Book 1 Chapter 199

199

[Ah! Three riders are charging forward in unison! The one leading the pack is… Eiran! Second-ranked freshman at Seirun! It's Eiran Eisar! And right behind her, Duran Moira of Lumern and Elija Hergin are in hot pursuit!]

Eiran, her long silver hair streaming, was running at the very front.

Duran smirked as he followed Eiran, who ran like a gust of wind.

"A sword mage? You're quite fast on your feet."

*Crackles-*

Fierce sparks began to erupt from Duran's body.

Duran, clad in golden lightning, lowered his stance.

*Ffffff-*!

Duran closed the distance with Eiran at tremendous speed.

"Shall I show you my skills, Seirun's second-ranked?!"

*CRASH-!*

Duran drew his sword like lightning and threatened Eiran.

*WHOOSH-!*

"…!"

In an instant, Eiran leaped and dodged Duran's attack.

*Thud-!*

And as if there were ground in the air, she stepped on the air, straightened her posture, and widened the distance from Duran.

Seeing Eiran dodge his attack so easily, Duran smirked.

"Interesting."

It was clear at a glance.

The Seirun second-ranked before him was not a sword mage who focused on magic but one specialized in physical movement.

*Ffffff-*!

Fierce lightning auras swirled around Duran's body.

Driven by a competitive spirit, Duran raised his sword.

*Flash! Crackles-*!

Duran's sword became a lightning rod as a bolt of lightning struck it from the sky.

*Ffffff-*!

Duran, now enveloped in even fiercer lightning auras, put strength into his legs.

*CRASH!*

"Draw your sword! Eiran Eisar!"

Duran's terrifying sword strike targeted Eisar's back.

This time too, Eisar lightly bounced her body and evaded all of Duran's unpredictable sword strikes pouring from all directions.

Duran's eyes twitched.

While the first attack was a light probing, this attack had a rather complex pattern.

Yet, Eiran had dodged it like a ghost.

Moreover, she displayed such supernatural agility without even glancing at Duran.

"Heh. As expected of Seirun's second-ranked. Not to be underestimated!"

A spark ignited in Duran's eyes.

*WHOOSH-*!

"You're just going to push through with brute force again, aren't you?"

At that moment, Elija, who had been watching the situation from slightly behind, caught up to Duran on her wind wyvern.

The wind wyvern, covered in storms, nipped at Duran as if it were his owner, mocking him.

"A rude owner and a rude pet mount."

As Duran spoke in a cold voice, Elija's wind wyvern tried to hit Duran's head with its tail.

*WHACK-!*

Of course, Duran easily blocked the attack and said,

"Shall I peel off your hide?"

Duran's eyes gleamed.

But the wind wyvern merely snorted.

"I'd love to punish you for your rude words, but the Ruse match is more important right now, so I'll let it slide."

Elija drew a whip from her waist.

"Watch. I'll show you how to catch prey. Let's go! Pipi!"

Elija, with a smirk, pulled on the reins of her wind wyvern.

Watching the wind wyvern charge towards Eiran at tremendous speed, Duran muttered,

"I can never get used to that beast's name."

Elija, arrogant and haughty, had incredibly extravagant primary beasts.

Each and every one of them was powerful enough to shake the battlefield, but their names were too cute to get used to.

Regardless of Duran's sigh, Elija, who had quickly approached Eiran, said,

"Pipi, block that elf's path with a storm."

At her words, the wind wyvern soared into the sky at tremendous speed.

Then, it descended, accelerating, and crossed Eiran's path in an instant.

As it did, it whipped up a storm in front of Eiran.

*ROOOAR-!*

The wind wyvern's special ability, atmospheric manipulation, created an invisible wall of air blocking Eiran's path.

As Eiran's speed began to decrease, Elija smiled faintly and swung her whip.

*SWISH-! THWACK-!*

"Alright, caught… Eek?!"

Elija, who had been smiling triumphantly, almost lost her balance as Eiran, regaining her speed, broke through the storm and pulled her along.

Barely regaining her balance, Elija's face contorted in shock.

"What is it? Why isn't Pipi's storm working?"

"It's the Animus Armor."

"Wait! Where are you riding now?!"

Elija frowned, seeing Duran, who had somehow leaped up and was now on her back.

"This is the Ruse match. Isn't some cooperation natural?"

"Tch!"

"The Animus Armor. It's a powerful technique passed down through the Eisar family."

Hearing Duran's words, Elija narrowed her eyes.

"Fast mobility and strong defense. You're certainly a gifted individual specialized for this obstacle race."

"That's right. So, though I don't like it, Elija Hergin, I propose cooperation."

"Agreed."

Elija readily cooperated.

Honestly, she wanted to defeat Eiran alone, but this was the Ruse match, where personal feelings had to be set aside.

Despite being known rivals, the two, as representatives of their year, immediately chose to cooperate.

*WHOOSH-!*

As Elija unleashed her spirit energy, the wind wyvern's speed increased further.

*Crackles-*!

Duran unleashed his lightning aura.

In fact, if the two had wanted to, they could have overtaken Eiran.

However, the leading group now consisted of Eiran, Duran, and Elija, a 2:1 situation.

If the second-ranked Eiran were eliminated, the Ruse match would be clearly advantageous for Lumern.

*WHOOSH-*!

Elija, who had overtaken Eiran at a distance, ordered her wyvern to charge towards Eiran.

Meanwhile, Duran, having pushed his aura to the extreme, sent a lightning strike towards Eiran.

*THUMP-!*

Seeing that, Eiran lowered her head.

'Could she have given up already?'

It was when Duran and Elija looked on in confusion.

*FLASH-*!

An aura reminiscent of foliage enveloped Eiran's entire body.

Eiran covered her face with her arms and increased her speed, charging forward.

*Crackles-*!

*CRASH-!*

Lightning and storms engulfed Eiran's body.

However, Eiran broke through the attacks and ran past both of them.

A bold, head-on charge.

Duran and Elija's faces stiffened.

"Without even retaliating against our attacks…"

"She just ignored us and went on?"

The two watched Eiran's retreating figure as she sped away.

It seemed she had taken considerable damage from their powerful attacks, as her whole body was tattered.

However, Eiran pressed on without looking back.

The two, known for their bad tempers, always felt compelled to retaliate when attacked.

Therefore, Eiran's act of charging forward without looking back, despite facing threatening attacks, felt like she was looking down on them.

"Heh, as expected of Seirun's second-ranked. I heard she had a gentle personality, but she's quite arrogant."

Duran dismounted his wind wyvern and stretched his neck.

Elija habitually tidied her fingertips and muttered,

"If she won't look this way, I'll have to force her to."

"Elija Hergin. I don't need your help anymore. I'll defeat that guy."

"That's what I was about to say, Duran Moira."

The two, now furious, glared at each other.

Then, they shot off at tremendous speed.

"Stop there! Eiran Eisar!"

"Fight me for the honor of our school! Seirun's second-ranked!"

As the two chased after her with a chilling aura bordering on killing intent, Eiran let out a squeak.

The reason she didn't counterattack at all was very simple.

'Scary! Scary! Scary! Lumern students are too scary!'

The reason she had poured all her energy into the Animus Armor, using the family's secret technique, Evergreen, to defend against everything, and hadn't retaliated despite taking all the attacks, was because she was terrified.

In truth, she didn't want to be a rider.

She disliked being the center of attention and was afraid of being targeted by Lumern students.

It was a responsibility that was too great for her timid self.

But…

'Eiran! There's no one more suited to be a rider than you!'

'Ah, no! Student Council President! I'll just run away because I'm scared!'

'That's exactly it! I've never seen anyone who can run away as well as you!'

Student Council President Lienia, with a tearful face, gave a thumbs-up to Eiran and forcibly registered her.

So, Eiran vowed to run as much as possible without fighting other students during the matches.

However, Eiran's timid strategy backfired spectacularly, and she succeeded in provoking the two most aggressive students in Lumern's first year.

"Stop there!"

"Stop!"

"Eeeek!"

Eiran, with a face close to tears, ran away frantically.

Using the power of Evergreen, which granted infinite vitality, Eiran's body became tireless, and she ran without worrying about stamina distribution, like a herbivore being chased by a carnivore.

Seeing Eiran, who was just out of reach and dodged all attacks with incredible evasiveness, Duran and Elija became even more enraged.

"I'll eliminate her!"

"I won't let her get away if I catch her!"

"Eeeeek! I'm sorryyyyyyyyyy!"

Eiran cried for forgiveness, but the two couldn't hear her.

*RUMBLE-!*

At that moment, the ground surged before them.

The leading group of three stopped short.

*ROOOAR-!*

Seeing the monster emerging from the ground, the three's faces hardened.

"A Cyclops?"

***

*ROAR-!*

The Cyclops attack wasn't limited to the leading group.

The second-place group, where many students were positioned, was also attacked by Cyclopes.

Seeing that, Leo muttered,

"A Cyclops captured by Seirun?"

Leo's eyes caught the control devices around the Cyclopes' necks.

It seemed to be a monster captured by Seirun for research.

And fitting for an obstacle race, those monsters were being used as obstacles.

The appearance of top-tier monsters threw the students into momentary panic.

At that moment, Leo lunged.

*RUMBLE-! CRASH-!*

Fierce flames engulfed the spot where Leo had been.

"Hey, you punk! I told you to fight me!"

Seeing Lunia, whose red eyes were blazing, Leo chuckled.

"Sorry, but I refuse."

"I don't care if you refuse or not!"

Seeing Lunia's fiercely burning eyes, Leo pointed behind her.

"Be careful."

"Huh?"

The giant Cyclops's palm descended upon Lunia.

Seeing that, Lunia's eyes flashed.

*FLAME-! CRASH-!*

*ROOOAR-!*

With a single spell, the Cyclops's arm turned to ashes.

Without even looking at the writhing Cyclops in pain, Lunia said,

"Do you think these things will get in my way?"

Even as a top-tier monster, the Cyclops, whose strength was limited by restraints and without a monster tamer, was no great threat to Lunia.

Seeing Lunia scoff, Leo said calmly,

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

*FLAME-! CRASH-!*

Aure flames rained down on Lunia.

The clash of aura flames and magic flames sent intense flames swirling in all directions.

Celia stood before Leo, brushing her hair aside.

"I am your opponent, Lunia El Lundar."

Meeting the red eyes that were identical to hers, Lunia narrowed her eyes.

'Celia Schrödinger. First-ranked in Lumern Knight Department.'

In a sense, she was a direct descendant of a family that was a rival to the Lundar family, who wielded the same Phoenix power.

'I wanted to target the rider Leo first, but…'

Lunia glanced at Leo.

This made it difficult.

Moreover, the main obstacles had begun to activate.

Initially, Lunia, who had charged recklessly at Leo, quickly regained her composure.

'If I let Celia Schrödinger run wild, our side will suffer greater damage. It would be best to keep her firmly contained here.'

*FLAME-!*

Lunia conjured flames.

"Lundar, Schrödinger. It would be good to definitively decide who has the upper hand."

Celia smirked at Lunia's provocation.

"That would be for the best. Of course, I will win."

Leo stepped back as the two clashed.

Then, he surveyed his surroundings.

Everyone was busy with the activated obstacles and the mutual checks.

'Seirun students are not to be underestimated.'

In this second-place group, Seirun's advanced first-year students, whom he had seen during the school trip, were clearly visible.

They too had grown into much stronger individuals compared to their first semester.

*ROOOAR-!*

At that moment, another Cyclops emerged from the ground, piercing through the earth.

However, this one was different from the Cyclopes so far.

Although it wore restraints, its size was significantly larger than the other Cyclopes.

Its threatening appearance caused the surrounding students to flinch and retreat.

*THUD-! THUD-! THUD-!*

The Cyclops spotted Leo and charged at him.

Seeing that, Leo chuckled.

"Just in time. I wanted to try this out."

Leo reached out.

A spatial rift opened, and a longsword appeared.

It looked like an ordinary longsword.

However, this was a magic sword made of dragon bone.

*WHOOSH-!*

A magic array formed on Leo's sword.

The magic circuits drawn on the sword began to glow vividly.

The surrounding elf students flinched.

Leo, having activated the magic array, swung his sword.

*CRASH-!*

A giant streak of light, reminiscent of a comet, shot out from the sword, forming a tail and soaring into the sky.

Seeing that, the Seirun students wore expressions of shock.

"No way… Rampas…?"

"That's the Star Magic learned in the third year!"

Leaving the stunned Seirun students behind, Leo walked forward.

*THUD-!*

The Cyclops's massive body crashed to the ground.

*Step- step-!*

Leo looked down at his sword, leaving the Cyclops behind.

*Kiiiiiiing-!*

The sword vibrated slightly.

It was due to the overload from withstanding the complex magic array.

Looking down at it, Leo chuckled.

"Hmm. Not bad."