Editor : Amethyst00



“Leo! What the hell is that?!”

Lunia and Eiran rushed over to him in panic.

“Skeleton King.”

At those words, both girls gasped sharply.

Skeleton King.

One of the most powerful undead a necromancer could possibly command.

“W-we should run…!”

Eiran stammered, her face pale as a sheet, but Leo shook his head.

“No. That would be a bad idea.”

“Eiran’s right! Right now we should retreat! This isn’t the time to be stubborn!”

Even if they were the most elite first-years of Lumene and Seiren, facing a Skeleton King head-on was completely out of their league.

Lunia and Eiran’s words were perfectly reasonable.

“If we flee recklessly, it’ll be even more dangerous.”

Leo’s gaze shifted toward Kargol and Rauta.

“Those over there will have no thought of just letting us retreat peacefully.”

Lunia gritted her teeth, while Eiran’s face froze with fear.

It was true—turning their backs on a top-class undead like the Skeleton King and trying to escape would be suicidal.

“Then what do we do?”

“What else?”

Leo stepped forward.

“We take it down.”

He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and Lunia’s eyes widened.

“Impossible!”

“Normally, maybe. But…”

Leo’s lips curled as he looked at the Skeleton King.

“That Skeleton King wasn’t summoned the proper way.”

“What?”

“Rauta gained power by contracting with Hell Kaiser through death. He combined that power with the Curse of the Dead blanketing this place to somehow summon the Skeleton King. But…”

Leo tightened his grip on his sword.

“All he did was barely fulfill the summoning conditions. That Skeleton King won’t remain in this world for long.”

The most basic rule of summoning.

A summoned being required spiritual power to be maintained.

Necromancy, being a type of summoning, was no exception—when the sustaining power ran dry, the summoning would end.

“Then all we have to do is hold out until its summoning energy runs out!”

“But it’s not just the Skeleton King over there. There’s Rauta and a Death Knight too. Can we really endure all that?”

“We’ll have to try. Lunia—you take Rauta. Eiran, you handle the Death Knight.”

“What?”

“You… you’re seriously planning to face the Skeleton King alone?”

The two girls shouted in shock, but Leo nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the plan.”

He said it in such a casual tone that Lunia burst out,

“That’s reckless!”

“Even if it’s reckless, it’s the only way right now. Trust me. If that Skeleton King is the greatest of the undead…”

Leo pulled something out from his cloak.

Chirp?

“…Then I’ve got the strongest familiar on my side.”

At that, Lunia clenched her jaw.

He’s right. Right now… this might really be our only option.

She took a deep breath.

“You! If you die, I won’t forgive you.”

“Pfft.”

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just… I’ve heard those exact same words once before.”

He tousled Lunia’s hair with a crooked grin.

“Don’t worry. I’m not about to get killed by some oversized pile of bones.”

bl

“Fuahahaha! My power! It’s overflowing!”

Rauta screamed, unable to contain the surging energy within him.

“Skeleton King! Shatter the barrier before you!”

Uwoooooooooh—!

At Rauta’s command, the Skeleton King pressed a massive hand against the ground.

Kwaaahhhk—!

With a gray flash, an enormous, ancient sword surfaced.

Goooooooh—!

Gripping the blade wreathed in a chilling black aura, the Skeleton King raised it high.

Fwoooosh!

The mere swing of its arm unleashed a powerful gust, blasting snow in every direction.

“This is incredible!”

Rauta’s eyes shone with ecstasy—until they fell on Leo.

“That brat! You dared kill me?!”

Rauta’s eyes blazed as he incanted a spell.

Whoosh! Crackle—!

Bolts of black fire shot toward Leo’s unguarded back.

Boom! Whump!

But a wall of crimson flame flared up, blocking the attack.

Rauta’s face twisted.

“Your opponent… is me.”

Lunia stepped forward.

“How dare you! A mere junior, standing in the way of your senior?!”

“Sunbae? Don’t make me laugh. You’re nothing but a traitor who disgraced Seiren’s name!”

The contempt burning in her eyes made Rauta’s expression harden.

“Seems you need a lesson in respecting your seniors.”

He summoned his staff and slammed it to the ground.

Boom! Vwooom!

A magic circle flared, and undead began to emerge.

Lunia snorted and summoned her own spiritual power.

Whoooosh—!

Dozens of flame familiars burst forth at her side.

The clash of summoner versus necromancer had begun in earnest.

“Heh-heh… there’s nothing easier than fighting an enemy trembling with fear.”

Kargol gripped his sword tighter, his grin chilling.

Eiran instinctively stepped back, trembling.

“Ugh…”

Since entering the forest, the only reason she’d been able to hold her ground was because Leo and Lunia had always been behind her.

But now, she had to face the Death Knight alone.

'Can I really do this?'

Her hands trembled.

Eiran hated fighting—she wanted to run.

But as she stumbled back, her eyes caught Leo and Lunia.

'If I falter, both of them will be in danger.'

The fear in her gaze slowly steadied.

Leo, smiling as he faced the Skeleton King, looked every bit the hero from her beloved tales.

And Lunia, who supported him in her own way, shone brighter than ever.

'I never once wished to be a hero. But… but…'

The girl who loved heroic tales had enrolled in Seiren because she longed to witness one unfold with her own eyes.

'At the very least, I can’t drag them down!'

Vroooom—!

A steely light filled Eiran’s eyes.

'This girl… her aura changed?'

Kargol’s face hardened as he watched Eiran steady her stance, her trembling gone.

Leo, charging at the Skeleton King, grinned.

'Just having a grand dream doesn’t make someone a hero.'

Flames of Aura wrapped around his body.

'Sometimes, it’s the small dreams that pile up, one by one, that shape a great hero. In that sense… you resemble Velkia more than anyone, Eiran.'

Her ancestor, Velkia, had been the same.

Leo tightened his fist as he thought of the little elf girl who once admired the footsteps of the great heroes.

“Fiora!”

A blazing aura wrapped around the tiny bird’s body.

Fwoooosh!

Screeeeeech—!

The Skeleton King’s roar shook the forest.

At that sound, black energy rippled over Leo’s body.

“The Cry of the Dead, is it.”

A form of curse used by undead.

The living who heard it suffered lowered defenses, while the dead gained greater strength.

The worst possible curse in this situation.

But Leo grinned.

“Fiora. Cry out!”

Piiiyaaahhhhhhhh—!

Fiora’s clear, bright cry echoed through the forest.

The moment they heard it, Leo, Lunia, and Eiran’s bodies glowed with a red light.

The Phoenix’s power: the Cry of the Everlasting Flame.

A blessing with the exact opposite effect of the undead’s Cry of the Dead.

“How long are you going to keep chirping?”

Leo laughed as he dashed toward the Skeleton King’s massive sword, which was descending on the Fairy King’s barrier.

Whooosh—!

Fiora transformed from a tiny chick into a magnificent phoenix and perched atop Leo’s blade.

Summoning Art—Incarnation.

Fwoooosh—!

Fiora became pure flame and merged into his weapon.

A technique that embedded a summoned beast or elemental into one’s body or weapon to draw out its true power.

Crackle!

Flaming wings formed at Leo’s sword-tip, expanding into a massive blade of fire.

The blazing weapon grew to match the Skeleton King’s colossal sword in an instant.

Gasps erupted all around.

With a flash of his crimson eyes, Leo swung.

KABOOOOM! CRASH!

The Skeleton King howled as its arm was cleaved off and hurled skyward.

Its titanic body reeled and crashed to the ground, toppling trees in its wake.

Rumble—! CRACK!

Leo floated into the air with a spell.

Fwoooosh—!

Fiora, separating from the sword, flapped her wings gracefully and settled on his head.

["Whoa! Leo! You can even use Incarnation?!"]

Kiran gaped.

Even veteran summoners struggled with such a technique.

["You’re still just a kid, but not bad at all."]

At his words, Fiora chirped sharply and raised her chin smugly.

["Hmph. For that much, you’re worthy enough to serve under me. I’ll make you subordinate number on—ack! You little chick! I’m not food!"]

Fiora had snatched Kiran’s head into her beak, shaking him around.

“Enough playing around.”

At Leo’s words, Fiora spat him out.

Thud! Rumble—!

The Skeleton King was rising again.

Leo’s blow had knocked it down, but the damage wasn’t fatal.

Boom. Boom.

It stood and fixed its glowing eyes on Leo.

Huuuuhhhk—! SWOOOSH!

Its sword swung with terrifying speed.

CRAAAAASH!

The ground where Leo had stood was obliterated in an instant.

Its glowing crimson gaze tracked him.

Leo raised a hand and pointed at it.

“Kiran.”

["Huh? Oh!"]

Fwoooosh—!

Silver light poured from Kiran’s body.

“Assist me.”

["Got it!"]

A rune circle bloomed at Leo’s fingertip—it was fairy magic.

“Luminance Ray!”

FLASH—!

A magic circle of stars shone at his hand, unleashing a blinding bolt of light.

BOOOOM!

The Skeleton King shrieked as the blast struck its right eye.

Fwoooosh!

It thrashed wildly, forcing Leo to break off and retreat.

'That drained a lot.'

Leo sighed.

That spell had been far above his current level.

The only reason he managed to cast it was Kiran’s support, amplifying his latent potential with spiritual power.

Fairies were powerful magic casters, after all.

Normally, the computation of such a spell was impossible for him, but Kiran had bridged the gap.

'If Kiran were at full strength, I could have cast it without issue…'

Even so, the hit had inflicted real damage—but it also left Leo’s mana dangerously strained.

Tap—!

He landed back on the ground.

Grrrrrr!

The Skeleton King’s shattered eye glowed anew.

'The difference in class is too wide.'

Cold sweat ran down Leo’s temple.

Both of his last attacks had exceeded what he should currently be able to handle.

'But all I need to do is buy time.'

His only goal was to stall the Skeleton King.

He crouched low, ready for the next strike.

Swoooosh—!

The Skeleton King lifted its sword once more.

'No matter how powerful an undead, without a proper necromancer’s support, it can’t draw out its full strength.'

Undead were the same as familiars.

Just as Leo couldn’t draw out all of Fiora’s strength yet, Rauta’s Skeleton King couldn’t wield its complete power either.

If I just hold on long enough, I can stop it…

Vwooooom—!

Suddenly, the Skeleton King’s blade flared with a blood-red light.

Something flashed in Leo’s mind.

His instincts screamed.

He swung sideways without hesitation.

SWISH—! CLAAANG!

“……!”

The crushing pressure at his side made him gasp.

The Skeleton King’s sword—suddenly at his flank, as if space itself had twisted.

He had no time to process it. Reflexively, he blocked.

CRAAAAAASH!

The impact flung Leo’s body away like a ragdoll.