"All right! You bloody imbeciles!! This is a strong magic region known as the Yultim Volcano. There's a volcanic belt laced with powerful mana deep underground, and it spews lava constantly. This is a place where no ordinary person can set foot in. But at the summit, there's a splendid and revitalizing hot spring." said Mereoleona.
An excited smile then appeared on her face as she looked at the sweating people in front of her.
"Come! Let us head to the summit!!"
"...So you are telling me, that you want me to tread through this volcano where there is a high chance that I can get dehydrated and drown in lava...Yeah, I am backing out. I don't want to die." said Sekke as he turned around.
But immediately he felt both of his shoulders being grabbed which made him stop and turn around to see who it was.
Once he turned around he saw two scary-ass faces glaring at him.
"Oi dumbass! Don't you dare leave or I will ki you and then drown you in this lava." threatened Yami.
"Do you think that you even have a choice? I will kill you if you don't make it to the top," said Mereoleona.
"...What about my rights?" asked Sekke which was totally ignored by the two captains.
"Oi Sekke! Don't back out! Let us race to see who can get to the summit first! Oh, Asta and Yuno too." declared Leopold.
"Yeah! Bring it on, damn it!" said Asta accepting the challenge.
"You can go right ahead," said Yuno in a neutral tone pissing Leopold.
"Huh, you want to lose that bad. Well, can't be helped. I am forced to do this anyway, might as well do my best." said Sekke nonchalantly successfully pissing both Asta and Leo.
"You!!!"
"Sekke you bastard!!!"
Both Asta and Leopold cursed at Sekke who just started stretching.
"Quite wasting time and get started!!!" yelled Mereoleona as she kicked Asta and Leopold away.
Seeing the start signal the rest of the crimson lions jumped forward leaving behind Yami, Charlotte, Sekke, Yuno, and Anna.
Sekke took a deep breath and soon his grimoire started flipping.
[Ice debuff magic: Chilling Aura]
A mana skin releasing a chilling aura appeared around Sekke making him feel a bit cool.
"Ah! Now this is better."
[Bronze Creation Magic: Bronze Rider]
A motorbike made of bronze appeared and Sekke immediately sat on it and covered it in his mana skin as well.
He passed the mana into the bike and it made a loud noise.
"Well then, meet you guys at the top," said Sekke as he rotated the accelerator and the motorbike rushed forward.
"Wait for me Sekke-kun," said Anna as a mana skin appeared around her as well and her grimoire started flipping.
[Flame Magic: Flare Accel]
Flames shot out of Anna's feet as she burst forward at great speed.
"...I am not gonna lose to them..." said Yuno as started to concentrate.
Yami and Charlotte didn't waste time and soon shot forward as well and started climbing to the top.
Sekke simply ignored the other participants as he rode through the dangerous volcanic path on his bike at full speed.
[Bronze Creation Magic: Weapon Make- Gaster Blaster]
An animal skull made of bronze appeared over Sekke's head.
Mana started gathering in the skull as any obstacles that came his way were simply destroyed without even a second thought and just like that Sekke continued to climb up the mountain.
"...Sekke-kun is very far," muttered Anna in a slightly dissatisfied tone.
"Ho~, that super rookie really has some skills," said Mereoleona as she saw Sekke being in the lead when even captains were competing.
Her gaze then fell on Anna who was now in 4th position just behind Yami and Charlotte.
"And that girl from my squad...she is quite strong as well. Looks like it will be fun training her," said Mereoleona.
A fierce smile then appeared on her face as her mana started gathering in her fists.
She felt that someone was about to reach the top and decided to test the person as well.
Sekke who saw the summit smirked and looked behind him.
"Heh, not even close. Well, it's hard to compete against the dark lord anyway," said Sekke but immediately his danger senses started to kick in as he immediately jumped off his bike.
[Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium]
A huge explosion occurred that engulfed his bike and destroyed it immediately.
Sekke's face immediately turned serious as the gaster blaster aimed toward the explosion site.
"Don't attack me out of nowhere you asshole!" yelled Sekke as the mana gathered in the skull fired towards his attacker.
Sell then landed at the top of the summit and looked at the attacker to check if they were alive or not.
But contrary to his expectation the mana beam was met with flames that resulted in another explosion.
"Ho~ you dare call me an asshole, huh? Looks like I need to show you your place rookie," said Mereoleona with a pissed expression on her face as she looked toward Sekke while cracking her knuckles.
Sekke looked at the fiery woman who was glaring at him with a surprised look on his face.
'I held back my power because I wasn't trying to kill the person...but to think that she destroyed my attack...'
Soon an equally excited smile appeared on Sekke's face as he glared back at the woman.
"You...you are really strong."
Mereoleona who saw the smile on Sekke's face blinked her eyes in surprise but soon started laughing out loud.
"To think that a rookie would look back at me with such a challenging expression!! Kid! Let me see your full strength. Don't tell that attack was the best that you can do." said Mereoleona as mana erupted out of her body. She smirked and looked at Sekke as she wanted to see if the kid in front of her would change that excited expression once his face the might of her rampaging mana.
Sekke who heard the woman's words had a tick mark on his forehead.
'...Did she just try to say that my attack was weak?' thought Sekke.
"Well, her words were not exactly that..." replied Vritra as he felt that his host's temper was rising.
"Alright, you bitch. Let me show you one of my strongest attacks," said Sekke as his sacred gear appeared.
Mana erupted out of Sekke's body sending a shock wave to his surroundings.
Ripples started to form in the lava surrounding Sekke as a dark aura came out of his body.
Black Marks appeared on him and the transformation competed with one of his pupils turning golden.
Mereoleona looked at the scene with a surprised expression on her face, she didn't expect that the boy she was trying to intimidate with her mana had far greater mana in him.
'Damn, this bastard...is making me excited.' thought Mereoleona as an excited smirk soon appeared on her face.
Mana gathered in her hands as her grimoire started flipping once again.
[Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium]
The lioness shot forward towards Sekke who just stood at his spot and looked toward the said lioness with a smirk on his face.
He then took a stance as black flames started gathering around his fist.
The two soon came close to each other as their attacks collided.
--------------------
Yami and Charlotte who were rushing toward the top without much difficulty smiled when they noticed that they were about to reach the top.
They increased their pace and got a bit careless, and as soon as they landed on the top their eyes widened in shock when they noticed two super strong mana-covered flaming fists colliding against each other.
"Shit," said Charlotte.
"F*ck," said Yami.
*BOOM!!!!!!!!!!*
A huge explosion occurred there the instant those words escaped their mouths as a flame pillar comprising of orange and black flames erupted from the top of the volcano.