The two siblings kept exchanging flustered looks.
Dang Gyu-young spoke up to them.
“It seems you don’t have anything else prepared.”
There was a hint of disappointment in her tone, as even in a two-on-one fight, she hadn’t faced any real danger so far.
She had gone through the trouble of learning the Corridor and even ranked it up, yet hadn’t been able to make proper use of it.
And now, if even the formation they had painstakingly completed turned out like this, the outcome was all but decided.
Dang Jun-yeop bristled and shot back,
“Are you certain we have nothing left?”
But unlike before, there was a lack of confidence in his voice.
Dang Gyu-young raised her shadow bat.
Fssssh…
The Lab Director and the Shadow Lord dissolved into black smoke and were absorbed back into their master.
She had activated [Solitary Stand].
In exchange for sealing away her undead for a set period of time, it granted a huge boost to her combat abilities and shadow skills.
Soon, from the Shadow Corridor, shadow butterflies began to flutter out one by one. Then in an instant, they multiplied beyond count.
[Shadow Butterfly Dream]
Dang Gyu-young pointed forward with her shadow bat.
“If you have anything left, show me. I’m coming.”
And she began to advance alongside the swarm of butterflies.
Cutting through the thick poisonous smoke.
Watching this, Dang Jun-yeop cried out, half in despair,
“Why! Why isn’t it working?! Just why?!”
“You idiot! Is this really the time to be whining about that?!”
“I told you not to call me an idiot! I’m your brother!”
The two siblings bickered nonstop.
Perhaps because defeat loomed, they had even begun fighting among themselves.
Even so, they didn’t forget their roles, using every method they could to intercept the shadow butterflies and hold Dang Gyu-young back.
Dang Hee-yeon put away the stakes she had been using and instead scattered hidden weapons and bean-sized incendiary pellets.
Ssssss—!
Boom boom boom!
Her throwing skill was quite impressive, so a considerable number of butterflies were swept away. Unfortunately, far more were being replenished from the Corridor.
Dang Jun-yeop’s situation was even worse.
Dang Gyu-young closed the distance at such speed that he barely had time to throw a few hidden weapons before she was already upon him.
At the very instant her bat swung down with a heavy tearing sound through the air—
Whooom—!
Dang Jun-yeop’s eyes flashed.
“…Now!”
His wide, fluttering sleeve snapped back, revealing a small crossbow mounted on his forearm.
It glowed with a bluish light, likely infused with internal energy.
In the next moment, a bolt shot straight toward Dang Gyu-young’s chest.
Ssshaaaak—!
He had aimed for the exact instant she swung her bat, making it difficult to block or dodge.
Dang Gyu-young seemed to come to the same conclusion, yet there wasn’t the slightest trace of urgency on her face.
There’s no need to dodge.
Just before the bolt reached her chest, it twisted unnaturally and veered off in a completely different direction.
[Distortion] had activated.
Dang Jun-yeop’s expression went blank.
“Uh.”
Countless thoughts must have raced through his mind.
But they didn’t last long.
Baaang—!!
The shadow bat smashed into his head.
His eyes rolled back as he collapsed in an undignified heap.
That left Dang Hee-yeon.
Despite being completely surrounded by butterflies, she was putting up a surprisingly strong resistance.
She scattered hidden weapons wildly in all directions.
Swish-swish-swish-swish—!
The shadow butterflies couldn’t get close beyond a certain distance and were continuously dispersed.
She should’ve fought like that from the start.
Her chances might have been better that way.
Of course, from their perspective, the formation plus mixed poison strategy must have seemed far more effective.
It was also the result of careful deliberation with the Elders.
Though in the end, it had failed far more miserably than expected.
Swish-swish-swish-swish—!
Dang Hee-yeon continued to fire off hidden weapons in rapid succession.
Then, suddenly, the shadow beneath her feet wriggled. And a pitch-black figure surged upward.
It was none other than Dang Gyu-young, using [Shadow Leap].
She had deliberately held it back until now.
“!!”
Dang Hee-yeon’s eyes widened as she tried to shout something, but the shadow bat swung faster.
Booom—!
Just like her brother, she was sent sprawling onto the ground.
As she passed by, Dang Gyu-young casually remarked,
“I held back a bit.”
After all, she had said something nice, calling her an “acquaintance”.
It didn’t take long for the Dang siblings to regain consciousness.
Rubbing the bump on his head, Dang Jun-yeop spoke first.
“…I’ll admit it. You have the skill to back up your bold words.”
He accepted the result cleanly enough.
After all, losing a two-on-one fight left little room for excuses.
But it didn’t seem like he intended to give up just yet.
“However, this isn’t enough to gauge the reputation of Dragon Slayer Academy. Not with just you, Il-bi, and Han-bi.”
In other words, he wanted to spar with Seo Ye-in and me as well.
His persistence had crossed the line into something almost unsightly, making Dang Gyu-young frown.
“…You’re going to drag the others into this too?”
“If your companions truly are ‘just kids’, then I’ll apologize for making an excessive request. But is that really the case?”
“It’s true there’s quite an age difference between you and them.”
“Of course it’s true. That’s why I said from the beginning. I’d even allow you to fight together.”
Dang Jun-yeop seemed determined to push forward shamelessly.
He was clearly trying to provoke things and steer the situation to his advantage.
If Seo Ye-in and I refused the spar, we’d be labeled as “kids”. Even if we teamed up, it would be the same.
But if we matched their numbers and fought, their chances of winning would naturally increase, letting them salvage at least some pride.
The calculation was obvious, and Dang Gyu-young looked ready to smack him again with her bat at any moment.
Still, she turned to us for our thoughts.
“What do you want to do?”
“I’m fine with it.”
I answered without a second of hesitation.
Then I added confidently,
“We won’t need to team up.”
In other words, I was proposing a one-on-one fight.
As if my tone irritated him, Dang Jun-yeop’s face twitched as he spoke.
“You two really do have a lot in common.”
“…I suppose so.”
Dang Gyu-young tried to act nonchalant, but she kept shooting glances my way.
As if to say, “Did you hear that? He said we’re alike! Did you hear that?”
Then Seo Ye-in casually accepted the spar as well.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good. Then I’ll leave the choice to you.”
He meant we could decide who would fight whom.
But there was no need to think about that.
“As long as the numbers match, isn’t that enough?”
“Then?”
“Rather than dragging it out, how about we settle this with a two-on-two match?”
“…….”
Dang Jun-yeop stared at me intently, as if trying to read my intentions.
But there was nothing to glean, so he soon gave up and nodded.
“…Do as you wish. Prepare yourselves.”
A short while later, the training ground that was once filled with stakes and poisonous smoke was completely cleared.
Seo Ye-in and I stood facing the Dang siblings.
If I had to evaluate them briefly—
Their skills aren’t bad.
Overall, their specs and control were somewhere between top third-year captains and graduates.
Even a typical club president opponent would be tough for Seo Ye-in and me to handle.
But that guy uses poison.
Since it gets completely nullified by ★Poison Immunity★, his effective strength had to be rated much lower.
That was why Dang Gyu-young had suggested a two-on-one earlier and why we chose to match their numbers.
Dang Jun-yeop exchanged telepathic messages with Dang Hee-yeon, seemingly discussing strategy, before glaring back at us.
“Let’s begin.”
“I look forward to it.”
Immediately, the two of them pulled out bean-sized pellets and began hurling them at Seo Ye-in.
Pop pop pop!
Countless small explosions erupted, sending up acrid green, yellow, and purple smoke.
As expected, they’re targeting her first.
There wasn’t a single person in the Dang family who didn’t know about my high resistance to poison.
So rather than waste poison on me, it made more sense to subdue Seo Ye-in first and then deal with me at their leisure.
But what they hadn’t anticipated was—
She has poison immunity too.
Tudududududu!
Seo Ye-in stepped lightly with Feather Step and returned fire.
She moved through the thick smoke as if it were nothing.
The bombardment continued, and enough time passed for the poison to have fully spread through her body.
And yet, Seo Ye-in remained perfectly fine, leaving the Dang siblings with question marks practically floating over their heads.
“No…why?! Why isn’t it working?!”
“That’s a secret.”
She replied calmly before opening one hand.
A mass of light gathered, gradually taking shape.
Then she casually tossed the completed [Fickle Trap] at them.
“…….!”
Dang Jun-yeop immediately activated his movement technique.
He must have observed Seo Ye-in’s throwing contest while spying on us.
He likely figured out that once that mysterious skill activated, the projectile would suddenly leap forward.
So he moved out of the way in advance.
But the very next moment—
Boom!
Compressed wind exploded, forcing him right back to where he had been.
I had secretly sent a Sylphid to cast Wind Force.
He’s underestimating me too much.
He had almost no countermeasures against wind magic, so he was pushed back more easily than expected.
He was probably flustered that his poison didn’t work on Seo Ye-in.
Then, the Fickle Trap which had been tracing a half-arc briefly vanished, only to reappear right in front of Dang Jun-yeop’s nose.
“Uh.”
Fzzzzzzzt, Boom—!
Lightning flashed relentlessly across the training ground.
***
The spar ended just as the Dang siblings had intended.
One opponent taken down at a time.
The only difference was that they were the ones being taken down, not us.
Having already been knocked unconscious once by the bat, the two of them couldn’t withstand another similar shock and lost consciousness again.
Martial artists from the Dang family appeared from somewhere and carried them away.
Dang Gyu-young looked at me and smiled brightly.
“Honestly, this was all thanks to poison immunity.”
“You already had poison resistance. It’s your skill that improved.”
“I wouldn’t have endured the mixed poison. And I deflected the hidden weapons with [Distortion].”
Seo Ye-in added from the side,
“Teamwork played a big part.”
“You two really sync up perfectly at times like this. If there’s an opening later, register both of your traits as well.”
“Got it.”
The two nodded without hesitation.
For now, the traits I’ve copied or pieced together from various sources are stronger and higher-ranked, but once the level of the Bond members rises and they start acquiring S-rank traits, I’ll end up sharing theirs instead.
Just then, sensing a presence, we all turned our heads at the same time.
At some point, Uncle Qyu, Dang Mun-hyeong, had approached. His troubled expression was plainly visible on his face.
“I’m sorry. This time, neither I nor my elder brother could stop it.”
“It’s not your fault, Uncle. The ones who caused this are someone else.”
“I appreciate you saying that… but I still wish I could have been of more help.”
“It was bound to happen eventually. I was even looking forward to it a little.”
“…You’ve grown stronger. Both outwardly and inwardly.”
A faint smile appeared on Dang Mun-hyeong’s lips.
Then he looked at me and spoke.
“My elder brother wishes to speak with you privately. Is that alright?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
No doubt it was about the spar with the Dang siblings and everything that had happened so far.
Since there was no reason to refuse, I followed Uncle Qyu toward the head family residence.
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