Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted, making a series of small cracks appear on the gray slabs beneath Laira’s feet. Before Ethan could finish his sentence, she had already stamped down hard on the ground. Her tall body immediately shot up into the air, without any wasted movement.

No need to dodge.

No need to observe weak points.

Laira only flew up nearly ten meters above the ground, then slowly spread her wings in the middle of the dark arena. Her long red hair stirred in the current of hot air. Her curved black horns reflected the firelight. The white dress was covered in a layer of blazing red halo, making her look like a war goddess who had just stepped out of a sea of fire.

The Skeleton Ranger immediately released its bowstring.

Whoosh!

The energy arrow shot straight at Ethan. Almost at the same time, the darkness behind a stone pillar distorted violently. The Skeleton Assassin appeared less than five meters from Ethan, the two curved daggers in its hands flashing with a cold light at once.

But Laira didn’t even look down.

Behind her back, four arrows formed entirely of flame suddenly appeared. Each arrow was over a meter long, the shafts glowing red like molten metal. Small sparks kept shooting out around them, distorting the air and making the temperature in the arena rise rapidly.

In the main hall of Aurora Academy, the measurement devices immediately let out a series of warning sounds.

[Abnormal energy fluctuation detected.]

[Unable to measure temperature accurately.]

[Energy readings rising rapidly.]

The gray-haired woman in the control room immediately shot to her feet. She looked at the numbers jumping wildly on the screen, her voice turning tense: "Four energy constructs have locked onto targets. No buildup time needed. No... it’s not that she just created them. Those fire arrows were already formed the moment she spread her wings."

Headmaster Cole narrowed his eyes. The man in the military uniform also stepped closer to the glass.

No one said anything more.

Because Laira had already lightly swung her arm.

Whoosh!

The four fire arrows shot off all at once.

The speed was too fast, the naked eye almost couldn’t keep up. All that remained in the arena were four blazing red streaks tearing across the darkness, like four bolts of lightning carrying terrifying heat striking down all at once.

The first arrow shot straight at the Skeleton Knight. The monster immediately raised its greatsword, putting up a black defensive barrier before it. The Skeleton Priest also activated the soul shield, making two layers of defense cover its body at the same time.

But it was completely useless.

Boom!

The fire arrow pierced through the black barrier like punching through a thin sheet of paper. The soul shield blew apart. The black armor on the Skeleton Knight melted, then its entire body was swallowed by the flame.

The second arrow struck the Skeleton Priest. The staff in its hand shattered the moment it was raised. The gray-white symbols around the arena all went dark at once. The tattered robe caught fire, then the entire skeletal frame disintegrated into countless small particles of dust.

The Skeleton Ranger didn’t even get the chance to fire a second arrow. A red streak had already pierced through its ribcage.

Boom!

The silver bow blew apart. The Skeleton Ranger’s body was swept backward by the force of the impact, then turned to ash right in midair.

The last arrow suddenly changed direction.

It didn’t fire toward any obvious target, but shot straight down into the dark area behind Ethan.

The Skeleton Assassin had just appeared.

The two curved daggers were less than a meter from Ethan’s back. But before they could reach their target, the fire arrow had already plunged straight down from above.

Boom!

A terrifying explosion rang out.

The ground shook violently. Red flame blazed up into a pillar of light over ten meters tall, completely swallowing the Skeleton Assassin. The surrounding slabs immediately cracked apart. A terrifying heat wave shot out in all directions, sweeping up dust and countless small fragments of stone.

Ethan immediately stepped back.

But he had barely managed half a step when a figure dropped down before him.

Laira wrapped her arms around Ethan, pulling him tight against her chest. The colossal dragon wings immediately closed in, covering the two of them like a natural shield.

Boom!

The heat wave swept across the arena. Dust scattered everywhere. The fragments of broken stone struck Laira’s wings and were instantly incinerated to ash by the thin layer of fire on their surface.

Standing inside the protective embrace, Ethan didn’t feel the heat. Nor did any fragment of stone touch him. He could only sense the soft warmth from Laira’s body and the familiar faint fragrance enveloping him.

A few seconds later, the explosion gradually died down.

The dust dispersed.

Laira slowly opened her wings.

The fourth-floor arena had completely changed. The four black stone thrones still remained, but the four guardians had vanished. No more Skeleton Knight. No more Skeleton Ranger. No more Skeleton Priest. No more Skeleton Assassin.

All that was left were four blazing red scorch marks stretching across the ground, along with a large deep crater at the spot where the Skeleton Assassin had just been destroyed.

The entire battle ended before Ethan could give any reminder at all.

The cold voice of the System rang out across the arena.

[All fourth-floor guardians defeated.]

[Completion time: 2.9 seconds.]

[Rating: Perfect.]

[Rewards will be tallied after the trial ends.]

Outside the screen, the main hall of Aurora Academy fell completely silent. No more murmurs. No more sneering. No one daring to claim Laira couldn’t protect Ethan anymore.

Ryan looked at the screen, his face deathly pale.

Lionel Hart said nothing. Vanessa Crowe narrowed her eyes slightly, the initial interest on her face having completely turned into seriousness. Rowan gripped his metal staff tightly, his slightly clouded eyes staring fixedly at the four scorch marks left on the ground.

On the top floor, the man in the military uniform let out a long breath.

"Four Silver tier 10 Skeletons. Four targets at four different positions. All destroyed in less than three seconds."

The gray-haired woman looked at the final data appearing on the screen, her voice a little dry: "She even actively adjusted the trajectory of the last arrow to protect Ethan. Not a wide-area attack. Not blindly using power to destroy everything. Those were four attacks of absolute precision."

Headmaster Cole was silent.

His gaze rested on the dragon wings slowly drawing back behind Laira.

From beginning to end, Ethan had never actually fallen into danger.

Not because the opponents were too weak.

But because Laira simply never gave them the chance to touch him.

In the VIP seating area, Ryan still stared at the screen. He wanted to say something, wanted to find a reason, wanted to keep insisting that Ethan was merely relying on luck. But looking at the four scorch marks still glowing red on the ground, he couldn’t open his mouth right away.

Selene was silent too.

She had wanted to console her son that the next floor would surely be harder. But those words had suddenly become unconvincing.

The third floor had brought a Silver tier 10 Sage Skeleton along with an Undead army.

The fourth floor was four Silver tier 10 Skeletons with complete coordination ability.

Every time the people outside thought Laira would run into difficulty, she dealt with the opponents faster than the previous floor.

Lionel Hart clenched his hand slightly.

He had come here because he wanted to fight over Laira, wanted to prove that Ethan didn’t deserve to own a Mythic Partner. But the more terrifying Laira’s power was, the more dangerous his original intention became.

A weak Partner could be forced into a transfer.

A Partner strong enough could be tempted with resources.

But a Partner carrying an ancient bloodline, who could easily crush four Silver tier 10 opponents and was willing to kill anyone who insulted Ethan...

No one could regard her as an ownerless item.

Vanessa slowly spoke up: "Lionel, if I were you, I wouldn’t keep thinking about forcing Ethan to give up the Partner."

The White Lion Guild Master turned to her, frowning slightly. "Are you afraid?"

"No." Vanessa chuckled softly, but her pale violet eyes were still on the screen. "I just know how to weigh interests. Laira clearly doesn’t see Ethan as a temporary master. She truly regards him as someone who belongs to her. If you keep forcing it, what you’ll get isn’t a Mythic Partner, but a Crimson Dragon who wants to kill you."

Lionel was silent.

Rowan didn’t refute it either.

Inside the arena, Ethan looked up at Laira. She still kept one arm around his waist. Her wings had just drawn back behind her. Her long red hair fell over her shoulder. Her amber-red eyes carried a natural smile, like she had just completed something utterly simple.

Ethan was silent for a few seconds before saying: "I was going to remind you about their weak points."

Laira blinked. "Weak points?"

"Yeah."

She turned her head to look at the four scorch marks on the ground, then looked at Ethan again. The corner of her mouth curled up slightly.

"No need. Just burning it all is enough."

Ethan couldn’t refute it.

Because the result had proven she was completely right.

Right after, the ground trembled again.

Boom!

At the center of the arena, a new black stone door slowly rose up out of the ground. Above the door was a blazing red number.

[5.]

[Entrance to the fifth floor opened.]

Ethan looked at the door, then looked at Laira again.

"Continue?"

Laira smiled. She still hadn’t let go of his waist.

"Of course."

The black stone door slowly opened.

But this time, behind it was no longer an empty arena.

From within the darkness, a low, deep roar slowly rang out. The sound was so heavy that even the ground beneath Ethan’s feet trembled slightly. A current of scorching breath poured out of the door, then two colossal yellow pupils slowly opened in the darkness.

Laira narrowed her eyes slightly.

The smile on her face gradually vanished.

Not because of fear.

But because she had finally sensed something worth paying attention to.

Another roar rang out.

Boom!

The darkness behind the door trembled.

The cold voice of the System rang out across the arena.

[Entering the fifth floor.]

[Special guardian detected.]

[Orc King.]

[Level: Gold tier 1.]