The Support Ate it All - Chapter 592: Why Doesn’t It Work? (2)

The two siblings kept exchanging flustered looks.

Dang Gyu-young added a comment on top of that.

“Looks like you didn’t prepare anything else.”

There was a subtle deflation in Dang Gyu-young’s expression, because even though it was two against one, there still hadn’t been any real crisis so far.

They’d gone to the trouble of learning Umbral Corridor and even ranking it up, only to barely get to use it.

And if even the formation array they’d painstakingly completed ended up like this, the outcome was obvious.

Dang Junyeop bristled and snapped back.

“Are you certain there isn’t more?”

But unlike before, there wasn’t much confidence in the voice.

Dang Gyu-young raised the shadow club.

—FSSSH….

The Lab Director and Dark-Shadow Commander scattered into black smoke, then were absorbed into their master as if being sucked in.

Dang Gyu-young had activated [Standing Alone].

In exchange for sealing undead for a set time, it granted an enormous bonus to combat ability and shadow skills.

Right after that, shadow butterflies fluttered up from Umbral Corridor—one, two—then multiplied in an instant until it was impossible to count.

[Dream of Shadow Butterflies]

Dang Gyu-young pointed forward with the shadow club.

“If you have it, show it. I’m going in.”

Then they began advancing together with the swarm of butterflies.

Straight through the thick poison smoke.

Seeing that, Dang Junyeop half-screamed.

“Why! Why doesn’t it work! Why, damn it!”

“You idiot! Is this the time to be yelling ‘why’!”

“I told you not to call me an idiot! I’m your brother!”

“Shut up, you idiot bastard! Help me!”

The two siblings kept bickering.

Maybe because defeat was looming, they were even turning on each other.

Still, they didn’t forget their job—they used every method they had to shoot down the shadow butterflies and stop Dang Gyu-young.

Dang Huiyeon put away the stakes they’d been using and began scattering silver needles and bean-sized fire pellets.

—SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK—!

—BOOM BOOM!

Their throwing skill was respectable, so a good number of butterflies were swept away, but unfortunately, far more were being replenished from the corridor.

Dang Junyeop’s situation was even worse.

Batta Gyu-young’s closing speed was so fast that the distance had already shrunk before Dang Junyeop could even throw hidden weapons more than a few times.

Just as the club swung with a heavy, air-splitting roar—

—WHOOOM—!

Dang Junyeop’s eyes flashed.

“……Now!”

The wide, fluttering sleeve pulled back, revealing a small crossbow strapped to the forearm.

It was glowing blue, as if infused with inner power in advance.

The next moment, a bolt shot toward Dang Gyu-young’s chest.

—SHHHHHRK—!

Dang Junyeop had aimed for the instant the club was swinging, so it would be hard to block or dodge.

Dang Gyu-young seemed to judge it the same way—yet there still wasn’t even a trace of urgency on their face.

‘No need to dodge.’

Right before the bolt hit the chest, it suddenly curved and flew off somewhere completely different.

[Distortion] had activated.

Dang Junyeop’s expression went vacant.

“Huh.”

A thousand thoughts were probably flashing through the mind.

But those thoughts didn’t last long.

—KWAANG—!!

Because a shadow batta exploded against the top of the head.

Dang Junyeop sprawled out in an ugly heap, eyes rolled back.

That left Dang Huiyeon.

Even while being surrounded from all sides by butterflies, they were surprisingly holding out.

They scattered hidden weapons like crazy in every direction.

—SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK!

The shadow butterflies couldn’t approach beyond a certain distance and were busy dispersing.

‘Should’ve fought like that from the start.’

That would’ve actually given them better odds.

Of course, from their perspective, the formation array + mixed poison strategy must have looked far more effective.

It was also the product of their own deliberations with the Elder Council.

It just failed far more miserably than they expected.

—SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK-SHHHK!

Dang Huiyeon kept spraying hidden weapons.

And then—something underfoot shadow-wriggled, and a pitch-black shape surged upward.

It was Batta Gyu-young, using [Shadow Leap].

They’d deliberately saved it until now.

“!!”

Dang Huiyeon’s eyes bulged as they tried to shout something, but the shadow club swung faster.

—KWAANG—!

Dang Huiyeon sprawled out on the ground the same way their brother had.

Dang Gyu-young tossed a comment as they passed.

“I hit you a bit gently.”

Because they’d said something pleasant once—“lover.”

The Dang siblings regained consciousness not long after.

Rubbing the lump on the head, Dang Junyeop finally spoke.

“……I’ll admit it. You do have the skill to back up the big talk.”

They were accepting the result cleanly, in their own way.

Well, they’d lost two-on-one. There wasn’t room for excuses.

But it didn’t look like they planned to give up either.

“Still, it feels lacking to measure the prestige of Dragonslayer Academy. With only you against Ilbi and Hanbi.”

Meaning they wanted to fight me and Seo Ye-in too.

It went past persistent and straight into ugly, so Dang Gyu-young frowned.

“……You’re going to drag the kids into it?”

“If your companions truly are ‘kids,’ then I apologize. It would mean my demand was excessive. But is that the case?”

“It’s true there’s a pretty big age gap between you and them.”

“Of course it is. That’s why I said at the start, didn’t I? That I would permit a combined attack.”

Dang Junyeop, at this point, seemed to decide to be shameless.

The look said they were trying to provoke and steer things their way.

If I and Seo Ye-in refused the duel request, we’d become “kids.” And even if we combined, it would still be the same.

But if we matched headcount and fought, their odds would naturally be higher—so they could win and salvage at least a little dignity.

The calculation was obvious enough that Dang Gyu-young looked like they wanted to smash someone with the batta on the spot.

Still, Dang Gyu-young asked, like they wanted to hear our thoughts first.

“What do you want to do?”

“I’m fine with it.”

I answered without even a second ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) of hesitation.

And I added one more line, confidently.

“I don’t think we need a combined attack.”

Meaning: one-on-one.

Maybe my tone bothered them, because Dang Junyeop’s face twitched.

“You two really do have a lot in common.”

“……We do.”

Dang Gyu-young tried to act calm, but kept shooting glances my way.

It was like they were saying, ‘Did you hear that? He said we’re alike! Did you hear that? He said we’re alike!’

Then Seo Ye-in accepted the duel casually too.

“I’ll do it.”

“Then it’s settled. The choice is yours.”

Meaning we could choose who to fight.

But there was no need to think about that.

“As long as the headcount matches, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Then?”

“Instead of dragging it out, how about we settle it two-on-two.”

“…….”

Dang Junyeop stared at me like they were trying to read my intent.

But there was nothing to read, so they gave up quickly and nodded.

“……As you wish. Prepare.”

A short while later, the training grounds—filled with stakes and poison smoke—were cleaned up.

Seo Ye-in and I faced the Dang siblings.

If I evaluated the two of them simply—

‘Their skill isn’t bad.’

Overall specs and control sat somewhere between third-year club leader level and a graduate.

Even a decent club leader would be tough for me and Seo Ye-in to handle.

‘But that guy uses poison, right?’

Since it gets blocked by ★All-Poison Immunity★, I had to rate their threat much lower.

That was why Dang Gyu-young had proposed two-on-one in reverse, and why we matched headcount too.

Dang Junyeop and Dang Huiyeon seemed to be holding a tactical discussion through voice transmission, then they glared back at us.

“Begin.”

“Thank you in advance.”

Immediately, the two of them pulled out bean-sized pellets and started throwing them at Seo Ye-in like crazy.

—BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Countless small explosions went off, and foul green, yellow, and purple smoke shot up.

‘As expected, they’re targeting her first.’

Inside the Dang family, pretty much everyone knew that my poison resistance was high.

So rather than wasting poison on me, the better choice was to suppress Seo Ye-in first, then cook me slowly afterward.

But what they hadn’t anticipated was—

‘She has ★All-Poison Immunity★ too.’

—TUDUDUDUDU!

Seo Ye-in stepped through Featherstep and fired back.

They moved through the thick smoke gaps like it was nothing.

Time passed—enough time that poison should have spread through the entire body and then some.

And yet Seo Ye-in was fine, and question marks practically popped up over the Dang siblings’ heads.

“No! Seriously—why! Why doesn’t it work!”

“It’s a secret.”

Seo Ye-in answered flatly and opened one hand.

A lump of light gathered, gradually taking shape.

Then Seo Ye-in flicked the completed [Capricious Trap] at the opponent.

“……!”

Dang Junyeop immediately stepped through footwork.

They must have watched Seo Ye-in’s throwing duel while spying on us.

They would have also figured out that when the unknown skill activated, the projectile jumped forward.

So they evacuated early.

But the next moment—

—BANG!

Compressed wind exploded and shoved them right back into the original spot.

I’d secretly sent Sylphid and cast windforce.

‘You’re underestimating me way too much.’

They had almost no response to wind magic, so they got pushed far more easily than I expected.

Probably because they were rattled that poison didn’t work on Seo Ye-in.

Then the Capricious Trap—half tracing a ballistic arc—blinked out, then appeared right in front of Dang Junyeop’s nose.

“Huh.”

—KRKRKRK, KWA-KABOOM—!

Lightning flashed in the training grounds without a second’s rest.

*****

The duel ended exactly the way the Dang siblings intended it to.

Cleaning them up one by one.

There was just one difference: the ones who got cleaned up weren’t us.

The two of them had already taken a batta to the head and passed out once, so when similar shock hit again, they lost consciousness on the spot.

Dang family martial artists appeared from somewhere and carried them off.

Dang Gyu-young looked at me and grinned.

“Honestly, ★All-Poison Immunity★ did all the work.”

“You already had poison resistance, Miss. You just got stronger.”

“You wouldn’t have endured mixed poison. And you deflected the hidden weapons with [Distortion] too.”

Seo Ye-in added a line at my side.

“The bond contribution is big.”

“You two really sync up fast even for this. Later, when you have time, register your Traits too.”

“Confirmed.”

Both of them nodded readily.

Right now, what I’d copied or combined from here and there was still stronger and higher-ranked, but once the bond members’ level rose and they started holding S-rank traits, it would flip—then I’d be the one receiving and sharing those.

Just then, we felt a presence and all turned our heads at the same time.

Gyu Uncle—Dang Munhyeong—was walking up, and the complicated feelings were written all over the face.

“I’m sorry. This time, neither I nor my older brother could stop it.”

“How is this your fault? The ones who caused it are someone else.”

“I’m grateful you say that, but…… I can’t help feeling I wish I could have been more help.”

“It was going to happen eventually anyway. I was even looking forward to it a little.”

“……You’ve grown stronger. On the outside and on the inside.”

A faint smile touched Dang Munhyeong’s lips.

Then Dang Munhyeong looked at me and spoke.

“My older brother wishes to meet you alone. Will you be alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

It was obviously about the duel with the Dang siblings, and everything that had happened up to now.

There was no reason to refuse, so I followed Gyu Uncle toward the Clan Head Hall.