Chapter 317
“What?”
Abad, hearing the news through sorcery communication, paled.
“Leo showed up there? How many others besides Leo?”
–Leo is here alone! Emio’s already been defeated!
Upon hearing the communication, Abad lost himself deep in thought.
‘Why did Leo, who was supposed to be attacking other dormitories, show up at the back of our base?’
“What’s the probability that Carr Thomas’s information was wrong?”
Abad shook his head at Duran’s question, who was listening beside him.
“No, it can’t be. I’ve watched Carr gather information. His intel is always spot on.”
“Perhaps our plans were shared, in return…”
Duran’s eyes sharpened as he spoke.
Crackle-
As Duran drew his sword, an intense golden flash erupted.
Booooooooom-!
With a thunderous sound, the golden spark from the sword embroidered the sky.
Crackle-crackle-!
His lightning Aura, spread as tightly as a net, struck the flying ice canisters.
The intense heat from the lightning evaporated the ice shafts.
Noble’s boys admired the sight.
“As expected of Duran.”
“It’s the power of a field sorcery specialist.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Duran is so cool!”
Duran, standing surrounded by his lightning Aura, certainly looked impressive.
But his attack was not over.
Crackle-crackle-!
A golden tendril of Aura curled around Duran’s feet.
Using Aura step, Duran sped through the air with tremendous speed.
“Don’t you think it’s dangerous for a sorcerer to come to the front like this?”
Duran raised his sword and curled the corner of his mouth as he looked at the platinum-haired girl.
“Chloe.”
Flash-
Duran’s lightning Aura swirled.
Chloe’s blue eyes tracked the trajectory of Duran’s sword.
Crack-crack-crackle-!
The ice barrier unfolded instantly.
Duran’s eyes widened.
‘How did Chloe know that I would use this kind of sorcery? If she uses sorcery with so much defense, she must have a weakness I can exploit somewhere.’
He didn’t sense the movement of her mana at all.
‘Is this what the sorcery majors have been working on leading up to this battle?’
The moment he thought so.
Shi—-ing-!
Chloe’s mana fluctuated.
“Frost Nova.”
As soon as the order was completed, a cold icy wind swirled.
Just before Duran was swept away by the wind.
Whoooosh-!
Wind Wyvern took Duran by the arm and ascended into the sky.
Duran used the recoil to quickly board onto the Wind Wyvern’s back.
Crackle-crackle-!
Duran raised his hand.
‘A greatsword?’
Duran held a huge two-handed greatsword.
‘I thought the Knight Studies kids were supposed to be wielding Supporting weapons… but Duran has a greatsword.’
Though in the same sword category, a longsword and a two-handed greatsword were handled completely differently.
‘The difference between a two-handed greatsword is…’
Chloe concentrated her sorcery.
‘It has more destructive power than a longsword.’
Crackle-crackle-!
When Duran raised his two-handed greatsword, lightning struck the sword from the sky.
The waves of golden electricity swirled around him.
Chloe, seeing this, created a spell.
Whoooooooosh-!
Complex runes embroidered the air.
“Ice World.”
Crack-crack-crack-!
At the end of Chloe’s incantation, a chill of absolute zero surged toward Duran.
Whoosh-!
Duran grimaced and recalled his attack.
The other Noble students were also freaked out by Chloe’s sorcery sphere.
Along with him, sorcery students cast spells to fight back.
But before they could act, Chloe swiftly left the battlefield.
“She’s suddenly so intense.”
Abad clicked his tongue.
Abad opened his palms.
Then his own spell unfolded.
“Instant contract.”
As his spell was completed, a powerful wave of mana surged throughout the area.
“What kind of sorcery is this? It’s like contract sorcery.”
“It’s a contracting spell.”
“A contracting spell?”
“It’s a spell to make a wide-area contract with animals in the surrounding area.“
He created this spell for the Summoning Department’s task.
He had made a familiar using Magical Artificial Engineering as ordered by Len.
With the advice of Len and Tina, Abad modified the basic framework of that sorcery to work with a familiar to give that same effect to surrounding animals temporarily.
The sorcery allowed for control of hundreds of familiars at random, even without producing any.
Abad, the ideal all-rounder, could donate them a strong source of firepower from the back like Chloe while fighting from the front lines like Chelsea.
At first glance, it may seem like a typical all-rounder ability, but most all-round sorcerers were actually intermediate in each of their fields of study.
Abad had grown into the ideal all-round sorcerer, literally flawless, thanks to his overwhelming talent.
To gain the upper hand in battle, he considered it necessary to collect prior information.
What he created was the “instant contact” spell, which could artificially create a large-scale familiar contract.
‘I want that spell.’
Eliza’s eyes sparkled.
As a Summoning student, Eliza saw several ways to use this sorcery in her field.
Eliza’s expression turned into that of sheer fascination.
“…All the Glory kids are in their base now.”
The Noble students looked surprised at Abad’s words.
“Was Carr’s information wrong?”
“No. His information is correct, but Glory must have planned the operation anticipating the information leak.”
“Then where’s Leo Plov? He’s not defending his base?”
Eliza grimaced.
Abad responded, “Right now, Leo is the only Glory student fighting other dorm students outside.”
The Noble students’ eyes widened.
“Leo is hunting other students by himself? He’s to fend them off alone?”
Duran, who had returned, spoke when a Noble student asked in bewilderment.
“…Who can stop Leo Plov, except for the dorm leaders or the other top students?”
The Noble students opened their eyes wide.
“You guys seem to be mistaken, so take this opportunity to learn.”
Duran crackled with sparks.
“He is not just a person with talent in all three classes of combat.”
Eliza snorted, summoned her broom, and climbed aboard.
“He is a flawless monster who fully understands and uses the abilities of all three classes. If you come at him relying on numbers alone, you will be nothing but an offering. There is only one way to stop him.”
Crackle! Fwoosh-!
“Overwhelming strength!”
Duran leaped up as Eliza’s Wind Wyvern surged forward.
* * *
“Perhaps Carr saw through all our operations.”
Before the exam began.
Chloe gathered all the Glory students and said, “So, we’re all going to stay to defend our stronghold.”
Chloe glanced at Leo.
“So Leo, aim to get some points for taking down the other dorms’ kids,” Chloe said with a smile.
“Maybe the more you run around on your own, the more the other dorm kids will think you’re not our king. Of course, Walden, Duran, and Eliza will be after you.”
Chloe’s plan was only possible with trust.
“But you won’t be beaten by them.”
Pure trust in the strongest card they had.
Ching-! Flutter-!
Nella blocked Leo’s sword.
The other students didn’t even dare to try to stop Leo.
Those selected as a separate group were mainly middle-of-the-pack students with good mobility who could act stealthily.
Most of the top performers went straight to the Glory dormitory to attack its front with the dorm leaders.
Emio, one of the few powerful enough to respond to Leo’s attack, had been careless and already returned to the base after being declared defeated.
In other words, Nella was the only one who could somewhat stop Leo.
But even she was shocked.
“There’s no opening!”
“But we’re all in the same year…!”
None of the second-years doubted that Leo was the best in their grade.
However, few students realized the gap between Leo and ordinary students would be so vast.
It was a one-sided slaughter.
Even so, there was no time to find a gap in his performance.
Overwhelming strength.
The second-years shuddered at the feeling, identical to that of facing fourth and fifth-years.
“So this is… the youngest student council president,” a student muttered, swept away by Leo’s flame.
Ching-!
Nella clenched her teeth as she was pushed back by Leo’s flame.
“Is this the first time we’ve fought like this?”
“That’s right… in our first year, we were the class president and vice president. Even when we fought, it was just light sparring.”
Nella, answering with difficulty, raised her Aura.
Fwooosh-!
Leo’s flame struck Nella.
But Nella deliberately jumped through Leo’s flame.
Her Aura with healing properties restored the damage taken from Leo’s attack.
Leo, observing this, said, “That wasn’t a good choice.”
“What?”
Leo quickly responded to Nella’s attempt at a surprise attack.
Leo had faced countless attempts of suicide bombing in the past.
The more resilient the enemy, the more pronounced this characteristic.
As Leo prepared to finish off Nella…
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
The earth shook.
Leo jumped back and looked up at the sky.
“Arrived right on time.”
Leo smiled.
As he spoke, a figure descended from the sky.
Thump-
He landed on the ground and spoke.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, Leo Plov.”
Walden’s eyes flashed.
The first-year students, having finished their exam schedule, quickly made their way to their assigned seats.
Those who had settled into their seats by class displayed relieved expressions.
They had prepared as best they could for their first exams at Lumene.
Now, regardless of the outcomes, they enjoyed the sense of liberation that came with having their exams behind them.
Amidst this, the exam room was swiftly cleared, and a magical screen appeared for the audience.
Foreign guests in the audience gasped with excitement.
“We’ll be able to see our children in action up close!”
“It will bring honor to our family!”
The parents of the second-year students spoke eagerly.
A black-haired woman made her way through the crowd toward the front row.
Some people narrowed their eyes at her.
“Oh my, she came alone without any escorts.”
“She must be from an insignificant family.”
“If she’s late, she should sit in the back. What’s she doing here?”
Amid the gossip, a woman who appeared to be the mistress of a noble family passed by the black-haired woman, covering her mouth with a fan.
“The front row seats are not for just anyone. Only Lumene graduates can sit here.”
The black-haired woman smiled softly. “Yes, I know.”
“What did you say?”
The middle-aged woman blinked in surprise.
“…Senior Reina?”
A voice called out cautiously from behind.
Reina turned her head and smiled brightly at the face she hadn’t seen in decades.
“Len! It’s been a long time!”
“Senior Reina!”
Len approached Reina with a bright smile.
The people around her looked embarrassed by their earlier reactions.
“You should have come early to cheer on your son, Leo.”
“You know, he’s not the kind of child who would need my support. Even if I cheered him on, he isn’t the type to shape up in response.”
Reina smiled brightly.
Seeing Reina like that, Len beamed and began to escort her.
“Okay, let’s go. I have something important to discuss with you, Senior Reina, about Leo’s future.”
The parents around them, overhearing the conversation, looked shocked and quickly averted their gazes.
They couldn’t help but notice they were in the presence of the mother of Lumene’s youngest student council president, the unprecedented All-Class student.
Of course, Reina paid little attention to their reactions.
“Hey, Len. The audience is over there.”
“I need to speak with you in a quiet place, away from everyone else.”
“Are you really going to take a married woman to a secluded place right now?”
“It’s that important.”
Reina looked dumbfounded.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
Yura appeared from behind and playfully strangled Len.
“Oh my, it’s been a while, Yura.”
“It’s been a while, Senior Reina.”
Len struggled to shake off Yura’s arm.
“Let go of me with your gorilla arms! I, as a dedicated teacher, need to conduct a very important interview with Reina, the parent of my student!”
“…Try getting strangled by this gorilla arm, then!”
“You guys are still the same as always.”
Reina laughed and clapped her hands, as if she were accustomed to the fierce interaction between her two juniors.
The parents around her looked worried, anticipating a potential fight.
But Reina’s composure was a hallmark of Lumene graduates.
At that moment.
“…Reina Zerdinger?”
“Oh, my. Ain?”
Reina’s eyes lit up as she spotted her classmate, Ain.
“It’s been a long time!”
“…I just remembered something.”
Ain tried to leave without looking back.
“Hey! Are you going to ignore me? We haven’t seen each other in so long?”
“Let go.”
Ain, held back by Reina grasping his neck, broke out in a cold sweat.
Reina looked at Ain and said, “If you keep being so cold, I’ll tell your students what happened after our midterm exams.”
Ain glared at Reina, while Yura and Len, who had been busy fighting each other, stopped.
“…You really do earn the nickname ‘Witch of Fire,’ Reina Zerdinger.”
“It’s been a while since I heard that nickname.”
Reina smiled brightly at Ain, who let out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, Leo’s figure was zoomed in on the scoreboard.
Ain narrowed his eyes at Walden, who stood across from Leo.
“This is a significant match.”
