Revenge pact

Stepping into the light granted by the small bonfire, Adonis set his gaze on his teammates. The expression on his delicate face was both stern and conflicted, a perfect representation of his thoughts.

Being the first to notice Adonis' presence, Jerald scoffed and directed his gaze at the Seventh Rising Star.

"Vindicta!" Observing the subtle change in Jerald's demeanor, Vera followed his gaze and fixed her eyes on their comrade.

"You find anything, Donny?" Wearing a gentle smile that tugged at the edges of his lips, Maxwell softly addressed Adonis, fully aware of the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

"There's another group nearby, approximately a kilometer away."

"Another group?! Did you identify anyone?" Excitedly, Maxwell posed his question.

"No, but I do know one thing... They're pretty strong."

***

The next day. 6 AM

-yawn- Maxwell, rubbing his eyes sleepily, emerged from one of the wooden shelters.

He immediately directed his gaze towards a tree above, where Adonis was perched, silently observing as the sun slowly crept into the sky.

"How'd you sleep?" Adonis, with a wholesome smile, snapped his head down to meet his friend's gaze.

***

8 AM

Tarzy stood before a fearsome magic beast, both his fists clenched tightly, each adorned with solid metal brass knuckles. He panted heavily, mentally preparing himself to confront the formidable magic beast once more.

"C'mon, keep up you stupid mutt!" Luna wore a mischievous grin on her delicate face, which was smeared with a mixture of sweat and blood. She dashed forward, her gladius gleaming with a fresh coat of crimson.

"Stop calling me that!"

"You two are too childish." Amber, her irritation evident, scoffed. Donned in a long white cloak over a simple leather breastplate pointed a wooden staff adorned with a pink gem at the gorilla-like beast that stood before her.

"..." Lutz, showing no interest in conversing with his teammates, dashed forward following Luna. His rapier rapidly absorbed the Earthly Aura he consistently exuded.

"Guys, let's focus!" Marie, who stood beside Amber with her spatha still hanging by her hip clasped her hands together in preparation to unleash another devastating spell.

"Who died and made you leader, princess?" Finally, in range of the bone-chilling Pink Rank Magic Beast, Luna slashed at the creature's mighty arm, intending to sever a couple of its arteries.

"ARGH!!" The giant gorilla-like beast, its pitch-black fur tinged with a subtle hue of pink and boasting the size of three regular gorillas, grew irritated by not receiving the group's full attention. In response to Luna's attack, swung its opposite one toward the girl who dared to harm him.

"Your breath stinks." Still not respecting the danger she found herself in, Luna abruptly halted her attack on the beast and crouched down.

While she calmly waited for the incoming strike to pass harmlessly above her head, Luna was suddenly confronted with a harsh reality that shattered her initial expectations.

Upon realizing that Luna had halted her attack, the beast swiftly used the arm that had been previously targeted to swipe at her once more.

It executed a coordinated attack, with one arm swiping low and the other high, creating a formidable assault that left Luna with no hope of evasion.

"Eh?"

"You're being sloppy..." Utilizing the arm that held his rapier, Lutz executed a thrust infused with a fresh coating of Gale Magic and further augmented by Earthly Aura.

"Alexian art: assail!"

Due to the Koko's thick hide, it reacted differently to the attack compared to John's vines, which were immediately obliterated upon impact in the past.

Instead, the beast was pushed back a few meters, causing its attack on Luna to be dismissed and rendered ineffective.

While Lutz's attack managed to push the beast back, it emerged from the encounter entirely unscathed. The only change lay in its demeanor with a growing sense of impatience and irritation. It had grown weary of toying with the teenage magic knights and was now poised to bring the battle to its conclusion.

"Yeah yeah, whatever..." Unbothered by her brush with death, Luna locked eyes with the beast, her smile returning as if the odds were not stacked against them.

"Tricksta, you should take this more seriously." Letting out an irritated sigh, Amber channeled mana through her staff, surging mana through the magic crystal affixed to it.

As she did so, the pink crystal began to radiate a brilliant and vibrant glow.

"Oh shut up! I won't be lectured by number three!"

"She would've been number two if Lutz hadn't just stepped in to save you," Tarzy interjected.

"You seem to forget that I've already defeated you, you're nothing more than a placeholder till the second semester when I steal your spot."

"Don't be so confident, we weren't allowed to use magic, weapons, or aura at the time."

"There's no way you genuinely believe that you can even compete with me in both categories." Luna scoffed as she fought the urge to laugh uncontrollably.

"You can discuss your rankings later. Let's defeat the beast and collect the points." Growing tired of Luna and Tarzy's incessant bickering, Lutz seized the initiative and dashed forward with the determination to kill the Koko.

"Agreed." After amassing the necessary amount of mana, Amber aimed her magic staff squarely at the beast and unleashed her spell.

"Light Magic: Isolated Flashbang."

Making use of her special magic affinity, Amber conjured a small, golden luminescent sphere that streaked toward the beast at a speed beyond human comprehension.

In what seemed like an instant, the sphere materialized directly in front of the creature's visage and erupted with a sudden blinding brilliance, temporarily destroying its vision.

BANG

"GRRR!" Thrown into panic by the abrupt loss of its vision, the beast wildly thrashed its limbs in all directions, attempting to ward off any potential threats while it grappled with its temporary blindness.

"Go!" Announcing the opportunity, Amber brandished her staff in the direction of the beast, readying herself to unleash a second spell, this time a direct attack as opposed to a strategic distraction.

"How many times do I have to say it, you're not our leader!" With her brow furrowed in irritation, Luna launched herself forward, her blade ablaze with a bright yellow flame atop a subdued blue hue.

"Can you not shut up for two minutes?!" As Lutz and Luna raced toward the frenzied Koko, Tarzy joined them, his right fist enveloped in Earthly Aura.

With a dark green magic circle on his chest aiding him, he willed his right arm to undergo a bizarre transformation.

His already large arms seemed to explode as they not only expanded in size but also underwent a dramatic color shift. His typically tanned skin paled, and thousands of tiny, hair-like spikes sprouted from his enlarged pores.

"Transformation magic: Partial Transfiguration."

'I'll never get used to that. It's amazing...' Marveled by her childhood friend's magic affinity, Marie readied her offensive spell.

"Gravity magic: Weight of a dozen!"

The third imperial princess conjured a purple magic circle where the Koko stood.

Within this circle, she harnessed the power of her magic affinity and created a selective gravitational field that exclusively targeted the beast. This field multiplied the weight the Koko had to bear by twelve, resulting in slower movements and inflicting a sharp continuous internal ache, tormenting the creature from within.

"ARHHH!" Astonishingly, despite the added weight and loss of sight, the creature grew even faster, its newfound speed a product of its heightened fury and desperation.

Lutz condensed both his Gale Magic and Earthly Aura, channeling their power to their power to the very tip of his rapier.

With a swift leap into the air, he positioned himself directly above the beast and drove his sword toward the creature's shoulder with precision.

"Alexian art: Puncture!"

SPLURT

Lutz successfully pierced the Koko's hide but still fell short of penetrating its bone.

Despite this, he achieved his objective of both diverting the creature's attention and partially restricting its mobility.

"ARRGHH!" Startled by the intense pain radiating from its shoulder, the Koko jerked its head in the direction of the assault.

Despite its impaired vision, it honed in on the teenager responsible for its injured shoulder and was resolute in its intent to eliminate him immediately.

With a sudden burst of energy, the beast thrust its opposite arm forward. Even under the effects of the gravity spell, it moved astonishingly faster than the magic knights it engaged.

Not finding time to sheath his rapier, Lutz pulled his arms closer to his body and prepared to defend himself against the menacing, ape-like creature's impending onslaught.

"Seem it's my turn to save you..."Luna, her face adorned with an ear-to-ear grin, amplified the flame that enveloped her gladius, then unleashed a fierce slash at the creature's vulnerable rear.

"Flame Magic: Scorch saber:!"

SPLATTER

Despite the girl's strike inflicting a deep wound on its back, the creature remained undeterred, pressing on with its onslaught on the defenseless teenager who remained mid-air.

CRUNCH

When the beast's colossal fist collided with Lutz's defense, he was sent hurtling through the air, his once-vibrant cyan eyes now dimming as he fought to maintain consciousness, his arms now emitting a sickening crack as the bones within them fractured.

"What happened to saving me?" He groaned softly.