Episode 75: Return of the Martial Arts Instructor
There was no more room to retreat.
They had to fight.
“Aargh!”
A scream pierced the air.
One of the cadets from the Eagle Squad shouted, “Instructor! This is too dangerous! We’re on the brink of annihilation!”
Instructor Deungbu Hyung swallowed hard, his throat dry.
“Damn it, damn it… Why did it have to be the Special Ops Squad?”
What grudge did this guy have against him to torment him so?
With a swift motion, Sabikang drew his gleaming sword. The sight of its sharp edge made Deungbu Hyung’s skin crawl as if it had already been cut.
“Aren’t you going to draw yours?” Sabikang’s gaze fell on the Ohocheonhwangdo sword.
Deungbu Hyung flinched.
Again, a voice called out, “Instructor! We need to retreat!”
Suddenly, clarity struck him.
“Yes, retreat! There’s such a thing as a ‘tactical retreat,’ isn’t there? Why fight when we can fall back?”
He steeled himself and prepared to make his move.
But then, Sabikang took a single step forward.
Just one step.
Yet the pressure was overwhelming, almost indescribable.
“Damn it…!”
His body froze like a stone, unable to move.
“Instructor! Hurry… Aargh!”
The cadet who had been shouting was cut down by Yeom Jaryang’s sword, striking a vital point.
He was dead.
Sabikang grinned.
“Did you really think of running away?”
“Ugh.”
“If you want to live, you can kneel and surrender.”
His voice was loud enough for the surrounding cadets to hear, causing them to glance at Sabikang in surprise.
It was an unexpected offer, leaving not only the Eagle Squad but also the Special Ops Squad cadets bewildered.
They stood, weapons pointed at each other, maintaining a tense standoff.
Then Yeon Woo-gyeong stepped forward.
“A simple surrender won’t do.”
“What?”
Deungbu Hyung glared at him, but Yeon Woo-gyeong continued unfazed.
“At the very least, you should listen to the voice of your heart.”
“Hmm? Hahaha! That sounds good.”
Sabikang laughed heartily, while Yeom Jaryang tilted his head in confusion.
“The voice of the heart? What’s that?”
Yeon Woo-gyeong smirked coldly.
“If the Eagle Squad swears to treat the Special Ops Squad as their seniors and always show respect, we’ll let you go this time.”
“What?”
Deungbu Hyung’s mouth twitched, as if he was about to unleash a torrent of harsh words.
Sabikang nodded.
“That sounds good. And you should also say this: I, Deungbu Hyung, will forever cherish Instructor Sabikang and the Special Ops cadets.”
“Hey… Instructor.”
Deungbu Hyung couldn’t hold back any longer, his voice strained with suppressed anger.
“Are you joking right now?”
“I’m not joking. Did it sound like a joke?”
Suddenly, Sabikang’s eyes turned icy cold.
His heart sank.
But Deungbu Hyung couldn’t back down any further.
With a swift motion, he drew the Ohocheonhwangdo.
“Oh! Finally!”
“The instructor is stepping up!”
The remaining Eagle Squad cadets clenched their fists with a glimmer of hope.
Sabikang chuckled.
“You choose the thorny path.”
“Let’s see who ends up on that path.”
Deungbu Hyung gripped his sword tightly.
Sabikang was undoubtedly more skilled.
But when has the world ever followed the rules?
The martial world is interesting because of its unpredictability.
“Today, I’ll create that anomaly.”
Deungbu Hyung gritted his teeth.
Sabikang chuckled.
“Alright, let’s wrap this up.”
Sabikang raised a hand and beckoned.
“Come on.”
“Arrogant…!”
Deungbu Hyung narrowed his eyes and charged with a shout.
“Take this!”
He unleashed the first move of his Flying Eagle Sword technique, Blood Eagle Glide, towards Sabikang.
“Perfect! Flawless!”
Confidence surged within him.
It was the cleanest execution of the move in his entire life.
His body felt great.
“With this form, I might actually win today!”
The sword sliced through the air like a hawk, cutting horizontally with precision.
Whoosh!
Sabikang quickly stepped back, spinning his body.
“Hmph! It’s useless! Once the prey is targeted, it never escapes!”
That’s the terrifying aspect of the Flying Eagle Sword.
The sword, soaring through the air, curved gracefully and descended rapidly.
The second move followed seamlessly.
Flame Claw.
The sword slashed diagonally with fierce intent.
Sensing danger, Sabikang swiftly dodged to the side.
Swoosh!
The Ohocheonhwangdo, imbued with sword energy, sliced through the tree where Sabikang had stood.
Crash!
A large tree slowly toppled over, crashing to the ground with a loud noise.
“Could it be…!”
“We might win!”
The watching Eagle Squad cadets clenched their fists with renewed hope.
During the duel between the two instructors, the cadets refrained from engaging.
The fight was too captivating.
Buoyed by the atmosphere, Deungbu Hyung felt as light as a feather.
“Great, great! I’ve never felt this light before!”
Indeed, he felt lighter than ever.
The more he swung his sword, the more his confidence grew.
“Hah! How long will you keep running like a rat? Aren’t you ashamed in front of the cadets?”
He found enough psychological leeway to taunt.
He immediately executed the third move, Wind and Cloud Flying Eagle.
Whoosh!
The Ohocheonhwangdo soared like a hawk, stirring up a fierce wind.
Sabikang quickly kicked off the ground, retreating.
Simultaneously, Deungbu Hyung’s body shot into the sky.
“This is the end!”
He descended upon Sabikang with the full weight of his body and the Ohocheonhwangdo.
The variant move, Thousand-Pound Eagle Claw.
Too late to dodge.
The Ohocheonhwangdo, brimming with sword energy, plummeted menacingly.
“Yes, this sword is my perfect match!”
In a flash, Berthas sliced through the air.
Clang!
Two beams of light clashed and passed each other.
”…!”
The watching cadets were left speechless, mouths agape.
Deungbu Hyung’s eyes widened, his hand trembling as he gripped his sword.
”… This is…!”
Click.
Sabikang sheathed Berthas.
Meanwhile, Deungbu Hyung fell to his knees.
He stared blankly at the Ohocheonhwangdo, now a foot shorter.
When Berthas and the Ohocheonhwangdo clashed, the latter split in half, a piece flying off.
In that moment, the fragment of the broken sword seemed to float slowly, like a dream.
The broken blade lodged into a branch above, scattering leaves.
“This can’t be…”
Tears welled up in his eyes.
”… Ah.”
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
“Aaaah!”
He cried out, clutching his head.
Ten years.
He had saved for ten years to buy that sword.
It was incomparable to the bribes he had received.
But now… now…!
“Even this ends up like this!”
“Sob!”
Deungbu Hyung wept, cradling the broken blade.
After the Zahanakindo and Seungryongdo, even the Ohocheonhwangdo.
The swords he had wielded flashed through his mind.
The cadets watched, but the grief and shock were too overwhelming to maintain his dignity.
The loss of the Ohocheonhwangdo pained him more than the sting of defeat.
After a moment of deep sorrow, he finally stood up.
“Perhaps it was too much from the start.”
A belated realization.
Despite witnessing Sabikang’s skills at the Black Serpent Hall, he had foolishly challenged him.
A warrior must know when to advance and when to retreat.
No excuse could justify it.
After enduring such profound sadness, he could finally assess the situation with clarity.
“I’ve lost. I’ve learned a lesson from Instructor Sabikang.”
He slowly offered a respectful gesture.
Thud, thud, clatter. Clang.
The Eagle Squad cadets dropped their weapons.
Deungbu Hyung and the cadets each smeared red dye on their thumbs and drew it across their necks.
In practice, it was akin to committing seppuku.
Finally, guards in white uniforms arrived to carry away the deceased instructor and cadets.
Eventually, Dan Lijeong, Min Yuhyang, and Baek Mireong joined Sabikang.
“Well done. Your efforts were significant.”
Dan Lijeong scratched his head bashfully at Sabikang’s praise.
Sabikang surveyed the cadets.
No casualties.
“Good, let’s keep moving.”
“Yes, sir!”
The cadets responded in unison.
**
“What… is this…?”
Two guards, who had descended to the forest floor, looked around in bewilderment.
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
The fallen cadets groaned in pain.
Each bore a distinct red mark, and their injuries were severe.
Their clothes were torn, some had cuts or broken bones.
Some even coughed up blood from internal injuries.
Though none of the injuries were life-threatening, they were quite severe.
All of them were second-year students from the Hwayong class.
“Hey, are you alright?”
A bodyguard approached one of the students to ask.
The student’s arm was broken, twisted in the wrong direction.
“Ugh… Those guys are insane! They went way too far. Ow…!”
“Who did this?”
At that moment, someone struggled to stand up from the side.
It was Ho-yeol, the instructor leading the Hwayong class.
“Damn it! It was those first-year Nang-a class punks! Even Instructor Sang-pil joined in, and they went completely berserk! I can’t believe they were so rough!”
The bodyguard quickly moved to support the instructor.
“Are you alright, Instructor?”
“Damn, I think I’ve cracked a rib. I thought it was just training, so I went easy on them, but there’s a limit to underestimating someone…!”
Of course, he hadn’t really gone easy on them, as he claimed.
He had given it his all, but Sang-pil was just too strong.
Moreover, the Nang-a class students showed no restraint in their attacks.
They were known for their roughness, but no one expected it to be this extreme.
Ho-yeol grumbled as he continued.
“Shouldn’t there be some kind of penalty for this? Isn’t it too much?”
“We can issue a warning, but there’s no basis for a penalty.”
In these competitions, injuries are to be expected.
If rules were added to prevent causing injuries, the competition itself would be hard to sustain.
As a result, every year, there are always students who push the limits with overly aggressive attacks without breaking any rules.
“Tch! If I see them again, I won’t let it slide!”
But as someone already declared dead, he would never cross paths with the Nang-a class again.
He gritted his teeth and turned his gaze in the direction the Nang-a class had gone.
**
The Nang-a class students, who had left the Hwayong class in such a state, were gathered about fifty paces away.
Sang-pil sat on a rock, his graying hair hanging loose, while the students found spots to rest.
One notable feature was that the Nang-a class students all seemed to exude a certain eerie and manic aura.
This was because Yeon-jin had deliberately chosen such students for the class.
He believed that to properly pass on his martial arts, the students needed to have a somewhat aggressive nature and an element of unpredictability.
Perhaps that’s why they got along well with the somber Sang-pil.
Just then, Yo-hong, the student most skilled with throwing weapons, licked the blade of a blunt dagger.
“Heh heh. Those second-year kids got what they deserved. I wanted to teach them a lesson anyway. Their arrogance was really annoying.”
“Hmm. Who should we target next? The thrill of the hunt is quite something.”
Jo Mi-mi, who wielded a soft sword, chuckled languidly.
“How about the third-year Pacheon class? There’s one student there I really can’t stand. Heh heh heh.”
At that, Sang-pil, who had been sitting silently on the rock, slowly opened his eyes and glared at Yo-hong.
“Letting personal feelings guide your actions is a quick way to get killed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yo-hong nodded, still grinning.
Then Jo Mi-mi spoke up as if she had just remembered something.
“What about the Special Class students?”
“Ooh, that’s a good idea. Those guys have been getting too full of themselves lately. Heh heh.”
At that moment, No Chi-eun, a gaunt student with shadows under his eyes, looked up.
“I’ve been wanting to see what they’re made of too.”
Though he looked sickly, he wielded an oversized practice sword, its blade stained with blood from the recent skirmish where he showed no mercy.
Sang-pil slowly stood up.
“That sounds good. Let’s target the Special Class next.”
“Heh heh heh. Alright!”
The students rose, each with a crazed smile on their face.
“Can we go all out again this time?”
“Training should always be like the real thing.”
Sang-pil gave his approval with an impassive expression.
Yo-hong grinned as he licked his dagger.
“Heh heh. This is going to be fun.”