Once again, he contacted Leo under the pretext of learning Lily's location, promising far more money this time.

That day was also the day Leo was beaten to death and Leonel Draven took over.

"Such an asshole!" Leo growled.

"If your consciousness hadn't been erased, motherfucker, I'd have strangled you myself!"

Now that his soul was completely open, Leo searched through the second soul, hunting for even the faintest thread of remaining consciousness—something he could destroy.

But there was nothing.

The previous owner was truly gone.

Only an empty husk remained—a soul without consciousness, functioning as nothing more than backup RAM and a memory drive for Leo's primary soul. And disturbingly, he could feel that they were somehow the same—yet not.

"Fucker," Leo spat, "if you were really me in this place, then I deny you."

He could see it clearly now. The structure of both soul cores was nearly identical. After the original consciousness was wiped away, the soul core had begun to dissipate. Before it could vanish completely, Leonel's mythical soul had stabilised it—turning the empty container into a second operating centre.

One consciousness. Two cores.

Like a machine running with dual CPUs and GPUs.

He understood instinctively—if one soul were somehow destroyed, the other would keep him alive. And both working together would make things extremely smooth.

A backup.

"Tsk… no wonder Lily's personality got twisted," Leo muttered.

Lily had loved him. He rejected her. That rejection turned into obsession, and obsession into a yandere nature. But once she was loved back, that side was suppressed—not erased. It only surfaced when Leo was in danger.

"Plotting against your own family," Leo snarled, "and against the only person who ever loved you—death was deserved. Ahh, fuck!"

Once again, he was reminded that the previous owner was somehow him—but not fully enough to accept.

"Shit! If it really was me, then I deny myself!" he cursed—

—just as a four-way fireball screamed toward him.

Boom!

"Leo!" Lily shouted.

Even Shyra lifted her massive head anxiously, her instincts flaring as she sensed the violent turbulence in Leo's emotions.

Around the arena, however, cheers erupted at the sight of the explosion.

"So weak!"

"Only running around, haha!"

"Hmph! No one is stronger than Lord Zolton!"

Even Zolton sneered, confidence fully restored.

"Did you really think you could run away?" he mocked loudly. "My beasts! Surround him—though it's not even needed. He's already charred to death." His lips curled upward as he spoke, already envisioning a leisurely academy life funded by that massive AC reward.

But as the smoke thinned and the dust settled, Leo's silhouette emerged.

The cheers died instantly.

There wasn't a single scratch on his body. A transparent, golden-hued barrier shimmered faintly around him, heat rippling across its surface as the flames dispersed harmlessly. Leo had activated [Astral Aura Weave] at the very last moment.

Zolton's eyes widened in disbelief.

"How? An item! Professor, it's cheating! He used an item!" Zolton shouted toward Brant.

Brant merely shrugged, utterly unimpressed.

"It's not an item. It's a skill," he replied calmly. "Now focus on your battle—or else you might actually die."

Zolton turned towards the second years, since he knew this professor supported Leo, But--

Several second-term students nodded in agreement, clearly recognising it as a skill-based defense.

"Heh… then it was just a one-time fluke—!" Zolton began—

—but his words died in his throat.

A white, slowly rotating sphere of light had formed in Leo's palm, radiating an oppressive heat.

Before Zolton could even react, the beam fired.

A blinding ray of condensed energy erupted outward, and Leo moved with it—swiftly sweeping the beam in a wide arc, carving through Zolton's three beasts in one smooth motion.

Ding!

<Beast existential value too low, no xp>

<Beast existential value too low, no xp>

<Ashfang Hyena (Mid 2-star) killed – 2000 xp>

Level 25: 18994 / 54465 → 20994 / 54465

{I am rounding things off}

Level 25: 21000 / 54500

"Eh? Only ten seconds of charging [Solar Beam] killed them?"

The beam continued traveling outward toward the spectators but a translucent wind barrier deployed by Brant intercepted it, dispersing the energy safely.

Zolton suddenly clutched his stomach and collapsed to his knees.

"Urk—!"

He vomited a large volume of blood onto the arena floor—the unmistakable backlash of his shattered soul contract.

In front of him, his beasts lay dead, bodies seared black and still sizzling. The Flame Dog had been split cleanly in two, smoke rising from the cauterised flesh.

The arena fell into complete silence.

All except for one voice.

"Woohoo! Leo, I love you! Now kill that bastard for me!" Lily shouted excitedly, her bright, flushed face starkly contrasted against Shyra's jet-black fur.

At once, Shyra's eyes gleamed. She glanced at the dead beasts and pounced eagerly toward them, freeing Lily and Miho in the process. Miho collapsed onto the ground, completely stiff, her limbs trembling from sheer terror.

Zolton stared in horror—first at the blood pooling beneath him, then at the corpses of his beasts.

"Y-you… you killed my beasts…" he muttered hoarsely.

"Don't you know my father is a baron?!" Zolton shouted in panic. "I'm sure he's already executed James and Vintage by now!"

"Your father?" Leo asked, tilting his head slightly.

Suddenly, a dense mist spread outward, covering a ten-meter radius and obscuring everything within.

From the fog, Leo summoned a headless corpse clad in soiled, familiar clothing.

"You mean him?" Leo said casually, a wide grin stretching across his face. "I'm sure you recognise the outfit."

Zolton's pupils trembled as the image burned itself into his mind.

"F-father…"

"H-how…" His gaze snapped back to Leo, who was steadily approaching. Reality crashed down on him, and Zolton completely lost control. He fell onto his butt and began scrambling backward on all fours, sobbing hysterically as his pants darkened, the ground beneath him growing wet.

Leo dismissed the mist and returned the corpse, idly noting that it still felt fresh—almost as if it had been killed yesterday.

"N-no! I surrend—!" Zolton begged.

---

Bonus chapter will be published soon!

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