13화 Ghost Soul Hand’s Disciple (3)
Ghost Soul Hand’s disciple.
Just a moment ago, this single phrase drew every gaze in the examination hall. Expectation, curiosity, jealousy, and wariness.
Eyes filled with countless emotions struck him like spears.
Hajin cursed inwardly, but he could not say a word aloud. With all eyes fixed upon him, there was no way to slip away.
‘Damn it….’
His goal was to pass the exam modestly and fade into the background, but that was no longer an option. Hadn’t the stage been set for him, after all?
In particular, the purple eyes of the Mad Demon, who was glaring at him from atop the sparring arena, were chilling. They were the eyes of a predator that had just discovered its prey.
He couldn't help but gulp down a dry swallow. Eventually, Hajin sighed in resignation and stepped onto the sparring arena. He then bowed to the Mad Demon with a fist-and-palm salute.
"I ask for your guidance."
It was a formal greeting, but the Mad Demon, as if uninterested in such things, flicked her hand and spoke in an irritated voice.
"Forget the meaningless pleasantries. You’re Ghost Soul Hand’s disciple, aren't you?"
Her eyes flashed.
"I shall see for myself just how well that stubborn old man has trained his disciple."
"Pardon?"
Before the words had even faded, the Mad Demon reached out again. A denser, more intense aura than before surged toward Hajin.
"Try and block this."
It was a massive energy, on a completely different level from what he had seen until now. Amidst a pressure that felt like it was slicing through his skin, Hajin focused his mind.
He quickly gathered his mana and deployed a Shield spell precisely along the path of the Mad Demon’s incoming hand. At the same time, her hand struck the center. Fortunately, he had expected to block it.
*Cr-cr-crack—!*
However, contrary to Hajin’s expectations, the shield could not withstand even a single moment; it shattered into pieces with a roar, like glass breaking.
‘Wait…?’
Hajin’s eyes were filled with shock. She had clearly struck with her bare hand, yet it had shattered in an instant.
‘This is something that even blocked Cheon Ha-rin’s martial arts!’
Of course, there might be a gap in skill between Cheon Ha-rin and the Mad Demon, but wasn't that level of destructive power beyond all common sense?
His mind went blank. But even if the shield had broken, he had managed to block at least one strike, so that should have been enough. Just as Hajin thought this and tried to feel relieved, it happened.
Through the shards of the shield, the Mad Demon’s fist was flying toward him again. Without the slightest loss of speed, and with an even more ferocious momentum.
‘What is this…?’
Wasn't the test supposed to be blocking just once? Before he could even feel flustered, the Mad Demon’s fist rushed toward his face.
A moment of panic—the split second before Hajin could even process the situation. The Mad Demon’s fist was already right in front of him.
Hajin’s vision was completely filled with the Mad Demon’s fist.
"Ugh!"
His instincts reacted first. Hajin gritted his teeth and squeezed out the very last drop of mana he had left, deploying the Shield spell once more.
*Cr-crack—!*
Once again, the shield could not hold and cracked like a spiderweb. At the same time, his Mana Spring throbbed as if screaming. With a pain that felt like his head was splitting, his vision blurred.
‘This is my limit. I have to end this insane test somehow….’
Beyond the fracturing shield, Hajin tried to shout at the Mad Demon, who wore a relaxed expression. He intended to protest that the test was only supposed to be one block, and that this was a foul. That was the very moment.
Once again.
A third fist flew in with a roar.
‘Damn it all…!’
Hajin cursed inwardly, scraping and scraping at his nearly empty Mana Spring to deploy the shield. It was no longer defense; it was a desperate struggle.
Meanwhile, the Mad Demon frowned every time she threw a punch.
‘What is this? That just now?’
Right before her fist made contact, she felt as if it were being blocked by some invisible wall. Yet, the attack wasn't completely negated, nor did it bounce off.
‘Is it a unique External Energy? Or a type of Rebound Art?’
It was an energy too alien to be something taught by Ghost Soul Hand. For the first time, pure curiosity flickered in her eyes.
‘Interesting. I want to test this a bit more.’
As if Hajin’s condition were of no concern to her, she threw her fist again. The face of the Blade Demon, who was watching the scene from afar, had turned pale.
‘That crazy woman, she’s lost herself in the fight again….’
Forget the test; she was just playing with the toy in front of her until it broke because she found it fascinating.
Honestly, he understood. A mere cadet was blocking the Mad Demon’s attacks in succession. It wasn't just a single lucky block. Even he would have been tempted to test it.
But if this continued, the cadet would die. Of course, cadets dying in the Heavenly Demonic Cult was a common occurrence, but if the cause was the Demonic Sovereign, the situation would be different.
The Blade Demon judged that he had to intervene immediately and opened his mouth.
"Hey, that’s enough for the test…!"
Just as he was about to rush forward, the Mad Demon muttered with a chilling smile.
"Let’s see if you can block this one too."
At her fingertips, a dense and thick Internal Energy, incomparable to before, began to condense. It was a killing intent so strong that the surrounding air screamed and distorted.
Seeing this, the Blade Demon’s eyes were filled with shock.
"That crazy woman! Using Internal Energy against a cadet?!"
Without a moment’s hesitation, he ran toward the sparring arena with all his might. This had gone beyond a simple test; it was a clear Lethal Strike.
* * *
The Mad Demon extended her hand, laden with massive Internal Energy, toward Hajin without hesitation. It was effectively the unleashing of a full martial art.
"Damn it!"
Hajin instinctively recoiled, desperately clinging to his consciousness, and gathered every last drop of mana remaining in his body to deploy a final shield.
*Snap—!*
As the shield was generated, he heard something inside his body break decisively. A horrific sensation of his mana pool splitting apart completely.
‘Ah, I’m screwed….’
If one’s mana is completely exhausted or the spring breaks, it takes a significant amount of time to recover. It was naturally painful, and he would be unable to use magic during that time.
Above all, the biggest problem was that it placed a massive strain on his entire body.
There was no way he could block the Mad Demon’s fist that was approaching again.
‘I’m going to die like this…?’
But just then, a massive shadow that appeared suddenly like lightning blocked the space between Hajin and the Mad Demon. It was the Blade Demon.
He drew his Moon White Blade and leveled it at the Mad Demon’s neck with the intent to strike at any moment. The Mad Demon asked the Blade Demon, who was blocking her path, in an irritated voice.
"Why are you interfering again?"
The Blade Demon growled, his teeth grinding in anger.
"You crazy woman! I told you to conduct a test, not to kill a cadet!"
The Mad Demon tilted her head, as if she couldn't understand.
"That kid blocked my attacks quite easily. This much should be fine. I barely put any Internal Energy into it."
"How could that be! How could a mere cadet take an attack infused with your Internal Energy and remain unscathed!"
"Then you can just ask him. Look, he’s standing there just fine."
The Blade Demon suppressed his rising frustration and hurriedly asked Hajin, who was behind him.
"Hey, Cadet Number 400! Are you alright?"
But no answer came from Hajin. Instead, bright red blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
"Cough…."
With a short cough, Hajin collapsed forward, limp. Seeing this, the Blade Demon’s face turned to panic.
"What! Hey, wake up! Instructor! Take this boy to the infirmary immediately!"
While the Blade Demon was shouting urgently, the Mad Demon also widened her eyes in surprise at the unexpected situation.
"What? What’s wrong with him?"
The composure and madness from just a moment ago were gone, and her face was clearly filled with confusion. The examination hall instantly turned into chaos.
The Mad Demon felt a bit aggrieved.
‘I definitely felt like even that last attack had missed somehow…?’
The Mad Demon retraced the subtle sensation remaining at her fingertips. An alien feeling of not having made a proper strike. Of course, resolving the situation in front of her was more important than analyzing that.
Instructor Chae Un-ryang hurriedly climbed onto the sparring arena and hoisted the limp Hajin onto his back. He ran toward the infirmary with urgent strides.
The Blade Demon glared at the Mad Demon, the culprit of this entire situation, and scolded her in a voice filled with killing intent.
"You fool, 'unscathed'? Does that look unscathed to you?!"
The Blade Demon gestured toward the direction Hajin had disappeared and shouted.
"Anyone can see he suffered a severe internal injury from forcing his energy to circulate! What were you going to do if he ended up a cripple!"
The Mad Demon had no words to defend herself. She realized that her restraint had been excessive, and that the consequences were far more serious than she had anticipated.
She could only keep her mouth shut and endure the Blade Demon’s fury. The Blade Demon sighed, clutching his burning chest.
"Let’s please just have a normal test. You’ve made such a mess of the exam that the entire Demonic Path Academy is going to be ruined."
As if he didn't want to exchange another word with the Mad Demon, he clicked his tongue and stepped down from the sparring arena. Left behind, the Mad Demon stood awkwardly, frowning at a sense of unease she was feeling for the first time in her life.
Meanwhile, Cheon Ha-rin’s red eyes, which had been watching the entire situation from below the sparring arena, narrowed. While other cadets were shocked by Hajin’s condition, she felt a completely different kind of discomfort.
‘What is this?’
A question rose in her mind. Hajin was clearly not at that level. No matter how much of an opponent the Mad Demon was, she had only used basic Internal Energy.
Other cadets had blocked it with some difficulty, but none had suffered internal injuries severe enough to vomit blood.
Furthermore, the Hajin she remembered was much more relaxed and skilled. The image of him lightly parrying her full-power sword strikes as if playing a game was vivid in her mind.
‘The guy who easily blocked my sword techniques is collapsing so helplessly after only a few exchanges?’
That couldn't be. Just as she was thinking that this must all be a high-level ploy, a possibility suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘Could it be that he was actually giving his all even when facing me?’
However, this thought immediately collided with another question.
‘No, that doesn’t explain why he ran away in the middle of the sparring match. If he really had been doing his best to block me, there would have been no reason to flee.’
She recalled the moment Hajin had turned his back and vanished. It had been nothing short of a significant insult. No matter how she looked at it, that was not an act of consideration for her.
Furthermore, was he not the disciple of the Ghost Soul Hand? That the only disciple of the Ghost Soul Hand lacked skill? That was the very thing that made no sense.
‘There must be some other scheme at play. Or perhaps, did he pull such a stunt just to draw everyone’s attention once again?’
If that were the case, it could only be a deeply unpleasant intention.
Whatever the truth was, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of skill. Cheon Ha-rin stared at the spot where Hajin had been before being carried away, refusing to let go of her suspicions. While everyone else was either pitying him or in shock, she alone was trying to uncover Hajin’s true motives.
Meanwhile, the Blade Demon scanned the chaotic testing grounds before looking at his daughter, So-yeon, who was standing silently. He quietly sent a Six-Harmonies Voice Transmission.
[Keep a close eye on cadet number four hundred, who was just carried away.]
He, too, recalled the strange spectacle of Hajin blocking the Mad Demon’s attacks earlier. It had been something alien and mysterious, far beyond a simple clash of internal energy.
[That boy might be the greatest enigma among this batch of recruits.]
[Yes.]
Her father’s voice echoed quietly in So-yeon’s mind.
‘He said he was the disciple of the Ghost Soul Hand.’
Her indifferent eyes turned toward the direction where Hajin had disappeared. Her father, the Blade Demon, was a man sincere about martial arts; he was never one to speak nonsense.
A subtle interest began to stir within her.
And not far from them, standing among those who had passed the test, Yun-geom was also staring at the same spot with a hardened expression.
‘Cadet number four hundred, Hajin, was it…?’
The Mad Demon’s strike, which he himself had barely managed to block with all his might. Yet, that nameless boy had blocked it several times in succession. Was that not a level of skill far beyond what a number four hundred should possess?
Although he had ended up vomiting blood and collapsing, the process itself unpleasantly pricked at Yun-geom’s pride.
‘Did he deliberately hide his true strength?’
Certainly, the very fact that the Ghost Soul Hand’s disciple had been assigned the number four hundred was an irritating matter. Without realizing it, he tightened his grip on his sword. He then muttered to the warrior of the Sword Demon Sect standing beside him.
“Keep a close watch on that guy.”
“Understood.”
It was the moment the cadets’ attention began to converge on Hajin.
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