The Support Ate it All

Soon, a shadow surged up a short distance away and took the Blood Sword Squad Leader’s shape.

At first, he held only a single longsword—but when Dang Gyu-young gave the order, his arms multiplied into six, as if he’d unleashed [Asura Blood Demon Art].

Dang Gyu-young murmured with satisfaction.

“…This is weird. It’s kind of addictive. I should complete it—the Blood Cult elder set.”

“You’d be satisfied with just that?”

“Is there more?”

“Later, you should bring a dragon too and use that.”

“…!”

An exclamation point practically popped over Dang Gyu-young’s head.

They were probably imagining themselves flying around on a Gyu-shadow dragon.

The Gyu-dragon rider.

Seo Ye-in’s eyes lit up too, and she tugged on my sleeve.

“I want to ride a dragon too.”

“Ask Uncle Dragon to give you a ride.”

“…He won’t anymore.”

So he used to?

But right now, there was something more important than that tiny question.

I bowed my head to the Twin Heroes of the Dang Family and the Hyeseong Group team.

“Everyone, you worked incredibly hard.”

The Dang twins answered, one line each.

“I want to throw the same words back at you.”

“Your contribution was in no way less than ours.”

“The Dang family has owed you again.”

“I’d also like to pass along my thanks to Team Leader Ahn.”

Ahn Jeongmi returned it with a formal bow.

“As allies of the Dang family, and as someone who serves the young lady, it was only what I ought to do. You worked hard as well.”

In that warm atmosphere, we started cleanup.

We contacted the Dang family, nearby sects, nearby guilds, and relayed the situation.

‘There are still places left to check.’

But it was better to cut the hidden Blood Cult search off here.

The party had almost no damage, but clashing with the Asura Blood Sword Squad must have burned through a lot of our overall stamina.

‘Even for me, it’s not like just one or two things are on cooldown.’

Thirty consecutive uses of [Mutual-Destruction Eye] meant the cooldown got multiplied by 900.

And I’d spread [Amplification] across a bunch of skills and traits.

On top of that, because of S-rank elemental penalties from [Resonant Jade-Demon Finger-Flick], both [Pain Delay] and [Retrocovery] had three-day cooldowns applied.

‘If we run into another elder-class right now, somebody’s getting taken out.’

And there’s a pretty good chance that somebody would be me.

Catching the Blood Sword Squad Leader alone was already plenty of profit, so we decided to return without getting greedy.

Not long after we arrived back at the Dang family, we received a summons from the Clan Head.

“…….”

The Dang family head stared at me for a long time.

With eyes mixed with admiration, curiosity, and interest.

Then he swallowed a breath and finally spoke.

“I accepted your request and attached Ilbi and Hanbi to you because I had at least minimal trust—but also as repayment for the help you’ve given my daughter.”

“…….”

“But if the merit is this great, then the main family has owed you again. Think of another reward you’d like.”

“Understood.”

After that, the Dang family head offered praise to the rest of the party as well.

But when it came time for Dang Gyu-young, he looked like his words caught in his throat—as if, like he’d told me before, he simply couldn’t find the courage.

Even so, he forced his mouth open at last.

“You worked hard. I also received great help from you.”

“…Yes.”

Dang Gyu-young’s gaze wavered.

Then they lowered their head slightly and stared at the floor.

That ended the father-and-child exchange, but it felt like there had been at least the slightest progress.

Soon, the Dang family head changed the subject.

“As for the Blood Cult’s temporary bases, I’ve already asked other sects for cooperation. The moment preparations are finished, we’ll strike.”

“I think it would be best to move as quickly as possible.”

“Of course. At the latest, it should be decided by tonight.”

If what happened at the Arcade spread, the Blood Cult would hesitate—and they might pull out of the temporary bases or relocate.

We needed to hit before that.

Maybe in some locations, fighting had already started.

At that, the Dang twins stepped into the conversation.

“We’ll go.”

“No. For now, it is right that you nourish and recover. I heard you forced even [Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers].”

The Dang family head shook his head.

No matter how strong the Twin Heroes were, they wouldn’t be able to draw out their full strength for a while, and if a fight broke out against a Blood Cult elder, their odds would plummet.

So if there was even a small chance of running into one, they needed to avoid it.

“But—”

“The Elder Council Head will dispatch an expert. Do not act rashly.”

The Dang family head cut them off, firm, as if he wouldn’t allow rebuttal.

Then he looked at me again.

“What do you think happens next?”

“We’ve struck the grass thoroughly. So the snake will jump out.”

In this case, it was closer to having struck the grass and beaten the snake too, but—

Either way, it was certain the Blood Cult would react in some way.

Sneaking around and working in secret hadn’t worked, so there was a decent chance they’d come out openly and start a full-scale war.

The Dang family head looked like he was hoping for exactly that.

“An enemy in the open is easier to deal with than an enemy in the dark.”

Up until now, incidents had broken out sporadically across the region, and some were so covert that we hadn’t even noticed.

Just looking at the temporary bases we’d discovered proved that.

We’d basically been dragged along by what the other side wanted.

But if it turned into a straightforward clash of force against force, the Dang family head likely believed the Dang family could not lose.

‘Still, it’s not something to be optimistic about.’

The Blood Cult side had probably been planning to collide head-on with the Dang family °• N 𝑜 v l i g h t •° eventually.

And whatever trump card they intended to use then would still be valid.

The Dang family head wouldn’t be unaware of that—but he seemed to decide he shouldn’t put more burden on guests.

“The rest will be handled by the main family. You should rest.”

*****

Just because someone told us to rest didn’t mean we could truly relax.

We had no idea when the Blood Cult might strike, so the best move was to raise our specs as much as possible, even a little.

So the moment our conditions recovered to some extent, we resumed training.

Dang Gyu-young took one side of the training grounds, with the Twin Heroes of the Dang Family facing them.

Then the shadow under Dang Gyu-young’s feet spread wide, a corridor rose, and four Gyu-Shadow Undead walked out.

“…….”

“…….”

The two sides stared each other down.

Then Dang Ilbi and Dang Hanbi exchanged a glance and flicked steel pellets and coins at the same time.

As always, Lab Director stepped forward first.

Making full use of the Flesh Golem trait, he inflated his upper body like a balloon.

The difference now was that the Blood Sword Squad Leader stood beside him.

He whipped six shadow arms and a shadow longsword in a frenzy.

A large portion of the incoming projectiles were cut down, so only a handful managed to pierce Lab Director.

In other words, the defensive wall had gotten sturdier than before.

“…….”

Dang Gyu-young’s mouth curved up slightly.

They could feel the spec-up.

With the shadow club resting on their shoulder, they advanced while leading the undead.

The Dang twins spoke, one line each.

“It’s definitely gotten trickier than before.”

“The base body was the Blood Sword Squad Leader. The undead can’t help but be strong.”

“And the other one looks like a Blood Sword Squad Member.”

“Still not an easy opponent.”

“Then.”

“We should display even more of our skill as well.”

Steel pellets and coins flew in with even fiercer momentum.

Little by little, gaps opened in Lab Director and the Blood Sword Squad Leader’s defense, until it finally collapsed.

But they immediately burst out of Umbral Corridor and rejoined the line.

By then, the distance between both sides had narrowed enough.

Dang Gyu-young gripped the shadow club and kicked off the ground.

The Gyu-Shadow Undead also lunged in all at once, and everyone tangled together into a chaotic melee.

Watching that, I thought,

‘For now, it’s best to focus on getting used to it.’

Two undead had suddenly become four, and the Blood Sword Squad Member and the Blood Sword Squad Leader were different from the previous ones in several ways.

The best plan was to repeat sparring and build proficiency.

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in was quietly watching Dang Gyu-young.

Then she turned her head and looked at me.

“I train too.”

“Feeling motivated?”

“Honestly, I was disappointed.”

“About what?”

“I didn’t do much.”

The [Sailboat] she’d worked so hard to learn barely had any chance to shine—partly because it was indoors, and partly because the Arcade was packed with obstacles.

And because the Blood Sword Squad Leader had strengthened himself by burning even his life, it had been close to impossible to shake him off with only a few movement skills.

“Didn’t you catch a bunch of Blood Sword Squad members?”

“I did, but still disappointed.”

“I see. Then let’s get stronger, and next time, let’s beat up a Blood Cult elder too.”

“Beat up.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

A hologram projected to one side of the training grounds and took the shape of a person.

What appeared was Seo Ye-in’s mirror-image—Depresso-Sloth.

Maybe because we’d slapped Challenge Austerity on it and neglected it, it looked even more depressed.

Depresso-Sloth stared at us with sad eyes.

“Rival. Rematch.”

“This time I’ll win too.”

The two of them lit their competitive fire in an instant.

They stared each other down and moved to their positions.

But then—

“…?”

Seo Ye-in tilted her head to the side.

Like she’d sensed something was off.

Then, little by little, her face drooped.

‘It’s over. The medicine wore off.’

Dang Eunbi’s special “less-annoying medicine” had run out.

She held out for quite a while.

She even cleared two stages of Challenge Austerity.

As I was thinking that, Seo Ye-in trudged over and grabbed my sleeve.

“…Cancel it.”

“What are you asking me to cancel?”

“Challenge Austerity.”

I answered in a kindly customer-service voice.

“Ma’am~ refunds aren’t available for a simple change of heart~”

“There’s a reason…….”

“What reason would that be~?”

“That isn’t me…….”

Meaning: it was Fast-Sloth who received Challenge Austerity, not her, so it should be invalid.

I kept the same sweet tone.

“I’m sorry, but that one will be difficult~ Actually, it’s just impossible~”

“Why not…….”

“And that’s been your friendly customer service representative, Kim Ho~ Thank you~”

When I unilaterally ended the conversation, Seo Ye-in became Depresso-Sloth and looked across at Depresso-Depresso-Sloth.

“Sadness…….”

“Very sadness…….”

The training grounds filled with the sorrowful wailing of sloths.