Seth had already won. At least, that was what his posture said. But in his mind, it was a turmoil. The death energy the skeleton emited alone was already a huge problem, not just for his summon, but also for himself. That thing was bound to cause serious mana poisoning the longer he was exposed to it.
"This is actually happening." someone in the stands muttered. "Leon Carter in the ring."
"I almost feel bad." another replied, and a ripple of laughter followed.
"Are you sure? With that wave of death energy alone…" Another said as he read the scene with keener eyes.
Despite his state of mind, Seth still maintained composure at least. He stood with his arms loose at his sides, chin slightly raised, the kind of ease that came not from confidence earned but from contempt assumed. Across the arena, Leon stood opposite him in a casual way.
Seth called his summon forward before him, making it leave his side and position right in front of ready to commence attack.
The Fire Monkey morphed before the very eyes of everyone. Its fur gained an even richer red, the heat visibly rolling off its body visible in the shimmer of the air around it. Flames crawled up its forearms as it rolled its neck, yellow eyes burning with a restless aggression. It instantly transformed into a fierce looking summon. The kind that made people lean forward in their seats, or think twice before going up against it.
Those watching could sense the shift immediately, Seth was going to be taking the fight serious right from the start, not casually as it had initially seemed.
The Fire Monkey shrieked, a sharp, aggressive sound meant to intimidate, and under normal circumstances, it would have worked. The beast bared its teeth, flames licking up its arms as it squared itself toward the towering skeleton standing opposite it. Seth crossed his arms, still wearing that smirk.
"End it fast," he muttered. Though he looked calm, there was worry still in his eyes.
At those words, the Fire Monkey lunged.
It crossed the arena in a blink, a streak of red fur and roaring flame, closing the distance between itself and the skeleton with the kind of speed that had probably won Seth matches before. A few students in the crowd leaned forward instinctively as they took in the first spectacle of the day.
The skeleton didn't move. It simply stood there, those deep blue flames burning quietly in the hollows of its eyes, watching the monkey come as though it were watching something slow.
Then, at the last possible moment, it drew its sword.
The sound the blade made leaving its scabbard wasn't loud, just smooth and clean, almost soothing, a single, precise note that somehow cut through the noise of the crowd and settled over the arena like a held breath, and before the Fire Monkey could close the remaining distance, the flat of the blade connected with the side of its skull in a controlled, almost casual redirect — sending the beast skidding sideways across the arena floor, flames scattering off its fur like embers shaken from a log.
Following that exchange, silence fell all through the chattering crowd for a moment.
"Did it just—" someone started.
"It redirected it. It didn't even step into a stance first." another voice finished, disbelief thick in every word.
"So that is the strength of an undead swordsman, huh? Incredible."
"Truly worthy to be called a swordsman." Another said underbreath in admiration.
Seth's calm visibly faltered for the first time. He stared at his summon scrambling back to its feet, then at the skeleton, which had already returned to its resting position — sword lowered slightly, completely unbothered.
Leon stood behind it with his hands in his pockets, looking rather unbothered, as though he wasn't facing any danger.
"Go again," Seth said, louder this time, a tight edge in his voice now.
The Fire Monkey gathered itself. Flames bloomed hotter across its body as though recharging, an orange glow crawling up to its shoulders as it built toward its next charge. This time it feinted left before cutting right, a pattern that had caught faster opponents off guard before. It was smarter than it looked.
Even with that tactic, it didn't matter. The skeleton read the feint before it completed it.
With a single pivot on its heel, it turned into the monkey's real angle of attack and brought the sword down in a sweeping arc almost as though it attacked where the monkey would be rather than where it is—and not to cut, but to press. The flat of the blade caught the monkey mid-leap and drove it straight into the ground with enough force to crack the arena floor beneath it, dust rising in a small burst around the impact.
The monkey twitched. It tried to rise but couldn't.
The skeleton stood over it, the tip of the blade resting lightly against the stone beside the creature's neck.
The whole sequence had taken less than thirty seconds.
Up in the VIP stands, Mason had forgotten he was holding a can of soda. It slipped slightly in his grip, and he caught it without looking, eyes fixed on the arena below.
"That's… that's not a Grade 3 summon's movement." he said slowly.
"Grade isn't everything." Lex replied quietly, equally transfixed. "That thing moves like it has actual memory. It's scary. It's almost like an actual human."
"It has." Darwit said from a few feet away, not turning to look at them. "That's the whole point."
Down in the arena, Seth was staring. The calm was completely gone now. In its place was something between confusion and the early stages of anger, the particular expression of someone who had prepared for a very different outcome.
"This—" he started, then stopped. His hands curled at his sides. "This doesn't make sense. A skeleton? Over a Fire Monkey? My summon is a Grade 3 for fuck's sake. That's not—"
"Match over." the coordinator announced.
The words landed like a stone in still water, and the ripple that followed was the crowd finally finding its voice again.
It didn't sound like what Seth had expected to hear when he walked out here. There was no laughing at Leon either, no mocking remarks tossed his way. Instead the murmur that spread through the stands was uncertain and unsettled, the sound of people quietly revising something they had been very sure of a moment ago.
"Did Leon Carter just—"
"That skeleton didn't even use its full range of movement, did it?"
"Did it hold back? Isn't he supposed to have a Grade 1 summon?" one student asked, putting an even more disturbing thought in the minds of those around.
Leon walked calmly to the edge of the arena and stepped down without a word. The skeleton dissolved behind him in silence, that deep blue light fading last, like a candle being cupped by a careful hand.
He didn't look at the crowd or at Seth further, just walked. Even after calling back his summon, when the barrier was lifted so he could return to the stands, a thick wave of death energy still washed over everyone in the stands, and then they understood just what level of terror Seth and his summon had just endured, Grade alone wasn't the problem.
High above, Darwit finally turned away from the railing. He took a slow sip of his soda, expression unchanged, and began making his way toward the exit of the VIP section.
"Two months." he said as he passed Mason. "Don't forget."