“WE HAVE TO DESTROY THAT!!”
Lee Hyun stood beyond the tightly shut iron door.
He was trying to face the enemies alone.
Arisha was almost in a panic.
And who could blame her? The energy felt from that man earlier was anything but weak.
With his subordinates around, could Lee Hyun really handle them by himself?
A sense of dread began to overwhelm Arisha, shaking her to the core.
The bright smile she usually wore was nowhere to be found as Ripa barely managed to hold her back from attacking the iron door desperately.
“How are we supposed to break through that door?!”
“But the teacher!!”
“Wait, Arisha. Calm down. According to this map, there’s a device in the processing facility that can open that door.”
Lumina, having checked the map that Arisha dropped, stopped her.
Finally calming down, Arisha examined the map Lumina showed her and gritted her teeth.
Then it hit her: this was not the time to be dawdling.
“Let’s hurry!!”
The other students, startled by Arisha’s urgency, simply nodded.
They too were worried about Lee Hyun and without anyone saying it, they all ran towards the processing facility.
And there, they could clearly see it.
A large device inside the processing facility and the figure standing before it.
And the people who were said to be missing.
“Oh, so we have some new offerings to the undead generator.”
The Man in a Black Robe said softly as he slowly pulled back his hood.
He had a blade-shaped tattoo on his face.
With a grin, he exaggeratedly waved and opened his mouth.
“I am from the Forces of Chaos, in the fifth seat…”
“SHUT UP!!”
Before the sentence even finished, Arisha charged at him.
The man barely dodged the strike infused with martial energy and gritted his teeth.
“How dare you attack while I’m speaking? You have no manners!!”
“Where’s the manner in fighting?!”
As Ludwig, Richter, and Charlotte followed Arisha’s lead and attacked, he gritted his teeth and raised his hand.
In that moment, the large device behind him began to shimmer. Out came figures that resembled misty smoke.
“GOOOSSST!! Those things are resistant to physical attacks!! Magic attacks work well, so be careful!!”
Dozens of ghosts materialized and stood guard around the man.
Taking a deep breath, Arisha clenched her fists and shouted.
“I’ll handle the ghosts! I’ll take care of that man!!”
“Are you sure you can do this alone?”
Ludwig, raising his sword, worriedly asked, but Arisha glared at him, revealing her white teeth.
“…I’m fine!”
After all, she’d learned a lot from Lee Hyun.
“Haha! Do you really think you can face me?!”
Ignoring the man’s sneer, Arisha extended her fist.
The magic contained in her strike was no small matter.
Surprised by the unexpectedly strong attack, the man staggered back and drew a dagger from his waist.
As he swung it quickly at Arisha, his eyebrows twitched.
– Thwip!!
The dagger aimed at Arisha’s head twisted coldly away in mid-air from her hand gesture.
Changing the flow to create a gap in the enemy’s attack, it was the Wall Block Style.
Without blinking, Arisha nullified the man’s attack and took a large step forward.
– RUMBLE!!
A Powerful Step that shook the ground.
Empowered by it, she thrust her fist forward.
‘A single step is heavy, but a reaching fist is light. Yet the end is the strongest of all.’
She recalled the lesson she learned in her one-on-one training with Lee Hyun, given as a privilege to the team leader.
It was a crucial mantra drilled into her ears when she learned the Arang Technique from her uncle, the King of Rights.
Yet somehow, the image of Lee Hyun teaching her and demonstrating it remained even more vivid in her mind.
Following the most ideal form of martial arts, Arisha twisted her outstretched fist partially.
Taking advantage of the rotational force, she unleashed a powerful punch toward the man’s chest, watching as he was knocked back effortlessly, prompting her to twist her body quickly.
‘Continuous Strikes flow like water. The flow must be natural and unimpeded.’
When performing Continuous Strikes, she followed the flow of the Wall Block Style.
The Wall Block Style was a martial art akin to water.
The flow was natural and unimpeded.
Remembering Lee Hyun’s teachings and his movements, she pivoted and struck the man with her back once more.
CUFF!!
The Continuous Strikes followed again.
Raising her right elbow, she slammed it into the man’s chin before taking another big step.
– KABOOM!!
Using the power gained from the Powerful Step, she thrust her hands out.
As the magic contained in both hands condensed into martial energy, Arisha pushed it forward and exhaled only after watching the man go flying from her strike.
“Hah…”
Having landed a solid hit, the man was writhing on the ground.
Arisha stared at him, then glanced around, trying to find the device to open the iron door.
And then it happened.
“You little brat…!!!”
The fallen man rose to his feet.
Hadn’t she hit him properly? How could he be moving like that?
Startled, Arisha stepped back, just as the man’s body began to warp as he violently coughed up blood.
“Even if the world survives, you will not live!!”
The ghosts, fighting the students, began to move.
The man’s body swelled as he absorbed the ghosts around him. Lumina gasped and approached Arisha.
“What the… what is that?”
“I don’t know.”
With a serious expression, Arisha clenched her fist.
She didn’t know what it was.
Honestly, she wasn’t even curious.
What mattered was that she had to take that down in order to help Lee Hyun.
“It doesn’t matter what it is.”
Extending her clenched fist, Arisha spoke in a cold tone.
“If you try to stop me from going to help my teacher, I’ll smash you to pieces.”
As soon as her words finished, the man, transformed into a monster, charged toward Arisha’s party.
.
.
.
The battle was intense.
All the students present were strong enough to handle themselves anywhere.
Yet the fight was so fierce and dangerous that they were on the verge of becoming rag dolls.
But when looking at the results, the students were victorious.
Bleeding from her forehead, Arisha kept her eyes on the prize.
As her magical fist pierced through the man’s body, the resilient figure began to dismantle.
“How can this be… I, Rodman, like this… ah… the Empire’s revival…”
Leaving his final breaths, the man’s body crumbled.
Arisha, panting and exhausted, hurriedly ran towards the processing facility.
Pulling at the device there, she heard the sound of the door opening in the direction they had come from.
‘I have to go…’
It was tough. It was painful. She was tired.
But still, she had to go.
Because Lee Hyun was fighting alone over there.
He’d been holding them off for their sake.
She had to help him.
With that thought, Arisha stumbled toward Lee Hyun.
“Teach, teacher!!”
In a corner covered in corpses and blood, she saw a man slumped against the wall.
It was Lee Hyun.
Seeing him covered in blood and holding his sword with his head hung low, Arisha felt her heart drop.
No, no way?
“It can’t be?!”
As she got closer, she noticed his coat was soaked in blood.
Had he been badly injured?
Her heart was racing wildly.
When Arisha rushed to check on Lee Hyun, his hand moved.
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m not seriously hurt.”
It was the calm voice she always heard. But how could he say he was fine when he looked like that?
With tears welling in her eyes, Arisha hugged him tightly.
“Teacher!!!”
“Oh, I’m really fine! This isn’t my blood.”
“Sniff… huh?”
“But I need to worry about you first. You’re hurt all over.”
Lee Hyun cast healing magic on Arisha while checking her condition.
Had her outfit been torn during battle? There were parts of her combat uniform ripped, revealing her white skin.
“This guy, a lady shouldn’t be walking around all exposed like this.”
Lee Hyun took off his coat.
Brushing off the blood-soaked coat, he draped it over Arisha’s shoulders and bent slightly.
“It’s waterproof, so you’ll be fine underneath. Wear this until we return to the Academy.”
Looking into her eyes with a broad smile, Lee Hyun affectionately patted Arisha’s head.
“Ha…”
Letting out a light sigh, Lee Hyun slowly ran his fingers through his blood-soaked hair.
Arisha stared blankly at his revealed face. As her eyes met his, he smiled brightly.
“Oh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, uh, nothing!!”
Realizing she had been staring blankly at his face, Arisha placed her hand over her chest.
It was racing.
Her heart was pounding crazily.
“Instructor!!”
“Are you okay?!”
She could see Ludwig and the other students rushing over. Lee Hyun waved his hand to them as he walked leisurely.
Watching him from behind, Arisha’s face turned red.
“Hey, hey! I knew you’d be fine! I just had a feeling since you’re the instructor!”
“Arisha was really worried!”
‘Were you that worried?’
Arisha listened blankly to the students’ chatter behind her.
As they said, Lee Hyun had taken down the enemies without major injuries.
Did he not know that?
No, he must have known.
She knew he was strong.
So why had she been so worried?
Why had she been so scared?
Arisha gazed at Lee Hyun, who was laughing and talking with the students, and placed her hand over her chest.
Her heart was racing.
Every time she looked at Lee Hyun, every time she was with him, every time she thought of him.
‘Ah.’
She realized it.
No, she had known it.
“Arisha! Let’s go!”
As Lee Hyun waved, smiling, Arisha hesitated, then ran toward him as she usually did.
And as usual, she burrowed into his embrace, thinking.
‘What was that? Was it really like this?’
Her heartbeat deepened.
Holding onto him tightly, Arisha looked up and smiled brightly.
‘I… I love the teacher.’
“Instructor!”
“T-Teacher!”
She could hear the shouts of those coming. Sowol and Lena.
Lee Hyun’s long-time disciples.
And surely, like her, they were in love with Lee Hyun.
Watching them, Arisha playfully rubbed her face against Lee Hyun’s chest.
“…Arisha?! You shouldn’t do that to the instructor!!”
“Y-Yeah! Teacher, you must be tired…”
“Haha!!”
The two looked like they were in a rush to stop her, but Arisha easily held on tight.
‘Saint and Archduke, I know both of you like the teacher…’
“Haha! I can hold him a little longer, right?!”
“Oh dear, how long are you going to act like a child?”
Feeling Lee Hyun gently ruffle her hair, Arisha brushed her face against his chest.
‘I can’t let them have him.’
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