Chen Xia and Eliza’s eyes widened.
“That’s strange. I’ve never heard of such a warbeast.”
“Exactly. There’s no such thing as a wyvern-type warbeast.”
Eliza added to Warren’s statement.
“It’s a warbeast. One that was supposedly driven to extinction by the Great Heroes during the Age of Catastrophe. I don’t know why it’s appearing now.”
FWOOOSH—!
Fafnir unleashed a breath attack.
Leo easily dodged and spoke.
“And that thing doesn’t look normal, does it?”
“That’s true… It resembles the side effects of a warbeast contract.”
Eliza stroked her chin.
“Then we need a plan. When it comes to dealing with dual summons, I know the most out of all of us.”
Eliza puffed out her chest confidently.
“So you expect us to follow your orders?”
“I wasn’t going to say it like that, but yes, essentially.”
“Ridiculous.”
Warren scoffed coldly and charged straight at Liu on his griffon.
FWOOOSH! BOOM—!
A massive explosion erupted from his elemental attack.
Eliza clicked her tongue as she watched.
“That man never listens to anyone. The two of you should at least follow my lead.”
Chen Xia scratched her cheek.
“I do agree that Eliza knows the most about summoned beasts. But Leo seems to know a lot about that warbeast. I think we should follow his lead.”
“Hmph, even if he has information, my orders are more—”
“Who cares about orders? In this situation, we won’t be able to coordinate properly anyway.”
Leo tugged on his griffon’s reins.
“Just respond to the situation and attack accordingly.”
“Wait! Are you seriously charging in recklessly? You really aren’t fit to lead! As a direct descendant of the Hergin family, I—”
FWOOOSH—!
Before Eliza could finish speaking, Leo had already charged at Fafnir.
Chen Xia followed closely behind, flashing an apologetic smile before dashing forward.
Eliza was left alone, trembling in frustration.
“I’m a direct descendant of the Hergin family! Don’t ignore meee!”
With her eyes blazing, Eliza finally rushed forward on her griffon.
BOOM! BOOM!
A series of fierce explosions engulfed Fafnir.
As the smoke cleared, Fafnir emerged unharmed.
“Haha… Hahaha! Amazing! My summoned beast is truly amazing!”
Liu, who had been pale with fear, now burst into a fit of exhilarated laughter.
“This is it! With this, I’ll be the number one summoner— No! I can be the student representative! Yes! I’m the best! I’ve always been the best! There’s no way I’m not the best!”
He clenched his fists and cackled maniacally.
Warren clicked his tongue as he watched.
“He’s completely lost it.”
“You seem to be struggling.”
Leo flew up beside him.
Warren smirked.
RUMBLE—!
A massive earthen structure began to form behind Warren.
Leo’s eyes widened.
‘A golem magic formation?’
A magically constructed artificial giant.
By merging earth spirits with the spell formation, Warren had created a massive elemental golem.
‘This guy’s a monster too.’
As Leo admired Warren’s skill, Liu’s face turned ghostly pale at the sight of the colossal golem.
WHOOSH—!
A terrifying gust split the air as the golem swung its massive arm.
“D-Dodge! Get out of the way!”
Panicking, Liu desperately commanded Fafnir.
But Fafnir ignored him.
ROOOOOAR!
Instead, it let out an enraged howl.
The golem’s arm was about to smash into Fafnir, but then…
BAM!
The massive arm shattered mid-swing and crumbled to the ground.
Warren’s eyes twitched.
“Fear?”
A powerful aura that disrupts the flow of mana for a moment.
In that instant, all the griffons trembled in fear.
‘That Fafnir is still a hatchling. A hatchling shouldn’t be able to use Fear yet!’
Leo’s expression darkened.
‘There’s no way Liu drew out its latent abilities on his own. His summoning skills are terrible. So how is this happening?’
PEEP! PEEP!
Just then, Piora chirped irritably from inside Leo’s coat.
GROWL!
Fafnir’s murderous eyes locked onto Leo.
ROOOOOOOOAR!
It spread its jaws wide and lunged straight at him.
Leo calmed his trembling griffon and ascended quickly.
Warren launched a barrage of elemental explosions.
BOOM! BOOM!
Despite being struck directly, Fafnir didn’t shift its focus.
It was chasing Leo with insane fervor.
‘Did it sense the Phoenix’s energy?’
Phoenixes and warbeasts were natural enemies.
Fafnir must have instinctively detected Piora and reacted with aggression.
“Leo Plov! Prepare yourself!”
‘Seems like the contractor’s hatred is amplifying it too.’
Leo glanced back.
Fafnir was closing in fast.
‘If it’s only targeting me, then this could end quickly.’
Leo briefly glanced at the irate Piora inside his coat and tightened his grip on the reins.
FLAP—!
SCREEEECH!
His griffon let out a fierce cry and accelerated.
ROOOOOAR!
Fafnir let out a monstrous shriek and pursued.
“Wait! Leo! You can’t go alone—!”
“What kind of blessing did he receive?! And why is he rushing off alone when we should be fighting together?!”
Chen Xia and Eliza shouted in confusion.
In an instant, Leo and Liu vanished from sight at breakneck speed.
***
“Ah! What’s happening?! Liu is violating the rules—!”
“Hey! You idiot! Is this the time for commentary?!”
Instructor Yura stormed over and kicked the flustered commentator before snatching the microphone.
“All summoning instructors! Prepare flight beasts immediately! This is an emergency! The race is canceled!”
The students buzzed with concern as professors gathered around Yura.
“What’s going on, Yura?”
Professor Sedgen frowned.
“It’s clear! Liu has contracted with a warbeast!”
“What?!”
The professors’ faces hardened.
“Don’t you think something is off? Liu wasn’t the type to cause such an incident!”
Yura pulled out a crystal orb.
The public viewing screens had been turned off, but the crystal continued broadcasting.
The homeroom professor of Class 3 spoke in a grim voice.
“It’s true that he showed signs of inferiority issues as the semester progressed… But many students go through that. He wasn’t someone who’d go this far.”
Many new students at Lumerne experienced inferiority early on.
Some recognized their weaknesses and worked hard, while others grew bitter.
Liu belonged to the latter group.
But, as Yura pointed out, he wasn’t the type to completely lose control.
“Loss of rationality, uncontrollable rage… These are classic symptoms of a warbeast contract.”
The professors’ faces grew even more serious.
“But if a warbeast can influence a summoner that much, it must be a high-rank warbeast.”
Professor Halind frowned, staring at the screen.
Professor Sera spoke cautiously.
“Could it be that the mutated wyvern Liu is riding… is actually a warbeast?”
“…!”
“…!”
The professors shuddered.
“No way…”
"Then isn't it an unknown new type of beast?"
Looking at the disturbed professors, Yura spoke.
"For now, the important thing is to stop Liu..."
At that moment, Liu started chasing after Leo on the screen.
"Wait! Hey! Leo! It's dangerous to go alone! Quickly, switch the screen!"
Seeing Leo disappear at an incredible speed, Yura was shocked.
The magic professor, flustered, took the crystal ball from Yura and operated it.
"He seems to have gone out of the magic's range!"
"Aaaah! Seriously!"
Yura summoned a Black Wyvern using her energy.
"Assistants! We're leaving! Find Leo and Liu immediately!"
"Yes!"
***
Leo flew at an incredible speed, sharpening his senses.
'I've left the influence of the video magic.'
Escaping its range wasn’t a coincidence.
It was Leo’s plan.
"Piora."
Chirp?
"Time to shine."
Leo took out his contracted beast from his chest, smirking as he unleashed both aura and spirit power.
Whoosh-!
Piora's feathers began to burn.
Whoosh-!
The feathers on Piora, perched in Leo’s palm, stood on end.
Feeling the change in its body, Piora spread its wings and looked around in confusion.
Soon, Piora’s body began to swell.
Fwoosh!
Piora's feathers burned even more fiercely and quickly grew to the size of Leo's torso.
"Now you finally look like a phoenix."
At Leo’s words, Piora lifted its head proudly and elegantly perched on Leo's arm.
Piora had shed its tiny red chick form and transformed into a beautiful firebird.
It wasn’t yet a fully grown phoenix, but its energy was incomparably stronger than before.
Chirp?
Even Fafnir, who had been exuding hostility, looked bewildered.
"Fly!"
At Leo's command, Piora flapped its wings and soared high into the sky.
Screeeech-!
Piora shot up, leaving a fiery trail in the sky.
Chirp-! Chirp-!
Delighted with its new form, Piora chirped joyfully.
'Still sounds like a chick.'
Leo chuckled.
As Piora soared high, it spread its wings wide and dived down.
Whoosh!
Its flames flared even more intensely.
A summoner’s power lies in drawing out a summoned beast’s hidden potential.
But Leo had another special ability.
He could strengthen summoned beasts with aura.
Summoned beasts are creatures of spirit energy.
Thus, they cannot accept aura.
But Kyle made it possible.
'I was skilled in everything, but I never had the ability to reach the ultimate level.'
In aura mastery, Kyle lagged behind Aron and Dveno.
In magic, he couldn't match Luna. In summoning, he couldn't surpass Risinas.
So Leo chose to fuse his abilities.
Aura and magic.
Magic and spirit energy.
Spirit energy and aura.
If he couldn't reach the ultimate level, he had to at least get close.
Ending the age of disaster required it.
But everyone, even his allies, said it was impossible.
'The moment pure mana is lost, power can no longer be fused.'
After endless attempts, he succeeded, and Kyle stood alongside his comrades as a great hero who saved the world.
Whoooosh-!
Aura formed on Piora’s wings.
Piora widened its eyes in excitement and flapped its wings even harder.
"Ugh! What the hell is this bird?!"
Liu shouted in frustration.
"Take it down!"
Screeeech!
Fafnir let out a horrifying cry.
But before it could react, Piora rammed into it with its entire body.
Boom-!
"Ugh?"
Fafnir was flung away, crashing helplessly toward the ground.
Liu also lost consciousness from the impact and fell toward the ground.
......
Leo stared blankly at Piora as it elegantly returned to him.
"What? Why is it so strong?"
Using spirit energy, he had drawn out Piora’s latent potential and strengthened it with aura.
That alone should have been enough to defeat the still-young Fafnir.
But Piora’s power just now had far exceeded Leo’s expectations.
As he processed his shock, Leo noticed his aura burning even more fiercely within Piora.
He looked at his palm.
'The aura I’m using now is from the Zerdinger Family. And their aura originates from the phoenix.'
Leo's eyes gleamed.
'If phoenix flames are merging and amplifying the power...'
This was an effect even Leo hadn’t foreseen.
'Does that mean there’s still more room to refine and enhance it?'
Leo smirked.
Flash-!
Fafnir, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened its eyes.
It then grabbed Liu and flew toward Leo.
Leo's expression hardened as he locked eyes with Fafnir.
"You... Who are you?"
End Of Chapter
