In the audience, Nella, who had been watching the match through the magic screen, clicked her tongue, and Iliana shuddered.
The students of the Summoning Department, who had been worn out by Warden, were nothing more than easy prey for Leo.
"Great! Good job! Big Brother Leo! Crush them all!"
"Go! Leo! How much money did I bet on you!"
Chelsea, who had been the most furious at the group lynching, was jumping around, and Kal, who had bet on Leo hoping for an upset, was enthusiastically cheering while spinning his school jacket in his hand.
"Nella."
"Yes, Professor Halind."
"Call Kal Thomas to me immediately. I need to see who told him to treat his school uniform like that."
At Professor Halind's cold summons, Nella approached Kal.
As the students of Class 5 burst into laughter watching Kal being scolded by his homeroom teacher, it was then that—
- Ah! The leading group finally sees Warden and Eliza face off!
The magic screen suddenly focused on the leading group.
As the intense battle between the ace summoners began, cheers erupted from the audience.
***
Eliza, who had been flying at high speed, quickly turned in mid-air upon confirming the small flame that appeared before her eyes.
Whoosh-!
The flame, which had suddenly burned fiercely, quickly contracted and then BOOM-! erupted into a massive explosion.
Seeing this, Eliza frowned.
'An explosion attack using fire and wind elementals.'
The principle was simple.
Create a powerful flame using fire elementals.
Compress the flame using wind elementals to prevent it from spreading in all directions.
The compressed flame became even more powerful, and when its power reached its maximum, it was released.
It also required considerable skill to give two commands to elementals of the same attribute.
However, Warden was giving simultaneous commands to elementals of different attributes, one to intensify the power and the other to control it.
'This isn't just a skill that can be done by being proficient in handling elementals. I haven't heard of him taking magic classes, either.'
The principle behind this explosion wasn't just about the pure power of elementals.
It was using the principles of magic incantations to control the elementals.
Eliza chuckled.
'Indeed, he deserves to be called a monster.'
However, Eliza wasn't to be underestimated either.
As a direct descendant of a summoning hero family, she had come in second in the Northern Exam, narrowly missing the top spot by a hair's breadth to Chloe.
While Warden's elemental control was incredible, Eliza also handled her griffin with near-miraculous movements.
Unlike other students who were hit directly by Warden's attacks, Eliza was evading them without much difficulty.
"No matter how strong the attack, it's meaningless if you don't hit!"
At Eliza's shout, Warden smiled coldly.
"Let's see if you can dodge this."
Numerous water droplets began to form around Warden, then turned into sharp spikes and were launched at Eliza.
Eliza snorted and summoned her mana.
Squeal!
Eliza's single griffin roared, and its body began to grow to 1.5 times its original size.
Seeing this, Warden's eyes twitched.
'Enhanced summon?'
The griffin, which had inhaled deeply, unleashed a breath attack.
The intense wind breath blew away all of Warden's attacks.
'So, he made the griffin use a breath attack? Impressive.'
Griffins don't naturally use breath attacks.
Yet, he manipulated the summon to mimic such an ability.
The ability to draw out the summon's potential beyond its limits.
This was a testament to her exceptional talent as a summoner.
As everyone marveled at the intense battle between the ace summoners, it was then that—
"Here I come!"
Chen Xia, who had been at the back, quickly rode her griffin and charged to the front.
Chen Xia, who had been looking for an opportunity from the rear after dodging Warden's attack earlier, was now making her move.
Seeing Chen Xia aiming for the fish in troubled waters, Eliza smiled.
"I can't allow that."
Whirl!
"Huh?"
Eliza pulled out a whip from her robes and swung it.
The incredibly long whip, which was about 10 meters long, moved like a living snake and wrapped around Chen Xia's neck.
At the same time, flames began to gather in front of Chen Xia.
Chen Xia quickly pushed her griffin down with all her strength.
Whoosh!
The griffin, pushed by Chen Xia, quickly descended.
Chen Xia used the momentum to escape the explosion range and tore the whip with her strength.
The griffin, which had narrowly avoided the explosion, flew over to catch the falling Chen Xia.
"Phew! Cough! This is too much, Miss Eliza."
Even in the midst of the intense battle, Eliza didn't give her a chance to advance.
It was then that—
Whoosh!
A massive flapping sound was heard.
Chen Xia's eyes widened.
"Black Wyvern?"
"Damn it!"
A rough curse was heard.
Turning her head, she saw Sen Liu, who she thought had been eliminated, riding a small black wyvern and catching up from the rear.
"Liu! Riding a summon other than a griffin is a foul!"
"Shut up! Do you even know that! I kept it hidden as my trump card! Warden! Eliza! Chen Xia! I'll crush all three of you at once! Get ready!"
Roar!
The black wyvern Sen Liu was riding roared.
"How did that idiot manage to contract with a Black Wyvern?"
"That's not a Black Wyvern, it's probably a variant wyvern."
Warden looked puzzled, and Eliza narrowed her eyes.
As the black wyvern exhaled a black breath,
Squeal!
A distant roar of a griffin was heard.
Whoosh!
Leo, who had flown in at an incredible speed, joined the leading group.
"Master Leo!"
Chen Xia waved at him with a smile.
Leo, who had lightly waved back, noticed Liu and his eyes twitched.
"Ha! I don't know how you managed to catch up, but it's good! Leo Frob! You're going down with the rest of them... Hey."
Leo spoke in a low, gravelly voice.
The atmosphere around him became oppressive in an instant.
"Where did you get that lizard?"
Leo's red eyes glinted fiercely.
What Sen Liu was riding wasn't a wyvern.
It wasn't even a summon.
'Fafnir.'
One of the ancient beasts from Tartarus, which the great heroes had eradicated during the Age of Catastrophe.
"What?"
Sen Liu flinched at Leo's intense gaze.
"I asked where you got that lizard."
"This is my summon! Jealous that I contracted with a good summon?"
"Summon?"
Leo's face twisted.
It was absurd to call the beast, which the Tartarus beastmasters handled, a summon.
Leo looked around.
The other students also didn't show any particular emotion beyond caution.
They clearly thought the black wyvern was a summon.
'Sure, we didn't learn about Fafnir in our summoning classes.'
Fafnir was one of the main beasts of Tartarus during the Age of Catastrophe.
That's why Kail and his companions had deliberately hunted down these beasts.
'Thanks to that, they were nearly extinct by the end of the Age of Catastrophe.'
If they had completely disappeared, it wouldn't be strange for people in this era to be unaware of Fafnir.
'But if that's the case, there's one strange point.'
Leo's expression hardened.
'Why would a beast that went extinct long ago reappear now?'
While Leo was deep in thought, Sen Liu looked smug.
"Hmph! You're surprised to see me with a high-level summon, aren't you!"
"Liu. No matter how impressive your summon is, you've already been eliminated. Step back. If you keep pushing, it won't end with just a scolding."
"Shut up! A competition with restrictions? That's ridiculous! I have the skills to sweep you all away! I'll prove it now!"
Roar!
Fafnir opened its mouth and unleashed a flame breath, charging forward.
"You really have no sense of your place."
Eliza mocked Liu.
"Shut up! You, born into a good family, have no right to talk!"
Grinding his teeth, he changed his target to Eliza.
Fafnir was a beast with speed and strength surpassing a griffin.
However, Liu's skill in handling Fafnir was lacking.
Seeing Eliza dodge Fafnir with near-miraculous movements, Leo clicked his tongue.
'He's just being controlled by the beast.'
Not only was he unable to control Fafnir, but he was also being influenced by the beast's power, affecting his judgment.
At that moment, Chen Xia, who had jumped from her griffin, landed on Fafnir's tail.
Fafnir thrashed its tail nervously, but Chen Xia didn't fall off.
Instead, she stabilized herself and charged at Liu.
Liu's face turned pale as Chen Xia, enveloped in blue aura, charged at him.
"Huh?"
Trying to respond, but Liu couldn't handle Chen Xia in close combat.