Ian conveyed her honest feelings to Geom Mugeuk.
—I’m afraid I’ll handle it as I please and end up ruining everything.
Geom Mugeuk knew her better than anyone. If she were alone, she would have handled the matter better than anyone, without such fear. It was burdensome because he, the Young Cult Leader, was watching. There would be pressure to do well, too.
—Ian, what was your weakness again?
—Even in this urgent situation, isn’t my weakness this carelessness of mine that wants to joke that it’s my pretty face?
—Nine tails and carelessness don’t exactly go together.
—Then what is my weakness?
Ian was curious what Geom Mugeuk thought her weakness was.
—Your weakness is me.
Ian was startled by the unexpected answer.
—You, Young Cult Leader?
—Yes, it was me. Your sense of duty and spirit of sacrifice, believing you had to protect me, were the greatest weakness in your life.
Ian’s gaze toward Geom Mugeuk trembled slightly. She knew it, too. That was why Geom Mugeuk had removed her from his guard and placed her as leader of the Ghost Shadow Unit. Of course, that was entirely from Geom Mugeuk’s perspective.
‘That sense of duty to protect you was the driving force of my life, Young Cult Leader. Even now, it isn’t very different.’
Geom Mugeuk’s sound transmission continued.
—Your second weakness was your lack of inner force. But that has been resolved as well. The third was experience, and I believe you have filled that to some extent recently by leaving the cult on your own.
Geom Mugeuk knew that what Ian needed right now was not a clue as to how to handle this matter. So what if she made a mistake? So what if she took a bit of a detour? He was protecting her. That, too, would become a great lesson for her.
What she truly needed right now was this.
—Do you know how strong you are?
With her weaknesses supplemented, she had reached great mastery of the Flying Heaven Sword Art.
—How strong am I?
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned to Pyo San, standing ahead of them, then back to Bang So.
—People like that are not even worth comparing. The Seventh Master of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall? The Chief Master? Even comparing you to them is an insult to the Flying Heaven Sword Art.
Even people she had yet to meet were all swept away with those words.
—If I were to speak of your strength, I would have to ask it like this.
After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk said,
—Within how many moves could you kill the Master of the Yellow Dragon Hall here?
Because she had never properly fought true masters yet, she did not know how strong she was. The stronger her opponent was, the more she would come to realize how strong she herself was.
Geom Mugeuk instilled in her the greatest confidence he could.
—Ian, this martial world is yours now.
It was fine to say that to Ian. She was not someone who would grow arrogant in any situation.
Ian’s eyes trembled. It was probably the first time in her life she had heard such words.
—It’s far too burdensome. This martial world—how much will you pay for it?
Seeing her joke, he felt that her tension had eased.
Ian looked at Geom Mugeuk and nodded. Her eyes said,
‘Yes, Young Cult Leader. I’ll try.’
While the two were conversing by sound transmission, the instructor Pyo San personally paired them up for sparring, two at a time.
Geom Mugeuk and Ian became one pair, and as expected, Bang So was paired with Seo Jin.
Geom Mugeuk could be certain.
‘They really intend to kill her.’
Bang So, who had killed Im Hyeon, just happened to return today, and just happened to be paired with Seo Jin. There was no way such coincidences would pile up like this.
If the sparring proceeded as it was, Bang So would certainly kill Seo Jin. Unless she used ghost arts from the very beginning, Seo Jin’s current martial skill was still not enough to face Bang So.
‘Ian, what will you do?’
He had thought she would use some excuse, any excuse, to switch partners and face Bang So herself.
But for whatever reason, Ian was simply standing by and watching.
“The arranged sparring will proceed in three stages. Attack, block, and counterattack. Newcomers who haven’t learned yet are to follow the demonstration!”
Those giving the demonstration were Yu Gwang and Gyo Seok, the longest-standing members of the White Dragon Class.
“Begin carefully so that neither side gets hurt!”
Yu Gwang and Gyo Seok began the arranged sparring.
They blocked swords thrust toward the agreed-upon points, then in turn the other thrust out a sword. In that way, sword and sword came and went between them.
When the two drew close, Yu Gwang whispered.
“I feel like something’s going to happen.”
“Shh! Be quiet!”
“I’ve got a bad feeling!”
“Please!”
At the source of that bad feeling as well, the agreed-upon movements were continuing.
Bang So was looking for an opportunity to kill Seo Jin. After killing her, he was supposed to slip out of this place.
The higher-ups would take care of the aftermath. With a fake corpse that had died from falling off a cliff, the madman of the White Dragon Class would be dealt with as dead.
‘Farewell!’
Just as he was about to kill her with his next move, Bang So’s eyes flew wide in shock.
Something was stuck to the back of the hand holding his sword.
The moment he confirmed what it was, he let out a scream without realizing it.
“Aaaaargh!”
It was a large centipede with brilliant, multicolored markings. It was not an illusion. There was even a repulsive sensation.
He was not someone who would scream at something like a centipede, but it had been too sudden. Moreover, the instant he saw those colors, he instinctively sensed it was a centipede carrying a vicious poison, which shocked him even more.
The next instant, his body flew toward Seo Jin.
‘What is this?’
His body would not obey him. An invisible force was constricting him and driving him forward.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
At Bang So’s scream, everyone stopped moving and stared at him.
To others, Bang So appeared to be charging toward Seo Jin while letting out a bizarre shriek. To anyone watching, he looked as if the shock of the previous incident had revived and driven him mad.
Shwik!
Bang So’s sword grazed past Seo Jin’s face.
At that very instant.
Thud!
Seo Jin’s sword sank into his heart.
When Bang So, even while impaled by the sword, tried to swing his blade again, Seo Jin pulled her sword free and retreated.
Papapapak.
Bang So sprayed blood in all directions and collapsed where he stood. Until the moment he died, he could not understand this situation.
In his rapidly cooling eyes, he saw the centipede still clinging to the back of his hand burst with a pop and scatter in dazzling five-colored brilliance. It was a sight visible only to his eyes.
Several hall members screamed. Those farther away ran over, while those nearby stepped back.
Of course, the person most shocked was Pyo San. When Bang So first screamed and charged forward, he had thought it unexpected. That fellow could even put on such realistic acting?
But then he had died absurdly, impaled by Seo Jin’s sword.
Pyo San stared at Seo Jin with a shocked expression.
‘She was a master capable of killing Bang So in one move?’
In truth, the centipede stuck to the back of Bang So’s hand was Seo Jin’s ghost art.
Before the arranged sparring began, Ian had sent Seo Jin a sound transmission.
—Group Leader Seo, can you use ghost arts to make him scream?
—Yes, I think I can.
The Ghost Gate’s ghost arts could show the illusion of bugs crawling all over one’s body, and could even make the sensation feel real.
The moment Seo Jin activated her ghost art.
Ian suppressed Bang So’s body with Remote Object Manipulation and sent him flying toward Seo Jin.
She was confident she could do it, but she could not be certain it was truly possible. If Geom Mugeuk had not filled her with confidence, it was something she could not have attempted.
And there was also the final trust that Geom Mugeuk was watching.
In the end, startled by the ghost art and unable to overcome Ian’s inner force, he moved as Ian controlled him and lost his life.
Ian had turned their plan against them. They had tried to show everyone the sight of an enraged Bang So killing Seo Jin, but instead, it became Seo Jin killing Bang So because she had no choice. The enemies themselves had created a stage for revenge that could be carried out openly.
“What on earth happened?”
Pyo San asked Seo Jin, pretending to be flustered. No, he actually was flustered.
“I don’t know either. He suddenly screamed and rushed at me.”
She, too, had no need to act shocked and flustered.
She had resolved to kill him, but now that she truly had, the hand holding her sword trembled. The slash of wind from his blade as it missed and passed by her face was vivid. Of course, it had been a situation Ian staged realistically through Remote Object Manipulation.
Seeing her appear shaken, Pyo San was inwardly puzzled.
‘No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like she killed him with skill.’
Then why on earth had Bang So died? At least when it came to killing people, Bang So had been someone he could trust.
In any case, he had to settle this situation first.
Pyo San calmly warned the hall members.
“Everyone, return! If any of you speak of this matter, you will be expelled from the hall immediately!”
For now, he dismissed the entire White Dragon Class.
“You stay.”
Pyo San kept Seo Jin behind.
First, he intended to take her away and lock her up, then report to Gi Seok. If the conclusion was that she absolutely had to be killed this time, they could handle it by saying she had taken her own life out of guilt while under investigation. There was still a chance.
At that moment, Ian stepped forward.
“I will go with you. I witnessed it from right beside them. My testimony will be more useful than that of my flustered friend.”
Pyo San found Ian suspicious as well. Could it really be a coincidence that such a beautiful woman entered the hall immediately after Seo Jin did?
“If you step back, I’ll call you later.”
“Before I step back, there is something I’m curious about.”
Before Pyo San could ask what her question was, Ian spoke first.
“Why did you put someone so mentally unstable together with a newcomer who only just entered?”
Pyo San’s expression hardened.
“Shouldn’t both of them have been paired with someone skilled?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Pyo San. They had all been too distracted by Bang So’s death to think much of it, but after hearing Ian’s words, it certainly did seem strange.
Even though she had pointed out the part that could become the greatest weakness in this incident, he remained composed.
“Are you saying I deliberately had Bang So killed?”
Of course, the hall members thought that could not be the case. There was no reason for it.
“Surely you all know that unavoidable accidents have nothing to do with skill.”
He was referring to Instructor Im’s death. It meant that even if one was paired with an instructor, a person who would die would die.
“Go back at once.”
Just as the hall members were about to turn away, someone shouted.
“There’s a white snake tattoo on this man’s chest!”
Pyo San turned around in shock, and at some point Geom Mugeuk was crouched beside the corpse, rummaging through it.
“Get your hands off him!”
Geom Mugeuk flinched in fright and withdrew his hands.
Pyo San felt as if he had been caught off guard. He had only been paying attention to this side for a very brief moment, so when had that bastard gone over to the corpse?
“It’s a coiled white snake!”
At that, Ian said,
“Isn’t the organization that uses a white snake as its symbol in the martial world the White Snake Group?”
At the words White Snake Group, the hall members began to murmur. The White Snake Group was one of the notorious contract-killing organizations in the martial world.
“Everyone, be quiet!”
Pyo San roared. The composure with which he had treated the hall members until now shattered.
Pyo San walked toward Geom Mugeuk. Geom Mugeuk retreated with a thoroughly frightened expression.
“Who told you that you could touch the corpse as you pleased? Before we even determine the cause of death, who said you could?”
“Didn’t we all see the cause of death?”
Pyo San’s expression hardened even further.
“I think what’s important right now isn’t whether or not someone touched the corpse, but figuring out why the White Snake Group is in the White Dragon Class.”
Geom Mugeuk stammered with a frightened face, but he said everything that needed to be said. And even added a ridiculous joke.
“We’re White Dragons, not White Snakes, aren’t we?”
Pyo San glared at Geom Mugeuk, then said coldly,
“You will pack your things at once and leave the martial hall! We don’t need someone like you!”
At that moment, Seo Jin was the first to step forward.
“That is an unjust measure.”
Ian also stepped forward, saying it was unjust. For her, of course, it was a situation where she naturally would.
Yu Gwang, who had drunk with them the night before, suddenly stepped forward.
“It is unjust.”
When Ian stepped forward, he had shouted without realizing it.
Pyo San roared.
“You three pack your things as well!”
Gyo Seok’s expression hardened. Yu Gwang had stepped forward before he could stop him. He agonized over it. Should he step forward or not? Yu Gwang shook his head, telling him not to.
‘You bastard! If you do that, how can I not step forward?’
Gyo Seok also stepped forward and spoke. He did step forward, but in a different way.
“My fellow students spoke without thinking. Please forgive them!”
The other hall members did not dare step forward in this atmosphere.
Rage surged up in Pyo San. This was not how things were supposed to proceed. It had gone wrong—thoroughly wrong.
“Everyone withdraw and await disciplinary action.”
Just then, a man appeared there.
“What is going on?”
The person who appeared there was none other than Yeon Baekjin.
At his appearance, Pyo San truly felt like shouting. Of course, without showing any of that, he greeted him politely and reported.
“There was an accident during sparring training.”
“Again?”
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk shouted.
“There was a member of the White Snake Unit in the White Dragon Class!”
Truly, Pyo San had to force himself to restrain the urge to run over and drive his sword into Geom Mugeuk’s heart.
Yeon Baekjin glanced at the fallen corpse. Even at the mention of the White Snake Unit, he was not greatly shaken. What he focused on was the opponent.
“Who was he sparring with?”
Seo Jin stepped forward and said,
“Me.”
Yeon Baekjin looked at her.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
He asked nothing else.
Yeon Baekjin’s gaze turned back to Pyo San.
“It happened during your class, so you will be the first one who must undergo questioning. Follow me.”
Pyo San’s expression hardened. There was no way Yeon Baekjin had simply been passing by and stopped in by chance. If so, Bang So’s death made sense as well.
‘This man helped them.’
It was a situation that could easily lead him to such a misunderstanding.
Yeon Baekjin, who had started walking ahead, looked back at Pyo San.
“Do you intend to refuse my order?”
“No.”
Pyo San quietly followed behind him.
The two of them walked past the trainees.
The place Yeon Baekjin’s gaze slid toward was Seo Jin.
Pyo San, following behind, glared only at Geom Mugeuk.
‘That bastard made this bigger!’
The sight of Geom Mugeuk avoiding his gaze as if to say, goodness, how frightening, made him even more hateful.
‘Just you wait!’
And so the two of them left the place, and warriors who appeared to be Yeon Baekjin’s subordinates came and carried away the corpse.
“See? I was right, wasn’t I? Didn’t I say something would happen?”
At Yu Gwang’s words, Gyo Seok forcibly dragged him away. Just thinking about how his conspiracy sickness would only get worse now made his head ache.
Like that, all the trainees scattered, and only three people remained there.
Ian spoke cautiously to Geom Mugeuk.
“This was the best I could do. With my meager imagination, I couldn’t think of any other way to deal with someone who came to kill Squad Leader Seo.”
At that, Seo Jin expressed her gratitude to Ian.
“I lived thanks to that imagination.”
“It was also the first moment the Ghost Shadow Unit worked together to defeat an enemy.”
The two women looked at each other and smiled.
This was the life Geom Mugeuk had wanted for Seo Jin. For her to live in this murim, smiling alongside a good person like Ian. It was also the reason he had run all the way here with Ian.
“What are you going to do now?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Ian seemed to ponder for a moment.
“You learned it in the arranged sparring match, didn’t you? Attack, block, and counterattack. Since we blocked the attack……”
Ian looked toward the buildings of the Yellow Dragon Martial Academy visible in the distance and said,
“Now it’s time to counterattack.”