After what he said, I realized that he was the one who attacked our school. It seemed like their target was the principal.
"My name is Premo! And I am here to collect debt from my old friend here," he yelled.
"It's them." I still couldn't find Luis.
I moved outside to get a little closer to the attacker. Finally, I got to see the enemy. He was flying.
Judging from his aura, he's a strong one, I mumbled.
He was flying with steel-feathered wings on his back. It seemed like he was on spirit dive mode. His half-burned face made him look even scarier, combined with his giant two-foot claws. In his right hand, he was holding the principal by the neck.
"Shit…" My eyes filled with horror when I saw his left hand holding the severed head of Professor Maxin. I could feel my heart beating fast. I was frozen with fear, a terror crawling down to my spine.
Students were screaming for help, but I couldn't do anything. Fool… no one will save you here, I whispered to myself. We might as well die here.
I tried to stand up to continue searching for Luis when I heard someone—or rather, him.
"Agggghh… you dare to kill my professor… you dare to destroy my school… you dare to hurt my friends and kill students… we are trying to live peacefully… All this killing, what did we do to you? What would you get from this?"
He picked up a steel pipe and pointed it toward the enemy.
"Nothing! I will FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Despite being torn apart and badly injured, blood running down his face, his left hand broken, he was clearly suffering. He couldn't even stand properly, yet he ignored the pain and stood up to fight an impossible opponent. But no… I didn't see fear in his eyes. He was brave enough to stand in front of his death.
Luis?! I looked into his eyes. It was the gaze of a fearless warrior.
I tried to call him to get his attention. "Luis! What are you doing?" I fell on my knees, my mana still not filled.
"HAHAHAHA!!" The enemy cackled, laughing madly. "Idiot, do you know what happens when a bug flies into a cobweb? It means… death."
He summoned steel wings and started shooting Luis to death.
Then suddenly, seven to nine steel feathers pierced through Luis's body. Not long after, Luis fell to the ground before he even realized what had happened. As he collapsed, I could sense his pulse slowly fading.
My body began to tremble—not from fear, but from the rage flooding my veins. My vision started to blur, my mind clouded by fury as my heartbeat raced faster and faster.
With my friend dying in front of me, I had nothing in mind but saving him and seeking revenge. I slowly stood up and began to walk toward Luis, not realizing that I was releasing magic mana and that my animal spirit was flowing all over my body.
"Oh? Hahaha, what a turn of events?" The man named Premo noticed me. "As I remember, this school does not include kids with animal spirits. However… this kid manifested his animal spirit?" He then threw the severed head of Professor Maxin as a sign of irritation.
"Hey kid, how old are you?" he asked.
I didn't pay attention to him and silently continued walking toward the unconscious body of my friend. I ignored him as he questioned me, until his patience broke.
"You filthy little rat!" He started throwing feather attacks at me. "How dare you ignore me?"
But because my animal spirit was manifesting, a thick layer of magic mana covered my body as I moved, protecting me from his countless attacks. This enraged him even more. And when I finally reached my friend—
"Getting cocky, huh?" He suddenly cut off the principal's head with his wings, purposely killing him to see if I would react. "Oh… still ignoring me?"
I didn't care about the principal at all. My focus was Luis. I picked him up from the ground and carried him. Before leaving, I glared at Premo with killing intent. It was a warning that I would return for revenge.
I spoke. "Stay here." And as fast as the wind, I disappeared from his sight. I left Luis with Mika in a safer place.
When I returned, Premo was yelling, more upset this time.
"Don't get cocky, kid!?" His gnashing teeth were a sign of his frustration.
"Enough of this! I will kill you, brat!"
He started rushing toward me, flying faster while shooting countless feathers. All his attacks were deflected by my mana shield, so he closed the gap and threw a punch.
"Spirit Dive!" I activated my spirit dive. It no longer gave me just a mana shield—this time, I could finally fight him. However, I knew this would be difficult.
Before his punch could reach me, I activated my animal spirit, enabling me to catch it. I stared at him for a second before grabbing his arm and trying to throw him.
Yet, using his wings, he avoided taking damage.
"A fox?" he questioned. "A fox spirit dive… HAHA, truly impressive, kid!"
Then he began throwing punches nonstop, left and right.
I struggled to block his attacks, and now he started casting powerful strikes with his wings—a blade-like wind made of his magic that cut through anything it touched. One mistake could end my life in an instant.
I only have fifteen seconds in spirit dive mode. This will be difficult.
With spirit dive active, my appearance changed. Part of my hair turned flame-orange. The whites of my eyes became black, and my red iris turned gold. A fox tail grew on my back, along with two fox ears above my head. But not only that—my senses and magic control were enhanced, granting me tremendous strength, speed, durability, and reflexes.
"How long can you keep that form?" After multiple attacks, he flew back. "You can't block all my attacks. Look at you—you're bathing in your own blood," he stated.
It was true—I had gained strength, but not enough to fight him equally. If I couldn't win, then I would just fight to survive until rescue arrived.
I don't have time for chit-chat, birdie. I hadn't perfected this spell yet, but it would help me. With magic control, I gathered energy in my right hand, holding my wrist with my left. A powerful magic like a void formed in my palm, growing bigger and bigger the more I gathered.
Then, without warning, I hurled it at him. Before it even reached, it exploded, erasing everything it touched—as if reducing matter to atoms.
I called it "Explosive Void."
However, just as I thought I got him, he flew aside and dodged it. It was a strong spell—but not fast enough.
"That's it?" he teased. "For a young kid to perform such attacks, you're impressive. Perhaps I'll show you something before you die."
"Tsk," I clicked my tongue and started running.
"Do you really think I'll let a single soul survive? I will kill everyone—EVERYONE!"
He once again launched feathers, controlling them at will. I couldn't keep blocking with mana—it drained me too much.
His flying grew faster and faster, and while I kept running, I threw another Explosive Void, but he dodged it with ease.
To resolve my situation, I stopped running and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. I charged at him with bare fists.
I need to fight him, find the perfect chance to fully utilize my spirit dive.
With condensed mana, I threw a powerful left hook, wind bursting as I punched. But he blocked it with his steel wings.
"Is that all you've got?" he asked. "Come on, entertain me more!"
A pair of daggers, made from his wings, appeared in his hands.
"Let's dance, kid!" He smiled cruelly and began attacking.
I condensed mana into both hands to match his daggers, but they were sharp enough to slice through it. So I used my speed, darting to his blind spots. But it was useless—he was getting faster and faster. His direct dagger strikes forced me on defense, while his wings blocked my counters, and his feathers attacked from every direction. I couldn't stop sustaining countless wounds.
He suddenly stopped—just as my spirit dive ran out. I fell to my knees, my magic depleted. My body refused to move. I could only catch my breath, my revenge failed.
"Whoosssh, you've got some talent, kid. Such a waste I have to kill you," he said as he descended. "You know, it's easy to kill a cub before it becomes a lion."
Then, when he had the chance—
"Got you!" His confident smile terrified me. He grabbed me with his massive claw and flew into the sky.
"Let's fly, kid! HAHA. Do you want to know my Animal Spirit?"
Within seconds, we pierced through the clouds. I couldn't move, trapped in his grip.
"Do you know a bird who feeds on the dead?" He looked at me with a devilish smile.
"It's called Vulture! Yes… that's my animal spirit!"
He threw me higher than himself. I couldn't control my body in the air—the force was overwhelming. Suddenly, he appeared right in front of me and slammed a powerful punch into my stomach. The blow left me breathless. Without mercy, he followed it with a roundhouse kick to my neck, knocking me unconscious.
I couldn't do anything. I was falling toward the ground faster than we had flown up. I felt helpless—not a single part of my body could move. He was too powerful.
Such a horrible way to die, I whispered as I closed my eyes.