Chapter 756: Martial Instructor (2)

FWIP!

As Shin Youngjun and the two martial instructors approached the mansion at the mountaintop.

The five martial artists standing at its entrance reacted.

“Fools!”

They held the advantage in numbers.

But.

In their eyes, there was not even the slightest hint of carelessness that relied on that numerical advantage.

“You all know the intruder’s ability!”

The woman who had once had a timid personality.

Miyang raised her shield and shouted.

“Everyone, face him with everything you have!”

The five gripped their weapons and took formation.

And.

“Sarin.”

“Yes, Senior Sister!”

“That order includes you too.”

Miyang looked at one of them and shouted.

At her words.

“......Pardon? That means.”

The snake-eyed woman’s pupils shook for a moment.

“B-but Senior Sister. Over there are Hwan and Senior Sister Miho.”

“......Senior Sister Miho’s position is higher than mine, yes. But you know too, don’t you, Junior Sister?”

Miyang said with a bitter smile.

“What will happen if this place is breached.”

In the past.

The five of them had fought Sergeant Shin Youngjun before.

The result had been a defeat so hollow it almost felt absurd.

“I will not say it twice, Junior Sister. With everything you have.”

But...... back then.

Not all of the senior and junior disciples had fought with all their strength.

Sergeant Shin Youngjun was the benefactor who had saved them.

That fight, too, had taken place because of the Legion’s request for support.

They could not kill an opponent like that.

“......Yes.”

That was why.

At the time, Sarin had only been able to use poison at a level that would “not kill” Shin Youngjun.

“I will obey Senior Sister’s command.”

Now, it was different.

As she steeled her resolve, nodded, and waved her fan.

FWAAAAASH!!!

The mechanisms around them burst open.

And filled the area around the mansion with green and purple mist.

“From now on.......”

The physical abilities of the five beastkin had been considerably weakened compared to their prime.

That influence had also been a large part of why they had lost in their previous battle against Shin Youngjun.

But...... for one person alone, that influence was not significant.

“This place is serpent ground.”

Poison arts.

A martial artist focused more on delicate technique and knowledge in handling poison than on physical ability.

Because of that, she was the only one who could display power close to her full strength even while her physical abilities were lowered.

“To those who set foot in the serpent’s domain, cold death.”

The poison master.

Sarin’s body seeped into the green and purple mist.

From now on, she would begin not the battle of a martial artist, but that of a poison master.

FWIP!

And.

As they looked at Sergeant Shin Youngjun rushing toward them.

The remaining four beastkin thought.

'We lost last time, but.'

'That was because the objective back then was capture.'

Not now.

Unlike the past, when the objective had been the survival of a key person, their current objective was to stop the intruder.

That alone drastically lowered the difficulty of the operation.

'Besides.'

[Legion-Style Martial Uniform Crafted with a Top-Class Seamstress’s Devotion]

'Our bodies are different from back then too.'

Their physical abilities had fallen in order to avoid the seal.

A large part of that had now been restored through the equipment the Legion members had made for them.

It was possible because effects from equipment were judged separately from one’s own inherent abilities.

They did feel some pangs of conscience about wearing the Legion’s equipment while fighting the Legion’s commander.

But that lasted only a moment.

'Come.'

Their sense of duty to protect this place took precedence.

No matter what kind of attack that man launched.

They would not go down easily either.......

Just as they were thinking that.

The enemy they were guarding against.

Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s choice was simple.

FWIP!

“What!”

“......He’s ignoring us!?”

They had been preparing for an attack.

But instead of attacking them.

He was trying to exploit the opening created by their preparation and break straight through the middle.

“How dare you!”

The beastkin thrust out their weapons.

No matter how outstanding that man’s ability was.

If he thought he could ignore them and simply pass through, that was a tremendous miscalculation.......

CLANG!

Or it would have been.

Unfortunately.

Their attacks were deflected by something else.

“Seohwan.......”

“Senior Sister!”

The ones who had deflected their attacks.

Were none other than their other senior and junior disciples.

***

The weapons knocked away by Miho and Seohwan’s attacks.

Because of that.

Sergeant Shin Youngjun passed through the mansion’s front gate.

'Inside, Sarin’s poison has been deployed.'

No matter how much of a Shin Youngjun he was, breaking through that poison would not be easy.

At the very least, his steps would have no choice but to slow.

If they gave chase now, they might still be able to catch up.

The beastkin immediately tried to turn and pursue Shin Youngjun.

CLANG!

Once again.

Weapons were swung in front of them.

“Why are you helping that man?”

The man who saw that.

Shin Jong frowned and shouted.

“Senior Sister Miho!”

“I am the one who wants to ask that.”

At his words.

Miho, holding her blade, answered calmly.

“Have you forgotten the sect rules Master established? He is someone who either defeated or earned the recognition of a majority of the disciples. There should be no justification for stopping the commander from going to see Master. Do you intend to violate the sect’s rules?”

“The rules? Ha!”

At her words.

Shin Jong let out a hollow laugh and shouted.

“Hwan might be able to say something like that. Hwan collapsed with severe wounds early in the war!”

The rules of Cheonsan Martial Hall were strict.

Not only its many regulations, but also the hierarchy among senior and junior disciples was extremely important.

“But, Senior Sister Miho.”

And yet now.

Shin Jong had committed the injustice of pointing a weapon at a senior disciple above him in rank.

“You should not be the one saying that.”

“.......”

They were not people without consciences either.

They knew that commander was the benefactor who had helped them.

They had joked about whether they had not already repaid that debt and such, but.

In truth, every one of them thought they still had not repaid enough.

“You are...... the same as us.”

“.......”

“You saw the same thing we did, did you not?”

Even so.

Here, they had decided to define that benefactor...... the commander, as an intruder and stand in his way.

The reason was simple.

“Mirinae.......”

That name had come from the commander’s mouth.

From the very moment he had casually spoken that name.

“What that evil dragon did!”

They had begun to send wary gazes toward the commander who had shown them grace.

“Mirinae.......”

Seohwan frowned at those words.

A word he had never heard once.

He looked around in confusion.

“.......”

All the other senior and junior disciples.

Even Miho, hardened their faces when they heard that name.

'What on earth is that?'

He could not understand the flow of the conversation.

“At least while sealed over there like that...... Master can remain Master.”

The other senior and junior disciples continued the conversation without caring.

“Even if we must disobey Master’s words. Even if we must violate the sect’s rules. We will stop anyone who approaches inside there by any means.”

“To block even the smallest possibility that ‘Mirinae’ could be released.”

“That is...... probably our final duty.”

At their words.

“If that is what you think, I will respect it.”

Miho nodded.

The sect’s law, which had once been like the heavens.

Even though they were violating that law.

Miho respected their choice.

“But my thoughts are somewhat different.”

Of course, she only respected the choice.

She had not the slightest intention of following it.

“Like this, we are merely waiting for death. I no longer want a life where we cannot even resist the destruction that is coming.”

“Senior Sister!”

They grew angry.

And as he looked at them.

“......Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters. It seems you are only thinking of the bad outcome.”

Seohwan, who had been listening to the conversation, opened his mouth blankly.

“You know nothing. Stay out of this, Seohwan!”

When Seohwan joined the conversation.

The enraged senior and junior disciples swung their weapons at him.

“Certainly, that may be true.”

But.

“I do not know what you are talking about, what the commander intends to do by going in there, or what all of you went through.”

He was not the only one who knew nothing.

“If all of you experienced something I do not know, then I saw the Legion’s struggle that all of you do not know.”

The weapons swung by the four martial artists.

Rushed toward Seohwan.......

CLANG!

“I have seen the things the commander has accomplished.”

“.......”

Their attacks.

Were deflected by Seohwan’s staff.

The beastkin who saw that were shocked.

It was not because Seohwan had chosen to help Shin Youngjun.

'It was not like before, when they showed an opening because they were focused on stopping the commander.'

Even so.

'That movement just now was.......'

Rather than that.

They were shocked by the fact that Seohwan had blocked their attacks at all.

Seohwan was the youngest disciple, one who had only recently entered the sect.

The staff technique he had trained intensively in did not even reach Shin Jong, who had trained in both staff and fists and kicks.

......Yes, originally.

The youngest disciple, Seohwan, who had only recently entered.

And a scholar who focused on research more than training her own martial arts.

For those two to handle four pure martial artists who had spent decades honing nothing but martial arts would have been close to impossible.

“I do not know the story of the destruction all of you experienced. But.”

The senior and junior disciples he knew were by no means evil people.

If they were resisting this much, they surely had a reason worthy of it.

But.

“All of you likewise do not know the story of how we have resisted destruction on this land.”

They did not know the fight on this land.

They did not know the commander who had resisted that destruction.

In that case.

“Do not worry too much.”

“.......”

“Surely, if we wait, everything will turn out well.”

Seohwan pointed his weapon at the opponents he never would have been able to defeat in the past.

His own senior and junior disciples.

“Until then, you will have to play with this youngest disciple a little.”

***

CLANG!

'......That was close!'

Were they that wary of my attacks?

They had been focusing on defense.

I exploited that opening and immediately threw myself inside the building.

Even as I did, I could not help but feel a chill run through me.

If Seohwan and Miho’s help had been even a little late, I would have been torn to shreds by their attacks.

'Still, I got through somehow.'

They were physically weakened compared to their prime.

It would be difficult for them to ignore Seohwan and Miho and rush after me.

Since I had somehow succeeded in entering the building, I expected the remaining process to become somewhat easier.

FWOOSH.......

“.......”

The moment I thought that.

There was an ominous energy burrowing into every pore of my body.

The power that allowed me to judge everything by taste.

[Taste Bud Enhancement] warned me.

'That woman.......'

No...... I could tell this even without the power of [Taste Bud Enhancement].

'She was a terrifying one, huh.'

What lay ahead.

Was the scent of death, so intense it could not be consumed without being diluted.

But.

That did not mean I could stop walking here.

WOOOOOO.......

The wind that had been raging since earlier.

I could feel the ominous energy blowing from within exploding even more violently.

'It is reacting to me.'

Just as that Mirinae had said.

By approaching, I had made Mirinae’s instinct think it might be able to be released.

That instinct had begun to rampage.

Mirinae had not been in a normal state to begin with.

Since it had begun rampaging like that inside the seal.

The speed at which that wound spread must have become even faster.

And.

'It was thanks to Mirinae’s reason that it could hold out inside the seal.'

Because of my visit, the instinctive side had begun to rampage even more.

The probability was high that that reason had also begun to be pushed back.

Since it was a seal placed by this world, it would not break easily.

'But perhaps...... Mirinae’s reason may lose, and it may escape the seal by itself.'

And.

I felt sorry to Mirinae’s instinct, which was delighted by my visit, but.

'That happening would be a little.'

[Poison energy is invading your entire body!]

'Troublesome.......'

I threw myself into that poison energy.

***

The poison energy filling the inside of the mansion.

I looked at that poison and thought.

'I am confident in that field too, you know.'

In the past.

When I was clearing the dungeon, [Underground Mine Dug Too Deep].

The inside had also been filled with terrifyingly extreme poison.

But I had been able to break through that place.

[You have consumed cooking!]

Cooking that granted resistance to poison.

And the poison energy of [Nepenthes], which pushed away poison energy other than its own.

With those two methods.

I knew through experience that most extreme poisons could not affect me.

That was why I had been able to throw myself into that poison energy with relatively great confidence, but.......

'......Ah?'

The moment I threw myself into the poison energy inside the mansion.

I realized that thought was wrong.

The poison I had faced in that underground mine.

In truth, it was not something made with any intention.

The countless corpses piled up in the underground mine.

And Morzan’s corpse at the very deepest place.

The corpse poison and lingering thoughts emerging from there had combined to create that poison.

The phenomena had existed first, and the result had merely appeared by chance as extreme poison.

It was not a poison that had been created from the beginning to be poison.

But this was different.

A result created through thorough research and analysis.

By mixing various poisons and materials that existed in nature.

Through thousands, tens of thousands of years of research into what could create a better result.......

A more severe level of extreme poison.

[Poison energy is invading your entire body!]

[The poison energy of Soul-Melting Poison - Nepenthes is neutralized by hostile poison energy!]

The crystallization of that research.

Was an extreme poison that would certainly stand at the very peak among natural poisons.

To the point that it instantly devoured even the poison energy of [Nepenthes].

At that moment.

Inside this mist, I clearly felt it.

'A serpent.'

Watching me.

The gaze of a venomous snake, sharp and slit.