Episode 50: Return to the Dark Sect
The canyon stretched on longer than expected.
After passing numerous wooden barricades, they finally reached the end, where a wall built between the canyon walls loomed ahead.
A shabby gate stood between the walls, but there was no one guarding it.
Creak.
Gok Bo-ok pushed the old door open and stepped inside.
To his surprise, a village lay within.
Yet, judging by the dilapidated buildings, it seemed impossible for anyone to live there.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Gok Bo-ok muttered to himself, twisting his neck as if to shake off the unease.
He suddenly regretted his decision.
After ordering the cadets to stand by, Sabi Kang had headed straight into the canyon.
While Maeseolran and the cadets set up camp, Yeon Woo-gyeong and others planned to secretly follow Sabi Kang when the opportunity arose.
As they kept watch, Gok Bo-ok had slipped into the canyon.
If Maeseolran noticed his absence, clever Yeon Woo-gyeong would surely come up with an excuse.
‘But where did Sabi Kang go?’
Gok Bo-ok cautiously moved forward, scanning his surroundings.
Then it happened.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing and ricocheting!
Gok Bo-ok quickly hid behind a building.
‘That sound…!’
He carefully peeked around the corner.
A flash of light flickered at the far end of the main road.
‘There it is!’
Finally, a chance to uncover Sabi Kang’s true identity.
‘I’ll find out what he’s up to here, no matter what!’
Gok Bo-ok approached the source of the light with even greater caution.
**
Sabi Kang stared at the sword in Gu Woo-jung’s hand.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Your mistake will cost you your life.”
With that, Gu Woo-jung launched himself at Sabi Kang with a swift kick off the ground.
Swish!
His blade sliced diagonally through Sabi Kang’s body.
But then—
‘Huh?’
There was no resistance.
He was sure he had cut through a person, yet it felt as if he had sliced through thin air.
From behind him—
“Do I have to overpower you to make you my sword?”
“Tricks!”
Gu Woo-jung twisted his body, swinging his sword horizontally.
Swish!
The speed was almost too fast for the human eye to follow.
But—
Thunk.
”……!”
Gu Woo-jung’s eyes widened.
His sword, swung with all his might, was caught between Sabi Kang’s thumb and forefinger, stopping dead in its tracks.
‘What the…?’
Crack!
In the next moment, Sabi Kang snapped the blade in two with his hand.
He tossed the broken blade over his shoulder.
“Isn’t that enough proof?”
“You… who are you really?!”
“How many times must I say it? I’m an instructor from Yongcheon Academy. My name is Sabi Kang.”
“Rubbish! You’re no mere instructor!”
Gu Woo-jung shouted, quickly retreating and throwing hidden weapons from his sleeve.
Eight blades whistled through the air toward Sabi Kang.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
‘This time, you won’t block them so easily!’
Each blade was imbued with powerful energy.
No matter how strong his defenses, he couldn’t deflect them all.
But then—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amazingly, the energy-laden blades were deflected.
However, not all were repelled.
As the fifth blade was deflected, the shield surrounding Sabi Kang cracked and shattered.
‘So, it is true energy.’
Sabi Kang smirked as three blades embedded themselves in his chest.
‘Direct hit.’
Gu Woo-jung clenched his fist in triumph.
But then—
‘An afterimage?’
Once again, Sabi Kang’s form faded away like smoke.
”……!”
Sensing something, Gu Woo-jung quickly drew a dagger and turned around.
Swish!
His dagger slashed upward in a diagonal arc.
Clang!
The piercing sound of metal on metal echoed as the dagger flew into the air.
Sabi Kang, who had appeared behind him, was holding a sword.
There was no time to be surprised.
Tap!
Gu Woo-jung tapped the ground and retreated, stretching his arms upward.
In that moment, a strong floral scent filled the air.
It felt as if colorful petals were raining down from the sky.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the sky was filled with countless black blades descending at terrifying speed.
This time, they were thin needles, almost invisible to the eye.
“An impressive attack. But it won’t work on me.”
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The needles struck an invisible barrier and fell like rain around him.
Sabi Kang then kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Tap, tap, tap!
Gu Woo-jung’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘Grass-top flight!’
Indeed, Sabi Kang was running atop scattered blades of grass.
An impossible feat without immense internal energy!
It meant his opponent was at least a supreme master.
But then—
‘No, that’s not grass-top flight!’
Upon closer inspection, Sabi Kang’s feet barely moved.
It was more accurate to say he was flying.
‘What on earth is that?’
In truth, it was a low-level flight spell called Fly, but Gu Woo-jung had no way of knowing.
Regardless, the fact that his opponent was gliding over the grass put him at a disadvantage.
The needles he had unleashed were coated with deadly poison.
Though Sabi Kang had blocked the attack, stepping on the fallen needles would almost certainly result in poisoning.
But then—
‘Did he know?’
Or was it just a coincidence?
Judging by Sabi Kang’s calm expression, it seemed more than mere chance.
For some reason, his opponent wanted to recruit him.
So he wouldn’t aim to kill with a single strike.
Many thoughts raced through his mind, but only a moment had passed.
In the blink of an eye, Sabi Kang was upon him, shouting as he swung his sword.
“Haah!”
‘Hmph, you’ve fallen for it!’
Gu Woo-jung quickly drew his dagger to block the sword.
The sword, imbued with energy, clashed with the dagger, creating a deafening screech.
Clang!
Rumble!
The windows and tiles around them shook, unable to withstand the force.
“Ugh!”
Gu Woo-jung’s brow furrowed.
His arm throbbed with pain.
Gritting his teeth, he reached out with his other hand.
“This ends now!”
In that instant, he channeled all his energy into his palm.
At such close range, his opponent wouldn’t have time to defend.
Sure enough, his decisive strike landed squarely on Sabi Kang’s chest.
Boom!
Sabi Kang staggered backward.
The force of the blow had torn his clothes, exposing his bare skin.
Barely regaining his balance, Sabi Kang took a deep breath.
“Huff, huff. Impressive indeed.”
Meanwhile, Gu Woo-jung, who had poured all his strength into the attack, couldn’t hide his shock.
‘He took the full force of my strike and is still standing?’
He was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
“You’re… a monster.”
“Actually, I’ve only been a monster for a few days.”
Since consuming the dragon heart.
Sabi Kang swallowed the rest of his words and looked at Gu Woo-jung.
“What do you say? Still not interested in becoming my sword? I really need you.”
“Hahaha. Do you think you’ve won?”
”……?”
“Sure, you’re strong. But you were careless. In the end, you’ve lost.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“Hahaha. Do you see the mark of my strike on your chest?”
Indeed, a dark handprint was etched on Sabi Kang’s chest.
Gu Woo-jung laughed.
“It’s the Black Lotus Divine Palm. In less than half an hour, the poison will spread through your body, and you’ll die.”
Sabi Kang grinned.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to see.”
“What? Hahaha. You still don’t get it? You’ll pay with your life for witnessing it firsthand.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.”
“What?”
Sabi Kang slowly brought his right hand to his chest.
In the next moment, a soft white light emanated from his hand.
Gu Woo-jung, who had been fuming, recoiled in shock.
“W-what are you doing…?”
“Cure Poison. It’s a spell to neutralize poison. A few days ago, it would have been difficult, but now that I’ve advanced, it’s quite possible.”
“W-what are you talking about…? There’s no way such a trick could remove the Black Lotus Divine Palm’s poison…”
Gu Woo-jung’s eyes widened as he spoke.
Incredibly, the dark mark on Sabi Kang’s chest was slowly fading.
“Impossible… this can’t be happening!”
He shouted in denial, but the phenomenon before him was undeniable.
Finally, with the black mark completely erased, Sabi Kang looked at Gu Woo-jung again.
“Still want to continue?”
A deep crease formed between Gu Woo-jung’s brows.
He clenched his fists and shouted.
“Attack!”
In an instant, dozens of warriors surrounding Sabi Kang leaped into the air.
Each of them unleashed dozens of hidden weapons, sending hundreds of blades hurtling toward Sabi Kang.
Whoosh!
Yet Sabi Kang’s expression remained calm.
‘I knew it would come to this. Tsk.’
He clicked his tongue and murmured softly.
“Gravity.”
In a flash.
Whoosh!
Hundreds of throwing knives and dozens of warriors, who had been swarming like a hive of bees, suddenly plummeted to the ground.
It was as if a giant magnet had pulled them down, dragging both weapons and people to the earth.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Even Gu Woo-jung, who had been standing firm, couldn’t withstand the sudden weight of the air and fell to his knees.
“Ugh! What on earth is this…?”
Gravity.
A spell that amplifies the gravitational force in a specific area.
With gravity suddenly increased by dozens of times, Gu Woo-jung and the other warriors were left in shock.
Struggling to rise from their knees, they gritted their teeth in defiance.
Surveying the scene, Sa Bi-gang narrowed his eyes and increased the gravity even further.
Rumble!
“Argh!”
Unable to resist the overwhelming force, everyone pressed their palms to the ground.
Gu Woo-jung was no exception, finding himself inadvertently bowing toward Sa Bi-gang.
Standing tall, Sa Bi-gang addressed Gu Woo-jung.
“Become my sword, Gu Woo-jung.”
His tone had changed.
Beneath his bamboo hat, Gu Woo-jung’s eyes flickered with turmoil.
“Gu Woo-jung. Or should I call you ‘Tang Yi-hyeop’?”
“You… you know my real name?”
“Heh. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize the unique martial arts of the Tang family, like the Ten Thousand Blossoms Rain and the Black Lotus Palm? Of course, I knew even before that.”
“Damn, I admit you’ve exceeded my expectations. But I cannot become your subordinate.”
“Why not?”
“You know why my men and I remain here, don’t you? We are cursed… bodies.”
“A curse, you say… What if I could lift that curse?”
“…!”
Gu Woo-jung, or rather, Tang Yi-hyeop, widened his eyes and looked up at Sa Bi-gang.
Sa Bi-gang smiled and asked, “Well? Will you become my sword then?”
“What did you just say?”
“I said I could lift the curse. Or more precisely, you will lift it yourself.”
“What?”
“I’ll provide the necessary materials and tell you how.”
“Nonsense!”
“Well, you won’t know if it’s nonsense until you try, right? You don’t want to spend your life hiding in the shadows without even attempting it, do you?”
“Can you really… free us from this bondage?”
Tang Yi-hyeop slowly removed his bamboo hat.
The gravity spell had vanished without anyone noticing.
Not just Tang Yi-hyeop, but the other warriors also began to remove their hats one by one.
Sa Bi-gang gave Tang Yi-hyeop a sly smile.
“That depends on you.”
**
Meanwhile, a little distance away, Gok Bo-ok, who had been secretly watching them, fell back in shock.
“Their faces… Oh my god!”