Chapter 15
Unable to recall it in the end, the Cult Leader called for Cho Seok-myeong. His wife and son had already returned home by then.
When the Cult Leader asked, Cho Seok-myeong answered immediately.
“I was the one who chose and sent those two.”
He then explained that after he chose one person, a personal bodyguard who was standing a little distance away had raised his hand and stepped forward.
“At that time, protecting the Cult Leader was urgent, so I considered it fortunate that two people were decided on quickly and sent them w
ithout much thought.”
“Who was the one who volunteered?”
“It was Gwak Won... He is a man in the Honor Guard who can be trusted with tasks. His skills are beyond doubt. While he is not what you would call high-ranking in the Honor Guard, he is someone who carries out his given tasks without fail. And in that situation, while catching the assassin was important, I also made that decision because I thought it was more important to remain by the Cult Leader's side and prepare for any additional attacks that might follow.”
Cho Seok-myeong, while wondering if he had done something wrong, did not know why Cheon Ha-seong was asking that.
“He was also injured and is now sleeping after receiving treatment. Is there something weighing on your mind, Head Instructor Cheon?”
When the Cult Leader asked, Cheon Ha-seong looked at him.
“I would like to see him, Cult Leader. Of course, it is night and a time for sleep, but someone did die tonight. Since Guard Gwak has at least survived, I don't think he will complain about having his sleep disturbed. And even if he does complain, it wouldn't matter.”
The Cult Leader looked at Cho Seok-myeong and nodded as if to tell him to do so. Then Cheon Ha-seong added his words.
“I would also like to go with you, if that is alright.”
“Of course.”
Cho Seok-myeong quickly saw how deeply Cheon Ha-seong was trusted by the Cult Leader, so he tried his best not to get on Cheon Ha-seong's nerves.
“Except for on designated days, the Honor Guard stays in the lodgings near the Cult Leader's Hall.”
On the way, Cho Seok-myeong explained, and Cheon Ha-seong listened with a serious face.
“Captain Cho, I will go, so could you tell me where his room is?”
“Are you saying you'll go alone? If a stranger enters, he might attack instinctively. Wouldn't it be better if I went with you?”
“If he attacks, I will say that the Captain sent me.”
Cho Seok-myeong, while wondering if it was really okay, let Cheon Ha-seong do as he wished for the time being.
When Cheon Ha-seong entered the room, Gwak Won was not asleep. It might have been different during ordinary times, but he had just come from going through a major incident.
He had just returned after killing a colleague from the Personal Honor Guard with his own hands and getting injured himself. Although he had treated the wound, he hadn't treated it completely, as he thought it would be advantageous to pretend to be in pain for the time being.
He had intentionally not taken any medicine, and he hadn't completely stopped the bleeding either.
The Cult Leader was a very suspicious person and would sometimes bring up matters that were thought to be completely over and make an issue of them, so he couldn't let his guard down until the very end.
So his mind was clear when Cheon Ha-seong entered the room. Even so, he had not anticipated what would happen next.
He did wonder if perhaps there was something strange and he had come to ask him something, but he had not thought something like this would happen.
Who could have possibly imagined that the person who entered the room wouldn't even turn on the light or ask a question, but would instead swing his sword with the intent to cut his body in two?
Its speed was faster than any sword he had ever faced. Gwak Won broke out in a cold sweat at the sword strike, which, no matter how he looked at it, could not have been a test swing.
He rolled his body so hastily that he fell to the floor from the bed. Even then, he rolled over and over, struggling to somehow avoid the sword strike.
When he was learning the Lazy Donkey Roll, he had wondered if he would ever really have to use the technique, and had even thought it was so shameful that he would rather die than do so. But when faced with the situation, his body moved on its own.
“Who are you?! Why are you doing this to me?!”
And yet, the sword strikes did not stop.
Cheon Ha-seong's sword strikes continuously maintained their initial sharpness and speed.
Gwak Won quickly raised his body.
Cheon Ha-seong seemed to be trying to confirm something, then changed direction and made it so Gwak Won's back was to the door. Then, by making him backpedal towards the door, he made him exit the room on his own.
Cho Seok-myeong, who was outside, finally saw the two of them.
When a loud noise came from the room, the people who were there came out into the hallway in large numbers. They had come out wondering what was happening, but seeing the Captain was there, they watched the situation without moving.
Thinking that a series of unusual events was unfolding following the assassin's infiltration of the Cult Leader's Hall, everyone had drawn their swords. But then, wasn't Gwak Won, covered in blood, coming out in flight?
They were indignant, wondering who would dare to do such a thing to Gwak Won in their own lodgings.
However, Cheon Ha-seong, not caring how they looked at him, continued what he had set out to do.
Cheon Ha-seong's sword strikes did not lose a bit of their sharpness and grew more powerful by the moment. As killing intent and aggression were added to them, Gwak Won was gradually pushed back. However, even while being pushed back, he did not suffer a fatal wound. He was retreating while blocking all the critical attacks.
“Captain! Who is that man? Could he be the assassin who broke into the Cult Leader's Hall?”
Someone shouted to Cho Seok-myeong.
“Why are you just standing by and watching him? Gwak Won is already injured. Shouldn't we help him quickly?”
Those watching the spectacle were all anxious and worried and couldn't just stand still.
At first, Cho Seok-myeong also didn't know what Cheon Ha-seong was doing. So he was about to step in himself. Although it seemed the Cult Leader trusted him, he figured that even the Cult Leader wouldn't have thought Cheon Ha-seong would go this far.
With that thought, he was about to intervene and stop them, but something strange caught his eye.
‘Was Gwak Won always this skilled?’
Starting with Cho Seok-myeong, the number of people who realized that fact grew, centered around those with a keen eye for martial arts.
Cheon Ha-seong realized the fact faster than anyone, and he decided to reveal in front of the others that Gwak Won was by no means an ordinary person.
When Cheon Ha-seong pressured Gwak Won by even displaying the footwork he had rarely shown in front of others until now, Gwak Won thought that he might really die this time.
Then, Cheon Ha-seong suddenly sheathed his sword. From then on, he sent a series of palm strikes flying towards Gwak Won. On the outside, they looked like ordinary attacks, but they contained the principles of the Heaven-Shattering Will Art.
Gwak Won could no longer endure it and screamed.
“Spare me. I'll talk. I'll tell you everything, so please spare me!”
He was completely terrified. He didn't know who Cheon Ha-seong was, but he thought he might have come because he suspected him. He had thought that Cheon Ha-seong was trying to intimidate him and ask about the assassin.
So he had firmly made up his mind not to tell the truth no matter how much Cheon Ha-seong pressured him. He had never thought that he would just be attacked as if to be killed from beginning to end, without a single word being said.
He couldn't understand what this man was trying to do to him. Wondering if he really didn't care if he died, he tried to ask the people around for help. But he was given no opportunity to speak. Cheon Ha-seong's attacks were relentless, and he had to block them every single moment.
“Please save me, Captain!”
Thinking he was going to die like this, he barely found an opening and shouted, but the Captain didn't budge from his spot.
Gwak Won didn't know how many more chances he would be given. And he realized he had to do something other than ask the Captain for help.
Now was not the time to leisurely weigh his options. He felt his life could be forfeit if he delayed, so he urgently shouted.
“It was me! I'll tell you everything, so please stop!”
Finally, after he said so himself, Cheon Ha-seong's attacks stopped. Cheon Ha-seong struck Gwak Won's paralysis points to prevent him from trying anything foolish. The action was so unhesitating and swift that the people remained dazed for a long while afterward.
Cho Seok-myeong wondered what he had just heard. The other people who were there felt the same.
The reason they had done nothing and just watched Gwak Won was because they had realized that Gwak Won had been perfectly hiding his skills in front of them all this time.
While it was fitting for a martial artist not to reveal their full strength in any situation, this was on another level. Among those present, there were people who had carried out missions together with Gwak Won. And there was also someone who had lost a colleague while on a mission with him.
There were not a few who recalled that if Gwak Won's skill was at that level, and if he had revealed his full strength at that time, their colleague would not have died.
No matter how much he wanted to hide a part of his strength for strategic reasons, he should have revealed his skills in a moment when a colleague's life was on the line. The fact that he hadn't could only mean he had been hiding it on purpose.
“Gwak Won! You bastard! What were you aiming for?!”
One person shouted indignantly.
He was the man who had lost his younger brother on a mission he had gone on with Gwak Won. He had thought his brother died because Gwak Won lacked the skill and let the enemy escape, but seeing this now, it meant that Gwak Won could have easily saved him but had intentionally chosen not to.
“Head Instructor Cheon, how did you know that Gwak Won was the assassin?”
Cho Seok-myeong was more curious about that.
“He is likely not the assassin. However, I believe he may know who the assassin is.”
“Why did you suspect Gwak Won?”
“I didn't suspect him. Even if someone else had chased the assassin and returned alive alone, I would have wanted to check. And I just attacked him to the point where he had no choice but to reveal his skills, wondering if he was hiding them.”
Cheon Ha-seong spoke as if it were no big deal, but Cho Seok-myeong knew it was not as simple a matter as he made it sound.
Even if one tried to do as Cheon Ha-seong said, would it really be easy to get a confession out of Gwak Won like that? Setting others aside, could he himself have done so?
Thinking about it, he could only shake his head.
It would have been an impossible task if he hadn't pressured him with overwhelming skill, giving him no room to breathe.
Cho Seok-myeong recalled the sequence of techniques that Cheon Ha-seong had displayed.
He had never seen such techniques before.
He knew that Cheon Ha-seong was a Head Instructor at the Martial Arts Academy. Therefore, he might have had more time to train or learn martial arts than them, who were frequently deployed in real combat. However, that alone was not a sufficient reason.
Cho Seok-myeong also knew the Principal and the other Head Instructors of the Martial Arts Academy, but he could bet his everything that none of them were like Cheon Ha-seong.