Chapter 039
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“Leo’s surprisingly persistent.”
“I’m glad we’re in the same class.”
From the stands, Nella clicked her tongue in amazement as she watched the match on the magic screen, while Iliana shuddered.
The Summoning Department students, already battered by Woreden, were nothing but easy prey for Leo.
“Serves them right! Go! Leo! Crush them all!”
“Go! Leo! I bet so much money on you!”
Chelsea, who had been the most furious about the group assault, jumped up and down, while Karl, who had bet on Leo for the underdog odds, swung his uniform jacket in his hand, cheering passionately.
“Nella.”
“Yes, Professor Halind.”
“Bring Karl Thomas to me at once. I’d like to hear just who told him to treat his uniform in such a manner.”
At Professor Halind’s cold summons, Nella approached Karl.
Just as the Class 5 students burst into laughter watching Karl get scolded by their homeroom professor…
-Ah! In the lead group, Contestant Woreden and Contestant Eliza are finally clashing!
The magic screen suddenly focused on the lead group.
Cheers erupted from the crowd as the Summoning Department’s aces began their full-blown battle.
***
Eliza, flying through the sky at high speed, spotted a small flame forming before her and swerved sharply in mid-air.
*Fwoosh-!*
The flame, which had flared intensely for a moment, rapidly contracted before—*BOOM!*—erupting into a massive explosion.
Watching this, Eliza furrowed her fine brow.
‘An explosive attack using fire and wind spirits.’
The principle was simple.
Create a powerful flame with a fire spirit.
Use a wind spirit to compress that fire's power, preventing it from spreading in all directions.
The compressed flame grew even stronger, and when its power reached its peak, it was released.
Giving two commands to a spirit of the same element requires considerable skill.
Yet Woreden was giving simultaneous commands to spirits of different elements—one to increase power and the other to control it.
‘This isn’t a technique you can perform just by being skilled at handling spirits. I haven’t heard anything about him taking magic classes.’
The principle behind this explosion didn't solely involve the pure power of spirits.
He was operating the spirits using the principles of magical formulas.
Eliza let out a small laugh.
‘He really does deserve to be called a monster.’
But Eliza was no pushover.
As a direct descendant of a renowned summoning hero family, she may have placed second in the northern exam, but the gap between her and the top student, Chloe, was razor-thin.
Woreden's method of spirit control was incredible, but Eliza's handling of her griffin was just as divine.
Indeed, unlike the other students who were hit squarely by Woreden's attacks in vain, Eliza was evading them without much difficulty.
“Even the strongest attacks are meaningless if they don't hit!”
At Eliza's cry, Woreden gave a cold smile.
“Then let's see if you can dodge this, too.”
Countless water droplets began to form around Woreden.
Soon, they sharpened into awls and shot toward Eliza.
Eliza scoffed and summoned her spiritual power.
*Screeeech!*
The griffin Eliza was riding roared as its body began to grow, becoming one-and-a-half times its original size.
Woreden's eyes twitched at the sight.
‘Beast Enhancement?’
The griffin took a deep breath and unleashed its breath weapon.
A powerful breath of wind blew away all of Woreden's attacks.
‘She made a griffin use a breath attack? Impressive.’
Griffins are not beasts that naturally use breath attacks.
And yet, she had controlled the beast to manifest a similar ability.
The ability to draw out a beast's power beyond its limits.
It was a glimpse into just how exceptional her aptitude as a Beast Summoner was.
Just as everyone was marveling at the fierce battle between the Summoning Department's aces…
“Hiyah!”
Chen Xia, who had been at the rear, spurred her griffin forward and shot into the lead.
Having dodged Woreden's earlier attack, Chen Xia had been waiting for an opportunity from the back.
Eliza smiled, seeing Chen Xia trying to take advantage of their fight.
“I can't allow that.”
*Fwip!*
“Hup?”
Eliza pulled a whip from her clothes and cracked it.
The incredibly long whip, which seemed to be at least 10 meters, moved like a living snake—*fwip*—and wrapped itself around Chen Xia's neck—*thwump!*
At the same time, a flame began to coalesce in front of Chen Xia.
Chen Xia urgently pushed off the griffin with her legs.
*Fwoosh-!*
The griffin descended rapidly from Chen Xia's push.
Chen Xia used the rebound to escape the blast radius and tore the whip off with sheer force.
The griffin, having narrowly avoided the explosion, flew in and caught the falling Chen Xia.
“Phew! *Cough!* That's going too far, Miss Eliza.”
Even in the midst of their fierce fight, she showed no opening to get ahead.
It was then.
*Whoosh-!*
The sound of massive wings beating filled the air.
Chen Xia's eyes widened.
“A Black Wyvern?”
“Daaaaaaamn it!”
A rough curse was heard.
Turning her head, she saw Sen Liu, whom she thought had been completely eliminated, catching up from the rear on a small black wyvern.
“Liu! Riding a beast other than a griffin is against the rules!”
“Shut up! Like I give a damn about that! This was my hidden trump card! Woreden! Eliza! Chen Xia! I'll crush all three of you at once! Get 'em!”
*ROOOOAAAAAR!*
The black wyvern Liu was riding let out a roar.
“How did that half-wit manage to contract a Black Wyvern?”
“That's not a Black Wyvern. It seems to be a variant wyvern.”
Woreden looked puzzled, and Eliza narrowed her eyes.
Just as the black wyvern was about to unleash its dark breath…
*Screeeech!*
A griffin's roar was heard from a distance.
*WHOOOOOOSH-!*
Leo, flying at an incredible speed, burst into the lead group.
“Young Master Leo!”
Chen Xia smiled and waved.
Leo, after giving Chen Xia a small wave back, spotted Liu and his eyes twitched.
“Ha! I don't know how you caught up, but this is perfect! Leo Flove! I'll crush you along with them—”
“Hey.”
Leo said in a low, heavy voice.
The atmosphere was instantly overwhelmed.
“Where did you get that lizard?”
Leo's red eyes glinted fiercely.
The thing Liu was riding wasn't a wyvern.
It wasn't a magical beast, either.
‘A Fafnir.’
It was one of the ancient demonic beasts used by Tartaros, which the Great Heroes had driven to extinction during the Age of Calamity long ago.
“What?”
Liu flinched, meeting Leo's gaze head-on.
“I asked where you got that lizard.”
“This is a beast I contracted with! You must be jealous I got such a good one, huh?”
“A beast?”
Leo's face contorted.
It was absurd to hear a creature handled by Tartaros's beastmasters called a 'magical beast'.
Leo looked around.
The other students showed no emotion other than caution.
They clearly thought the Fafnir was a magical beast as well.
‘It's true, the Fafnir wasn't mentioned when we learned about demonic beasts in Summoning class.’
The Fafnir was a primary demonic beast for Tartaros during the Age of Calamity.
That was why Kyle and his companions had made it their mission to subjugate those monsters.
‘Thanks to that, they were practically extinct by the end of the Age of Calamity.’
If they completely vanished as a result, it wouldn't be strange for people of this era to not know about the Fafnir.
‘But if that's the case, there's something strange.’
Leo's expression hardened.
‘Why has a demonic beast that went extinct long ago reappeared now?’
While Leo's expression grew grim, Liu wore a triumphant look.
“Hmph! Looks like you're also surprised to see me contracted with a high-grade beast!”
“Liu. No matter how incredible your summoned beast is, you were eliminated from the match, so please stand down. If you keep pushing this, it won't end with just a scolding.”
“Shut up! A match with restrictions in the first place! It's ridiculous! I have the skill to wipe you all out! I'll prove it right now!”
*Kyaaaaaak!*
The Fafnir opened its maw wide and charged, spewing a fiery breath.
“There's a limit to how clueless one can be.”
Eliza mocked Liu.
“Shut up! You were just lucky to be born into a good family!”
Grinding his teeth, he changed his next target to Eliza.
The Fafnir was a demonic beast that surpassed griffins in both speed and power.
However, Liu's skill in handling the Fafnir was abysmal.
Leo clicked his tongue as he watched Eliza evade the Fafnir with near-acrobatic movements.
‘He's just being swung around by the demonic beast.’
Far from controlling the Fafnir, he was being influenced by the power of the high-grade demonic beast, unable to make proper judgments.
Just then, Chen Xia leaped from her griffin and landed on the Fafnir's tail.
The Fafnir thrashed its tail irritably, but Chen Xia didn't fall off.
Instead, she steadied herself and charged toward Liu.
Liu's face turned pale at the charge from Chen Xia, who was wreathed in blue Aura.
“Huk?”
He tried to respond somehow, but there was no way Liu could handle Chen Xia in close combat.
*Fwoosh! Tudududuk!*
“Huh?”
The Fafnir's wing bent at a bizarre angle.
The charging Chen Xia lost her balance and fell while trying to avoid the wing as it suddenly bent and swung in a strange way.
“Hahaha! How's that! The power of my beast!”
Liu laughed with schadenfreude as he watched Chen Xia plummet toward the ground.
Her griffin descended to catch its master.
“Where do you think you're going!”
But due to Liu's interference, the griffin missed its chance.
Eliza clicked her tongue and descended to catch the falling Chen Xia.
*Whoosh-!*
“…!”
But Leo, quickly overtaking Eliza, caught up to Chen Xia in an instant, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her onto his griffin in front of him.
“Thank you, Young Master Leo!”
“Don't do anything reckless.”
Leo chuckled and began to glide again.
‘He's fast. What in the world did he do to his griffin?’
Eliza watched Leo, her eyes narrowed.
“Leo Flooooove!”
Liu roared in fury.
‘He's losing his sanity due to the contract with the demonic beast.’
Glancing at Liu, Leo helped Chen Xia back onto her griffin.
Woreden and Eliza flew over to them.
“As expected from the student representative.”
Eliza's eyes narrowed slightly.
“Pretending you hadn't contracted a beast, but you actually made a pact with a high-tier beast that has a blessing skill?”
“You've got a sharp eye.”
“You can't fool me, a member of the Hergin family. So, what kind of beast did you contract with? It looks like a flame-attribute beast.”
“That's a secret.”
Leo smiled, bringing his index finger to his lips.
Eliza scoffed at Leo's gesture.
“Hmph. In any case, Liu is handling a high-tier beast. He can't control it properly, but its specs are overwhelmingly superior. We need to team up.”
“That's not a magical beast.”
“What did you say?”
“That's a demonic beast.”