Episode 624: Return of the Demon Instructor
“Kiyaaah!”
A monstrous upper body, attached to the end of a demon’s tentacle, let out a shriek as it swung a magical sword.
“Not so fast!”
Clang!
Mok Dan-hwa swiftly blocked the attack with her lightning-fast sword technique.
But the demon’s tentacles were relentless, gradually cornering her.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sparks flew as Mok Dan-hwa parried the onslaught.
In a split second, one tentacle snaked towards her abdomen, aiming to slash her horizontally.
“Gah!”
She gasped, barely managing to retreat.
Slash!
A streak of light descended vertically, severing the tentacle cleanly.
Mok Dan-hwa looked up to see Seol Seorin, who flicked her whip with a smirk.
“See? You can’t do without me, can you?”
“Hmph! I could’ve handled it myself!”
“Is it so hard to say thank you?”
“I’ll thank you when there’s something to be thankful for! Besides, how many times have I saved you?”
“When?”
“See? This is why being nice to you is pointless. You’re so ungrateful.”
“Quiet! I just saved you!”
“When?”
“What?”
As the two women bickered, the severed tentacle began to regenerate, forming another upper body.
In the next moment—
“Raaaargh!”
The newly formed creature lunged at them with vengeful speed.
“Ah!”
“Watch out!”
The women scrambled to evade.
Slash!
Once again, a beam of light arced gracefully, slicing through the tentacle.
The severed piece writhed on the ground, screeching before dissolving into a sticky mess.
Standing before them was Ja Un-ryong, panting heavily.
“Even in this chaos, you two find time to argue? Unbelievable.”
The women hesitated, then shouted in unison, “We could’ve handled it!”
They exchanged a glance, then turned away with a huff.
Ja Un-ryong chuckled awkwardly.
“Huh?”
Mok Dan-hwa tilted her head, looking at the demon.
Ja Un-ryong and Seol Seorin followed her gaze.
“The tentacles… they’re not regenerating!”
“Really? Why?”
The changes didn’t stop there.
The once pitch-black ground was slowly turning gray.
And then—
Rumble…!
The earth shook violently as the towering black fortress began to crumble.
“The fortress…!”
“It’s collapsing!”
As the women murmured, a shout rang out from somewhere.
“Our attacks are working!”
“The demon is losing power! Now’s our chance! Charge!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The retreating warriors rallied, launching a coordinated assault on the demon.
The tentacles, which had regenerated endlessly, now stayed severed.
“Let’s go!”
Ja Un-ryong shouted, and the two women nodded, leaping into action.
**
Thud…!
Tarant knelt, reverting to his original form.
His body was a bloody mess, slashed and battered.
He gazed at Sabi-gang, his breath weakening.
He knew instinctively that this was his end.
Just then—
Rumble…!
The heavy rumble signaled the collapse of the black fortress.
He turned to the battlefield, watching as the once darkened land lightened to gray.
The demon, which had brought such devastation, was visibly losing strength.
From this vantage, humans looked like ants taking down a giant mantis.
“It seems things are wrapping up over there.”
“Indeed…”
Tarant replied, weariness in his voice.
“This is the power of humanity.”
Sabi-gang’s words drew a faint smile from Tarant.
“Indeed. I underestimated you. Let me ask you something.”
Sabi-gang met Tarant’s gaze, his eyes somber.
Tarant’s life was ebbing away, his once fierce eyes now dimming.
“How did you suddenly create such martial arts?”
Sabi-gang looked at Tarant, then replied nonchalantly.
“Don’t you get it? This martial art wasn’t created overnight. It’s the culmination of humanity’s history. Our strength has evolved since the dawn of our existence. Do you think you, who’ve lived mere thousands of years, could defeat a lineage that spans tens of thousands? You insignificant creature.”
Tarant’s lips curled, a mix of mockery and self-deprecation.
“Let me teach you one last thing. After all, I am an instructor.”
“What…?”
“To lack emotions isn’t perfection; it’s a deficiency of completeness. Empathy is humanity’s greatest weapon.”
With that, Sabi-gang waved his hand.
Shing! Shing!
In an instant, Berthas pierced Tarant’s heart from the front, while Ghost struck from behind.
“Ugh!”
Berthas’s blade emerged beside Ghost’s, drenched in blood.
Sabi-gang didn’t delay Tarant’s end.
Tarant was unpredictable, even in his final moments.
“You, born a demon, wouldn’t understand.”
Blood dripped from Tarant’s mouth.
“Indeed… I am defeated. But… let me teach you one last thing…”
”…?”
“Why did I favor you despite much opposition? And Helmut? Heh… what about Neung Un-pa?”
Sabi-gang frowned slightly.
“What are you getting at?”
“They were all… human. Why did I favor them?”
“Well…”
Sabi-gang paused, looking at Tarant.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind, but he shook his head.
Tarant chuckled, as if reading his mind.
His breathing was now labored.
“The evil god within me… was once the god of irresponsibility and oblivion… no one remembers.”
Finally, Sabi-gang voiced the suspicion he’d harbored.
“Could it be… you were…?”
“Yes… I was human too.”
Boom! Rumble…!
The towering black fortress began to collapse completely.
As Sabi-gang’s expression wavered, Tarant spoke.
“Did you truly not know? A demon king isn’t born… but made.”
”…!”
“In the end, you and I might not be so different. I die here… but you will change. With the power of oblivion, the god of evil… I invite you to my forgotten world…”
Tarant’s eyes lost their light.
Then suddenly—
Whoosh!
A dark energy erupted from his heart, engulfing Sabi-gang.
**
The boy was an orphan.
Abandoned as a baby in a brothel.
He survived by doing odd jobs.
One of the prostitutes claimed to be his guardian.
But she was far from kind.
She made him do all sorts of hard labor and errands.
She didn’t hesitate to beat him.
Sometimes, she even offered him to clients who preferred boys.
Naturally, the money went to the madam and the prostitute.
He tried to escape the brothel many times.
But each attempt ended with him being caught by the madam’s hired thugs.
On those nights, he was beaten until morning.
Sometimes, his bones broke, leaving him unable to walk for days.
During those times, he did what work he could sitting down.
At least he had enough to eat.
But he had to force himself to eat, even when he had no appetite.
Clients didn’t like skinny boys.
He had to maintain a certain physique.
Thus, the boy lived a life worse than hell.
One day, he noticed red marks on his skin.
They itched terribly.
Some days, he scratched until he bled.
Eventually, the madam and the prostitute called a doctor.
It was a venereal disease.
The result of indiscriminate sexual activity.
He was only sixteen.
But knowing he had a terminal illness brought him peace.
The thought that this hell would soon end.
That day, he was thrown out of the brothel.
He finally left the place he’d longed to escape.
But with his illness, he had nowhere to go.
The brothel had kept it quiet, but rumors spread quickly.
Everyone shunned him.
People called him “the cursed child of the brothel.”
He scavenged for discarded food, even stealing dog food.
Even on the brink of death, hunger was hard to ignore.
Perhaps he was merely surviving on instinct, knowing he’d die soon.
One day, he was pelted with stones for being unlucky.
Not knowing what he’d done wrong, he repeated apologies endlessly.
“You should never have been born!”
The townspeople hurled stones until they were exhausted, dispersing only as evening fell.
As the boy lay crumpled on the ground, someone approached him.
An angel.
A strikingly beautiful girl.
“Why is this child lying here like this?” she asked, her voice clear and gentle.
Someone answered her, likely one of her guards.
“It’s best not to get too close, my lady. They say he’s from the red-light district and likely has a disease.”
“Poor thing. Clean him up and give him something to eat,” she instructed.
The guards exchanged reluctant glances but did not dare to disobey.
She was the duke’s daughter.
For the first time in his life, the boy felt his emotions stir.
After a bath and a hearty meal, the boy sought out the young lady to express his gratitude.
But the girl he imagined was nowhere to be found.
Instead, a woman with a disdainful gaze met him, her eyes cold and piercing.
“Where do you think you’re going with that filthy body of yours? I only showed you kindness in public to protect my father’s reputation. Now take your cursed self away and die quietly somewhere.”
With those words, the boy left the mansion.
He felt as if he’d been struck by a hammer, his mind numb.
As he wandered the streets, passersby pointed and whispered.
“They say the young lady washed and fed that cursed child.”
“Oh, she’s truly kind-hearted. Could any of us have done the same?”
The townspeople couldn’t stop praising her.
Soon, rumors spread that the boy, ungrateful for the young lady’s help, had shamelessly invaded her private chambers in a fit of lust.
Yet, it was said that the young lady forgave him, dismissing it as the foolishness of a child.
Whenever people saw the boy, they lunged at him as if to kill.
And so, the boy began to learn the taste of anger.
Just as that anger was about to explode—
“So you’re the cursed child from the red-light district.”
A stranger’s voice reached him.
The boy, barely able to open his bruised eyes, saw a young man standing there.
With a faint smile, the young man spoke gently.
“My name is Adler. I want to offer you a chance to change your twisted fate. What do you say? Do you want to change your destiny?”