Chapter 75
“Leo! What is that thing?!”
Lunia and Eiran hurriedly ran over to Leo.
“Skeleton King.”
At his answer, Lunia and Eiran gasped.
Skeleton King.
One of the most powerful undead a necromancer could control.
“W-we should run…!”
Eiran spoke, her face pale with fear, but Leo shook his head.
“No. That’s not the best idea.”
“Eiran’s right, now’s the time to retreat! This isn’t the time for stubbornness!”
No matter how strong they were as first-years from Lumene and Seiren, facing a Skeleton King was out of their league.
Lunia and Eiran’s reasoning was perfectly sound.
“If we try to escape recklessly, it’ll be even more dangerous.”
Leo looked toward Kargor and Rauta.
“They’re not about to just let us walk away.”
Lunia clenched her teeth, and Eiran looked terrified.
It was definitely dangerous to try escaping with the Skeleton King at their backs.
“So what do we do?”
“What do you think.”
Leo stepped forward.
“We take it down.”
Lunia’s eyes widened at how naturally Leo said it.
“That’s impossible!”
“It might be impossible under normal circumstances, but—”
Leo glanced at the Skeleton King, a smile curling on his lips.
“That Skeleton King wasn’t summoned by normal means.”
“What?”
“Rauta made a contract with Hell Kaiser through death and gained power. He combined that power with the force of the Curse of the Dead here and somehow managed to summon the Skeleton King.”
Leo gripped his sword.
“He only just barely met the conditions to summon it. That Skeleton King can’t be maintained for long.”
The most basic principle of summoning.
That is, having the spiritual power to maintain the summoned being.
Necromancy is also a type of summoning, so if the spiritual power runs out, the summoning ends.
“So we just have to hold out until the magic power sustaining the Skeleton King runs out!”
“But over there, it’s not just the Skeleton King—there’s also Rauta and the Death Knight. Can we really last?”
“We’ll have to try. Lunia, you take Rauta. Eiran, you handle the Death Knight.”
“What?”
“You’re planning to take on the Skeleton King alone?”
Lunia and Eiran stared at him in shock, but Leo nodded.
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
Lunia yelled, “That’s reckless!”
“Maybe, but it’s all we can do right now. Trust me. If that Skeleton King really is a top-tier undead—”
Leo pulled something from his pocket.
Chirp?
“I’ve got the strongest familiar on my side.”
At that, Lunia gritted her teeth.
‘Right now, this might really be the only way…’
She took a deep breath.
“If you die, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Pfft.”
“What? Why are you laughing?”
“No, I just heard that same line once before.”
Leo tousled Lunia’s hair and grinned.
“Don’t worry. I won’t die to some bag of bones like that.”
—
“Hahaha! Power! I’m overflowing with power!”
Unable to contain his rampaging strength, Rauta shouted.
“Skeleton King! Destroy the barrier right now!”
Uoooooo—!
At Rauta’s command, the Skeleton King slammed its massive hand to the ground.
Crash—!
With a gray flash, an ancient, massive sword appeared.
Goooooo—!
The Skeleton King raised its hand to swing the terrifyingly black aura-coated sword.
Whooosh—!
That alone whipped up a storm, sending snow flying in all directions.
“Amazing!”
Rauta, his eyes shining with excitement, spotted Leo.
“You! How dare you kill me!”
Rauta, eyes blazing, began chanting a spell.
Fwoosh—! Crash—!
Black flaming arrows shot at Leo’s back.
Crash! Boom—!
But a wall of crimson flames appeared, blocking the attack.
Rauta’s face twisted.
“Your opponent is me.”
Lunia stepped in front of Rauta.
“How dare you stand in the way of your senior?”
“Senior? Don’t make me laugh. You’re nothing but a traitor who disgraced Seiren’s name!”
Lunia’s eyes flashed with contempt, and Rauta’s expression changed.
“Seems you need to learn some respect for your seniors.”
Rauta summoned his staff and slammed it into the ground.
Thud—! Goooo—!
A magic circle formed on the ground.
At the same time, undead began to appear.
Seeing this, Lunia sneered and summoned her own spiritual power.
Fwoosh—!
A multitude of fiery familiars appeared.
The real battle between summoner and necromancer had begun.
“Heh—there’s nothing easier than dealing with a frightened enemy.”
Kargor, gripping his sword, let out a chilling laugh.
Eiran stepped back from Kargor, trembling.
“Ugh.”
The only reason Eiran had been able to be brave since entering the forest was because Leo and Lunia were with her.
But now, she had to face the Death Knight alone.
‘Can I do this?’
Eiran’s hand trembled.
Eiran hated fighting and wanted to run.
Backing away, she looked at Leo and Lunia.
‘If I can’t do this, Leo and Lunia will be in danger.’
Her anxious gaze gradually steadied.
Watching Leo fighting the Skeleton King with a smile, he looked like a hero from a story.
And Lunia, supporting him in her own way, looked more radiant than ever.
‘I never once thought about becoming a hero. But… but…’
A girl who loved hero stories entered Seiren just so she could watch those stories up close.
‘I can’t hold them back!’
Goooooo—!
Fighting spirit flared in Eiran’s eyes.
‘She’s changed?’
Seeing Eiran steady herself, Kargor’s face hardened.
Leo, charging toward the Skeleton King, smiled.
‘A grand dream doesn’t make you a hero.’
Aura flames wrapped around Leo’s body.
‘Sometimes, gathering little dreams one by one makes someone a great hero. Your personality is different, but in that way, you’re more like Velkia than anyone, Eiran.’
Eiran’s ancestor, Velkia, was the same.
Remembering the little elf girl who admired the footsteps of the great heroes, Leo clenched his fist.
“Fiora!”
Fiora’s body was wrapped in a powerful flaming Aura.
Fwoosh—!
Gwooooo—!
The Skeleton King let out a long, earth-shaking roar.
Hearing the sound, a black energy spread around Leo’s body.
“The Wail of the Dead.”
A curse used by undead.
Anyone alive who hears the wail suffers reduced defense, while the dead get increased attack power!
In this situation, it was the worst possible curse.
But Leo grinned.
“Fiora. Cry out!”
Cheeeeeeeep—!
Fiora’s clear, cute cry echoed through the forest.
The instant they heard it, a red energy enveloped Leo, Lunia, and Eiran.
The Phoenix’s power, the cry of the undying flame.
A blessing with the opposite effect of the undead’s Wail of the Dead.
“How long are you going to keep chirping?”
Leo laughed as he charged toward the barrier cast by the former Fairy King, aiming at the Skeleton King’s sword.
Fwoosh—!
Fiora, now a beautiful phoenix instead of a baby chick, gracefully landed on Leo’s sword.
‘Summoning—Manifestation.’
Fwoosh—!
Fiora transformed into flames and merged with Leo’s sword.
It was a technique that let a familiar or spirit dwell in one’s body or weapon to draw out its full power.
Fwoosh—!
Wings of flame formed at the tip of Leo’s sword, and a blade of fire appeared.
The blazing sword instantly grew as large as the Skeleton King’s sword.
Everyone stared at Leo in amazement.
Leo’s crimson eyes flashed as he swung at the Skeleton King’s blade.
KAAAAAANG! BOOM!
KAAAAANG!
Gwooooooo—!
With a thunderous crash, the Skeleton King’s arm was flung into the air.
Reeling from the impact, the Skeleton King collapsed.
Rumble! Boom—!
The giant fell, flattening several trees as it went down.
Leo used magic to hover in the air.
Fwoosh—!
Fiora slipped from the sword and elegantly landed atop Leo’s head.
[Wow! Leo, you can even use Manifestation?]
Watching, Kirran clicked his tongue.
Manifestation was a technique even veteran summoners found difficult.
[Not bad for a kid, huh?]
At Kirran’s comment, Fiora chirped proudly.
[Heh. That’s good enough to be my subordinate. From now on, you’ll be my— Ack! You brat! I’m not food!]
As Fiora’s beak caught his head, Kirran flailed.
“Enough fooling around.”
At Leo’s words, Fiora spat Kirran out.
Thud! Rumble!
The Skeleton King began to rise.
Leo’s attack had blown it back, but hadn’t done much damage.
Boom! Boom!
Risen, the Skeleton King set its sights on Leo.
Whoosh—! KAAAAANG!
The Skeleton King’s sword swung at incredible speed.
CRASH—!
Where Leo had stood was instantly obliterated.
The Skeleton King looked down the length of its sword.
Meeting the Skeleton King’s crimson glare, Leo pointed at it with his finger.
“Kirran.”
[Huh? Oh?]
Fwoosh—!
A soft silver light shone from Kirran’s body.
“Assist me.”
[Got it!]
A rune appeared at Leo’s fingertip.
It was none other than fairy magic.
“Luminance Ray!”
FLASH—!
A star magic circle formed at Leo’s fingertip, firing a powerful bolt of light.
BOOM—!
Gwooooooo—!
The Skeleton King shrieked as its right eye took a direct hit.
Fwoosh—!
As the Skeleton King swung its sword in a frenzy, Leo quickly disengaged.
‘That took a lot of mana.’
Leo sighed.
That spell was a high-level one he shouldn’t have been able to cast right now.
The only reason he could was because of Kirran’s help.
He’d drawn out Kirran’s latent power with spiritual energy.
Fairies were powerful spellcasters.
It was only thanks to Kirran’s support that he could perform magic computation that would normally be impossible.
‘If Kirran were at full power, I could have done it easily.’
The attack landed a solid blow, but Leo’s own mana was also overloaded.
Thud—
Leo landed on the ground.
Gwooooooo—!
The Skeleton King’s ruined eye regenerated.
‘The gap in strength is too big.’
Leo wiped cold sweat from his brow.
Even those two attacks were more than he should have been able to manage right now.
‘But I just need to buy time.’
Leo’s goal was only to hold back the Skeleton King.
He lowered his stance to brace for the next attack.
Swish—!
The Skeleton King raised its sword again.
‘No matter how powerful the undead, it can’t draw out its full strength without a real necromancer’s support.’
Undead are just like familiars.
Just as Leo couldn’t draw out Fiora’s full power right now, Rauta’s Skeleton King couldn’t use its full strength either.
‘As long as I can buy time…’
Vmmm—!
Suddenly, the Skeleton King’s sword glowed crimson.
Seeing that, something flashed through Leo’s mind.
At the same time, Leo instinctively swung his sword to the side.
Slash! Wham!
“…!”
Leo gasped at the pressure from the side.
As if space itself had shifted, the Skeleton King’s sword was suddenly at Leo’s flank.
Before he even realized it, Leo had instinctively blocked.
CRASH—!
Leo was blasted away from where he stood.