The Serpent They called useless

Chapter 5: "Your Lion Can Take One Hit Too, Right?"

"Oh, you're still here?"

Kael paused at the top of the grand marble steps of the Veyr Manor. His hands casually shoved into his pockets.

Down at the bottom of the landing, Voss Thorne was still on his knees. His face red. His body trembling from hours of holding the same rigid posture.

His parents stood nearby—pale and furious—but completely unable to move under the sharp gaze of the Veyr family guards flanking the iron gates.

Voss gritted his teeth. His jaw muscles worked as he pushed his palms against the gravel to push himself up.

"You're out. I'm standing."

"I said you could kneel until I came back down, and then you're forgiven." Kael stepped down the stairs with slow, deliberate strides. "I didn't say I was letting you stand. You injured my beast in front of the entire academy, and now you want to beg in private where no one can see your disgrace?"

Voss flinched. His eyes burning with embarrassment and rage.

"My family paid four hundred gold coins for your bloody herbs! The compensation is settled!"

"You didn't just injure her." Kael stopped two steps above him. Looked down. "You tried to murder my contract beast outside an official match. The money paid for the damage to the shop. It didn't pay for what you did to Astra."

"What else do you want from me, beggar?!" Voss roared. His voice cracking with humiliation.

"Two choices."

Kael's voice dropped into a flat, terrifying quiet.

"Option one: you walk into the academy arena, drop to your knees in front of every student, and place your forehead against my boots until I tell you to get up."

"Never!" Voss spat. Blood rushed to his face. "I'd rather die!"

"Then option two." Kael continued without breaking his rhythm. "Your Crimson Lion takes a single hit from Astra. Just one. If your beast survives, we're even, and I will personally refund every piece of gold your family paid today."

Voss stared at him. A wild, disbelieving laugh burst from his chest.

"You want my lion to take a hit from your worm? And if my beast doesn't survive?"

"Then Astra eats its core, and you get nothing," Kael said.

Voss's eyes gleamed with sudden, desperate arrogance. A support beast's offensive capability—even after recovering—was virtually non-existent compared to a combat type.

"Fine! But we do it on the main academy battleground, in public! And you tell everyone you issued the challenge, so nobody claims the Thorne family bullied a support tamer!"

"Deal."

Kael walked right past him without another word.

"Thirty minutes."

The main training ground of Veyron Academy was packed to the brim within twenty minutes of the announcement.

Word had spread like wildfire through the dormitories: Kael, the support-type tamer who had awakened a Rank C serpent, had publicly summoned Voss Thorne to the dueling ring.

"Is he out of his mind?" a second-year student muttered from the stands, leaning over the stone balustrade. "He thinks just because both of their beasts started at Rank C, he can go toe-to-toe with a Flame Lion?"

"He's going to get that poor snake killed for real this time," another agreed, shaking his head.

Kael walked onto the dusty floor of the arena. Stopped at the western mark.

On the eastern side, Voss stood with his chest puffed out. His Crimson Flame Lion paced beside him, its mane radiating intense, scorching heat.

Kael raised his voice, letting it carry across the crowded stands.

"I, Kael Veyron, have summoned Voss Thorne to this ring to settle our score. One hit. No dodging."

The crowd erupted into loud chatter.

"Look at him posturing!" a voice shouted from the back rows. "He's throwing his life away!"

Kael didn't blink.

He reached down and uncoiled Astra from his wrist. Let her rest on the dirt beside him.

The blue serpent stretched. Her body extending far beyond her previous size. Her scales shimmering with an eerie, dark light.

"He doesn't even realize how foolish he looks."

Nyra Valen sneered, stepping down to the edge of the VIP balcony. Her arms crossed over her chest.

"What is the use of your lizard, Kael? Even if a support beast somehow reached SSS-rank, it's still just a toy for real combat beasts."

Aurelia Veyr stepped up beside her. Her gray eyes cool and unbothered.

"Stay out of this, Nyra. You're talking about things you don't understand."

Nyra scoffed. Turned to the arena referee down on the field.

"Start the match! I want to see how he tries to defend himself when his little lizard gets torn to pieces!"

The referee stepped back. Held up his hand.

Heavy runes etched into the perimeter stone flared to life—creating a shimmering, translucent magical barrier around the ring to trap the kinetic force and elemental pressure inside.

TWEEEEEEET!

The whistle blew.

"You brought this on yourself, beggar!"

Voss yelled, pointing his finger straight at Kael.

"Flame Lion! Maximum output! Radiant Scorcher!"

The lion let out a deafening roar. The flames around its neck exploded into a blinding column of fire—turning the dirt beneath its paws to molten glass. With a sudden burst of speed, the massive beast lunged across the ring, its fire-coated claws tearing through the air directly toward Astra's head.

Kael stood completely still. His eyes cold.

"You have one minute, Voss. Do your worst."

The fiery strike landed directly on Astra's body with a thunderous BOOM!

Shockwaves slammed against the magical barrier. Sending dust and heat billowing across the enclosure.

The crowd leaned forward—expecting to see a bloody smear on the ground.

When the dust settled, the silence in the stadium was absolute.

Astra hadn't moved an inch.

The lion's massive, flame-engulfed claw was pressed firmly against Astra's blue scales. A translucent, deep-water barrier enveloped the serpent—absorbing every drop of heat without so much as flickering.

Astra tilted her small head. Blinking her white eyes at the giant beast as if feeling nothing more than a mild breeze.

"W-What...?"

Voss stuttered. His face draining of all color.

"Why isn't it burning?! Attack again! Tear it apart!"

The lion struck wildly—two times, three times, four times. Raining down a frenzy of flaming claws and snapping jaws.

Each strike bounced off the dark blue aura around Astra with dull, harmless thuds.

The referee glanced at his pocket watch.

"One minute has passed!"

Kael raised his hand.

"Astra. Strike."

Astra's eyes flashed with an ancient, terrifying crimson light.

Before the lion could even draw breath to roar, Astra's form blurred into a blue streak. A sharp, thunderous crack echoed through the barrier as her tail whipped forward—striking the lion directly in the center of its chest.

CRACK!

The Crimson Flame Lion didn't even have time to scream.

The sheer kinetic force shattered its ribs and crushed its core instantly. The massive beast collapsed onto the dirt, its fiery mane vanishing as its body dissolved into particles of red light—drifting into the air like dying embers.

Astra opened her jaws. Inhaled deeply.

Swallowed the floating red core particles in a single breath.

"NO! NO! MY LION!"

Voss screamed. Crashed to his knees in the dirt.

Tears streamed down his dusty cheeks as he stared at the empty space where his beast had been just seconds before.

"MY BEAST! MY CORE!"

He buried his face in his hands. Wept uncontrollably as the barrier lowered.

The entire stadium sat in stunned, speechless horror.

Nyra stood at the railing. Her hands clutching the iron bar so tightly her knuckles turned blue. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she stared at the calm blue serpent now slithering smoothly back up Kael's arm.

She turned on her heel. Rushed down the stairs before the crowd could even process what had happened.

Nyra pushed through the arena gates. Walked straight over to where Voss was sobbing in the dirt.

She looked down at him. Her eyes sharp and calculating.

"Get up, Voss."

Her tone smooth. Persuasive.

"Your lion is gone, but your talent isn't. The Valen family will provide you with a new, higher-grade combat beast from our private reserves. With our resources, you'll rank up twice as fast as you did before."

Voss slowly lifted his tear-stained face. His breath hitching.

"Y-You'll give me a new beast?"

"On one condition."

Nyra whispered. Extended a gloved hand to pull him up.

"You work for us

now. And together, we crush Kael Veyron."

Voss stared at her hand for a second.

Then wiped his face. His expression twisting into pure, unadulterated hatred.

He took her hand.

"I'm in."