Chapter 133: An Unwanted Conclusion (1)

The next afternoon.

Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi stepped out of his residence and began walking through the grounds.

Some disciples were huddled in the lecture halls, getting drilled on doctrine, while others were sweating it out in the training grounds, working on their external arts and martial techniques.

It was a sight that should have been heartening, but Yeom Ga-hwi’s face remained as impassive as ever as he surveyed the instructors teaching their charges.

After making his rounds through the Hall, he spotted someone walking toward him from the opposite direction.

"Greetings, Hall Master."

It must've been a break period, because Ma Do-young, who'd been heading somewhere, stopped to bow properly and offer his respects.

"Busy, I see. Instructor Ma."

“Hahaha. I was just thinking of preparing a bit for tomorrow’s lesson.”

Yeom Ga-hwi nodded at his response.

"Good to see you being diligent. Honestly, I was a little worried at first."

“…I can only apologize for showing you such an unsightly side of myself."

Ma Do-young's face flushed slightly as he bowed his head. Those early days when he'd been completely outmaneuvered by Il-mok still burned like a brand of shame.

"Being an instructor isn't as easy as it looks, so I understand. The other instructors went through the same thing when they started."

"I won't let something like that happen again."

"I'll hold you to that."

With his usual expressionless face, Yeom Ga-hwi wrapped up the conversation with a nod and turned away without ceremony.

Ma Do-young watched his retreating figure for a moment before continuing on his way.

Once Ma Do-young's presence had faded, Yeom Ga-hwi casually glanced back over his shoulder.

‘Hmm. He said it was about a year ago that he overcame Extremity thanks to Disciple Il-mok. It seems he’s made considerable progress in that time.’

His gaze was fixed on the path where Ma Do-young had just disappeared, more precisely, on someone invisible who was now following that same route after Ma Do-young had passed.

Even Yeom Ga-hwi, who had mastered the supreme demonic art Asura Blood Fist to the Transcendence level, could only sense this presence when it got close enough.

This level of stealth technique was incredible. That person had trained in arts specialized for concealment and assassination, to the point that none of the instructors would be able to detect him.

Not even Chu Il-hwan, the former Head Instructor, or Cha Eun-young, the Senior Instructor could handle this.

‘The Vice Hall Master is going to be a problem.’

Stroking his beard with his calloused hand, Yeom Ga-hwi mulled this over.

It wasn't that there was anything particularly suspicious about the Vice Hall Master. It's just that to carry out the Heavenly Demon's sacred command, he couldn't afford to trust anyone.

Secrets always leaked when too many people knew them. Only Yeom Ga-hwi himself, Il-mok, and Physician Seo Jae-pil knew about this man's infiltration.

‘I can only hope we can conclude this matter before the Vice Hall Master notices.’

The thought brought an unusually faint smile to Yeom Ga-hwi's face.

‘I’ve changed, too.’

Back when he was the leader of the combat unit, he'd lived up to his nickname as the Fist Demon by fighting on the front lines himself. Just sitting around waiting for someone else to handle things had never sat right with him.

But after working as the Hall Master of the Hall of the Demonic Way, delegating tasks to instructors and taking on a supervisory role, he'd gotten used to assigning jobs and waiting for results.

‘This, too, must be the Supreme One's will as well.’

Yeom Ga-hwi believed that the great Heavenly Demon always had profound intentions that ordinary people couldn't fathom.

***

Early the next morning.

While everyone at the Hall of the Demonic Way was getting ready for the morning lessons, there was one place that was actually pretty quiet because everyone else was so busy.

"Hmm."

Physician Seo Jae-pil made a curious sound and suddenly spoke to thin air.

"That's some incredible stealth technique. Honestly, I can't even tell if you're actually here right now."

But even after his little monologue, nothing seemed to change in the medical office.

"......"

Looking a bit embarrassed, Seo Jae-pil scratched his head and sat down at his desk.

The moment he did, a shadow in the corner of the room began to expand its territory, coalescing into a human-like form.

“My apologies. I just wanted to check the area in case anyone had tailed you here."

“Ah. I must have been too careless. I’ll be more careful from now on. Hahaha.”

Seo Jae-pil gave an awkward laugh and placed something he'd brought on the table.

"I brought breakfast. Let's share it."

It was a single portion of food he'd grabbed from the dining hall. The black silhouette that had approached the table took just a tiny amount.

“Will that truly be enough?”

"If I eat too much, there's a risk of giving off signals while I'm moving around."

Seo Jae-pil looked at the shadow with a pitying expression.

It had already been three days since this man had snuck into the Hall of the Demonic Way.

Since he'd obviously infiltrated the place secretly, there wasn't anywhere in the hall that was officially available to him.

So he often came here to eat with Seo Jae-pil or catch some sleep.

“You’ve only been sleeping for an hour or two a day at most. This truly is a battle of endurance.”

To prepare for the possibility of being discovered, he always woke up earlier than everyone else and would only return here to sleep after his target, Ma Do-yeong, had gone to bed.

“Thanks to my time with the Dark Shadow Pavilion, I’m quite used to it. Frankly, having a place to rest for even an hour or two a day is a comfort.”

Despite his matter-of-fact response, Seo Jae-pil wasn't really reassured.

He knew all too well about this man's side effects and symptoms.

"Sleep deprivation and malnutrition are quite detrimental to mental health. Are you having any negative thoughts?"

Seo Jae-pil asked as a physician, but the answer was unexpected.

“Far from having negative thoughts, I feel absolutely wonderful.”

"???"

“I always felt sorry for only ever receiving help from my youngest brother. The thought that I was a pathetic older brother often crossed my mind. Of course, my youngest brother always consoled me, but isn’t it pathetic for an older brother to be consoled by his younger brother?”

When Seo Jae-pil just nodded calmly with his physician's poker face, the man answered his own question.

"In that sense, this job is incredibly rewarding. It might be strange to say, but it’s as rewarding as carrying out our great Master’s commands.”

"You're truly reliable, Third Young Master."

"Haha, I haven't even gotten results yet. There's no need to call me reliable.”

Despite his words, the shadow's expression showed a strange kind of joy. Seo Wan-pyeong turned his head to look somewhere in the distance, toward the training ground where his surveillance target Ma Do-young and his precious youngest brother Il-mok would be heading soon.

"I won't let my youngest brother down. Even if I have to stay up for several more nights and go hungry, I'll definitely catch the bastards who are targeting him."

It was a display of willpower uncharacteristic of a man who suffered from paranoia. Seeing this, Seo Jae-pil nodded and thought to himself, ‘This is a great opportunity to study how malnutrition and sleep deprivation affect paranoid delusions.’

Seo Jae-pil. He was a man worthy to be called a mad scientist.

***

A few days later.

Changes came to the Hall of the Demonic Way. The second-year disciples were leaving again for their practical training.

With twenty of the forty disciples gone and half the instructors gone as well, an empty atmosphere began to settle over the Hall.

"Greetings, Vice Hall Master."

The night after the second year departed, Ma Do-yeong was summoned to the Vice Hall Master's chambers.

A common summons.

With the seventh exam coming up in ten days, this was the time when instructors were coming and going from the Vice Hall Master's quarters one by one.

"I hear the upcoming exam will be individual matches?"

"That's correct."

Answering the Vice Hall Master's question, Ma Do-young wondered if he'd really been called here as an 'instructor' this time.

But the Vice Hall Master's next words almost made Ma Do-young visibly flinch.

"I'm thinking we should make our move during this opportunity."

Ma Do-young, who had already shown disappointing results several times, forced himself to maintain his composure through sheer willpower and asked back, "Doesn't this feel a bit rushed?"

"Having second thoughts?"

“…Killing him is something I could have done at any time, even during club hours. The most important thing is not to leave any evidence, is it not?”

"Don't worry about that."

Yu Geuk's characteristically cold response made Ma Do-young ask as calmly as he could manage, "Do you have some kind of plan?"

Of course, there was a plan. A plan to get rid of not just the Eighth Young Master, but Ma Do-young standing right in front of him as well.

But he couldn't reveal all of that.

Yu Geuk was about to explain only the method for Ma Do-young to kill Il-mok, keeping the rest of the plan hidden.

"......"

But for some reason, Yu Geuk closed his mouth and frowned.

Just as Ma Do-young was about to say something, Yu Geuk suddenly stopped mid-explanation—

"Vice Ha—"

Whoosh!!

Yu Geuk's blade had been drawn and sliced through the air in an instant.

"!?"

Shocked, Ma Do-young moved to draw his sword from his waist, but he was a step too slow.

The Saber Qi infused with cold demonic e energy that erupted from Yu Geuk's blade flashed past Ma Do-young in an instant.

Slash!

Clang!

The sound of something being cut followed by the ring of metal echoed one after another.

Ma Do-young, who'd finally managed to draw his sword, felt something was off and turned his head.

What he saw was the wall of the Vice Hall Master's quarters pierced by Saber Qi.

"!!!"

And through that gap, a human-shaped shadow was writhing.

‘Fuck!’

Only then did Ma Do-young realize that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

Yu Geuk, who'd instantly launched himself forward, was slashing through the entire wall of the residence as he swung his blade at that shadow.

Crash!

Thud!

The wall damaged by Yu Geuk's blade collapsed.

"Die."

Yu Geuk's saber, having instantly burst out of the residence, traced a pale trajectory through the air.

‘Shit.’

Having lost the initiative, Seo Wan-pyeong began getting pushed back one-sidedly.

No, losing the initiative wasn't the only problem. Yu Geuk's level was two or three stages above Seo Wan-pyeong's to begin with.

Even though he'd mastered the Shadowless Fourteen Moves, specialized in assassination and stealth, he'd still been discovered.

On top of that—

‘Maybe I should've eaten a bit more today.’

It had already been over seven weeks since Seo Wan-pyeong started tailing Ma Do-young.

The accumulated malnutrition and sleep deprivation made it impossible for him to display his true abilities.

Cold energy penetrated through his sword as it clashed with Yu Geuk's blade, and the strikes he couldn't block or dodge slashed his skin, adding more wounds.

Since the attacks carried cold demonic energy, blood wasn't flowing from the cuts.

Instead, the cold energy was seeping into the wounds, causing frostbite.

If he accumulated just a few more injuries like this, his body would become sluggish, making it even harder to block or evade.

“I’m joining in!”

To make matters worse, Ma Do-yeong, having grasped the situation, was charging through the hole in the wall that Yu Geuk had created. It was truly a life-or-death crisis.

‘Heh.’

But for some reason, a satisfied smile was spreading across Seo Wan-pyeong's lips.

‘This time for sure, I'm glad I can finally help my youngest brother.’