Editor : Amethyst00



Chen Xia and Eliza’s eyes widened.

“That’s strange. I’ve never heard of a demonic monster like that.”

“You’re right. Wyvern-type demonic monster don’t exist.”

At Walden’s words, Eliza chimed in.

“There is such a demonic monster. One that went extinct during the Age of Calamity at the hands of the Great Heroes. I don’t know why it’s showing up in this era.”

Fwoooosh—!

Fafnir breathed fire.

Leo dodged it with ease and spoke.

“And it doesn’t exactly look normal, does it?”

“Indeed… it’s similar to the side effects of forming a contract with a demonic monster.”

Eliza stroked her chin.

“Then we’ll need a strategy. Out of us, I know the most about dual summons.”

She puffed out her chest as she said it.

“You’re telling us to follow your orders?”

“I didn’t mean to put it like that, but to be blunt, yes, something like that.”

“Heh, ridiculous.”

Walden gave a cold laugh and spurred his griffon forward, charging straight at Liu on his own.

Whoooosh! KABOOM—!

A ferocious blast using elementals exploded.

Eliza clicked her tongue as she watched.

“As expected, that man doesn’t listen. At least you two should follow my instructions.”

Chen Xia scratched his cheek.

“I agree that Miss Eliza knows the most about summons among us. But Leo-doryeong seems to know a lot about that beast, so I think it’s better to follow his lead.”

“Hmph, even if he does know something about beasts, I would give more proper orders—”

“What orders? Right now, it’s obvious coordination won’t work properly.”

Leo tightened his grip on the griffon’s reins.

“We just adapt and coordinate according to the situation.”

“Wait! Are you saying you’re going to charge recklessly? I knew it—someone like you can’t be put in charge! As a direct descendant of the Hergin family, I—”

Fwoosh—!

Before Eliza could even finish, Leo charged toward Fafnir.

Chen Xia followed right after, flashing an apologetic smile.

Left alone, Eliza’s shoulders trembled.

“I’m a direct successor of the Hergin family! Don’t you dare ignore me!”

Glaring furiously, Eliza also drove her griffon forward.

Fwoooosh! BOOM!

A powerful blast engulfed Fafnir.

When the smoke cleared, Fafnir stood there unscathed.

“Haha… hahahaha! Amazing! My summon really is amazing!”

Liu, pale as a sheet, burst out laughing in ecstasy.

“This is it! With this I can claim first in summoning studies… no, I can even aim for class representative! Yes! I’m the best! I always have been! There’s no way I’m not the best!”

Clenching his fists and laughing madly, Liu made Walden click his tongue.

“He’s completely lost it.”

“Looks like you’re struggling a bit?”

Leo’s voice came from nearby, making Walden snort.

Ruuumble—!

Behind Walden, a massive clump of earth began to form.

Leo’s eyes widened.

‘A golem magic formula?’

An artificial giant doll created by magic—fused with earth elemental to form a massive elemental golem.

‘This guy’s a monster too.’

While Leo was marveling, Liu’s face turned ashen at the sight of the enormous earth golem.

WHOOOSH—!

With a terrifying sound that split the air, the golem swung its arm.

“D-dodge! Dodge it!”

Terrified of the sheer mass of the attack, Liu gave a frantic order.

But Fafnir ignored him.

KUAARRRRHHH!

Instead, it roared violently.

Just before the golem’s arm slammed into Fafnir, the limb scattered and fell away.

Walden’s eyes twitched.

“Fear?”

It was a technique that released such overwhelming force it disrupted the flow of mana.

In an instant, the griffons shuddered in terror.

‘That Fafnir’s still a hatchling. Fear is a technique only adult can use!’

Leo’s brow furrowed.

‘Liu’s skills are far too poor for him to draw out such potential. So what’s going on?’

Chirp! Chirp!

At that moment, Fiora in Leo’s inner pocket cried irritably.

Grrrr—!

Fafnir’s murderous eyes suddenly locked onto Leo.

Screeeeech!

It opened its jaws wide and lunged at him.

Leo steadied his terrified griffon and shot into the sky.

Walden unleashed elemental explosions.

BOOM! BOOM!

Even after taking the blasts head-on, Fafnir refused to change its target. It chased Leo like he was its sworn enemy.

‘Did it sense the phoenix’s auro?’

Phoenixes and demonic monsters possessed opposing natures.

Drawn by that force, Fafnir revealed its hostility.

“Leo Plov! Prepare yourself!”

‘And the contractor’s obsession must be fueling it as well.’

Leo glanced back.

It was closing the distance at terrifying speed.

‘If it’s only targeting me, this might actually end quickly.’

He glanced at the annoyedly chirping Fiora in his arms and pulled hard on the griffon’s reins.

FLAP—!

SKREEEE!

The griffon roared and accelerated with powerful wingbeats.

KRAAAHHH!

Fafnir shrieked, chasing Leo madly.

“Wait! Leo-doryeong! If you go off alone—!”

“What kind of blessing from a summon do you have? And why are you going by yourself? Even together it’s not enough!”

Chen Xia and Eliza, ready to join in, panicked.

bl

Leo and Liu vanished from sight at incredible speed.

"Ah! What’s happening here?! Contestant Liu suddenly violates the rules—!"

"Hey! You idiot! This isn’t the time for commentary!"

Yura rushed over and kicked commentator Runeba’s backside, snatching away the mic.

"Summoning studies assistants! Ready your flying summons immediately! This is an emergency! The match is suspended!"s

Students murmured nervously as professors gathered around Yura.

“What’s going on, Yura?” Sedgen frowned.

“I don’t know how it happened, but Sen Liu has definitely contracted with a demonic monster!” she said urgently.

“What?”

The professors’ faces changed at once.

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Student Sen Liu isn’t the type to cause this sort of incident!”

Yura pulled out a crystal orb. The audience screen had been cut, but the orb still displayed the feed.

At her words, Class 3’s homeroom teacher spoke in a grave tone.

“He did show signs of inferiority as the semester went on… but so did many others. Not to this extent, though.”

New Lumene students always felt inferiority at the start of the term.

They had always been the best growing up, but here they inevitably faced students stronger than themselves.

Some accepted it and worked harder. Others denied it and ground their teeth.

Liu belonged to the latter, but not enough to cause something like this.

“Anger issues, loss of reason… all the behaviors Liu is showing are typical of someone contracted with a demonic monster.”

The professors’ expressions hardened.

“But a monster capable of influencing a summoner to that degree would have to be a high-level demonic monster.”

At Harrid’s words, Sena, who had been staring at the screen, spoke cautiously.

“What if that wyvern variant Liu is riding… is actually a demonic monster?”

“……!”

“……!”

The professors flinched.

“No way…”

“Then it would be an unrecorded new species of demonic monster?”

As the professors wavered, Yura pressed on.

“What matters now is stopping Liu—”

Just then, the screen showed Liu chasing Leo.

“Wait! Hey! Leo! It’s too dangerous alone! Quick, switch the screen!”

Yura shrieked as Leo disappeared at incredible speed.

A magic professor hurriedly took the orb from Yura and manipulated it.

“They’ve gone beyond the range of the spell!”

“Damn it!”

Yura summoned the Black Wyvern in a flare of spiritual power.

“Assistants! We’re moving! Find Leo and Liu immediately!”

“Yes ma’am!”

bl

Leo soared at breakneck speed, sharpening his senses.

‘We’re out of the range of the scrying spell.’

It wasn’t by chance. It was entirely deliberate on Leo’s part.

“Fiora.”

Chirp?

“It’s your time to shine.”

Pulling out his contracted beast, Leo grinned as he unleashed both aura and spiritual power.

Fwoosh—!

Fiora’s feathers ignited.

Whooosh—!

The feathers bristled one by one atop Leo’s palm.

Confused by the change, Fiora spread her wings and glanced around.

Her body soon began to swell.

FWOOM!

Her feathers blazed more fiercely as she grew to the size of Leo’s torso.

“Now that looks more like a phoenix.”

At Leo’s words, Fiora lifted her head proudly and perched gracefully on his arm.

She had shed her chick-like form, now a beautiful firebird.

Not yet a full-grown phoenix, but exuding a vastly stronger presence than before.

Krrrk?

Even Fafnir, radiating bloodlust, looked unsettled.

“Fly!”

At Leo’s command, Fiora flapped her wings and soared skyward.

KRRRAAAHH—!

She traced a trail of fire as she rose.

Chirp! Chirp!

Delighted by her transformed body, Fiora chirped joyfully.

‘Still sounds like a chick, though.’

Leo chuckled.

From high above, Fiora spread her wings wide and dived.

Fwoosh!

Even fiercer flames rippled across her body.

It was the summoner’s role to draw out a familiar’s latent power.

But Leo had another ability—he could strengthen a summon with aura.

Summoned beasts were spiritual beings and could not normally accept aura.

But Kyle had made it possible.

‘I never reached the ultimate peak in any one field… so I fused them.’

In aura, Kyle lagged behind Aaron and Dweno.

In magic, behind Luna.

In summoning, behind Lysinas.

So he chose fusion—melding aura with magic, magic with spiritual power, spiritual power with aura.

To end the Age of Calamity, it was necessary.

Everyone—even his comrades—said it was impossible.

‘Once pure mana is lost, power can’t be mixed,’ they told him.

But after endless attempts, he succeeded. And so Kyle rose to the ranks of Great Hero alongside his comrades and saved the world.

Woooosh—!

Aura condensed on Fiora’s wings.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she beat her wings more joyfully.

“W-what the hell is this bird?!”

Liu screamed irritably.

“Kill it!”

KRAAAHHH!

Fafnir shrieked.

But Fiora rammed into it head-on.

BOOOOM—!

“Gah?!”

Fafnir was sent flying, tumbling helplessly toward the ground.

Liu, eyes rolling back, fainted on impact and fell too.

“……”

Leo stared blankly at Fiora as she circled back gracefully.

“What the—? How’s she this strong?”

He had drawn out her latent power with spiritual power, then reinforced it with aura. That should have been enough to defeat a mere hatchling like Fafnir.

But the power Fiora just displayed far exceeded his expectations.

Then he noticed—his own aura within her body was blazing even stronger.

He looked down at his palm.

‘The aura I’ve trained in… is from the Zerdinger family. And their aura originates from the phoenix.’

Leo’s eyes gleamed.

‘If the phoenix’s flame fused with itself to strengthen the power…?’

Even he hadn’t foreseen this.

‘So there’s still more to refine, more to strengthen?’

He smirked.

Suddenly—flash!

Fafnir’s eyes snapped open.

With Liu slung on its back, it flew toward Leo.

Locking eyes with Fafnir, Leo’s expression hardened.

“You… who are you?”