Chapter 136: The Cleanup (1)

When walking down the street or maybe you're on public transportation, heading somewhere. Everyone has probably experienced that sudden, urgent signal from their body at least once.

The human body is weird like that.

When you held it in because there was no restroom, the urge would somehow calm down like a peaceful ocean after a storm. But the moment you think you are safe, the urge will come back like a fierce tidal wave.

The side effects of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword were exactly like that.

Clang!

The enlightenment he'd been forcibly suppressing wasn't coming one by one in an orderly fashion like before.

Clang!!

It was hammering his brain mercilessly, like someone desperately pounding on the bathroom door when they really, really need to go.

And to make matters worse...

'Damn it!! I can't even stop!!'

This wasn't like earlier when he could leisurely watch the fight unfold.

Clang!!

He was in the middle of combat with some bastard who was trying to kill him while triggering enlightenment left and right.

If he didn't swing his sword like before, his head would be rolling on the ground.

Naturally, Il-mok swung his sword to stay alive.

—That's not it! Recall the memory from just now!

—Faster!! Don't set your own limits!

And every time he did, that damn side effect kept giving him unwanted advice.

Thanks to that, Il-mok's swordplay was getting more precise and faster with each passing moment.

But it wasn't getting gentler or smoother.

Yu Geuk and Yeom Ga-hwi's martial arts were a complete stranger to the concepts of flexibility and flow.

The enlightenment Il-mok was gaining was all about speed and precision.

What was that saying? All rivers flow to the sea?

Although Yeom Ga-hwi’s and Yu Geuk’s arts were fist and blade techniques…

Whoosh!

…the sword Il-mok swung moved with the speed of Yeom Ga-hwi’s fist.

Clang!

And it moved with the same minimal, precise motions of Yu Geuk's blade.

However...

Clang!

Even while manifesting all this rushing enlightenment through his body, Il-mok was steadily being pushed back.

No matter how you sliced it, Jeong Gyu-seok was still an instructor despite his class being a non-combat one.

He might be a couple of levels below Chu Il-hwan, the former Head Instructor, but he was definitely better than Il-mok right now.

Without this enlightenment, Il-mok would've had to hand his body over to his Demonic Art completely, just like during Chu Il-hwan's last attack.

Thanks to the flood of enlightenment and the Demonic Art's coaching, he held out for several exchanges.

But after fighting in this cramped room, Il-mok figured he couldn't hold out much longer.

Crash!!

He let the force of his opponent's blade carry him and flew straight toward the window.

The wooden and paper window that Il-mok's back slammed into was torn apart and gave way.

Il-mok sailed out into the night sky, and Jeong Gyu-seok, not missing a beat, launched himself after him and burst out into the moonlit night.

'I feel like I've seen this before.'

As memories of his fight with the berserk Chu Il-hwan came flooding back...

The incident with the berserk Chu Il-hwan came to mind. Just as Chu Il-hwan had done, Jeong Gyu-seok, suspended in mid-air, swung his blade at Il-mok as he fell.

Whoosh!

He must have unleashed quite the technique as dense waves of blade energy formed a crescent shape and flew toward Il-mok.

'Did that Demonic Art bastard do it like this back then?'

In this familiar situation, Il-mok mimicked how his Demonic Art had blocked Chu Il-hwan's ultimate technique.

Il-mok's sword, utilizing the principle of flexibility to its limit, met the dense blade energy.

Clang!

He deflected the energy to the side, and the recoil sent his body flying in the opposite direction.

But the result was quite different from last time.

Back then, Il-mok couldn't handle the impact and coughed up blood.

Thud.

This time, he landed on the ground without much trouble.

—Hahaha! Now you're finally starting to act like a human being!

At the sound of his other self laughing with glee, Il-mok scrunched up his face in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Jeong Gyu-seok, who had also landed, swung his blade and charged at Il-mok.

"There's a fight!"

"Outside!!"

"Young Master Il-mok?"

Woken by the commotion, students began to file out of the Black Dragon Pavilion one by one.

"Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok?"

As they came out into the moonlight, the trainees recognized Jeong Gyu-seok's exposed face.

"Young Master Il-mok!"

"We'll join the fight!"

"Young Master!"

People like Bang Mi-hwa, Dokgo Pae, and Ju Seo-yeon stepped forward to help Il-mok.

Jeong Hyeon was also there, and though she couldn't speak because of the crowd, she had already drawn her bow and was aiming at Jeong Gyu-seok.

Il-mok desperately shouted at those trying to help him.

"Don't interfere!"

And Jeong Gyu-seok didn't miss that opportunity.

Il-mok barely managed to block Jeong Gyu-seok's blade, and a pained groan escaped his lips.

"Ugh..."

He was slightly short of breath from shouting, which left him with minor internal injuries.

Even though Il-mok took such risks to stop the students from helping, his side effect was laughing heartily.

—Hahaha! How dare they try to interfere when you have a chance to perfect your sword!

Il-mok gritted his teeth at the Demonic Art’s nonsense.

'Shut up. That wasn't why I did it.'

Whether the Demonic Art knew his true feelings or not, the people who had stopped at Il-mok's shout started spouting their own nonsense.

"Indeed! Truly befitting a warrior of the Divine Cult, Young Master Il-mok!"

"Hohoho. So you intended to settle this one-on-one.”

Their muttering made Il-mok feel like he was about to develop a heart demon.

'These crazy bastards are being more of a hindrance than help...'

He appreciated their desire to help, but their involvement would only get in the way.

Not because it would interfere with perfecting his sword, as the side effect claimed.

The problem was that their skill level was quite a bit lower than his or Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok's.

If they joined the fight carelessly, Jeong Gyu-seok might use them against Il-mok and put him in danger instead.

That's why Il-mok stopped them.

Because he was confident.

Clang!!

Not that he was confident he could directly subdue Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok. Just that...

"Disciple Il-mok!!"

"Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok! What the hell are you doing!?"

He was confident he could hold out until other instructors arrived after hearing the commotion.

Whoosh!

Using their lightness skills to leap over the disciple watching the battle, Eun Ryeo and Cheok Il-so each swung their weapons at Jeong Gyu-seok.

When two instructors of similar skill level joined forces in a coordinated attack, Jeong Gyu-seok's movements became significantly shaken.

Clang!

"What's all this commotion!!"

And when Yeom Ga-hwi and Seo Wan-pyeong, who had been conducting interrogations, also joined them, a huge opening appeared in Jeong Gyu-seok's movements as he was forced to retreat.

Whoosh!!

Il-mok's instantly shot out and pierced through that opening.

"!!!"

The eyes of Yeom Ga-hwi, who had arrived late at the scene, shook in a rare display of surprise.

'He stole my technique in that short time?'

That lightning-fast sword strike clearly resembled Yeom Ga-hwi's Asura Blood Fist even though it was performed with a sword.

And the moment Il-mok's sword strike reached Instructor Jeong Gyu-seok's body...

'...Even the Vice Hall Master's saber technique.'

A faint gasp of admiration escaped Yeom Ga-hwi's lips.

Il-mok's final sword stopped precisely at Jeong Gyu-seok's pressure point.

Instead of piercing or penetrating the flesh, he pressed the pressure point with his sword tip and injected energy to subdue it.

It was the pinnacle of precision.

Not too much, not too little—a technique executed with truly minimal movement.

Yeom Ga-hwi, once again amazed by Il-mok's talent, stopped mid-step as he was approaching Il-mok, who had subdued Jeong Gyu-seok.

'Now what's this...?'

As if reading Yeom Ga-hwi's thoughts, the students surrounding them each spoke up.

"...Why is he dancing?"

"Is he celebrating his victory...?"

"Come to think of it, he did this during the martial arts tournament too, didn't he?"

Il-mok, having subdued Jeong Gyu-seok, suddenly started performing a sword dance.

This was because the battle had ended before he could properly channel all the enlightenment that was overflowing within him.

It was like being cut off in the middle when something had rushed in like a storm and he couldn't release it all.

"......."

While everyone stared at Il-mok like he was insane...

'Damn it. Fucking hell.'

Il-mok had no choice but to perform his sword dance under the moonlight, his expression full of resentment.

It was a moonlit sword dance filled with sorrow, as if reminiscing about a departed lover.

***

The next day.

Thanks to the discovery of no fewer than three undercover agents, the Hall of the Demonic Way had its first day off since its opening.

It was a lucky break for Il-mok.

He had danced with his sword until dawn and only stopped when he was on the verge of collapse.

If morning classes had started again, Il-mok might have fainted during the lessons.

But with two instructor positions vacant and even Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi busy with interrogations, classes were impossible. So Yeom Ga-hwi ordered individual training for the day.

He only gave Instructors Eun Ryeo and Cheok Il-so a simple command to watch the students and make sure they didn't cause trouble.

Thanks to that, Il-mok was able to sleep after finishing his sword dance.

Due to his cleanliness obsession, he even managed to take a bath before sleeping.

Anyway, Il-mok, who had fallen asleep in the morning, didn't wake up until the afternoon.

The first place Il-mok headed after waking up was the Hall Master's quarters.

And fortunately, Yeom Ga-hwi was there.

Along with him were Physician Seo Jae-pil and Seo Wan-pyeong.

"Are the interrogations finished?"

Yeom Ga-hwi nodded with an unusually complex expression.

"They are."

"That seems faster than expected."

"It's thanks to that drug you and Physician Seo prepared."

"Did you cross-reference everything? More than half of what they say under that drug is nonsense or sleep talk, so verification is necessary."

"Don't worry. We only used that drug once on each of them anyway."

"???"

When Il-mok showed a puzzled look, Seo Wan-pyeong, who had been watching, spoke up instead.

"They already spilled most of the information the first time we used the drug, youngest. Right after that, Jeong Gyu-seok's surprise attack happened and the interrogation was temporarily halted. When we returned to resume the interrogation, both Vice Hall Master Yu Geuk and Ma Do-yeong had already given up."

Only then could Il-mok understand the situation.

"After that, they confessed everything on their own without needing the drug."

The Hall Master nodded at Il-mok's words and continued.

"Thanks to that, we also learned why the Vice Hall Master got involved. Why that man, so famous for being just and for strictly separating public and private matters, would plan such a despicable act.”

"???"

When Il-mok looked puzzled at this unexpected statement, the Hall Master continued.

"The Vice Hall Master had become a cold, rational man due to his side effects. A fine warrior who didn't pursue personal desires and devoted himself to the cult. But ironically, after he overcame Extremity and regained his true self, his forgotten greed began to grow again. He had simply been deceiving everyone all along."

Seo Wan-pyeong added to the explanation.

"He said that after overcoming Extremity, he began to feel frustrated about being tied down to the Hall of the Demonic Way. He was confident he could rise to much higher positions, but felt that those above didn't recognize his worth. So he decided to curry favor with someone likely to become the next Cult Leader."

And Seo Jae-pil spoke with sparkling eyes.

"It's truly an unusual case. What was the purpose of our Divine Cult learning Demonic Arts? Wasn't it to cultivate a strong spirit to overcome the side effects of Demonic Arts and save all living beings? But the Vice Hall Master became a fair and impartial man thanks to the side effects of his Demonic Art, and became evil after overcoming those side effects. Hahaha."

Only then could Il-mok understand why the expressions of those gathered in the Hall Master's quarters had been so complex.

From the perspective of faithful believers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Yu Geuk's change of heart was truly a bizarre situation that went against their doctrine.

However...

'Seriously? You're all acting all serious over some bullshit like that?'

From Il-mok's perspective, as someone who wasn't a faithful believer of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, this was just another load of crap.

There was a much more important issue remaining than Yu Geuk's change of heart.

"So, did you find out who Yu Geuk was trying to curry favor with?"