Chapter 57: A Blue Blade, A Shifting Shadow, And Mist Flowing Against The Wind

Leon staggered backward as another claw tore through the air in front of him.

He had barely shifted in time.

The Nightmare Spawn struck the ground instead, carving deep grooves through the soil. Leon’s breathing was already ragged, his arms hanging heavily at his sides as he tried to create distance, but the creatures had surrounded him too thoroughly for retreat to remain an option.

Five pairs of eyes fixed on him through the darkness.

The creatures moved with an almost unsettling playfulness, circling him instead of attacking together.

Then one lunged.

Leon raised both hands.

The claw slammed into his guard.

The force should have broken his arms.

Instead, the impact was absorbed into him.

Leon felt the familiar pressure travel through his body, gathering beneath his skin and settling somewhere deeper. The pain remained, but the momentum behind it did not. He absorbed it.

He twisted and threw a punch.

The stored force burst from his arm.

The Nightmare Spawn jerked backward before the attack reached it, twisting through the air and landing outside his range.

Leon clicked his tongue.

He could take their attacks, but he couldn’t make them stand still long enough to return them.

Another Nightmare Spawn came from behind.

Leon spun, caught its strike with his forearm, absorbed the impact, and immediately tried to release it.

The creature ducked.

His fist tore through empty air.

A second claw slammed into his ribs from the side.

Leon was thrown several meters.

He rolled across the dirt, coughing, and barely managed to push himself upright before another Nightmare Spawn landed in front of him.

It laughed.

The sound made his skin crawl.

Leon wiped the blood from his mouth.

The creatures kept forcing him to absorb their blows, then denying him the openings required to release the accumulated force.

His hands were beginning to shake.

Still, Leon raised them.

The nearest Nightmare Spawn charged.

He waited.

Closer.

Closer.

At the final moment, he shifted aside and drove a fist toward its torso.

The creature twisted away.

Leon missed.

A claw crashed into his chest. He absorbed it. Another struck his shoulder and he absorbed that too. A third slammed into his back before he could turn.

His knees buckled, but Leon forced himself upright.

There was too much force inside him, and his entire body felt overloaded. One clean hit should have been enough to tear one of these things apart, but the creatures wouldn’t give him one.

They had him surrounded, and they were enjoying it.

Their giggling rose and fell around him as they jumped through the trees, sometimes appearing in front of him, sometimes disappearing behind the darkness.

Leon swung again.

Nothing.

The pressure inside him continued building, yet all that accumulated power was useless if he couldn’t land it.

A Nightmare Spawn struck his legs.

Leon caught the impact, stumbled, and fell to one knee.

The creatures laughed.

He planted one hand against the ground and forced himself up.

His fingers were bleeding.

That was when the memory returned.

His hands had looked like this before. Bleeding, shaking, and useless.

He remembered standing in front of his family after the awakening test. He had been waiting for the result like every other noble child.

Affinity detected.

Instead, the examiner had stared at the results for longer than usual before announcing that no affinity had been detected.

Mundane.

His family had wasted no time after that.

He had been stripped of his name and thrown out because there was no use for someone who couldn’t awaken an affinity.

Leon had spent months learning how to survive without the wealth, servants, and protection he’d taken for granted as a child. He had worked until his body hurt, slept wherever he could, and learned quickly that being born a noble meant very little once your family decided you were worthless.

Then he’d realised his actual ability.

A special category.

Kinetic energy.

It was rare enough to change everything.

The family that had discarded him suddenly remembered that he was their son.

The message had arrived only days later.

Leon could still remember every word.

Our beloved Leon,

We were relieved and overjoyed to learn of your recent awakening. Whatever happened between us before should be considered a regrettable misunderstanding. You remain a cherished member of our family, and the Veyron household welcomes you home with open arms.

Your room has been prepared, and your place within the family will be restored immediately upon your return.

We hope our beloved son will forgive the harsh decisions made during a difficult time.

It had sounded almost touching.

Almost.

Then he’d learned who delivered it.

Not his father or his mother.

Not a single member of the family who had thrown him away.

Servants.

They had sent servants to collect the asset they had discarded.

Leon remembered looking at the letter and understanding exactly what had changed.

His value.

He had already known his family was disappointed in him.

That message taught him something worse.

They hadn’t suddenly remembered loving him.

They had discovered he was useful.

Leon looked down at his bleeding hands.

And now, even after coming to the academy, he was here again.

Helpless.

That was the part he hated most, and he had come here to change that.

He had entered the academy because he was tired of being the person everyone could discard, control, or look down on. He had wanted to become stronger, learn to fight, and finally reach a point where he could stand on his own.

Instead, he was going to die surrounded by monsters.

Without his family. Without anyone to train him, guide him, or pull him back up.

Leon swallowed hard.

Maybe that was all he had ever been.

Someone who needed other people to become anything at all.

His family had decided he was useless when they thought he had no power.

Now he was about to prove them right.

Blood ran down his forehead, reaching the corner of his eye.

Leon wiped it away.

His legs trembled as he forced himself upright.

He raised both hands.

The pressure inside his body shifted.

One more attack.

He would gather everything he had left and release it in a single strike.

Even if it killed him afterward.

The nearest Nightmare Spawn lowered its body.

Leon planted his feet.

He gritted his teeth hard enough for his gums to split.

Then the giggling stopped.

Every creature froze.

The forest went silent.

Mist suddenly poured between the trees.

It spread too quickly to be natural, rolling across the ground and swallowing the clearing before Leon could understand where it had come from.

His heart began pounding.

Shapes appeared inside the fog.

Silhouettes.

Dozens of them.

No, not dozens.

Five.

One for each Nightmare Spawn.

The creatures reacted immediately.

They roared and rushed toward the nearest shape.

The silhouette disappeared.

A blade flashed through the mist.

One Nightmare Spawn recoiled with blood pouring from its shoulder.

The creature swung toward the empty space.

Another shape formed behind it.

The Nightmare Spawn turned.

Too late.

Something struck its wounded side.

It staggered.

A thin streak of blood separated from its body and vanished into the fog.

A second later, the creature jerked violently as a blue light tore into the wound.

It tried to shield itself.

That only exposed its throat.

The silhouette stepped through the mist.

A blue edge flashed.

The creature collapsed.

Leon couldn’t move.

The remaining four Nightmare Spawns attacked at once.

The mist erupted with movement.

One creature tore through a silhouette and found nothing.

Another leaped toward a second shape, but it vanished before impact.

A blade cut across the creature’s back.

It spun and struck blindly.

The attacker had already moved.

Leon saw only pieces.

A blue blade, a shifting shadow, and Mist flowing against the wind.

The Nightmare Spawns were being forced to fight something they couldn’t locate.

One of them seemed to realize the pattern.

It stopped attacking the silhouettes and slammed both claws into the ground, tearing through the mist in an attempt to expose whoever was controlling it.

For a heartbeat, the fog opened.

Leon saw a figure.

Then the Nightmare Spawn charged.

The figure shifted aside.

The creature’s claws struck the ground.

Water flashed along a sword, tearing across its arm.

The creature roared and tried to retreat.

A blue light shot at it and struck.

The Nightmare Spawn blocked the attack with both arms.

The defense worked.

For half a second.

A figure appeared at its blind side and the blade entered beneath its ribs.

The creature staggered and tried to turn.

The sword withdrew and another strike finished it.

Three remained.

Then two.

Leon watched in disbelief as the creatures fought harder with every exchange.

They weren’t being casually butchered.

They attacked the fog itself, tried to corner the silhouettes, and began striking in wide arcs to prevent their enemy from approaching.

It didn’t matter.

The figure adapted to them.

When one creature rushed, the mist moved first.

When another defended, the attack came from somewhere else.

When they tried to group together, a blue light shot and forced one of them away by targeting the blood on its wounds.

One Nightmare Spawn managed to land a strike.

The figure stumbled.

Leon saw blue light flicker wildly around the sword as it destabilized under the movement.

The creature lunged again.

The figure barely escaped the second strike, then turned.

One precise cut and the creature’s throat opened.

The last Nightmare Spawn charged through the mist.

A silhouette emerged to meet it.

The creature swung with everything it had left, claws tearing through the fog as the figure slipped beneath the attack and struck in the same motion. Blue flashed along the blade, cutting deep into the Nightmare Spawn’s side.

The creature staggered.

It tried to turn back toward its attacker, but another cut forced it sideways. Blood poured from the wound as it stumbled blindly through the thinning mist.

Straight toward Leon.

Leon raised his hands on instinct, but the Nightmare Spawn was already barely standing. Its body swayed with every step, its breathing ragged as it dragged itself forward.

Then Leon heard a voice so cold it sent chills down his spine.

"Swing."

There was no hesitation in the command.

Leon moved before he could even think about what he’d heard.

His body reacted as though the command had been given to something deeper than his mind.

He stepped forward and swung.

The force he had accumulated exploded from his fist.

The air cracked.

The Nightmare Spawn’s torso ruptured from the impact, its body thrown backward before collapsing to the ground without a scream.

Leon remained frozen with his arm extended.

The mist began to clear around him.

Under the moonlight, the figure who had commanded him stepped into view.

A young man stood with his sword lowered at his side.

His blue eyes met Leon’s.

There was no surprise in them.

Only unmistakable arrogance and a cold, assessing judgment that made Leon feel as though he were being measured and found lacking.

Despite the figure being shorter than him, Leon suddenly felt very small.

He swallowed.

It was Caelus Vespera.