Chapter 064
Chapter Title: A Duel of Flames
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“What is the meaning of this! A fight, of all things!”
Herdium demanded, his face pale as he confronted the two students.
They had now left the disarray of the party hall.
Lunia had her head turned away sharply, while Leo, with a composed expression, was straightening his attire.
Watching them, Halind asked.
“What was the cause? Who was at fault?”
Lunia flinched for a moment at Halind’s cold voice.
Seirun had no instructors like Halind.
Herdium frowned.
“Are you interrogating my student right now?”
“We must understand the problem to resolve it.”
“What! Fine! Lunia is the first-year representative of our academy! She is not the kind of student to cause trouble!”
Herdium declared confidently before turning to Leo.
“Leo Flove. What was the cause of this fight?”
Seeing Herdium ask in a tone that blatantly implied he was at fault, Leo answered calmly.
“It seems I made a small mistake.”
“Aha! I knew it! There’s no way Lunia would be at fault for…!”
“Professor Herdium. Don’t you think it’s unfair to pin the blame on him so one-sidedly?”
“What are you talking about! Student Leo Flove just admitted his fault…!”
“If Lunia El Lundua is Seirun’s first-year representative, then Leo Flove is Lumerne’s first-year representative.”
Herdium was surprised as Halind spoke curtly.
He had never imagined that Leo would be the first-year representative.
As a rule, Seirun paid little attention to the affairs of other academies.
“And most importantly.”
Herdium flinched as Halind’s chilly gaze fell upon him.
“Just as you trust your student, Professor Herdium, I, too, trust mine.”
At those words, Leo smiled in spite of himself.
Though he was a figure of fear among the students, Halind’s affection for them was genuine.
‘His harshness must be for the students’ own good.’
Hearing Halind’s words, Herdium cleared his throat with a cough.
“Well, fine! Student Lunia, what did Leo Flove say to you?”
‘I can’t tell anyone else about this!’
As the heir to the Lundua family, having her phoenix stolen was a matter of great shame.
If such a fact became known at Seirun, she would surely be ridiculed.
Seeing Lunia at a loss for words, Leo began to speak.
“My contract…”
“Ahahaha! It was just a small misunderstanding.”
Lunia quickly covered Leo’s mouth.
Then she glared daggers at him.
Her eyes seemed to say, ‘If you say one more word, you’ll regret it!’
When Leo shrugged and nodded, Lunia removed her hand and bowed her head.
“I apologize, Professor Herdium, Professor Halind. For causing a disturbance at a place of harmony, and…”
Lunia offered a forced smile and a bow.
“I’m sorry, Leo Flove. I apologize for my rude behavior.”
Leo watched Lunia, the corners of her lips twitching, with an amused expression.
Seeing this, Herdium clutched his head, exclaiming, “Oh, how could this be.”
“Since the misunderstanding seems to be resolved, let’s continue the party. We shall speak no more of this matter.”
At Halind’s words, Herdium glanced around before nodding.
“Professor Halind and Leo, please go back inside first. I will give Lunia a separate warning.”
With that, Halind and Leo returned to the party hall.
Once the two were left alone outside, Lunia bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“It’s alright. What’s done is done. Was he also the student who fought with Tiren earlier today?”
“Yes.”
“Leo Flove. I see. I remember now. He was the representative at Lumerne’s first-year entrance ceremony.”
Herdium nodded and crossed his arms.
“Make sure you never make the same mistake again, Lunia. You are Seirun’s first-year representative, a brilliant talent who will lead our academy in the future.”
“I understand.”
“And in the joint classes starting tomorrow, you must not fall behind that Leo Flove! Our Seirun has long surpassed Lumerne!”
Herdium clenched his fist, showing his competitive spirit.
“We must continue to prove it! That our Seirun is superior to Lumerne! No! That we are the most outstanding of all hero academies!”
“I will never lose to that bastard! Don’t you worry, I’ll absolutely demolish him! On Seirun’s honor!”
“Luniaaa! How many times have I told you to fix that foul mouth of yours!”
Ignoring Herdium, who was clutching his head and pleading, Lunia glared at the party hall with blazing eyes.
‘Just you wait, Leo Flove!’
***
The party came to an end.
But the atmosphere between the two academies was nothing short of awkward.
It was inevitable.
A dispute had occurred between none other than the first-year representatives of each academy.
A new kind of distance lingered between the two schools.
After returning to his lodging, Leo changed into comfortable casual clothes.
He sat in a chair at the table in his room, arms crossed, waiting for someone.
*Whoosh-!*
A shadow flitted past the window.
The blizzard had ceased at some point.
Looking out the window, he saw Lunia.
Her eyes met Leo’s, and she softly chanted a spell.
*Click-!*
The window opened, and Lunia slipped inside.
“You were waiting for me?”
“Knowing your personality, I figured you’d show up under the moonlight.”
“Then you’d better start explaining. How did you end up stealing my contractor!”
“The word ‘stole’ seems a bit inaccurate, don’t you think? I simply made a contract with Piora at Lady Pirina’s suggestion.”
“Nonsense! I was chosen by Lady Pirina to be Piora’s contractor when I was five! Do you have any idea how much I cherished Piora since I was a child! We always played together! We even bathed together every day! I dressed her, too!”
“Piora only hatched three months ago.”
“You can take good care of an egg, too!”
“You should look for another contractor. Lady Pirina feels sorry for you and is working hard to find another phoenix.”
To an ordinary person, a phoenix was a rare mythical beast found only in legends, but with the Lundua family’s influence, they could find plenty of phoenixes to contract with.
“It has to be her!”
Leo sighed, looking at Lunia shouting with tears welling in her eyes.
‘I do feel bad about this.’
Intercepting a mythical beast with a designated contractor was an extremely rude act.
In severe cases, it could even lead to a fight to the death.
Pirina had arranged the contract between Leo and Piora, but that was because she had assumed it would be impossible.
And it was no wonder.
How could someone who hadn’t even learned summoning arts, no matter how talented, form a contract with a phoenix?
But Leo had succeeded, leading to this situation.
It was literally no one’s fault, but Lunia had most certainly had her contractor taken from her.
‘Besides, a phoenix only takes one contractor.’
The reason Pirina had offered the contract to Leo was as an exception for the son of her benefactor.
The noble phoenix was a mythical beast famous for not taking two contractors.
“I took such good care of Piora! *Sob*! We were always together! *Wail*! And now she’s not my contractor anymore! Pioraaaaa! *Sob sob sob*!”
Seeing Lunia, who had collapsed to the floor and begun to wail sorrowfully, Leo asked.
“What do you want me to do?”
Lunia’s crying stopped abruptly.
She peeked at Leo.
“Then will you grant me one request?”
“If it’s something I can do.”
“Duel me.”
“What?”
“I’ll prove it! That I am a more fitting contractor for a phoenix than you are!”
Leo smirked, looking into her blazing red eyes.
“Shall we go?”
***
Leo and Lunia left the lodging and headed to a spacious, deserted clearing.
Leaving footprints in the white, snow-covered field, the two took their positions far apart from each other.
“I’m warning you.”
“Hm?”
“If you think you can’t win, surrender quickly. Don’t get hurt because of your pride.”
Leo smirked at Lunia’s words.
“Are you worried about me?”
“Worried? As if.”
Lunia scoffed and crossed her arms.
“I’m only telling you this because you’re the son of Lady Reina, my father’s benefactor!”
With that, Lunia took a coin from her pocket.
“The duel begins the moment this coin lands.”
“Alright.”
“Then.”
*Ting-! Whirrrrr!*
The gold coin, tossed high into the air, glittered in the moonlight as it fell.
*Thud-!*
*Fwoosh-!*
*Fwoosh-!*
An aura of flame and mana of flame flickered to life simultaneously.
Seeing Leo’s flames, Lunia narrowed her eyes.
‘The flames of Jerdinger. A family blessed by the phoenix, just like mine.’
As a member of one of the few families in the world that wielded the power of the phoenix, Lunia felt a sense of rivalry.
‘I will not lose!’
“In the name of the contractor, I call upon you.”
Five summoning circles appeared around Lunia.
From them, the mid-tier flame-attribute mythical beasts, salamanders, materialized.
The bipedal salamanders were mythical beasts that could breathe fire and use their hands freely.
“Five mid-tier beasts?”
Leo was impressed, but that wasn’t the end.
As Lunia chanted, spears and shields of flame formed in the salamanders’ hands.
Leo smiled as he watched Lunia rapidly enhance the salamanders with magic.
“As expected of Seirun’s representative.”
“You seem quite relaxed. But I haven’t even started yet. I’m counting on you all!”
Entrusting the front line to the salamanders, Lunia leaped back to create distance from Leo and began to chant.
Facing the five salamanders pressing down on him, Leo muttered.
“Leaving the fighting to her beasts while she casts a powerful spell… Classic.”
“It’s the traditional elven way of combat! Lady Luna fought this way, too!”
By the standards of the modern era, Luna was considered a traditional-style mage who turned the tides of battle with powerful spells.
“It’s true that in this day and age, Luna is known as a traditional-style mage.”
Leo let out a smirk.
“But you’re wrong.”
“What?”
“By modern standards, Luna was a combat mage.”
A mage who endlessly roamed the battlefield, firing off spells without rest.
On the battlefields Kyle and his comrades fought through, stopping for even a moment to cast a spell meant certain death.
The only times Luna stopped moving to cast were on battlefields where she had some breathing room.
The reason she was known as a traditional-style mage in the current era was simple.
‘Because even while moving so frantically, every single one of her spells was powerful enough to overturn the entire battlefield.’
The flawless mage.
That was Luna, the progenitor of the nebula.
“Hmph~ So that’s what humans think. But when it comes to the Progenitor, wouldn’t the elven records be closer to the truth than human ones?”
She narrowed her eyes.
While they were talking, Leo had already unsummoned all five salamanders.
If Lunia had supported the salamanders more, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat them so quickly.
But right now, Lunia was focusing all her attention on her magic.
‘Now I just need to defeat Lunia.’
Leo quickly closed the distance to Lunia.
But the moment his eyes met her smirking face, he hastily backed away.
“Good instincts.”
Smiling, Lunia raised her open right hand.
A sphere of flame the size of a house materialized.
*Fwoooosh-!*
The intense heat melted all the surrounding snow.
“Scorching Heat. It’s my family’s ultimate magic.”
Like the Jerdinger family’s Phoenix Breath, it was a magic that utilized the power of the phoenix.
But no fool would take such a powerful spell head-on.
‘Of course, with a spell of that magnitude, even the fragments would have considerable power, but…’
“Are you sure about this? Magic using the power of the phoenix will have its power halved against me.”
That was right.
Leo’s flames and Lunia’s flames were fundamentally of the same attribute.
As such, Lunia’s magic couldn’t inflict its full damage on Leo.
“Perhaps. But I’m going to defeat you with this spell.”
“Why?”
“This isn’t just a duel. It’s a fight to prove that I am a more fitting contractor for Piora than you. So simply winning isn’t enough.”
Lunia’s expression turned serious.
“This is a matter of pride as a phoenix contractor.”
“Is that so? Then I accept your challenge.”
“What?”
For a moment, Lunia paused, not understanding the meaning behind Leo’s words.
But without thinking too deeply, she launched the spell at him.
“Brace yourself!”
A conflagration, like a small sun, swept toward Leo.
*Fwoosh-!*
Flames erupted from Leo’s body.
Taking a deep breath, Leo swung his sword toward the Scorching Heat.
*Rumble-!*
At the sight, Lunia’s eyes filled with shock.
“Are you insane! You could die if you’re not careful!”
“You said you wanted to prove you’re a worthy contractor for Piora, didn’t you? Then I’ll prove it, too!”
Lunia, who had been about to cancel her spell, froze.
“Why Piora chose me!”
Lunia’s jaw dropped.
‘Is that so? Then I accept your challenge.’
‘Is this what he meant? Is he completely nuts!’
If she attacked Leo now, she could win easily.
But the duel was no longer a simple test of skill.
It had become a battle of pride, summoner versus summoner.
And as wielders of the phoenix’s power.
*Crack-! Crack-!*
Blocking the Scorching Heat, Leo was continuously pushed back.
But even so, his flames continued to chip away at Lunia’s.
‘Stronger! More ferocious!’
*Fwoosh-! Kwoooaaar!*
Leo’s flames greedily devoured the fragments of fire that broke off from Lunia’s spell.
‘He’s strengthening his firepower even at the cost of injuring himself?’
This was not a normal method.
It was a completely unimaginable approach.
To unleash more firepower than his body could handle, even if it meant getting hurt!
Nevertheless, Leo endlessly consumed Lunia’s flames.
And finally…
*Fwoooosh-!*
Leo’s flames completely devoured the massive Scorching Heat.
*Thump-*
Lunia was so shocked that her legs gave out, and she sank to the ground without realizing it.
*Trudge- trudge-*
Leo, who casually ripped off his shirt, now tattered and useless as ash, walked toward Lunia.
Lunia stared up at him blankly.
“If you want a proper duel, I’ll fight you that way. What will it be?”
“Haha! Ahahahaha!”
Lunia burst out laughing in spite of herself.
“No. I lost.”
How could she stay angry at an opponent who had faced her fury so directly?
Getting to her feet with a grunt, Lunia said with a bitter smile.
“Whether I acknowledge you or not… I’m sorry for speaking out of turn. I sincerely apologize.”
“It’s fine. I would have been angry, too.”
‘…We’re both first-year representatives, yet there’s such a huge difference between us. How embarrassing.’
She felt ashamed by the sheer breadth of her opponent’s character.
“I may acknowledge you, but I haven’t given up.”
Lunia crossed her arms and declared.
“I will prove that I am a worthy contractor for Piora, too! So that Piora might choose me in the future!”
Piora pointed a hand at Leo Flove.
“So, Leo Flove! From now on, you are my rival!”
“Think whatever you want.”
“I’ll be looking forward to the joint classes tomorrow.”
As Lunia turned away, her red hair swishing, Leo let out a smirk.
“I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations.”