The Support Ate it All

Ssssss…

The book kept greedily devouring the shadows without pause.

It almost felt like pouring water into a bottomless jar, but Dang Gyu-young didn't stop and kept her focus steady.

After some time, a change began to occur.

The book's outline grew sharper, and waves of black energy began to ripple across its surface.

Then, in an instant, it collapsed and was absorbed straight into Dang Gyu-young.

"……"

She looked down at her own hand, opening and closing her fist.

Then she lifted her gaze slightly to check the notification message before sharing it with me as well.

Dang Gyu-young asked in the innocent voice of a complete newbie,

"Is this a good one? I pulled it on my first try."

"That kind of phrasing can rub people the wrong way."

"Sorry. Anyway, it's good, right?"

"It's a great one."

Solitary Stand.

When cast, it instantly destroys all summoned undead and seals all related skills.

I added an explanation.

"I'd guess the cooldown is about an hour."

"An hour? That's pretty long."

"Right? During that time, you'd be back to No Undead-Qyu mode."

"So it's bad then?"

"Of course it's not only risk."

The greater the risk, the stronger the effect.

Depending on the number and rank of destroyed undead, every shadow skill and trait receives a bonus, causing fighting power to skyrocket.

"So it's still No Undead-Qyu, but a super-strong No Undead-Qyu."

"Ooh… I like it. But can we do something about how that sounds?"

"Let's settle for Strong-Qyu."

"That's… slightly better."

Though she still didn't seem too fond of it, Dang Gyu-young let it go for now and asked her next question.

"What about duration? It's not the same as the cooldown, right?"

"It's short, about five minutes."

"So it's not Strong-Qyu, it's Short-Qyu.".

"Gotta use it carefully."

Since your power drops drastically for 55 minutes after the effect ends,

It's obviously unusable in a prolonged battle. It's more of a last-resort move to turn the tide near the end or deliver the finishing blow.

Dang Gyu-young gave a small nod.

"I get the gist. But will two be enough to make an impact?"

"As a trump card, it should be more than enough."

For now, there were only two Qyu-shadow undead she could destroy with [Solitary Stand], but even that would cause a significant boost in her fighting power.

And in the future, the more slots and undead she had, the stronger it would become.

Dang Gyu-young smiled in satisfaction.

"I've really learned exactly what I needed."

Then, as if something had occurred to her, she stood up and moved to sit right next to me.

She spoke in a sly tone.

"Young Monarch~"

"Yes, noona."

"Wouldn't you say this raises my odds of winning the bet?"

"I'd say so."

Even though it depended on how she used it, in the Fixed Zone tournament, it would certainly serve as a powerful move.

When I acknowledged it without hesitation, Dang Gyu-young leaned in and whispered even more slyly.

"Can we continue then early?"

"Not possible."

"Just a little~"

"No."

My answer was as sharp and firm as a blade.

***

By the time dawn was breaking,

The atmosphere in the Disciplinary Committee's room was oppressively heavy.

It was unlike their usual, ever-victorious selves. Which was proof of how deeply last night's failure had stung.

"Haa…"

Someone let out a low sigh.

Kwak Seung-jae felt like doing the same, but he kept his composure and continued his report in a calm tone.

"We succeeded in tracking them and recovered some of the stolen items. However, the proportion of items still missing is far higher."

"…How much?"

Someone asked cautiously.

From their expression, they clearly didn't want to hear the answer, but it wasn't something they could ignore forever.

Kwak Seung-jae was silent for a moment before speaking.

"About seventy-one percent of the total."

"……"

"……"

It was an unprecedented level of failure.

By morning, the rumors would have spread throughout the entire Dragon Slayer Academy, and the prestige of the Disciplinary Committee that was once soaring in the clouds would be dragged straight into the mud.

Other clubs, long quiet, would almost certainly seize the chance to challenge the committee's authority.

Since the disciplinary committee itself had brought this upon themselves, they would likely be the talk of the academy for the next decade or more.

The members all reacted differently.

Some ran their hands down their faces, some stared blankly at the floor, and some shook with frustration.

A few even shot accusatory looks toward Kwak Seung-jae.

In the midst of it, someone raised their hand.

"May I say something?"

"Go ahead."

Kwak Seung-jae had agreed without thinking, only to realize the person speaking was the Hell Axe Senior.

In truth, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the biggest victim of this incident.

He had trusted the promised support through the wooden door and took on the defense of the temporary storage with only a handful of people.

But when that support never arrived, he was mercilessly beaten by the thieves.

Even now, a large bump remained on his head. It was the mark from when he was struck at the end by Dang Gyu-young's shadow bat.

Naturally, everyone in the room expected a torrent of sharp criticism from the Hell Axe Senior's mouth.

Yet, surprisingly, his tone remained calm from start to finish.

"The main reason this went wrong, of course, lies with Kwak Seung-jae. His unique magic failed to function properly. However…"

The Hell Axe Senior paused for a moment, sweeping his gaze across the room.

"Is the fault entirely his? Wasn't it all of us who, in the proposal stage, agreed almost unanimously? If we had wanted to raise objections or add safeguards, we could have done so at any time."

"……"

"But no one did. We placed too much blind faith and dependence on Kwak Seung-jae's unique magic. There's no such thing as a magic that's 100% perfect in the first place."

"……"

"Before blaming someone else, shouldn't we reflect on whether we ourselves made mistakes or if there was a better way? At least, that's what I believe."

Most of the Disciplinary Committee members in the room seemed to agree with those words.

A few even offered words of encouragement to Kwak Seung-jae.

– Now that I think about it, we put too heavy a burden on you.

– Don't blame yourself.

– Think of it as experience.

– You'll do better next time.

Thanks to that, the heavy mood in the room seemed to lift somewhat.

Watching this, Oh Se-hoon added a comment of his own.

"What I want to focus on isn't so much that Seung-jae failed, but that he was interfered with."

"There's truth in that. What exactly happened?"

One committee member frowned.

The fact that the wooden gate that was perfectly fine wouldn't open must have been shocking not only for Kwak Seung-jae himself but also for those who had always watched over him.

The Hell Axe Senior member who had been on-site at the time replied.

"That guy called Inferno Fist did something. Suddenly, he made the sound of a crow calling. That must've been when the unique magic stopped working."

"I had a similar experience. My Blink suddenly wouldn't work."

Oh Se-hoon nodded in agreement.

With both the wooden gate and Blink disabled, the Disciplinary Committee members' expressions grew even more grave.

Then, someone murmured under their breath.

"Crows… space magic… a Dimensional Crow?"

"….…!"

In an instant, the room was buzzing with murmurs.

– Are you saying that guy used the Dimensional Crow's skill?

– Is that even possible?

– Theoretically, it doesn't seem impossible.

If that were true, it explained quite a lot.

The Dimensional Crow was an S-rank named monster and a master of spatial magic.

No matter how exceptional Kwak Seung-jae's spatial magic was, he would still be a step or two behind such a creature.

Another member voiced a guess.

"There can't be many who can use the Dimensional Crow's skill. Probably just Inferno Fist alone or two or three at most."

"So you're saying if we catch that one guy, most of the problem's solved. The issue is how to find him…"

"At least two things are certain now, aren't they?"

First, the man used a staff as his main weapon.

Second, whenever he used the skill that blocked spatial magic, he made the sound of a crow calling.

Keeping just those points in mind would make it far easier to identify him.

In truth, Oh Se-hoon already had a prime suspect in mind.

But since it was still only suspicion, he planned to carefully gather evidence first.

Then he gave a faint smile.

"I think we've reached a certain conclusion. For now, let's make Inferno Fist our primary target. And back to Seung-jae…"

Although Kwak Seung-jae handled most of the Disciplinary Committee's work, the president was still Oh Se-hun.

Perhaps that's why his words carried such weight.

"As I said earlier, there's room for leniency, but you still have to take responsibility."

"……!"

Everyone waited tensely for his next words.

Then his narrow eyes curved into a gentle smile.

"By working harder and gaining more experience. I still think there's no one better suited than Seung-jae to lead the Disciplinary Committee."

Everyone agreed with that statement.

For a single failure, Kwak Seung-jae was far too talented a commander to cast aside.

Encouragement poured in from all sides.

– If the opponent's the Dimensional Crow, there's nothing you could've done.

– Do better next time.

– No, start doing better right now.

– We have to catch Inferno. And when we do, let's make sure he pays.

From the gazes focused on him, Kwak Seung-jae felt a strong sense of trust.

He bowed his head respectfully.

"I'll do my utmost to live up to your expectations."

***

Swordsmanship Club.

Vice President's Office.

As always, Jegal So-so wore a gentle smile on her lips.

She deftly filled two teacups, then handed one over.

"It's been a while since we've shared tea, hasn't it? I'm not sure if it will suit your taste."

"How could it not? For me, this feels like a rare luxury."

The man across from her said this as he accepted the cup.

His frame was overall thin, and his cheeks were hollow enough to make one wonder if he suffered from some incurable illness.

Yet the sharp gleam in his eyes told more than anything else that he was in perfect health.

After quietly savoring their tea for a while, Jegal So-so spoke again.

"I'm a bit surprised you're out already. I wasn't expecting it until at least the end of the semester."

"I thought so too. But once I reached the latter half, my progress only accelerated."

"That's something worth celebrating."

"Thank you."

The man bowed his head politely, then took another sip of tea.

And in an even tone, he continued.

"To be honest, I considered organizing my insights a bit more before coming out."

"That's what I was wondering as well. You had time to spare, why the rush?"

"It occurred to me that the tournament is around this time of year."

Jegal So-so's eyes lit up.

"……Are you going to participate?"

"Yes. I believe now while the seniors are still in their prime is the perfect opportunity."

"A chance to prove your skill."

"That's right."

The man spoke casually of defeating his seniors in the tournament, which was a statement bordering on arrogance.

But he had every right to say it.

The pin on his necktie caught the light and sparkled silver.