Chapter The Demonic Cult Instructor Returns Chapter 131
Chapter 131
Shririririt.
A lone figure gracefully descended to the riverbank.
After surveying the reed-lined shore, he cast his gaze toward the coldly frozen river water.
The man’s eyes narrowed.
River water frozen in early winter.
His premonition wasn’t good.
Huuuung!
Suddenly, a strong wind burst around him.
He slowly closed his eyes and spread his energy sense wide, checking for all presences detected in the vicinity.
However, except for the movements of animals, he couldn’t find any particular reaction.
The man slowly opened his eyes and stepped forward.
The ice was melting but still solid.
Thud, thud.
The man lightly kicked the ice with his toes and leaped gracefully.
Just as he stopped in the middle of the ice, the man’s brow furrowed slightly.
A single corpse trapped beneath the thick ice wall entered his sight.
On the chest was embroidered the character ‘Kill (殺)’ meaning he was from Salmak.
‘Thirteen Kill (十三殺)!’
He hurriedly looked around and examined beneath the ice.
‘Seven Kill (七殺)!’
Even after that, corpses continued to appear, trapped in ice with eyes wide open in death.
Five corpses in total.
Surprisingly, even Two Kill (二殺), the strongest among them, couldn’t escape death while trapped in ice.
The only corpse he couldn’t find was Nine Kill (九殺).
The man’s expression darkened.
‘The information was wrong.’
Shortly after, he kicked off the ground and flew rapidly somewhere.
***
Sa Bigang pointed below the cliff.
“Now, you all know what this type of terrain is called, right?”
“A gorge!”
The students answered in unison.
“Right, correct. A gorge. Especially a narrow and deep gorge like this can be utilized in various ways during combat. How could it be utilized?”
Then Gok Bo-ok raised his hand and replied.
“If enemies pass through the gorge, we can ambush them by hiding in a place like this and launch a surprise attack.”
“That’s right. Then what work is necessary before the surprise attack for an effective offensive?”
“Blocking the retreat route.”
This time Yeon U-gyeong answered.
It was such a simple question that the answer wasn’t surprising.
However, Sa Bigang nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Whoever is teaching you, you’re quite smart. As you said, the retreat route must be blocked first. For that, dropping things like rocks or stone piles would be effective. Sometimes fire attacks are also used.”
After finishing his words, Sa Bigang narrowed his eyes and surveyed the surrounding terrain.
Then he suddenly jumped in surprise and shouted.
“Ah, no! This can’t be! There happens to be a pile of rocks over there! This is exactly as if someone prepared it for your studies! What a great opportunity this is!”
An obviously excessive reaction.
It was acting so awkward it made one’s hands and feet curl up.
Naturally, the students’ gazes turned cold.
The same thought was rising in their minds.
‘What’s that perverted instructor scheming this time? Anyone can see it’s strange that there’s a pile of rocks over there!’
Regardless, Sa Bigang continued speaking.
“Now, let me give you an example. This is just an example, you understand?”
“What kind of example?”
“Now, if enemies transporting our army’s prisoners were to pass through here, what should we do?”
Gok Bo-ok answered with a listless expression.
“We push that pile of rocks to drop them down and block the retreat route. Then shoot arrows to annihilate the isolated enemies.”
“Excellent answer. But if the opponent is transporting prisoners, our allies might accidentally get hit by arrows. So after blocking the retreat route, it’s better to run down the slope and surprise attack with close combat.”
“Then it would become a melee?”
“It would. But the fact that the ambushing side has a much greater advantage remains unchanged.”
Sa Bigang continued to explain several more important points after that.
It was when the sun was setting.
Sa Bigang, who had been continuing his explanation, hesitated and looked toward the eastern ground.
A group of people was moving toward them from a place where dusk hadn’t yet reached.
‘It’s time.’
Sa Bigang smiled faintly, then suddenly turned toward the students and shouted loudly.
“Huh? Wait a minute! Something’s approaching over there! It couldn’t be the Blood Death Alliance, could it? That absolutely can’t be! Right?”
This time too, an awkward reaction as expected.
Because of this, many students including Gok Bo-ok thought Sa Bigang was lying.
Gok Bo-ok chuckled.
“Stop it, instructor. If you’re thinking of scaring us for no reason…”
“Something really is coming.”
The voice that suddenly came belonged to Dan Li-jeong.
Gok Bo-ok frowned slightly, then soon shook his head.
“Well, it’s probably just some escort agency or merchant group moving. In this vast land, there’s no way we’d run into the Blood Death Alliance…”
“It’s a Blood Death Alliance flag!”
Dan Li-jeong drove the point home with a serious expression.
At those words, not only Gok Bo-ok but other students also looked back at Dan Li-jeong with haggard expressions.
“Really? Is it really a Blood Death Alliance flag?”
“Right. No doubt about it. Moreover…”
Dan Li-jeong’s expression hardened.
This time Sa Bigang quickly approached and grabbed Dan Li-jeong to ask.
“Moreover what? It couldn’t be that they’re transporting prisoners or something, could it? If so, it would be a truly amazing coincidence. Right? That can’t be. Just when we were studying here in preparation for prisoner transport cases, if the Blood Death Alliance happened to be transporting prisoners to this place… that would really… really…!”
Sa Bigang grabbed Dan Li-jeong’s shoulder tightly and continued with the most serious expression.
“That would really… be proof that I’m a genius instructor, wouldn’t it?”
“Pardon?”
At this point, Dan Li-jeong became a bit suspicious of Sa Bigang’s intentions.
‘Could it be that the instructor deliberately brought us here for this?’
But how could he know the Blood Death Alliance would pass through here?
Moreover, how did he know information about them having prisoners?
‘It must be… speculation.’
Dan Li-jeong lightly sighed and said.
“As the instructor said, there are prisoners. Several people locked in iron cages. From their clothing, I think they might be Jeongdo Alliance martial artists.”
As the situation unfolded unexpectedly, the students kept stirring restlessly.
“What? The Blood Death Alliance is really passing through here with prisoners?”
“My goodness. It’s flowing exactly according to what we just studied! What’s going on?”
“But there’s no way to know if those prisoners are really Jeongdo Alliance martial artists, right?”
Then Dan Li-jeong shook his head.
Wearing the Dragon’s Eye, he boasted superior eyesight above anyone else.
And his eyesight was something all the Special Purpose class students acknowledged.
Such a person spoke in a hard voice.
“There’s a familiar face among the prisoners.”
“Who is it?”
“Heaven Wolf Brigade Leader Seok Ji-pyeong.”
Now the students’ expressions turned completely pale.
‘My goodness. Such a thing is really happening.’
The Heaven Wolf Brigade was known to mainly move with core figures of the Jeongdo Alliance.
Then among the prisoners captured there, there would likely be high-ranking leaders in positions higher than Seok Ji-pyeong.
As the situation took an urgent turn, Tang Ihap and Mae Seol-lan quickly approached Sa Bigang.
“My lord, it seems dangerous. We should leave this place with the students first.”
“That’s right. Now that we know the Jeongdo Alliance leadership has been captured as prisoners, we should inform the alliance of this fact as quickly as possible and return to the academy.”
However, Sa Bigang shook his head.
“What are you talking about? Where else could there be a better opportunity than this?”
“Pardon? What do you mean? If we stay here, we might be discovered… Wait. Don’t tell me…?”
Mae Seol-lan asked back with a blank expression, while Sa Bigang smiled broadly and looked at the students.
“The Blood Death Alliance martial artists happen to be passing through here with prisoners! You all seem to have been born with heavenly fortune!”
“Heavenly… fortune?”
The students asked back with puzzled expressions.
“Look! Right after starting class, didn’t you get the perfect opportunity to engage in real combat? There’s even a pile of rocks prepared conveniently for you to use! Where else in the world could there be such perfect heavenly fortune?”
“Don’t tell me you’re telling us to attack the Blood Death Alliance?”
“Exactly! If you rescue the prisoners, you’ll instantly become heroes of the martial world! You wouldn’t think of missing this golden opportunity, would you?”
“No matter what, this is too much. When even the Jeongdo Alliance leadership has been captured, how could we possibly face them?”
It was Cho Mun-tak.
Soon Mok Dan-hwa agreed with those words.
“That’s right. No matter what, it’s a fight we can’t win.”
“Indeed. Even if we surprise attack using the terrain, if the skill difference is too great…”
Even Yeon U-gyeong, who was always overflowing with confidence, showed a skeptical reaction.
With this turn of events, the other students also lost confidence and avoided Sa Bigang’s gaze.
Sa Bigang stared at the students intently, then pointed to Gok Bo-ok and asked.
“Really? What do you think, Bo-ok?”
According to Sa Bigang’s assessment, Gok Bo-ok was belligerent to the point of seeming foolish.
Sure enough, he answered exactly as Sa Bigang expected.
“Of course we should rescue the prisoners! This is an opportunity as the instructor said!”
“Just as I thought, right?”
“It’s not that simple a problem. If we’re careless, we could all die here.”
Yeon U-gyeong suddenly interjected with a cold voice.
Gok Bo-ok flinched for a moment but didn’t back down.
“If we pretend not to see the evil deeds of the Blood Death Alliance out of fear of death, that’s the same as living a life that’s already dead! I won’t live as such a coward!”
Then Yeon U-gyeong’s eyebrows twitched.
Gok Bo-ok, who until half a year ago only watched his mood, was acting this way, making him quite uncomfortable.
Moreover, looking at the current content, wasn’t he treating not only the other students but himself as cowards?
On the other hand, Sa Bigang felt like applauding Gok Bo-ok for being much more belligerent than he had thought.
However, hiding his true feelings, he pretended to be solemn and said.
“Don’t push too hard, Bo-ok. Everyone has different thoughts.”
“But instructor, we must rescue them!”
“Of course that would be good, but without the help of other students, you alone would find it difficult. Unfortunately, it can’t be helped. We can only hide and watch our allies being dragged away miserably. No matter how much I’m an instructor, I can’t force students who are scared and want to hide to take on an unreasonable mission.”
Sa Bigang made an extremely sad expression.
Then Mok Dan-hwa flared up and stepped forward.
“In this case, it’s not being scared but being cautious.”
“Ah, I see. Bo-ok, you should be grateful that you’ll be able to save your life thanks to your companions’ caution.”
“But instructor…!”
“Well, we couldn’t rescue the prisoners, but what big deal could it be? At most, they’ll be dragged to the Blood Death Alliance headquarters and tortured a bit. For example, having their front teeth pulled out or having their mouths torn and fingers cut off? Well, if they’re unlucky, they might have their tongues pulled out or their skin peeled off and salt applied. Ah, they might also be dissected alive or roasted over fire. Eyeballs are preserved in special solutions. Tsk tsk. Let’s be grateful to the allied prisoners who provided their eyeballs on our behalf.”
The students’ expressions became distorted.
Finally, Yeom Ja-ryang opened his mouth with a faint voice.
“Um… instructor…”
“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s not like we’ll go through it anyway. Hey, honestly, what do we care if other people’s eyeballs are pulled out or their skin is peeled off? Right? As long as it’s not me. Does righteousness put food on the table?”
“I… will do it.”
“Hmm? Do what?”
“I’ll participate in the rescue operation. I’ll do it.”
Then Cho Mun-tak also sighed deeply and said.
“Then I’ll do it too.”
“I’ll also… do it.”
Eventually, the students joined one by one, and finally Mok Dan-hwa stepped forward and asked in a cold tone.
“Let me ask one thing. If we surprise attack, what are our chances of winning?”
“Well, we’ll definitely win.”
“Pardon?”
“Because I won’t just be watching.”
Sa Bigang grinned, showing his white teeth.