LHAHS Chapter 326
Carl tensed as he watched Leo's expression fade.
Leo.
To Carl, Leo was the first friend he had made after entering Lumene.
Meeting you was an incredible stroke of luck for me.
Carl had barely scraped by to get into Lumene, but he had never expected to last long there. He knew his own limits all too well. His school life had always been a series of struggles. On the surface, he acted carefree and sly, but he was painfully aware of the gap between himself and the other students.
And through it all, Leo had always been there. The class representative, the unprecedented All-Class student, and the youngest student council president in Lumene's history. Carl had watched Leo constantly stand in the spotlight, but more than anyone, he knew the truth.
Leo, who seemed to have no limits in the eyes of others, was always pushing himself past his own. Endlessly striving, relentlessly moving forward—Leo's determination had a profound impact on Carl.
Because he had watched Leo so closely, Carl understood one thing.
Defeating Leo isn't impossible.
Positioned in the rear, Carl took a deep breath and looked at Leo. Memories of battling the fragment of Erebos that had recreated the Hero of Dawn, Kyle, in the world of Dweno resurfaced in his mind.
"Ready to feel the difference?"
Abad, wearing his usual gentle smile, raised his staff.
"Sorry, Leo, but that difference… we already know it all too well."
RUMBLE—!
As Abad swung his staff, the ground trembled.
RUMBLE—!
Rocks buried beneath the earth rose into the air. It wasn't telekinesis—he was using wind magic to lift them.
BUZZ—!
A magic circle formed in the sky. Abad's unique spell, Tempest, had been activated.
WHOOOSH—!
The gathered rocks fused into a massive stone pillar. Accompanied by a violent gale, it surged toward Leo.
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled outward from the point of impact.
CRACK!
Flames surged around the shattered stone pillar.
CRACKLE!
The boulders crumbled into fist-sized fragments, swirling around Leo.
Leo glanced at Abad and smiled. "I don't need these, so I'll return them."
FWOOSH—!
The flaming rock shards shot toward Abad.
WHOOSH!
At that moment, Eliza, riding her summoned Wind Wyvern, swiftly carried Abad into the sky.
Leo narrowed his eyes as he watched.
I see. So he's going to focus purely on offense as a backline dealer.
The greatest strength of a versatile mage was adaptability. Like Chelsea, they could fight as a battle mage on the front lines, or like Chloe, they could bombard enemies from the rear. They could also switch between roles, supporting different positions as needed.
They were nearly all-purpose, but each still had a preference.
Abad leans toward the traditional caster archetype, like Chloe.
The strength of traditional mages lay in their overwhelming firepower. Their biggest weakness, however, was mobility. To compensate for that weakness, Eliza was supporting Abad.
Of course, she's not just supporting him.
Leo turned his gaze toward Chelsea and Walden, who stood before him. Both of them bore the blessings of summoned beasts.
Earlier, when they had hastily formed a team to face Leo, the situation had been different. Now, they had reached a clear conclusion—Leo was an enemy they had to defeat together. And this time, they had prepared accordingly.
The difference between being prepared and unprepared was vast.
Leo's aura wrapped around his arm.
"What is he doing?" Carl muttered in confusion, and Walden answered.
"It's elemental summoning."
"Everyone, be careful! If he's using elemental summoning of that caliber, something huge is coming!"
At Carl's shout, everyone tensed.
Leo gathered the blue-tinged energy at his fingertips and struck the ground. A brilliant light flared—then vanished into the earth.
"……"
"……"
Chelsea, who had been watching warily, turned to Carl with a deflated expression.
"Nothing happened."
"He summoned something," Walden said, narrowing his eyes.
"What did he summon?"
"No idea. But we should take down Leo Plov as fast as possible."
Walden clad himself in Elemental Armor. A flaming elemental wrapped around him like armor. Seeing that, Chelsea gripped her staff tightly and released the spell she had been preparing.
"Heatstorm."
A powerful gust of wind began to swirl around Chelsea.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
Chelsea's unique spell.
Like Chloe's Frozen Domain, it was a field-type magic. The key difference was that Chloe's spell froze everything in a wide area, both attacking enemies with sheer cold and restricting their movements to create a battlefield advantageous to allies.
However, Chelsea's Heatstorm was different. It had little direct offensive power. Even so, Chelsea shot forward at high speed toward Leo.
Leo summoned Lancea and swung it. With its long reach, he aimed to keep Chelsea at bay.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Chelsea's movements changed unpredictably. Like a fish gliding effortlessly through water, she avoided his strike in an unnatural motion.
"Wind Blade." A razor-sharp wind formed at the tip of Chelsea's staff.
Clang!
Her wind-forged blade clashed against Leo's flame-coated spear.
Leo reached out to grab Chelsea.
Whoosh!
Once again, she evaded with an astonishingly fluid motion. When Leo tried to chase after her, strong winds rose to obstruct him.
Heatstorm greatly enhanced Chelsea's close combat capabilities. And that wasn't all.
Leo looked up. Eliza, controlling the air currents with her Wind Wyvern and elemental summoning, dictated the flow of the battlefield. A perfectly constructed advantage.
"Even for you, Leo, breaking through this coordination won't be easy!" Chelsea shouted triumphantly.
Roar!
Walden appeared right in front of Leo and threw a punch.
Boom!
Leo caught Walden's fist with his palm.
His foot sank deep into the ground from the impact.
Thud!
Leo retaliated with a swift kick to Walden's stomach.
Whoosh! Boom!
Walden was sent flying and crashed into the ground.
Rumble—
Brushing off the dust, he cracked his neck a few times.
Crack! Crack!
"You alright?" Carl asked with a weary expression.
Walden shot him a sidelong glance. "Don't worry about me. Focus on commanding. Your predictions are spot on."
"…Got it." Carl turned his gaze back to Leo.
The front line is definitely our biggest weakness.
Chelsea, a battle mage, excelled in frontline combat. Walden's Elemental Armor enhanced his close-range strikes to a terrifying level. But compared to specialists like Celia or Duran, who could fully hold the front, they were still at a disadvantage.
Right now, they were barely managing to hold Leo down. If either of them made a single mistake and fell, the entire frontline would collapse.
And then, Eliza and Abad would immediately become Leo's targets.
Or he could come for me instead. No… even if it's just Chelsea—if she goes down to Leo, it's over.
Harmony's King, Chelsea. For her to be engaging Leo on the front lines was an incredibly dangerous move.
Carl hastily placed a hand to his ear.
Buzz!
A communication spell activated.
"Chelsea! Walden! Leo is about to use magic! Fall back!"
Boom!
An explosion erupted around Leo as Carl's warning rang out.
"Abad! Now!"
Riding atop his Wind Wyvern, Abad raised his staff.
Whoooosh!
"Cutter Storm."
As the spell was unleashed, a massive whirlwind formed and rushed toward Leo.
Screeeeech!
A chilling sound resonated from within the storm. Layer upon layer of razor-sharp wind blades spun violently within, making it a storm that was, in essence, a gigantic blade itself.
Fwoosh!
Abad's Cutter Storm engulfed Leo.
"That's impressive."
"As long as the wind is on our side, Chelsea and I can become even stronger," Abad said with a grin, winking at Eliza.
Eliza scoffed.
Boom!
"…!"
With a deafening blast, Cutter Storm was obliterated.
"…Not even a scratch?" Abad muttered with a bitter smile.
"You're doing great! Leo's biggest weakness is his limited mana pool! If we drag this out, we can win!" Carl's voice echoed through the communication spell.
"Hah. Carl, that's your problem."
Eliza scoffed, pulling back on her Wind Wyvern's reins. "We swallowed our pride and joined forces for this."
She let out a low growl. "And now you want to stall for time and win like that? I don't care for some unsatisfying victory. Even if we lose, I won't be satisfied unless we take on Leo Plov's strength head-on."
Carl smirked. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."
Rumble!
A pillar of fire erupted from Leo's body.
Fwoosh!
Carl broke out in a cold sweat.
"He's coming."
Whoooosh!
Flames surged like a storm.
Chelsea recoiled in alarm, and Walden stepped in as her shield.
"ROOOAR!" A deafening roar erupted from Leo's mouth.
"Guh?!"
"Eek?!"
The sound made Walden instinctively flinch and step back, while Chelsea trembled for a moment.
"Howling?" Abad muttered in disbelief. "Is there anything that man can't do?"
"More than you think."
"…!"
A voice answered from above Eliza's head.
Fwoosh!
"I can't do everything, you know."
In the instant they were frozen by his Howling, Leo had closed the distance at an incredible speed and unleashed a kick.
The fiery aura shimmering around his foot caught both Abad and Eliza's attention.
Boom!
At that moment, Walden shot forward and blocked Leo's kick with his arms.
Whoosh! Boom!*
Unable to withstand the impact, Walden was sent crashing into the ground.
Fwoosh!
Leo adjusted his grip on Lancea.
"Now that I think about it, both of you lost to Lancea and got eliminated before, didn't you?"
"…Yeah, and I hate that spear."
Screech!
The Wind Wyvern let out a sharp cry and opened its jaws wide. A Wind Breath attack surged toward Leo.
The moment the two widened the distance between them…
Flap, flap, flap!
Dozens of small birds rushed toward Leo, their wings beating furiously.
Clang!
Their sharp beaks, as pointed as awls, seemed ready to pierce through him.
"Reflection."
Leo deployed a shield spell.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
In an instant, the birds' beaks struck against the barrier.
"…Wind sparrows?"
They were familiars created through magic, resembling sparrows. However, wind sparrows had nearly no offensive power.
Leo turned his head.
Chelsea stood there.
"They're my familiars." She smirked. "My Heatstorm spell empowers them."
The wind sparrows flocked around Chelsea.
"Don't worry, Leo Plov. We won't drag this fight out."
Walden flared his elemental energy. "We'll take you down with our full strength."
Abad chanted several spells simultaneously.
Impressive.
Even after encountering an overwhelming gap, they didn't hesitate to charge forward. They understood the difference in power, yet they still threw themselves into the fight, determined to claim victory.
They didn't fear advancing. They squeezed out every ounce of strength and thrust their blades forward.
"Even if you stall for time, it doesn't really matter."
Leo smiled and raised his palm. "Because I'll win before that happens."
His hand swung downward.
…Even for Leo, handling both Phoenix and Fairy magic at the same time is difficult. He can dominate in bursts, but he can't sustain it for long. Now that we know about the Fairy, we have ways to counter it.
Carl was deep in thought.
Rumble!
Just as Carl felt a creeping sense of unease, the ground trembled.
Whoooosh!
A strange sound filled the air.
…Waves?
Realizing what it was, Carl turned his head in alarm. His jaw dropped.
"Wait… no way…"
His voice came out in a whisper, as if in disbelief. Then, he let out a wail of despair.
"This is way too much!"
CRAAAAASH!
A massive tidal wave engulfed the battlefield.