Editor : Amethyst00



"Ugh!"

Using her trident as a cane, Undine pushed herself up.

'What was that just now…!?'

To attack Leo, Undine had drawn on the waters of Lake Lumeria.

This island, situated in the middle of the vast lake, was an extremely advantageous battlefield for her.

'I didn't expect to finish it in one blow.'

Undine bit her lip hard.

It wasn't that she underestimated Leo.

Though she ruled the deep sea as an elemental lord, it didn't mean she was indifferent to the affairs of the world.

On the contrary, Undine was more interested in worldly matters than most.

Her goal was to become the strongest elemental.

And to etch her name in history as such elemental, there was something essential.

'A contractor.'

No matter how powerful an elemental lord was, they couldn't make a mark in history alone.

The Hero Records only noted heroes, not the elementals who made pacts with them.

The influence of heroes was evident even just by looking at Laruel.

Laruel, the Elemental Lord of Radiance, hadn't appeared in history for thousands of years.

She had no contractor and remained uninvolved even during countless wars with Tartaros.

Yet, just because her contractor was Rodia, the Dawn Dragon, Laruel had been regarded as beyond comparison for 3,000 years.

Decades ago, even that lowly Elemental Lord of Purification—

And now, though she was praised as the strongest elemental, the moment Laruel was mentioned, she was overshadowed.

Undine couldn't stand it.

So she had waited, for ages, for a contractor worthy of her.

And finally, she had found one: Leo Plov.

He wasn't the kind of elemental user Elemental Lord typically favored.

After all, Elemental Lord disliked playboys.

But Leo was such an appealing contractor that those concerns vanished.

That's why she had proposed a contract—on the condition that he break his existing pacts with other beasts and elementals.

She expected resistance, of course. Leo wasn't one to be easily swayed.

'But what the hell was that!?'

Her attack, in a location overwhelmingly advantageous to her as a water elemental, had been blocked in a single blow.

Even if it had been with another Elemental Lord like Ishtar, it was shocking.

'Even with a contractor…!'

Summoners are beings who can draw out a summoned's power beyond its normal limits.

But Elemental Lord already had extremely high thresholds.

Drawing out their full power was very difficult.

That's also why most Elemental Lord maintained a prideful demeanour.

Even if a contractor allowed them to exceed their usual limits, in a place with such a clear terrain advantage, the situation usually balanced out.

Just as Undine began to draw on more elemental power again—

Flash!

"…?"

A bright light flashed in front of her.

In that moment—

Whoosh!

"…!"

Leo had suddenly closed the distance and was swinging a kick at Undine's face.

Boom!

Her head burst and scattered in all directions.

Droplets of water flew everywhere.

Though she was an elemental and not fatally injured, the shock was undeniable.

Shhhk!

The scattered droplets instantly transformed into sharp, needle-like forms.

Hundreds of watery spikes rained down on Leo from all directions.

Fwoooosh!

Blue flames surged from Leo's entire body.

Sssssss!

The water spikes that touched him instantly evaporated upon contact with the armor of fire.

"Grr!"

Undine quickly leapt back and struck the ground with her trident.

Bubble bubble bubble… Ssssssh!

From where her trident struck, the surroundings began turning into a sea of water.

"I'll sink this entire island!"

She aimed to make the battlefield even more favorable to herself.

"No matter how strong the Elemental Lord of Purification is, you can't evaporate the whole Lake Lumeria!"

She curled her lips into a smirk.

She was right.

Lake Lumeria was so vast that it could be mistaken for an ocean.

Undine, drawing power from such a source, could not be countered even by Ishtar's power evaporating all that water.

"You'll regret making me your enemy, Leo Plov!"

At her words, Leo replied flatly.

"I didn't really intend to be your enemy, you know?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You attacked me first!"

"Well, you were the one who picked a fight with her first."

Leo tapped the air with his finger.

Palm-sized Laruel wobbled as Leo's finger nudged her head side to side.

"Anyway, I never planned to have just one contractee."

He shrugged.

"If you heard that, wouldn't you have attacked me first anyway?"

"…"

At Leo's words, Undine fell silent.

Indeed, if he had rejected her proposal, she would have attacked him for being insolent.

"So? Don't you want to make a contract with me?"

"Playboy!"

"That's a bit misleading if anyone overheard."

["Even though you already have contractees, asking something like that definitely makes you a playboy."]

["I agree with the old hag this time."]

Laruel kicked Ishtar in the side, who had appeared beside her.

[Cheep cheep.]

["Honestly, who even likes that kind of behavior?"]

["The only one among us who truly understands Master is Elsie."]

Even the mythical beast began siding with Undine.

Leo clicked his tongue at their comments.

Then, looking at Undine, who still showed hostility, he said, "Either way, I need you."

To a elemental user, a powerful elemental was a powerful weapon.

Of course, just forming a contract with a strong elemental didn't guarantee the power grew stronger.

Normally, if one already had an elemental lord, contracting with another wouldn't make them stronger.

Most couldn't even properly controlled the power of a single elemental lord.

'But that's only for normal elemental users.'

Leo was a Great Hero and arguably the second most powerful summoner in history.

The more lord-ranking Elemental summons he had, the stronger he became.

Fiora, Kiran, Alty, Laruel, Ishtar—they might grumble about his multiple contracts, but they didn't protest because they knew Leo could handle all of them perfectly.

That's why forming pacts with more elemental lords was essential for Leo's upcoming battles.

"I refuse!"

"You'd better agree nicely while you still can."

Leo smiled.

Undine scoffed.

"And if I don't? What are you going to do?"

"Oh, lots of things."

Leo's smile deepened.

Whirl—!

Suddenly, a massive vortex began forming before Leo.

Undine flinched.

The massive volume of water she'd been drawing suddenly started draining into the ground.

'It's like a huge hole just opened up…'

Crack crack crack!

Zing! Zing!

Suddenly, chains of darkness burst from the water and grabbed her arms and neck.

"The Elemental Lord of the Abyss!"

Eyes wide, Undine stared at the grim-eyed elemental who had ambushed her.

It was Ignis, the Elemental Lord of the Abyss, who had settled in Lumene.

Even Laruel looked surprised.

["When did you form a pact with Ignis?"]

"I didn't. I just summoned him, and he responded."

["…Seems like your army's grown while we weren't looking, Leo Plov."]

["Who are you calling an army!? If I make a pact with Leo Plov, I'm your senior, got it? Treat me with respect!"]

["Still boasting those creepy muscles, I see."]

["You're just as scrawny as ever!"]

As the dark and fire elementals argued, Kiran folded his arms and sighed with pity.

["Seriously. Why are high elementals all so bad at getting along? Us mythical beast are much more united, right? You fat chick? Pervert?"]

[Cheep!]

[Whack!]

Fiora stabbed Kiran's temple with her beak without hesitation.

["You chick!"]

["Miss Fiora! That sharp beak of yours!"]

"…."

Leo held his throbbing head.

'My respect to Lysinas, really.'

Her contractors were every bit as chaotic—maybe worse—than Leo's current ones.

Leo felt a vast gap between them as summoners.

'Maybe she just beat them when they got too loud? With her violent tendencies, I wouldn't be surprised.'

As Leo thought such things, he approached Undine.

"Ugh!"

Bound by Ignis's power, Undine bit her lip.

Ignis's power as the Elemental Lord of the Abyss was the sealing of strength.

Not only that—Laruel and Ishtar were also suppressing her power.

No matter how strong an elemental Lord was, when three Elemental Lord of equal rank worked together, even they could be restrained.

Breaking free now was nearly impossible.

"So? Still not interested in making a pact with me?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You think I'm like those cheap, easy summons!?"

At Undine's cry, the bickering summons fell completely silent.

The six summons—dream and goal of all summoners—turned their eyes on Undine.

["Did you just call us cheap?"]

Laruel asked, stepping right up to Undine's face.

"Don't come near me! You're vulgar! You make me feel cheap just standing near you!"

At that, Laruel turned to the other contracted summons.

The Elemental Lord and the Three Mythical Beasts were all highly individualistic and proud.

With such strong personalities, unity was rare—almost impossible.

But there was one time they came together.

When faced with a common external enemy.

And Undine had just perfectly made herself that enemy.

["Looks like we're all thinking the same thing."]

Ishtar returned to his full size.

In his hand was a club made of fire.

He flexed his muscles while gripping it menacingly.

["Beating people up isn't really my style, but sometimes it's just the right thing to do."]

In Alty's hand, a pure white club made of lightning formed.

["Hold her tight, Elemental Lord of the Abyss."]

Kiran grinned mischievously.

["When Leo-nim said the way of persuading elemental lords was violence, I didn't believe it. But shall we see if it works?"]

Laruel smiled sweetly.

[Cheep. Cheep.]

Fiora flapped her wings menacingly.

"W-What are you doing? Stay back! Don't come any closer!"

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Undine shouted, flustered.

As Leo wondered what to do—

Flash—!

"Hmm?"

A massive magical force surged in the distance.

'Fourth and fifth years.'

They had completed their preparations and were aiming powerful spells at Leo.

'Runeba-sunbae is still fighting Elsie.'

Zzzing!

A magic circle appeared beneath Leo's feet.

Flash—BOOM!

Pillars of flame shot up.

As the fire cleared and magic surged around him, Leo raised his head.

"They came prepared, huh."

The spells definitely felt different from earlier.

It was clear their strategy had shifted after just one battle.

Leo grinned.

"Let's see just how different it really is…"