Chapter 41
Chen Xia and Eliza’s eyes widened.
“That’s strange. I’ve never heard of a beast like that.”
“That’s right. There are no beast species of the wyvern type.”
Eliza chimed in after Walden Thaiden spoke.
“It’s definitely a beast. It’s a beast that went extinct in the Age of Calamity at the hands of the Great Heroes. I don’t know why it’s appeared in this era.”
Fwoooosh—!
Fafnir breathed out its breath attack.
Leo dodged the attack easily and spoke.
“And that doesn’t look normal, does it?”
“It certainly… resembles the side effects when contracting with a beast.”
Eliza stroked her chin.
“Then we’ll need a strategy. Out of all of us, I’m the most knowledgeable when it comes to dual spirit beasts.”
Eliza puffed out her chest as she spoke.
“Are you telling us to follow your orders?”
“I wasn’t planning to say it like that, but to get to the point, yes, that’s about right.”
“How ridiculous.”
Walden Thaiden gave a cold laugh and charged at Ryu alone on his griffin.
Fwoosh! Boom—!
A fierce explosion attack using spirits went off.
Eliza clicked her tongue as she watched.
“As expected, you can’t reason with that guy. At least you two, please follow my lead.”
Chen Xia scratched his cheek.
“I agree that Miss Eliza knows the most about spirit beasts among us. But Young Master Leo seems to know a lot about that beast, so I think it would be best to follow his lead.”
“Hmph, even if he knows something about the beast, I can give better commands…”
“This isn’t about commands or whatever. It’s obvious we won’t be able to coordinate properly like this.”
Leo grabbed the reins of his griffin.
“Just link up according to the situation.”
“Wait! Are you saying we should just rush in recklessly? I can’t let you take command! As a direct descendant of the Hergin family…!”
Fwoosh—!
Before Eliza could finish, Leo charged straight at Fafnir.
Chen Xia gave an apologetic smile and followed after him.
Left alone, Eliza’s shoulders trembled.
“I’m a direct descendant of the Hergin family! Don’t ignore me!”
With a glare, Eliza also spurred her griffin forward.
Fwoosh! Boom!
A powerful explosion engulfed Fafnir.
As the smoke cleared, Fafnir emerged unharmed.
“Haha… hahaha! Amazing! My spirit beast really is amazing!”
Ryu, who had turned pale, let out a joyful laugh.
“This is it! With this, I can be number one in summoning… no, even become the class representative! Yes! I’m the best! I always have been! There’s no way I’m not the best!”
As Ryu burst out in crazed laughter, clenching his fists, Walden Thaiden clicked his tongue.
“He’s definitely lost it.”
“Seems like you’re struggling?”
Walden Thaiden sneered at Leo, who had flown over.
Gooooooo—!
A huge mass of earth started to gather behind Walden Thaiden.
Leo’s eyes widened.
‘Golem magic ritual?’
An artificial giant puppet created through magic.
By combining that spell with the spirit of earth, a giant spirit golem was created.
‘This guy’s a monster too.’
While Leo was admiring it,
Ryu’s face turned pale at the sight of the giant earth golem.
Whoosh—!
With a massive noise, the earth golem swung its arm through the air.
“D-dodge! I said dodge!”
Ryu, horrified by the overwhelming force, gave frantic orders.
But Fafnir didn’t listen.
Kuaaaaaaaaaaa!
Instead, it let out a savage roar.
Just as the earth golem’s arm was about to strike Fafnir, it scattered and fell to the ground.
Walden Thaiden’s eyes twitched.
“Fear?”
It was a technique that momentarily disrupted the flow of mana by releasing a powerful aura.
The griffins trembled in fear.
‘That Fafnir is just a hatchling. Fear is a technique only adults can use!’
Leo scowled.
‘It’s impossible that Ryu could draw out its potential with his own abilities, so how is this happening?’
Peep! Peep!
Just then, Fiora, who was in Leo’s inside pocket, chirped irritably.
Grrr!
Suddenly, Fafnir’s murderous eyes locked onto Leo.
Kyaaaaaa!
It opened its jaws wide and charged at Leo.
Leo calmed his terrified griffin and soared into the sky.
Walden Thaiden triggered a spirit explosion.
Boom! Boom!
Even after taking a direct hit, Fafnir didn’t change its target.
As if it bore a grudge, it chased Leo madly.
‘Did it sense the energy of the Phoenix?’
Phoenixes and beasts have opposing attributes.
Drawn by that power, Fafnir showed intense hostility.
“Leo Plov! Prepare yourself!”
‘Looks like the summoner’s obsession is having an effect too.’
Leo glanced back.
The distance was closing rapidly.
‘If it’s only after me, this might actually be easy to end.’
Leo tightened his grip on the reins as Fiora continued to chirp irritably in his pocket.
Flap—!
Kyaaaaak!
The griffin let out a fierce roar and accelerated with powerful wingbeats.
Kyaaaaaaak!
Fafnir screeched and pursued Leo.
“Wait! Young Master Leo! If you go off alone…!”
“What kind of spirit beast blessing does he have! And why’s he going alone! This is when we should fight together!”
Chen Xia and Eliza, who tried to join up, panicked.
Leo and Ryu disappeared from view at incredible speed.
—
-Ah! What is happening! Ryu has suddenly violated the rules…!
-Hey! You idiot! This is no time for commentary!
Yura ran up to the flustered commentator Runba, kicked him, and snatched away the microphone.
-Summoning assistants! Prepare your flying spirit beasts now! This is an emergency! The match is suspended!
She shouted.
As the students buzzed, professors gathered around Yura.
“What’s going on, Yura?”
As Sedgen frowned and asked, Yura urgently replied,
“Whatever’s happening, I’m certain Sen Ryu has made a contract with a demonic beast!”
“What?”
The professors’ expressions changed instantly.
“Doesn’t anyone else think this is strange? Sen Ryu isn’t the type of student to cause this kind of trouble!”
Yura said, pulling a crystal orb from her pocket.
The public magic display was off, but the video was still streaming through the magic orb Yura held.
At Yura’s words, the homeroom teacher of Class 3 spoke in a serious tone.
“He did show signs of inferiority as the semester went on… but that’s the same for other students. It never reached this level of seriousness.”
All new students at the Human Hero Academy feel some inferiority at the beginning of the semester.
They were always the best as children, but at Lumene, they can’t avoid meeting students better than themselves.
Some accept this and work harder, others deny it and grit their teeth.
There are all kinds of students, and Sen Ryu was in the latter category.
But as Yura said, he wasn’t the type to go this far.
“Anger management issues, loss of reason, and so on. The behaviors Ryu is showing are classic symptoms of contracting with a demonic beast.”
The professors’ faces stiffened immediately.
“But for a demonic beast to have that much influence on the summoner, it would have to be a high-tier demonic beast, wouldn’t it?”
At Harrid Edmond’s question, Sera, who had been staring at the screen, spoke cautiously.
“Is it possible that the mutated wyvern Ryu is riding is actually a demonic beast?”
“…!”
“…!”
The professors flinched.
“No way…”
“Then wouldn’t that mean it’s an undiscovered new demonic beast?”
Watching the agitated professors, Yura spoke up.
“For now, the important thing is that we have to stop Ryu…”
Just then, the screen showed Ryu starting to chase after Leo.
“Wait! Hey! Leo! It’s dangerous to go alone! Hurry, switch the screen back!”
Yura panicked as she saw Leo disappearing at an incredible speed.
The professor of magic, looking flustered, took the orb from Yura and tried to operate it.
“It seems they’ve gone beyond the range of the magic.”
“Aaaargh! Seriously!”
Yura summoned her black wyvern with a burst of Spirit Power.
“Assistants! Move out! Find Leo and Ryu right now!”
“Yes!”
—
Leo flew at tremendous speed, sharpening his senses.
‘I’m out of the range of the video magic.’
Escaping the range of the magic had not been a coincidence.
It was entirely Leo’s intention.
“Fiora.”
Peep?
“It’s your time to shine.”
Leo took out his contracted beast from his pocket and smiled as he activated both Aura and Spirit Power.
Fwoosh—!
Fiora’s feathers began to burn.
Fwoooosh—!
The feathers on Fiora, perched on Leo’s palm, stood on end one by one.
Fiora spread her wings and looked around, seemingly bewildered by the changes to her body.
Soon, Fiora’s body began to swell.
Fwoosh!
Fiora’s feathers blazed even fiercer and quickly grew to a size as large as Leo’s torso.
“Now you look more like a Phoenix.”
At Leo’s words, Fiora lifted her head and perched elegantly on his arm.
Fiora had shed her appearance as a little red chick and become a beautiful firebird.
She couldn’t be called an adult Phoenix yet, but she radiated a force incomparable to before.
Kyareuk?
Fafnir, who had been brimming with murderous intent, also looked stunned.
“Fly!”
At Leo’s command, Fiora flapped her wings and soared high into the sky.
Kwaaaaaak—!
Fiora shot upwards, leaving a trail of flames across the sky.
Peep! Peep!
Apparently delighted with her new form, Fiora chirped joyfully.
‘She still chirps like a chick.’
While Leo chuckled,
Fiora, soaring high, spread her wings wide and dove.
Fwoosh!
Even fiercer flames surged from Fiora’s body.
Drawing out a spirit beast’s latent power is the summoner’s ability.
But Leo possessed one more special ability.
He could strengthen spirit beasts with Aura.
Spirit beasts are beings that possess Spirit Power.
Thus, they cannot accept Aura.
But Kyle made it possible.
‘I was a jack-of-all-trades, but I never had the ability to reach the ultimate peak.’
Kyle was outclassed by Arron and Dweno in Aura.
He couldn’t match Luna in magic, or Lysinas in summoning.
So Leo chose fusion of abilities.
Aura and Magic Power.
Magic Power and Spirit Power.
Spirit Power and Aura.
If he couldn’t reach the ultimate, he had to at least approximate it.
Ending the Age of Calamity required that at all costs.
Yet everyone, even his companions, said it was impossible.
‘They said the moment you lose the pure form of Mana, the powers can’t be combined.’
But after endless attempts, he succeeded, and Kyle joined his companions as a Great Hero and saved the world.
Goooo—!
Aura gathered on Fiora’s wings.
Fiora’s eyes widened, and she flapped even more excitedly.
“Ugh! What is that bird!”
Ryu shouted in frustration.
“Get rid of it!”
Kyaaaaak!
Fafnir shrieked.
Fiora rammed into Fafnir’s body.
Boom—!
“Guh?”
Fafnir was knocked away and crashed powerlessly to the ground.
Ryu, too, seemed to faint on impact, eyes rolling back as he fell to the ground.
“……”
Leo watched Fiora fly back to him with a dazed expression.
“What the? Why is she so strong?”
By drawing out Fiora’s latent power with Spirit Power and strengthening her with Aura, he had given her more than enough power to defeat the still-young Fafnir.
But Fiora’s power just now far surpassed Leo’s expectations.
As he stood there surprised, Leo noticed his own Aura within Fiora burning even fiercer.
Leo looked at his palm.
‘The Aura I’ve learned now is the Zerdinger Aura Technique. And the Zerdinger Aura Technique originates from the Phoenix.’
A strange light flickered in Leo’s eyes.
‘If the Phoenix’s flames fused and strengthened each other?’
This was an effect Leo hadn’t even anticipated.
‘Does this mean there’s still room to refine and strengthen it?’
As Leo’s lips curled upward—
Flash—!
Fafnir’s eyes, which had been unconscious, flashed open.
Then, carrying Ryu on its back, it flew toward Leo.
Leo’s face hardened as he met Fafnir’s eyes.
“You… what are you?”
