EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school - Chapter 857 - Boundary (10)

Before engaging with Hwang Jiho, Docheol sensed something through Hondon’s Jin 陣 

Hondon was examining the garden with his own powers.

Even amidst the clouds, Hondon could sense exactly how many people were inside the garden and where they were positioned.

Sensing it too, Docheol clicked his tongue.

‘That’s a lot more than what we wanted to drag in.’

At that point, there were three groups inside the garden, excluding Docheol’s side.

The first, Jeon Muyeong, Hwangho, and the Sung Gukeon-disguised Jo Euishin whom Docheol was trying to hunt down himself.

The second group consisted of Joo Soohyuk, Kim Chul, Tak Geosan, Heukma, and Maeng Hyodon’s teacher who were trying to retrieve Sung Hyungwoo’s body.

The third was Ham Geunhyung and Maeng Hyodon who had fallen away from the group as Docheol had intended.

Combining all of them, the number of people inside the garden was much larger than Docheol had anticipated.

‘Damn, if this keeps up I won’t be able to fight with my full strength!’

In the legends, Docheol was defeated by a big group and fled.

As he is faced with more enemies, Docheol becomes disadvantaged and weaker.

Despite this weakness, the reason why that person entrusted Docheol with the mission and the latter willingly accepted it was because of Unsa’s power.

Using Unsa’s power makes it easy to dazzle opponents with fog and clouds, and to manipulate the garden to split the groups.

However, things didn’t go as Docheol planned.

‘Everything went well on my end. It must be the other one. The Tiger Clan must’ve intervened during the transfer at Tanrae Middle School.’

Docheol still believed that he successfully kidnapped Sung Gukeon and Jeon Muyeong.

He was patting himself on the back for having destroyed the group’s trick and brought the real Sung Gukeon to the garden, thus catching the powerful Tiger Clan off guard.

His overconfidence made him ignore all the small abnormal signals he discovered during the operation.

Docheol’s belief was strengthened by the plausible reason that the problem arose in the other transfer.

In truth, problems occurred in both transfers, and the only Tiger Clan who infiltrated the garden went undetected as he moved with Jeon Muyeong.

[This can’t be solved by your power and Unsa’s alone. We will intervene. You stay where you are. We will…]

Hondon’s Jin contained a message from another member of the Four Perils, expressing their intention to actively intervene in this operation.

The instruction came from that person, but Docheol felt uncomfortable the more he listened.

He felt like he was doing a good job, but then someone else messed up the job and another stepped in and took the credit.

‘…But since things turned out like this, I have to obediently accept help.’

Although reluctant, Docheol decided to follow.

He thought no problems would arise after that, but that idea was immediately shattered.

He created a forked road to separate the group and defeat them one by one, but it was easily countered by Hwangho’s clones.

‘What happened? Did Hondon trick me? Wait, no. Don’t tell me it’s Hwangho…!’

It was only after Docheol saw Hwangho in the room with the furnace that he realized what was happening.

The leader of the Tiger Clan personally came forward and used his clones to shake up Docheol’s forces.

It was difficult to grasp why Hwangho and not any other member of the Tiger Clan had come, but he realized it when he heard the tiger talk to Unsa.

‘It was because of Unsa! There’s no way Hwangho would intervene to protect one member of the National Assembly.’

Unsa wasn’t the sole reason for Hwangho’s appearance, but Docheol didn’t understand the complete reason behind his actions.

Although outnumbered and against the powerful Hwangho, Docheol tried to take advantage.

Only Hwangho was there to fight directly, and he had many potential hostages, including Unsa himself.

If Docheol wins against or even seriously injures Hwangho, he would’ve achieved a great feat.

Even if he loses, he can negotiate using the hostages and Hwangho would have no choice but to let Docheol go.

After completing his rough calculations, Docheol revealed his fangs to Hwangho.

Little did he know, his calculations were rigged with errors.

“You must’ve figured it out,”

Said Hwangho as he looked at the human who had lost one eye.

The man stood tall as if he felt no fear or pain even though he was attacked to the point of losing his eyesight.

Docheol has seen such people several times throughout his long life.

He was a strong and kind person whom Docheol hated the most.

“Isn’t that right, Docheol?”

Docheol wanted to kill the man the moment he saw through his identity.

Not because he was ordered to kill Sung Gukeon, but because of the pure rage that he felt toward him.

‘Let’s see if you can keep calm if I take your remaining eye!’

But Docheol’s attack did not work.

Hwangho protected the human.

Seeing the fang marks left on the barrier sent a chill down Docheol’s spine.

He had forgotten about Hwangho and was obsessed with the thought of killing the human, but he had come to his senses.

‘I can’t win…! But I can’t leave the furnace behind. I have to hold out until another Peril comes!’

However, he was powerless against Hwangho the Yellow Tiger.

In an instant, Docheol was cornered.

He hid himself deep in the clouds, but Hwangho’s magic forcibly pulled him out.

His body trembled with humiliation and anger when his horns were laid bare in front of the humans, but Docheol tried to speak to survive.

‘Negotiations will be easier if I show them that I know how many bastards are in this garden.’

Docheol bragged that he knew of the three groups that had infiltrated the garden and that he had a perfect plan to deal with them.

Even at the point of disadvantage, Docheol displayed his cunning nature.

He didn’t reveal that more than one of the Four Perils was coming in reinforcement.

‘Hwangho may have put a clone over there. If I make him think that only one Peril is coming, he will let his guard down and I can use that gap to attack.’

Docheol made a huge fuss about taking someone hostage, but he didn’t get the reaction that he expected.

Hwangho waited, looking at the one-eyed human as if asking for his opinion.

Hwangho has the most power and authority in this place, and Docheol couldn’t understand why he was consulting with the humans.

It was unlikely that Hwangho’s respect comes from the fact that he’s a member of the National Assembly.

Docheol’s doubts only grew.

Fwaaaa!

At that moment, energy waves rose from the man’s remaining eye.

It seemed like a different kind of energy wave than when he used the Glare of Life and Death.

Still, the power was enormous and made the air feel heavier.

The human’s eye trembled greatly, the power too great to contain in one eye.

“…”

Hwangho looked displeased.

It seemed like some of the energy waves flowed toward Hwangho, but the latter accepted it with a blank expression.

“Confirmed. Will it be okay until this body arrives?”

It seemed as if the two were sharing a view.

In reality, Jo Euishin used Cheon Dongha’s light skill Eye Embracing Heaven and Earth to look at the entire garden.

He found Maeng Hyodon and Ham Geunhyung and relayed their location to Hwangho.

Docheol was still clueless.

The one-eyed man nodded and smiled at Hwangho’s question, his smile similar to the one he had seen him put on just before he was dragged into the garden.

* * *

After Ham Geunhyung defeated the floor master, the two decided to conserve their strength and prioritize their safety rather than rejoining Joo Soohyuk’s group.

Ham Geunhyung judged that it would be more efficient.

“Joo Soohyuk has the Clairvoyance skill. He said he saw you fall, so he must know the direction where you went. He must’ve figured out the situation here.”

“Can he see us even though we’re very far away? Joo Soohyuk said that clairvoyance doesn’t work well in otherworlds…”

“In theory, if it’s within the range of clairvoyance, he’d be able to see everything inside the otherworld. However, no matter the distance, he wouldn’t be able to see across the boundary between the otherworld and reality.”

Ham Geunhyung answered Maeng Hyodon’s question like a professor.

He explained that seeing between two worlds is only possible with very special and rare abilities, and it is difficult to do with Clairvoyance.

The professor also explained the scope of the Seer and Clairvoyance and how these skills can help conquer otherworlds.

Maeng Hyodon was suddenly being tutored, but he asked the question so he listened silently.

At least he tried.

His attention span quickly reached its limit.

Perhaps because it was a one-on-one session, Ham Geunhyung quickly grasped the parts that Maeng Hyodon couldn’t comprehend and explained them again.

“Your eyes will open soon too, Maeng Hyodon?”

“My eyes?”

“A good player will have new eyes in some way. Abilities bloom according to a player’s training path and growth. Physical abilities improve, or eyes open through skills and light skills.”

Maeng Hyodon didn’t seem to understand, so Ham Geunhyung gave examples using people that Maeng Hyodon knew.

“For example, Ahn Dain can raise her eyes’ ability beyond the scope when necessary. Joo Soohyuk has the Clairvoyance skill, and I can borrow one through my light skill.”

“Ah…”

Maeng Hyodon nodded in understanding when he heard familiar names.

He understood what Ham Geunhyung was talking about because he had seen them fight in training and in real combat.

Come to think of it, even Tak Geosan was like that too.

Tak Geosan would catch Bang Yoonseob doing something else during training as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

He would also correct Maeng Hyodon’s sloppy posture every time.

‘Even though I wasn’t in his line of sight, he would always point it out.’

Maeng Hyodon thought of another outstanding player.

Jo Euishin.

‘I wonder what kind of eyes Jo Euishin has? It seems like that bastard Hwang Jiho has some kind of skill too…’

Maeng Hyodon was thinking of Hwangho’s Glare skill.

‘Will my eyes open too?’

Ham Geunhyung, who knew that Maeng Hyodon’s mind had reached its limit, immediately changed the subject.

“The garden will be cleared from the other side. No matter what happens, we have a royal lineage on our side.”

Ham Geunhyung tried to reassure Maeng Hyodon.

If everything went according to Jo Euishin’s plan, then no matter what kind of mastermind reveals itself, either Hwangho or Jeokho would be present in the garden.

He was about to explain further, but Ham Geunhyung suddenly stopped talking.

The bow that he held was enveloped in light.

Shwiiip!

Ham Geunhyung pulled the bowstring at a speed that Maeng Hyodon could barely follow.

The arrow didn’t hit anything.

And then, a voice was heard from the opposite direction of where Ham Geunhyung was aiming.

“That means we have to finish you two off before they clear the garden.”

There was one voice.

Maeng Hyodon went on guard against the enemy that appeared itself.

Ham Geunhyung warned him.

“Maeng Hyodon, there are two of them.”