Kkamagwi Suin realized their life was on the line in the conversation about becoming a sacrificial offering to pass the midterm exam.
At the same time, pride as a Kkamagwi Suin sparked the desire to fight back before fleeing.
“All beastmen have special traits that set them apart from mere humans.”
The trait of the Kkamagwi Suin is a curse.
Each feather is imbued with a different curse.
Discrimination, oppression, anger.
The more negative experiences a Kkamagwi Suin encounters in society, the more they awaken their curses and powers.
In a world where beastmen are at the bottom, the Kkamagwi Suin are like a cheat race with a growth booster.
[Feather Closing Its Eyes]
[Feather That Sees Ghosts]
[Feather That Numbs the Hand]
As soon as Jiang threw the memorized attack, Kkamang’s ominous wings fluttered and shot forth the feathers.
“?”
Jiang tilted their head at the phenomenon of missing the target.
[Feather Stumbling]
[Feather Losing Balance]
[Feather Slowing in Thought Speed]
As the feathers continued to fly, Jiang tried to dodge them naturally, but in a slow step, they got hit by all three feathers.
“!”
To an assassin who has attained a certain level of skill, mistakes shouldn’t occur.
If it happens twice, it’s no longer a mistake but fate.
Jiang activated their technique the moment they recognized the opponent’s strategy.
[No Sensation]
They exclude all senses.
Moving each action objectively, free from unreliable external factors.
Unleashing the extreme understanding of the human body while ignoring external stimuli manifests a body manipulation technique.
[Feather Spreading Its Arms]
[Feather Absorbing an Attack]
[Fixed Feather]
By forcibly canceling the combat stance and preventing evasion, the duration of status ailments is extended.
Kkamang’s cursed feather-linked techniques were powerful.
However, for Jiang, who manipulated their body without relying on sensation and ignored the commands issued by the curse, the curse no longer worked.
[Agility Technique]
[Crossfire]
[Five-Penetrating Stabs]
[Twin-Bladed Kill]
The needles flying in a cross pattern enforced movement, and as the body leaned a certain way, the blades flew in a boomerang-like trajectory.
If one of them hit, it was impossible to avoid the even more vicious pair of memorized attacks that followed.
Clang!
Kkamang realized the sticky thread entangled between the pair of weapons on their wings too late.
The robust thread forced one memorized attack through while bending the other to attack in sequence.
Squawk!
The moment Kkamang moved to absorb the larger attack, they realized they had taken too much time to defend.
Jiang had vanished into the darkness in an instant, and more memorized attacks flew in.
[Feather Stopping Its Steps]
[Feather Making Sounds]
[Feather Falling]
The feathers sliced through the air.
Mana enveloped Kkamang’s eyes.
[Searching Eye]
With eyes that shone, the static memorized attacks and those that darted off were visible.
[Stillness]
[Firing]
They stopped the force shot through their spirit and instantly released it.
Memorized attacks timed precisely based on the amount of spirit stored.
At this rate, it was effectively impossible to ascertain the enemy’s position based on the trajectory and timing of the memorized attacks.
“How is this a first year?”
To find someone of this caliber among the foundation scholarship students, you’d have to reach at least the third year.
No, even an average third-year scholarship student might not be able to hold off Jiang’s memorized techniques.
If even the minimum were counted, they’d need to be at least in the third-year intermediate class to avoid being killed outright.
[Explosive Dagger]
[Poisonous Dagger]
[Paralysis Dagger]
The incoming memorized attacks displayed various effects, making it difficult to deflect or invoke forced evasion, adding to the complexity.
If dodged without thought, the poison spread from the dagger that struck, and recklessly deflecting would cause an explosion and damage.
Attempting to shoot feathers while fluttering would bring unexpected memorized attacks from the sides, and trying to storm with feathers would provoke paralysis powder that would forcefully release the power before the wind’s strength could build up.
‘A born hunter. With a ghostly level of coordinating ability, surpassing most beastmen, the memorized techniques keep coming without ceasing.’
Even further back, there stood Oknodie, cheering for their friend with, “You can do it, keep fighting!”
If that kid, acting as a spectator, got involved, the situation would undoubtedly worsen.
“Oknodie, just watching isn’t enough.”
“If I take your prey, it’ll be unfair. We’ll have to share the experience points!”
“I don’t care.”
“Really?”
The moment Oknodie drew their sword, a clear path opened in the onslaught of memorized attacks and feathers.
A person with a strong enough spirit can twist and compress the natural mana in the direction of their will.
Since spirit heads in easier flowing routes, it proves Oknodie’s intent was strong enough for the two combatants to subconsciously evade.
‘The depth of the crossed line is different.’
I’m going to die.
There’s no blocking or dodging.
Kkamang immediately devised a route for escape.
[Feather Storm]
[Life or Death Technique – Burning A Hundred Feathers]
They launched feathers contained with a hundred curses simultaneously, fueled by the momentum of destruction.
[Cursed Resistance][Cursed Resistance][Cursed Resistance][…]
Oknodie didn’t block.
Standing still, they nullified all curses.
Even curses tailored for the Kkamgwi Suin, who specialize in curses, couldn’t even land a single hit.
Squawk!!
Kkamang fled without looking back and activated their escape abilities.
[Calling Darkness]
[Silent Flight]
Hiding their form and soundless flight.
After funnily hiccuping, it was too late to make a desperate attempt.
Guwuhhh.
The wings that should have cut through the darkness got stuck like a bug in sticky glue, halting their movement in the air.
The more flustered they got, the tighter the bindings became, and activating the Searching Eye, which hadn’t been turned on for stealth, crushed their breath.
[Bondage Strings]
[Secret Technique – Neck Binding]
A web of strings was stretched out.
A web, made of mana strings.
Here and there.
In every direction they could fly to escape.
As natural and effortless as breathing, the strings that seemed to be casually hanging transformed into traps as soon as they touched Kkamang’s body.
“Assassins never miss their targets.”
As soon as the girl with the fox mask’s arm moved, with a pop sound, a dagger cut through the webbing and enveloped Kkamang’s entire body.
Now they couldn’t move their body or wings.
Kkamang felt it.
If this goes on, they’ll truly die.
“Tch. I wasn’t in a cute state, but I guess I have no choice. Blame your overly strong cowardice.”
Suddenly, Kkamgwi Suin’s body swelled.
The small girl’s frame grew as large as an adult male, and even that wasn’t enough, as it bulged out like a robust soldier.
“Eww. Gross.”
Even while complaining with their mouth, the memorized techniques thrown were all repelled by Kkamang’s muscles.
It was then that Jiang realized the difference in presence and strength stemmed from where the power originated.
“If you hadn’t come as a test subject for Professor Pinkberry’s transformation magic instead of Professor Sadako’s lecture, you’d never win.”
A cute appearance.
The opponent was utilizing all their capabilities to maintain that, so they had no reserve power left.
Once the true nature was revealed, the overwhelming pressure was comparable to Hestia, the muscular goddess.
“…Oknodie. Isn’t that more than just Hestia?”
“No way! Jiang has never seen Hestia go all out yet!”
“You’ve never seen her either, right?”
“I haven’t seen it directly, but I still know!”
“If you say so, I’ll take your word for it. But what about that?”
Memorized techniques.
Dagger techniques.
Assassination techniques.
No matter what was used, it seemed like there was no fun to be had.
Kkamagwi Suin broke free from the bindings that restricted them with sheer strength and regained their freedom.
Yet no matter where they looked, there was no clear chance to kill.
The smile on Oknodie’s face didn’t fade.
Even after seeing that, they remained confident.
She was determined to win by methods even Jiang couldn’t imagine.
“Let’s tease her!”
“Tease…?”
“To win in a fight, you should do things the opponent hates. If she wanted to look cute, just say she isn’t cute!”
Kkamang’s eyes widened in panic.
Oknodie struck a nerve perfectly.
-Cuteness is justice.
The director, Pasible Yep, who always carried the tenet of cuteness like a mantra.
To serve as his assistant, Kkamang chose to restrict her strength and embrace cuteness.
Now, if her ugly true form was revealed, even a hyper-optimistic director could get serious.
-Ah, that’s a bit much.
Indeed, her heart was breaking.
Not that she particularly liked the director.
But the position of the assistant was tempting.
It was also a bonus that manipulating the foolish Pasible to act as a de facto director was enjoyable.
Playing cute surprisingly fit her hobby too.
That pleasure was at risk of being taken away.
If her identity was discovered, there would be no turning back.
The cute Kkamgwi girl Kkamang would collapse back into a horrifying monster that gnawed on flesh and blood.
Beastmen.
A fusion of beast and human.
She who wished to be the latter would revert to the former.
“I surrender. Please, don’t let the director see my true form.”
“We need a Life Core, you know. So you’d better die willingly!”
“Does it really have to be this way?”
“If we don’t find a Life Core in time, we’ll become undead!”
Kkamang’s tears streamed down.
“I don’t want to die like this. I want to die beautifully.”
“I’ll give you that much time!”
Oknodie covered their cheeks with their hand, feeling shy.
“I feel like a really good person right now. Am I going to become an angel?”
“There aren’t any angels like that in the world.”
Jiang replied seriously.
