Star Instructor, Master Baek-Chapter 401: Hygiene Matters

FWOOSH!
The moment Skykiller activated his sorcery, the blood streaming from his wounds vaporized and exploded outward in a fog, spreading across hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye.
The Divine Azure Dragon Sword immediately sensed that the crimson mist was amplifying magical power to devastating levels. [Don't touch it! That's...!]
Finally, Baek Suryong understood why Skykiller had shown no fear of being wounded throughout their entire battle. No warning signs had preceded the sorcery's activation, so the sorcery's malevolent energy slammed into him head-on before he or anyone else could react.
"...!!" His body convulsed as if he had been struck by lightning. His mind went blank and he felt dizzy, as though the entire world had turned upside down and sent him falling endlessly out of the sky.
His senses grew increasingly distant from reality. Auditory hallucinations assaulted him, and vivid illusions flooded his vision.
Finally, his consciousness crashed in the achingly familiar White Dragon Manor.
""Mr. Baek!""
The familiar voices of his students, Hyonwon Kang, Wiji Cheon, Yeo Min, Geo Sangwoong, and Ya Suhyeok, called out to him.
Baek Suryong desperately turned his head to find them running toward him from across the courtyard, waving their hands enthusiastically. Their martial arts uniforms were covered in dust, as though they had just finished an intense training session.
"Stay back! It's dangerous! The assassins are still around," he shouted, but the students ignored him.
He shook his head at the sight of the children running toward him with bright smiles.
They're so damn naughty.
Suddenly, a group of masked figures materialized out of thin air and attacked the students.
"No!"
His enemies employed the Blood Cult's demonic arts. Among the techniques they used were even some that he had personally improved and refined during his time with the Cult.
"M-Mr. Baek!"
"Please save us!"
"Why do we have to die like this...?"
Heart-rending screams erupted across the courtyard, while fresh blood spread rapidly across the dirt. Even as blood poured from their grievous wounds, the students cried out desperately for their teacher's help.
"Stop! Stop, I said!"
Baek Suryong ran with all his might to save his students, but no matter how fast he sprinted, the distance between them refused to close. He could only watch helplessly as his students were slaughtered before his eyes.
THUD!
He fell to his knees in despair.
One of the assailants approached him and removed his mask. "Instructor."
Baek Suryong felt like he was hit in the head by a hammer. "You? Why are you...?"
His former trainees stood bathed in the blood of the Five Young Azure Dragons, staring at him with empty, emotionless eyes.
Number One's scarred face warped into a bitter sneer. "Did you really fail to predict this outcome? After turning us into monsters, did you honestly believe you could just walk away and find happiness all by yourself?"
His other trainees' silent stares confirmed their unanimous agreement.
"Everyone..." Baek Suryong sighed.
I see. This isn't reality, but an illusion created by Skykiller's sorcery. Luckily, this isn't my first encounter with such magic, or I would have been defeated without a fight. Above all, these four trainees... would never express their resentment toward me like this.
Baek Suryong glanced at his former trainees regretfully, then closed his eyes and willed himself to focus. Now that he knew he was caught in an illusion, escaping was simple enough. After all, the world's most powerful sorcerer was by his side.
[Get a hold of yourself!]
The Divine Azure Dragon Sword's voice echoed through his consciousness, awakening his dulled mind. The evil sorcery's energy flinched in surprise, and he quickly activated the Heaven Defying Divine Art.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
As the most domineering martial art in the world burned away the sticky qi that had seeped into his body, his senses rushed back to reality with startling clarity.
Baek Suryong immediately swung the Divine Azure Dragon Sword at Skykiller.
"How did you escape?" Skykiller asked in surprise, barely dodging the attack. The teacher's eyes, which had been dazed until a moment ago, were now overflowing with killing intent.
"...It's been a really long time since I last felt this filthy."
FWOOSH!
Baek Suryong's blue robes fluttered wildly in the wind as he channeled the power of the Heaven Defying Divine Art, but he held back just enough to keep his hair from taking on that telltale red hue.
Still, he didn't rashly attack Skykiller.
""Cough!""
Affected by the sorcery, Ak Yeonho, Myeong Il'oh, and Jaegal Soyeong coughed up blood. Black veins began to crawl over their necks like a spiderweb, rapidly spreading to cover their faces and then their entire bodies.
"Keuk...!"
Noh Goonsang was in a similar state, gritting his teeth in pain, though he at least appeared to be in slightly better condition than the other three.
"What did you do to them?" Baek Suryong demanded. Crimson enhanced qi rippled along the Divine Azure Dragon Sword, as if announcing his intent to tear Skykiller apart.
Skykiller taunted, "Do you think the spell be lifted if you kill me?"
Baek Suryong hesitated, and the enhanced qi surrounding the Divine Azure Dragon Sword slowly subsided.
Skykiller let out a sigh of relief. "Smart choice. If those precious to you were to die along with me, you'd lose far more than I would, wouldn't you, Mr. Baek?"
"......" Baek Suryong tried to calm himself, knowing that getting riled up now would only make things worse.
There was no reason, however, to hide the fact that he was livid.
"If even one person here dies, I'll pull your limbs apart, cut out your tongue, gouge out your eyes, peel off your skin, pickle it in salt, and slowly torture you to death."
Skykiller's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Ah, those are classic Blood Cult techniques. Judging by your description, you must have some hands-on experience using them yourself."
"Oh, there are plenty of things you haven't experienced yet. I'll make sure you get to try them all, nice and slow."
"Ha! Now that's a fascinating idea... but let's save the intimate conversation for later. Here's something you should know. If I feel like it, I can kill all these people in seconds."
Skykiller puckered his lips and whistled. Immediately, everyone affected by the sorcery groaned in agony.
"......"
[Not yet! I'm currently analyzing the structure of that man's sorcery, so please stall for some more time,] the Divine Azure Dragon Sword pleaded, though she too was trembling with rage.
Baek Suryong quickly suppressed his surging emotions. Fortunately, Skykiller didn't seem to know about the sword. He did notice her, however, as he looked at the sword thoughtfully.
"I knew that sword wasn't ordinary, but I had no idea it was a demon-subduing treasure. This spell took me ages to prepare, yet you broke free as if it were nothing."
Skykiller was confident that Baek Suryong wouldn't attack him. All that remained was to enjoy the final night of the festival.
"My original plan was to mess with your head, make you slaughter your own students, and then snap you back to reality so I could watch you despair. Unfortunately, that's no longer an option. Guess I'll just have to get creative."
"How did you cast a spell on me? No amateur trick will work on me," Baek Suryong asked, pretending to be curious. He needed to buy time while the Divine Azure Dragon Sword analyzed Skykiller's sorcery.
Fortunately, Skykiller willingly answered his question. "To explain it as simply as possible, I used my blood as the medium for the sorcery."
"Blood?" Baek Suryong finally found the common factor among those under the spell. Ak Yeonho, Myeong Il'oh, Jaegal Soyeong, and Noh Goonsang all had Skykiller's blood on their clothes. It had splattered when they wounded him, and some of it had splashed onto their skin.
The same was true for himself. Blood had splattered onto the sleeve of his robe, and though it was a small amount, a drop had also landed on the back of his hand.
"Did you deliberately let yourself get hurt just to cast this spell?"
"I didn't need to go that far. You're all skilled enough that tearing me apart is child's play."
Skykiller grinned maniacally. His plan was truly insane. If anything had gone wrong, he might have died before casting the spell, but he was the kind of lunatic who carried out such plans without hesitation.
"Since ancient times, blood has always served as a potent medium for sorcery. The orthodox sects gradually distanced themselves from sorcery using human blood, calling it evil. However, the Blood Cult developed it further.
"Don't tell me..." Baek Suryong's eyes widened in realization.
I didn't think it was possible, but if he's telling the truth, then this spell is...
"...I never expected the Blood Demon's sorcery to be passed down to a mere assassin."
The previous Blood Demon had been the world's greatest martial artist and sorcerer. While the Eighth Elder, Ghostly Spirit, was known as the Blood Cult's chief sorcerer, he paled in comparison to the Blood Demon.
The Blood Demon's spells, performed using his followers' blood, were considered some of the most bizarre and powerful in existence.
"How did you know that?" Skykiller gasped, staring blankly for a moment in shock. "The more I see you, the more you... Heh, hardly anyone, including the elders, knows about the origins of my sorcery. I'm really dying to know where you got your information, so won't you tell me? Pretty please?"
Of course, Baek Suryong wasn't about to tell him, but he replied anyway, "If you release the spell you placed on these people, I'll think about it."
"Oh? Then this is perfect," Skykiller said incomprehensibly, then whistled. "FWEEEET!"
Instantly, all traces of the black veins that had laced the bodies of Ak Yeonho, Myeong Il'oh, Jaegal Soyeong, and Noh Goonsang disappeared completely.
"Huff, huff..."
"What did you do to us...?"
"I-Is everyone okay?"
The four instructors collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, as the spell's energy left their bodies.
He really undid his spell?
Baek Suryong narrowed his eyes suspiciously. There was no reason for Skykiller to suddenly release the spell on his colleagues.
"Even for me, keeping all these spells active at once is quite challenging." Skykiller smirked faintly. He had released the spell on the four instructors to cast an even grander spell.
"I suspected that this spell might not work on you, Mr. Baek, so I prepared something else as well."
Suddenly, Baek Suryong sensed a significant number of human figures approaching through the darkness.
"One must always be thoroughly prepared to kill a supreme master."
Baek Suryong recalled the moment when Skykiller had first activated his sorcery, and how a red wave of qi had expanded and spread hundreds of feet outward. He had wondered why the blast had spread so far, but now he understood.
"...The assassins were the sacrifices needed for this spell," he concluded.
"That's correct. Thank goodness you're fast on the uptake, since I don't have to explain at length."
Skykiller had engraved a spell on all the assassins infiltrating the Azure Dragon Academy beforehand. The assassins thought it was so that he could track their locations, but they were mistaken.
"The blood of a martial artist who has learned demonic arts is a powerful medium in itself. Furthermore, if we add the resentment of the dead to it, it becomes the perfect catalyst for sorcery."
Dozens, no, well over a hundred mind-controlled martial artists were advancing on Baek Suryong. Among them were members of the Murim Alliance, the Beggars' Gang, and the Rogues' Guild.
This was the grand brainwashing spell made possible by the sacrifice of numerous demonic martial artists.
The Divine Azure Dragon Sword, who had been analyzing Skykiller's sorcery, was horrified. [To think the Blood Cult had such evil sorcery...!]
When he saw the first five people charging at him, Baek Suryong's eyes flashed with wrath. "Even the kids..."
His students, who had valiantly fought the assassins and were covered in blood, had fallen victim to Skykiller's sorcery.
The others behind them were also martial artists who had set up the perimeter and fought the assassins, risking their lives. Now, like lost souls, they waited quietly for Skykiller's command.
"Mr. Baek Suryong, Have you ever heard of the Soulless?"
"......"
"This is a spell that temporarily turns ordinary martial artists into Soulless. The activation conditions are hard to meet, it requires many sacrifices, and the effect doesn't last long, but..." Skykiller laughed faintly and slowly melted into the darkness. "I think it's enough for us to enjoy a lovely night, don't you agree?"
Baek Suryong didn't pursue him. The Soulless in front of him were more than enough to keep him occupied.
"Suryong! Are you okay?" Baek Muheun shouted, rushing toward his son. The moment Skykiller had cast his spell, he had evacuated the injured Mae Geuklyom to safety and then hurried back.
Baek Suryong met his father's gaze, and they both sighed with relief at seeing each other safe.
Nevertheless, this was no time to relax.
Baek Suryong said firmly, "Father, please protect the Principal and the instructors."
"...Alright. Be careful." Baek Muheun nodded solemnly and retreated behind a wall with the exhausted instructors. Fortunately, the Soulless were only targeting his son, so they ignored him completely.
Baek Suryong looked at the familiar faces, especially the Five Young Azure Dragons, and gritted his teeth. Memories of his past life overlapped with the present, momentarily clouding his vision.
"...Just bear with it for a while. I'll bring you back to your senses soon," he muttered, grim determination on his face.
RUMBLE! CRASH!
Accompanied by a clap of thunder, someone landed right in front of Baek Suryong, surrounded by an aura of pure white electric sparks.
"Fuck..." Baek Suryong recalled Namgung Su's formidable lightning arts and frowned. This man was by far the trickiest opponent here. He balled his fists tightly, planning on going all out and taking down Namgung Su first...
"Baek Suryong," Namgung Su called out emotionlessly.
Baek Suryong blinked in shock. "Why are you okay? Blood must have splattered on you too... no, it hasn't."
As usual, Namgung Su's clothes were pristine, without a single bloodstain despite the fact that he had already fought in several battles.
This bastard... He must have used lightning qi to fry all the blood that splashed toward him before it could get on his clothes.
"...I can't believe a day has come when I'm glad that you're a clean freak," he remarked in disbelief.
Namgung Su glanced around indifferently. "I'll have to teach the students to pay more attention to hygiene in the future."
"How can you joke like that in this situation!?" Baek Suryong smirked at Namgung Su's attempt at joking, but it had indeed calmed him down to some extent. "First, let's clean up here. Then, we'll hunt down that bastard, Skykiller."
"Understood."
The two men stood back to back, facing the approaching Soulless.