At those words, Lunia and Eiran drew in their breaths.
Skeleton King.
One of the strongest undead that a necromancer can control.
"R, running away...!"
Seeing Eiran's pale face, Leo shook his head.
"No. It's better not to."
"Like Eiran said, we should retreat now! This isn't the time to be stubborn!"
Even if they were the best of the first-year students at Lumern and Seirun, they were no match for the Skeleton King.
Lunia and Eiran's opinions were entirely reasonable.
"Running away recklessly would be even more dangerous."
Leo looked over at Cargor and Lauta.
"They won't just let us retreat peacefully."
Lunia gritted her teeth, and Eiran's face showed fear.
Indeed, fleeing with the top-tier undead, the Skeleton King, at their backs was a dangerous choice.
"Then what do we do?"
"What else."
Leo stepped forward.
"We have to take it down."
Lunia's eyes widened at Leo's matter-of-fact tone.
"Impossible!"
"It might be impossible under normal circumstances, but..."
Leo smiled, looking at the Skeleton King.
"This Skeleton King wasn't summoned through normal means."
"What?"
"Lauta made a contract with the Hell Kaiser through death and gained power. It seems she combined that power with the curse of the dead spread here to summon the Skeleton King."
Leo gripped his sword.
"She barely met the conditions for summoning. This Skeleton King won't last long."
The most basic condition for summoning.
It was the spiritual energy needed to maintain the summoned entity.
Since necromancers' summoning also fell under this category, it was natural that the summoning would be canceled if the spiritual energy ran out.
"If that's the case, we just need to hold out until the magic power maintaining the Skeleton King runs out!"
"But there's not just the Skeleton King over there. There's Lauta and the Death Knight too. Can we really hold out?"
"We have to try. Lunia, you take on Lauta. Eiran, deal with the Death Knight."
"Huh?"
"Are you planning to face the Skeleton King alone?"
Leo nodded, looking at the two shocked girls.
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking."
Lunia shouted, seeing Leo's casual attitude.
"Rash!"
"Even if it's rash, it's the only way right now. Trust me. If the Skeleton King is a top-tier undead..."
Leo took something out from his pocket.
Pee-yak?
"I have the strongest familiar on my side."
Lunia clenched her teeth at his words.
'Sure, this is the only way right now...'
Lunia took a deep breath.
"You! If you die, I won't let it go."
"Haha."
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"Well, I've heard the same thing before."
Leo messed up Lunia's hair, making her flustered, and grinned.
"Don't worry. I won't let a mere skeleton skull do anything to me."
***
"Hahaha! Power! Overflowing power!"
Lauta shouted, unable to control the surging power.
"Skeleton King! Destroy the barrier in front of you right now!"