Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 84
>Chapter Title: Demonic Path's Foremost Prodigy (3)
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To evade Instructor Chu Il-hwan, their pursuer, they unleashed their lightness skills and ran for just a brief moment.
The instant they reached a spot hidden by the underbrush where Chu Il-hwan was out of sight, Il-mok suddenly changed direction.
“From now on, run at full speed.”
“Won’t that leave even more traces?”
Seong-hwan, who had some leeway since they were matching the top speed of the E-Class cadets on the official path, asked Il-mok.
“There’s no need to erase the traces anyway.”
“!?”
The squad members looked perplexed, so Il-mok added an explanation.
“No matter how much we erase our traces, to the instructors’ level, it’s just child’s play. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to overlap the traces?”
“Overlap the traces? What do you mean?”
“Right before scattering. Squad Three ran off in this direction.”
“Ah!”
Only then did the squad members understand Il-mok’s intent.
Thanks to unleashing their lightness skills at full power, they easily spotted signs of people passing by.
“This looks like traces left by Squad Three. We’ll follow these traces and move.”
Following Il-mok’s orders, they tracked Squad Three’s traces for a while.
At some point, the traces grew faint.
“It seems they started erasing their traces from here.”
Il-mok nodded at Seong-hwan’s words and spoke.
“Now we’re at a crossroads. Chase them, or head somewhere else?”
“Chase Squad Three?”
Perhaps because they had been moving slowly since starting to track Squad Three’s traces, E-Class cadet Bu Ga-young, who had some breathing room, asked before Il-mok could answer. Seong-hwan exclaimed in admiration.
“You plan to ally with Squad Three and catch the instructor?”
Everyone looked at Il-mok with impressed faces at Seong-hwan’s prediction, but Il-mok shook his head.
“Alliances are meaningless. Remember well. Instructor Chu Il-hwan said he’d give top marks only to the squad that takes the bell. Even if we ally, only the squad that actually gets the bell in their hands will benefit, so it’d just be a hollow alliance.”
“Then why chase Squad Three?”
“Hmm. They might not realize that, so how about pretending to form a fake alliance and then betraying them?”
As Jeong-hyeon and the rest of the squad members voiced their own ideas, Il-mok sighed inwardly.
“Think carefully. The test rule is simply to survive the longest. There’s no rule against fighting among cadets this time either. If we subdue Squad Three and let Instructor Chu Il-hwan catch us, at least we won’t come in last, right?”
“!!!”
At Il-mok’s explanation, everyone’s faces showed shock.
Seeing that, Il-mok sighed inwardly in relief.
‘Did they buy it roughly?’
In truth, Il-mok’s proposed plan had a few issues.
The possibility of failing to subdue them or getting subdued in return. And in the worst case, getting chased by Chu Il-hwan during the fight and eliminated as a group.
Even so, the reason Il-mok suggested this plan was simple.
First, he was confident they wouldn’t get subdued by another squad.
Second.
‘Wandering the mountains all day to avoid who-knows-where-they’ll-pop-up humans is the worst.’
He just wanted to quickly beat down another squad, subdue them, and end the test swiftly to rest.
“Then, it’d be best to pursue Squad Three first.”
“I think so too. With traces of two squads moving together, even Instructor Chu Il-hwan would hesitate to approach.”
With Seong-hwan and Lee Gyun agreeing with Il-mok’s opinion, the decision to chase Squad Three was naturally made.
“Then, Jeong-hyeon cadet, you take the lead in checking Squad Three’s traces? You’re the best at tracking among us.”
Jeong-hyeon, who had been following a zhang behind, looked startled at the sudden call but quickly regained her composure, thanks to her experience from the last test.
“Ah, yes, Young Master.”
As Jeong-hyeon stepped forward, Il-mok gave orders to the other squad members as well.
“You three, follow behind and erase the traces as you move.”
At Il-mok’s command, the remaining three quickly moved to the rear, erasing their own traces and the faint ones left by Squad Three ahead.
In case Instructor Chu Il-hwan happened to chase them. To delay him even a little.
Having issued orders in an instant, Il-mok leisurely followed behind Jeong-hyeon, who was tracking Squad Three’s traces up front.
‘Having five squad members sure is convenient.’
Whether erasing traces or tracking them. Jobs that required constantly rummaging through bushes and dirt.
For Il-mok, who suffered from hygiene obsession, they were the most dreadful tasks.
But with more squad members, he could naturally offload that filthy work onto the other four.
* * *
Yeom Ga-hwi was tracking Il-mok’s group from a short distance away, hiding his presence.
As a warrior of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had carried out numerous missions, stealth techniques were basic to him.
Watching them divide roles flawlessly and move, Yeom Ga-hwi thought.
‘Instructor Bang Mi-hwa’s evaluation seems to have been a misunderstanding.’
It was nearly impossible for someone so shy to issue commands so proactively like that. On top of that.
‘Instead of passively fleeing, they chose to subdue another squad. Not only quick to grasp the test’s essence, but bold too.’
Being bold and shy at the same time felt contradictory somehow.
In that sense, Yeom Ga-hwi wanted to give Il-mok passing marks.
Properly assigning personnel where needed, bold judgments and commands. He exuded a maturity hard to believe from a sixteen-year-old.
‘So the rumors were true.’
The rumor he meant wasn’t the one circulating in the Demonic Path Academy. It was about Il-mok’s achievements at the main headquarters before entering.
The matter with the school and the Serenity Academy. And the rumor that he led the young master to enlightenment.
Yeom Ga-hwi, a man of upright character, wasn’t one to be swayed by rumors, but at this point, denying it would be foolish.
Il-mok Young Master boasted exceptional talent in both martial arts and mental cultivation, but one thing nagged at Yeom Ga-hwi as he looked past Il-mok to Jeong-hyeon leading up front.
‘Hmm. He requested to be grouped with that female cadet, didn’t he?’
It was only natural, but Instructor Eun-ryeo had reported to Chu Il-hwan and the academy lord that Il-mok had made such a request, instead of simply putting Il-mok and Jeong-hyeon in the same squad.
Of course, Instructor Eun-ryeo had granted Il-mok’s request out of pity for Jeong-hyeon’s social phobia.
And this wasn’t favoritism.
Since tests happened once a month, they initially formed squads based on familiarity or compatibility.
In fact, Bang Mi-hwa was grouped with her longtime friend Ha Yeong, and Duggo Pae and Gwak Sul, who showed good synergy in the first test, were also together for that reason.
The reason Yeom Ga-hwi was wary of Jeong-hyeon was something else.
While Jeong-hyeon bent at the waist, meticulously checking bushes and the ground for Squad Three’s traces, Il-mok was staring at her back as he followed.
Watching the two, Yeom Ga-hwi furrowed his brow.
‘They said he’s fond of women.’
Il-mok gazing at Jeong-hyeon’s bent-back figure looked highly suspicious to Yeom Ga-hwi.
Of course, it could be seen as the perfectly natural posture of following the lead scout.
‘Did he request the same squad to make her lead like that?’
On top of the instructors’ evaluations, Il-mok deliberately pulling Jeong-hyeon into his squad and making her lead seemed suspicious in many ways to Yeom Ga-hwi.
But soon, Yeom Ga-hwi shook his head.
‘Whew. No need to view cadets through a negative lens unconditionally. And a young man being fond of women isn’t a crime. Unless it’s forced assault.’
As expected of an impartial man, the Demonic Path Academy lord tried to evaluate Il-mok fairly.
And shortly after.
Sensing some presence, Yeom Ga-hwi stopped first, and soon Jeong-hyeon, who had been tracking, also halted and signaled the squad members with hand signs.
It was a signal that Squad Three they were chasing wasn’t far away.
* * *
Confirming Jeong-hyeon’s hand signals, Il-mok quickly issued orders.
“Jeong cadet, slowly approach from here and secure a good sniping spot. The rest of you three, follow me to approach Squad Three.”
Giving additional orders to the three, Il-mok unleashed stealth techniques and headed in the direction Jeong-hyeon indicated.
And the moment he spotted five people gathered beyond the bushes.
Pat!
Il-mok unleashed his lightness skill at full power and dove toward a cadet whose face he barely recognized.
The reason he barely recognized the face was that it was an E-Class cadet.
No matter how disinterested Il-mok was in other cadets, he knew all the faces of the A-Class cadets he trained with. There were only ten of them.
Likewise, despite there being only ten E-Class cadets, Il-mok could hardly remember their faces just because they didn’t attend classes together.
At best, he recognized only Joo Seo-yeon and Jeong-hyeon.
“What the—!?”
As Il-mok burst out from the bushes and closed in instantly, that E-Class cadet looked shocked and hastily thrust his sword, but.
Pat.
Il-mok dodged grazing by and simply sealed his pressure points.
The rest of Squad Three’s members, who were ambushed, hurriedly surrounded Il-mok to launch a pincer attack, but.
“Haap!”
“Get him!”
Seong-hwan, Lee Gyun, and Bu Ga-young, who had followed behind Il-mok, joined in, turning it into each facing one.
Amid that.
Swaeaeaek!
Jeong-hyeon provided support fire from afar, naturally making the battle one-sided.
Chaeng.
“Urk.”
In the midst of it, Il-mok subdued an additional A-Class cadet in just three exchanges.
Thanks to the enlightenment gained from the spar with Baek Cheon last time, his skills had advanced a level.
‘Damn. Should I be happy about this?’
Il-mok’s expression wasn’t bright.
Perhaps due to his obsessive tendencies, even when he wanted to fight moderately, his sword moved along the ideal optimal path.
To the point where he had an ominous feeling that enlightenment might come again.
As Il-mok, having subdued two alone, glared displeased at the hand gripping his sword, Yeom Ga-hwi, watching the battle between Squad Three and Four from afar, nodded with an “As expected.”
‘At least when it comes to sword training, he’s serious.’
Yeom Ga-hwi figured that despite reaching an overwhelming level compared to his peers, he still wasn’t satisfied with his own swordsmanship.
* * *
While Il-mok and his squad members were subduing Squad Three.
Squad One, where Duggo Pae had appointed himself leader, had stopped walking and was standing somewhere.
“From now on, take a rest and prepare for the decisive battle.”
At Duggo Pae’s order, the squad members looked puzzled, and one of them, Gwak Sul, stepped forward to ask.
“By any chance, do you plan to fight another squad and eliminate them first?”
Gwak Sul had reached a similar conclusion to Il-mok.
But there was one thing he overlooked. Duggo Pae’s way of thinking.
“What nonsense? As the eldest grandson of the Duggo family, I naturally aim for the top, don’t I?”
“???”
Hiding his inner thought of what bullshit is this, Gwak Sul pondered briefly before reaching a somehow ominous conclusion.
“S-surely not. You’re aiming for the instructor?”
At Gwak Sul’s question, Duggo Pae nodded as if it were obvious.
“Hahaha. If we just catch Instructor Chu Il-hwan, we get top marks. Why bother chasing other squads messily?”
At Duggo Pae’s nonsense, Gwak Sul felt a inexplicable headache.
Amid that.
“What an excellent idea, Duggo cadet! As cadets, we should naturally aim for top marks, right?”
Suddenly, Joo Seo-yeon, the overall last place, stepped up to agree with Duggo Pae’s opinion.
Her thinking was simple.
‘I need to get top marks and rise to the top seats quickly!’
Her mind was solely on entering the top seats to become Jin Ha-yeon’s junior.
But for some reason, when Joo Seo-yeon took his side, Duggo Pae furrowed his brow.
“Hey. Call me squad leader!”
It was purely about the title.
“Got it, Squad Leader! Let’s catch the instructor together!”
“Hahaha. You’re a cadet who gets it! Let’s get those top marks together.”
Watching the two men and women bond and laugh heartily, Gwak Sul thought.
‘Would defecting to another squad violate the rules?’
Somehow, this test felt wrong too.