Episode 317: Return to the Demonic Academy
“Are you telling me to go in there alone?”
Churyang glanced back at Sabigang, his face a mask of fear.
Sabigang shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“So, you want me to go in first and deal with all those traps by myself!”
“They’re not traps. They’re barriers.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Why are you suddenly acting so timid? Weren’t you the one who said you accomplished something with Banmyo?”
“Well, yes, but…”
Churyang looked down at Banmyo, who was rubbing its head against his leg. The creature had grown slightly larger, still purring contentedly.
As Sabigang had mentioned, Churyang had once felt a strange energy from Banmyo while training alone in the New Thought courtyard. Initially, it was a faint presence. He had been practicing the Tiger Claw Demon Sword Technique, a martial art Sabigang had introduced to him. It was a modified form of a technique used with claw-like weapons, adapted to suit the cartel’s protective gear.
This technique, conceived by Sabigang in the demon realm, proved invaluable to Churyang. As he trained, he noticed an overflow of energy. At first, he attributed it to the sword technique. But the more he practiced, the more his mana sword and shield grew in size.
Eventually, his mana sword nearly doubled in length, and his shield followed suit. It was then that Churyang noticed Banmyo standing beside him, its fur bristling with concentration, emanating a peculiar energy that he seemed to absorb.
Upon realizing this, the color of his mana sword changed. It shifted from a bluish hue to a reddish glow. Though the size returned to normal, the sword felt more solid and powerful. Banmyo’s energy, too, had taken on a reddish tint.
“Could it be…?”
Churyang tried to calm his excitement as he swung his mana sword and shield.
Whoosh! Swish!
The sword sliced through the air with remarkable speed, and his reflexes felt a half-beat quicker. Churyang was convinced.
“This is… a buff!”
He recalled Sabigang mentioning debuffs before. Sabigang had once speculated that Banmyo might possess buffing abilities, explaining that it was akin to temporarily enhancing one’s abilities.
After a session of the Tiger Claw Demon Sword Technique, Churyang, drenched in sweat but grinning widely, turned to Banmyo. The creature purred happily, approaching him.
“Oh, you little rascal! You’re more useful than I thought!”
Purring contentedly, Banmyo nestled into Churyang’s arms.
When Churyang went to share the good news in the underground training hall, he found Sabigang infusing energy into Onggisung. After hearing about the day’s events, Sabigang brought Churyang to a particular place…
“Of all places, why the New Thought building…”
Churyang looked up at the towering structure with a grimace. It was Sabigang’s residence and the building where he taught the New Thought group.
Sabigang patted Churyang’s shoulder. “The New Thought kids managed to break through to the fourth floor. I figured they’d reach my quarters soon, so I made some upgrades.”
“Upgrades?”
“Yeah, reinforced it from the first floor up. I want to test if it works properly, so go on in.”
“But the New Thought kids haven’t even reached your quarters yet. And you want me to test the new barrier…”
“I’m not asking you to reach my quarters. Just test the first floor. If it works there, the rest should be fine. What? Are you not confident?”
Sabigang’s teasing gaze made Churyang grit his teeth.
“Fine. I’ll do it!”
“That’s the spirit. That’s my bodyguard.”
Churyang swallowed hard, staring intently at the first floor of the New Thought building.
“If it’s just the first floor, I can manage…”
With a determined expression, Churyang stepped forward. Though the sun was setting, the building faced southwest, allowing the sunset’s glow to seep into the first floor.
“Alright, Banmyo! Let’s do this!”
Churyang surveyed the first floor, bathed in the warm hues of the sunset. He spotted a staircase leading to the second floor, surrounded by a spacious area filled with stone statues. Each statue wielded a weapon, posed as if demonstrating martial arts techniques—a sort of guide to proper stances.
Tense, Churyang walked through the statues, heading toward the center of the first floor.
Suddenly,
Creak.
A sound of movement from behind!
“What the—!”
Swish!
Churyang drew his mana sword, spinning around.
At that moment,
Creak. Creak. Creak!
The statues around him began to move, grinding against each other. Initially sluggish, they quickly lunged with their weapons.
Whoosh! Swish!
“Gah!”
Churyang gasped, retreating hastily.
Clang!
A heavy weapon struck his mana shield, echoing loudly.
Screech!
Regaining his balance, Churyang glared at the moving statues. They seemed alive, animated by some demonic force.
“So, the first-floor test is these guys!”
Churyang hadn’t anticipated the statues would move. They’d been there since the building’s inception, never moving even when the New Thought group invaded. But with Sabigang’s recent enhancements, they had come to life.
This meant Sabigang had anticipated the New Thought group’s growth and adjusted the barrier’s difficulty accordingly.
“Sometimes, my master seems thoughtless, but then he does something like this…”
Creak. Creak.
As the statues moved, stone fragments crumbled from their joints, adding to their eerie presence.
In a flash,
Leap!
Thud, thud, thud!
The statues charged at Churyang with surprising speed.
Whoosh! Swish! Slash!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amidst the fierce wind, metallic clangs rang out. Churyang moved frantically, wielding his mana sword and shield. The statues’ strength was overwhelming, sending him flying whenever he blocked with his shield.
How long had he been swinging his sword and shield in a frenzy?
“At this rate… it’ll never end!”
Sweating profusely, Churyang continued the Tiger Claw Demon Sword Technique. Then, a realization struck him.
“The joints…!”
His eyes widened. His mana sword couldn’t cut through the stone statues. Ordinary rocks might have been sliced easily, but these statues were made of a different material. However, the joints were a different story.
“Let’s do this!”
With a decision made, Churyang blocked an incoming spear with his shield and pushed off the ground.
Clang!
Leap!
“Take this!”
Focusing all his energy on his mana sword, it extended nearly twice its length, glowing red.
Whoosh!
Banmyo’s buff activated!
“Yes!”
With a triumphant shout, Churyang slashed at a statue’s neck.
Thud, roll…
The heavy head fell, but the statue continued its attack, swinging its sword diagonally.
Clang!
Blocking with his shield, Churyang crouched low, extending his mana sword.
Slice!
Thud!
A statue’s knee was severed, causing it to topple sideways.
Churyang didn’t stop. Everything was about momentum. Missing this flow meant losing the opportunity. He quickly turned, targeting another statue with his mana sword. With Banmyo’s buff, he moved like a tiger with wings.
Slash, slash, slash, slash!
Thud! Crash!
After the sharp wind, the statues inevitably crashed to the ground.
After another half-hour,
Thud! Crash…
The last standing statue crumbled, its joints shattering.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
Breathing heavily, Churyang surveyed the fallen statues. Heads, bodies, and legs lay scattered.
“Hah! Hahaha! How’s that, Master? Isn’t this enough…”
Churyang laughed triumphantly, turning around when—
Rustle. Creak…
The fallen stones began to stir, moving once more.
Suddenly, the stones that had been rolling around reassembled themselves, returning to their original, unbroken state.
As the statues lined up and glared at him, Churyang felt his energy drain away.
“What the… How am I supposed to defeat these things?”
Then again, calling it “defeating” seemed odd since they weren’t truly alive.
But still, how was he supposed to stop them?
While Churyang stood there, bewildered, Sabigang entered through the door on the first floor.
“That’s enough.”
As if they understood the command, the statues relaxed their stances and returned to their original positions, freezing in place.
“Master…?”
“It seems you’re not quite ready to handle these yet. You need more training.”
“But isn’t this a bit unfair?”
Churyang replied with a sullen expression, prompting Sabigang to raise an eyebrow.
“Unfair? If the demon realm invades, you’ll face far worse than this. Will you complain then too?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Go on. With more training, you’ll improve.”
“Understood.”
Once Churyang left, looking dejected, Sabigang remained to inspect the statues.
“Impressive… The buff effect is remarkable.”
In truth, he hadn’t expected Churyang to manage even this much.
Discovering a statue’s weakness and defeating it are two different things. Knowing a weakness doesn’t guarantee victory.
“What do you think?”
Sabigang suddenly asked.
Descending the stairs was none other than Jeong Ryugwang, the head of the Hao Clan.
“Truly impressive,” Jeong Ryugwang admitted.
In reality, from the moment Churyang stepped onto the first floor, he had been ensnared by Jeong Ryugwang’s spell.
Thus, he hadn’t actually fought. To an observer, Churyang merely stood dazed among the statues.
The battle with the statues was all in Churyang’s mind.
Initially, Sabigang had planned to reinforce the barrier here, but after meeting Jeong Ryugwang, he changed his approach.
Instead of a barrier, they decided to create a formation using geomancy, which proved more effective than expected.
Had Churyang managed to destroy the statues twice, the spell would have broken.
In that sense, Churyang had indeed made significant progress.
Sabigang could gauge the outcome of Churyang’s imaginary battle through the waves of energy.
If the spell broke once, a blue aura would ripple out from the statues, and if it broke a second time, a red aura would spread.
Sabigang smiled with satisfaction.
“Meeting you makes me even more curious about your master.”
Jeong Ryugwang smirked coldly.
“Don’t even dream of it. My master is on a different level. He won’t cooperate with you.”
“I’m not planning to visit him right away.”
“So, you plan to visit eventually.”
“Perhaps.”
“You’re impossible to reason with.”
“Anyway, I need to borrow that little trick of yours again.”
“What for this time?”
“I have a test to conduct.”
Sabigang grinned with a mysterious expression.