Episode 343: Return of the Demon Instructor
Sabikang surveyed the new recruits with a commanding presence.
“Step back, all of you.”
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the recruits swallowed nervously and retreated to a safe distance.
With a cold gaze, Sabikang turned his attention to the Red Masked Man.
”……!”
Their eyes met, and that was all it took.
The Red Masked Man’s heart raced, and his palms grew clammy. He shouted in a panic.
“W-We need to deal with him first! Form up, quickly!”
As if waiting for the command, the demon soldiers moved into formation, encircling Sabikang with their unique footwork.
The Red Demon Squad also took their positions in front of the Red Masked Man, exuding a menacing aura.
Sabikang scanned his enemies with a chilling gaze and murmured softly.
“Blaze Guardian.”
In an instant,
A searing heat seemed to emanate from all around, distorting the space around Sabikang.
It was as if an entirely different world had unfolded beyond the shimmering air.
Then,
BOOM!
Sabikang’s body transformed into a blazing inferno, and within a radius of about five meters, flames erupted like an explosion.
“Ahhhh!”
“Ughhh!”
The inferno of judgment rose, erasing a third of the demon soldiers surrounding Sabikang without a trace.
“Ugh!”
“Such intense power…?”
Even the Red Demon Squad, positioned behind the demon soldiers, flinched and stepped back, startled by the heat.
Moments later,
The blazing heat seemed to condense and was completely absorbed back into Sabikang’s body.
Blaze Guardian.
An advanced 8th-circle extreme heat magic.
While Hellfire scorches a wide area with intense heat, Blaze Guardian focuses the extreme heat on the caster’s body, allowing simultaneous attack and defense.
Thus, its heat was even more intense than Hellfire.
Sabikang slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze burned with destructive desire.
Even his pupils were tinged red, as if consumed by the flames.
“Activate the Demon Art!”
The Red Masked Man’s desperate cry spurred the Red Demon Squad into action, as they quickly employed their techniques to catch their breath.
Just then, Sabikang lifted his foot and took a step forward.
Whoosh. Whoosh!
With each step Sabikang took, flames ignited and blazed fiercely.
The Red Masked Man, witnessing this unprecedented sight, finally regained his senses and shouted like thunder.
“What are you all doing…!”
“They say you can’t fix people….”
Whoosh!
As Sabikang took another step, the heat intensified.
Simultaneously, his voice, cold and sharp as a blade, pierced the Red Masked Man’s heart.
“I tried to recycle you by any means necessary. Do you know why?”
Whoosh!
With another step, the flames surged higher.
“What… are you talking about…?”
“I felt a bit guilty. For the years I struggled to survive alone, climbing to the position of Grand Duke while mingling with those scoundrels.”
Whoosh!
Sabikang’s gaze was unusually serious.
But the Red Masked Man couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.
“But there are some things that simply can’t be recycled. Like you, who exploit your own kind.”
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a whirlwind of scorching heat swirled around Sabikang’s entire body.
The Red Masked Man, snapping back to reality, screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Kill that madman immediately! Now!”
The demon soldiers let out wild cries and charged at Sabikang like moths to a flame.
“Roar!”
“Screech!”
Whoosh!
Yet, Sabikang’s eyes remained fixed solely on the Red Masked Man.
The Red Masked Man saw it.
In Sabikang’s eyes, where all his fury was concentrated, there was a strange sense of exhilaration.
As time, which seemed to have stopped, resumed its flow, dozens of demon soldiers descended upon Sabikang.
But then…
BOOM!
Crack! Crackle!
Whoosh!
Astonishingly, the weapons of the demon soldiers shattered and burned before they could even touch Sabikang’s body.
The soldiers themselves burst apart in an instant, turning to ash and scattering in the wind.
They were like moths throwing themselves into a blazing fire, only to become ash.
But the demon soldiers, devoid of pain and fear, paid no mind to such things.
“Roar!”
“Screech!”
Crack! Crackle!
Whoosh!
It was as if fireworks were exploding from Sabikang’s entire body.
Every demon soldier charging at him combusted into ash, enveloping the surroundings in thick smoke.
The Red Masked Man stood agape, utterly stunned.
‘A demon… This isn’t human.’
As the ash swirled like clouds, Sabikang steadily advanced.
Crack! Crackle!
Whoosh!
With a faint smile, Sabikang spoke.
“Honestly, I feel better cleaning up thoroughly than recycling trash.”
The new recruits watching him were equally speechless, their mouths agape.
“How are we supposed to kill someone like that?” Mangasook muttered, and everyone nodded in agreement, swallowing hard.
“Are we supposed to wait until he dies of old age?” Baek Gongbo joked weakly, but no one laughed.
‘Can we even call him human after witnessing that?’
Such was the overwhelming presence of Sabikang.
It didn’t take long for the hundred demon soldiers to be reduced to ash.
As the last soldier disappeared into the cloud of ash, the Red Masked Man swallowed hard and took a hesitant step back.
Not only him, but all the Red Demon Squad members facing Sabikang struggled to steady their trembling legs as they slowly retreated.
“A demon…!”
“Leader…! We must retreat!”
Some began to heed the voice of instinct.
But the Red Masked Man, ensnared by Sabikang’s killing intent, couldn’t move a muscle.
Finally, as the ash was swept away by the wind, Sabikang emerged from the flames.
His expression was even more severe than before.
“All in all, a hundred and two. Those who died by my hand. Including those dealt with by the new recruits, it’s more, isn’t it? Two hundred?”
“What…?”
The Red Masked Man’s eyebrows twitched as Sabikang looked at him with a calm gaze.
“The demon soldiers, I mean. It seems you’ve used the Soul Devouring Demon.”
The Red Masked Man’s eyes widened further.
“How… how do you know that…?”
“If you brought two hundred, then the Demon Sect must have at least a thousand or two thousand demon soldiers.”
The Red Masked Man’s face turned pale.
‘How does he know about the demon soldiers? And that they’re created using the Soul Devouring Demon? Who is this guy?’
At first, he thought Sabikang was just an eccentric instructor.
But after witnessing his martial arts, he considered the possibility that Sabikang might be a reclusive master of arcane techniques.
Yet, here he was, casually revealing secrets known only to the Demon Sect.
‘Could there be a spy within the sect?’
As his mind raced, Sabikang’s voice continued.
“As fellow humans, you should never have done such things. Therefore, none of you will leave here today.”
“Stop spouting nonsense! What are you all doing? Attack! Attack him!”
A few Red Demon Squad members mustered their last ounce of courage and swung their swords.
“Hyaah!”
“Die, you monster!”
But,
Crack! Crackle!
Whoosh!
Even with their bodies protected by demonic energy, they turned to ash the moment they touched Sabikang’s heat.
At this point, many of the Red Demon Squad members lost their will to fight and began to flee.
“This is… unbeatable!”
“Leader, we must retreat!”
Sabikang, with a calm gaze, watched the fleeing enemies and said,
“I told you, didn’t I? All the trash here will be incinerated.”
As soon as he finished speaking, tendrils of flame snaked from the fire surrounding Sabikang, slicing through the air.
Whoosh!
“Ahhh! Nooo!”
“Arghhh!”
It was a hellish inferno.
The Red Demon Squad members, engulfed by the flames, writhed in agony before turning to ash and scattering in the wind.
‘How did it come to this…?’
The Red Masked Man’s eyes were hollow.
Who could possibly stop someone like this?
At this level, even the innate demonic physique is irrelevant.
The Demon Sect must be far more wary of Sabikang.
He is a force that could shake the martial world.
How had the martial artists been unaware of such a person until now?
Finally, as all the Red Demon Squad members turned to ash and perished, the last remaining Red Masked Man was paralyzed with fear, unable to move a single finger.
Whoosh…!
At last, the flames enveloping Sabikang’s body gradually dissipated, revealing his intact form as he stopped right in front of the Red Masked Man.
But to the Red Masked Man, even that was another form of terror.
Sabikang looked at him intently and asked,
“What do you think people are?”
The masked man couldn’t utter a single word.
His lips refused to move.
Sabi Kang gave a faint nod.
“Well, I wasn’t really keen on hearing it anyway.”
In the next instant,
Swish, swish, swish!
Several beams of light sliced through the air.
To an observer, it might have seemed like the beams appeared briefly in front of the still-standing Sabi Kang before vanishing.
But in that fleeting moment, Sabi Kang had swung his sword, Veritas, at the masked man.
The masked man felt nothing.
Just a chilling sensation in his limbs.
Moments later,
Splurt, splurt!
Splat!
Thin lines of blood appeared all over his body, soon erupting like fountains.
The masked man’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected to meet his end like this.
Once again, he had failed to seize the Heavenly Demon Physique right before his eyes.
Thud!
Finally, the masked man fell to his knees.
He coughed up blood, glaring at Sabi Kang.
Facing death, the fear that had gripped him vanished.
“This… isn’t the end… Lord Jonya will…!”
Slice!
Another flash of light swept across, and the masked man’s head soared into the air.
Thud, roll, roll.
Sabi Kang looked down at the rolling head with an indifferent expression.
“Sorry, but I really don’t care to hear that voice.”
He turned to the new recruits.
“Looks like none of you died.”
The recruits, who had been frozen like statues, finally began to relax a little.
Churyang approached, pouting.
“Sounds like you’re disappointed we’re still alive.”
He glanced around.
“But… these guys. They were human, right?”
“The more you dwell on it, the more it costs you. Don’t waste your emotions. When things get complicated, simplify. These guys were just unlucky.”
”…Understood.”
“That’s the spirit. You’ll need it to survive the battles ahead.”
Just then, Maeng Gasook limped over and asked, “What do you plan to do now?”
“We move.”
“And by move, you mean…?”
“We head to Jaeryeong Mountain. There’s a pile of trash waiting to be burned, and we can’t miss the opportunity.”
“In that case, we might not need to go all the way to Jaeryeong Mountain. They’re probably on their way to attack the main base of the Justice League right now.”
“Then we’ll meet them sooner.”
Sabi Kang’s expression turned cold once more.