35. Team Battle (2)

* * *

After ten minutes of playing bait, they finally appeared – the infamous Eagle Brothers with their ridiculous matching hairstyles that somehow managed to be both intimidating and laughable at the same time.

“Look who’s wandering alone like she owns the place.”
“Must think she’s hot shit just because she’s Jin-seok’s sister.”

Their taunts were about as sophisticated as their fashion sense. At least Hanseong students insulted you to your face. I took a long drag from my cigarette, savoring the carcinogenic rush.

“Enough talk. Make your move.”

Chains shot out, wrapping around me in intricate patterns. The Eagle Brothers’ signature move – turtle binding. How amusing to see a dragon trussed up like livestock. Not that I’m into that sort of thing.

“The Eagle Brothers,” I mused. “Always hunting in packs, using chains to restrain and overwhelm their prey. Decent teamwork for glorified bullies.”

“Oh? You’ve heard of us.”

Heard of them? Every reader remembers these clowns getting one-shotted by Si-woo in the original story. “Individually, you’re each about as threatening as a toothless puppy.”

I flexed a finger.

*snap*

White flames erupted, turning their chains into molten slag and leaving the brothers looking like naked rotisserie chickens. The synchronized screaming was almost musical.

[Goryeo Academy Team C-2 eliminated. Hanseong Academy Team A-1 victorious.]

How anticlimactic.

* * *

One Hour Earlier

The three academy principals stood in frigid silence. Seoul Academy’s director trembled in the corner while Kim Young-hee and Viola exchanged glares that could melt steel.

“How’s married life, Young-hee? Cheol-su treating you well?”
“Ohoho, still obsessed with him? Shame he’s taken now.”
“Just wondering why you haven’t had kids yet. Husband having…performance issues?”
“Are you implying my Cheol-su is impotent?”
“I’m implying the problem might be you.”

Their legendary rivalry had persisted since their own academy days. Today’s tournament was just another battleground.

“That must be Jin-seok’s sister,” Viola muttered, scrolling through Hanseong’s forums. “All hype, no substance if you ask me.”

Kim Young-hee sighed. “Still denying the rumors? Your information network’s as slow as your country’s healthcare system.”

The screens lit up just in time to show me incinerating the Eagle Brothers.

“Behold,” Young-hee purred. “Yoo Eun-ha of the White Flame.”

* * *

The crowd erupted.

“KYAAAA! UNNIE SO COOL!”
“ULTIMATE GIRL CRUSH!”
“MARRY ME PLEASE!”

My reputation had officially shifted from “maybe strong” to “definitely terrifying.” Even Si-woo seemed impressed, though for all the wrong reasons.

“The Divine Sword told me,” she said solemnly. “That you inherited Azhidahaka’s power to protect us.”

Well. That was one way to spin it. Convenient too, since explaining I was the actual dragon might complicate things. Especially considering I may have eaten her parents during the Great Upheaval. (Not that they were particularly tasty.)

“Our team balance is completely broken,” Reina observed.

She wasn’t wrong. We were essentially first-year royalty at this point. But as Bulbbadda always said – “Having powerful friends is a skill too.” The academy’s survival-of-the-fittest system rewarded social maneuvering as much as combat prowess.

* * *

During lunch, Rosaria caught me smoking. “Why do you even do that?” she grimaced.

Good question. The nicotine hallucinations were gone, along with the asphyxiating darkness that once haunted me. Maybe it was just habit. Or maybe I missed the way my old neighbor girl used to smoke because her boyfriend did. Kids these days.

“Clears my head,” I said, blowing smoke in her face. Her disgusted expression was too tempting – I yanked her close and blew the smoke directly into her mouth instead.

“Cough! You monster!”

Despite her protests, her body betrayed her, heating up in that deliciously familiar way. I eyed a nearby love hotel. “Wanna continue our…devotional studies?”

“N-never!” she huffed, dropping a book titled Maid’s Guide to Taming Her Mistress.

Ah. So her tastes had shifted from BL to yuri. How…educational.