The Support Ate it All-Chapter 542: Fortress (2)
The scene turned into chaos in an instant.
A few of them took Inferno Fist head-on and dropped, and I could see others flailing as flames swallowed them.
Even so, as you’d expect of elites, most of them seemed to have slipped away quickly.
The swordsmen in black martial uniforms immediately drew their longswords and came in, closing the distance with slick, sliding footwork.
Dang Gyu-young and I turned around at the same time, like we’d rehearsed it.
“We run?”
“Let’s run.”
Then we started sprinting, dragging every movement Skill we had up to the limit.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH—!
Multiple tearing sounds came from behind us.
The archers had fired, too.
Again, we spoke at the same time.
“Blink?”
“Blink.”
If we used [Shadow Leap], our identities would be exposed on the spot—so even Dang Gyu-young used generic magic right now.
We focused, and in the same beat—
SHUK—we shifted forward.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH—!
Thanks to that, we opened a big gap from the swordsmen, but the arrows kept coming.
Dang Gyu-young twisted her body sideways, and a blue beam skimmed past.
We exchanged looks again.
“Ghostly?”
“No-Shadow.”
SSSRK.......
We blurred, leaving our original forms behind, and immediately hid ourselves in a tucked-away corner.
As she wrapped us in shadow, Dang Gyu-young grinned.
“Two minds?”
“One mind.”
“Then the main wife?”
“.......”
“The main wife~?”
“.......”
Dang Gyu-young draped an arm over my shoulder with fake tenderness.
Her voice even turned syrupy.
“Why’d you go quiet~?”
“It’s a sensitive matter that must not be answered carelessly.”
“Doesn’t someone have to be number one?”
“In my ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) heart, everyone is number one.”
“There you go, slipping past it again. Again.”
Dang Gyu-young shot me a sulky look, grabbed my arm, and bit down—chomp.
Then she peeked her head out and checked behind us.
“They’re not coming?”
“They know what matters.”
Their top priority was operating the Ballista and providing fire support to the temporary storage facility.
If they reacted to every little disruption, they’d end up doing nothing well—so they’d only pretended to chase us, then let us go.
Dang Gyu-young pouted.
“I feel kinda ignored. I’m about to get my feelings hurt.”
“Right? Who knew you could treat people this dismissively.”
Despite the grumbling tone, we both wore wicked smiles.
“Should we make them regret ignoring us?”
“We should educate them.”
That the Ballista wasn’t the only thing that mattered.
We turned back the way we’d come.
While we moved, Dang Gyu-young spoke into the communicator.
“Da-bin, you watching us?”
I’m watching. I have been for a while.
Fair. After how loudly I’d thrown Inferno Fist, there was no way Chae Da-bin wouldn’t notice.
“Where are the archers?”
Tracking. I’ll send the location.
“Mm-hm. And hey—disciplinary committee club. You hear me?”
......I hear you.
A female student’s voice I didn’t recognize came back.
One of the third-year disciplinary committee club members assigned to the Ballista search team.
“Come too. Grab anyone nearby.”
We’re already moving.
“Okay.”
After cutting the comms, we headed to the spot Chae Da-bin marked.
A line of three- to four-story buildings.
The air between them shimmered—and a drone revealed itself.
It painted one building with a laser, and sure enough, I could sense multiple presences on the rooftop.
Then it popped up a screen and shared the drone’s view.
“.......”
Dang Gyu-young stared at the screen, occasionally lifting her head to glance up at the roof—probably figuring out how to break in.
Then she held out her hand to me.
“Grab.”
I took it without hesitation.
The shadow under our feet widened, and it felt like we were being sucked in.
[Shadow Leap]
The next moment, we were crouched in the shade on the rooftop.
Getting spotted was only a matter of time, so I burst out immediately and threw Inferno Fist—
Straight at the Ballista that had just finished being set up.
A firestorm slammed onto the rooftop.
KWAAAAAH—!
“KYAAAH!”
“KRAAAAH—!”
Maybe because there was nowhere good to dodge, multiple screams rang out.
But there was no time to confirm anything.
Dang Gyu-young and I leapt off the roof at once.
We landed safely with wind magic.
Then we used Blink to put distance between us in a flash.
“Stop—!!”
Someone’s shout boomed out.
When I glanced back over my shoulder, the swordsmen were flying after us, wringing every bit of lightness out of their movement techniques.
Even though Blink had opened the gap, they didn’t care.
Dang Gyu-young checked behind us too, then giggled.
“They’re really pissed.”
When I first hit them with Inferno Fist, it’d been more like, Ugh, go away~.
Now it was, We’re catching you two no matter what—and we’re beating you into the ground!
The killing intent was so thick I could feel it from here.
“Looks like the Ballista broke.”
“Or the archers got taken out.”
Either way, they could no longer accomplish their objective, so they were trying to vent their rage.
Of course, now that we’d learned ★Blink★, watching these walkers struggle was almost... endearing.
Shaking them would be nothing.
‘Still, it’s better to deal with this now.’
Once their heads cooled, they’d be able to make calm decisions again—and then they might change routes to support the temporary storage facility, or interfere with the search team.
Better to do a little extra work than add variables.
‘Besides, it’s not like we’re the ones doing it.’
You just hand this kind of thing to professionals.
We deliberately slowed down little by little so the swordsmen could catch up.
And the moment they closed to near point-blank—
“You guys are hilarious.”
KWAAAAANG—!
A force from somewhere crashed into one of the swordsmen.
They flew and collapsed, limp on the ground.
A third-year girl landed beside us.
It was probably the same disciplinary committee club member I’d been talking to over comms.
“How come you run away even when you’re working with us?”
“Because it’s fun. And it gets the blood pumping.”
Dang Gyu-young answered with a grin.
The remaining Black Blade swordsmen sensed something was wrong and scanned around—
But they’d been surrounded for a while now.
Disciplinary committee club search-team members revealed themselves from every direction.
The third-year girl stepped forward, surging with momentum.
“Bring them all in.”
TAP!
The disciplinary committee club members kicked off the ground at once and swarmed.
The Black Blade swordsmen were elite in their own right, but they were facing equal-or-stronger opponents, and they were outnumbered by a lot.
So the result had been decided from the start.
Before you could even drink a glass of water, it was over.
The third-year senior got in touch with someone.
“Seungjae, open a door for us. Yeah—our location is—”
KUGUGUGU.......
A tree door opened, and the disciplinary committee club members dragged the Black Blade swordsmen and archers into the clubroom.
After giving it a quick once-over, the third-year senior tossed us a compliment.
“Good work. That’s one down already.”
“Two left now, right?”
“Yeah. Two.”
THU-KWUNG, THU-THU-KWUNG.......
Even now, distant bombardment echoed somewhere far off.
The Ballista we’d just smashed had been number three.
The Archery Club president and deputy vice president were still running one and two, perfectly fine.
The third-year senior asked,
“I think it’d be best to split up and move. Which side do you want?”
“We’ll take Dam-bi.”
“Good. Keep in contact.”
The disciplinary committee club members cleaned up fast, then kicked off and scattered in all directions.
We started heading for the location Chae Da-bin had marked for us—
When I spotted two familiar faces hiding off to one side.
‘When did they even get here?’
Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi.
It didn’t look like they’d gotten a specific order so much as they’d come out of curiosity.
When our eyes met, Han So-mi said,
“Feels like we got caught~?”
“Talk quieter...!”
Song Cheon-hye hissed at her, then seemed to give up and stepped out of hiding—
Glancing around in case any seniors were still nearby.
But when they got close enough—
Han So-mi, who’d been smiling brightly, saw my face and widened her eyes.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Meaning she’d seen through the [Mimicry Totem].
Dang Gyu-young’s expression went dead serious as she grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey. This is seriously not okay. Someone already has dibs.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Just in case. No way you’d do something that throws basic human decency away.”
“I’m not that bad.”
Song Cheon-hye might not have understood what we were talking about, but she seemed to prioritize greeting first. She bowed.
“Hello, senior.”
“......Uh. Yeah.”
Dang Gyu-young answered awkwardly.
The cutoff-line thing and the fact that the [Mimicry Totem] got read so easily must’ve been sticking in her head.
But she quickly pasted on a calm face.
“As you can see, we ended up helping the disciplinary committee club a bit. Me and him.”
“Yes, I confirmed it.”
“We’re moving quietly, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself that you saw us.”
“Understood.”
Song Cheon-hye nodded easily.
Then she looked at me, narrowing her eyes.
“Why aren’t you reading your messages?”
“You sent something? I was busy, so I didn’t see it.”
When I answered smoothly, Song Cheon-hye went quiet for a moment, then changed her question.
“So it really was you.”
“Me, what?”
“Inferno Fist.”
She’d already been suspicious for a while—and now I’m moving around disguised, and everywhere I go a firestorm blows through?
There was no way denial would work.
And at this point, there was no reason to hide it either.
I grinned and answered.
“Yeah. Inferno Fist.”
“What—then you’ve been pretending it wasn’t you this whole time? Even back then!”
“When was ‘back then’?”
Song Cheon-hye grabbed my hand and opened it wide.
“Like when I read your palm. You knew everything and you were just messing with me.”
“That’s because you said you’d read it.”
She’d been checking whether I’d gotten burned from the elemental penalty, but her excuse—her cover—had been palm reading.
Show me your hand.
I need a reason before I decide.
That’s...
What, you gonna read my palm or something?
Yes. Palm reading!
Of course, I’d long since neutralized it with S-rank [Elemental Resistance], so nothing showed.
Maybe remembering that embarrassing moment made her flustered—Song Cheon-hye’s face turned red as she protested.
“You should’ve told me honestly then.”
“For whose benefit? You should’ve looked closer and figured it out.”
“Wow. You’re seriously shameless.”
Song Cheon-hye opened her mouth a little, stunned.
And just as she was about to keep pressing—
Dang Gyu-young cut in.
“Hey. If you keep this up, we’ll be here all night. We have to go, so do it later.”
“Sorry.”
“And stop kneading the kid’s hand.”
“Knead—”
Only then did Song Cheon-hye seem to realize she was still holding my hand like she was reading my palm. She let go in a panic and stepped back.
Taking it in stride, I exchanged quick goodbyes with both of them.
“Anyway, good luck out there.”
“......Read your messages.”
“Bye! Tell me later!”
Then we moved out fast.
The scenery whipped past on both sides.
Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young kept sending me a strangely pointed look.
“......You got your palm read?”
“It was just an excuse she stuck on.”
“Still, that stuff can be weirdly accurate. What’d she say?”
“Dunno. I don’t really remember.”
I shrugged like I had no idea.
