“Leo is surprisingly persistent.”
“It’s fortunate we’re in the same class.”
As Nella watched the match on the magical screen from the audience, she clicked her tongue disapprovingly, causing Iliana to shudder.
Students from the Summoning Department, fatigued from Warden’s challenges, were easy targets for Leo.
“Great job, Leo! Defeat them all!”
“Go, Leo! Do you know how much money I’ve wagered on you?”
Chelsea, who had been the most furious during the group altercation, was hopping with excitement. Karl, who had bet on Leo with hopes of a comeback, passionately cheered while twirling his school jacket.
“Nella.”
“Yes, Professor Hallind.”
“Fetch Karl Thomas for me immediately. I guess I’ll have to listen to who told he could treat school uniform like that..”
At Professor Hallind’s stern summons, Nella approached Karl.
Laughter erupted from the students in Class 5 as Karl was reprimanded by his homeroom teacher.
“Ah! The leading group now has Warden and Eliza facing off!”
The magical screen suddenly focused on the leading group.
Cheers erupted from the audience as the ace summoners engaged in their intense battle.
Swiftly soaring through the sky, Eliza quickly changed direction in mid-air after spotting a small flame emerging in front of her.
Whoosh!
The fiercely burning flame rapidly contracted and then exploded into a massive fireball.
Observing this, Eliza furrowed her brow.
‘An explosive attack utilizing the spirits of fire and wind.’
The principle was straightforward.
Generate a potent flame with the fire spirit.
Constrain the fire’s power by compressing it with the wind spirit.
The compressed flame became even more formidable, and then it was released at its peak strength.
Issuing two commands to spirits of the same attribute required considerable skill.
Yet Warden was simultaneously commanding spirits of different attributes, one to enhance the power and the other to control it.
‘I haven’t heard that he’s taking magic classes, so it’s not just a simple manipulation of spirits.’
The principle behind this explosion didn’t rely solely on the pure power of spirits; it utilized the principles of magic formulas.
Eliza chuckled.
‘He truly deserves to be called a monster.’
But Eliza wasn’t a pushover either.
Although she ranked second in the Northern exam as a direct descendant of a summoning-hero family, she had narrowly lost to the first-ranked Chloe.
Warden’s summoning was impressive, but so was Eliza’s control of her griffin.
Unlike other students who were directly hit by Warden’s attacks, Eliza effortlessly evaded them.
“Even the most powerful attack is meaningless if it misses!”
In response to Eliza’s proclamation, Warden coldly chuckled.
“Let’s see if you can dodge this.”
Numerous water droplets began to form around Warden.
Soon, they transformed into sharp spikes and were launched at Eliza.
Eliza snorted and activated her aura.
Screech!
Eliza’s griffin let out a resounding roar, and its body began to expand by one and a half times its original size.
Warden’s eyes twitched in response.
‘An augmented summon?’
The griffin took a deep breath and unleashed a powerful breath attack.
The forceful wind from the breath attack completely nullified Warden’s assault.
‘Impressive. She managed to get the griffin to employ a breath attack?’
Griffins aren’t inherently creatures known for their breath attacks.
Yet, she manipulated her summon to exhibit a similar ability, showcasing her exceptional skills as a summoner.
Everyone in attendance was astounded by the intense battle between these ace summoners.
“Take this!”
Chen Shia, who had been trailing behind, quickly surged forward, guiding her griffin.
Chen Shia, who had previously evaded Warden’s attack, had been waiting for an opportunity from behind.
Upon seeing her, Eliza smiled.
“I can’t allow that.”
Swoosh!
“Huh?”
Eliza produced a whip from her belongings and swung it.
The remarkably long whip, nearly 10 meters in length, moved like a living serpent and tightly coiled around Chen Shia’s neck with a snap.
Simultaneously, flames began to gather in front of Chen Shia.
Chen Shia hastily exerted force in her legs, forcefully pushing the griffin away.
With a swoosh, the griffin descended rapidly due to Chen Shia’s action.
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Shia tore off the whip and escaped the blast radius.
The griffin, narrowly avoiding the explosion, swooped in and caught Chen Shia as she fell through the air.
“Hooah! Come on, Eliza, this is too much.”
Even in the midst of the fierce battle, Chen Shia showed no signs of slowing down.
And then, it happened.
With a flap, the sound of massive wings resonated.
Chen Shia’s eyes widened.
“A black wyvern?”
“Craaaap!”
A coarse expletive escaped his lips.
Turning her head, she discovered Sen Liu, whom she had believed to be far behind, trailing on a small black wyvern.
“Liu! Riding a summon other than the griffin is cheating!”
“Shut up! Like I care! I saved this as my trump card! Warden! Eliza! Chen Shia! I’ll defeat all three of you at once! Crush them!”
The black wyvern let out a thunderous roar as Liu rode it.
“How did that fool form a contract with a black wyvern?”
“That doesn’t look like a regular black wyvern; it’s likely a mutated variant.”
Warden appeared puzzled while Eliza narrowed her eyes.
It was at that moment that the black wyvern began to exhale black flames.
In the distance, the roar of the griffin was heard.
At an astonishing speed, Leo burst into the leading group.
“Leo!”
Chen Shia waved at him with a grin.
Leo, who casually returned the wave to Chen Shia, fixed his gaze on Liu and narrowed his eyes.
“Ha! I don’t know how you managed to keep up, but this is interesting. Leo Plov, you’ll be defeated too…”
“Hey.”
Leo spoke in a low, restrained tone.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
“Where did you acquire that creature?”
Leo’s red eyes gleamed menacingly.
What Liu was riding wasn’t a wyvern.
Nor was it a familiar.
‘Fafnir.’
It was one of the ancient monsters tamed by the Tartaros during the age of calamity, long since eradicated by the great heroes.
“What?”
Liu flinched under Leo’s gaze.
“I asked where you obtained that creature.”
“This is my contracted familiar! Are you envious because I’ve contracted such a powerful one?”
“A familiar?”
Leo’s expression twisted in disbelief.
It was absurd to refer to a monster from Tartaros as a familiar.
Leo glanced around.
The other students appeared cautious but did not display any emotions beyond that.
They too seemed to regard Fafnir as a familiar.
‘Indeed, Fafnir was never mentioned in our summoning classes when we learned about demonic beasts.’
Fafnir had been a staple monster of Tartaros during the age of calamity.
As a result, Kyle and his comrades had actively exterminated these monsters.
‘That’s why they were nearly extinct by the end of the calamity.’
If they had completely vanished, it wouldn’t be surprising for people of this era to be unaware of Fafnir.
‘But there’s something odd about this.’
Leo’s expression hardened.
‘Why has a long-extinct monster resurfaced now?’
As Leo’s expression turned steely, Liu wore a smug grin.
“Heh! You’re taken aback to see me contracted with a high-ranking familiar!”
“Liu, step back. You’ve been disqualified from the competition. Persisting further will lead to more serious consequences.”
“Shut up! This competition with restrictions from the start is ludicrous! I have the power to defeat all of you! I’ll prove it now!”
With a screech, Fafnir opened its mouth wide and charged forward, spewing fire.
“The fool doesn’t even know his place,” Eliza taunted Liu.
“Shut up! You’re simply fortunate to be born into a good family!”
Gritting his teeth, he shifted his focus to Eliza.
Fafnir was a demonic beast with speed and strength surpassing that of the griffin.
However, Liu’s control over Fafnir was lacking.
Observing Eliza evade Fafnir’s attacks with almost supernatural agility, Leo clicked his tongue.
‘That’s pure submission to the creature.’
Not only could he not control Fafnir, but he was also being swayed by the overpowering demonic beast, rendering him incapable of making sound judgments.
At that moment, Chen Shia, who had leaped from the griffin, landed on Fafnir’s tail.
Fafnir twitched its tail nervously, but Chen Shia did not lose her balance.
Instead, she steadied herself and charged toward Liu.
Liu’s face paled as Chen Shia charged forward, surrounded by a blue aura.
“Gasp?”
He tried to respond, but there was no way Liu could handle Chen Shia in close combat.
Roar! Thud, thud, thud!
“Eh?”
Fafnir’s wing bent at an unusual angle.
Chen Shia, who had been charging, suddenly lost her balance while attempting to avoid the twisting wing and tumbled to the ground.
“Hahaha! How do you like that? The power of my summon!”
Watching Chen Shia’s fall, Liu appeared quite pleased with himself.
Shia’s griffin descended to retrieve its master.
“Where are you going!”
However, due to Liu’s interference, the griffin mistimed its descent.
Eliza descended to catch the falling Chen Shia, clicking her tongue in irritation.
Roar!
“……!”
But Leo, who had swiftly overtaken Eliza, caught up with Chen Shia in no time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed her in front of him.
“Thank you! Leo!”
“Don’t engage in reckless actions.”
Leo chuckled and began to ascend again.
‘How did he make that griffin so fast?’
Eliza, squinting her eyes, observed Leo’s figure closely.
“Leo Floooooooove!”
Liu vented his frustration.
‘He’s losing his composure because of the bond with the demonic beast.’
Leo, who had glanced at Liu, gently placed Chen Shia onto her griffin.
Warden and Eliza flew over to join them.
“You truly possess the skills worthy of a grade representative.”
Eliza narrowed her eyes in approval.
“You pretend not to have a summon contract, but you actually have a guardian skill from a higher-tier summon, don’t you?”
“Sharp eyes, huh?”
“You can’t fool me. I’m from the Hergin family. So, what summon have you formed a bond with? It seems to have a fire attribute, am I right?”
“That’s a secret.”
Leo placed his index finger to his lips and grinned.
In response to Leo’s gesture, Eliza chuckled.
“Well, regardless, Liu is commanding a high-tier summon. He may not be controlling it effectively, but their capabilities are significantly superior. So, we should collaborate.”
“That’s not a summon.”
“What did you say?”
“That’s a demonic beast.”
Cliche Novel 