The Support Ate it All

The moment the battle began, we lost a party member, but everyone remained calm as they surrounded Lee Soo-dok.

The first to move was Bum.

He crouched for a brief moment before springing forward like a coiled spring.

“Krhhng!”

Instead of pouncing directly at Lee Soo-dok, he leaped just past him, aiming to slash as he passed.

At the same time, Geum Jo-han attacked from the side, while Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi struck from the front.

Lee Soo-dok responded by stepping forward and swinging his blade like a windmill.

Clang!

Every attack surging toward him was deflected by that single motion.

Clang!

The huge cleaver was knocked slightly off course.

Caught off guard by the unexpected outcome, Lee Soo-dok’s stance wavered for a brief moment.

And in that fleeting instant, Han So-mi’s sword energy grazed past him.

[Lee Soo-dok: 100%]

[Lee Soo-dok: 99%]

Lee Soo-dok’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“That wasn’t a practiced attack form.”

“Someone has to take on that role, don’t they?”

“Well done. That’s how teamwork should be.”

“Krhhng!”

This time, Bum lunged from behind.

Jo Byeok moved in sync with him, while the swordsmen continued their assault.

But instead of swinging his blade, Lee Soo-dok simply lifted one foot off the ground.

Then he stomped down with full force.

Boom!

“……!”

“……!”

A shockwave rippled outward, briefly lifting everyone off the ground.

Lee Soo-dok immediately kicked off the floor and then appeared right in front of Geum Jo-han.

With his cleaver raised high above his head.

But just before Geum Jo-han could be split in two—

Tudududu!

Magic bullets and streaks of lightning came flying in.

The observing all-rounders had stepped in to provide support.

Even if Lee Soo-dok managed to take down Geum Jo-han, the cost would be too great. He had no choice but to abandon his attack and retreat.

However, even as he pulled back, he unleashed a shockwave.

Boom!

“Urgh!”

Geum Jo-han took a direct hit to the face and tumbled across the ground. He barely managed to evade the blade energy that followed right after.

Then, without hesitation, he rejoined the battle.

Meanwhile, I observed the situation from the rear.

Yeah… this isn’t going to be easy.

Lee Soo-dok’s class was Blade Master.

His skills and traits were entirely focused on martial arts, built around sheer strength and speed.

Basically, he’s ridiculously fast and absurdly strong.

His swordsmanship was a direct expression of those strengths.

On top of that, his stats were high and he had accumulated years of real combat experience.

That was why, despite a group of skilled up-and-comers swarming him, they were struggling to gain the upper hand.

Before long, everyone had suffered cuts and wounds, big or small, from his blade energy or sword strikes.

Of course, that didn’t mean we were just taking hits without landing any of our own.

[Lee Soo-dok: 97%]

Bit by bit, we were chipping away at his health.

If the rear guard joined the fight, things would become much easier.

But we need to buckle up before diving in.

Lee Soo-dok could charge in at any moment, and the current frontline wouldn’t be able to stop him.

We had to be prepared.

That was why the five of us, Shin Byeong-cheol, me, Park Na-ri, Jeong Soo-ji, and Hong Yeon-hwa were fortifying our position at the rear.

Chopsticks were sticking into the ground all over the place, ice walls were rising, sprouts were emerging, and crimson magic circles were being engraved.

Then when I checked on Seo Ye-in and Song Cheon-hye’s side this time—

Tudududu!

They were mixing in bursts of magic bullets and lightning magic, seamlessly balancing attack and support.

A current of electricity gathered in Song Cheon-hye’s hands, forming into the shape of a hummingbird before taking flight.

[Hummingbird]

It zigzagged rapidly through the air, but before it could even get close to Lee Soo-dok, he sliced it cleanly in half and made it dissipate.

I rated it in my head.

Out of 100 points… 0.5.

Her mana might be high, but her control was as frustrating as ever.

Still, regardless of my evaluation, the Hummingbird skill itself wasn’t bad.

For a C-rank skill, it’s decent.

[Activated ‘Copy-Skill’.]

[The ‘Hummingbird (C)’ skill of the target has been registered in a slot.]

▷ Copy-Skill [3/3]

1. Thief’s Step (B)

2. Hummingbird (C)

3. Ice Wall (B)

If I wanted to use Overheat, I would have to absorb Inferno Fist. But that was a prohibited skill.

It was effectively sealed away for the finals.

Besides, I could always copy Overheat from Hong Yeon-hwa again later, so for now, overwriting it with Hummingbird was the better choice.

There was no downside to having more useful cards at my disposal.

Might as well try it out now.

Fzzzzzzzt!

A hummingbird of lightning formed above my hand and shot forward at high speed.

Sensing it, Lee Soo-dok slashed his huge cleaver twice in quick succession, but the bird twisted and turned unpredictably, slipping through both attacks before hitting its mark and detonating in a small explosion.

Bzzzzzzt!

Lee Soo-dok’s body was briefly paralyzed, but perhaps due to his numerous debuff resistance traits, the effect didn’t last long.

Still, it was more than enough time for the swordsmen fighting on the front lines to land their attacks.

[Lee Soo-dok: 96%]

“……!”

For some reason, Lee Soo-dok glared at me with eyes that looked like they were about to shoot lasers.

What’s his problem now?

Was that really something so shocking?

Lee Soo-dok wasn’t the only one who reacted to Hummingbird.

Song Cheon-hye spoke in an impressed tone.

“It’s been a while since you’ve used that.”

“How do you know it’s been a while?”

“I watched the replays, of course.”

“I used it just last week, though.”

I tried sneaking in a little lie, but it didn’t work on Song Cheon-hye at all.

“Don’t lie. I own all of your replays.”

“All of them? Every single one?”

“…….”

That finally made Song Cheon-hye hesitate.

She must have realized she had just made a slip of the tongue.

Watching another student’s replays regularly was one thing, but collecting all of them was a bit much.

Maybe that was why the other party members were giving her strange looks.

With her face turning red, Song Cheon-hye quickly tried to explain herself.

“I-I just bought them for analysis! That’s all!”

“Oh, I see. Well, thank you anyway. I didn’t realize I had such a devoted fan. Should I, uh… sign something for you?”

“No, thank you!”

Against everyone’s expectations, Lee Soo-dok came to Song Cheon-hye’s rescue.

“What’s the problem with that? It just seems like she has a stronger sense of ambition than most. Even if she collected all the replays, wouldn’t it be a gain as long as it helped improve her skills?”

That didn’t seem to be the point, though.

But with the battle still raging and a teacher present in a public setting, there was nothing to gain from arguing.

So I chose to keep my mouth shut.

Perhaps even Lee Soo-dok felt a little uneasy, as he quickly changed the subject.

“Are you ready?”

He was asking whether the rear fortifications were complete.

Honestly, it would have been stranger if he hadn’t noticed.

This was already a high-difficulty raid, and yet five people had been messing around in the back instead of joining the fight.

I nodded calmly.

“Yes, we’re ready.”

“I’ll see how sturdy it is.”

Normally, when someone knew their opponent was fully prepared, they would avoid approaching altogether. But Lee Soo-dok insisted on coming in.

On the surface, it looked like he just wanted to check a student’s progress as a teacher. But that probably wasn’t the real reason.

There was no way that man cared about his students that much.

So, what was his reason?

I could relate a little, having been in a similar position long ago.

Because it was more fun that way.

No matter what kind of trap the opponent had set, breaking through head-on had its own thrill.

For someone like Lee Soo-dok who fought like a rampaging war machine, that thrill must have been even more special.

Soon, he began making his way toward us while exchanging blows in combat.

The melee fighters tried to block his path, but they were no match for him.

“Krghhh!”

Bum who lunged at him was struck aside with the flat of the cleaver. Jo Byeok was forced back by a single punch thrown head-on.

Even when the swordsmen launched a coordinated attack, he responded effortlessly.

With incredible speed, he swung his cleaver at Go Hyeon-woo, Han So-mi, and Geum Jo-han in turn. Then, the moment Geum Jo-han exposed a gap in his defense, Lee Soo-dok slashed him without hesitation.

Swish!

“……!”

Geum Jo-han staggered in place.

When Lee Soo-dok passed by him, he offered a piece of advice.

“Your center of gravity is off. And you have a habit of stepping forward before your sword moves. That’s practically shoving your neck into the enemy’s blade. Fix it.”

“……Thank you.”

Geum Jo-han lowered his head with difficulty before being expelled from the dungeon.

For Lee Soo-dok, that meant one less obstacle in his way.

With that, his steps grew even faster.

And finally, he reached the rear guard.

“Let’s see.”

The moment he took a step forward with those words, Shin Byeong-cheol’s trap was triggered.

Chopsticks planted throughout the area connected through threads of mana before they converged on Lee Soo-dok.

At the same time, Park Na-ri and Jeong Soo-ji unleashed their magic.

[Binding]

[Rapid Growth]

Sprouts shot up rapidly and wrapped around Lee Soo-dok’s ankles.

However, though they briefly managed to hold him back, he kept pushing forward while tearing through the chopsticks and sprouting vines.

The restraints around his ankles snapped weakly, only to reform and break again in a continuous cycle.

That should be enough.

Even just those brief moments of restraint were enough to do their part.

It wasn’t like only our side suffered from debuffs.

With the sapling planted firmly in the ground, I reached forward.

[Earth Pulse]

[Chillwind]

[Wind Force]

[Spiral Explosion]

Whoooosh!

A whirlwind surged toward Lee Soo-dok.

The freezing air slowed his movements, while a gravitational force pulled him toward the center.

His steps visibly faltered, and before long, he came to a complete stop.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Not bad. You prepared well.”

“Now!”

Instead of answering, I shouted.

At that moment, Hong Yeon-hwa activated all the magic circles at once.

The party members chasing behind unleashed every skill they had.

Whooooooooosh!

Pillars of fire, explosions, sword energy, magic bullets, and lightning.

If all of that had hit directly, he wouldn’t have just lost 10% of his health. He would have been rendered completely incapacitated.

But of course, a raid was never that easy.

Didn’t go through, huh?

[Lee Soo-dok: 95%]

When I checked his health gauge, I saw that he had taken barely any damage.

He must have used some kind of skill combination to completely cleanse the debuffs and escape unscathed.

And then, in the next instant, something flashed—

Slash, slash!

“Guh!”

“Argh!”

With short sharp cries, Shin Byeong-cheol and Jeong Soo-ji were forcibly expelled from the dungeon.

Park Na-ri acted on instinct, threw herself to the side, and barely avoided it, while Beom, who had leaped forward, stood guard nearby.

Right after, Lee Soo-dok emerged with a movement that seemed almost like gliding.

Ghost Dance.

Now that I thought about it, he was a graduate of this school too.

The technique had ridiculously strict conditions, but in theory, it was possible to learn.

After tearing through the rear guard, Lee Soo-dok’s gaze locked onto me.

A strange heat flickered in his eyes.

As if he had been waiting for this very moment.

This is getting kind of scary.

Why was he so fixated on me, of all people?

In the next instant, he closed the distance in a flash and swung his huge cleaver.

Swaaash!