Chapter 73 - The Echoes of Mythical Beasts (9)

The moon hung like a pale eye in the sky, peering through the swirling clouds as the group descended through the dark veil of night. One by one, the mythical beasts touched the ground at the rendezvous point in the heart of the sanctum—a rocky clearing illuminated by glowing crystals and conjured light sources. Shadows flickered across the faces of the gathered students, many still bearing the marks of trials endured.

Professor Seraphina stood at the center, her long robes fluttering gently in the breeze, her eyes scanning every new arrival with subtle concern. Beside her were two fourth-year elites who had entered the inner sanctum earlier, their expressions grave.

As Luca and the others dismounted, the celestial crane, the Kirin, the Ice Phoenix, and even the tiny Fairy Glyph all disappeared in a space formed by contract ready to be summoned again. Tension crackled in the air.

Seraphina stepped forward. Her voice was steady, but her eyes betrayed exhaustion.

"Are you all alright?"

One by one, heads nodded. Some gave brief affirmations. Others offered tired smiles.

Aiden was the first to speak up, stepping forward. "Professor... do you know anything about what’s going on?..."

Seraphina’s shoulders dropped slightly as if a burden weighed heavier than ever. "The ancient beast slumbering for thousands of years on the mountain—has awakened." She looked around the circle, her tone grim. "Or worse... someone has stirred it."

Kyle, brows furrowed, stepped up. "You know who it is, don’t you?"

She hesitated only for a moment, then nodded slowly. "The same ones behind the dungeon sabotage... and the ones who abducted Luca and Lilliane."

A heavy silence fell.

Luca’s jaw tightened. "Is everyone from the academy here?"

Seraphina’s gaze fell to the ground, then back up. "Most of them." Her voice was quieter now. "But there are still some unaccounted for. We... we don’t know if they’re alive or..."

She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to.

Luca exhaled, steadying himself. "Can you reach out to the Magic Tower? Let’s gather as many people as we can"

"I can try," Seraphina replied, pulling out a glowing communication crystal, already pulsing with arcane light.

Aria followed suit. "I’ll contact the Holy Kingdom’s envoy. If even a few paladins can arrive quickly..."

"I’ve got connections with some Empire Knight Commanders," Aiden added. "I’ll ask them too."

While they dispersed to make calls, tension remained thick in the air. The quiet hum of the crystals was the only sound for a moment, until Seraphina turned back.

"I’ve informed them. Reinforcements should come." She glanced at Luca. "By the way, I see everyone’s contracted beast... but where is yours?"

Her question rang out, and several nearby students turned their attention toward Luca.

He scratched the back of his neck, offering an awkward smile. "I... didn’t form a contract."

Gasps and hushed murmurs erupted immediately.

"What?"

"Luca didn’t get a beast?"

"But isn’t he supposed to be one of the strongest?!"

"Before Luca could explain, a blood-chilling scream tore through the gathering.

Everyone turned.

A man staggered into the clearing, covered in blood—his robes shredded, one eye gone, one arm a mutilated stump. He collapsed to his knees, eyes wide with terror.

"Help... me..." he wheezed. "It... it’s coming... it’s coming... RUN—!"

Panic surged. The man fell to the ground, twitching, coughing blood.

Seraphina immediately knelt beside him, her brows furrowed in grim urgency. She raised her hand and placed it on his chest, channeling a glowing wave of mana through him.

Aria followed close behind and muttered quickly, "Sanctified Restoration." A soft, golden light wrapped the man’s broken form, stitching what little it could together.

"I can stabilize him for now," Aria said, her voice strained, "but he’ll need extensive treatment... this isn’t something healing spells alone can fix."

The man groaned in pain, breath ragged, blood still dribbling from the corner of his mouth. But his eyes—his eyes darted around in wild horror until they landed on Seraphina. Something in him recognized her.

"W-Who are you?" Seraphina asked gently. "What happened to you?"

The man trembled violently. His body spasmed as if reliving a trauma far worse than what showed on his wounds. Blood suddenly streamed from his eyes like tears.

"I... I’m from the Kingdom of Valdros," he rasped. "I-I was with a team... nearly a hundred of us... elites from the kingdom... We had just found our contracted beasts and were gathering to regroup..."

He coughed, the memory choking him more than the pain.

And then his gaze unfocused—

He was no longer with them.

He was back

there

.

The sky was dark. Ashen clouds rolled like smoke above the jagged cliffs of the Inner Sanctum. Around him, nearly a hundred people stood proud, their newly contracted beasts by their sides—Lions, Eagles, serpents of wind and flame. Laughter, awe, triumph.

They had done it.

They had formed the contract with the beast.

And then... silence.

Every beast froze. Whimpers. A shiver passed through them all, animal and human alike. The air grew heavy—dense like something ancient had woken. Something old and hungry.

A shadow slithered along the mountaintop.

It wasn’t the wind.

It was a presence.

Slowly,

it

rose.

An enormous shape unfurled from behind the mountain ridge.

A long, coiling body as black as ink stretched across the sky, each scale like obsidian armor, absorbing all light. Twisting through the air like smoke and shadow. Its face was elongated, regal, and monstrous — crowned by gnarled, twisted antlers, jagged and bone-white. Whiskers drifted like ghostly tendrils from its snout, trailing across the wind like chains of mist.

Its eyes—

Twin orbs of molten crimson, older than sin.

No roar. No sound.

Just one blink, and the world shattered.

A single claw shimmered into view—

and then—

Screams.

One moment, they were there—talking, laughing. The next, they were blood and dust. Bodies tore apart mid-air without ever being touched. Some burst into flames. Others dissolved like ash on the wind.

Beasts shrieked in pain. Vanished.

The sky turned red.

He didn’t see the attack.

No one did.

The dragon hadn’t moved.

And yet a hundred lives were ended in a heartbeat.

He had been furthest back, just beginning to descend the slope when the crimson glow flashed. The claw had

grazed

the cliff near him, and suddenly—

Agony.

His right hand was gone.

An eye melted in its socket.

He stumbled. Ran. Didn’t stop.

Didn’t look back.

Now, back in the present—he was trembling violently in Seraphina’s arms, face soaked with tears and blood. His one remaining eye stared at the sky.

Then he went limp, unconscious.

And for a long moment,

no one spoke.

Some students gasped. Others broke down in tears.

"How are we gonna fight that...?"

"Are we even getting out of here alive?"

No one had an answer.

Luca stood there, surrounded yet alone—his thoughts a storm.

Why? Why is this happening?

He had expected a normal monster. One he could defeat with his friends... with Professor Seraphina guiding them.

But this... this was a

dragon

.

Not just any dragon. One that had lived for thousands of years.

A being that stood at the very apex of this world—a living nightmare carved from time.

How am I supposed to fight that?

Is this really where I die?

His gaze drifted across the people he had come to know, the ones he’d bled beside.

Lilliane stood close to Aiden, clutching his arm tightly. Her eyes shimmered with a helpless fear—as if terrified this might be their last moment together.

Kyle and Aurelia were quiet, shoulder to shoulder. For once, their teasing had stopped. A silence that whispered:

What if this is the end?

Vincent’s stare found Luca’s. There was urgency in his eyes. A thousand things he wanted to say... but never had.

Elowen’s fingers ran gently over her bow, like one would caress a dying friend. Preparing it—for its final battle.

And Selena... the usually ice-cold girl, the one who never let anything crack her mask—there was sorrow in her expression. A regret she hadn’t voiced. Maybe it was about her mother. Maybe it was about herself.

Then, beside him, a familiar voice. Steady. Solid.

"Hey, buddy. What are you thinking?"

Eric.

Luca didn’t answer. His silence said enough.

Eric smiled, just a little. "Don’t tell me... even you’re losing hope?"

Luca glanced at him, confused.

"What?"

Eric chuckled softly, "Dude, we’re not dead yet. You’re standing here, watching everyone like a ghost at his own funeral."

Luca looked down. "Everyone’s scared, Eric. Why can’t I be?"

Eric’s smile widened, but there was something sharp behind it.

"What do you mean,

why can’t you

? Don’t you get it by now?"

He stepped closer, lowering his voice.

"You’re not like us, Luca. You are

Luca Valentine

. You have the affinity of

Time

and

Space

, for crying out loud. You got acknowledged by a legendary weapon. You’ve invoked phenomena no one’s even seen before. You saved me in that dungeon. Hell—you saved

everyone

."

Eric’s voice trembled now—not with fear, but with conviction.

"You’ve pulled off miracles over and over again. You don’t belong with the rest of us. You stand beside monsters like Aiden, Selena, Saintess Lilliane, Kyle... You’re one of them."

Luca shook his head slightly. His voice was low.

"But look at them. Aren’t they afraid too?"

Eric’s smile turned knowing.

"Then look again."

He pointed toward Aiden.

"What do you see?"

Luca focused. The fear in Aiden’s face had vanished. All that remained was a sharp, unwavering light.

"A bright hope," Luca whispered. "He believes he can do it."

Eric nodded and turned to Aria, who was gently adjusting her armor.

"And her?"

"I will perform my duties," Luca muttered, almost hearing her voice in his head. "I’ll save as many people as I can."

Next came Kyle and Aurelia, who had gone from silent to bickering again. Kyle was ruffling her hair, and she was threatening to break his jaw.

"With them... it’s like death isn’t enough to stop them," Luca said, a slight grin breaking through. "They’ll fight fate itself if they have to."

Selena, calm again, cold as ever, stood poised.

"She’s already decided. It’s just a dragon. She’ll defeat it," Luca whispered.

Vincent was checking his sword, expression sharp with focus.

"He’s ready to die... as long as it means protecting everyone he cares."

Then, his eyes found Lilliane. Still holding onto Aiden’s sleeve. Still scared—but now there was something else.

Luca said, voice catching. "Even if it costs her life. She’ll stay with Aiden through hell."

Elowen’s fingers moved to her bowstring. She drew it slowly, steadily, breath held. "She’s... ready to shoot down a dragon if she has to,"

Eric smiled, his voice gentler now.

"See? They were afraid, Luca. But now..."

Luca’s heart pounded in his chest.

He looked around again, no longer with doubt—but with fire.

Well there is a reason they are main characters, But now they are my friends as well. That’s right. This is the world I’ve played through again and again. No one knows it like I do. I’ve already defied fate by existing here at all. My will to survive... It’s stronger than anything.

And now... I have friends.

He clenched his fists. The shadows in his eyes vanished. He turned to Eric.

"Thank you."

And with that, he stepped forward—toward Seraphina.

Eric watched him go, the smile on his lips trembling.

A single tear welled in his eye.

"I’ll protect them," he whispered to himself, "even if I have to forget them. Even if I forget myself..."

His voice cracked as he breathed, just loud enough for the wind to carry:

"That’s what I saw in you, my friend at that time... Show it to me again, Luca."