Chapter 165: God is Great (2)

While I was adapting to the changed life in the Hall of the Demonic Way, time flew by quickly. During lesson hours, the instructors and teaching assistants would give the students various pieces of advice regarding the last practical training, and the cadets would devote themselves to training based on that.

On top of that, Instructor Eun Ryeo's poison resistance training was gradually ramping up in difficulty.

"Urgh..."

Every now and then, someone would show symptoms of poisoning, but thanks to the quick response from Instructor Eun Ryeo and the assistants, nobody ended up seriously ill enough to be carried off to headquarters.

The Meditation Club had also become much more comfortable thanks to the drastic reduction in people.

‘Why the hell is this guy still here?’

The only thing that bothered me was that the one called Cheon Su-ryong remained until the end and kept staring at me creepily.

After more than a month had passed like this, we once again left the Hall and headed out somewhere. Time for our second field training.

But this time, we were heading in a completely different direction from the last exercise.

Instead of leaving the Tianshan Mountain Range toward Xinjiang, we were heading toward the main headquarters.

And when we arrived at a location about midway between the Hall and the main headquarters, we came face to face with a group that was waiting for us.

At the front stood a middle-aged man with a scary-looking scar right under his eye. He smiled and spoke up.

"Welcome, disciples of the Hall of the Demonic Way. I'm Ouyang Hyeok, leader of the Black Tiger Corps."

It was a strange feeling.

Without that scar, he might've looked like a jolly middle-aged uncle, but that mark under his eye gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure.

"We greet the Black Tiger Corps Leader!"

The moment he finished his introduction, all the disciples clasped their hands in salute.

The Black Tiger Corps Leader maintained that peculiar smile as he swept his gaze over the saluting disciples.

Hmm?

The exact moment his eyes landed on me—

His lips curled up even wider, and as soon as our eyes met, his expression quickly returned to normal before he looked away.

‘Does he know me?’

While I was puzzling over this, the Black Tiger Corps Leader, having finished surveying all the disciples, began to speak.

"The Black Tiger Corps's mission is to watch over our sacred Tianshan Mountain Range. As unbelievers also live to the west and north beyond the mountains, our mission is to prevent them from daring to covet this place.”

Maybe because he was explaining what we'd be doing, the students’ eyes gleamed as they focused on his words.

"In the past, six units would take turns patrolling different sectors. But now, since the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons has turned his attention more toward internal affairs, only three units including ours take turns patrolling and monitoring the mountains. So you lot better focus even harder on this training. Just because we have fewer people doesn't mean we can afford gaps in our surveillance."

Listening to the Black Tiger Corps Leader's explanation, I was starting to understand why he'd smiled at me earlier.

‘Shit. I'm screwed.’

It had to be a grudge against me.

The reason the units monitoring the Tianshan Mountains Range had been reduced from six to three, and the reason my master had placed more importance on internal affairs, was all because of my advice.

Because manpower was short due to matters like the children’s education and the Xinjiang redevelopment plan, we had to divert even the military units to those tasks.

While I was feeling a sense of foreboding that this practical training period would be colored by darkness, the Black Tiger Corps Leader suddenly said something unexpected.

"Yes, go ahead and ask."

Turning my head in confusion, I saw Dokgo Pae with his hand raised high, his eyes twinkling with anticipation.

"So does this mean we'll get to fight any unbeliever bastards who sneak into the Tianshan Mountains Range?"

"If unbelievers enter the mountains, you'll fight them."

"And if none come in, won't we go out hunting for them?"

Dokgo Pae was practically dying to bash in some unbeliever skulls.

“As I said before, we are short on manpower as we are focusing on internal affairs right now. Rather than catching and killing the unbelievers to the west, you should focus only on finding those who have infiltrated.”

At that answer, Dokgo Pae openly showed his disappointment and muttered, "Please invade, you unbeliever bastards! This Dokgo Pae will split your heads open with my Nine Swords!"

The guy was insane.

***

After that, the Black Tiger Corps Leader continued explaining the unit's duties and things to watch out for.

"Any additional questions, you can ask the senior unit members during rest breaks on patrol."

With his brief explanation finished and his order to move out, they began traveling through the mountain paths of the Tianshan Mountains Range.

Unlike the last training, this time we moved at a fairly leisurely pace.

Back then, we'd needed to deal with bandits as quickly as possible. Now, our purpose was surveillance and reconnaissance.

They executed their lightness skills at a speed that was not fast, but spread out at a certain interval to watch their surroundings as they moved.

However, just because the speed was slow did not mean it was comfortable. It wasn't a full-out sprint, but they had to maintain a certain pace while constantly watching in all directions and move for nearly two hours without rest.

"We'll take a short break here."

At the Black Tiger Corps Leader's command, those who'd been scattered at intervals began gathering together.

‘Phew.’

Il-mok stopped at a reasonable distance and let out a light sigh.

‘This feels a bit unpleasant.’

Unlike the other students who were drenched in sweat, Il-mok, with his superior cultivation, felt more like he'd taken a light stroll.

There was just a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his body wasn't soaked. But even this much made Il-mok feel uncomfortable in various ways.

‘Should I take a bath? Or not?’

While he was debating whether to use his Dew Condensation spell.

His expression turned ashen.

This was because the Black Tiger Corps Leader had, at some point, approached his side.

"Hahaha, no need to be so tense. I'm not going to eat you."

Il-mok forced a smile.

‘He won't eat me, sure...’

Instead, he'd probably grill me like a nightmare customer.

But what came out of the Black Tiger Corps Leader's mouth was completely different from Il-mok's expectations.

"Actually, I've heard about you from our Mun."

"...?"

After briefly wondering who Mun was, Il-mok finally figured it out.

"Do you mean Young Warrior Ouyang Mun?"

"That's right. Hahaha. You probably guessed from my surname, but Mun is my nephew."

"Ah..."

He hadn't expected this at all, hadn't even considered it.

"Hahaha. You seem surprised that I recognized you at our first meeting. Actually, I asked Mun to describe your appearance, that’s why I could recognize you immediately."

"I-is that so?"

Why on earth had he asked his nephew about my appearance?

‘He’s really dead set on screwing me over.’

Il-mok kept being reminded of nightmare customers from his modern life, but again, what came from the Black Tiger Corps Leader's mouth was unexpected.

"I've actually heard quite a bit about you through rumors. Well, I'd been hearing about you from Mun even before the rumors started spreading. I hear Mun considers you as his teacher?"

“Ahahaha… You praise me too highly.”

“Hahaha. If the stories I’ve heard from the White Sparrow Corps Leader and Mun are anything to go by, the rumors don't do you justice."

It seemed that Ouyang Mun wasn't enough, and he had sought information even from the White Sparrow Corps with whom I had worked during the last practical training.

And Black Tiger Corps Leader Ouyang Hyeok, still maintaining his characteristic smile, said casually, "I heard from the White Sparrow Corps Leader that after graduating from the Hall, you'll be taking on a special mission assigned by the Heavenly Demon?"

Il-mok almost grimaced.

‘Why is that guy such a blabbermouth?’

Since the words had already been spoken, he couldn’t reveal them as a lie here. Il-mok struggled to manage his expression and replied.

"...That's correct."

"Hmm. But if you wanted, couldn't you convince the Supreme One otherwise? How about it? After graduating from the Hall, why not join our Black Tiger Corps?"

Only then did Il-mok realize Ouyang Hyeok's purpose.

So he wasn't a nightmare customer; he was here to recruit.

That made things simple.

All tension vanished from Il-mok as he smiled softly.

"I'm sorry. I share the same intentions as my Master."

As long as he wasn't a nightmare customer, there was no reason to fear him.

***

The journey with the Black Tiger Corps wasn't too bad from Il-mok's perspective.

There was no rushing around like with the White Sparrow Corps, and most importantly, getting water was easy.

He could get water from mountain streams and creeks, and since there was generally more moisture in the air compared to the wasteland, using the Dew Condensation spell was easier too.

“Dammit! You cowardly unbeliever bastards! Why don’t you invade!”

The crazy Dokgo Pae's nonsense occasionally reached his ears, but Il-mok paid it little mind.

And so, about two weeks of wandering the Tianshan Mountains Range with the Black Tiger Corps, the Black Tiger Corps Leader called a halt at a spot by a river.

"Stop! We'll rest here for four hours."

At his shout, the demonic cultists gathered around the Black Tiger Corps Leader and began preparing to rest.

Some approached the river to fetch or drink water, while others plopped down to regulate their breathing or chat with their neighbors.

In this atmosphere, Il-mok suddenly used his lightness skill to break away from the group and head somewhere.

But everyone just shrugged it off. They'd seen this scene multiple times over the past two weeks.

“Is he going to bathe again?”

“My, my… he’s amazing in many ways.”

The Black Tiger Corps members' expressions as they said this looked remarkably similar to how they'd looked at Dokgo Pae when he was spouting nonsense.

Unaware that others viewed him on the same level as Dokgo Pae, Il-mok quickly moved through the bushes, stripped off his clothes, and dove into the river.

Splash!

With a refreshing sound, Il-mok washed the sweat from his body in the river water. He was about to rub himself with the soap he'd brought when he froze.

There was something off about the river water that had gotten into his mouth when he dove in.

Frowning, he spent a moment discerning the energy he felt from the water. Then, Il-mok spat out the river water that had entered his mouth.

‘Who would've thought the detoxification training would help like this.’

The energy he'd felt in the river water was a type of Qi Dissipating Poison.

"Poison!! There's poison in the river water!"

The moment Il-mok shouted this, the Black Tiger Corps Leader roared, "Anyone who drank the river water, use your internal energy to expel the poison immediately! Everyone else, form battle formations!"

As soon as he heard Il-mok's shout, the Black Tiger Corps Leader realized something crucial.

The area was too quiet.

Of course, with over sixty people including the Black Tiger Corps and Demonic Way’s students moving together, it was natural for animals to avoid them.

But this was a riverside location. It would be one thing near them, but it was strange not to hear any animal sounds from upstream or downstream either.

While those who'd drunk water regulated their breathing and others stood guard in combat readiness, Il-mok also hurriedly dried himself off and threw on his clothes before returning.

‘Damn it. Damn it.’

He hadn't even dried off properly, and putting sweaty clothes back on made him feel like he was going crazy.

"Finally! Finally!!"

Meanwhile, seeing Dokgo Pae rejoicing at the arrival of combat made Il-mok want to smack him upside the head.

"Shut up!!"

"Our comrades could die!"

"Do you think real combat is a game?!"

At least the Black Tiger Corps members knew when to be serious; they started scolding Dokgo Pae, whom they'd normally just laugh off.

"Phew."

Watching Dokgo Pae get chewed out made Il-mok feel a bit better as he sighed.

Through the bushes, figures slowly approaching began to appear.

They were spread out wide, occupying all sides, and their numbers easily looked to be over a hundred.

Enhancing his vision with internal energy to observe them, Il-mok soon tilted his head in confusion.

‘Their clothing is like that of nomads, but their ethnicities are mixed?’

Perhaps because they'd come from beyond the Tianshan Mountains Range, about half looked like nomads or Mongols, while the other half looked like people from what's commonly called the Middle East.

When they'd closed to a certain distance—

The qi flow in the atmosphere began to twist around several men.

Il-mok quickly grasped the situation.

‘Sorcery?’

Though not identical, it gave off a similar vibe to when Instructor An Jeok-un had demonstrated sorcery.

They were waving sticks in their hands, muttering in an incomprehensible language.

Following the movements of their waving sticks, the flow of qi mixed chaotically before suddenly stabilizing.

"Allahu Akbar (God is Great)!!"

And Allah's magic wands breathed fire.

(TL Note: Korean’s nickname for RPG-7. Well, there are obviously no rocket launchers in this series, but we got wizard, tho)