A swarm of thousands of spiderlings poured out and began scattering across the field.
“……Damn.”
A short sigh slipped from my mouth at the unexpected turn of events.
Justia also sucked in a breath, her shoulders flinching.
“Taesan, watch your feet!”
Her urgent cry rang across the field, but the spider swarm had already scattered in every direction, surrounding me in a pitch-black ring.
Their legs, moving ceaselessly over the shallow water, created a chilling vibration.
“If I had to classify it… before being a human summon, you’re a physical summon with destructive power.”
Ive was still leaning against the wall, chin lightly propped on her hand, watching us with interest.
“The way to deal with that is simple. I just have to increase the number of things for you to hit.”
A faint violet magic flowed from her fingertips.
As if responding to it, the spider swarm that had scattered in all directions turned as one and began tightening their grotesque encirclement toward me.
“Taesan, fall back for now!”
Justia’s urgent shout reached my ears.
I immediately kicked off the ground and leapt backward.
Avoiding the black waves closing in from every side, I threw myself toward a corner of the field.
‘I need to clear out these little things first.’
I planted my feet in the shallow water and lowered my stance.
When I lightly kicked at a spider that had approached, its body shattered with a disgusting sound.
‘There are a lot of them, but they’re not fast. I can handle this.’
Moving as though flicking water away with the tips of my feet, I struck down the repulsive things that kept coming without pause.
Crushed fragments scattered through the puddles, leaving black stains behind.
One, then another.
It was a simple, mechanical repetition, but with the numbers rushing in endlessly, my breathing gradually began to grow rough.
Something felt off.
There was no way this meaningless war of attrition was all that woman had.
Thwack—!
Once again, my fist cut through the air and burst one of the revolting spiders apart.
Something was strange.
It wasn’t just a matter of getting tired because there were too many of them.
A heavy sensation crept up from the tips of my feet.
Starting from the skin splattered with the dark red fluid from the fragments I had struck down, my senses were slowly going numb.
As if half my body had sunk into a muddy bog, my movements grew noticeably sluggish.
“Taesan, your body… I think it’s poison!”
Along with Justia’s urgent cry, a soft cluster of light enveloped my body.
The healing magic seemed to push back the poison temporarily, but it was not enough to fend off the spider fragments constantly splashing up from every direction.
“Haa…….”
My breathing grew ragged.
In the end, this too was part of that woman’s meticulous calculations.
From the first battle in the park, she had injected me with poison to observe my reaction, anticipated the limits of the information we would uncover in the library, and laid the most perfect trap inside this training hall.
“How is it? For a human summon, you’re holding out quite well.”
Ive’s voice drifted over from where she leaned against the wall beyond the shallow puddles.
Within the solid safety net she had built layer upon layer, I was being thoroughly toyed with.
The spiderlings that had scattered in every direction began crawling back together over the viscous puddles.
The fragments, gathering with an eerie scraping sound, soon transformed back into one dreadful monster with its original enormous body.
“Hmm….”
Ive, who had been languidly watching us while leaning against the wall, parted her lips.
“I think this should be enough for you to feel the difference in our levels, don’t you?”
After confirming that the spider’s form had completely returned, she slowly walked over the water.
“What do you think? If you want to become this strong too, join Imperial. Some kids think of us as some kind of academy corruption, or absolute evil, but we’re nothing like that. We’re a wholesome group that gathers to become stronger together through friendly competition, so why do you hate us so much?”
Her gaze swept over my body. She seemed to be savoring my heavy breathing, weighed down by the poison.
“If it hadn’t been for my comrades in Imperial, I never would have known all the information I gathered to win this fight. We share information with each other. There’s no group better than that, is there?”
The giant spider raised its forelegs high, ready to deliver the final blow.
Just before its horrifying fangs plunged toward my neck, Justia’s sharp voice rang out over the field.
“Now, Taesan!”
At the same time as Justia’s shout, the magic manifested from her fingertips awakened the Silvermoon Grass that had been lying dormant in my pocket.
A cold silver energy traveled through my blood vessels and spread throughout my entire body in an instant.
The senses that had sunk heavily as though trapped in mud were washed clean, and the murky breath filling my lungs cleared at once.
My muscles, which had been devoured by poison, regained their original elasticity and prepared to unleash explosive power.
‘Now.’
I lightly knocked aside the spider’s dreadful foreleg as it came crashing down, then kicked off the ground and shot upward.
Bang!
The shallow puddle split apart, sending an enormous spray of water surging into the air.
My fist cut through the air and drove squarely into the center of the spider’s body.
Instead of the grotesque bursting sound from before, when it had exploded in all directions and scattered into spiderlings, only a heavy, dull impact rang across the field.
The spider’s enormous form collapsed in one blow and rolled across the ground, then began to be sucked helplessly into the violet magic circle spread beneath Ive’s feet.
It had happened in an instant.
Ive’s body, which had been leaning leisurely against the wall, stiffened with a flinch.
A trace of bewilderment passed between her slack red lips.
“Oh my…….”
Her eyes wavered.
“Silvermoon Grass? Why on earth does a first-year have that? It’s an herb you only learn about in your third year because it can make even fairly strong poison-type summons far too easy to deal with….”
Before she could finish speaking, Justia’s cool voice cut in.
“Exactly.”
Justia lightly brushed off her collar and took a step forward.
“I suppose those impressive Imperial friends of yours didn’t tell you that I went to see a professor?”
“I let my guard down. I should have blocked one attack with defensive magic and poisoned you first.”
Ive’s bewilderment lasted only a moment; the confusion clouding her face vanished in an instant.
As if she had never been surprised, she lightly shrugged and propped up her chin.
Beneath her feet, as she still stood leaning back against the wall, a deep green magic circle began to ripple anew.
Soon, the grotesquely distorted insect spirit we had seen in the park crawled up over the summoning circle with a sharp metallic screech.
“Wait…! Didn’t I win?”
Justia’s eyes shook for an instant.
“Oh?”
Ive opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth.
“Are you still a first-year, so you’ve only done solo battles? This isn’t even a multiple summon battle. Bringing out the next summon in sequence is a very basic battle method.”
“That’s not it, but….”
Justia’s gaze dropped to the floor.
I could clearly read what she was thinking.
If not for me, Justia had no way to withstand a deadly poison-type spirit like that.
“Even Wind Whisper would honestly struggle unless it was a battle where it had an advantageous matchup.”
Anxiety clung to Justia’s low murmur.
“Fine.”
Ive, who had been languidly leaning against the wall, shrugged and lightly stepped down onto the battle field.
The sound of her heels as she approached through the viscous puddles echoed through the training hall.
The grotesque insect spirit we had seen in the park had already disappeared without a trace.
“It isn’t an official battle anyway, and cornering an opponent who isn’t prepared isn’t really my style.”
“Pardon?”
Justia’s eyes widened for a moment.
Ive watched her confusion with interest and added quietly.
“I’m saying I’ll count it as my loss.”
She slowly approached Justia and held out her hand.
The back of her pale, white hand gave off a cold impression.
“I’ve seen enough of your skill and the limits of your summon. I’ll step back here for today.”
Justia looked back and forth between Ive’s hand, offered for a handshake, and her languid face.
It was a whim whose intent was not easy to grasp.
A hunter who had woven a perfect trap and had been tightening it around our throats until just moments ago had suddenly stopped the hunt and smiled.
But Justia calmly took Ive’s hand.
“……Understood.”
After the brief handshake ended, Ive turned her gaze toward me.
“Well, still, it’s a shame I couldn’t win. Next time, entertain me a little more.”
Without lingering, she turned her back and began leaving the training hall.
Justia let out a short sigh as she watched Ive’s retreating figure.
“Why did she suddenly leave?”
Once Ive’s back completely disappeared from view as she exited the training hall, I exhaled the breath I had been holding and muttered.
The tension had visibly drained from Justia’s shoulders as well.
“I told you from the beginning. She didn’t come here just to harass us like the other people from Imperial.”
She lightly stamped her foot, as though flicking away the water pooled on the floor, and turned her gaze to me.
“It could have been a warning, or it could have been part of her preparations for when we meet in an official setting next time. Whatever her intentions were, we just need to prepare for what we have to do.”
“If that really was her goal, she’s terrifying. She calculates everything thoroughly and tries to keep the situation under her control.”
“I know. Taesan, is your body all right?”
Concern swirled in Justia’s eyes.
I shoved a hand into my pocket and nodded lightly.
“More or less. The Silvermoon Grass is incredible. The poison disappeared like it had been washed away. Thanks to that, I was able to land that last blow properly.”
“That’s a relief.”
A faint look of relief spread across Justia’s lips.
“But we can’t let our guard down. This time, the variable called Silvermoon Grass worked, but in the next official battle, she’ll definitely bring out another move.”
She was right.
Ive was by no means an easy opponent.
From the first battle in the park to the information gathering at the library, and then to the training hall today.
The spiderweb she had woven was more meticulous and persistent than we had imagined.
I lightly shook out the hem of my water-soaked clothes and turned toward Justia.
“Yeah. Let’s prepare even more thoroughly. If we’re going to break that woman’s pride for good in the Grand Final, that is.”
“Yes. Let’s go back and rethink our strategy.”