Episode 386: Return of the Demon Instructor
“Gah!”
A sudden surge of killing intent made Deung Bu-hyung gasp and twist his body instinctively.
But Sa Bi-gang, consumed by madness, moved too swiftly for Deung Bu-hyung to follow with his eyes.
Swish!
“Aaaargh!”
Deung Bu-hyung screamed as his side was slashed, twisting in agony.
In that fleeting moment,
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A blue sword aura and a black sword aura simultaneously flew towards Sa Bi-gang.
Sa Bi-gang twisted his body, slashing horizontally with his sword.
Swoosh!
Clang!
The two sword auras deflected and dissipated, as Wi Geom-jong and Ja Un-ryong charged in from both sides with a battle cry.
“Instructor!”
Nung So-so shouted involuntarily, extending her staff.
In response, Silestine, who had not been summoned until now, appeared and flew straight towards the three.
Whoooosh!
A sudden gust of wind forced Ja Un-ryong and Wi Geom-jong to steady themselves, retracting their swords.
Meanwhile, Sa Bi-gang was swept away by the wind, tumbling roughly across the ground.
Nung So-so hurried over to Ja Un-ryong and Wi Geom-jong, demanding an explanation.
“What are you doing? Attacking the instructor with killing intent!”
“It’s a misunderstanding, Instructor Nung. I only intervened because I thought Senior Deung Bu-hyung was in danger.”
“Even so, that attack wasn’t meant for defense! It was as if you intended to kill the instructor!”
Wi Geom-jong retorted coldly.
“And if we don’t?”
“What?”
“If we don’t, how else do you propose we subdue the instructor?”
“Are you serious…?”
“Listen, miss. Right now, the instructor is in a berserk state. There’s no one here who can handle him. If we focus solely on defense, everyone here will die. Even with the intent to kill, it’s uncertain if we can subdue him.”
Nung So-so bit her lip in frustration.
Meanwhile, Sa Bi-gang, who had rolled across the ground, staggered to his feet, still breathing heavily.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
“Instructor…!”
As Nung So-so called out and moved towards Sa Bi-gang,
“Raaaaargh!”
Sa Bi-gang suddenly arched his back and let out a ferocious roar.
“Ugh!”
“Ahh…! That sound…!”
The resonance echoed through the stone chamber, causing dust to crumble from the ceiling.
Rumble!
A foreboding sound came from somewhere above.
Pyo Ha-rim glanced around the ceiling and spoke up.
“The cave… it’s about to collapse!”
Just as he said, dust continued to fall from all around.
Finally,
Thud! Boom!
A massive boulder crashed down right next to Deung Bu-hyung, who was standing in the center of the stone chamber.
“Ahhh!”
Deung Bu-hyung screamed, falling on his backside.
“We need to get out of here, now!”
Yeo So-jung shouted, and Pyo Ha-rim quickly hoisted Jin Gyeong-san onto his back.
As he was about to dash towards the exit, he stopped abruptly.
Sa Bi-gang stood rigidly at the entrance, his eyes no longer human, but those of a beast consumed by madness and hunger.
“Grrr…!”
Sa Bi-gang growled like a wild animal, saliva dripping thickly from his snarling mouth.
Without a word, Ja Un-ryong and Wi Geom-jong raised their swords, glaring at Sa Bi-gang.
Ja Un-ryong spoke up.
“We’ll handle the instructor. The rest of you, get out of the cave before it’s too late.”
“But…!”
As Nung So-so hesitated, Wi Geom-jong shouted sharply.
“Go, now!”
Finally, Deung Bu-hyung got to his feet and led the students.
“Come on, let’s go! This place is about to collapse. Instructor Nung, hurry!”
Deung Bu-hyung and Nung So-so began to lead the students towards the exit.
Leap!
As if refusing to let them escape, Sa Bi-gang lunged like a specter.
But at the same time, Ja Un-ryong and Wi Geom-jong clashed with Sa Bi-gang.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
As two streams of sword energy rose, Sa Bi-gang turned to meet them head-on.
Swoosh!
Red, blue, and black sword energies clashed violently.
Clang!
Boom!
The intense resonance caused the stone chamber to collapse even faster.
“Ahhh! Run, run!”
Deung Bu-hyung screamed, sprinting away.
He no longer cared about the students trailing behind him.
Meanwhile, Jin Baek was carefully collecting the blood of a woman pooled on the ground into a flask.
He intended to study how the woman’s blood could be used later.
“Master Jin! We need to go, now!”
“Just a moment, let me finish this…”
“Hurry! There’s no time!”
This time, Nung So-so forcibly dragged him along.
Nung So-so used Silestine to push the lagging students forward.
Rumble! Thud! Thud!
Now, large boulders began to fall indiscriminately.
Ja Un-ryong, Wi Geom-jong, and Sa Bi-gang stood in a triangular formation, unmoving.
At one point, Ja Un-ryong glanced up at the sky.
A massive boulder was falling towards Sa Bi-gang’s head.
Whoosh!
Just as it was about to crush him,
Flash!
Sa Bi-gang leaped. Simultaneously,
Crash!
The boulder shattered, sending shards flying in all directions.
And Ja Un-ryong and Wi Geom-jong leaped as well.
Leap! Flash!
Whoosh!
The three of them used the falling boulders as stepping stones, displaying their agility.
“Haaah!”
Ja Un-ryong unleashed his sword energy, aiming directly for Sa Bi-gang’s heart.
Sa Bi-gang kicked a falling boulder, spinning like a top to deflect Ja Un-ryong’s attack.
Then, extending his left hand, he cast a spell.
Whirr!
It was a sonic buster, a spell that sent a supersonic blast to obliterate the opponent.
Fortunately, the sonic buster struck a falling boulder just before reaching Ja Un-ryong.
Boom!
The boulder shattered into pieces, the fragments flying like daggers in all directions.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thwack! Thwack!
Wi Geom-jong quickly deployed a protective aura, deflecting the incoming shards with his sword.
But Ja Un-ryong, who was very close to the boulder, suffered multiple penetrating wounds all over his body.
“Ugh!”
Falling to the ground, Ja Un-ryong quickly applied pressure to his wounds to stop the bleeding.
It was fortunate that the shards had passed cleanly through his body.
“Whew!”
As Ja Un-ryong circulated his internal energy, his turbulent qi and blood gradually stabilized.
Wi Geom-jong landed beside him.
The black aura that had been subtly surrounding him was absorbed back into his body.
Seeing this, Ja Un-ryong clicked his tongue in admiration.
“Impressive technique.”
“You’re not too shabby yourself.”
“I’m still far from perfect. But by now, the students should be far enough away, right?”
“It doesn’t matter. The one in danger of dying here is me.”
Ja Un-ryong smiled gently and asked.
“Who exactly are you?”
“To you, just another rogue from the dark sect.”
“Then why did a rogue reveal killing intent towards the instructor?”
Wi Geom-jong stared intently at Ja Un-ryong.
“That’s not something you should be asking.”
“I’m doing it to survive.”
“So am I. There’s no other way to deal with that monster.”
Wi Geom-jong’s gaze shifted to Sa Bi-gang.
Sa Bi-gang stood rigidly on the carpet, head bowed, breathing heavily.
Despite his instinctive fighting, his occasional stillness suggested he might be struggling with inner conflict.
“That monster… can we defeat it?”
“Honestly, it seems impossible right now.”
With that, the two stopped talking.
They watched as the blood-red aura surrounding Sa Bi-gang gradually retracted into his body.
Once that aura was fully absorbed, Sa Bi-gang would go berserk again.
Ja Un-ryong’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“If we can’t defeat him… let’s bury him.”
“It’ll only buy us time.”
“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
”…Let’s bury him.”
“Alright. Then now!”
As soon as Ja Un-ryong finished speaking, the two of them soared towards the ceiling, unleashing their energy.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With a deafening noise, the ceiling of the stone chamber began to collapse.
The two retreated quickly towards the exit, continuously firing energy at the ceiling and walls.
Eventually, Wi Geom-jong focused his attacks on Sa Bi-gang, while Ja Un-ryong targeted the ceiling.
Their plan was to trap Sa Bi-gang and bring down the chamber.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Finally, the stone chamber completely collapsed, swallowing Sa Bi-gang.
The two quickly leaped out of the entrance, following the students.
**
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A loud noise and a heavy vibration echoed from behind.
Nung So-so, running with the students, hesitated and turned to look back.
With Jin Gyeong Mountain looming behind him, Pyo Harim shouted urgently, “Instructor Neung! We can’t stop now!”
Only then did Neung Soso bite her lip and start running again.
‘Lord Gwanju… please be safe!’
As they sprinted, they had to be wary of the falling rocks crashing down around them. Fortunately, the swarm of bees that had filled the passageway was nowhere to be seen.
After running for a while, they reached a dead end.
“Where are we?”
“There’s no way out!”
The cadets, caught off guard, began to panic, their anxiety heightened by the darkness.
Neung Soso remained calm, scanning her surroundings. ‘This is where we faced the Darkburn…!’ She quickly examined the ground.
“Here it is!”
Luckily, she spotted a hole in the floor, and the swamp that had once filled it was now completely gone. Neung Soso and the cadets hurriedly jumped down into the opening.
Reaching the cavern where they had battled Zairen, the cadets immediately searched for an exit.
“The exit has reappeared!”
“It seems everything returns to normal once the leader in the stone chamber is defeated.”
But it was too soon to relax.
Boom! Crash!
A heavy rumble echoed as rocks began to rain down from the ceiling once more. Neung Soso summoned Silestin, and the cadets swung their swords to deflect the falling debris, but some rocks were still dangerously lethal.
Bang! Thud! Crack! Boom!
Even as the rocks pelted down like hail, the cadets didn’t stop running. In the chaos, one cadet was crushed by a boulder, dying instantly. Yet, no one could afford to stop. There would be time to mourn once they were safely out of the cave.
“The exit! I see the exit!”
A glimmer of light appeared in the distance, and the cadets shouted with relief. It was a true beacon of hope.
Rumble! Crash!
The sound of the cave collapsing echoed behind them, and they sensed someone approaching.
‘The instructors! But what about Lord Gwanju?’
Curiosity tugged at her, but Neung Soso didn’t look back. Any delay could mean being buried alive in the collapsing cave. Instead, she extended her staff, channeling all her energy.
“Silestin!”
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind surged, propelling her and the cadets out of the cave.
“Whoa!”
“Ahhh!”
The cave expelled Neung Soso and the cadets as if spitting them out.
Thud! Thud!
They tumbled across the ground outside, just as the cave entrance collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Rumble!
Dust rose like a cloud, and the ground shook for a long moment.
Through the settling dust, two figures emerged—Ja Unryong and Wi Geomjong. Had they been a moment later, they too would have been trapped inside, deprived of fresh air.
But then…
Boom!
A sudden, thunderous noise erupted, and a shadow burst forth from the collapsed cave, sending rock fragments flying in all directions.
Swoosh, thud!
The shadow landed in a sweeping arc, like a red comet. It was none other than Sabigang, consumed by madness.
The cadets swallowed hard, staring at Sabigang’s back. Even with his head bowed, an indescribable aura of menace radiated from him.
The Gwanju they had trusted and relied on more than anyone else… had now become their greatest threat.