The Seven Demon's Tamer

The massive thunder whisker koi cut through the evening sky, its scaled body moving in a wavy pattern as if it was swimming in water. Master Dwang Sung sat with one leg on each side of the magnificent creature, his long black hair whipping behind him as they sliced through the air toward the Tian district at blurring speed.

The familiar's electric blue scales crackled with endless lightning, lightning cascading from its whiskers, which weren't hair, but solidified lightning.

'If they could send a letter directly to me and infiltrate my private quarters without me even catching a glimpse of the messenger,' he thought grimly, 'then I see no reason why they won't be able to launch a surprise attack on our recent allies in the Tian district.'

The wind whipped past his face as they closed in on their destination, the landscape below becoming a patchwork of greens and browns. But even despite being high in the air, Master Sung could feel something wrong in the air.

His familiar suddenly let out a low growl that vibrated through its entire body. The thunder whisker koi's eyes, that usually held the same calmness and seriousness like Master Sung at all times, now darted cautiously from side to side.

"You sense it too, don't you, koi?" Master Sung murmured, patting the creature's neck. "Something is definitely happening ahead of us."

**BWOOM!**

Suddenly, just as Master Sung finished speaking, a heavy gust of wind, carrying with it an oppressive wave of gamma energy, slammed into them.

The wind wasn't natural—it carried the unmistakable signature of multiple powerful summoners engaged in combat, their energies colliding and creating chaotic atmospheric disturbances.

Master Sung's familiar weaved through the air effortlessly, luckily as it had no wings. However, what truly terrified Master Sung was the direction from which this energy emanated.

The Tian district.

"No, no, no, it can't be!" Master Sung's eyes widened in horror as he extended his senses, trying to get a proper reading of the energy.

The readings were unstable. Multiple powerful auras suddenly increasing and reducing in a chaotic dance. But what made his heart skip a beat was the realization that the combined energy readings from the battle below could measure up to—no, *greater than*—what a black marked summoner would let out.

They might be able to take down Ryder, he reasoned. I need to hurry!

****

Meanwhile, on the battlefield in the bare ground of the Tian district, the exchange of clashes had already begun a short while ago.

**BANG!**

**BANG!**

**BANG!**

"Wow," Akira commented as she gracefully spaced herself from the foursome, her feet barely touching the ground before she was airborne again. "We just started this battle and I am already totally impressed."

Akira wasn't kidding. The moment they had concluded their intensive training covering all seven relevant techniques, she had requested—no, demanded—the long-awaited duel.

Of everyone present, Leo had been the only one to earn a genuine smile at Akira's request. His blue-silver eyes had gleamed with battle hunger, making them all remember who he actually was—the summoner slayer.

His usually casual demeanor had sharpened into something far more focused. He had, in fact, been anticipating this confrontation since the moment he had first laid eyes on Akira, and now, finally, the moment had arrived.

"This is it," Leo had whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the wind that constantly swept across the Tian district. "Time to see if all that training was worth it."

**VWOOM!**

The battle erupted into motion with explosive strikes.

Leo and Ryder moved simultaneously, their bodies becoming blurs of motion as they charged toward Akira. Ryder hadn't consciously activated any of the seven techniques; he decided to take the fight easy since they still couldn't gauge Akira's strength. After all, he was a black marked summoner.

Leo didn't dare mimic Ryder in his attacking approach; the techniques were in fact his only offensive moves. His fists, enhanced by application of the First Fall technique, crackled with intensity.

As if they had practiced the coordination all their lives, both fighters swung their fists at Akira in perfect synchronized movement.

They were fast—incredibly fast—but Akira wasn't slow either, and her eyes could still track their movements. She could have dodged if she had wanted to, could have used her experience to avoid the incoming strikes entirely. But she didn't.

'What kind of teacher would run away from her students' attacks?' she thought with grim amusement. 'I refuse to destroy my reputation as the formidable supreme leader of the Tian district by appearing as a coward.'

Instead, she raised both arms in a defensive manner, crossing them in an X-shaped pattern across her chest and torso. Her muscles tensed, gamma energy flowing in accelerated motion through her body as she braced herself to absorb the full impact of their simultaneous attack.

**WHAM!**

The moment of impact was ground shaking. Leo's fist, backed by all his technique, connected with Akira's left forearm. Simultaneously, Ryder's punch, enhanced by his natural strength, crashed into her right arm.

The collision sent a single, massive wave of wind rippling across the landscape in a quick flash of devastating force. The grass for as far as their eyes could see in every direction was flattened instantly.

A grin spread across Akira's face, her eyes sparkling with genuine pleasure as her voice carried loudly with excitement. "Yeah, this is more like it! Fun!"

But even as she spoke, Leo and Ryder were already moving, quickly taking defensive positions. Simultaneously hopping backwards with synchronized movement again, they retreated to create space, allowing Mara and Brok to take over.

"*Explosive Rush!*"

Mara's voice screamed from behind as her body zapped through the air like a bolt of lightning. Her emerald eyes blazed with intensity as she appeared in the air, positioned directly in front of Akira with one leg stretched backward, gathering force for the devastating kick she delivered half a second later.

But rather than block this strike, Akira chose a different approach. She countered with a punch of her own, her fist meeting Mara's incoming kick in a collision of matching force.

**WHAM!**

The impact was even more devastating than the previous attack Akira had blocked. Another ripple exploded outward from the point of contact, but this one was more intense. The shockwave cleared the grassland, leveling the ground and wiping away every trace of grass in a perfect circle with a five-meter radius around them.

"Guess you are finally strong enough to take on a red-marked summoner on your own with all you've learned today, Mara," Akira commented genuinely. "This attack proved it."

Mara quickly hopped backward with a single, powerful jump in retreat. But even as she retreated, creating space between herself and their formidable opponent, Brok was doing the exact opposite, not giving Akira any time to catch her breath.

"*First Fall!*"

**WHAM!!!!!**

The ground actually trembled at the impact of the punch. The technique amplified the punch with gamma energy, the echoing impact from his fist transferring into Akira's body and then into the ground beneath her feet.

She had barely had any time to make proper preparations for the attack, managing only to raise one arm upward to receive the hit. But even with her mastery over techniques, the power behind Brok's First Fall technique was intensive.

Her body was sent skidding backward across the ground, her feet carving out two five-meter-long furrow ridges in the surface. Dust and debris flew up and momentarily covered their view before she finally came to a stop, then slowly lowered her hand.

The battlefield fell quiet for a moment, with everyone staring at her through the smoke cloud, waiting to see how she would respond to being on the receiving end of such devastating attacks.

"That's more like it," Akira smiled, and there was something different about this expression—this wasn't the smile of a proud teacher towards her student; it was the smirk of a superior fighter towards an opponent she perceived as worthy.

This was the fierce grin of a warrior who had finally found opponents capable of pushing her to her limits.

"I guess I won't remain standing here receiving all your attacks anymore," she added, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "My turn to not hold back."

**VWOOM!**