Chapter 45
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Can You Stand Up?
Pang Do-woong moved forward with an irritated expression on his face.
The signboard reading Dragon Training Pavilion hung right before his eyes.
He had broken out of secluded training and come all the way here because of that one cousin of his.
Pang Do-woong.
He was the greatest swordsman of the current Pang Clan.
About half a month ago, a letter from Dragon Training Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had arrived at the Pang Clan.
Upon confirming the letter's contents, the young clan leader Pang Do-won had burst into his secluded training chamber, nearly breaking down the door.
Even though his training wasn't finished, Pang Do-woong had grudgingly ended his seclusion at the man's earnest plea.
He had never liked that nephew of his to begin with.
The fact that his training had been interrupted because of such a punk filled him with annoyance, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Pang Gun-ho. That bastard was still the eldest grandson of the Pang Clan, and even Clan Leader Pang Mu-ryang—his own uncle—had stepped in.
Why on earth had they sent a walking disaster like that to the Dragon Training Pavilion?
In any case, his mission was to protect Pang Gun-ho's safety within the pavilion.
This was a loophole being exploited.
Personal bodyguards for students? It was absurd to begin with. There were plenty of disciples from prestigious sects enrolled as students at the pavilion.
If personal escorts were allowed, they'd all bring martial guards with them, and before long, there might be more guards than students.
That was why personal bodyguards for students were strictly forbidden.
His uncle was trying to break that rule now.
Through a loophole.
It was possible only because Pang Do-yul was the Pavilion Lord.
Officially, Pang Do-woong wasn't here as Pang Gun-ho's personal bodyguard.
He had been dispatched to the Dragon Training Pavilion on a temporary assignment as a protector responsible for the pavilion's internal security, at the direct request of the Pavilion Lord himself.
That was the pretext, at least.
And then he had to hover around Pang Gun-ho nonstop.
"This is really pissing me off."
Those words slipped from his mouth just as he finished verifying his identity with the gate guards and stepped through the main entrance.
At that moment, he sensed an energy stirring in his perceptual field.
It was quite a distance away, so he wasn't entirely sure at first, but this level of presence wasn't ordinary.
It was the kind of energy only a master of Pang Do-woong's caliber could detect.
"Ho? What kind of energy is this? What's going on?"
He had stayed at the Dragon Training Pavilion for a short time back when he was full of youthful vigor.
This direction was definitely toward the training grounds.
"And it's the area the Fierce Dragon Corps mainly uses, too..."
There was no reason for such a powerful energy to emanate from a place like that.
Curiosity piqued, Pang Do-woong's steps turned not toward the Pavilion Lord's office, but toward the source of the energy. As his nominal duty required, it was something he had to check.
He was a protector responsible for the Dragon Training Pavilion's safety, after all.
His pace quickened.
Time had stopped.
Or at least, that's how it seemed.
The movements and thoughts of everyone present had frozen in place.
Only the groans spilling from Pang Gun-ho's mouth proved that time hadn't truly halted.
No, perhaps the figure of the old man emanating wave after wave of murderous intent made it even clearer that time was still flowing.
"Hah..."
A sigh rode in on a sudden breeze.
When had he appeared?
No one had noticed his approach or arrival, but Ha Mu-baek was suddenly there.
With his emergence, time began to flow again.
"What in the world is going on here?"
The old man turned at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"You've come."
As he spoke, the killing intent pouring from the old man's body eased slightly.
Doubt flickered in the eyes of the seven students and the twenty others.
Did those two know each other? What was their relationship?
None of the students could recall ever seeing them together since the second half of the term began.
"If you'd heard what that mongrel bastard spouted, you'd have beheaded the filthy trash right then and there."
His voice brimmed with fury.
Ha Mu-baek nodded at his master's words. His expectations hadn't been off by a single inch.
Well, one thing had.
He hadn't anticipated that the bastard would pull something like this today.
Still, he'd done enough to warrant considering whether to kill him, just as he'd asked Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
[That mongrel bastard said...]
Mindful of the students, perhaps? Wi Ji-gun transmitted the earlier events to Ha Mu-baek via internal energy.
"Eek!"
Dang Jin-san yelped in shock.
Until moments ago, only the old man had been radiating killing intent. Now, Instructor Ha was doing it too.
It was thicker, denser, more savage.
"I'll handle cleaning up here. Master, please withdraw for now."
Ha Mu-baek spoke softly, but the seven students heard him clearly.
The six excluding Ha Seol-ran were stunned.
Master?
The quirky old man they'd thought was just a pavilion handyman was this enigmatic instructor's master?
What in the world was happening?
Wi Ji-gun glanced around at Ha Mu-baek's words and nodded.
All the kids were still here. Of course, he could sense the quick-witted ones rushing this way.
There was no need to brawl with these people needlessly.
Besides, with his disciple here, he could leave that mongrel to him.
"Understood. I leave it to you."
With that, the old man vanished like the wind.
No student discerned how he had moved.
The sight delivered a tremendous shock to Ju Wu-myeong.
He couldn't collect his thoughts.
Unlike the other students, Ju Wu-myeong had some inkling of an absolute master's power and abilities.
His own master had been the previous generation's top swordsman of the Wudang Sect.
From his experiences with that master, he knew a little.
'Those two... I can't gauge them. Not at all.'
Even compared to his master, he couldn't fathom their strength.
And he was pitting them against the former Wudang's greatest sword.
When the Fierce Dragon Corps students said they'd caught Namgung Ji-hu, a spark of anticipation had drawn him here, sensing something big.
But to think monsters like these were lurking.
Ju Wu-myeong's clenched fists trembled uncontrollably.
"Urk. Ngh. Damn it... You think you'll get away with this...?"
As the old man departed and Ha Mu-baek gazed down impassively, Pang Gun-ho began to regain some consciousness.
The wretch, who had only groaned in pain, now muttered something.
But he still didn't know what had reduced him to this state.
It had all happened in an instant.
"Can you stand up?"
Ha Mu-baek's voice focused on Pang Gun-ho.
"Ngh. Instructor? Hurry... help me up... Ack."
Even in his state, he recognized Ha Mu-baek's voice.
"What a spectacle."
Ha Mu-baek's tone was ice-cold.
"Wh-what? Kgh. D-did you just...?"
Even as pain dominated his body, Pang Gun-ho revealed his true colors.
Pang Gun-ho rose, his entire body shuddering.
Through his blood-smeared face gleamed eyes burning with rage and agony.
Ha Mu-baek watched him with indifferent eyes.
The moment he seemed fully upright.
Swish.
In an instant, Ha Mu-baek closed the distance, raising his right palm.
Slap!
He struck Pang Gun-ho's face squarely.
The force sent Pang Gun-ho flying leftward in a spray of blood, but Ha Mu-baek grabbed his hair with his left hand.
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
It sounded almost like applause.
But this was unmistakably Ha Mu-baek slapping Pang Gun-ho's face.
Each time, blood spurted from Pang Gun-ho.
The seven students squeezed their eyes shut and turned away.
His expressionless face, devoid of any life, swung the palm mechanically.
The sight was brutally horrifying.
They couldn't bear to look at Pang Gun-ho's face.
"What is this...?"
Han Seol-bing arrived then.
"I-Instructor...!"
Ha Seol-ran turned to him, her voice trembling, having rushed up behind.
Her plea begged him to stop her brother.
Han Seol-bing understood instantly.
He glanced back at Ha Mu-baek and shook his head.
Ha Mu-baek in that state was beyond stopping.
"If the Corps Leader gets like that, no one can rein him in..."
It had been so long since he'd seen that visage that Han Seol-bing could only address him as Corps Leader.
He looked no different from the war demon soaked in blood from those days.
"Hah..."
The second to arrive was Pang Do-woong.
The intensifying killing intent as he drew near had spurred him to unleash his full lightness skill.
At the scene before him, Pang Do-woong was speechless.
The blood-drenched figure being savagely beaten was undoubtedly his nephew.
The very culprit who had brought him here.
And he was already in that state.
He knew the punk's temperament, but he was still the Pang Clan's eldest grandson.
He hadn't imagined anyone in the Dragon Training Pavilion bold enough to thrash the Pang Clan's heir so brutally.
'Uncle and brother knew...'
That's why they'd gone to the trouble of sending him via loophole.
But he seemed a bit late.
The damage was already done.
Still, he couldn't stand idly by. That was the Pang Clan's heir, after all.
"Stop!"
A thunderous roar laced with internal energy erupted from Pang Do-woong's mouth.
Han Seol-bing and the seven students turned toward him. But Ha Mu-baek showed no reaction.
He simply continued swinging his right hand mechanically.
Pang Do-woong was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected his power-infused lion's roar to have no effect.
He couldn't shout again.
Every delayed second meant more brutality for his nephew.
He had already lost consciousness.
To an outsider, he might look like a corpse.
Dangling limply from the left hand gripping his hair.
"You bastard!!"
Roaring, Pang Do-woong drew his blade and launched himself forward.
Iron Blood Soul-Seizing Blade.
One of the Pang Clan's three great blade arts, the most domineering—not just of the clan, but among the world's top five—unfolded from Pang Do-woong's hands.
Only then did Ha Mu-baek's right hand stop.
He glanced briefly at the incoming blade, then casually shifted his step.
Boom!
The blade strike that hit where Ha Mu-baek had stood moments before boomed massively, kicking up dirt in all directions.
Pang Do-woong whipped his gaze around.
There stood Ha Mu-baek at the end of it.
This strike had been intentionally easy to dodge.
His goal was to halt the man's hand first.
His nephew was still dangling from the bastard's grip. Sweeping him up in the attack would only complicate things for Pang Do-woong.
"You dare reduce the Pang Clan's heir to that state—whoever you are, are you tired of living?"
He was sure the punk deserved it. Knowing what Pang Gun-ho was like, Pang Do-woong didn't need the full story to assume as much.
Still, he was the clan heir.
The implications of that status were significant.
This was now a matter of the Pang Clan's face.
As he directed his blade tip toward Ha Mu-baek, Pang Do-woong declared,
"Release that boy at once and kneel!"
His voice, infused with majestic and domineering energy, rang out imposingly.
"Not bad with a blade."
Ha Mu-baek smirked as he spoke, tilting his head slightly.
At least, it was a face he didn't recall from his memory.
"Oh no..."
A dismayed voice sounded then.
It was Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul, who had tossed aside the letter he was reading and raced here at full speed upon sensing the energy storm a bit late.
As far as he knew, the only one in the Dragon Training Pavilion who could emit such energy was Ha Mu-baek.
This was an extreme emergency.
And his prediction had hit the mark.
The scene unfolding before his eyes proved it.