The Spear of the Special Force
I compressed my mind to its absolute limit. I twisted my head, dodging the straight punch hurtling toward my face.
"Oh? He dodged it!?" Kang Jia laughed brightly.
The moment her words ended, a vicious horizontal kick sliced toward the side of my head. Swoosh— The sound of air being torn whistled past my ear. I barely avoided it again—escaping death by a hair's breadth. My entire body was gradually being devoured by fear.
Every single one of those punches and kicks she was throwing right now—I instinctively realized that even a graze would knock me unconscious. The overwhelming aura crushed my body once more. Don't tense up, damn it!
"As expected! My eyes weren't wrong!" Kang Jia rained down punches on me without pause, her eyes gleaming with madness. It wasn't a bang—it was a boom. The sound wasn't a mere whoosh of air; it was like the roar of an anti-tank cannon assaulting my eardrums.
"I knew it the second you moved! You, damn, you've got talent! Or is it effort? You've been training hard, haven't you!!"
Above, beside, below, center, diagonal, arms, head, knees. Fists and feet from every direction filled my entire field of vision. I couldn't think of anything except 'evade.' Even if a horde of yetis swarmed in from all sides, she smashed through them with her whole body, advancing relentlessly toward me.
Right now, all I could do was dodge. It was night and day compared to the joint combat practice. If I mistimed even a single breath—in or out—her fist would slam into my ribs and I'd lose consciousness instantly. I couldn't even think about attacking.
"How many years? How many years have you been working out!? Tell your big sis! You're seriously strong!! Hehe." Her words were as noisy as her fists. About half as bad as Akina. Fuck. My head was spinning.
I wanted to use 'Acceleration Magic' right this second. But I couldn't. I couldn't play my hidden card already. My goal was to endure. They said they'd calculate points based on how long I lasted, so no matter what, I had to hold out for at least five minutes.
My body was gradually being pushed toward the wall. I couldn't block her, and I couldn't even run. The bizarrely intense shockwaves that rang through heaven and earth, the feather-light yet mountain-heavy feet that shook the entire training hall floor with every step—it was nothing short of a human disaster. A walking natural catastrophe.
"You don't want to tell me!? Tsk, big sis is disappointed! I might even get sulky, you know?!" This fucking— My whole body was drenched in sweat, heavy as lead. Even if lightning-charged wind spears flew at her in droves, she didn't pay them any mind. They wouldn't even pierce her, let alone leave a scratch.
For some strange reason, Kang Jia was only targeting me.
Then—
"Haa, fuck, complete!"
"Compressed to the extreme—"
⟨ Frozen Breath ⟩
A torrent of ultra-compressed cold energy poured toward Kang Jia. I exchanged a glance with Lee Arin and quickly wrapped my hands and feet in explosive magic, breaking away from the wall.
"Haa... haa... fuck. Hey, are you okay!?" Lee Arin looked at me with worried eyes.
Fuck, you ask if I'm okay?
"I'm... fine..."
No, I was anything but fine. My ragged breaths burst out like a dam breaking. Still, I had to say it. If she started worrying about me now, teamwork would go out the window.
The ice dragon forced its breath into Kang Jia until it ran out of air. Crack— The sound of freezing and shattering filled the entire training hall. It would definitely break soon. We had gained a very brief moment to regroup.
I gathered Lee Arin and Han Yerin together and brought our faces close.
"Can we even damage her with this?!"
"Haa... haa... No. Honestly, with our current skills, we can't even scratch her."
"Puppy, then how..."
"There's no answer except enduring as long as possible—"
BOOM—! A spine-chilling sound.
"What are you all talking about over there?"
Kang Jia casually brushed the ice off her clothes and walked toward us. We exchanged glances for a split second.
"Scatter!!"
Lee Arin and Han Yerin hurriedly distanced themselves from me as much as possible. My vision was once again filled with fists and feet.
"Don't let your guard down! I'll push you so hard you'll forget all about strategy!"
I compressed my mind to its utmost limit. I'd already forgotten about 'fear'; my head was filled only with thoughts of dodging the attacks before me.
"Listen up! When fighting monsters, 'strategy' is meaningless except against a tiny minority of them!!"
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of fists grazed my sides, neck, legs, arms, and forehead. I couldn't hear a word Kang Jia was saying. The world felt like it had stopped; I knew nothing except dodging.
"Even high-risk monsters don't have 'intelligence'! They just charge like idiots or attack mindlessly!!"
So many fists pushed the air aside that there wasn't even enough room to breathe. I'd long since dropped my spear. My whole body creaked in pain. My muscles and bones screamed.
"Medium-risk monsters can be swept away with heavy firearms! And once you graduate and become knights, you'll learn real strategy later!! What you all need right now is—"
Her rippling yellow eyes, filled with madness, stared at me.
"The 'resolve' not to flinch even when facing a high-risk monster! Hehe. Do you guys know that?!"
"'Focus' and it won't be scary."
Kang Jia smiled brightly.
"You're pouring out more pressure than before, but you're only dodging—you're not freezing up or running away!"
Kang Jia now burst into hearty laughter.
"Burn this experience into your hearts!! When you meet a monster, the first thing you do is 'focus'!!"
I felt the mana inside my body hitting rock bottom. I couldn't endure any longer. It was about time...
"And another important thing is—"
A fist flew at me at a speed on a completely different level than before. I widened my eyes and accelerated my blood flow. The world slowed down rapidly. I dodged the fist by a razor-thin margin.
"The 'judgment' to use your abilities at exactly the right moment!"
My head felt hazy. My joints, muscles, ribs, hands, feet—every part of my body screamed for me to stop moving.
"Well done! So that was what you were hiding? It's still crude... but not bad!"
But I couldn't stop. The endless shockwaves left no room for thought. From all directions—ice dragon's breath, ice spears, hailstones the size of baseballs, ice spikes sprouting from the floor, yetis, exploding ice orbs, ice needles raining down like a storm. Fierce gusts, crashing lightning, railguns, dozens of wind blades, wind whips—all of it poured toward Kang Jia.
"You guys are pretty skilled! Nothing misses—it's all hitting me!!"
Kang Jia laughed heartily as she smashed the ice dragon with her bare hands and looked at Lee Arin.
"Whew, damn, you dodge really well! I honestly didn't expect this level! Then now it's about time..."
Should I check on the others too?
In a flash— Kang Jia vanished from my sight.
What the fuck?
I'd dodged tens, hundreds, thousands of those insane punches. There was no way Lee Arin or Han Yerin could avoid them. It didn't even feel like five minutes had passed yet. For someone to collapse already was impossible.
I widened my eyes and accelerated my blood flow to the maximum.
"Hello?"
Far away, Lee Arin and Kang Jia faced each other. I squeezed out mana at the cost of crossing a terrible limit. The instant Kang Jia's fist was about to reach Lee Arin's head—
"Oh?"
Skrrrt—!
I scooped Lee Arin up with both arms and slid across the ice-and-snow-covered training hall floor, fleeing.
"Hwaak, ugh, ugh?"
"Haa... shit, haa... Hey."
I met Lee Arin's eyes. Her face was flushed so red I couldn't tell if it was a face or a tomato.
"You okay?"
She couldn't pass out here. It would take her further from my 'goal.'
"Ugh, ugh, uuu... U-uh, th-that is... hic!"
Lee Arin covered her reddened face with her hands.
This fucking—
"Why the hell are you covering your face!"
"U-uh, th-that, uwaa, it's...!"
"Can't you read the situation right now?! Get up quickly!"
I set Lee Arin down on the floor. Behind us, Kang Jia slowly walked over.
"Ooh... Sorry, I'll take back what I said about it being 'crude' earlier!"
Kang Jia met my eyes.
"Yeah, in the end, you're a knight. Saving others is the top priority!! I'll have to give you bonus points for this later."
Kang Jia grinned.
My lungs desperately craved air. My whole body felt so exhausted it might collapse. I sensed the limit approaching.
"Still, don't worry too much, okay? I do control my strength, you know?! I won't put holes in your head... And—"
Kang Jia chuckled.
Just from talking a little... strength was steadily draining from my body. The acceleration magic was about to break.
"I told you not to let your guard down!"
No, I told you not to tense up... Fuck.
Kang Jia threw a straight punch right in front of me. I quickly tried to accelerate my blood flow, but it wouldn't work. My body had reached its 'limit.' Just a little more... I had to endure just a little longer...
"Ugh, clothes."
"Hm?"
Suddenly, translucent iron chains wrapped around Kang Jia's body like snakes, freezing her in place. In that instant, I quickly regained my senses, forcibly dragged up my already depleted mana, and maintained the acceleration magic. I swiftly picked up Lee Arin again.
Skrrrt—!
I slid between the sheets of ice and fled to Han Yerin's side.
"Hoo...! Hoo...! Hng...!"
Over Han Yerin's hand, I saw an insanely complex green magic formula. This... wasn't it a binding spell?
"Ugh, hah!"
Kang Jia shattered the binding magic with raw power.
"Wh-what is this?" Kang Jia looked flustered. "This is a binding spell... What the, the completion level..."
Kang Jia marveled, then looked at Han Yerin with an expression of disbelief.
"Was this what you were hiding? I'm genuinely surprised! You get bonus points too!!"
Kang Jia laughed heartily.
I was shocked too. No, even if she was second in magic studies... she stopped that monster? It was only for a very brief moment, but it was more than three seconds. Cold sweat ran down my head. When I looked at Han Yerin, her face was completely drained. She'd used up every ounce of her power.
"You're similar too. You have the qualities of a 'knight'!"
Kang Jia slowly approached the three of us. Other than her clothes being a bit torn, she didn't have a single scratch.
"Whew, now to finish... Hmm."
Kang Jia raised her fist, then stopped.
"You've all reached your limit, huh?"
Kang Jia let out a small laugh. She brushed off her clothes with her hand and looked at the three of us.
"Shall we call it here?"
The moment I heard those words, all strength left my body. Even if I tried to stand, my body refused. The limit. Ah... just a little more... just a little longer... I'm still... so weak.
…Is she really human?
The eldest son of Dongbu Steel, Do Gu-il. Somehow I’d scraped together enough mental strength to make it into the top 13, but the road ahead felt utterly bleak. My heart was pounding like crazy.
"Just what the..."
That bakery kid I used to look down on and ignore... Fuck. At this level, wasn't he just a monster? My legs were shaking uncontrollably. Even though my body shrank back from her aura, those acrobatic movements that dodged every attack were still vivid in my mind.
Han Yerin and Lee Arin. Both of them had insane skill. They were like an insurmountable 'wall,' but there was someone even above them.
Kim Taeho. He dodged those skin-crawling, invisible punches that tore through the air like it was nothing. Even when ice and lightning flew at him from all sides, he didn't flinch. He just dodged. He just endured.
Could I do that too...? No. I instinctively knew. I could never surpass him. No matter what.
"Haa..."
The teammate next to me tapped my arm.
"Hey, you okay?"
"...I'm fine."
I wasn't fine at all. The tension was driving me insane. That Team 1... they lasted more than twenty minutes against Kang Jia. In our current state, I wasn't even sure if our team could last more than a minute...
People dragged the collapsed members of Team 1 to the infirmary.
Kim Taeho. At this point... wasn't he already a 'knight'?
The three of us had been lying on infirmary beds for about ten minutes now. A cool breeze came in, gently rustling my blue hair.
"Huu..."
My whole body was burning up. Was it because I'd used up all my energy? Because I'd exhausted every last bit of strength? Because I had a fever? No. None of that.
That scene kept flashing back in my head. The moment Taeho held me and saved me. Carrying me in a princess hold... sliding across the ice...
"Hng, uuu..."
I couldn't hide my reddening face. I forced my exhausted body to move, parted the curtain around my bed, and looked toward the bed where Kim Taeho lay.
I kept repeating the words Taeho had muttered as he collapsed.
"Just a little... more."
Taeho wasn't satisfied. He wanted 'just a little more' even then. Just a little more. Just a little longer. A runaway train racing toward its goal. A person who saw nothing but his objective. The life goal of tearing apart Fenrir.
"...I."
The second daughter of the Lee Family, Lee Arin.
"I..."
The second daughter of the Lee Family, where all espers come to 'learn.' Lee Arin. Learning.
"...Ah."
If I love him. If I've already fallen in love. Couldn't I help him? With his 'goal'?
I closed the curtain.
"Huu..."
I can help. With magic, with awakening, with training—everything. Kim Taeho. I can help you.
"...Because I am."
The second daughter of the Lee Family. Lee Arin.
...I'll help you. So please, come to the Lee Family Estate.