A Story of Evil

A Hell Direwolf.

A Reaper.

A Colossus.

These are the creatures which were summoned by Lumina's enemy at that time. Everyone thought that her enemies were already deploying their strongest summons but, they were wrong. Because the ones that came out at that time felt exceedingly more dangerous. To such an extent that comparing them to the first one would be like comparing a hill to a mountain.

There was a good reason why these summons weren't used right away of course. And, it is because of the price for them coming out which, Lumina's opponents were already suffering. With all of them having a kind of wound on their arm. A bite mark, a stab, and a deep cut. Their blood dripping down the grounds of the arena.

"You should've finished us when you had the chance little girl!"

"I don't mind."

"What did you say?"

"As far as your summons go, I'll get as many chances as I want."

"Don't belittle us!"

The three summoners mobilized their creatures immediately. It was the colossus which attacked first, a rock coated creature towering at twenty feet in height. The mere swinging of its arm had so much force that, it even created a strong gust of wind. 

Lumina was about to make her golem catch this but, she saw the direwolf running on top of it. Forcing her to change plans as, she used the dryads vines in order to entangle the arm along with the direwolf. The latter mentioned creature was able to escape. However, the colossus which proved to be too big, was caught by the vines.

Yet this alone wasn't enough to stop it because, the force of the giant was much greater than a couple of vines. That's why Lumina finally deployed her golem. Making it summon a stack of rock walls which caught the colossus' swing. With the vines assisting it, the monster was finally stopped.

But this didn't come without a price because, the reaper was able to get to Lumina's back during this interval.

"I've got you now!" The slim summoner commented as his summon swung its scythe so fast that, even a bullet would be put to shame. However, he wasn't able to get the result he desired as, Lumina easily moved her head away from it's range.

"H-How?"

The girl didn't bother explaining herself. She took the scythe of the reaper by force. With the dryad adding its spikes once again which, began stabbing through the creature.

The reaper didn't go down without a fight however. It summoned small skeleton underlings. All of these attacking Lumina at the same time. These aren't normal ones but, explosive skeletons at that which Lumina was able to learn after she tried retraining them with the same spikes.

Aside from the ones she saw in front of her, more of these came pout from the ground. With the intention of catching her off guard. But Lumina didn't even take a second in order to respond. Even with her exposed to these skeletons, she was able to hit them accurately with the scythe she borrowed. Killing them on the spot as she jumped away from the explosion.

This left only the direwolf and the colossus for her to take care of. The direwolf in particular was quick on its feet. Able to blend with the shadows and take the enemy by surprise by attacking the blind spot. Unfortunately there was none for Lumina.

The direwolf and its summoner was caught in a predicament. The creature didn't respond to its master's command in going to Lumina's blind spot and, this finally made them realize what was happening.

Lumina escaping the reaper's attack, as well as escaping all of the explosive skeletons wasn't a fluke. All of it was due to the large orb floating in the air. They tried directing their attack to this but, the thing was simply too high up and, adding to their concern was Lumina herself who already has a vine whip in her hand. Provided by the dryad which seemed to continue getting stronger by the second.

"Like I said, I have enough chances to beat you." Lumina repeated, with a cocky grin on her face. Infuriating her enemies which summoned another set of monsters as all of these went for her.

Yet this was all too late as, the dryad finally rooted itself deeply enough into the arena's grounds. Allowing it to create even stronger vines by sucking on the earth's mana. Giving it enough to use its ultimate skill.

The whole battlefield was covered in vines. Literally. It filled the whole barrier protecting the students, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening inside. And because nobody could see what was happening anymore, it finally gave time for those watching to talk among themselves.

...

...

...

"Okay time out. Can anyone explain to me what's happening here?" Nathan exclaimed as soon as the pause was made.

It wasn't just this which amazed him but also, the amazing flexibility and speed of Lumina which allowed her to continually dodge the summons of her opponents.

Nobody was giving him an answer from Shadow. He then looked at Sol, hoping that he had answers. But their leader simply gave him a shrug because he was just as clueless as Nathan was. 

It was a weird thing to behold. So much so that it wasn't just him who was weirded out but, everyone in the team as well. That's why they resorted to getting their answers from those who may have it. Namely, the students who were with them at that time.

Nathan gave them a deadly stare. One which Hendrickson imitated as well and, although the others didn't give the same look. They nevertheless made their intent felt. One which demanded for answers to be given to them.

"Uhm...well..." One student began. He looked at the other students around him and, they all gave a slight nod which meant their approval.

"None of us has actually seen Lady Lumina's summons. Until this very day she has never taken them out in the Academy." 

"That explains why she's unranked." Sol said, finally getting an answer as to why such a powerful summoner wasn't even considered in the Academy's rankings.

"Y-Yes. In fact, rumor has it that queen herself has instructed that Lumina should never be forced to bring out her summons and that, she needs to do so of her own accord."

"Why is that?" Nathan continued asking. 

"It's because of a rumor." A female student responded.

"A rumor?"

"Yeah. They say that, anyone who gets to see her summon doesn't get the chance to live another day. He or she gets killed." A student explained.

"But all of us are alive right now though." Sol stated. An undeniable fact which was true for everyone. That's why he needed to ask further:

"Where did you even get that?"

The students looked between themselves. With a kind of hesitation that was even higher than the first one. As if talking about it would result in their own deaths. But they nevertheless decided to proceed. With another gentle nod being shared by these students as, the third years in the group stepped up to continue the explanation.

"There was a story, about what happened when Lady Lumina was still a child."

"What would that be?" Sol said.

He already had a rough idea of what he'd hear. From the story which Lumina was telling him during their time ini the Acrhives, the young paladin had a feeling that it would be connected to this. To the continuation of the story which Lumina wasn't able to tell him entirely.

"It's about a story that, she summoned a beast so monstrous that she couldn't control it herself. A lot of people heard this from close vicinity. Some people were even able to catch a glimpse of it before running away. But those who saw it up close and personal...those who truly saw the beast...all of them are now killed. Even..."

"Even?"

"Even the real princes Lumina." This revelation shocked the members of shadow except for Sol. They couldn't believe that this was so. Especially with how well Lumina behaved and how prim and proper she always was.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan probed.

"She's not the real princess. The queen just adopted her after her real family got killed by an angry mob of summoners who stormed their house after the incident."

"But why would they do that? I'm sure she didn't even mean it. Not a child at least."

"That is true but, they say that it's because of her bloodline."

"Bloodline?"

"She comes from a long line of summoners who are said to have sold their souls to the devil himself. In exchange, they have summons that are...otherworldly...ones which could only be brought out through a special price."

"You mean similar to the method of her enemies?"

"Yes. They say that those in her bloodline are cursed to have these summons and that, they pay a portion of their soul whenever they take these out."

"But you also mentioned about everyone who sees these summons getting killed. Yet this fight happened and, ended without anyone getting killed."

"That's true but, there is another part of that rumor you see."

"Another part?"

"Yes. They say that, Lady Lumina can strip away the summons of those she kills."

"What do you mean?"

"The summons of all those which her beast devours...she gets to keep them for herself."