The Disciplinary Committee Chief

— Whiiirrr!

At that very instant, something pale came flying at us from up ahead. We split to either side and caught a fleeting, hazy glimpse of its shape as it whizzed past. A hammer, glowing brilliant white.

"……!"

Dang Gyu-young must have recognized who had thrown it, because she whipped her head around and stared hard at the treeline ahead. Sure enough, the undergrowth rustled, and a male student strolled out — a frame built like a bear, eyes curved into soft crescents, an expression caught midway between smiling and not. Oh Se-hun, the Disciplinary Committee Chief.

We were still muffled in black clothes and masks, but he had plainly seen through us at a glance as he approached. "Gyu-young, honestly, you surprised me. You've been preparing this operation for quite a while — I just never expected you to punch all the way through to here."

Dang Gyu-young stripped off her mask on the spot, apparently having concluded that pleading innocence would get her nowhere. Breaking through a heavyweight like the Chief would have demanded shadow magic regardless, so having her identity laid bare was only ever a matter of time.

"You really did prepare thoroughly. You got me good. Was this Seung-jae's brainchild?"

"Sure was. He's the one drawing up every major operation these days."

"That explains it. So what are you doing out here, then?"

The question was clear enough: why was the Chief himself skulking in a corner of the forest instead of taking part in the operation? A gentle arc traced Oh Se-hun's lips.

"Seung-jae's so good at his job that there was nothing left for me to do. So I've just been wandering about — for the stroll, and in case anything came up. Judging by how we've met like this, I'd say it was a sound decision."

"……."

After a brief glance at Dang Gyu-young's pinched expression, Oh Se-hun turned his gaze on me instead. "Kim Ho, I'm rather disappointed. Keep violating the school rules, and we'll have no choice but to discipline you."

"What makes you think this one's Kim Ho?"

I could be anybody, you know? Dang Gyu-young tried laying down a smokescreen, but not a grain of it caught on Oh Se-hun.

"I believe I mentioned this before — the two of you give off a very similar air."

"……Do we, now?"

Dang Gyu-young had begun to look pleased before hastily managing her expression. Then she played it perfectly straight. "Isn't that just your own opinion?"

"It is. Pure gut feeling. But I imagine I'll know for certain soon enough."

Apparently deciding it was time to begin, Oh Se-hun started settling into a combat stance.

— Fwoosh!

Light converged into both his hands, one forming a massive shield, the other a hammer — the very same hammer he had flung at us moments ago. That settled the question of his class as well.

Hammer Paladin.

Paladins were one branch of the holy-knight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠classes, and a genuinely miserable opponent: ironclad defense married to a broad repertoire of holy magic. What set them apart from the orthodox knightly path was a willingness to surrender a measure of personal defense and pour everything into that magic instead.

Put simply, a spellblade.

Oh Se-hun beamed. "Shall I make you an offer? The others will be along shortly. If you can break past me or shake me off before they arrive, I'll treat everything that happened here as though it never did."

"What's gotten into you, saying things like that?"

When Dang Gyu-young asked, sounding genuinely taken aback, the smile on his lips deepened a shade. "If we're going to clash anyway, I'd like you to give it your very best. I thought this might serve as a little extra motivation."

And though he never said it outright, he clearly carried no doubt that he would win even against a combined assault from Dang Gyu-young and me. From our end, the offer had no downside. Crossing hammer and shadows with Oh Se-hun one way or another was already a foregone conclusion.

So I exchanged a look with Dang Gyu-young, and we nodded at the same instant. Then, drawing our mana up, we began preparing for battle. A taut tension settled over the clearing.

Better to leave the forbidden skills holstered.

Not unless we could guarantee a takedown — a third-year, Chief-grade paladin would weather Inferno Fist without breaking stride, and he'd simply cleanse Hyneum Jade Demon Finger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away with a debuff-removal skill anyway. All that would buy us was revealing the forbidden skills existed, with nothing whatsoever to show for it.

Which left one path. Win or lose, this gets settled with wind.

I had layered Amplification through Octopus Legs several times over, but only one trait of mine was worth handing off at the moment.

— Whiiiine—

As I wrapped a Wind Barrier around the two of us, Dang Gyu-young mouthed the words. We don't have to take him down. Got it?

Loud and clear. Same here.

The objective, first and last, was to break through Oh Se-hun or slip past him entirely. Which made the right play obvious: one of us would bait his attention or tie up his feet while the other bolted.

And so, the instant Oh Se-hun opened his mouth —

"Looks like you're both ready. Then let's begin."

"Bring it on!"

— Vwip!

Dang Gyu-young and I split to either side and broke into a dead sprint. Oh Se-hun stood in place a moment, eyes ticking between us, then made his choice. "Better if I go after Kim Ho." And he came pelting straight after me.

Granted, the mere fact that a first-year was moving in concert with Dang Gyu-young stank of suspicion all by itself. For that matter, I was the one carrying the Life Cube. Dang Gyu-young ran hard for a stretch, then abruptly cut her angle and doubled back the way we had come. "Ugh, that man's instincts are borderline supernatural." Grumbling under her breath, she sent a flurry of shadow butterflies flitting his way.

Oh Se-hun batted the butterflies aside with his shield and, in the same breath, hurled his hammer at me.

— Whiiirrr!

The gleaming hammer came spinning end over end. I eased aside and let it pass — only for two more to come streaking in, summoned from who knew when. I wove a zigzag through them with Thief's Step, and another pair flew at me. Worse, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the hammers I had already dodged refused to vanish: they circled me like satellites, diving in to attack again and again.

His control is something else.

Truly befitting the Chief — he did not merely throw hammers, he guided each and every one with minute precision. And with the count only climbing from here, dodging would grow more punishing by the second.

Which meant there was only one thing for it. Bat them out of the sky.

— Whiiiine—!

A whirlwind laden with raw physical force coiled around my sapling staff. With it I clipped an incoming hammer at just the right angle, wrenching its orbit aside so it speared into the dirt instead.

Oh Se-hun laughed, sounding genuinely delighted. "There we go. Nicely deflected."

— Whiiirrr!

And with leisurely ease he flung out more hammers to replenish his orbit. All the while his body kept flashing — flash, flash — bursts of light rippling off him without pause.

Stacking buffs.

With my senses pinned to the hammers, he was quietly layering himself with every buff in the book — attack up, debuff resistance, speed up, the works. Sure enough, his pursuit grew swifter and swifter, and the hammers themselves turned heavier: when I knocked one down with the sapling now, it no longer stayed planted in the earth, but clawed back its speed and came chasing after me all over again.

Dang Gyu-young, for her part, was no idle spectator. Shadow hands surged up from beneath Oh Se-hun's feet and clamped down on him. He stood bound in place for a few seconds — until a bloom of light spread out from his body and the shadow hands scattered into dust. A debuff-cleansing skill, apparently. Of course, those few seconds were more than enough time for Dang Gyu-young to finish her next spell.

Oh Se-hun's footing wavered once more, and Dang Gyu-young burst up out of it, the daggers in both hands stabbing and slashing with vicious speed. He caught every strike on his shield and answered with crushing counterblows, speaking even as the exchange raged. "Your skills have come along nicely, haven't they. You're a trickier opponent than you used to be."

"And yet you look awfully relaxed for a man saying that."

Dang Gyu-young snarled the reply through gritted teeth. And she had a point — even in the thick of that frenzied back-and-forth, Oh Se-hun kept slipping hammers toward me at every opening.

— Whiiirrr!

More than ten of them were already circling me.

Almost time, I'd say.

He had stockpiled plenty of hammers by now — right about when a combo finisher would enter the picture. So I held my pace while bracing to react at any instant, and just as predicted, a faint ripple of mana pulsed out from behind me.

— FWAAAAH!!

Every gleaming hammer detonated at once, drowning the world in white. And in that very instant, I stepped forward.

— Shhhhft…….

And with a motion like gliding over glass, I slid clean out of the blast radius.

"……!"

Oh Se-hun plainly had not expected me to slip his combo, and a flicker of genuine alarm crossed him. Worse still, Ghost Without Shadow had thrown off my trail, if only for a breath.

If I'm going to counterattack, it's now or never.

Sapling planted in the ground, I thrust my hand forward.

— Whoooaaar—!

A ferocious whirlwind howled up around Oh Se-hun and Dang Gyu-young alike. She had suffered my wind magic often enough to read what was coming, and no sooner had she caught on than she threw herself clear with Shadow Leap. Moments later, the wind that had kept converging and compressing erupted in a colossal blast.

— KRA-KOOOOM—!

"Splendid."

The next instant, Oh Se-hun's voice sounded directly overhead. I kicked off the ground and hurled myself backward — and a hammer came down where I had stood, a shockwave slamming out in a ring.

Figures.

Dang Gyu-young could use Shadow Leap, so why assume a man stronger than she was lacked a similar trick? Just as I'd expected, he had shifted directly above my head in the sliver of an instant before Spiral Explosion could touch him — via Blink, a short-range spatial movement skill. Now he was glued to my heels, hammer already swinging. And even mid-swing, he kept handing out compliments.

"Your technique is immaculate, and so are your mind games. I'd believe it if someone told me you were a second-year."

"You flatter me."

Seconds later, Dang Gyu-young rejoined the fray through Shadow Leap, and the three of us collapsed into a two-on-one melee. Shadow daggers and gleaming hammers, wind laden with raw force and holy radiance, sapling staff and shining shield — everything tangled together at once.

"……."

Then, before long, Oh Se-hun stopped dead where he stood. The hammers that had never once left their orbit had all been quietly recalled. He smiled, gentle as ever. "Shall we call it here for today?"

Presence after presence was closing in from every direction. No prize for guessing: the Disciplinary Committee. With light strobing and thunder booming, there was no way they'd have missed it. We had failed to shake him within the time limit — which meant, by the terms of the wager, we had lost.

I bowed with full courtesy to Oh Se-hun. "You've shown me a thing or two, senior."

"That you did, Kim Ho. You fought well. You too, Gyu-young."

"……."

Dang Gyu-young, on the other hand, simply wore a sullen face and stuck her lip out.

Before long the committee members came swarming in to ring us around, and with a deep rumble, a wooden door rose from the ground a short distance away. Beyond its open frame, the Disciplinary Committee Room came into view. Gwak Seung-jae then walked out and inclined his head to Oh Se-hun. "My thanks for your hard work."

"No — of the two of us, you've worked hardest. Let's head in."

And so we followed them through the door and into the Disciplinary Committee Room.

[261] The Support Ate It All