Death Valley VII

I watched the exchange between Aria and Prince Valkas unfold, my mind swirling with questions as she handed him a sword manual as casually as one might offer a spare piece of parchment. Valkas accepted it with both awe and a quiet determination that seemed to burn in his crimson eyes.

"Do you have many of these manuals?" I asked her, unable to suppress my curiosity. The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Aria turned her head toward me, her expression calm as ever. "Yes," she said simply. "Trophies."

I gulped, a chill running down my spine at her choice of words. 'Trophies?' She didn't elaborate, but she didn't need to. The implication was clear. These manuals weren't collected from a library or a sage—they were taken from someone, or something. Likely after it no longer needed them.

'Are all Prime Eterna beings this… absurd?' I wondered, my thoughts a mixture of awe and unease. Or was this specific to Aria? A peculiarity of her terrifying existence as a Heavenly Demon?

My gaze drifted back to her. The incongruity of it all—this small, doll-like girl who could dismantle an eleven-core Beta Luminara beast without breaking a sweat—was almost too much to process.

I pursed my lips, my thoughts growing darker. If all Eterna beings were anything like Aria, then the Kingdom of Thane had profoundly underestimated their power. It wasn't just a miscalculation—it was an outright blind spot.

Aria's strength had already proven that.

Even against the Shadow Stalker—a beast we were told would be near impossible for a first-year summoner to face—she hadn't been pushed to her limits. Not even close. And yet, by the Academy's reckoning, the Shadow Stalker was one of the strongest threats we were likely to encounter.

I tightened my grip on my grimoire, its crystalline surface cool and steady against my palm. 'If this is what it means to summon an Eterna, then what does that mean for me?' The thought was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.

"Elara," Valkas said, breaking through my thoughts. He was holding the manual Aria had given him, its faintly shimmering pages catching the fading sunlight. "Your summon… she's not just powerful. She's something else entirely."

I met his gaze but said nothing. What could I say? He was right. Aria defied every expectation, every rule of what we understood about summons, about strength itself. And she was bound to me. For better or worse, her future and mine were intertwined.

Aria glanced, her dark eyes meeting mine. "You're thinking too much," she said, her voice soft but firm. "Just grow."

Her words were simple, but they carried weight, like the strike of a hammer on an anvil. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to set aside my swirling thoughts.

For now, she was right. All I could do was grow. Grow stronger. Grow faster. Because if the world was as unprepared for beings like Aria as I suspected, then I would have to be ready for whatever was coming next.

"We should get to sleep," Mary said, her tone brisk as she tucked herself into her sleeping bag. For all her noble upbringing and polished manners, she was practical to the core. Camping might not have been a luxury, but it was a necessity ingrained into us as future summoners. After all, one never knew when an opulent mansion might be replaced by a desolate battlefield.

"Aria, go back," I murmured to my summon, opening my Diamond grimoire. Its crystalline pages shimmered faintly, catching the moonlight. Aria tilted her head slightly, as if considering whether she truly needed to obey, before giving a small nod and dissolving into the grimoire's subspace.

"I'll keep my Royal Dragon out as a sentry," Kael announced, his voice calm and steady. The others nodded, trusting his judgment. A Prime Luminara beast was more than capable of deterring most threats in this part of the Crimson Trail. Mary, Gail, and Valkas opened their own Gold grimoires, calling back their summons with practiced ease.

The night settled into a cool, quiet calm, punctuated only by the occasional rustle of leaves or distant cry of a beast. I retreated into my tent, pulling the thick fabric closed behind me. Despite my nerves, exhaustion took over, and I fell asleep almost instantly.

The first light of dawn filtered through the canvas of my tent, painting it in soft golden hues. I stretched with a yawn, the stiffness in my shoulders a reminder of just how much my body wasn't used to sleeping on anything less than a plush mattress. Camping was a necessity, sure, but that didn't make it any more comfortable.

By the time I stepped outside, the others were already awake and gathered near the remains of the campfire. Their conversation paused as I approached, their gazes turning toward me.

"Will you be staying?" Mary asked without preamble, her emerald eyes sharp but not unkind.

I hesitated, rubbing the back of my head as I considered her words. "I really can't," I admitted, my voice tinged with a mixture of regret and resolve. "There's a reason I was put in a group by myself."

The others exchanged glances, and I could feel the unspoken understanding passing between them. They knew, just as I did, that my journey was bound to be different.

"Aria is… too strong," I continued, forcing the words out. "I need to head deeper, to where the more dangerous beasts are. Staying here would hold me back."

Kael stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "You're sure about this?"

I nodded. "I have to be. If I want to grow—if I want Aria to grow—then I can't stay in the safer zones. The beasts here won't be enough to push us."

Mary sighed, crossing her arms. "Well, just don't get yourself killed."

I offered her a faint smile. "I'll try my best."

Valkas tilted his head, his crimson gaze studying me with a strange intensity. "You're braver than you look, Elara."

"Good luck," Gail said with a casual wave, his tone light but carrying a hint of genuine concern.

I nodded, turning toward the path that would lead me deeper into the Crimson Trail. But just as I took my first step, the air around me shimmered. My Diamond grimoire manifested without warning, its crystalline pages snapping open with a soft hum of energy.

"Aria?" I said, startled, as she stepped out in her black dress, her bare feet making no sound on the forest floor. She glanced at me briefly, then turned her attention elsewhere, her black eyes glinting like obsidian under the filtered sunlight.

"Danger," she said simply, her voice steady and low.

Before I could respond, the air around her erupted. Divine energy and miasma burst forth from her small frame like a volcanic explosion, their opposing forces swirling in a chaotic yet mesmerizing dance. The sheer intensity of her power made the air shimmer, distorting the trees and ground like a mirage on a summer's day.

"Aria, wait—" I started, but my voice was drowned out by the deafening roar of energy. Through my grimoire's connection, I could feel her Secondary Trait, Duality, activating, harmonizing the divine and miasmic forces within her. Her Tertiary Trait, Voracious Mind, followed suit, refining and amplifying her strength in real time.

She moved.

Her fist shot forward with a speed and force that defied comprehension, colliding with something unseen but undeniably massive.

BOOM!

The shockwave ripped through the clearing, a cataclysmic force that sent trees crashing to the ground and threw me off my feet. My body hit the earth with a painful thud, the air knocked from my lungs. My vision blurred, and a sharp, metallic taste filled my mouth as I coughed up blood.

It hurt.

It hurt so badly, every nerve in my body screaming in agony. My ears rang with a high-pitched whine, drowning out the distant sounds of the forest.

"Child," a voice boomed, rich and mellifluous yet carrying an edge of deadly authority. "Leave this place at once, or I shall erase you from existence."

The words resonated in my skull, each syllable a hammer striking against my temples. Yet, through the haze of pain, I felt a soothing warmth wash over me. Aria's divine energy pulsed softly, healing the worst of my injuries and dulling the ache in my limbs.

I struggled to sit up, my breath shallow and ragged. Through the haze, I saw her standing resolutely before me, her small frame seemingly insignificant against the vast, terrifying presence in the air above us. But her glare was unyielding, her focus razor-sharp.

Slowly, I followed her gaze, craning my neck upward. My breath hitched as I took in the sight.

Floating above us, its vast, iridescent wings outstretched, was a creature of staggering majesty and power. Its scaled body shimmered with a radiant light, each movement casting ripples of brilliance across the clearing. Twin horns crowned its head, and its piercing golden eyes glowed with an otherworldly intensity.

The presence it exuded was suffocating, a weight pressing down on my chest and making it hard to breathe.

Through my grimoire's connection, the name etched itself into my mind:

Beta Eterna Divine Beast: Luminous Wyvern.