Chapter 413: Lifting A Mammoth

Ronan looked back at Virat.

"That gun and these bullets look way more expensive than you can afford. Tell me, did Leo give them to you?" Ronan asked, pointing his sword at it. The blade began to sizzle with heat as he activated some sort of skill.

The wound on his chest seemed to bleed slightly, but the impact trauma was apparent because of redness spreading across the region, reaching his neck.

"Lord trusted me with these and told me to show results. That’s what I am doing," Virat replied, balanced on a tree branch as he took out a few grenades.

"Have to give it to him, he really has an eye for talent—hyap!" Ronan suddenly leapt high, the ground beneath him cracking as he shot toward Virat’s branch.

Twip—Zimmm!

Virat promptly shifted to another tree, the bark rough under his boots, but didn’t forget to toss a tree grenade at Ronan mid-flight.

Ronan extended his sword, flames erupting from its tip as he struck the grenades one by one.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

All three exploded in succession in front of Ronan, the heat washing over him, but the distance kept the shrapnel from reaching him.

His vision was briefly swallowed by smoke and dust, and he couldn’t sense Virat. He started running through the haze, but—

Clang!

Ronan suddenly sensed an attack and raised his sword to block. It was the hook of a grappling wire, locking tightly onto his blade. He didn’t even get time to free it before it yanked.

"You dare!"

Ronan steadied his stance and gripped his sword tighter. As expected, Virat couldn’t pull him—instead, the force dragged Virat forward.

Virat was flung toward Ronan, his grip on the rope too tight to release in time.

"Shit!" he cursed. He couldn’t defend himself—Ronan was already swinging his blade toward his neck.

"You have the talent, but you are wea—!" Ronan’s eyes widened as a sudden sense of impending doom gripped his heart.

He barely managed to turn his head, catching a glimpse of an arrow wrapped in greenish energy before it struck his head—and in the next instant, he was gone, teleported away.

---

"Lord, I killed a person with a humanoid lava beast and red hair," Sylrael promptly informed Leo.

"Good. That must be Ronan. But remember, he didn’t die—just like Aelwen didn’t. So you didn’t kill anyone, not when you are in the academy grounds. Sorry, I didn’t inform you or the others about this beforehand." Leo explained.

"N-no problem, My Lord. I will keep these things in mind from now on," Sylrael responded, a bit flustered and embarrassed about her earlier reaction when Aelwen was ’killed’.

"1 of the 6 down. Hmm, the others will be down soon."

He said this as he climbed up, spotting Lily about to engage with Dhalia. Then his gaze shifted toward the east.

Tump... Tump... Tump...

A low, heavy thudding echoed through the ground as Marco approached with his mammoth.

"Looks like even I should warm my hands..." he muttered, then glanced at the ice-tipped tusks.

"Maybe cool?"

---

"Lily! I hope you have been well, because I am about to make you unwell!" Dhalia declared, her fist coated in icy mist as she lunged from the back of her beast directly at Lily in enthusiam.

Lily stood her ground, spirit-integrated with Lunaria, her own fist wrapped in the Earthen element—Leo’s attribute.

"You tamed a new beas—!" Dhalia’s eyes widened as she realized Lily had no intention of talking and was already driving a straight punch toward her face.

In that instant, Dhalia felt the overwhelming disparity in their strength. The realization drained the enthusiasm from her expression.

"This... this is not fair..." she muttered, her voice hollow, yet her punch continued forward.

Their fists collided—and Dhalia’s arm buckled in the very next instant, compressing wierdly.

But Lily halted her strike just short of completely destroying it. Instead, she shifted and drove her other fist forward, delivering a killing blow straight to Dhalia’s face.

"Thank you for the mercy..." Dhalia muttered bitterly as her final words before she was transported away.

The "mercy" she spoke of wasn’t the finishing blow—it was Lily holding back from obliterating her arm entirely. Had she done that, Dhalia wouldn’t have been eliminated and would have been forced to continue fighting with a missing limb... only to later spend 10 million AC to regenerate it.

"Two down..." Lily muttered, brushing off the thin layer of frost that had formed over her arm, then turned and looked at the Boreal Shellbeast that was madly charging at her, her lips curled as she brought her sword out.

---

"Marco! You are alone?" Leo said, landing right in front of the mammoth. The massive beast halted abruptly, its breath fogging in the air.

Regalia Mammoth (Low 3-star) – Super Bloodline

Though still around 11 meters in size, the mammoth had advanced by one minor realm.

As Leo noted, Marco had come alone—there was no sign of his territory members.

"Yeah. No nobles from the top 100 want to follow a commoner like me, and bringing anyone ranked below 100 into your territory is just stupid. Why don’t you show me I’m right?" Marco said with a chuckle, fully aware Leo could defeat him in seconds.

But he still didn’t intend to back down.

"Mammon! Stomp him!" Marco ordered. Icicles formed rapidly in his hand and were hurled at Leo, while the mammoth charged forward with a furious rumble.

Leo simply sidestepped, dodging with ease—but more icicles followed at accelerated pace, forcing him to stay in constant motion.

Then, suddenly—Leo vanished.

"Huh—whoa!" Marco’s confusion turned to alarm as the mammoth abruptly halted, nearly throwing him forward.

"Mammon, what—!"

TRRRRRAAAHHHHH!

The beast raised its trunk high, letting out a thunderous trumpet before swinging it down with crushing force.

"What are you doing?!" Marco shouted, eyes snapping wide as he spotted Leo standing right in front of the mammoth, gripping its two ice-tipped tusks like handles with wide arms.

BAM!

The trunk came crashing down toward Leo’s head—but he caught it effortlessly with one hand, the impact sending a dull shock through the ground. He pushed it aside and returned his grip to the tusks.

Marco’s eyes widened as realization dawned.

"No, wait—!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Crack... crack...

The ground beneath Leo’s feet began to fracture, fissures spreading outward as he exerted more and more force. Slowly—impossibly—the mammoth’s massive body began to rise.

Marco stared, frozen, not even realizing he was about to fall.

"HAAAHHH!" Leo groaned, muscles tightening as he pushed further—until the mammoth’s hind legs lifted clear off the ground.

The beast panicked, thrashing its hooves wildly in search of footing, but found none.

PRRROOOAAAAAAHHH!!!

It trumpeted again, but this time the fear in its cry was unmistakable.