Splash, splash.
I run across the surface.
The mana spread through the soles of my feet gently pushes the water away.
Ripples rise where my feet leave it, spreading across the entire lake.
Splash, splash.
Each time, the sound of water slapping the surface rings in my ears.
Splash, splash.
The sound is not just one.
If I widen my senses and listen closely, I can hear the sounds of others kicking off the water.
Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash…
Even without looking at them, I can feel their presence.
A moment later.
Kiii!
We have gotten close enough for a clash with the monsters at the front.
“Seoku hyung.”
Battle is about to begin.
Looking at the creatures baring their killing intent, I speak.
“Yeah, Gyeonu.”
“I’ll leave command of the subordinates to you, hyung. Noona and I have to deal with the leader, so we won’t be able to pay attention over there.”
“Got it. I’ll support you properly from behind.”
Do Seoku is the oldest among those participating in the evaluation match.
He has earned a certain level of recognition as well.
If Do Seoku takes command, the others will follow without complaint.
Having judged as much, I slow down and fall back behind the others.
Do Sieun slows down too.
And then.
“Split them to the left and right!”
“Focus on opening a path!”
The battle begins.
Starting with Do Seungwu, the relatives around my age roar from the front.
Each of them clashes with the subordinates, creating a path for the people behind to advance.
“Push them back!”
“Keep running!”
Then a second battle breaks out.
Just like before, the people tie down the subordinates.
And so a path is formed.
Ahead, the leader is there.
“Noona, let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
I signal to Do Sieun.
Immediately, we increase the speed we had reduced and run down the unobstructed path.
Splash!
The sound of the water crying out is rough.
That is how quickly my field of vision is pushed back.
After passing the people and the subordinates, my sight now holds only the leader.
Kiiiik!
Just as we recognize it, it also recognizes us.
At the moment when there is little distance left.
It brings its spear down with all its might.
The wind and current created by that force surge toward us.
Tak!
We change direction at once.
As we agreed beforehand, I split off to the right, and Do Sieun to the left.
Its gaze is split along with us.
Kiii!
Right, then left.
It turns its head this way and that, following our movements.
Meanwhile, with the creature between us, we exchange our intentions through our gazes.
Nod.
Do Sieun nods.
It means she will attack first.
I nod back to her and decide to match her steps.
Immediately after, she lowers her body and accelerates.
Lion Iron Whip
As if swinging an iron whip.
Do Sieun wraps mana around her blade to extend its length and swings her sword.
The mana using the blade as a medium bends, launching an irregular attack at the leader.
Clang!
However, the leader only staggers for a moment before turning its body and deflecting the attack with its spear.
Then it immediately tries to continue the trajectory of the spear and counterattack her.
I aim for that opening.
Lion Rending Slash
I send a slash at the creature’s exposed back.
The sound of the slash cutting through the wind is like the roar of a lion.
Kiiik!
It dodges the attack.
Sliding across the water’s surface, the creature moves away, glaring at me as it grits its teeth.
But that lasts only an instant.
Splash!
Taking advantage of the moment its gaze turns to me.
Do Sieun closes the distance in one breath and approaches it.
Once again, her blade shines.
Splash!
I too kick off the water at once.
I leap into the situation where the leader and Do Sieun are crossing sword and spear.
Ting!
Do Sieun’s sword is knocked away.
The creature’s spear descends.
My sword strikes that spear aside.
She swings the sword she has recovered.
The creature hurriedly steps back and rotates counterclockwise.
With the spear it retrieves as it spins, it blocks her sword and avoids the attack.
At the same time, the creature advances, drawing a semicircle with its foot, and swings the spear wide.
Whirik!
The spear whirls quickly.
Its transitions between offense and defense are free.
Because of that, it is not easy to approach.
But we are the ones with the advantage.
Clang!
There is no need to grow impatient.
She and I block its attacks, taking turns catching our breath.
By contrast, the creature is in a position where it must keep moving without rest to fend us off.
…Eek.
There is no way the creature, unable to receive help from its subordinates, has time to catch its breath.
The more exchanges it trades with us, the more it gradually begins to struggle.
…!
In the end, it exposes an opening.
We do not miss that moment.
At once, we compress mana into our swords.
Lion Claw Mark (獅子 爪痕)
A sword technique that adds sharpness to the blade with compressed mana and carves a sword wound into the enemy as though a beast had torn it open.
Our thoughts align.
Pshuk!
Almost at the same time.
Do Sieun and I slice into the creature’s flank from different directions.
“Tch, its hide is disgustingly tough.”
“It’s not hide. It’s scales.”
“Same difference.”
Kiii…ik…
Unfortunately, the wounds are not deep.
However, the wounds created by Lion Claw Mark are slow to mend.
The creature has no choice but to keep bleeding throughout the battle.
And then it will die.
Unable, in the end, to defeat us.
“Rank 3 isn’t much after all.”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
“But you think so too, noona, don’t you?”
“…”
Like this.
We ride the momentum.
The leader is furious.
It is understandable. As the one who had reigned as the ruler of the lake, not only had it been injured by mere humans, but it had also been dragged up onto the surface by them and forced to face human brats.
Moreover, the humans who dragged it up had severed its arm and tail to match its strength with the human brats, even inflicting wounds that bled severely.
‘Mere humans, how dare mere humans…!’
Among monsters, there are those that do not simply move according to instinct, but possess intelligence and can think.
The leader, which takes the form of a human woman, can be said to be such a case.
That is why the leader does not merely feel simple anger at its situation, but goes further and feels humiliation.
‘How dare they, how dare they…’
How could mere humans treat the ruler of this lake as though hunting a rabbit?
The more the leader surrenders itself to that emotion, the more it wants to tear apart and kill the human brats trying to approach it.
However, though it has grown weaker, their skill is not insignificant.
Especially the woman with blue eyes.
‘That one is different from the others.’
They have only exchanged blows a few times, but that alone is enough for the leader to estimate that her skill is considerable.
So it keeps its guard up against her, and then…
‘What in the world is this one!’
There is one more.
A man shorter than the woman.
His skill is no less than hers.
‘Annoying bastard!’
He knows well when to strike and when to retreat.
While the leader deals with the woman, the man waits for an opportunity and targets an opening, or when the woman falls back to catch her breath, he quickly takes her place and obstructs it.
Each time it tries to respond, he steps right along the boundary, close enough to irritate it but never quite crossing it, and narrowly avoids the attacks.
His movements are as if he knows where the attacks will come from.
‘If only my arm hadn’t been cut off…’
And it does not end there.
The man persistently digs into its left side, where it no longer has an arm.
It is utterly despicable.
In that sense, the man is a far more troublesome and dangerous opponent than the woman.
Though aggrieved, the leader has no choice but to deal with the man.
It is at that moment.
Because its attention is taken by the man, it ends up allowing the woman’s surprise attack.
Lion Claw Mark
The leader responds belatedly.
The blade that slips into the inside of its armpit shatters its scales, tears through its flesh, and just before it reaches the bone, it twists its body and barely avoids a fatal wound.
But the situation is not good.
Splash!
Left and right.
The two humans are running across the water to continue this flow.
They are trying to bring this to an end.
Shaaaak!
The leader cries out until its throat is about to tear.
It cannot die like this.
Even if it dies, it will kill them.
Swept up in such fierce emotion, the leader pushes the pain aside.
Whirik!
Once again, sword, spear, and sword collide.
The leader swings its spear with all its might, forcing away the two humans clinging to it while using its long reach to threaten them.
——!
The sound of the wind is violent.
With the passionate movement, the surface of the water heaves without even a moment to grow calm.
Clang!
It swings, thrusts, and strikes upward.
The humans dodge, block, deflect, and respond without retreating.
The sound of wind, the sound of rushing water.
Mixed into those two sounds, metallic rings resound.
The sound of refusing to yield even an inch spreads like ripples.
Kiiiiik!
As it burns through its own life.
The leader presses the attack, squeezing out the last of its remaining strength.
At some point, each time it steps forward, the two humans are stepping back.
Kirik.
The humans are struggling now too.
Their movements are slowing.
The dance of metal that seemed as though it would never end is showing its conclusion.
The leader resolves to bite down and hold on so they cannot retreat.
So first, toward the man…
It is right then.
The man turns his sword at an angle and cuts through the surface of the water with the body of the blade, from the tip to the back.
——!
A spray of water rises violently.
From within the spray, the blade surges upward.
And along the trajectory created by the sword…
Lion Curtain (獅子 帳幕)
The spray of water and the mana dwelling in the blade meet, and a curtain that obscures the front surges up.
Kiik!?
The curtain hides the man.
It cannot tell what he has done; with its senses, it cannot detect beyond the curtain.
Having lost its target right before its eyes, the leader relies on instinct and swings its spear.
Whoosh!
The spear cuts horizontally through the curtain.
But the man is nowhere to be seen.
In that time, he has moved away.
Even so, the man should be nearby…
At that moment, it senses the woman’s presence.
The leader hurriedly turns its body.
The woman is taking a large step forward with her front foot while lowering her stance and drawing her sword inward toward her body.
Immediately after.
Crackle!
Blue lightning bursts.
A thick current soars into the sky.
Lion Fierce Assault
Lightning incomparable to the sparks that have been bursting intermittently since earlier.
She is charging in, making the surface flash with lightning.
Dangerous. It has to dodge.
Alarm bells ring in the leader’s mind.
But there is no path of retreat.
Because the man is there.
He is taking the same stance.
And then…
Crackle!
Lightning surges from the man as well.
The blue lightning soaring into the clear sky looks like a single dragon ascending to heaven.
The sound of the lightning crackling is like the roar of a dragon.
No, a lion.
Lion Fierce Assault
That lion moves.
The man, his body wrapped in blue lightning, swings the sword he had drawn inward in a great arc outward.
* * *
Do Gyeonu and Do Sieun attack in concert.
It should be the first time they are matching their moves, yet their coordination is smooth.
The leader is caught up in their joint assault and cannot respond properly.
“…Incredible.”
Atop the cliff.
The people watching the screen have no choice but to be genuinely impressed.
No one is there to deny the words someone murmurs.
“I would like to look down from above.”
“If we tell someone at the scene, it should be possible. I’ll let them know.”
Do Yeik too is absorbed in the sight.
He can only feel it a shame that he is watching the two of them fight through a screen.
Though it cannot compare to seeing it in person, he decides to adjust the screens so he can view it from various angles.
A moment later, several of the screens shake, and the filming angles change.
His gaze turns to one of them.
The corners of his mouth curl upward.
“The two of them fit well together.”
A screen filming the battle from the air.
The movements of Do Gyeonu and Do Sieun are clearly visible.
Seen only from the tops of their heads, the two repeatedly meet and part around the leader as though dancing.
It looks just like a spinning-top battle.
And then, at that moment.
[Pshuk!]
At last, their swords reach it.
They have cut the leader’s flank.
The attacks were carried out almost simultaneously.
“Hoho. I think I finally understand why Gyeonu defeated Seungwu.”
“…”
Those who had confirmed Do Gyeonu’s skill could not refute those words.
Contrary to the concerns of those who had said he would be nothing more than a burden to Do Sieun, he was now displaying ability that in no way fell behind hers.
“Ghk… How is that bastard…”
Do Seungu’s father, Do Beomjun, was eventually forced to acknowledge Do Gyeonu’s skill as well.
Unable to control his expression, his face twisted.
Then, as if he could no longer bear to keep watching the screen, he rose from his seat.
“…I’ll go have a smoke.”
“From the look of things, it seems it will be over soon. Wait just a moment.”
“…Understood.”
Do Beomjun paid his respects to Do Yeik and tried to leave as though fleeing, but Do Yeik stopped him.
Unable to defy the family head’s order, he had to continue watching the battle, even as his pride was wounded.
[Crackle!]
Meanwhile, just as Do Yeik had said, the battle was showing signs of reaching its end.
The flow the water spirit had created with all its might was severed by Do Gyeonu’s defensive form, leaving it caught off guard.
[]
Do Sieun was in a charging stance.
The moment she moved, lightning exploded.
[Lion’s Onslaught]
As if a thunderbolt had struck.
Lightning bloomed around her.
The blue lightning shooting up into the clear sky was like watching a flower blossom.
“…”
The people were spellbound by the sight.
She, who had only shown signs of Azure Thunder until now, had perfectly unleashed it.
“Haha! You’ve finally done it!”
The achievement of the second family head had been recreated.
Watching the flower blooming over the water dye the screen white, Do Yeik burst into laughter.
It was then.
“O-over there!”
“…What?”
Someone pointed at another screen.
A screen showing the lake from afar.
On that screen, the flower of lightning blooming over the water was vividly displayed.
And on the left side as well.
[Crackle!]
“…”
The people doubted their own eyes.
There was no way. It was impossible.
The Azure Thunder Do Sieun had unleashed must have somehow reached all the way over there.
As if denying that thought—
[Crackle!]
Lightning surged powerfully from the left.
The surface of the water where Do Gyeonu stood.
There, the blue current enveloping him bloomed fiercely like a flower.
“It’s… impossible…”
The surface of the water reflected the world like a mirror.
Upon that surface, two flowers shining with blue light bloomed.
To those watching the screen, the sight looked as though two bolts of lightning had fallen from the sky and pierced the earth.
[Lion’s Onslaught]
Soon, the flowers became lions rampaging with ferocious momentum and roared.
Two lions pounced on the water spirit.
[Kiiii…]
From below to above, Azure Thunder rose.
The water spirit was split into three pieces by the blades the two of them swung.
Its corpse, unable even to leave behind a death cry, failed to sink into the water and floated up on the surface.
And with the water spirit’s death—
[You have cleared the Gate.]
A message appeared before the eyes of the people inside the Gate.
“Yes, it wasn’t just one person!”
Without even glancing at the message, Do Yeik gazed at Do Gyeonu amid the scattering Azure Thunder and rejoiced.
His laughter would not stop.
“All this time, I thought you were only a rabbit, but you were a lion cub as well.”
“…”
Well, if he had inherited the blood of the Divine Sword Do Family, there was no way he could have been born a rabbit.
Forgetting even to maintain his dignity, Do Yeik’s shoulders kept shaking with laughter.
Meanwhile, because of the words he had uttered…
[You have achieved a feat acknowledged by the head of the Divine Sword Do Family.]
[You have obtained the alias ‘Lion Cub.’]
Do Gyeonu received a message.
I Became the Mid-Boss’s Childhood Friend