Underground Passage Battle (2)
Joining up with Kim Isabel and Jeong Seok-hoon's appearance had both happened a bit abruptly, but in the end, neither caused any real problems.
After all, a confrontation with Jeong Seok-hoon was practically an unavoidable fate in this event anyway. I'd deliberately brought along this noisy Park Cheon-ho from the start with the full intention of pitting him against the man.
The executive and the extras trailing behind Jeong Seok-hoon were something Cha Eunju and I could handle on our own. Kim Isabel's binding magic would naturally help too.
…If there was one problem, it was when Yoon Selena would stab us in the back and rejoin her original Black Moon comrades — but I had a plan in place for that as well.
"For an academy student, your fists are surprisingly solid. A pity your brain seems to be made of muscle too."
"Thanks for the compliment, you suspicious bastard!!!"
"……?"
Without me even having to ask, he'd planted himself in a one-on-one standoff with Jeong Seok-hoon, buying us time all on his own.
For now, all I needed was to keep Park Cheon-hou facing Jeong Seok-hoon down until I had the means to finish the man off. He was the most physically durable human being I knew.
The real issue was the underlings Jeong Seok-hoon had brought along. No matter how defense-stacked Park Cheon-ho's body was, telling him to hold off Jeong Seok-hoon and the other four at once was simply absurd.
"UOOOOOO!! Take my fist—"
-FWOORRRRUGH!!
"GYAAAH! F, fire?!"
Unable to gauge the gap in skill between them, Park Cheon-ho charged in brimming with confidence.
The instant he did, a burst of flame erupted from the floor between him and Jeong Seok-hoon.
"You don't lay a finger on our Captain."
A mage in a black hooded robe slipped forward from behind Jeong Seok-hoon.
I didn't know his name. All I remembered was hearing that among Jeong Seok-hoon's subordinates, there was one who was exceptionally skilled with fire magic.
Besides, every Black Moon bastard here except Yoon Selena was fated to die in this place, so there was no need to memorize their names one by one.
…And honestly, that woman Yoon Selena — if the situation made her a nuisance, I could just kill her outright. No real loss there.
"Who said you could butt into my fight?"
"…S-sorry, Captain!"
Despite having just landed a meaningful attack on Park Cheon-ho, Jeong Seok-hoon wore an arrogant scowl as he berated his own subordinate.
If there was ever a moment to act, it was now. I leaned in and whispered to Cha Eunju, who was watching the villains across the corridor with a tense expression.
"Eunju. Now. While their eyes are elsewhere."
"…U-uh, okay."
Perhaps because she'd already faced these terrorists once before, she caught my meaning instantly and calmly began a rapid incantation.
Behind the mage, who was still absorbing Jeong Seok-hoon's lecture, a spear burst out of the shadows and drove straight through—
-KRRAAJIK!!
"H-HIIIEK?!"
…Damn it. Even in the middle of all this, Jeong Seok-hoon casually caught the Dark Spear flying at his subordinate with his bare hand.
"…Petty little tricks. Is your lack of skill why you cling to cowardly ambushes?"
"What's cowardly about combat? The one who lets his guard down is at fault."
"…Th-that's right! Th-the one who lets his guard down is at fault!"
"Idiots really do travel in packs, don't they."
"P-packs…."
…That's not a compliment, Eunju.
Our party had been thrown together in a hurry with whoever I could call on short notice, so frankly, we were a bit dimwitted as a unit.
Kim Isabel would also need some time to get her bearings on the situation, and on top of that, we had to take down Jeong Seok-hoon while keeping Yoon Selena in check.
And it wasn't just that mage — three more underlings stood behind him. If Cha Eunju took the mage, those three would presumably become my share of the work.
The problem was how I was supposed to carve out an opening to fight all three in a corridor too cramped even for a two-on-two standoff…
-THUD! THWACK! THUUUD!!
"Kghhk…!!"
"K-ghuuuk?!"
"K-KHUHK…."
…Actually, I don't think I'll need to anymore.
"Y-Yi Hyungju! Jo Taeun!!"
"Huk, khuh…."
"Snap out of it, Moon Ji-hwi!! Wh-when the hell did…."
When do you think? While you were frozen stiff, scared witless by Cha Eunju's ambush.
Truthfully, this ambush had startled even me. This time, I hadn't given any instructions at all — Cha Eunju had simply handled it on her own initiative.
Granted, skill-wise they were extras I could have taken three-at-once myself… but even so, wiping out troublesome variables with just a few shots of dark magic carried real weight.
"H-heal… s-save me…."
"Ghhk, d-damn it…. H-hey! Okay, okay! I'll surrender! Just spare these men's lives, at least!"
"Are you an idiot? Why would we spare men who'd just come charging back to kill us the moment we did?"
"Th-there's really no need to kill them! Hey, you — the saintess! What kind of saintess watches people die right in front of her and does nothing?!"
"……."
Less than five minutes into the fight, and his comrades were already on the verge of death — the mage babbled in a panic.
I briefly glanced over, worried Kim Isabel might waver even at the worst, but mercifully, her expression was calm to the point that there was nothing to worry about at all.
"Why should we extend mercy to the people who attacked us first…?"
"……What?"
"Moments ago, if it hadn't been for Park Cheon-ho, you would truly have killed Seonho. And yet now you're telling me there's no need to kill you? I genuinely cannot understand it."
"…S-still, for a saintess to throw away a human life so easily—"
"It is precisely because human life is precious that I cannot spare you. If we save the people standing there, you will go on to harm countless more lives."
"……."
"Because of you people, today Seonho and I— anyway. You can beg me for mercy all you like; I have no intention of putting in a good word."
Perhaps my being the one attacked at the very start had affected her more than anything, but a faint trace of anger was bleeding into her voice.
And it seemed our date today — the one scheduled under the name of androphobia training — being interrupted had left its own mark.
She'd been all smiles, planning to take things one step further than last time, and then this absurd mess had swept her up and canceled it entirely.
The sight of the villain flustered by Kim Isabel — speaking clearly and firmly, her androphobia gone — was honestly worth the price of admission.
"Y-you cowards…."
"Did your boss swing that first fist planning to give me a massage? You're the ones who threw the first cheap shot, and you're calling who cowardly? Idiots."
"S-Seonho's right! Id-diots, ah…."
"…If it's hard to say, you don't have to force yourself to copy me, Eunju."
"Mmhm, s-sorry…."
Why does this girl keep flirting at every opportunity? I brought her here to fight, honestly.
Even amid all this, with the villains writhing between life and death, pierced through their vitals, I could see exactly where the panicked mage would aim his last hope.
"Selena, you retarded bitch!! What the hell have you been doing just standing there staring this whole time?!"
"……."
"Th-the kids are all about to die, you damn slut!! Get over here and save them, NOW!!"
Convinced there was no way out, he went so far as to expose the identity of the comrade he'd spent three years infiltrating the academy to build.
Needless to say, I had no intention of letting things go smoothly over there. The moment that woman truly exposed herself as 'Black Moon,' my options for using her as a slave would vanish forever.
"I, I…."
That said, she wasn't a heroine, just a lousy little traitor, and I had no desire to see the others put in danger on her account either — so from here on, it would come down to watching how she chose to play it.
Would she risk it and rush to her comrades' side? Or keep up the act, pretending she'd simply been swept up in all this like the rest of us?
My loaded pistol was already angled and ready to swing at a moment's notice — but the words that left Selena's mouth were nothing I had anticipated.
"Th-that man over there! He, he pretended to be a Magic Department professor and told me to bring Sister Isabel into this building!"
"……What?"
"I was deceived because of this disguise! He claimed to be a professor, and I believed him! The building looked like a Magic Department training facility too, and I-I did think something was off, but I still put the patient first and…."
…I knew she was shameless, but I never imagined she'd change her colors and betray them without her complexion so much as flickering.
She'd walked her tightrope nimbly between factions in the original story too, I supposed — and watching her now, her instinct for cutting ties the instant things soured was nothing short of masterful.
"Wh-what kind of woman—"
"…Stop gawking at that sideshow and focus on the fight. Especially that purple-haired mage — she seems a little dangerous, so stay sharp."
"……Yes, sir."
Jeong Seok-hoon had evidently judged his subordinates beyond saving, and true to his word, the lone mage obediently turned his focus back to combat.
A proper battle had finally begun at long last — but the outcome had already tipped completely to one side.
Now that the real fight had started, though, the awkward truth was that there was nothing for me to do at the moment.
On one side, Park Cheon-ho — fellow martial artist — was handling Jeong Seok-hoon on his own; on the other, Cha Eunju — fellow mage — was handling the enemy spellcaster by herself.
Body clashed against body on one flank, magic against magic on the other, each exchange of blows canceling out the other's force in a grinding stalemate.
Things are getting a little too close for comfort as it stands.
I wasn't worried about Cha Eunju. Aside from her crippling timidity, her raw ability was already at upperclassman level.
The problem was Park Cheon-ho, trading flesh-shattering blows with Jeong Seok-hoon.
-KWAAOOOOM!!
"KHHK!! You bastard!! Y-your fists are hard as hell!!"
"…A body that will break after a few more collisions, yet it stubbornly keeps holding on."
No matter how durable Park Cheon-ho's body was, his offensive technique fell short of his sister Park Hana's. If the fight dragged on like this, the first one to wear out and collapse would inevitably be him.
If it were Park Hana in his place, she could at least have exploited an opening and landed one proper hit on even that armored frame — but that was impossible for Park Cheon-ho as he was now.
Rather than waiting for Cha Eunju to finish her mage and join us, the right call was to do what I could, within the limits of what I could do.
"What should we do? Sh-shall I cast binding magic after all…?"
"If you clumsily jump in right now, you'll interfere with both of them. Stick to support magic only, and don't try anything else."
"……Yes."
"Same goes for you, Selena."
"……."
If I needlessly threw Kim Isabel into the fight, it would give Yoon Selena standing right beside her an opening to intervene as well.
No matter how callously she'd abandoned her old comrades to die, she was still Black Moon at heart — I could never let her guard our backs. The moment Kim Isabel's fall could be engineered, that woman would pivot to whichever side served her better without hesitation.
That didn't mean Kim Isabel and I had no way at all to involve ourselves in the two ongoing battles, however.
"More importantly, Isabel."
"Yes, Seonho."
"Consecrate these bullets for me, would you? With the most powerful blessing you can manage."
"……Yes."
Non-combatants have their own ways of fighting, after all.