Chapter 318
“It’s Walden!”
“Walden came to save us!”
Cheers erupted from the Harmony dormitory side.
Nella, who had been facing off against Leo, murmured quietly as she looked at the dormitory students.
“Doesn’t really seem like Walden came to save us though…”
The moment she finished speaking, Walden raised his hand.
Fwoooosh—!
A massive sphere of flame formed above Walden’s palm.
It was his specialty.
Spirit Art through magic formulas.
“Ooooooh!”
“Walden! Walden!”
The Harmony students shouted his name loudly.
Rooooooar—!
“Walden! Wal—…”
But their cheers soon quieted as they realized something was wrong.
“……”
“……”
At some point, everyone fell silent, watching Walden.
Then, a student from the Knight Department muttered,
“Hey.”
“……What.”
“……Doesn’t that seem way too big?”
“You think so too? I was thinking the same…”
As they watched the ever-growing sphere of flame, all the students except Leo began sweating coldly.
“No way. That’s not it.”
“Yeah! There’s no way he’d launch a wide-area attack with this many allies around, haha…”
While the Knight and Magic Department students forced awkward smiles—
The Summoning Department students ran without hesitation.
“What are you all doing?! Run!”
“That guy totally has it in him to fire a wide-area spell without caring about us!”
Having studied together for a year, the Summoning students knew Walden’s personality all too well.
Their reaction caused the Knight and Magic students to panic and scatter.
Nella, too, sighed as if she expected this and began to move—
But paused when she saw Leo not budging.
“You’re not dodging?”
In response, Leo smiled faintly and pointed his finger.
“Should I dodge that way?”
That direction was where the Harmony students were evacuating.
They shouted in alarm.
“Hey! Don’t come this way!”
“Go over there! That way!”
“Are you seriously trying to drag us down with you just to save yourself?!”
As the Harmony students pointed toward Noble, now the Noble students started shouting.
Leo chuckled at the chaos, then turned to Walden.
“Don’t worry about me.”
With that, Nella leapt toward the Harmony group.
And Walden’s enormous flame engulfed Leo.
Seeing the massive, blazing fireball, Leo gripped his sword tightly.
Voooom—!
A gray [Aura] swirled violently.
As he condensed it into his blade, Leo’s eyes flashed, and he swung.
Slaaash—!
A chilling sound ripped through the air.
Whoooosh—!
The flame split in two.
BOOOOOOM—!
With a massive explosion, a wave of fire poured down like a waterfall.
The surging blaze crashed to the ground.
For a brief moment, Leo’s eyes twitched.
‘Fusion of Fire and Earth Spirits?’
Contrary to his expectation, it wasn’t a Spirit Art using spirits to simulate explosion spells.
Walden was carefully preparing an additional strike targeting Leo, whose affinity was fire.
Gloop—! Fwoooosh—!
The fire that had seeped into the ground erupted into the air like a fountain.
In an instant, the area turned into a sea of lava.
At Walden’s gesture, the fire and earth spirits moved.
CRAAAAASH—!
The lava rose like a tsunami, and the evacuating students screamed in horror.
“Uwaaah! We’re gonna get swept away!”
“Run! Run!”
It was like a natural disaster.
Walden was exerting perfect control over the surrounding environment.
Leo narrowed his eyes at the tidal wave of lava rushing toward him.
“What a monster.”
SPLASH—!
With those words, Leo was swallowed by the lava.
—
[Ah! Amazing! That’s Harmony Dormitory’s Walden Thaiden! Is this really Spirit Art at a second-year level?!]
Fourth-year Runba Tess from the Summoning Department, who always did commentary during external events, shouted excitedly, spitting as he spoke.
[Professor Sedgen, head of the second-year class! What do you think of Walden’s Spirit Art?!]
[Elegant!]
[Ooooh! High praise from one of Lumene’s most brilliant professors!]
“…Why does he always say ‘elegant’? What the hell does that even mean?”
Leaning on her chin, Leena muttered, and the beautiful student beside her twirled her hair and replied.
“Runba’s always been good at embellishing things.”
Elena was currently assisting Principal Leena as the Board Director’s representative.
Hark Riguard, the vice student council president, was sitting beside Leena with an eye patch, leaning back and sleeping.
The royals seated nearby as VIPs stared at the scene with baffled expressions.
[Please tell the audience about Walden’s excellence!]
[Dear viewers! Walden is—one of my proudest students, whom I, Sedgen, have raised with the utmost effort!]
[…I recall that Walden wasn’t your student during his first year though…]
[What does that matter?! He’s under my guidance now, so he’s my student! Now, Walden, go punish that irritating Leo Plov—mph! Mph!]
[P-Professor Sedgen! Please remain neutral as a commentator—]
[Leo Plov, pawn of Harrid, must fall—! Urk—]
The broadcast cut out.
The audience looked dumbfounded.
[We apologize for the brief technical issue.]
Harrid’s cold voice echoed over the speakers.
Professor Sedgen was being dragged off by other professors.
With high-ranking nobles and royalty present, this blunder was monumental.
Anywhere else, it would have caused chaos.
And indeed, the first-years looked nervous, wondering what might happen next.
But the third, fourth, and fifth-years remained unbothered.
“Seems my son’s not very popular among the professors.”
“Aww! Don’t say that! I adore him so much.”
Yura smiled sweetly as she massaged Reina’s shoulders.
“Reina-senior, I prepared this premium tea myself with magic.”
With a graceful motion, Len poured tea into Reina’s cup.
Then clapped lightly, and Anna approached with a tragic expression.
“These cookies are homemade by me.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
“…Professor Len, everyone’s staring.”
“Assistant Professor Anna, remember this. Hospitality is part of the endless advancement of magic.”
‘You never lift a finger when real VIPs visit.’
Anna sighed internally.
“Hey! Carlo! Why are you so late!”
“…How do you expect me to go to the Summoned Beast Island and return in ten minutes…”
Yura’s assistant Carlo trudged in with fruit from the island.
“Reina-senior, forget those cookies and try these fruits. You know they’re Lumene’s specialty.”
“My, thank you.”
As Reina laughed behind her hand, she tilted her head.
“By the way, why are you all being so nice to me?”
“It’s just us expressing our admiration to a beloved senior.”
“Admira—?”
When Yura cooed at her, Carlo’s expression twisted oddly.
But he bowed under her deadly glare.
“Yes. Since Reina-senior graduated, I’ve never once forgotten about you.”
“…Professor Len, that’s a rather dangerous statement.”
Anna sighed deeply, but Len didn’t care.
“So, what do you want?”
“It’s about the future of magic and Leo’s path.”
“Reina-senior, Leo needs to choose the Summoning Department. I know you were in the Knight Department, but that shouldn’t matter! Look at Leo! He’s the Phoenix’s Contractor with Zerdinger blood!”
“Hm. You both make good points.”
Reina smiled faintly.
“By the way, I suddenly want ice cream from Lumeria City.”
The moment she said it, Yura and Len bolted without hesitation.
Watching them, Ain muttered.
“Disgraces of Lumene’s faculty.”
Anna and Carlo couldn’t bring themselves to argue.
While Reina, delighted to be waited on by her juniors, turned her gaze to the magic display.
“That Walden boy is quite impressive.”
“If Leo didn’t exist, he would’ve been considered the strongest second-year. They don’t call him a monster for nothing.”
“I’ve heard of him—even after retiring from the field.”
As the lava surged around Walden, Reina nodded.
“But of course…”
Ain stared intently at the screen.
“Your son is more of a monster.”
At that, the entire audience gasped.
In the center of the lava sea—
Leo stood.
A beautiful [Phoenix] perched on his forearm.
—
Bubble— bubble—
The lava boiled.
And in the middle of it, Leo stood calmly.
‘It’s not working.’
Walden narrowed his eyes.
Leo stood in the molten sea without a single burn.
Seeing that, Walden chuckled.
‘Leo Plov.’
He flexed his large fingers.
Walden Thaiden.
He was born in Dolian, a desert nation in the southern continent known as the Land of Spirit Callers.
Born into the lower caste of Dolian—
But those with talent in Spirit Calling were privileged in Dolian, and Walden rose quickly in rank.
But as he rose, he also became a target.
Some even tried to kill him to keep him in check.
By the time he was 14 and summoned a high-ranking spirit,
The power holders in Dolian no longer saw him as a threat but as an essential figure for their nation’s future.
So Walden desired even greater power.
The reason was simple.
If you’re just strong, people are wary of you.
But if you’re the strongest, they revere you.
For Walden, who clawed his way to the top on his own, strength wasn’t just pride—it was survival.
When he first entered Lumene, he believed—just like always—that he would be the best.
But then…
‘Leo Plov appeared.’
Before he knew it, Leo had soared far beyond him.
Walden, who had never doubted his own strength, faced his first wall.
He had no choice but to admit—
The monster before him was superior.
Yet even so, Walden didn’t stop chasing the title of the strongest.
Fwoooosh—!
With Leo’s energy, [Piora] burned even brighter.
Walden felt Leo wrest control of the flame from him.
‘If someone else is the strongest—’
Fwoooosh!
A massive fireball aimed at Walden.
‘—then I will challenge that strength with everything I have.’
ROOOOOAR—!
Spiritual power surged from Walden’s body.
Leo’s eyes twitched at the sight.
RUMBLEEEEE—!
The ground shook.
BOOOOM—!
As if the earth was enraged, the crust split open.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!
The land itself roared.
A colossal [Earth Giant] swung its arm.
It grabbed Piora’s flame and crushed it.
BOOOOM—!
The ground trembled, and the flames scattered.
It was like witnessing a natural disaster.
–ROOOOOOOAR!
The earth beneath Walden rose.
The massive Earth Giant let out a sky-shaking roar.
Leo’s eyes widened.
This was completely unexpected.
“A Greater Spirit?”