The short-haired woman did not look pleased to see Arpina. Until now, all she could remember was running away from Arpina in every encounter.

Even though they were both high-level mystics, there was a clear difference in their skill levels.

But Arpina wasn't pleased either. She had rushed over after receiving a signal that Ria was in danger, even while leading a group of other mystic-level magicians. The longer the situation dragged on, the more it would work against her.

To be honest, it was the worst possible scenario.

Facing the mystic-level dark magician, Arpina learned that Lydra had been killed and that their route to Meira had been completely exposed.

In such a situation, if she wanted to save herself, she could have fled alone.

But how could she leave Ria behind and escape alone?

‘I need to finish this quickly and get out.’

Just as she thought that, the short-haired woman suddenly changed her expression and let out a coquettish laugh.

“What a pity... Now it seems you’re the one being chased.”

Arpina immediately understood why she said that.

Someone was approaching rapidly, creating a ripping sound through the air.

“Puhaha! Rabella, you look terrified, facing your nemesis!”

“Shut up, Rodrick!”

A man with long black hair, riding a silver broomstick, landed beside the short-haired woman. He carefully stroked the broomstick before letting it float behind him.

Arpina bit her lip. She might have been able to handle Rabella on her own, but Rodrick was the real problem. He was someone she couldn't be sure of defeating even in a one-on-one fight.

At this point, there were only two choices left.

Fight and die, or try to hold them off so Leon and Ria could escape and then die herself.

Arpina didn’t think long.

She glanced at Leon. Her eyes signaled him to take Ria and run.

Leon, holding Ria, flapped his golden wings, lifting them into the air.

“How touching, sacrificing yourself for your student?”

“Students.”

“Huh?”

Rodrick tilted his head, creating a crow in his palm while Rabella opened her fan wide.

“Let’s see how desperately you’ll fight for your escaping student.”

Ignoring the provocation, Arpina summoned all her familiars.

Six colorful summoned creatures appeared around her: a firebird, a wind cloud, a blue fish, a brown golem, an electric wolf, and a deer with flowers blooming from its horns. Each had a different elemental attribute.

The tension grew, making it clear that a battle could break out at any moment.

“Go, now!”

To her frustration, Leon was still hovering behind Arpina instead of fleeing.

Unable to contain her irritation, Arpina shouted and raised her hand. The familiars around her charged forward.

Rabella swung her fan, and Rodrick split his crows.

Leon quietly murmured, “Kito.”

In that instant, something shot past Arpina. A long, slender bird flew at lightning speed, its beak wide open as it swallowed Rabella whole. From Rabella’s perspective, she had been focused solely on Arpina and was caught off guard by the sudden attack.

“Kyaaah!”

Rabella’s scream echoed from inside the bird’s mouth as the complex flow of magical energy swirled within.

After a moment, Rabella’s voice faded, and smoke began to seep out from between the bird’s sharp teeth. The smoke continued to billow out.

Rodrick and Arpina stared at the scene in a daze.

“A monster… bird?”

Rodrick quickly regained his senses and retreated, followed by the crows that had been swarming around him.

“Ugh.”

Kito opened its mouth and expelled the smoke in one breath before soaring into the sky. It then transformed into a small, humanoid figure enveloped in light.

The female figure with gray wings lay down lazily above Leon’s head, as if completely unfazed by having just devoured a person.

“Keep your promise...”

Kito spoke in a drowsy voice. Leon nodded.

“I’ll find it within a month.”

Left alone, Rodrick chuckled as he looked at Kito, now asleep above Leon’s head.

“So, you’ve decided to cling to a human after losing your entire clan? And…”

Rodrick’s gaze shifted to Leon.

“You’re the one who interfered with our plans? Just a mere beginner-level magician…?”

Rodrick’s voice trailed off as he realized how odd his words sounded.

“How old are you?”

Ignoring Rodrick’s question, Leon called out to Arpina while placing Ria and Kito behind her.

“Arpina, sir.”

Arpina, who was equally surprised, snapped back to attention at Leon’s words and began gathering her magical energy.

Rodrick, too, ran his hand through his hair, stretching his lips into a wide grin.

“Oh… A fearless kid. I like that. You’ve got that look, like you think you can actually do something even as a mere beginner-level magician. That’s pretty charming.”

He knew that the strange bird wouldn’t be able to exert any more power. It was obvious to anyone.

“Not that Rabella was of much use anyway…”

Before Rodrick could finish his sentence, a giant firebird came swooping down at him.

He quickly placed his hand on the broomstick and shot into the air.

The small crows left behind clashed with the firebird and exploded.

“Too slow.”

Rodrick chuckled as he ignored the crows. Above his head, black energy swirled and began to inflate like a balloon, forming a giant crow about three meters tall.

The giant crow then split into dozens of mid-sized crows.

This time, the flock of crows charged at Arpina’s familiars.

Fire spewed from the firebird’s mouth.

As the flames touched the crows, they exploded.

But within those explosions, the smaller crows split into dozens and flew towards the firebird again.

Boom, boom—

Small explosions occurred every time they hit the firebird’s body.

Each of Arpina’s familiars faced the same situation.

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky towards Rodrick, who was hovering in the air, but he easily dodged it.

A troubled expression appeared on Leon’s face. He had already expended a significant amount of his magical power while fighting the five beginner-level magicians earlier. Although he had some magic reserved for flight, it wasn’t enough to continuously perform multi-casting.

“I told you to run.”

“Let’s escape together.”

Leon asked Arpina, “If I can distract the crows... can you take him down?”

“It’s possible, but forget about trying to sacrifice yourself. Ria wouldn’t forgive me if you did.”

“I’m not going to sacrifice myself. I said we’re escaping together.”

With that, Leon flew towards Rodrick.

“Huh?”

Rodrick’s eyes widened in surprise as the beginner-level magician charged straight at him. He wasn’t shocked, just genuinely puzzled.

“Did you decide to die on your own? What a waste.”

Leon could roughly gauge the power of the crows.

The small crows had the strength of a beginner-level magician. The mid-sized crows were equivalent to a low-level mystic. Naturally, the giant crows would contain the power of a high-level mystic.

Leon’s Guardian Robe could withstand up to low-level mystic spells.

There were now 10 defense spell formations left on the Guardian Robe.

This meant Leon could withstand 10 attacks from the mid-sized crows.

‘The small crows…’

Leon pulled out the dozens of D-rank scrolls he had been collecting from his subspace.

Seeing this, Rodrick’s expression became even more puzzled.

“It’s really a waste to kill you. Can’t you just stay out of this fight, kid? I’ll play with you later.”

“...”

Rodrick’s gesture of licking his lips with his tongue was utterly disgusting. Leon’s face twisted in revulsion, and he couldn’t help but retort.

“Bring it on, loser.”

“Hmm...”

Rodrick’s expression didn’t change.

Maybe that wasn’t the right approach. Leon spoke again.

“You’re too ugly for me to want to play with you.”

“...Die.”

With a cold, hard expression, Rodrick sent a mid-sized crow flying at Leon from his palm.

Leon accelerated using the Golden Wings and charged straight at the crow.

Boom—

The Guardian Robe’s barrier surrounded Leon as he pierced through the smoke, heading directly for Rodrick.

The flock of small crows split and followed behind Leon.

Leon scattered the D-rank scrolls behind him.

The small crows collided with the scroll magic and exploded in succession.

Leon, now close to Rodrick, swung his wooden sword.

Rodrick easily dodged.

Leon hadn’t expected to hit him.

“There’s nothing more annoying than an ugly guy acting like he’s handsome.”

Leon whispered as he used the acceleration again, flying past Rodrick.

“Crazy brat…”

This time, ten mid-sized crows emerged and charged at Leon.

Even while doing this, Rodrick kept an eye on Arpina’s familiars.

Leon intentionally flew towards one of the mid-sized crows.

With another explosion, one of the Guardian Robe’s protective spell formations vanished.

Leon realized he needed to draw more attention and immediately used a Blink Scroll.

However, using Blink was too easy for a mystic-level magician to track.

A mid-sized crow was already flying towards the spot where Leon reappeared.

Boom—

Another protective spell formation activated on the Guardian Robe.

Now, only seven remained.

Rodrick noticed that the barrier around Leon didn’t disappear after just one hit.

Black energy began to gather above Rodrick’s head. He was preparing to summon a giant crow.

Having thrown all the remaining D-rank scrolls to block the small crows, Leon quickly hurled his wooden sword.

“Pierce.”

Rodrick casually blocked the incoming wooden sword with a barrier spell created through multi-casting.

It was then that he realized the sword had an unusual power.

While Rodrick was in the middle of his spell calculations, he frowned. The wooden sword was interfering with his calculations.

But the consciousness of a mystic magician was strong. Such interference wasn’t enough to cancel the spell.

As the wooden sword was repelled, Rodrick sent the now-completed giant crow hurtling towards Leon.

The crow closed in on Leon in an instant.

If it hit, no barrier would save him—it would be instant death.

Leon clutched his orb.

The moment Leon vanished, the giant crow passed through the spot where he had been.

Rodrick initially thought Leon had used another Blink spell and tried to read the flow of magic, but found nothing.

Only then did he realize that the kid hadn’t just charged in recklessly.

Leon reappeared in reality, looking at Rodrick.

“You’re too slow.”

With all traces of humor gone, Rodrick mounted his broomstick.

Seeing this, Leon’s eyes lit up.

“Now!”

Leon used the last acceleration of the Golden Wings. Still, it wasn’t enough to outrun the speed of the silver broomstick.

Before Rodrick could grab him, Leon clutched the orb.

Leon vanished once again.

“What…?”

Rodrick couldn’t comprehend the magic he had just witnessed.

At that moment, he felt a massive flow of magic from below.

While Leon had been drawing attention, Arpina had dealt with the remaining crows and was now preparing a grand spell.

A large magic circle formed in front of Arpina’s outstretched palm. The colorful sphere of light growing within it was proof that he wouldn’t survive if it exploded.

It looked almost complete.

It was a fleeting moment, but it wasn’t a situation so desperate that Rodrick would give up on life.

After all, he had the A-rank silver broomstick.

Just as Rodrick hurriedly tried to escape on the broomstick, Leon reappeared, grabbing onto the broom alongside him.

Rodrick’s consciousness flickered.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a vast open field. The air was thick with mana, and in the distance, he could see a forest filled with trees. It was as if this area alone had been artificially cleared of trees.

Of course, Arpina’s grand spell was nowhere to be seen.

His reason for fleeing had vanished in an instant.

“???”

As he stared at Leon, who was still holding onto the broomstick, question marks filled Rodrick’s mind.

His consciousness flickered again.

When he opened his eyes, he was back where Arpina had been preparing her grand spell.

Confusion reigned for a moment, but then the sphere of light created by Arpina exploded.

Only Leon disappeared from the scene.

Flash—

A powerful explosion consumed the space where Rodrick had been.

Boom—

Even though the explosion was directed into the air, it shook the entire forest.

Moments later, as the aftershocks of the explosion subsided, Arpina gasped for breath.

“Haa… Haa…”

The forest before her was gone.

The once-dense woods had been entirely obliterated, leaving a massive crater where faint heat still rose from the scorched earth.

“...He must have escaped, right?”

Having seen Leon disappear and reappear in an instant, Arpina had felt secure enough to use the grand spell. Still, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. The timing had been incredibly close.

After gathering Ria and the small gray-winged woman, who had been sleeping, Arpina began to walk.

She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Leon popped out of thin air.

“Phew…”

Arpina let out a sigh of relief.

“You…”

There were many things she wanted to say, but somehow, the words wouldn’t come.

“I owe you…”

In the end, that was all she could manage. Leon, looking surprised, widened his eyes before giving a bitter smile.

“You did everything, Arpina.”

“I would’ve died without you.”

Arpina remembered the boy from two years ago, who had confidently promised her a powerful ally. As things stood, he had indeed become a formidable ally for her.

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Arpina put on a serious expression.

Not everything was over yet.

“Are you heading to Meira?” Leon asked.

Arpina shook her head.

“Unfortunately, Widia has no hope. I’m taking Ria to the Derkantia Empire. There’s someone there I can rely on.”

Then Arpina added, “You should come with us.”