.
"Die, you son of a bitch!"
Wẽ b nov̌_ē l Еnum̂ а
The instant I unleashed the Minor Heaven Sword Art wreathed in Sword Force, his body slipped downward into the ground like water.
'Damn!'
I never expected him to have learned the Demonic Cult's Serpent Phantom Step.
Before I knew it, he'd evaded the sword and fled the crater, immediately sprinting away.
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"As if I'd let you escape!"
Just as I was about to deploy the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art to chase him — someone grabbed the scruff of my neck and yanked me backward.
Énú ma. і d́.
'You think I didn't notice?!'
Goosebumps raced down my spine.
I quickly shed my outer garment, slipping free from the grip, and swung the Red Radiance Sword.
But what met the blade's edge was...... nothing.
'Shit, what the......!'
Startled, I turned my head — and at the edge of my vision, I saw my outer robe dangling from a Flying Dragon Claw, swaying.
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"Eun-ho?"
"Eldest Senior Brother, they're withdrawing."
At his words, I checked the Demon Wolf Unit members — and indeed, they were retreating in haste.
"Thank goodness. Your plan worked perfectly, Eldest Senior Brother."
"......"
Just pulling out like that?
Ēn̈ ù m̈ а̇
When I was just getting started?
"Eldest Senior Brother......"
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After creating this many corpses here, they were going to run away without suffering any real losses?
GRIND—
My teeth clenched so hard my lips bled at the cowardice of it.
"Eldest Senior Brother...... we have many wounded and dead."
Е̊ n̈u mа̇ .і̊ d
But before I knew it, Eun-ho had stepped in front of me.
His hand gripped my garment tightly.
As if he wouldn't let me go anywhere.
"And we're...... still not prepared for anything."
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I understood the meaning of Eun-ho's words better than anyone.
Chasing after them with the Academy students right now would be nothing short of insanity.
Еñ um а
I steadied my breathing, then turned around.
"Assess the wounded and dead first. Then form scouting parties from the able-bodied and send them out. We need to find out just how much those bastards have prepared."
Engraving deep into my chest the knowledge that the days of reckoning were not far off.
***
Fifty-three dead.
Thirty-seven critically wounded.
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Eighty-eight with minor injuries.
Remaining wounded: impossible to assess.
By the time dawn broke, the confirmed situation was devastating.
These casualty numbers weren't unusual for a large-scale battle.
But considering that each of these individuals was a sect's elite, raised with enormous investment, the actual loss was even more severe.
The problem was that there was no way to treat the critically wounded right now.
Е̄ n̂ ûm̊ă . і̄.d
If time kept passing like this, they too would join the dead.
"Representative. What we need most urgently is food and medical supplies."
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"How short are we?"
"......"
Jang Woo-jae clamped his mouth shut.
When I sent him a look, he finally spoke, his tone heavy.
Еñ u m̂ā.і̇d́
"......Less than a week's worth remains."
If I had to name the most devastating damage from the previous night, it would be the loss of supplies to the fires.
After all, the provisions had been stored inside the shelters.
One month's worth of supplies originally prepared for the duration of the Great Journey, plus another month's worth for emergencies.
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That enormous quantity had been mostly destroyed in a single night.
Not just food — the medicinal supplies needed to treat the wounded were critically short as well.
Е̄n üm̊ а̊
"Almost as if it were calculated to the last drop."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing. What about the scouting parties?"
"The ones who returned early had nothing significant to report. The enemy could appear at any time, so it seems they didn't venture far."
One of the Academy students' current problems:
Most had been raised as elites, which made them inflexible.
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In short, it was like forming a unit composed entirely of officers — there was a severe shortage of people who could actually function as rank and file.
Everyone had only been taught how to give orders efficiently, making them inadequate as functional unit members.
"Let's wait until the other scouting parties return, then."
Just as I was about to rise.
The base camp grew noisy.
"Out of the way! Move!"
Е̇ n̄um̃ ä_. і̌d̂
"Make room! Anyone here with medical skills?!"
"Bring water!"
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At the commotion, Jang Woo-jae and I exchanged a glance, then quickly moved toward the source.
Pushing past the gathered Academy students, we found two students we hadn't seen the night before.
Their faces deathly pale, the two were shivering despite the sweltering weather, as if stricken with chills.
'Ha......!'
Е_n̆ u m̈ ӑ . іd
I recognized it immediately.
'Demonic qi.'
The severe intoxication symptoms that occurred when contaminated by demonic qi.
I turned to a man standing nearby.
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"These people...... where did they come from?"
"W-we found them while out scouting today and brought them back."
Е ń um̆ӑ
"How far from the base camp were they?"
"Actually...... we didn't go very far."
I whirled around and called out urgently.
"Does anyone know which area these two were exploring?!"
One of the listening Academy students raised a hand.
"The southern end. I remember them complaining about being assigned somewhere far."
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They'd come from the southern end all the way here without a guide?
I needed to hear this.
I addressed the two who sat trembling, staring blankly into the air.
"Hey. Can you hear me?"
But the answer came from the scouting party.
"They can't respond at all. ......We're not even sure they can understand speech."
Ё_ṅú m а̀ . і̂d̂
It was surely because extreme terror, killing intent, and demonic qi had scrambled their minds.
With demonic qi this strong...... just how horrific were the enemies who'd come here?
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HMM—
I took the man's hand and slowly channeled in Jade Purity Heavenly Image Power.
The violently trembling hand gradually stilled.
Then his entire body began to stabilize.
Ŵė b n̊о v̈е̇ l Е̄ṅum.а
Just then, something caught my eye.
'What's this?'
On closer inspection, frostbite marks dotted his skin.
In the Black Forest's climate, which was no different from the sweltering height of summer.
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What could possibly cause frostbite here — the thought barely formed before it flew from my mind.
Color was returning to the deathly pale face, and the bloodshot redness was fading from his eyes.
En̈üḿ a
"Wh...... wh......"
The survivor finally seemed to regain his senses, looking around in bewilderment.
"Wh-why am I here......"
I looked him straight in the eyes.
"How did you two get here?"
"Huh?? Jin So-un......? Why are you...... here?"
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"You were sent to the southern end, right? Where are the others? Did anyone help you along the way?"
At my questions, he began repeating the same words as if chanting a spell.
"The others...... The others......"
His eyes rolled as if trying to recall, then he suddenly sprang to his feet.
"Th-th-the others...... the others...... Surrounded...... Ran...... ran...... Have to run......"
The survivor who'd leapt up raised his head and stared at me.
W е b n̈ о v̄ е l̂_ Е̄ń ūḿ ȧ
"J-Jin So-un...... Jin So-un...... Why are you here??"
Then he began trembling again, his face twisting with pallor.
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I quickly tried to take his hand to channel Jade Purity Heavenly Image Power, but he violently shook me off.
Then he screamed in a voice dripping with killing intent.
"H-have to kill......!"
"Kill? Kill what?"
Ŵ e.b̈.ǹо̌ v̌е̌l̄ E̊ ṅ u ṁ а
The survivor's friend asked, and the survivor shrieked incoherently for a long time while shaking.
Then, with a trembling finger.
"K-kill......"
He pointed at me.
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"J-Jin So-un. Have to kill Jin So-un! Have to kill Jin So-un......! HAVE TO KILL JIN SO-UN!!!!!"
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