TL: FoodieMonster007

Wiji Cheon's sword moved slowly and did not look particularly threatening, but the students facing him tensed anxiously, each hoping its tip would not be aimed at them.

"Gulp…"

Amidst the suffocating tension Wiji Cheon had forced upon everyone, only the occasional sound of a dry swallow could be heard.

Wiji Cheon took a step forward… and vanished into thin air.

"Jang Yeon!" Yoo Yiran shouted in warning, but it was too late. Wiji Cheon was already in front of him.

"I'll block him!" Jang Yeon declared, swinging his sword with confidence. As an SRS member, he had trained with Wiji Cheon during the vacation and had seen the boy's swordsmanship dozens of times.

I should be able to stop him at least once or twice!

Inner qi surged through his body, and his contracted muscles unleashed explosive power like an arrow released from a taut bowstring. The speed of his slash was fast enough to impress most of the spectating students.

"Come on!" Jang Yeon shouted, putting his all into one blow. He didn't think of a follow-up, trusting his teammates would come to his aid as long he just blocked Wiji Cheon once.

No, perhaps I can even make Wiji Cheon retreat with this attack?

Unfortunately, he overlooked one fact. If Jang Yeon had grown accustomed to Wiji Cheon's swordsmanship, then Wiji Cheon had completely figured out his technique.

Wiji Cheon unhesitatingly closed the distance, dodging Jang Yeon's sword. To the spectators, it looked as if his body had split in two, but no flesh was cut, and no blood splattered.

"You're dead, Senior," Wiji Cheon whispered as he dashed past Jang Yeon.

"Huh?" Jang Yeon blinked in confusion. Suddenly, he felt a chill wind against his bare skin.

He looked down. His clothes were ripped near his heart.

THUD!

His knees gave way, and he stared at Wiji Cheon with a pale face. He hadn't even properly seen how he was defeated.

If this was a real battle, I would have died in that single exchange.

His hands trembled with the horrifying realization, and his sword clattered to the ground.

"Jang Yeon, you're eliminated. Leave the battlefield," Baek Suryong called out gently.

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"Y-Yes…"

As Jang Yeon scrambled to the side, Wiji Cheon searched for his next prey with expressionless eyes.

"Attack simultaneously!" Yoo Yiran shouted, leading the charge.

Two students, one wielding a spear and the other a dao, flanked her on both sides. At the same time, Yeo Min positioned herself behind Wiji Cheon, watching for a chance to attack.

CLANG!

Wiji Cheon knocked Yoo Yiran's sword to the side and approached the opponent on his right, who was thrusting a spear.

"Damn it…!" the spearman cursed.

SWISH!

Wiji Cheon sliced the spear shaft in half and lightly touched the spearman's temple with the flat of his sword.

"You're dead…" he began, but before he could finish speaking, he kicked off the ground and leaped up in a hurry.

A blade pierced the space where he had been standing just a moment before.

Rotating his body in midair, Wiji Cheon parried Yoo Yiran's rising sword and used the rebound to create distance.

"You!" he snapped, annoyed. He had no intention of taking on Yoo Yiran right away.

I'll target the weaker ones first!

He backed off and maintained his distance from Yoo Yiran, darting toward her teammates instead.

Frustrated, Yoo Yiran chased after him, but she wasn't fast enough to stop him.

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"D-Don't come this way!"

"Help me!"

"Damn it! You're in my way!"

Although they were much better than the disorganized Group Ten, it was still Group Eight's first time working together. They didn't understand each other well enough to perform a proper joint attack, and Wiji Cheon knew it.

He lured his opponents into hindering each other's movements, then dived into their blind spots and finished them off one by one with a swift slash.

"You're dead."

"You're dead."

"You're dead."

Every time he spoke, someone would drop their weapon or collapse to the floor. The odds, which had been ten to one, quickly dwindled to five to one.

"Crazy…"

"He's a monster…"

The students watched so attentively that they forgot to breathe. Five from Group Eight had fallen. During that time, the only noticeable change in Wiji Cheon was his slightly ragged breathing.

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"Ha! Isn't his swordsmanship already beyond the level of a student?"

"His control over his techniques is phenomenal…"

Even the instructors looked at Wiji Cheon with admiration. They had known the boy was strong, but they hadn't expected him to fight like a supreme martial artist.

"If it's that kid…"

"He might really beat all ten by himself…"

"No, it will be difficult for Cheon to win," Baek Suryong declared coldly, throwing cold water on everyone's hopes. Since he was Wiji Cheon's swordsmanship instructor, he could assess his student more objectively than anyone else.

"Are you saying he'll lose?" Ak Yeonho asked in disbelief. While Baek Suryong was speaking, Wiji Cheon had eliminated two more students, leaving only three Group Eight students remaining. "At this rate, it looks like he'll take them all down in an instant!"

The other instructors nodded in agreement.

Baek Suryong shook his head. "If the opponents were only ordinary students, they wouldn't be able to beat Wiji Cheon even if there were twenty of them. However… the story changes if there's a cunning fox mixed in with his opponents."

Grinning, he shifted his gaze to Yeo Min.

Meanwhile, Wiji Cheon decided on his next target. Three remained in Group Eight: Yeo Min, Yoo Yiran, and one male student who used a dao. He rushed at the lone male student left standing.

Just a little more…

His breathing was becoming increasingly ragged, so he stopped breathing altogether to prevent the tip of his sword from wavering. It was an instinctive judgment.

CLANG!

He exchanged the first blow with Yoo Yiran, deflecting her sword to the side and pushing her back slightly. He then pivoted on his left foot, spinning like a top, and slashed upward, parrying the male student's blade.

Two left!

The male student stared at him with a sickened expression and slowly moved his lips. He seemed to be saying something, but Wiji Cheon didn't care. This person would fall soon enough.

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"You're de… Eh?" Midway through his swing, Wiji Cheon lost his balance and almost tripped.

A trap!

Glancing down, he noticed that a thin layer of ice had formed beneath his feet.

SWOOSH!

The Soul Sword cut through empty air, and for the first time since the fight began, a huge gap appeared in Wiji Cheon's guard.

Naturally, Yoo Yiran exploited that opening.

CLAAANG!

"Keuk!" Wiji Cheon groaned. The breath he had been holding burst out at once and made his head spin. Dismayed, he quickly staggered backward.

Yeo Min giggled. "I admit, your strategy of taking down the weaker opponents one by one wasn't bad."

"Senior Yeo Min…"

"But we're not dumb. What made you think we'd keep falling for the same trick over and over again? When it's so obvious who you'll target?" Yeo Min, cloaked in pure white frigid energy, lunged at Wiji Cheon and swung her folding fan nimbly. "Sorry, but this is our victory!"

Yoo Yiran too rushed in with all her might, not wanting to give Wiji Cheon time to catch his breath.

BOOM! CLANG! CRACKLE!

Attacked from both the front and back, Wiji Cheon lost control of his breathing and was pushed back continuously.

"No matter how strong you are, after running wild like that, there's no way you have any stamina left."

"Hoo, huuk…" Wiji Cheon panted, his shoulders heaving as if to prove the point.

Yeo Min, on the other hand, was bursting with energy. Since the fight began, she had conserved her stamina by only keeping Group Ten in check, waiting for Wiji Cheon to tire out and make a mistake.

She grinned devilishly. "Ultimately, it never mattered how many of us you defeated, Cheon. We just needed to get you, right?"

"That's cowardly…!"

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"It's because you're strong enough that we have to be cowardly," Yoo Yiran explained.

The two girls exchanged glances, then intensified the assault simultaneously. A northern blizzard raged violently, and a sword wind lashed out in all directions.

"Thinking of surrendering?" Yeo Min taunted.

"No!" Wiji Cheon gasped.

"I thought so."

Yeo Min and Yoo Yiran waged a war of attrition against Wiji Cheon, their attacks and defenses so perfectly synchronized that it was hard to believe it was their first time fighting together. Both girls were highly skilled in martial arts and had excellent insight, allowing them to adapt to each other's movements rapidly.

Baek Suryong smirked faintly as he watched a frustrated Wiji Cheon struggling to swing his sword.

He must be disappointed. He definitely had a chance to win.

When Wiji Cheon had taken down about five of them, the confusion in Group Eight had reached its peak. If he had ignored the panicked enemies and launched a surprise attack on Yoo Yiran then, he might have been able to wipe out the group.

Unfortunately, he had clung stubbornly to the idea of taking down the weaker opponents one by one, giving Yeo Min and Yoo Yiran time to execute their strategy.

In the end, it was due to a lack of experience.

Still, Baek Suryong rather enjoyed seeing this inexperienced side of Wiji Cheon. It meant there was still much to teach him.

Eventually, Yoo Yiran's sword and Yeo Min's folding fan simultaneously touched Wiji Cheon's chest and back.

"…I lost," Wiji Cheon mumbled, drooping his shoulders and turning back into a timid boy.

The spectators immediately applauded or cheered for the three.

Grinning from ear to ear, Yeo Min pinched the sulking Wiji Cheon's cheeks. "Oh my! Is our Cheon in a bad mood because you lost to your Noonas?"

"That's not it…" Wiji Cheon sniffed.

Yoo Yiran stared at the sight in horror. "W-What do you think you're doing? P-Pinching a grown man's face…!"

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"What grown man? This is a little kid."

"……" Wiji Cheon walked limply towards his group members, leaving behind the indignant Yoo Yiran and the dumbfounded Yeo Min.

And so, the first Defense Against the Blood Cult class came to an end.

Baek Suryong gathered all the students. "I believe you have all more or less analyzed each other's strengths and weaknesses through today's mock battles."

The students, especially the group leaders, nodded vigorously. Some looked excited, while others looked depressed. During the first class today, the winners and losers were set apart, as were the strong and the weak.

"If you lost today, make sure to win next time. If you won today, keep up your winning streak. Understood?"

""Yes!""

"Good answer. That's all for today's class."

""Thank you for your hard work!""

The students' faces lit up as soon as they heard that class was over, but unfortunately for them, Baek Suryong was not yet finished.

Before they could scatter, he smirked evilly and said, "Ah! I almost forgot to tell you about the homework."

The students' faces clouded over with shock and betrayal.

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Translator's Note: Finished a chapter while at the airport waiting for my flight home. Family is well, and thank you all for your kind messages!