Chapter 542: Stronghold Part 2

The inside of the building descended into chaos in an instant.

Some were hit squarely by the Inferno Fist and went flying, while others flailed about, engulfed in flames.

Still, as expected of elites, most of them seemed to have dodged quickly.

The black-clad swordsmen immediately drew their longswords and approached with gliding movements.

As if on cue, Dang Gyu-young and I spun around.

“Time to run?”

“Let’s run.”

Then we pushed our movement skills to the limit and took off.

Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish!

We heard multiple sonic booms behind us. They were arrows fired by the archers.

We spoke in unison again.

“Blink?”

“Blink.”

Using [Shadow Leap] would instantly blow our cover, so for now, even Dang Gyu-young opted for a general-purpose spell.

We focused our minds and zipped forward in a flash.

Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish! Swiiiiiiiish!

Thanks to that, we widened the gap between us and the swordsmen, but arrows continued to rain down.

Dang Gyu-young twisted her body sideways as a streak of blue light brushed past her.

We exchanged glances again.

“Ghost Dance?”

“Ghost Dance.”

Swish…

Our forms faded into a hazy blur as we slipped away and quickly hid in a corner.

Dang Gyu-young who was shrouded in shadow grinned.

“Same mind?”

“Same heart.”

“And the main girl?”

“……”

“The main girl~?”

“……”

Dang Gyu-young affectionately slung her arm over my shoulder.

Her tone turned overly sweet.

“Why’d you go all quiet~?”

“Because it’s a sensitive topic that shouldn’t be answered carelessly.”

“Shouldn’t someone be number one?”

“In my heart, everyone’s number one.”

“There you go dodging again, as always.”

Dang Gyu-young looked at me with a sulky expression, then grabbed my arm and gave it a playful chomp.

After that, she poked her head out to glance behind us.

“They’re not coming?”

“They know what really matters.”

Their top priority is operating the ballista and supporting the attack on the temporary storage site.

If they reacted to every bit of interference, they’d end up doing neither properly. That’s why they only pretended to chase us before letting it go.

“I feel kind of ignored. It’s almost hurtful.”

“Right? I mean, is it really okay to treat people like this?”

But despite the grumbling tone, mischievous smirks were spreading across our faces.

“Guess we’ll just have to make them take us seriously.”

“Time to show them.”

That the ballista isn’t the only thing that matters.

We promptly began retracing our steps.

As we moved, Dang Gyu-young spoke into her communicator.

“Da-bin, can you see us?”

– I’ve had you in sight for a while now.

Well, with that flashy inferno fist earlier, there’s no way Chae Da-bin wouldn’t have noticed.

“What about the archers?”

– We’re tracking them. I’ll send you the coordinates.

“Cool, cool. Oh, and hey, disciplinary committee…you guys listening?”

– …Yeah, we hear you.

A girl’s unfamiliar voice came through.

She was one of the third-years from the disciplinary committee assigned to the ballista search teams.

“You come too. Bring anyone nearby.”

– We’re already on the move.

“Okay.”

After cutting the comms, we headed toward the location Da-bin marked for us.

Rows of 3- to 4-story buildings lined the area.

Then, a shimmer in the air revealed a drone, which highlighted one of the buildings with a laser.

Sure enough, we could sense several presences on the rooftop.

To top it off, Da-bin shared the drone’s camera feed with us.

“……”

Dang Gyu-young stared at the screen and occasionally glanced up at the rooftop, as if planning the best way to strike.

Then she held her hand out to me.

“Grab on.”

As soon as we clasped hands, the shadow beneath us expanded, and a sensation of being sucked downward washed over us.

[Shadow Leap]

In the next instant, we were crouched in the shade on the rooftop.

Getting spotted was only a matter of time, so I immediately dashed out and launched an Inferno Fist—

—directly at the ballista that had just been set up.

A storm of flames roared across the rooftop.

Whoooooooooosh—!

“Kyaaah!”

“Graaagh—!”

Perhaps because there was nowhere to dodge, several screams of pain rang out.

But before we could even check the results, Dang Gyu-young and I leapt off the rooftop together.

With wind magic cushioning our fall, we landed safely.

Then we used Blink to teleport a good distance away.

“Stop right there—!!”

A shout rang out behind us, echoing powerfully.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the swordsmen soaring toward us, using all their movement and jumping techniques.

Even though our Blink had put considerable distance between us, they didn’t seem to care.

Dang Gyu-young looked back too, then giggled.

“They’re seriously pissed now.”

The first Inferno Fist had more of a “Get lost, will you?” kind of vibe.

But now?

Now it was more like, “We’re going to hunt you down and make you pay!”

You could practically feel the bloodlust wafting from them, even from afar.

“Guess the ballista got destroyed.”

“Or the archers got taken out.”

Either way, they’d clearly failed to fulfill their objective. So now they were just trying to vent their frustration.

Of course, from the perspective of someone who knows Blink, the effort of these foot soldiers was… kind of endearing.

Losing them wouldn’t be hard at all.

Still, it’s better to deal with them now.

Once their heads cooled, they’d probably reassess the situation rationally.

And if that happened, they might decide to assist the temporary storage assault or go after the search teams.

Rather than risk that kind of variable, it was smarter to put in a little extra effort now.

Besides, it’s not like we’re doing the hard part ourselves.

This kind of thing? Best left to the pros.

So we gradually slowed down, just enough to let the swordsmen close in.

And the moment they got within striking distance—

“You guys are seriously hilarious.”

Whooooooooooosh—!

A taut force flew in from somewhere and struck one of the swordsmen.

He was knocked back and collapsed limply to the ground.

Right after, a third-year girl landed beside us.

She seemed to be the disciplinary committee member we’d been communicating with.

“How are you still running around even when you’re working with us?”

“Because it’s fun. It’s thrilling.”

Dang Gyu-yeong responded with a grin.

Sensing something was off, the remaining Black Faction swordsmen scanned their surroundings, but they had already been surrounded for some time.

Disciplinary committee members from the search teams began to appear one by one from all directions.

Soon, the third-year girl stepped forward, raising the momentum.

“Arrest them all.”

Tap!

The disciplinary committee members simultaneously pushed off the ground and launched a coordinated attack.

The Black Faction swordsmen were elite in their own right, but they were up against equally skilled opponents and heavily outnumbered.

So the outcome had been decided from the start.

It didn’t even take enough time to drink a glass of water before they were subdued.

The third-year senior contacted someone.

“Seung-jae, open the door, will you? Yeah, the location is—”

Creaaaaak…

Soon, the wooden door opened, and the disciplinary committee members dragged the Black Faction swordsmen and archers into the room.

Watching them go, the third-year senior threw us a word of acknowledgment.

“Nice work, everyone. That’s one down already.”

“Two more to go, right?”

“That’s right, two left.”

Booom, booom…

Even now, the sound of cannon fire echoed from afar.

The ballista we just destroyed was Number 3.

The archery club president and vice president were still operating Numbers 1 and 2 without a scratch.

The third-year senior asked,

“Seems like it’d be best to split up. Which one do you want to take?”

“We’ll go after Dam-bi.”

“Alright, let’s stay in touch.”

Soon, the committee members quickly wrapped up the scene, then sprang off in all directions.

As for us, we started heading toward the location Cha Da-bin had pointed out—

When did they get here again?

In a corner, we spotted Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi hiding.

It didn’t seem like they were given any specific instructions. They probably just came out of curiosity.

When our eyes met, Han So-mi spoke.

“Think we’ve been caught?”

“Keep your voice down…!”

Song Cheon-hye grew startled and scolded her.

Soon after, she stepped out from her hiding spot as if giving up and started glancing around to see if any upperclassmen were still nearby.

But just as the distance between us closed a bit—

Han So-mi who had been smiling brightly looked at my face and widened her eyes.

“Huh? What’s that?”

She had seen through the Totem of Disguise.

In response, Dang Gyu-yeong immediately put on a serious face and grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey, this really isn’t it. She already has someone.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“Just in case. I mean, you wouldn’t do something so disgraceful, right?”

“I’m not that bad.”

Though Song Cheon-hye didn’t quite understand what we were talking about, she gave a polite bow, seemingly intending to greet us first.

“Hello, senior.”

“…Oh, uh, hey.”

Dang Gyu-yeong returned the greeting rather awkwardly.

It seemed the talk about the cutoff line and the Totem being seen through was still bothering her.

But she quickly pulled herself together and put on a calm expression.

“As you can probably tell, we’re helping out with the disciplinary committee stuff. Together.”

“Yes, I noticed.”

“We’re trying to move quietly, so we’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourselves.”

“Understood.”

Song Cheon-hye nodded without hesitation.

Then she looked at me, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Why didn’t you read my message?”

“You sent one? I was busy and didn’t check.”

I replied nonchalantly, and Song Cheon-hye fell silent for a moment, then changed the question.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“What was?”

“The Inferno Fist.”

I was already under suspicion for a while, and now I’m moving around in disguise, suspiciously enough, with firestorms erupting wherever I go?

There was no way denying it would work.

Besides, there was no longer any reason to hide it, so I grinned and replied.

“That’s right. Inferno Fist.”

“What? And all this time you pretended it wasn’t you? Even back then!”

“When was ‘back then’?”

At that, Song Cheon-hye grabbed my hand and opened it wide.

“I read your palm like this back then. You were messing with me, even though you knew everything.”

“You’re the one who said you’d read it.”

She had only wanted to check for burns from the elemental penalty and used palm reading as an excuse.

– Let me see your hand.

– I need a reason before I show you anything.

– That’s…

– What, you’re gonna read my palm or something?

– That’s right. Palm reading!

Of course, there hadn’t been anything to see anyway, since I’d long since neutralized it with my S-Rank [Elemental Resistance].

Recalling that embarrassing moment, Song Cheon-hye blushed slightly and protested.

“You should’ve just told me then.”

“Why? You should’ve noticed if you were so good at reading signs.”

“Wow, you’re seriously shameless.”

Song Cheon-hye slightly parted her lips in disbelief.

And just as she was about to press further, Dang Gyu-yeong cut in.

“Hey, this could go all night. We have to go, so save it for later.”

“Sorry.”

“And stop fiddling with his hand already.”

“Fiddl—”

Only then did Song Cheon-hye seem to realize she’d been holding my hand like she was still reading my palm. She quickly let go and stepped back in a hurry.

I let it slide and exchanged parting words with the two.

“Anyway, good luck with everything.”

“…Yeah. Check your messages.”

“Bye! Tell me later!”

Then I started moving quickly.

The scenery around me zipped past.

Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-yeong kept throwing me a strange look.

“…You had your palm read?”

“I just made something up on the spot.”

“Still, stuff like that can be surprisingly accurate. What did she say?”

“Not sure. I don’t really remember.”

I shrugged like I didn’t know anything.