318
“It’s Warden!”
“Warden has come to save us!”
A cheer erupted from the Harmony Dormitory side.
Nella, who had been in a standoff with Leo, looked at those dormitory students and muttered softly.
“It doesn’t exactly seem like Warden came here to save us….”
As soon as she finished speaking, Warden raised his hand.
Hwooosh-!
Above Warden’s hand, a massive orb of flames formed.
It was Warden’s specialty.
It was a spirit magic utilizing magical runes.
“Ohhh!”
“Warden! Warden!”
The Harmony students loudly cheered Warden’s name.
Gooouuuuu!
“Warden! Warden… War….”
But they soon realized something was wrong, and the cheers began to d*e down.
“……”
“……”
At some point, everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on Warden.
Among them, a student from the Department of Knights at Harmony said:
“Hey.”
“…What?”
“…That thing is getting way too big, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing….”
While watching Warden’s ever-growing flame orb, every student except Leo started to break out in cold sweat.
“Pfft. It’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. Even if he’s crazy, there’s no way he’d unleash a large-scale area attack with so many allies around. Hahahaha.”
The students from the Department of Knights and Department of Magic chuckled awkwardly. Meanwhile, the students from the Department of Summoning didn’t hesitate—they ran away.
“What’re you doing? Scatter!”
“That guy doesn’t care about anything and would still pull off a large-scale attack!”
After a year of studying together, the summoning department students knew Warden’s character far too well.
Realizing this, the students from the knighthood and magic departments panicked and ran too.
Nella sighed knowingly, trying to step back.
But then she froze as she looked at Leo, who didn’t move an inch.
“Aren’t you dodging?”
In response to her question, Leo smiled faintly and pointed his finger.
“Should we dodge that way?”
In that direction, the Harmony students were taking refuge.
Startled, they shouted.
“Hey! Don’t come over here!”
“Go over there!”
“Hey! You’re directing us to d*e for you?!”
The Harmony students pointed at the noble students, who in turn cried out in panic.
Watching this, Leo chuckled and looked at Warden.
“Ignore me.”
Hearing Leo’s words, Nella leapt toward the side where the Harmony students were.
At that moment, Warden’s massive flames engulfed Leo.
Seeing the ferocious flames of tremendous size, Leo tightened his grip on his sword.
Woong-!
A gray aura swirled.
Leo, who had condensed the aura into his sword, glared with fierce eyes and swung his blade.
Ssak-!
A terrifying sound tore through the air.
Huuwoosh-!
With that, Warden’s flames split into two.
Kuuwaaaaaang-!
A massive explosion occurred, and like a waterfall, waves of flames surged forth.
The rolling waves of flames eventually crashed to the ground.
For a moment, Leo’s eyes twitched.
‘A fusion of fire spirits and earth spirits?’
Contrary to expectations, the explosive magic wasn’t spirit-based magic using elemental spirits.
Warden was preparing an attack to deal additional damage to Leo, who specialized in fire attributes.
Bubble-! Whooshhh!
The flame that seeped into the ground spouted upward like a fountain.
The surrounding area instantly transformed into a sea of lava.
As Warden made a motion with his hand, the fire spirits and earth spirits moved.
Kuuuuwaaaaang-!
The towering waves of lava struck fear into the hearts of the nearby students who were trying to evacuate.
“Aaaah! It’s pulling us in!”
“Run! Run!”
It was like a natural disaster.
Warden had absolute, perfect control over the surrounding natural environment.
Watching the waves of lava closing in on him, Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Monster.”
Thud-!
As he said that, Leo was swept away by the lava.
[Wow! Amazing! From the Harmony Dormitory, Warden Tyden! Is this truly the level of spirit magic expected from a second-year student?]
Every time there was an external event, the fourth-year student from the Department of Summoning, Runba Tes, took on commentary duties, spitting out his excitement with a loud voice.
[Professor Sedgen, who oversees the second-year students overall! What are your thoughts about Warden’s spirit magic?]
“Exquisite!”
“Wow! Rare praise from Professor Sedgen, one of the most competent professors in Lumeran!”
“…Um, what does he mean by ‘exquisite’?”
With her chin propped up, Rina muttered under her breath. Nearby, a beautiful female student responded, gently twisting her hair.
“Runba is just naturally very good at embellishment.”
Elena, who was assisting Principal Rina as the acting vice chairman, was present to represent the president.
On the other hand, Habidden, the acting mayor of the city of Rumelia and vice president of the student council, sat next to Rina with an eye patch, his head leaned back in sleep.
The royal guests, sitting in the VIP section, looked on with perplexed expressions at the sight.
[Please introduce to our audience the excellence of Warden!]
[Audience! Warden! This is… I! Sedgen! One of the prized students I’ve trained to the best of my ability!]
[…But I seem to recall that Warden wasn’t under Professor Sedgen’s supervision during his first year…]
[Does it matter? He’s under my guidance now, so he’s my student, isn’t he? Come on, Warden! Quick, punish that annoying Leo Flove… Urk! Urk!]
[Sedgen professor! As a commentator, you must remain neutral…]
“Get him out of the way!”
With that, the broadcast was abruptly cut off.
The audience all wore astonished expressions.
[We apologize for the brief broadcast mishap.]
Halind’s cold voice rang out.
In the meantime, Professor Sedgen had already been dragged away by other professors.
Currently, the audience stands included powerful nobles from various nations, as well as royal dignitaries seated as guests.
In such a scenario, a major accident occurred.
In any other venue, this would’ve caused an uproar. Indeed, the first-years were horrified, anxiously looking around and wondering what would happen next.
However, the third, fourth, and fifth years were calm.
“Does our son receive hatred from the professors?”
“Pfft! Hatred? How much do they actually adore him!”
Yura grinned as she massaged Reina’s shoulders.
“Senior Reina. Here is the highest-quality tea I cultivated using magic.”
Ren, with graceful hand gestures, poured the tea into Reina’s cup.
Clapping his hands lightly, Anna, looking utterly distressed, approached.
“These are cookies I baked personally.”
“Oh, dear, thank you.”
“…Professor Ren. Everyone’s watching.”
“Associate Professor Anna. Remember that entertaining guests is necessary for the boundless progress of magic.”
‘And yet she ignores them when they visit regularly…’
Anna sighed deeply in her heart.
“Hey! Carlo! Where have you been?”
“…How do you expect me to make a round trip to the Island of Beasts in ten minutes?”
Professor Carlo, Yura’s assistant professor, returned with fruits gathered from the Island of Beasts.
“Senior Reina, don’t eat those cookies. Try these fruits instead. You know the fruits from the Island of Beasts are a specialty of Lumeran, right?”
“Oh, dear. Thank you.”
Ohohooho—Covering her mouth and laughing, Reina tilted her head.
“But why are you all doing so much for me?”
“It’s simply a way of expressing our feelings to a respected senior we haven’t seen for a long time.”
“Cute…”
As Yura flirted, Associate Professor Carlo made a strange expression but quickly bowed his head under her menacing glare.
“Yes, I’ve never forgotten Senior Reina since her graduation.”
“…Professor Ren, that sounds kind of dangerous.”
Ignoring Anna’s deep sigh, Ren continued.
“So, what is it that you want?”
“A conversation about the advancement of magic and Leo’s future.”
“Senior Reina, Leo should choose to be in the summoning department. Of course, you were a part of the knighthood department, but I feel one shouldn’t be swayed by that! Look at Leo! He carries the bl**d of Zerdinger—he’s a phoenix vow keeper!”
“Hmm. Both of your opinions have valid points.”
Reina smiled.
“By the way, I suddenly want some ice cream that was sold in Rumelia City.”
As soon as Reina finished speaking, Yura and Ren ran off without even turning back.
Watching them, Aina muttered under her breath.
“A disgrace to Lumeran’s professors.”
Anna and Carlo couldn’t deny that statement.
Having enjoyed her time with her juniors after a long while, Reina’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the magical video display.
“Still, this Warden kid is quite remarkable.”
“He would’ve been the strongest second-year student if it weren’t for Leo. The rumors of him being called a monster weren’t unfounded.”
“Hmm, I’ve heard about him even from outside the main field.”
Reina nodded as she watched Warden standing amidst the rolling waves of lava.
“Of course…”
Ain stared intently at the video screen and spoke.
“Your son is more of a monster.”
At the end of his statement, gasps echoed throughout the entire audience stands.
Amidst the sea of lava,
Leo stood.
On his outstretched arm sat a beautiful phoenix.
Boil- Boil-
The lava boiled.
In its midst stood Leo, calm and composed.
‘It’s ineffective.’
Warden narrowed his eyes.
Leo stood amidst the lava without a trace of scorching.
Seeing this, Warden let out a soft chuckle.
‘Leo Flove.’
Warden moved his enormous hands.
Warden Tyden.
He was born in a desert nation located in the southern part of the continent.
The nation of Dolian, known as the land of spirit masters, where everything functioned through the power of spirit masters.
Warden was born into the lower class of Dolian.
But in Dolian, where anyone with spirit magic talent was treated favorably, Warden quickly ascended to the upper class.
However, with that ascent came a natural consequence: he became a target of suspicion.
There were even those who attempted to k*ll him to suppress his growth.
But by the time he reached 14 and summoned a high-level spirit, the power elite of Dolian could no longer view Warden merely as a threat to their position.
They regarded him as the strongest spirit master and a talent essential for Dolian’s future.
Thus, Warden continuously sought greater strength.
The reason was simple.
To be merely strong was to be the target of suspicion.
But to be the strongest was to be revered.
Strength was not just a matter of pride for Warden, who climbed to the top of Dolian’s hierarchy on his own from a young age, but also a means of survival.
When he first entered Lumeran Academy, he believed without doubt that he would be at the top of his group, as he always had been.
However…
‘Leo Flove appeared.’
Upon looking back, he had realized he was far surpassed by a man who seemed to be beyond his reach.
Warden, who had always believed in his own strength, faced his first insurmountable wall.
It was undeniable.
The monster standing before him was superior.
Even so, Warden did not stop pursuing the pinnacle of strength.
Hwooosh-!
Leo’s mana caused the phoenix Fiora to release even more intense flames.
Warden felt Leo stealing control over his flames.
‘If someone else is the strongest…’
Hwooosh-!
A massive orb of flames aimed at Warden.
‘Then I’ll wager everything to challenge that strongest.’
Gooouuuuuu-!
Warden’s body became engulfed in mana.
Seeing this, Leo’s eyes flickered.
Kugugugugung-!
The earth shook.
Kuuwaaaaang-!
As if the earth itself was enraged, the ground began to split open.
Gooohhhooouuuu-!
The earth roared.
A colossal earth giant swung its arm.
The giant grasped Fiora’s flames within its grasp.
Kuuwaaaaang-!
With a tremor that shook the ground, the flames scattered in all directions.
It was like a natural disaster unfolding.
-Oooohhhhh-!
The earth beneath where Warden stood rose up.
The massive earth giant roared up at the sky.
Seeing this, Leo widened his eyes.
This was completely unexpected.
“Great Spirit?”
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
