Chapter 407
That evening.
After finishing his classes for the day, Leo returned to his dorm room.
Five Summoned Beasts were gathered around the circular table in the middle of the room, each holding two cards as they played a game.
-Hmph. It seems I has won this round.
Kirran made a smug face and shoved the pile of candy and chocolate next to him forward like chips.
“Don’t make me laugh, you stupid fairy.”
Fiora scoffed and called Kirran’s bet.
As sparks flew between the two, the other Summoned Beasts folded early and watched.
Soon, five cards were laid out on the table, and it was time to reveal hands.
“Full house.”
-Hahaha! Four of a kind! You fat chick!
With a boisterous laugh, Kirran reached for the pile of candy and chocolate.
Just as Fiora, who had lost a week’s worth of snacks in an instant, was about to cry—
“Hey, Fairy Prince.”
The Great Spirit of Light, Laurel, glared at Kirran with murderous eyes.
-What do you want?
“Are you cheating with magic?”
CRASH—!
-Gyaaaaaaah?!
Laurel stomped on Kirran’s hand, then snatched up the cards.
“I’ll bet everything I have that you swapped the cards with illusion magic. What will you bet?”
The moment Laurel touched Kirran’s cards, the numbers changed.
Fiora’s eyes turned vicious.
“Chop off his wrist! Chop off his wrist!”
Watching Fiora scream in excitement, Elci let out a deep sigh.
“Miss Fiora, you shouldn’t say such harsh things.”
“Chopping it off is too much, but twisting it… haah… just thinking about it is thrilling… keuk—!”
Instead of stopping her, Arti was spouting nonsense from the side. Elci glared at her and drove a small fist into her ribs.
Hit in the side, Arti rolled across the floor, moaning, “Ah-heut!” as she writhed in painful pleasure.
Watching the scene, Leo’s expression turned complicated.
‘If other summoners saw this, they’d burst into tears, wouldn’t they?’
And they would definitely curse this cruel reality.
From Leo’s perspective, he still couldn’t get used to this side of his Summoned Beasts.
Five thousand years ago, the Flame Emperor, Katariu, Lysinas’s Oathbound, and the other Great Spirits, including Luminous, were all dignified beings.
Silload, Luna’s Oathbound and the Fairy Prince at the time, was young, but not as boisterous as Kirran.
And the Great Spirit of Light hadn’t been twisted and harsh like this, either.
‘Could it be my fault?’
He wondered if he’d had a major influence on how his Summoned Beasts turned out, but quickly shook his head.
‘Albus was an incredibly noble Pegasus. She wasn’t a pervert like Arti.’
At least he had one normal Oathbound: Elci.
Elci was practically in charge of keeping the others from running wild.
In the end—
‘Summoned Beasts these days are weird, not me.’
Drawing a clear line, Leo walked over to the group as they punished Kirran.
Kirran, caught red-handed after his little trick, was twitching on the floor when Leo reached out.
He grabbed both of Kirran’s wings like he was catching a dragonfly, lifted him up, and asked,
“Who was running this illegal gambling den?”
“The stupid fairy.”
Fiora pointed at the unconscious Kirran without a second of hesitation.
Leo clicked his tongue, casually tossed Kirran onto the desk, and said,
“I hate to say this, but you’re my Summoned Beasts, you know?”
The Summoned Beasts stared at him blankly.
“How about maintaining a little dignity?”
“A phoenix as elegant and polite as me is very rare.”
Fiora puffed out her chest and spoke with a prim face.
Arti glanced at her.
“You didn’t look elegant at all when you were so fat you were rolling around.”
At those words, Fiora grabbed Arti by the hair and started yanking.
“Ah-heut!”
Arti moaned in pleasure at the attack.
Leo let out a long sigh.
Since it was already publicly known that Leo was the Oathbound of three great Summoned Beasts, the Summoning Department had been constantly requesting to study them.
But Leo couldn’t grant that request.
‘How pitiful would it be if I showed them this and shattered their fantasies?’
It was Leo’s Oathbound who were abnormal, not the great Summoned Beast bloodlines themselves.
He didn’t want to crush the dreams of those budding sprouts.
While his Summoned Beasts continued their chaos, Leo said,
“Anyway, get ready to go out.”
“Ready to go out?”
Elci tilted her head.
“Yeah. I have something to test. We’re going to Familiar Island.”
“But it’s past curfew. We’re not supposed to go to Familiar Island at this time.”
Familiar Island was within Lumene’s territory, but strictly speaking, it was outside the school.
Even if Leo was the student council president, leaving school after curfew was still a violation.
In the first place, the student council president entering Familiar Island without permission was a problem in itself.
At Elci’s words, Leo replied,
“It’s fine. We’ll just sneak in.”
“Shouldn’t the student council president be setting an example?”
Laurel narrowed her eyes.
“I should.”
“But you’re going to break the rules?”
Fiora narrowed her eyes along with Laurel.
“It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.”
At Leo’s nonchalant answer, Laurel sighed, her face saying it couldn’t be helped.
Fiora blinked, clearly unable to accept it.
“Do you think that makes any sense?”
“Of course it doesn’t.”
“Then why aren’t you protesting anymore? My mother said the Great Spirit of Light is a being that protects the justice and order of this world.”
“Yup. But I’m old enough now, and I’ve learned to compromise with reality.”
Laurel patted Fiora’s head and started getting ready to leave.
After thinking over Laurel’s words, Fiora nodded.
“So, in the end, it’s not a crime if you don’t get caught?”
“Absolutely not.”
Unable to watch any longer, Elci could only let out a deep sigh.
—
Waiting for Leo when he arrived at Familiar Island was Mel.
“Welcome, Leo-nim. All preparations are complete.”
At Mel’s words, Kirran tilted his head.
-What preparations are complete?
“I have something to experiment with.”
The place Leo had come to was a vast clearing in the heart of Familiar Island.
It was deep inside—somewhere students rarely visited, and even faculty hardly ever approached.
At the word “experiment,” Leo’s Summoned Beasts looked intrigued.
“Arti.”
At Leo’s call, Arti’s eyes widened.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to experiment on me, Master? Is it, by any chance, something painful?”
Arti asked with eyes full of anticipation. Leo looked at her and said,
“Well, I can’t promise anything.”
At that, Arti looked disappointed.
Leo shook his head at the sight.
“Just manifest in your true form.”
“Yes.”
Arti returned to her Pegasus form.
Leo climbed onto her back.
Mel immediately cast her magic, raising a barrier so that even if powerful energy was used, it wouldn’t be detected from outside.
When Leo pulled the reins, Arti shot into the sky at tremendous speed.
Bzzzzzzzzzt—!
Divine Lightning swirled around Arti’s body.
-What are you trying to test?
“One of the rewards I got from clearing the Hero Record this time.”
-A clear reward?
The moment Arti looked puzzled—
Bzzzt—!
-…?
Arti, who had been flying through the sky using Leo’s Spirit Energy, suddenly flinched at the aura within it.
-This is…?
It was the power of a Pegasus.
Stronger and purer than any Pegasus she had ever felt.
Pure white Divine Lightning wrapped around Arti’s entire body.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt—
-Agggggggggggh?!
As if she’d been electrocuted, Arti’s body trembled violently inside the storm of Divine Lightning.
At the same time, her power began to amplify.
Leo immediately withdrew his Spirit Energy.
Tssssssss—!
Smoke rose from Arti’s body.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Leo asked cautiously.
The power he had just used was the Essence of Lightning he’d obtained as a clear reward.
It was an essence that contained the power of Albus—the last White King of the Pegasi, and Leo’s former Oathbound.
That essence itself had been infused into Leo’s Spirit Energy.
At first, Leo had tried to draw out the power of a Pegasus through the Essence of Lightning, but it hadn’t responded to his will.
After repeated tests, he learned that it reacted to Arti’s Contract Seal.
‘To be precise, it reacted to the Pegasus I have a contract with.’
No matter how much Leo possessed the Essence of Lightning, he wasn’t a Pegasus.
The Essence of Lightning was a power passed down through generations of Pegasi.
A human like Leo couldn’t use it in the first place.
‘So I figured it might be possible to recreate the power of the White King through a contracted Pegasus… and it looks like I was right.’
The problem was that even among Pegasi, not just anyone could accept the White King’s power.
It was a power permitted only to a chosen, noble being.
Arti was certainly powerful and had lived for a long time, but it still seemed too much for her to take the Essence of Lightning as-is.
“Are you okay?”
-Wh-what is this?
“It’s the Essence of Lightning.”
-The Essence of Lightning… the king’s power that vanished long ago.
Arti’s voice trembled.
Five thousand years ago, the king’s power—after the bloodline broke—had survived only as legend.
Now it had returned.
As a Pegasus, Arti was moved by that fact alone.
“A Pegasus contracted with me can use the White King’s power… but the backlash is severe.”
-It is. It was pain on a level I’ve never experienced before.
“If we push any further, it’ll be too much strain, so we should stop here…”
-It was the best!
“…”
-To use the power of the great White King and feel such thrilling pain on top of it. Ahh. It’s the best.
Leo looked up at the sky.
‘I was a fool to worry.’
Bzzzzzzzzzt!
-Kya-heung~
As Leo used the Essence of Lightning, Arti let out a happy scream.
A short while later, after pushing Arti to her limits, Leo descended back to the ground.
“I’m so happy.”
Arti muttered as she lay sprawled on the ground.
Watching her, Mel approached.
“Have you found Arti-ssi’s limits?”
“Yes. It’ll be a great help in future battles.”
Mel smiled brightly at Leo’s answer.
“I think it’s a great fortune that Arti-ssi became your Oathbound, Leo-nim.”
“Why?”
“Because no other Pegasus could have endured the Essence of Lightning like Arti-ssi.”
It was certainly a power that no one but a pervert who found pleasure in pain could use.
Arti lay collapsed on the ground, twitching as she smiled blissfully.
Elci covered Fiora’s eyes.
“You shouldn’t look at things like that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s harmful.”
Watching them, Leo let out a deep sigh.
“She’d cry if she saw this.”
“Who would?”
“My old Oathbound.”
Leo thought of Albus.
She would have wailed that her pure power had been defiled.