CHAPTER 152: EX 152. LET IT BURN

From the viewing stands high above the training arena, Nikko Yakomoto narrowed her eyes.

"Why would she use that?" she muttered, voice too soft for anyone but Elizabeth to catch.

Elizabeth turned toward her, brow furrowed. "What does that tree do?"

Nikko didn’t answer at first. Her gaze stayed locked on the massive tree growing at the far end of the arena, a towering, ancient thing with bark like silver stone and branches that shimmered with faint luminescence.

"It’s a support skill," Nikko finally said. "A powerful one. Meant to empower an entire base during extended combat. It spreads buffs through the ground itself, strength, stamina, clarity of mind. Useful in large, scale battles, especially when morale is low or numbers thin."

Elizabeth’s brows pulled together.

"Then why use it now? For a display?"

"Exactly." Nikko’s voice was low and uncertain. "It doesn’t make sense."

A chill settled between them.

Elizabeth turned back toward the field, eyes drifting from the tree to Leon’s figure below. He was standing still, looking as unimpressed as ever. But she knew that look, it was a mask.

"I believe Leon will be okay," she said, as much to reassure herself as Nikko. "It’s Leon, after all."

Nikko glanced at her. There was a heaviness behind her eyes, a weight that Elizabeth didn’t fully understand.

"I wish I had your confidence," Nikko said quietly. "But I know what Sakura’s capable of. And if she tries anything foolish..."

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

’Traditions be damned.’

Back on the field, the atmosphere shifted.

Sakura stepped forward, her smile polite. As Her voice rang out like a silver bell.

"Colonel Leon Kael," she said, "as a display of strength, you are simply required to leave a mark... on the World Tree."

A hush fell over the crowd.

Then murmurs exploded through the ranks of soldiers watching from the sidelines.

"Leave a mark on that? Is that even possible?"

"Sounds right. An A-rank should be able to manage something like that."

"Oh shut it," another soldier snapped. "Reach E-rank first before you open your mouth about what an A-rank can or can’t do."

"Tch. Fucking bastard..."

While the grunts bickered, Leon’s two women were locked in very different thoughts.

Nikko’s gaze hadn’t wavered. She was still staring at the World Tree, jaw clenched.

’What is she planning?’ she thought. ’Why would the display be this simple?’

Elizabeth’s thoughts ran a different track, but ended in the same place.

’Leave a mark on the World Tree?’ For Leon, ’that should be child’s play.’

She narrowed her eyes, a chill prickling her skin.

’There are only two reasons for that kind of blunder... either the Supreme Heir is even dumber than she already looks... or she’s planning something devious.’

Elizabeth swallowed, hard.

’Gods, I hope it’s the first option... but I know it isn’t.’

****

Sakura’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk, the kind that lived at the edge of madness and brilliance. Her eyes sparkled, not with affection, but anticipation. Deep within, her mind bloomed with pleasure at the genius of her plan. Every root of the World Tree, every leaf swaying in the breeze, whispered the same truth: he has no idea what’s coming.

Not even Nikko had been made aware of the World Tree’s true function, a secret passive effect layered beneath its glorious form. It was more than just a conduit of natural energy.If struck, it would unleash a thousandfold of damage, a tidal wave of force rebounding onto the attacker. It was like Adrian’s "Full Counter," but this one was useful. Although any damage done to it would be transferred to the caster, Sakura believed she could withstand whatever Leon threw at the tree.

Back in the infirmary, Adrian twitched slightly in his unconscious state, his body reacting as if it sensed the disaster looming in the world outside.

Back on the field, Sakura stood radiant in her pride. Her arms folded across her chest, shoulders relaxed, her entire presence oozing confidence. The World Tree towered behind her, casting its vast shadow across the stunned audience. And as she watched Leon standing still, eyes locked on the tree, her smile widened until it nearly touched both ears.

’Go ahead,’ she thought. ’Strike it and watch what happens. Nikko will never sit still if her little crush gets hurt. She’ll move in, and break tradition just to defend him. And when she does... she’ll lose her footing. Her title’s power only works because she clings to protocol. If I make her cross that line... she falls. And I will rise.’

The thought sent a rush of heat through her chest. She had already won. It was foolproof. She had done her research, Leon Kael, the anomaly, the demon-slayer, the chaos in human form. But brute force was still brute force. And she... she was S-rank. A Supreme Talent, not a street brawler. He was powerful, yes. But this time, brains beat brawn.

’Next time, maybe you won’t look down on a pretty lady like me,’ she thought, her eyes narrowing as she watched him.

Then, something shifted.

Leon’s stillness wasn’t hesitation. It was preparation.

His body lowered slightly. Shoulders tightened. Feet adjusted. And then came the calm, like the surface of water before a storm shatters it. Sakura felt it first. A prickling in her skin. A wrongness in the air. Then the pressure slammed into the field like a falling sky.

A wave of Draconic Might, ancient, raw, and oppressive, erupted from his body.

Sakura’s smirk froze.

Leon’s voice cut through the roar of energy like a blade:

"Primordial Dragon Art."

The field cracked, the sky shuddered, and all hell broke loose.

****

Leon had no clue what kind of trap Sakura had laid beneath that towering, arrogant tree, but frankly, he didn’t give a damn. The only thing he cared about was putting her in her place. That smug grin, that fake sweetness, he was sick of it. All of it. And if that meant lighting her precious tree on fire, so be it.

’Maybe the old man was right,’ Leon thought dryly, recalling how the Arbiter didnt add intelligence as one of his qualities.

"Maybe he had a point about the intelligence part," Leon muttered to himself, lips curving into a smirk.

He wasn’t reckless, at least not the way most people thought. He thought. His methods were just simple, clean and direct. If something couldn’t be solved with force, then clearly, you weren’t using enough of it.

As wind stirred the scorched field and heat shimmered off his skin, Leon lifted his sword. The air changed. The weight of his presence swelled. Scaled pressure crawled across the field, thick and suffocating. From his core, Draconic might began to rise, howling to be unleashed.

He didn’t need to cut down the tree.

’That would take time. That would play into her hand.’

No, he’d burn it.

His voice rang clear, steady and cold, cutting across the training ground like a sentence passed by an executioner.

"Draconic Flame."

Fire burst across his blade, coating the steel in searing golden flame. It wasn’t ordinary fire. It was ancient, and sovereign, born from a beast that had ruled the skies long before Sakura’s tree ever took root. The ground cracked beneath his feet as the heat exploded outward, and the smirk on Leon’s face sharpened.

Sakura wanted to test her little trap?

Good.

She’d just baited a dragon.