The forest air was tense, heavy with the lingering hum of mana. Leaves rustled faintly as Leon and Sylvain faced each other from opposing branches, their gazes locked in quiet calculation. The silver wolf and winged beast stood at Sylvain’s side, muscles coiled, watching Leon like predators sizing up their prey.

Leon broke the silence first, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “Quite the welcome party you’ve got there. You didn’t hold back calling in two mythical beasts just to greet me.”

Sylvain’s emerald eyes glimmered with calm amusement. “They act on instinct. You were moving like a predator — they simply responded in kind.”

Leon chuckled softly. “Fair enough.” He leaned casually against the branch, though his mana sense stayed sharp. “Still, it’s a waste for the two of us to fight this early. How about we form a temporary alliance instead? With your summons and my support magic, we could cover each other’s weaknesses.”

Sylvain raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued but unconvinced. “An alliance? You’re cautious, I’ll give you that. But I have no need for one.”

“Oh?”

“I already have two reliable allies.” Sylvain glanced at his companions, the wolf and winged beast, who both growled lightly in agreement. “They never betray me, never falter. I can trust them more than I can trust any human competitor.”

Leon gave a small sigh, brushing a few leaves off his shoulder. “Figures. You always were the lone type, even in the past—” He stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing what he almost said.

Sylvain tilted his head slightly. “Even in the what?”

“Nothing,” Leon replied with a faint smile, deflecting smoothly. “Just talking to myself.”

The air between them grew still once more, the forest eerily quiet. Both of them stood ready — not openly hostile, but neither letting down their guard.

And then—

Crack—!

A blinding flash of light split the sky, followed by a deafening boom. Two thunderbolts crashed down from above, one aimed directly at Leon, the other at Sylvain.

Sylvain’s eyes widened, but his beast moved instantly — the winged creature spreading its massive wings and conjuring a shimmering barrier of lightning-resistant mana. The bolt struck it with explosive force, sending shockwaves rippling through the ground.

At the same moment, Leon stood calmly amid the chaos. The thunderbolt that streaked toward him struck an invisible dome and dispersed harmlessly, sparks scattering like golden rain.

A faint hum echoed from the Wind Barrier Leon had cast earlier — a quiet precaution while he’d been talking.

He exhaled through his nose. “Good thing I didn’t turn it off.”

Sylvain straightened, brushing some leaves from his shoulder. “A silent cast, huh? You really are full of surprises.”

Before Leon could reply, two figures stepped out from behind the trees — identical in every way. Both had light blond hair tied back, sharp crimson eyes, and mischievous grins that promised trouble.

The twin siblings.

They walked forward with matching smirks, arcs of residual lightning dancing across their fingertips.

“Well, well,” said the twin on the left. “Looks like we found our prey.”

The other laughed, crackling mana flaring around him like a storm. “Two for one! This’ll be fun.”

Leon sighed softly, rolling his shoulders as he prepared his stance. “Guess that alliance doesn’t sound too bad now, huh?”

Sylvain smiled faintly, summoning his beasts to his side. “We’ll see about that.”

The forest lit up again as arcs of lightning danced across the clearing. The twins raised their hands in perfect unison, magic circles spinning into existence behind them — identical, symmetrical, and deadly.

“Dual Blitz Formation!” they shouted in sync.

A storm of lightning bolts burst forth, splitting into two directions — one barrage surging toward Sylvain and his beasts, the other raining down on Leon’s position.

“Persistent bastards,” Leon muttered, his eyes narrowing as he kicked off the branch.

The air cracked with energy as bolts struck around him, burning through bark and tearing the forest floor apart. Leon twisted and rolled midair, narrowly evading each strike, his movements swift and measured — every leap and pivot guided by precision rather than panic.

Meanwhile, Sylvain’s winged beast let out a powerful screech, conjuring a protective barrier of compressed air and lightning, deflecting the oncoming attacks. His wolf sprinted below, circling the battlefield with keen awareness.

Leon landed behind a fallen trunk, sparks still flying in the air. His right hand slipped inside his jacket’s inner pocket, brushing against cold metal. A faint smirk crossed his lips.

Let’s see if this works here too…

He drew out a white dagger, its blade glimmering faintly with runic engravings. The weapon felt real — solid and perfectly balanced, just like the one he’d carried in real world.

“So the device not only transfers consciousness,” Leon murmured, testing the dagger’s weight with a spin, “but perfectly replicates physical possessions too… Impressive, Alain. You really outdid yourself this time.”

Another bolt slammed into the tree beside him, snapping it clean in half. Leon dashed forward, his cloak whipping in the wind. His movements blurred as he darted between lightning strikes, closing in on one of the twins.

The twin on the right noticed too late — his smirk faltered as Leon appeared within striking distance.

“Too slow,” Leon whispered.

Their spells clashed mid-air — the twin conjuring a quick lightning blade to defend himself, but Leon’s dagger met it with a flash of silver. Sparks exploded between them as metal met mana, the impact echoing like a thunderclap.

The twin staggered back, caught off guard by Leon’s precision.

“You actually blocked that?” he said, disbelief flickering in his eyes.

Leon smirked, his stance low and sharp. “Not just blocked. I’m not done yet.”

Without missing a beat, Leon pressed forward — his dagger cutting through the air as he launched into a flurry of close-quarter strikes, forcing the twin to fight defensively.

Each clash sent bursts of light scattering across the clearing, the sound of magic and steel mixing in chaotic rhythm.

The other twin gritted his teeth, turning toward Sylvain’s side of the battlefield. “Damn it, brother’s occupied—! Guess I’ll fry this one first!”

But Sylvain only smirked, mana gathering around his fingertips as his two beasts growled beside him.

“Then try it.”

Hugo’s lightning blade crackled violently as it met Leon’s dagger again and again, but the rhythm was shifting. Each time their weapons collided, the force behind Leon’s strikes grew sharper — more precise, more controlled.

Sparks burst in every direction, illuminating the forest like a storm of fireflies.

“Not bad!” the twin shouted, pushing forward with another flurry of lightning-infused slashes. “But without magic, you’ll never—”

Leon slipped past his guard.

In a blink, he pivoted sideways, letting the lightning blade whistle past his ear, then brought his dagger up in a sharp arc. The twin’s balance faltered as Leon’s strike grazed his arm, the blade cutting clean through the fabric of his uniform and leaving a faint mark that shimmered with residual mana.

“—what!?”

Leon’s expression was calm, almost bored. “I don’t need magic to handle someone like you.”

He darted in again, his movements impossibly fluid — every motion calculated down to the smallest twitch. Years of battle, honed through life-and-death struggles, guided him far beyond what any academy student could replicate.

Hugo barely managed to defend himself, his lightning flickering as his mana control began to falter under pressure. Each clash pushed him further back, his feet scraping against the dirt as Leon pressed forward relentlessly.

The sound of steel striking mana echoed like a war drum.

Leon’s dagger flashed again — low, then high, then a feint to the side before reversing grip and aiming for the twin’s exposed flank. The twin raised his arm instinctively to block, but Leon twisted mid-swing, catching the lightning blade at its core and disarming him in a single motion.

The weapon dispersed into sparks as Leon’s dagger stopped inches from the twin’s throat.

The air stilled.

Hugo froze, breathing heavily, eyes wide with disbelief. “You— you didn’t use a single spell…”

Leon smirked faintly. “You rely too much on your magic. I don’t need it to win. Besides, I need to conserve my mana for a better opponent.”

He didn’t put the dagger away. Instead, his grip tightened around the hilt as his instincts suddenly screamed danger.

A flicker of mana brushed against his senses — faint, but deadly. Then, a sharp gushing sound sliced through the air.

Without hesitation, Leon ducked.

A stone-like bullet whizzed just above his head, so fast it left a ripple in the surrounding mana. It struck the twin standing before him square in the chest.

The twin’s expression froze in pure shock. “W–what—”

The words never finished. His body shimmered with a bright blue light before shattering into countless glowing particles that scattered into the wind — erased from the virtual battlefield.

A soft chime followed.

A floating window materialized before Leon, glowing faintly in the air:

[Hugo Vayne : DEFEATED]

Leon slowly straightened, eyes narrowing in the direction the shot had come from. His instincts told him that the real threat had just revealed itself.

As Leon moved swiftly from tree to tree, his mind worked as sharply as his movements. Each leap carried him silently through the dense canopy, his senses tuned to every faint fluctuation of mana in the air.

He had already analyzed the shot.

The spell was a seamless combination of earth and wind magic — the bullet itself forged from compressed stone, hardened and shaped with remarkable precision by earth magic, while the faint trace of wind magic wrapped around it like a spiraling vortex, accelerating its speed and sharpening its accuracy.

It wasn’t a simple spell. It required focus, control, and expert synchrony between two opposing elements.

Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly. There’s only one person in Class S capable of pulling that off so cleanly.

A faint smile crossed his lips as he landed silently on another branch. The air around him shifted slightly as he suppressed his own mana signature.

“So it’s you…” he muttered under his breath, his tone calm yet edged with amusement. “Iris Lunehart.”

He crouched low, scanning the direction where the next mana pulse would emerge — already preparing his next move.

Leon’s gaze locked onto a faint shimmer of mana in the distance — the tell-tale residue left behind by a long-range spell. His lips curved slightly as he whispered,
“Found you.”

Before he could take another step, a rustle of leaves echoed from afar. His eyes darted toward the movement — a figure in a dark-blue uniform slipping out from behind a thick tree trunk. Long silver-blue hair fluttered as she sprinted away, her staff glinting faintly under the sunlight.

“Iris,” Leon murmured, confirming his suspicion.

She had already abandoned her sniping perch, darting through the forest with sharp, calculated movements. Each step was light, aided by wind magic that reduced her presence and muffled her sound. It was a retreat, but not out of fear — she was repositioning. A true marksman never stayed in one place for long.

Leon leapt from his branch, landing soundlessly on the ground below. His dagger still glimmered faintly with residual mana as he began to pursue her.

“She’s fast,” he muttered, a faint note of respect in his tone. “But she should know better than to run in a straight line.”

With a single breath, he surged forward — his body propelled by a burst of controlled mana flow, vanishing into the dense forest in pursuit.

As Leon weaved through the thick canopy, his focus locked on Iris’s fleeting silhouette ahead. The forest wind rushed past his face — and then, suddenly, two translucent windows flickered into view before him.

[Helena Vayne: DEFEATED]
[Clara Voss: DEFEATED]

He came to a brief halt, eyes narrowing.

“So, Helena’s out…” he muttered. From the surge of mana he’d sensed earlier, he could already guess who was responsible. “That must be Sylvain. His summoned beasts must’ve overwhelmed her.”

His attention shifted to the second window. “Clara too?”

That one surprised him more. Clara Voss wasn’t reckless like Helena — she was cautious and calculating. Her specialty in barrier magic made her one of the hardest to defeat in a direct confrontation. For her to be eliminated this early meant that someone had either found a way to bypass her defenses… or crushed them entirely.

Leon’s brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of curiosity glinting in his eyes. “Just who managed to take her down?”

He resumed his pursuit, leaping from branch to branch as the forest blurred around him. The test was escalating faster than he expected — eliminations were happening one after another. That meant everyone was showing their full strength from the very beginning.