The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 175

Chapter 175
## Chapter 175. The Black Flame Dragon Who Devours a Sea of Blood (5)

“Are you keeping together, Young Master Jae-hwa?”

Murong Jae-hwa was sucking in air in ragged gulps.

His complexion was crimson, and a violent tremor shook his limbs.

Thick veins bulged across his flesh and visage, looking as though they might snap at any second.

It was the undeniable sign of a martial artist who had pushed his internal energy to its absolute threshold.

“Miss Eun, my apologies, but could you help break this heat on my face?”

Hearing Murong Jae-hwa’s voice rasp and splinter from sheer dryness, Eun Seol-ran offered no verbal reply. Instead, she mobilized the Plain Hand Divine Art, channeling a cooling energy to soothe his burning skin.

Murong Jae-hwa let his eyelids fall for a brief instant, appearing on the verge of collapsing into a deep slumber right then and there.

Nonetheless.

SVIIIT.

The sharp whistle of an arrow cutting through the atmosphere caused Murong Jae-hwa’s eyes to snap open. He threw Eun Seol-ran out of harm’s way as he hit the dirt.

“Are you unharmed, Miss?”

Eun Seol-ran, her body rigid as Murong Jae-hwa shielded her from above, managed a breathless reply.

“Yes, I—I am unhurt.”

“It appears those bastards are renewing their assault.”

Murong Jae-hwa scrambled up swiftly and fitted an arrow to his bowstring.

Eun Seol-ran had gone out herself to retrieve the projectiles the adversaries had launched, bringing them back to him.

Having already struck targets once, the fletching shafts were warped and the iron tips misaligned, but they were still vastly superior to makeshift twigs snapped from the surrounding brush.

SVIIIT.

The arrow loosed from Murong Jae-hwa’s grasp streaked across the clearing toward the figures draped in blood-red vestments.

Weighed against the dozens of shafts those foes had rained down, it was a mere drop in the vast ocean, yet the blood-robed men fixed their gaze intently on Murong Jae-hwa’s lone projectile.

THUMP. CRASH!

A vanguard warrior who had braced himself behind two overlapping shields took the brunt of the arrow. The sheer momentum drove him backward a considerable distance, fracturing their defensive line.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

The advancing blood-robed platoon scattered back into the cover of the boulders within the space of a heartbeat.

Witnessing their retreat, Murong Jae-hwa let loose a heavy breath.

Half a day had slipped away already.

For that entire duration, he had maintained this standoff against the blood-robed adversaries, shielding the Murim Academy students who lay insensible from illusions behind his back.

Il-gak was working to revive the victims one by one, but those who managed to open their eyes were beset by severe internal turbulence, rendering them incapable of moving.

If there was any silver lining, it was that after he directed several Horse-Piercing Arrows toward the position of the Spell Practitioners, no further Illusion Formations had been cast.

‘Is that truly a blessing?’

He was holding the blood-robed forces at bay with the Horse-Piercing Arrows, but they had imperceptibly formed a wide ring around them.

Retreat was impossible, and advancing was out of the question.

Indeed, the moment they could no longer prevent that ring from closing in.

Every soul present would meet a certain demise.

Rustle, rustle.

The instant the rustling of boots echoed from the rear, Eun Seol-ran gathered freezing frost within both palms.

A frigid air colder than the gales of alpine peaks materialized in her hands.

Eun Seol-ran slammed her palms down toward the origin of the noise without a moment’s hesitation.

SHHHK.

SNAP, CRACK! CRACK!

Gleaming pillars of ice erupted from the soil within the dark woods, skewering toward the lower limbs of the blood-robed attackers.

Murong Jae-hwa lowered his bow for a brief moment, seized a blade of unknown origin from the ground, and charged the blood-robed men.

SLASH—.

CLANG CLANG CLANG.

He claimed the lives of two instantly, but owing to his unpracticed blade forms, the remaining pair managed to sustain the clash.

Slowly, he began to give ground.

‘Confound it…… Are they trying to best me in a sword fight?!’

Had they been the type of adversaries to agree to a proper archery duel, they would never have resorted to sorcery and sprung an unannounced raid in the first place.

While silently cursing the dishonorable tactics of his foes, Murong Jae-hwa found himself increasingly pressed by the flashing steel of the blood-robed men.

“Young Master Jae-hwa! Lower yourself!”

The instant Eun Seol-ran’s warning pierced the air, he dropped his skull like a flash of lightning, allowing ice spikes to drive cleanly through the torsos of the blood-robed men.

“Gah.”

“Urgh.”

Spitting crimson, the blood-robed targets collapsed onto the dirt.

Behind them, Eun Seol-ran stood drawing ragged breaths, her face devoid of color.

“Are you holding up, Miss Eun?”

“Hah, hah, hah. I—I can manage.”

Her flesh had always been so fair that the faint lines of her veins were visible, but now her visage was entirely drained, white as bleached bone.

It was evident to any onlooker that she had reached the absolute end of her endurance.

‘Damn it all.’

Though he had received instruction from Jin So-un on how to combat a multitude with limited numbers, he lacked the capacity to execute it.

The deformed arrows frequently went wide, and once the adversaries deduced that their own ammunition was being turned against them, they substituted spears and boulders for arrows.

‘If I could only manifest the Thunderbolt Arrow…….’

Never in his life had Murong Jae-hwa felt aggrieved by his modest martial prowess, but in this exact hour, he hungered for supreme martial strength more than ever before.

Had he perfected the Thunderbolt Arrow, he could have mitigated the losses among the Academy students.

Had he possessed the Thunderbolt Arrow, he could have secured Eun Seol-ran’s escape.

From the moment the morning sun crested the horizon until this very hour, there had been countless instances where he felt tempted to unleash the unverified Thunderbolt Arrow.

Yet, he had not possessed the recklessness to attempt it.

CREAAAK—

Each time he drew back the cord, the groan of the bow where horn met timber signaled imminent structural failure.

The Thunderbolt Arrow was notorious for shattering pristine horn bows without mercy.

Risking it now, when the weapon was on the brink of snapping, was equivalent to discarding his only armaments.

This was an gamble he could not take when a single error meant forfeiting not just his own life, but Eun Seol-ran’s, and by extension, the lives of every Academy student resting behind them.

“Whew…….”

Caught in a vice, he could move neither forward nor back.

Murong Jae-hwa turned his gaze toward Eun Seol-ran.

Her face, which typically mirrored the purity of an elegant snowflake, was smudged with soot, and her garments were caked in grime and debris.

As a consequence of the lingering sorcery and total deprivation of rest, her eyes were webbed with crimson, and because she had spent her internal energy to the dregs, her fingers were shivering.

‘If nothing else…… Miss Eun, if no one else survives…….’

As he weighed that grim calculation.

THUD THUD THUD! BOOM! BOOM!

Il-gak neared their position, casting aside blood-robed men as he advanced.

“Benefactor Jae-hwa, Benefactor Seol-ran……! Are you unharmed?”

Il-gak, though inquiring after their status, was himself in a wretched state.

The flawless demeanor of Il-gak, celebrated as one of the peak experts within the Murim Academy, was entirely absent here.

“As you can see, we are far from unhurt,” Murong Jae-hwa replied with a strained grin, and Il-gak immediately grasped the weight of his words.

“We cannot sustain this position.”

Il-gak looked between the two of them and stated, “The pair of you must engage in Qi Circulation.”

“Hm?”

“…….”

Il-gak’s directive to perform Qi Circulation in the thick of this crisis sounded entirely preposterous.

Regardless, Il-gak pressed on composedly.

“Even a meager thread of internal energy will suffice. Amass just enough to execute Movement Arts.”

Only then did Murong Jae-hwa perceive Il-gak’s true design, prompting him to shake his head in dissent.

“That is……”

Yet, Il-gak severed Murong Jae-hwa’s protest and spoke with absolute resolve.

“This is no time for dispute. The Murim Alliance must be apprised of this situation immediately.”

Murong Jae-hwa gave a nod, then shifted his attention to Eun Seol-ran. “Miss Eun, begin your Qi Circulation.”

“What? What are you implying? What of your own safety, Young Master Jae-hwa?”

“I shall maintain this post.”

“Benefactor Jae-hwa!”

Despite Il-gak’s sharp exclamation, Murong Jae-hwa’s voice remained steady.

“If conveying intelligence was our highest priority, we ought to have fled a full day ago.”

“…….”

Faced with the harsh reality of his own misjudgment, Il-gak clamped his jaws shut.

“If we retreat now, every soul behind us faces slaughter. Can you accept that outcome?”

Il-gak turned his gaze toward the rear.

His own martial brothers from his home sect, the disciples of the lay-affiliated organizations, and dozens of companions he had allied with inside the Righteous Path Association.

Every single one of them would perish on this ground.

Involuntarily, Il-gak’s fists squeezed tight.

He refused to witness such a tragedy.

“…….”

“I cannot accept it.”

Who could bear to look upon such a massacre?

Yet, at this juncture, a minimum of one person needed to escape alive.

And the ones who escaped ought to be those who held no blame for this disaster.

Whether Murong Jae-hwa comprehended Il-gak’s inner turmoil or not, he pressed on.

“Furthermore, when I contemplate Brother So-un, who is bound to arrive shortly, I refuse to present him with the sight of my back fleeing alone.”

Upon hearing Murong Jae-hwa’s words, Il-gak felt an immediate urge to counter.

Did he truly still harbor the conviction that Jin So-un would appear?

“…….”

He wanted to argue that Jin So-un could not possibly make it here, that navigating this chaos was beyond anyone’s solitary capability, and that expecting such a miracle was foolish.

Nonetheless, Il-gak mastered that impulse and softly inquired, “Even if that conviction proves empty…… do you truly believe you will feel no remorse?”

He asked with profound gravity, infusing the query with all the skepticism that plagued him.

And.

“Yes.”

Murong Jae-hwa answered without an ounce of hesitation.

“……!”

Without a single shred of uncertainty.

He met Il-gak’s eyes with an unwavering gaze and reiterated,

“Yes.”

“…….”

An absolute, unconditional trust.

A conviction that bordered on the sacred.

Pure faith.

At this point, Il-gak found himself wondering about the root of that absolute trust.

The bedrock of that conviction.

Was it born of Murong Jae-hwa’s raw simplicity?

Or was it the natural result of the profound reliability Jin So-un had always demonstrated?

“I understand. Then at least Miss Seol-ran……”

Il-gak and Murong Jae-hwa turned their attention back to Eun Seol-ran.

However, Eun Seol-ran responded with a flat, stubborn expression.

“You yourself stated that Brother Jin is on his way. Why would I intentionally choose a path of cowardice?”

Il-gak and Murong Jae-hwa nodded in unison.

‘She is right.’

‘She speaks the truth.’

Unwittingly, Il-gak found himself adopting the same absolute belief as Murong Jae-hwa.

As the two of them recognized their own stubbornness, Eun Seol-ran gestured toward the front line.

“They are advancing!”

Il-gak turned his head, his brow furrowing deeply.

“They have devised a method to counter Benefactor Jae-hwa’s marksmanship.”

The blood-robed troops, recognizing that standard shields could no longer withstand Murong Jae-hwa’s archery, were now drawing near while hoisting massive iron plates reinforced with iron lids and heavy boulders above their skulls.

Beholding the exact scenario he dreaded most, Murong Jae-hwa let slip an oath.

“Curse it…….”

Realizing the Horse-Piercing Arrows would be ineffective now, Murong Jae-hwa frantically activated his Moving Circulation, scraping together a single sliver of True Qi.

“We have no alternative but close-quarters combat.”

Hearing Il-gak’s assessment, Murong Jae-hwa glanced over his shoulder.

There remained not a single Academy student capable of joining the fray.

This location was no Changban Bridge; expecting three individuals to hold back hundreds was utter lunacy.

‘There is no other path.’

He then drew forth a singular, pristine arrow—one he had vowed to preserve until the absolute brink of doom.

“The technique remains flawed, but a single discharge of this should devastate their vanguard. If it misses its mark……. Then…….”

Murong Jae-hwa left the thought unfinished.

He refused to contemplate such a catastrophic end.

With a desperate spirit, Murong Jae-hwa notched the arrow to his bowstring and began to exert backward pressure.

CREEEEEAAK.

The horn bow, pushed beyond its structural threshold, cried out in protest.

‘Just this once……. I beg of you, hold for just one release!’

The essence of the Murong Clan’s signature martial discipline, the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword, flowed directly into the iron arrowhead.

The shaft, gripped tightly by both hands, shuddered violently, and the horn bow vibrated with equal intensity in response.

Grrrrrrk.

The moment he meticulously funneled the minimal requisite portion of the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword’s energy into the projectile and released the cord.

SNAP.

The horn bow, having finally collapsed under the strain, splintered apart.

TWANG.

The severed cord whipped loosely in the air, devoid of tension.

“Damn it all!!!!”

The instant the blood-robed forces perceived that Murong Jae-hwa’s bow had ruptured, they cast away their boulders and plates, launching into a full sprint.

Il-gak and Eun Seol-ran lacked even the spare seconds to offer Murong Jae-hwa consolation.

As if infuriated by the time they had spent cowering from Jae-hwa’s archery, the blood-robed warriors charged with feral intensity.

“Benefactor Jae-hwa, fall back.”

Pressing his palms together, Il-gak unleashed his fists forward, his strikes shimmering with a radiant golden glow.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THWACK.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THWACK.

The blood-robed assailants were blasted backward by the Dragon King Flowing Fist, executed over thirty times in the span of a single heartbeat, yet the vacancies were instantaneously occupied by fresh waves of blood-robed men surging from the rear.

“Haaat!”

SHHHHK.

The Plain Hand Divine Art deployed by Eun Seol-ran encased the blood-robed attackers in frost, but Ice Arts unbacked by sufficient internal reserve lacked lethal efficacy.

Murong Jae-hwa likewise gripped his steel once more, executing unpolished sword forms.

Just as they found themselves completely encircled by blood-robed combatants with no remaining avenues of defense, preparing themselves for the inevitable end.

“UAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”

An emerald brilliance descended from above, splintering the skulls of the blood-robed men and crushing their ribcages.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

BOOM BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Amidst the thunderous concussions, detritus and dust erupted in all directions. Il-gak, Murong Jae-hwa, and their companions, who had instinctively shielded their sight, managed to squint through the haze to identify the newcomer.

“Hah, hah, hah!”

The massive warrior’s complexion was ghostly pale, as though he had drained every drop of his focus and vital reserves.

Furthermore, deep lacerations marred his entire frame.

It was a miracle in itself that he had managed to reach this location at all.

The colossus locked eyes with Murong Jae-hwa and wheezed, “Hah, hah, y-you. Murong Jae-hwa! You are indeed Murong Jae-hwa, correct?”

Murong Jae-hwa, finding himself addressed directly, scrutinized the giant’s features and registers total shock.

“N-Nam Hwa-seong? What brings you to this place……?”

“Hah, hah, I—I am overjoyed to see you breathing. Truly overjoyed!”

Nam Hwa-seong shuddered with intense relief, as though he had successfully located a missing sibling.

As for Murong Jae-hwa, he could only experience sheer bewilderment at the turn of events.

Why had Nam Hwa-seong of all people materialized here?

And what reason did he have to rejoice over Murong Jae-hwa’s survival?

Nam Hwa-seong swallowed with great difficulty and managed to squeeze out his next words.

“……Jin So-un. Jin So-un directed me to this location.”

“Ah!!! I knew it!!!”

Nam Hwa-seong thrust the bundle he had been transporting toward Murong Jae-hwa, practically hurling it into his arms.

Murong Jae-hwa burned to learn the full context, but neither their current predicament, surrounded by hostile forces, nor Nam Hwa-seong’s precarious state permitted an explanation.

While sorting through the pack in a daze, Murong Jae-hwa tilted his head as he noticed a lengthy iron staff protruding from the contents.

‘What could…… this be…….’

Distinct notches carved into both ends.

A central handle bound in thick leather along the iron shaft.

And clusters of arrows alongside a bounty of Heavenly Silkworm Thread stuffed into the pack.

These were implements that naturally caused him to ponder the reason behind Jin So-un’s effort to deliver them.

Suddenly, an realization manifested in his mind.

“N-No, it cannot be…….”

Murong Jae-hwa’s eyes darted rapidly between the strands of Heavenly Silkworm Thread and the solid iron staff.

“A—An Iron Bow?”