The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 263
Chapter 263
“Who’s next?” Duran, having defeated Borman, asked in a cold voice.
“Wouldn’t it be fun?”
“Should I fight him next?”
The Azonia students reacted excitedly to Duran’s strength.
‘They’re definitely different from the students at my school.’
Duran curled the corners of his mouth as he observed them.
Lumene students usually avoided fighting overwhelmingly strong opponents.
When unavoidable, they could rush in without hesitation, but they rarely engaged in battles they knew they couldn’t win.
However, the Azonia students were even more determined to fight despite the overwhelming difference in strength.
‘This is fun.’
Duran smiled belligerently.
At that smile, the Azonia students who were rushing to fight Duran flinched momentarily.
They were momentarily overwhelmed by Duran’s momentum.
But soon, unable to hide their excitement, they were about to stand in front of Duran.
“Duran~” Chen Xia called out.
“Chloe escaped on her own. The Azonia students who committed the crime have all been frozen. There’s no reason to continue fighting them now.”
“Huh. You’re still so arrogant, regardless?”
Duran snorted.
Chen Xia smiled at those words.
“Don’t worry about that. They said their boss cat will be here soon.”
“Their… boss cat?”
Boom-!
Duran’s doubts were soon answered.
This was the hotel garden where the Azonia students were staying.
Ar appeared, his blue eyes fiercely raised as he kicked open the hotel’s main door.
“Hey, you punks! I told you not to cause trouble!”
“Ugh… You fainted…?”
Just then, Borman, who had regained consciousness, grabbed his head and tried to get up.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-! Bam-!
“Choke?!”
Ar ran over and kicked Borman in the jaw, eyes still wide open.
Crash-!
Borman, who had barely come to his senses, rolled his eyes again and fainted.
Ar ran into the gathered Azonia students and started beating them up.
“What are you doing? Even if you are the class representative, it’s unacceptable to touch students from other factions without permission…”
“Shut up!”
“Keep your claws away from me!”
Ar growled and scratched the face of a protesting student, grabbing his claws and stomping on the heads of students who were struggling on the ground.
Ar shouted fiercely, “Do you know what you just did? Kidnapping a Lumene student? I got into a fight with the Lumene kids who came to find them! Can you take responsibility if there’s a diplomatic problem?”
Ar roared with her blue eyes flashing and her fangs bared, as if spitting fire.
Her voice overwhelmed the crowd.
The Azonia students backed away in fear.
Using his Aura, Duran shook off Ar’s momentum that was weighing down his entire body.
‘Howling.’
A unique Aura skill created by the Great Hero Arron long ago and passed down to the beastmen.
Though unique to beastmen, not everyone could use it.
Only a very small number of beastmen could use Howling.
‘Natural-born leaders.’
That’s why beastmen who could use Howling were special.
‘Plus, I heard that each user’s ability is different.’
Howling’s basic effect was to inflict fear on the enemy.
It intimidated all in the vicinity with a powerful shout.
However, each individual may experience different effects.
It could strengthen attack power, defense, or agility.
As a kind of buff effect.
Duran twirled his sword in his hand.
‘The strongest second year at Azonia.’
Duran knew Ar’s reputation well.
‘A terrifying monster, huh?’
Duran’s golden eyes narrowed.
‘And Leo Plov defeated her, too.’
Duran, having thought that far, spoke.
“Ar Tune.”
“Huh?”
Ar looked at Duran, intrigued.
She wagged her white tail as she spoke.
“You saw me during winter vacation, right? It seems that my stupid classmates have caused you trouble. As a class representative, I apologize.”
“No need for an apology. We beat you all up enough anyway.”
Before fighting Borman, Celia and Chen Xia had already beaten up dozens of Azonia students.
Additionally, Chloe was said to have escaped on her own.
‘Given Chloe’s personality, she wouldn’t have escaped going easy on them.’
She had already repaid her debt.
Lumene wouldn’t want a minor incident to escalate into a diplomatic issue between the schools.
“Ah, thank you for understanding.”
Swoosh-
“What is this?”
Ar narrowed her eyes at Duran’s sword aimed at her.
“I wish we could have a fight,” Duran said with a cold smile.
‘The kids at this school are so aggressive… no, they’re even more aggressive. They seem like dangerous kids.’
Ar’s lips slowly curled into a smile.
Grab-!
Crash-!
Ar struck Duran’s sword with her fist.
Duran held his sword firm.
‘Indeed.’
He pressed hard against the tingling sensation in his hand.
‘As rumored, she’s a monster.’
Duran smiled fiercely at Ar’s changed aura.
Ar lowered her posture and watched Duran with a wicked grin.
“The atmosphere has changed.”
Celia looked surprised.
She had seen Ar several times during winter vacation last year.
‘I didn’t have a chance to spar with her, though.’
The Ar she saw then had a different aura than the one now.
It wasn’t that she doubted her strength, but she felt a lack of charisma as a representative of Azonia.
She used to think Leo was foolish for teasing her as a ‘stupid cat.’
But now, Ar seemed like a completely different person.
The murderous aura emanating from her made her sweat run down her back.
“What a scary cat,” Chen Xia remarked with her usual smile.
Lwen replied while stroking her tail as she sat, “That’s only natural. There’s a reason why they call her the boss cat, even outside of the students in her faction.”
Chen Xia tilted her head at Lwen’s words.
“I think it’s a pretty cute nickname, “boss cat”.”
“It is a cute nickname. And she looks cute, too.”
Lwen narrowed her eyes.
Unlike her calm and clever aura until now, her eyes were filled with the aggressiveness typical of a beastman.
“However, Azonia students don’t easily recognize others as leaders. Especially not students from other factions.”
Azonia valued strength above all else.
That’s why they viewed those who were stronger as aspirational targets to be defeated someday.
Of course, after 2–3 years of being together, they might recognize her as an unbeatable strong person and treat her as a leader, but until then, they would only keep attacking her endlessly.
However, in just half a year, Ar was already being called ‘boss’ by most of her peers.
“To me and the other faction leaders, she looks like a monster of a cat.”
Crash-!
Duran’s body was pushed back by the swing of Ar’s fist.
“She’s certainly a monster.”
Chen Xia smiled brightly at Ar’s fur standing on end.
“By the way, this is a big deal, you know. Once she’s on fire, it’s not easy to put her out.”
“Duran is the same. I want to stop them now, but it doesn’t look easy to stop her in that state.”
Chen Xia smiled in embarrassment.
“Whew!”
Ar took a deep breath.
“Fwooo…”
Lwen smiled brightly and asked Leo, “They can’t just leave you alone?”
“He might get even more excited when he sees you and might attack you. He’s an idiot, and once he gets excited, he won’t pick an opponent.”
Leo ignored Lwen’s words and barged in between the two.
‘Shouldn’t I see how it’s going?’
Lwen’s eyes widened.
‘I probably wouldn’t win in a duel.’
The unprecedented All-Class.
And Lumene’s youngest student council president.
On top of that, he had already conquered the Hero’s World of one of the Great Heroes in his first year.
The difference in his strength was obvious.
‘But I would have a chance in a duel if we limited it to martial arts.’
Leo’s strength was that of an All-Class.
The Azonia students thought they could have a chance in a duel that was purely a contest of skill.
‘Should I look for any weaknesses?’
Running up from her seat, Lwen shook her fox tail and her eyes lit up.
Chen Xia smiled brightly as she watched her back.
Chen Xia could tell at a glance that Lwen was a very clever student, unlike other Azonia students.
‘Plus, it seems like she’s after Leo.’
If she were to ask for a duel purely, Chen Xia would have left her alone, but if she were to try to use underhanded methods…
‘I won’t let it slide.’
As Chen Xia smiled, Lwen shuddered and looked around.
‘What was that just now?’
Crash-!
As Ar swung her arm, a huge claw-shaped scar appeared on the ground.
Duran dodged it and raised his Aura.
Crackle-
‘Aura armor.’
Duran, covered in lightning all over his body, grabbed his sword.
Aura armor was usually for defense.
However, Duran could also use Aura armor as a means of attack.
Crash-!
Duran charged towards Ar.
Ar quickly dug into Duran’s arms and clenched his fists.
In close combat, Ar had the advantage of using her fists and feet.
Ar reached out to grab his neck.
Duran grabbed Ar’s hand with the hand that wasn’t holding his sword.
“Huh?”
“It’ll sting quite a bit.”
Crackle-
“Ack?!”
Ar’s fur stood on end as she was shocked.
“Argh-!”
Ar, stunned by the lightning Aura, threw back her head and cried out in pain.
Flash-!
But she raised her head and glared at Duran with her gleaming eyes.
Grunt-!
“It’s going to hurt quite a bit.”
With a vicious smile, Ar’s other hand flew toward Duran’s face.
Without hesitation, Duran distanced himself from Ar.
Crash-!
However, as Ar’s fist split the air, a huge wind pressure enveloped Duran’s body.
‘With just the shock wave?!’
Duran glared as he was sent flying.
Swish! Boom-!
He managed to hold on by stabbing his sword into the ground.
However, Duran’s body, unable to control the shock, was pushed back.
Swish-!
Duran barely stopped himself by bracing his feet and curled the corners of his mouth.
“This is fun.”
“I’m having fun too!”
It was when Ar grinned and lowered her posture.
“That’s it.”
Leo barged in.
Ar paused and Duran frowned.
“If you fight any longer, it’ll make things difficult. Kids from Lumene and Azonia are fighting each other all over the place. Shouldn’t we stop all that now?”
At Leo’s words, Duran draped his sword over his shoulder.
“Chloe escaped, so that means she’ll probably stay out of more fighting, right?”
“I guess so. But if you guys keep fighting, the situation won’t be resolved.”
“Huh. We should settle this quickly.”
“You should recover first before fighting.”
“What?”
“You’re not in top physical condition because of your previous fight, are you?”
Leo gestured to Borman, who had passed out.
At Leo’s words, Duran, who had been staring at Leo, clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“I don’t like your attitude. Seeing through everything, Leo Plov.”
Duran put his sword away and left.
“It was so fun! Why are you interrupting, Black Rabbit?”
Ar crossed her arms and made a disgruntled expression.
But soon, she grinned.
“Well, I’m still excited. This is perfect timing. I wanted to fight you during the trip for the Exclusive Smith Contracts!”
Ar grinned, showing her fangs.
“The opportunity came sooner than I thought! Fight me, Black Rabbit!”
Ar, who couldn’t easily calm down, lowered her posture.
“You’re definitely not listening to me more than usual.”
“Do you think I’m your pet cat? Always do what you say! If you take wild animals lightly, they’ll bite!”
Ar pounced on Leo with a huff.
The Azonia students who saw him clenched their fists and cheered.
“Oooh!”
The fight between the second-year representatives of Azonia and Lumene!
It was a thrilling spectacle for the Azonia students who enjoyed watching fights as much as participating in them.
Leo smiled softly to Ar, who had come right up to his nose.
“Hey there.”
“…!”
Whoosh-!
At that moment, Ar glared at him and hurriedly distanced herself from Leo.
She lifted her rear and lowered her upper body like a cat with its fur standing on end, holding onto the ground with her hands.
Her tail was stiff and upright, and cold sweat dripped down her chin.
Leo, watching Ar like this, snickered and said to Celia and Chen Xia, who were making puzzled expressions, “Let’s go back.”
Leo left Azonia’s dorm.
“That’s not like you.”
Lwen yawned with a bored expression and went back into the dorm.
Ar, who had raised her body, looked down at her hand.
Cold sweat rose.
For a moment, the shape of a wolf appeared behind Leo’s back.
She had experienced this during the last summer vacation.
But it was different then.
And the shock that hit her was incomparable to that time.
‘That was definitely… Howling.’
Ar wiped her hand on her school uniform skirt.
A human being using Howling.
It was an unbelievable thought.
But it was true.
Ar tilted her head as she watched Leo’s back.
‘Black Rabbit, what on earth are you?’
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