210. Master and Disciple Journey (3)
210. Master and Disciple Journey (3)
The moment we stepped inside the gate,
Blue Wolves appeared and surrounded us before long.
Massive, blue-furred werewolves standing about three times the height of a human.
Perhaps because they possessed keen hearing and sharp eyesight,
they had apparently noticed us entering from the entrance and been lying in wait.
"Grrrrr......"
The creatures let out grating growls, as if threatening us.
Their thick, twitching claws and the drool dripping down betrayed an unmistakable anticipation, like prey had finally arrived after a long while.
"Hm."
Master gazed blankly at them with detached eyes, her arms crossed,
then gave a nod.
"Hm, it's a gate where these fellows appear. It's been a long time since I've done dungeon clearing instead of subjugating Demonized Humans...... First, I should warm up. Disciple, watch for now."
"Yes......!"
Whirrrrrrrr—
The small dagger I'd seen earlier began spinning on her left hand as if it possessed a will of its own.
And then, in an instant.
Shwip—
The dagger that had been spinning above her hand flew off in the blink of an eye.
The flying dagger pierced straight through the head of the largest Blue Wolf at the very back.
"Gruh—!"
And that's when I could see it.
A thread so thin and transparent you'd miss it if you didn't look closely.
That thread was connected to the tip of the dagger.
Tight.
The moment Master gripped the connected thread tight,
the Blue Wolf's body, about to fall backward, stood frozen in place.
Then, Master kicked off the ground without a sound.
Her body flew along the thread.
Whoosh—
*
To get straight to the point,
I was able to confirm why Master was called the 'Slaughter-Crazed Woman' and treated as an object of fear by the other instructors,
what she really was.
Truthfully, until now, I had never really thought that alias suited her.
At a glance, she seemed cold, composed, and blunt.
But I'd only ever seen the side of Master who was always attentive and meticulously cared for me.
For me, who had only witnessed her graciously accepting any request without a hint of annoyance, there was quite a gap between the reality and that alias.
'Of course, she doesn't show mercy during training.......'
If it were for something like that, nicknames like 'Demon Instructor' or 'Ice-Snow Flower' would have fit better.
In any case, the appearance Master was showing right now was certainly different in character from her usual self.
That she was strong was naturally expected,
but what surprised me was her combat style.
If I didn't concentrate, Master was simply throwing a dagger at the monster farthest back
and then rushing forward while gripping that thread.
And the monsters in that path would collapse on the spot as if they'd suddenly died.
But, when I enhanced my Eye Power and focused, a completely different sight unfolded than what I expected.
Contrary to my expectation that she'd eliminate enemies silently and swiftly, like a shadow,
Master, once she got serious, unexpectedly wielded a free-form swordsmanship that seemed almost drunk on the sword.
It felt a bit like watching Kang Do-hee holding a sword after using full enhancement, if I had to compare.
'Whoa, insane. For real.......'
I couldn't help but gape while I watched.
They do say extremes meet.
Within formless movement, the moment the enemy was decisively dealt with, the sword wasted no motion at all.
I could tell because I took some pride in now having an eye for the sword.
Just how absurd this current movement was—to wield such a free sword while having absolutely no waste.
And the thing that created the greatest sense of discrepancy from the usual.
That was her smile.
I never thought I'd see Master, whose passive was always a blank expression, smiling so brightly like that.
'So this is how she became the Slaughter-Crazed Woman.'
Against the backdrop of the red blood scattered around like flowers, her figure with a smile on her lips was nothing short of breathtaking.
"Ke-e-e-ek!!!"
"Grrrrk—!!"
"Kke-e-e-ek!!!"
As the ones in front toppled limply, scattering blood like that,
the Blue Wolf pack that had been swarming, thinking prey had finally arrived after a long while, had their emotions shift from anticipation to terror in an instant as well.
However,
Master permitted no escape whatsoever.
How should I put it.
The feeling that the sword was already positioned where the enemy would instinctively try to flee?
A bizarre tableau kept unfolding, as if the Blue Wolves trying to run away were throwing their own bodies onto Master's sword.
A woman brightly smiling as she slaughters.
Scattering death wherever she passed.
Not even allowing flight.
'Yeah, I'd definitely have shit myself if I were them.'
I nodded in empathy, understanding why Demonized Humans who'd faced Master as an enemy had fled while blubbering tears and snot.
* * *
Even rampaging alone without Jin Yu-ha's help, Baek Seol-hee's monster clearing speed was far faster than when Utopia had subjugated giant monsters in the U.S.
Then, at some point,
not a single monster was in sight anywhere nearby.
She had completely wiped out the entire Blue Wolf population inside the gate!
She'd even chased down the ones hiding in the unknown and shaken them out until not a speck of dust remained.
And at the same moment the last creature fell.
Stock-still.
Baek Seol-hee's sword stopped in midair.
'Ah.'
Only then could Baek Seol-hee recall that she'd come to clear the dungeon today with her disciple.
'I made...... a mistake.'
She glanced down at herself and saw her body was dyed entirely in sticky blood.
Of course, all that blood was not hers, but the Blue Wolves'.
Her disciple had asked her to show her true skill this time, so she'd certainly intended to demonstrate it clearly, but—
'To think I even released my Limit.......'
Baek Seol-hee bit her lip firmly.
Originally, she had not the slightest intention of showing this much.
But the enhanced power.
And the sense of liberation after a long while.
The desire to properly live up to her disciple's expectations.
All of it intermingled and released her Limit.
She already knew from experience.
How people reacted when she showed this side of herself in front of others.
Usually, they backed away with a horrified expression.
Or trembled in fear, unable to even meet her eyes.
Or ran away with pathetic screams.
Wasn't that why she'd stopped Jin Yu-ha during the Midterm Evaluation when he'd tried to become intoxicated with the sword in a torrent of emotion?
Because she knew better than anyone the end that awaited those drunk on the sword.
A nickname born because, when immersed in battle, she loses sight of her surroundings and swings a sword of the utmost brutality.
Slaughter-Crazed Woman (屠殺狂女).
She didn't want to admit it, but it was an alias perfectly suited to herself.
That was one reason she had chosen to operate in the shadows.
Because she was someone who could not display the image of a hero before others.
"Master."
At that moment, she heard her disciple's voice calling her from behind.
Flinch—
Her body trembled at that voice.
Just how would Jin Yu-ha, having seen this side of her, react?
Had he felt fear?
Had he thought he wanted to keep his distance?
Or was he putting on an act, pretending to be okay, but with eyes he couldn't quite steady betraying him?
The disciple who had always looked at her with reverence in his eyes.
The thought that those eyes had changed, just like everyone else's.
Goosebumps rose on her body.
'No.......'
Baek Seol-hee had never felt anything like fear before any enemy, ever.
But in this moment, she wanted to run away.
However, she clenched her fist tight and steeled her heart.
'I mustn't.......'
As a master, how could she show such a pathetic sight before her disciple?
If he feared her, she could simply use that as another form of education.
"Yes. Did you watch well."
Without turning back, she spoke in as calm a voice as she could manage.
"Yes! That was really amazing!"
'......What?'
For a moment, she thought she had misheard something.
Her own combat, even viewed in the best light, was far removed from anything that could be called amazing.
"I never imagined that dagger could be used like that! You should've shown me sooner!"
'......How?'
Jin Yu-ha's voice was......
astonishingly the same as usual.
"Other than Chairwoman Rina, this is the first time I've seen someone take down this many monsters by themselves in such a short time! As expected of you, Master!"
'......Really?'
Baek Seol-hee could feel anticipation slowly blossoming inside her chest.
'Truly, even after seeing me like that, you...... are really fine with it......?'
Baek Seol-hee slowly turned her head.
And there was her disciple, grinning.
"......."
Baek Seol-hee stared intently at Jin Yu-ha.
Because she wanted to know if this child was looking at her with the same eyes as always,
or if he was forcing a fabricated smile.
That's when it happened.
Jin Yu-ha pouted his lips slightly and said,
"But, it's a shame."
"......About what."
The voice that answered was, uncharacteristically for her, trembling pathetically.
"Just now, when you smiled, Master, you were really beautiful. Couldn't you smile like that normally too?"
Whoosh—
A breeze blew from the other side and swept through Baek Seol-hee's hair.
Ha.......
Really.
'No matter how I think about it, gaining a disciple like this seems like an undeserved stroke of luck.......'
The atmosphere of the Jeju Island dungeon recommended by the Demonized Human Extermination Squad member was, unmistakably,
fucking beautiful.