CHAPTER: Chapter 19
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Chapter 19.
The ripples left behind by Gal Muheun’s promise were immense.
The eyes of the cadets filling the training grounds burned with greed and ambition.
‘Damn it! These were supposed to be the usual sparring matches between cadets!’
Even Head Instructor Ma Chung looked plainly flustered, as though he too had known nothing of the contents of the test.
At this rate, all the effort he had spent teaching Uncheon, even going so far as to hand him Instruction Tokens, would have been for nothing.
Senior Head Instructor Yajin, too, stroked his chin, wholly absorbed in analyzing this unfamiliar testing method.
‘...A troublesome format.’
Up on the platform, Gal Muheun, the Master of the Demonic Martial Hall, swept his gaze over the boiling cadets and the Head Instructors, who were no less tense.
“As all of you know... the cadets face survival and reward. However....”
His frigid voice cut into the ears of the Head Instructors like a blade.
“Do not forget that this Hall Master shall be evaluating the Head Instructors as well.”
At that chilling declaration, a taut strain of tension spread through the Head Instructors too.
Their rank stood above that of the cadets, yes, but they were still only Head Instructors, not full instructors. Within the Demonic Cult as a whole, theirs was not truly a high position.
If things went badly, being stripped of their post would be no great matter at all.
As though pleased by their reaction, Gal Muheun tilted his chin toward one side of the platform, where darkness pooled thickly.
There, several shadowy figures sat motionless, their identities impossible to discern.
“Heh heh... in particular, the various organizations of the cult have come to observe this evaluation in search of talent. So if any Head Instructor makes a spectacle of himself, he had best be prepared.”
There was laughter in his voice, but the meaning was an unmistakable threat.
This examination had now become a contest that placed not only the cadets’ survival at stake, but the honor and future of the Head Instructors as well.
In an instant, the cadets whom the Head Instructors had taught with all their strength became enemies.
Moreover, to use excessive force against those whose starting level had been low would also count against them, which meant that the Head Instructors’ ability to judge talent was itself part of the test.
It was a bitter irony.
The faces of the Head Instructors hardened, and the way they looked at the cadets changed.
Satisfied with the atmosphere he had created, Gal Muheun finally raised a hand.
“Then let the Hidden Demon Cave evaluation begin.”
Gal Muheun’s declaration echoed across the vast training grounds.
“The rules of the spar are simple. The use of internal energy and killing techniques is forbidden. Begin!”
The instant those words ended, clashes erupted simultaneously upon the dozens of sparring platforms set up throughout the grounds.
Dull sounds of flesh and bone colliding, and sharp whistles of air being torn apart, burst out on every side.
“Cough!”
“Ugh!”
The desperate shouts of the cadets.
The cold bark of the Head Instructors.
And the brief screams of those who were knocked out and eliminated all mixed together.
They were their own cadets, yes, but with their own necks on the line, the Head Instructors showed no mercy.
They had been told to moderate their hands, yet cadets who fell short even of that lowered standard were swept aside in an instant.
With sharp eyes, Uncheon swept his gaze across the training grounds as a whole.
‘The Head Instructors’ strength is roughly at the level of First Rate....’
The realm of First Rate was a peculiar thing.
Because before it stood the distant wall called the Peak Realm.
That was why, if cadets of this age could stand against Head Instructors on equal footing, they would be worthy of comparison to the rising stars of the great orthodox sects.
First Rate was the highest realm an ordinary person could reach through tireless training, through the investment of sweat and time.
But at the same time, it was also a realm of despair, for there were countless people who trained all their lives and still never crossed that wall, remaining at First Rate until the day they died.
‘So the Head Instructors did not enter merely to teach others, but to cross that wall themselves.’
In the end, the realm through which one could guide and teach others only reached as far as First Rate.
Beyond that, all was decided by one’s own talent and enlightenment.
In other words, the Head Instructors were those who had first reached First Rate and gained the right to teach others.
And at the same time, they were those halted before the wall.
‘For cadets dragged in here to face Head Instructors after only one year would be impossible... unless they were the children of Demonic Cultists who had trained in martial arts since childhood.’
Most of the cadets seemed hard-pressed even to endure against their Head Instructors.
Uncheon took up a place near the edge of the many sparring platforms. Beside him stood Yuha and Yayul Hui with their arms folded.
Yuha watched this bedlam as though it were an entertaining spectacle and began giving his own commentary.
At the place he indicated with his chin, one cadet was sent flying helplessly by a single kick from a Head Instructor.
“The Head Instructors are serious as well. We will not be seeing that fellow in Hidden Demon Cave again.”
Just as his words were ending, Yayul Hui’s turn was called.
“Next, Cadet Yayul Hui!”
She exchanged a glance of farewell with Uncheon and Yuha, then headed toward the sparring platform.
‘I will go first.’
But unlike that casual greeting, her heart was filled with competitive fire.
‘...Uncheon and Yuha. I will show something greater than either of them.’
As if to match her resolve, Yayul Hui’s spar diverged from the others from the very start.
With the barest minimum of movement, she circled around the Head Instructor.
His sharp attacks split empty air again and again before her restrained footwork.
Her gaze remained fixed on a single empty point on his chest.
The very place where, after half the allotted time, the Black Iron Plaque would be affixed.
‘The real match begins only after the Black Iron Plaque is attached.’
Deng—!
At last, the gong marking half the time rang out.
“Cadet Yayul Hui, the movements you have shown thus far were excellent. From this point on, this Head Instructor shall also do his utmost.”
The moment the Head Instructor fastened the Black Iron Plaque to his chest, Yayul Hui sheathed her wooden saber.
Yet it was not only the Head Instructor who had held back until now.
In the next moment, Yayul Hui’s bearing changed.
“Haaah!”
With her shout, the saber flashed free, and a fierce wind swept across the platform.
At last, the Mad Wind Thirteen Blades of the Mad Wind Yayul Family took form in her hands!
The first form, One Blade Severing the Wind!
Clang!
The Head Instructor blocked it without difficulty, but that was only the beginning.
Without granting him the slightest gap, the second form, Mad Wind Beckons, burst forth and tore through the air toward his upper body.
The instant the Head Instructor swayed aside to evade it, Yayul Hui’s figure pursued him as though it had been waiting for precisely that moment.
The third form, Wind God Cleaves the Shadow!
Like a god of wind severing shadows, her body became a streak of gale and struck at the Head Instructor from behind.
‘Ho... that is quite a level.’
The Head Instructor twisted his body and launched a counterattack.
But as though she had foreseen it, Yayul Hui caught his strike upon the flat of her blade.
The fourth form, the only defensive move within the Mad Wind Thirteen Blades, and one that flowed into a counterattack as well.
Counterwind Returning Blade!
The blade, turning the opponent’s force back upon him, swept for the Head Instructor’s flank.
Caught by surprise, he had no choice but to spring backward.
The hem of his garment at the side was ripped open in a long tear.
The training grounds stirred.
“The Head Instructor stepped back?”
“As expected... she truly is a daughter of the Mad Wind Yayul Family.”
Before the stung Head Instructor could even settle his stance, Yayul Hui’s furious assault began anew.
The fifth form, Mad Wind Whirling Wheel!
Her spinning body became one great wheel of blades and crashed down upon the Head Instructor.
Calmly, the Head Instructor struck aside her saber blow after blow.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
Before Yayul Hui’s eyes, the hint of victory flashed.
“I'll finish it here!”
Because the final ultimate strike of the first half of the Mad Wind Thirteen Blades still remained.
‘Dance of Wind Blades!’
Her saber whipped into a storm of afterimages.
It was then.
“Foolish girl! To unleash a form you have yet to perfect!”
The Head Instructor’s eyes flashed.
Its force surpassed all the earlier forms, yes, but because the saber momentum was not perfectly controlled, it was dazzling and nothing more.
A fatal gap lay exposed within it.
The Head Instructor endured the storm of her blade and did not miss that single instant when, having spent all her strength, her balance faltered.
Kraaaack!
Yayul Hui’s wooden saber shrieked as it shattered into pieces.
Her body was flung backward by the impact, but she did not fall to the ground. She remained standing firmly on both feet.
‘Tch... so I have not yet even completed the first half of the Mad Wind Thirteen Blades.’
Though defeated, her eyes still burned with unbroken fighting spirit.
Up on the platform, an observer wearing the crimson insignia of the Ironblood Corps watched with satisfied eyes.
“Yayul Hui... her fighting spirit is more than respectable. She is worth cultivating....”
Still holding her broken wooden saber, Yayul Hui stepped down from the platform with measured steps, her bearing unruffled.
As she descended from the platform after her spar, someone called out and stopped her.
“Hey, Yayul Hui! Was that all? Open your eyes wide and watch my bout carefully! I will show you clearly who is worthy of standing at your side.”
It was Muk Hajin of the Sagal Muk Family.
Passing her on the way to his own platform, he cast her an arrogant glance.
“You worked hard. It seems that fellow is quite interested in you.”
Yuha murmured at her side with amusement.
“I heard he did not request instruction from any Head Instructor. Does he think the martial arts of the Sagal Muk Family alone are enough?”
“...Hmph. I do not care. More importantly... Uncheon.”
Rather than answer, Yayul Hui snorted and turned to Uncheon.
More than her wounded pride, her desire to confirm her own limits burned stronger.
“How was my saber art? Is there anything you would advise me on...?”
He had not expected her to ask for advice first, but Uncheon answered easily enough.
“The force was not bad. However... it seemed that your feet could not keep up with your blade.”
The one who had asked for advice was instead the one left startled.
“...How did you see that?!”
“....”
After offering that indifferent bit of advice, Uncheon merely fixed his gaze on the platform where Muk Hajin had stepped up.
Standing there, Muk Hajin ran his tongue over his lips like a serpent toward his opponent.
It was the very Head Instructor who had judged his natural foundation to be of the highest grade.
“Head Instructor. I appreciate that you rated my foundation as the highest, but in this evaluation, you will have to become my prey.”
At the arrogant provocation, the Head Instructor’s brow twitched.
“...Cadet Muk Hajin. No matter that you are a child of one of the Twelve Guardian Families, the weight of years is not something you can leap beyond.”
“If the Head Instructor is so confident, then rather than this tedious business of merely enduring, why do we not have a true all-out clash instead?”
The Head Instructor was a martial artist as well.
He was not the sort to let a cadet’s provocation pass unanswered.
The Head Instructor cast a look toward Chief Instructor Gal Muheun, silently asking permission.
“Very well. If both of you agree, then that too should be interesting.”
With Gal Muheun’s answer, the match was set.
Deng—!
With the gong marking the start, Muk Hajin’s figure scattered like smoke.
Serpentine Step.
Keeping low to the ground like a snake slithering across the earth, he did not charge in a straight line but carved a grotesque curve as he burrowed into the Head Instructor’s reach.
“What!”
The instant the Head Instructor hurriedly shifted his stance at the unexpected movement, both of Muk Hajin’s fists shot forward at once.
Yin Serpent Twin-Head Fist!
One fist was a feint aimed at the Head Instructor’s face, while the other was the true strike, driving toward his side like a serpent’s fang.
Thud!
The Head Instructor hurriedly brought his arm down to block the blow, but the shock still shoved him back two full steps.
At that sight, the training grounds erupted.
“Good heavens! He went straight into an all-out clash!”
“Muk Hajin actually drove Head Instructor back!”
“Is that... truly the level of a cadet?”
The ease vanished from the Head Instructor’s face.
‘Damn it! At that age, he has already stepped into the ranks of First Rate! He is no ordinary cadet. This brat truly means to defeat me!’
He no longer saw Muk Hajin as some mere youngster.
He saw him as a First Rate expert capable of threatening his position.
“Ghk...!”
The Head Instructor launched a full-force counterattack.
The exchange between the two was on an entirely different level from the others.
It looked less like a spar between cadet and Head Instructor, and more like an even battle between two experts.
“Half the allotted time has passed. Head Instructors, affix the Black Iron Plaque!”
Even after fighting at full strength, the Head Instructor had failed to subdue Muk Hajin within half the match.
‘If a brat like this tangles up my feet and brings me down, then my life as a Head Instructor is finished.’
The instant the Black Iron Plaque was attached, the Head Instructor’s eyes changed.
“I end this here, brat!”
He charged like a storm.
For the first time, Muk Hajin’s face hardened under the far heavier pressure.
But what rose in his eyes was not fear. It was venom, serpent-like and vicious.
‘That country bumpkin called Uncheon, and Yayul Hui as well, every last one of them gets on my nerves! If it had been a normal spar, I would have crushed that arrogant nose of his!’
His original plan had been to suppress Uncheon before everyone’s eyes and restore the honor of the Sagal Muk Family.
But that plan had already come to nothing.
If so, then he had to show overwhelming dominance, even against a Head Instructor.
Instead of evading, Muk Hajin chose a move of mutual destruction.
Boooom!
At the very instant the Head Instructor’s attack smashed into his abdomen, Muk Hajin’s serpent-like fist shot toward the Black Iron Plaque.
But the Head Instructor did not allow his hand to reach it, and took the blow on his shoulder instead.
Their attacks crossed, yet the results were entirely different.
Muk Hajin’s body flew from the platform like a sheet of paper and crashed down beyond it.
A clear defeat.
But the Head Instructor who remained standing upon the platform could not raise a cry of triumph.
He staggered and clutched his own shoulder.
It was a scarred, half-complete victory.
The training grounds fell into silence for a moment, then exploded into even greater cheers than before.
Though the cadet had lost, he had wounded a Head Instructor and proven his worth perfectly.
“Wooooah!”
“Muk Hajin is the best!”
“...As expected of the Sagal Muk Family. He seems a cut above Yayul Hui.”
Up on the platform, even the observer from the Blood Wolf Corps murmured low, evidently taken with his fighting spirit.
‘Persistent and crafty like a serpent. And bold enough not to shrink even from mutual destruction... I like him.’
Watching, Yuha turned to Uncheon and asked,
“He is quite something, is he not? To wound a Head Instructor like that. What do you think, Uncheon?”
Still wearing that indifferent expression, Uncheon looked from the staggering Head Instructor to Muk Hajin, who was being carried away on a stretcher.
The judgment that came from his mouth was cold to the utmost degree.
“...He is a fool.”
“Ho? That is a harsh appraisal.”
“At the final moment, the Head Instructor could have shattered his heart. It is only because this was a spar that he lives. Had it been a real fight, he would already be dead. That did not prove skill.”
Yuha looked at Uncheon’s profile and smiled with interest.
Just then, his name was called.
“Next, Cadet Yuha! Step onto the platform!”
Yuha shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
“Well now, it seems I am first. I will be back, Uncheon.”
His gaze turned toward the observers of the Hall of Myriad Demons seated upon the platform.
“Your goal is to catch the eye of that oldest monster over there, is it not?”
“....”
When Uncheon answered only with his gaze, Yuha showed a genuine smile for the first time.
“Then I shall claim that place first. If you wish to catch their eye, you will have to surpass me.”
It seemed that Yuha was more conscious of Uncheon than of his own fight with the Head Instructor.
With his usual unhurried stride, he made his way to the center of the sparring platform.
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