Editor : Amethyst00



“Leo’s surprisingly tenacious.”

“It's good thing we’re in the same class.”

Watching the match through the magical screen from the stands, Nella clicked her tongue while Eliana shuddered.

The Summoning Department students, already beaten ragged by Walden, were nothing more than easy prey for Leo.

“Serves you right! Nice! Leo-oppa! Smash them all!”

“Go, Leo! Do you know how much money I bet on you?!”

Chelsea, the most furious about the group beatdown, was bouncing up and down, while Carl, who had bet on Leo in hopes of an upset payout, was spinning his school jacket around in his hand, cheering with fiery passion.

“Nella.”

“Yes, Professor Harrid.”

“Bring Carl Thomas to me at once. I want to hear who gave him permission to treat his uniform that way.”

At Harrid’s icy summons, Nella went over to Carl.

The moment the students of Class 5 burst into laughter at the sight of Carl getting scolded by their homeroom professor—

"Ah! At last, in the lead group, Walden and Eliza are facing off!"

The magical screen abruptly shifted to show the frontrunners.

The crowd erupted in cheers at the long-awaited clash of the Summoning Department aces.

bl

Eliza, soaring at high speed through the sky, spotted a small flame forming ahead and immediately swerved in midair.

Whoosh—!

The flame suddenly blazed furiously, then contracted in an instant before—BOOM!—erupting into a massive fireball.

Eliza’s delicate brow furrowed.

An explosive attack combining fire and wind elementals.

The principle was simple.

A powerful flame is created with a fire elemental.

That flame is compressed by a wind elemental so it cannot disperse.

The compressed flame grows even stronger, then is released at its peak.

Even commanding two orders of the same attribute elementals required considerable skill.

But Walden was issuing simultaneous commands to elementals of different attributes, one to empower, and one to restrain.

This isn’t something you can do just by being good with elementals. And I never heard he was taking magic classes.

The principle of this explosion wasn’t purely spiritual power.

He was operating his elementals using the fundamentals of magical formulas.

Eliza let out a small laugh.

'He really does deserve to be called a monster.'

But Eliza wasn’t one to be underestimated either.

As a direct descendant of a prestigious summoner house, she had ranked second in the Northern Exam—only a hair’s breadth behind Chloe, the top scorer.

Walden’s elemental manipulation was terrifying, but Eliza was maneuvering her griffon with movements near divine artistry.

Unlike the other students who had been struck down by Walden’s attacks without resistance, Eliza was evading them with little trouble.

“No matter how strong an attack is, it means nothing if it doesn’t hit!”

At Eliza’s cry, Walden smirked coldly.

“Then let’s see if you can dodge this too.”

Droplets of water began condensing all around him.

In a moment, they hardened into sharp spikes and shot toward Eliza.

Eliza snorted and unleashed her spiritual power.

Screeeech!

Her griffon roared, its body swelling to one and a half times its original size.

Walden’s eyes twitched.

'Beast strengthening?'

The griffon drew in a deep breath, then unleashed a blast of wind.

The mighty breath scattered all of Walden’s attacks at once.

'She actually forced a griffon to use a breath attack? Impressive.'

Griffons weren’t beasts known for breathing attacks.

And yet, she had commanded it to manifest a similar ability.

A skill that drew out a beast’s potential beyond its limits—clear proof of her extraordinary talent as a summoner.

Just as the crowd marveled at the fierce clash of the aces—

“Hyah!”

Chen Xia suddenly surged forward, pushing her griffon to the front.

Having dodged Walden’s earlier attack, she had been biding her time at the rear, waiting for just such an opportunity.

Seeing Chen Xia try to steal the win, Eliza laughed.

“I won’t allow that.”

Swish!

“Huh?!”

Eliza drew a whip from her side and lashed it out.

The whip, easily ten meters long, writhed like a living serpent and snapped tight around Chen Xia’s neck.

At the same time, flames began condensing in front of her.

Chen Xia hastily urged her griffon downward with all her strength.

Fwoosh—!

The griffon dived sharply, tearing her out of the explosion’s range, and she ripped the whip away by brute force.

The griffon swooped back just in time to catch its master before she fell.

“Phew! Cough! That’s too much, Miss Eliza.”

Even amid the fierce fight, Eliza had given no room for anyone to advance.

Then—

Fwoooosh!

A tremendous beating of wings echoed.

Chen Xia’s eyes went wide.

“A black wyvern?”

“Daaamn it!”

A coarse curse rang out.

Turning her head, she saw Sen Liu—who everyone thought was eliminated—charging from the rear on a small black wyvern.

“Liu! Riding any beast other than your griffon is against the rules!”

“Shut it! Who cares! I kept this as my secret trump card! Walden! Eliza! Chen Xia! I’ll crush all three of you at once! Tear them apart!”

ROOOAAR!

The black wyvern Liu rode let out a thunderous roar.

“How did that idiot form a contract with a black wyvern?”

“That’s not a black wyvern. Looks more like a variant.”

Walden frowned, while Eliza narrowed her eyes.

The black wyvern began exhaling a dark breath—

SCREECH!

Far off, a griffon’s roar rang out.

FWOOOSH—!

Leo burst into the lead group at incredible speed.

“Leo!”

Chen Xia grinned and waved at him.

Leo returned a small wave—then spotted Liu, and his eyes flickered dangerously.

“Ha! I don’t know how you managed to catch up, but fine! Leo Plov! I’ll crush you along with them—”

“Hey.”

Leo’s voice dropped low.

The atmosphere was instantly dominated by his presence.

“Where did you get that lizard?”

His crimson eyes gleamed fiercely.

The creature Liu was riding wasn’t a wyvern.

Nor was it a beast.

'Fafnir.'

One of the ancient demonic monsters from Tartaros, in which the Great Heroes had hunted them to extinction during the Age of Calamity.

“What?”

Meeting Leo’s gaze head-on, Liu flinched.

“I asked where you got that lizard.”

“This is the beast I formed a contract with! You jealous I landed such a great one?”

“Beast?”

Leo’s face twisted.

To call one of Tartaros’s monsters a “beast” was absurd.

He glanced around.

None of the other students showed anything beyond wary caution.

Clearly, they all thought the creature was simply a contracted beast.

'Right. Fafnir wasn’t covered in Summoning classes on monsters.'

During the Age of Calamity, Fafnir had been one of Tartaros’s main forces.

That’s why Kyle and his comrades had specifically hunted those creatures down.

'Thanks to that, by the late Age of Calamity, they were nearly extinct.'

If they had truly vanished, it wasn’t strange that people of this era didn’t know them.

'But then… there’s one problem.'

Leo’s expression hardened.

'Why is a monster that went extinct long ago appearing now?'

While Leo was stewing on that, Liu smirked triumphantly.

“Hah! Looks like even you’re shocked by my contract with a superior beast!”

“Liu. No matter how powerful your summon is, you were eliminated from the match. Step back now. If you keep causing trouble, it won’t end with just a scolding.”

“Shut up! A tournament with restrictions is nonsense! I have the power to wipe you all out—and I’ll prove it now!”

SCREEEEECH!

Fafnir opened its jaws and charged, unleashing a torrent of flames.

“You really don’t know your place.”

Eliza mocked Liu.

“Silence! You're just lucky to be born into a good family, and you dare—!”

Grinding his teeth, Liu redirected his fury at Eliza.

Fafnir, a monster surpassing the griffon in both speed and strength, lunged.

But Liu’s handling of it was utterly lacking.

Watching Eliza evade its attacks with near-acrobatic grace, Leo clicked his tongue.

'He’s just being dragged along by the monster.'

Instead of controlling Fafnir, Liu was being overwhelmed by its superior will and strength, unable to think clearly.

Then—Chen Xia leapt off her griffon and landed on Fafnir’s tail.

It thrashed violently, but she clung on tight.

Balancing herself, she charged at Liu, her blade gleaming with blue aura.

Liu’s face went pale.

“Wha—?!”

He tried to respond, but there was no way he could handle Chen Xia in close combat.

FWIP! CRACK!

“Huh?”

Fafnir’s wings suddenly twisted at an unnatural angle.

Chen Xia, caught off-guard, barely dodged the sweeping wing but lost her balance and plummeted.

“Hahaha! How’s that?! Witness the power of my beast!”

Liu laughed cruelly as Chen Xia fell.

Her griffon dove to catch her—

“Not so fast!”

But Liu blocked it, throwing off its timing.

Eliza clicked her tongue and dove after Chen Xia herself.

FWOOOSH—!

“…!”

But before she could reach, Leo had already streaked past, catching Chen Xia around the waist and seating her before him.

“Thanks, Leo!”

“Don’t be reckless.”

Leo chuckled faintly as he glided back upward.

'He’s fast. What did he do to that griffon?'

Eliza narrowed her eyes, watching him closely.

“Leo Ploovvvv!”

Liu howled with rage.

'He’s losing his reason from contracting with a demonic monster.'

Glancing at him, Leo set Chen Xia back on her griffon.

Walden and Eliza closed in.

“As expected of the student representative.”

Eliza gave him a half-lidded look.

“You pretended you didn’t have a beast contract, but in truth you’ve bonded with a superior beast that grants protective skills, haven’t you?”

“Sharp eyes.”

“You can’t fool a member of the Hergin family. So what beast did you contract with? Judging from the aura, it’s fire-type, isn’t it?”

“That’s a secret.”

Leo pressed a finger to his lips with a playful smile.

At that gesture, Eliza scoffed.

“Hmph. In any case, Liu’s using a superior beast. He can’t control it well, but its specs far outclass ours. We’ll need to join forces.”

“That’s not a beast.”

“…What?”

“That’s a demonic monster.”