Chapter 199
[Ah! The three runners are breaking ahead all at once! Leading the pack is… Eiran! The second-ranked first-year from Seiren, Eiran Eisar! And close behind, we have Lumene’s Duran Moira and Eliza Hergin in hot pursuit!]
Eiran, her long silver hair streaming, was running at the front.
Chasing after Eiran like a gust of wind, Duran curled his lips into a smirk.
“A magic swordsman, huh? She’s pretty quick on her feet.”
Crackle—
A fierce spark began to dance over Duran’s body.
Cloaked in golden lightning, Duran lowered his stance.
Crack-crack-crack-crack—!
With a burst of speed, Duran instantly closed the distance with Eiran.
“Let’s see what you’ve got, second rank of Seiren!”
Crash!
Duran drew his sword like lightning, threatening Eiran.
Whoosh—!
“…!”
Eiran nimbly leapt, dodging Duran’s attack.
Thud—!
As if there was ground in midair, she straightened herself and widened the gap between them.
Seeing her avoid his attack so easily, Duran smirked.
“Interesting.”
It was obvious at a glance.
The Seiren second rank before him was not a magic swordsman specializing in magic, but one who excelled at physical movement.
Crack-crack-crack—!
A savage [Aura of Lightning] surged around Duran.
Feeling the urge to compete, Duran raised his sword.
Flash! Crackle—!
Duran’s sword, like a lightning rod, drew a bolt of lightning from the sky.
Crack—!
With even fiercer [Aura of Lightning] swirling around him, Duran planted his feet.
Crash!
“Draw your sword, Eiran Eisar!”
Duran’s fearsome sword strikes targeted Eisar’s back.
But Eisar once again lightly bounced away, dodging all of Duran’s unpredictable attacks from every direction.
Duran’s eyes narrowed.
If the first strike had just been a probing attack, this one was a much more complicated pattern.
Yet Eiran dodged every single move flawlessly.
And even as she displayed such near-supernatural agility, she didn’t even glance at Duran.
“Heh. As expected of Seiren’s second rank? Not to be taken lightly!”
Sparks flew in Duran’s eyes.
Whoosh—!
“Still just brute-forcing it with power, huh?”
At that moment, Eliza, who had been observing from behind, caught up with Duran on her Wind Wyvern.
The Wind Wyvern, shrouded in a storm, let out a screech as if mocking Duran together with its rider.
“An annoying owner with an annoying mount,” Duran said coldly, and the Wind Wyvern tried to swat Duran with its tail.
Thunk—!
Of course, Duran easily blocked the attack.
“Want me to skin you?”
Duran’s eyes flashed.
But the Wind Wyvern only snorted in reply.
“I’d love to punish your rudeness, but the Lumeiren comes first, so I’ll let it slide,” Eliza said, drawing her whip.
“Let me show you how to catch prey. Let’s go, Pipi!”
With a taunting smile, Eliza pulled the reins.
As the Wind Wyvern charged at Eiran at incredible speed, Duran muttered, “I’ll never get used to that Summoned Beast’s name.”
Eliza, with her arrogance, commanded only the finest [Summoned Beasts], each powerful enough to shake the battlefield, but with names too cute to get used to.
No matter how much Duran clicked his tongue, Eliza quickly approached Eiran.
“Pipi, block that elf’s path with a storm!”
The Wind Wyvern soared skyward at her command.
Then, diving and picking up speed, it swept in front of Eiran.
A wall of wind roared in front of Eiran.
The Wind Wyvern’s special ability, atmospheric manipulation, formed an invisible barrier in her path.
As Eiran began to slow, Eliza grinned and cracked her whip.
Whip—! Snap—!
“Got you—wait, kya?!”
Just as she smiled in triumph, Eiran broke through the storm and regained her speed, nearly dragging Eliza with her.
Barely keeping her balance, Eliza stared in shock.
“What? Why isn’t Pipi’s storm working?”
“[Animus Armor],” Duran said.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going!”
Eliza frowned as Duran suddenly leapt onto her back seat.
“It’s the Lumeiren. This much teamwork is only natural, isn’t it?”
“Tch!”
“If it’s [Animus Armor]… It’s a powerful technique handed down in the Eisar family,” Duran explained.
Eliza narrowed her eyes.
“High mobility and strong defense… She really is perfect for an obstacle race.”
“Yeah. So as much as I hate it, Eliza Hergin, I propose we work together.”
“Fine.”
Eliza agreed without argument.
She’d prefer to take out Eiran on her own, but this was the Lumeiren, and personal feelings could wait.
Though they were famous rivals, for now, they cooperated as their year’s runners.
Whoosh!
With Eliza channeling [Spirit Power], the Wind Wyvern picked up even more speed.
Crackle—!
Duran surged with [Aura of Lightning].
Truthfully, the two could have overtaken Eiran at any time.
But right now, the lead group was Eiran, Duran, and Eliza—two against one.
If they could take out Seiren’s second rank, the race would swing decisively in Lumene’s favor.
Whoosh—!
Eliza, having overtaken Eiran, commanded her Wyvern to charge.
At the same time, Duran, who had pushed his [Aura] to the limit, slashed at Eiran with a lightning strike.
Thwack—!
Eiran ducked.
‘Did she give up already?’
Just as Duran and Eliza were puzzled—
Flash—!
A force reminiscent of vegetation enveloped Eiran.
Covering her face with both arms, she sprinted forward.
Crackle—! Boom—!
Lightning and storm slammed into Eiran.
But she broke through and dashed past them both.
A bold, head-on breakthrough.
Duran and Eliza’s faces went stiff.
“She didn’t even counterattack…”
“She just ignored us and ran?”
The two stared after the rapidly escaping Eiran.
Thanks to their powerful attacks, she was battered and tattered.
But Eiran never once looked back, just pressed forward.
Both Duran and Eliza were infamous for retaliating at any provocation.
To them, Eiran’s refusal to react to their fierce attacks felt like blatant disregard.
“Heh, so this is Seiren’s second rank. Rumor had it she’s gentle, but she’s downright arrogant,” Duran said as he jumped off the Wind Wyvern and rolled his neck.
Eliza habitually touched her fingertips and muttered, “If she won’t look this way, I’ll make her turn around—one way or another.”
“Eliza Hergin, I don’t need your help anymore. That one’s mine.”
“That’s my line, Duran Moira.”
The two glared at each other with sparks almost flying.
Then, they shot forward at incredible speed.
“Stop right there, Eiran Eisar!”
“Face me for the honor of your school, Seiren’s second rank!”
Their deadly, almost murderous, presence chased after Eiran.
“Eeek!” Eiran let out a shriek.
There was a simple reason she hadn’t fought back at all.
‘I’m scared! I’m scared! I’m scared! The Lumene students are terrifying!’
She’d poured everything into her [Animus Armor], even her family’s secret technique, [Evergreen], focusing purely on defense. The only reason she took all those attacks without fighting back was because she was scared out of her wits.
Honestly, she never wanted to be a runner.
She didn’t like the attention, and the idea of being targeted by Lumene students terrified her.
It was far too much responsibility for someone as timid as her.
But…
‘Eiran! No one else is more suited to being a runner than you!’
‘N-no! President! I’ll just end up running away in fear!’
‘Exactly! I’ve never seen anyone as good at running away as you!’
With a thumbs-up, Student Council President Rienia had forced her into the role.
So Eiran vowed to run the race without fighting and avoid the others as much as possible.
But her timid strategy ended up provoking the two most aggressive Lumene first-years perfectly.
“Stop!”
“Wait!”
“Eeeeeeeek!”
With a tearful face, Eiran ran like mad.
Thanks to the power of [Evergreen], which granted boundless stamina, Eiran didn’t have to pace herself and ran like prey fleeing from carnivores.
With her uncanny evasiveness, always seeming just out of reach and dodging every attack, Duran and Eliza’s obsession only grew.
“I’ll wipe her out!”
“She won’t get away!”
“S-sorryyyyy!”
Eiran’s desperate pleas went unheard by the two.
Rumble—!
Suddenly, the earth before them erupted.
The three in the lead group stopped in their tracks.
Groooooooar—!
The sight of the monster bursting from the ground made their faces harden.
“A cyclops?”
—
Groooar—!
The cyclops didn’t just attack the lead group.
The second group, packed with many students, was also attacked by cyclops.
Seeing this, Leo murmured, “Are these cyclops Seiren captured?”
He noticed control devices on the cyclops’ necks.
They seemed to be monsters captured by Seiren for research, used here as obstacles for the race.
With the appearance of these high-grade monsters, the students panicked.
Leo leapt forward.
Rumble! Bang—!
A blast of fire struck where Leo had just been.
“Hey! You punk! I told you to fight me!”
Seeing Lunia’s blazing red eyes, Leo smiled.
“Sorry, but I’ll pass.”
“I don’t care if you refuse!”
As Lunia’s burning eyes locked onto him, Leo pointed behind her.
“Watch out.”
“Huh?”
A massive cyclops’ palm descended toward Lunia.
Her eyes flashed.
Whoosh—! Boom—!
Groooooar—!
With a single spell, Lunia reduced the cyclops’ arm to ashes.
Without even glancing at the writhing, screaming cyclops, she said, “You think these things can get in my way?”
Though they were top-grade monsters, with their power restricted by control devices and no beastmaster present, the cyclops were no real threat to Lunia.
Leo replied calmly, “No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Huh?”
Whoosh—! Boom—!
[Aura of Flame] rained down on Lunia.
The clash between [Aura of Flame] and [Magic Power of Flame] unleashed a fierce storm of fire in every direction.
Standing before Leo, Celia swept her hair aside.
“Your opponent is me, Lunia El Lunda.”
Locking eyes with Celia, whose red pupils mirrored her own, Lunia narrowed her eyes.
‘Celia Zerdinger. Number one in Lumene’s Knights Department.’
In a sense, as a fellow inheritor of the Phoenix’s power, she was the direct rival to the Lunda family.
‘I’d have preferred to go after Leo first.’
Lunia glanced at Leo.
But it wouldn’t be so easy now.
Especially with the obstacles in full swing.
She had targeted Leo alone at first, but quickly regained her composure.
‘If I let Celia Zerdinger run wild, our side will suffer. I need to keep her tied up here.’
Whoosh—!
Lunia conjured flames.
“Lunda or Zerdinger, let’s settle which of us comes out on top.”
Celia curled her lips into a smirk at Lunia’s provocation.
“Good idea. Of course, I’ll win.”
With their clash set, Leo withdrew.
He glanced around.
Between the activated obstacles and all the mutual interference, things were chaotic.
‘The Seiren students aren’t easy opponents either.’
Among the second group, the top first-year class from Seiren, whom Leo had met during the school trip, stood out.
They, too, had grown far stronger compared to the first semester.
Groooooar—!
Suddenly, another cyclops burst from the earth.
But this one was different from the others.
It wore restraints, but was far bigger than any cyclops so far.
Its threatening form made the students around Leo flinch back.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!
The cyclops spotted Leo and charged.
Leo smiled.
“Perfect. I wanted to try this out.”
He reached out his hand.
A subspace opened and a longsword appeared.
It looked ordinary, but it was a magic sword made from dragon bone.
Vmmm—!
A magical formula materialized on Leo’s sword.
The magical circuits engraved on the blade began to shine brightly.
Some elf students nearby flinched.
Activating the magic formula, Leo swung his sword.
Crash—!
A massive beam of light, like a comet, shot from the sword and soared into the sky.
Seiren students, seeing this, were stunned.
“No way… Lampas…?”
“That’s [Star Magic] you learn in third year, isn’t it?”
Ignoring the frozen Seiren students, Leo kept moving.
Thud—!
The massive cyclops collapsed.
Step, step—!
Leo walked past the fallen cyclops and looked down at his sword.
Viiiiiiiiiiing—!
The sword trembled violently.
It had overloaded from sustaining such a complex magic formula.
Leo glanced at it and smiled.
“Hmm. Not bad.”