On the other side of the Eleven Great Plains—
Flat was charging toward Lance, his expression twisted and feral, completely disregarding any final struggles Lance might put up.
His bloodshot eyes burned with a crazed fire, like a wounded wolf in the dead of night—wild, dangerous, filled with hatred so intense it seemed ready to set the world ablaze.
Even if Lance wanted to trigger some special mechanism, a single card wasn’t enough to form a functional system. Even an extreme feedback loop required at least three cards to work as a set.
Flat knew—no matter what, even if he went against the heavens and spared Huberian today, he would never spare Lance!!
“Dn it!! Who the hl do you think can save you after taunting him like that?!”
Huberian was in pursuit of Flat, but at this moment, she felt a sinking despair.
Lance—a healer—had just pulled off a taunt so effective that it even boosted Flat into a berserk state.
The now-maddened Flat seemed to have awakened some kind of terrifying potential. Huberian had never thought Flat could be this frightening.
—In the distance.The ground beneath Lance—
“Professor Flat, thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
Lance gazed at Flat, who was descending from the sky, and murmured with genuine sincerity.
Originally, Lance had planned to get through this entrance exam the easy way—just slap a [Friendly Exchange] on the examiner, and he and his team could practically coast through.
Unfortunately, he’d run into a strict examiner.
Since things had come to this, he had to show the examiner proper respect.
Dark clouds pressed low over the sky, casting an eerie silence over the entire Eleven Great Plains. The sunlight was nearly sealed away, with only faint beams seeping through the cloud cover, barely illuminating the grasslands.
Flat’s figure loomed in Lance’s vision—like a storm, raging and unstoppable.
“Let’s all calm down, shall we?”
Lance’s voice was clear and gentle. He smiled at Flat, as if trying to soothe the fury in his heart.
Or perhaps… he intended to heal the anger consuming Flat’s soul—
With a surge of mana, the magic card in Lance’s hand ignited with a blazing orange glow.
Golden symbols emerged in the air as the radiant energy dispersed, forming an intricate totem.
The card in Lance’s hand dissolved into reality—
A soft, misty light flooded the plains, spreading like a blessing, awakening life that had been suppressed beneath the heavy clouds.
The world was suddenly filled with birdsong and the scent of flowers.
Above—
The sky, once dim and oppressive, began to brighten.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds in golden beams, shattering the darkness and illuminating the grasslands.
—At this moment, flowers would bloom, and the clouds would gather in harmony.
—And at the center of this miracle stood Lance.
It wasn’t just the Sage Institute’s meeting room that erupted into an uproar. Even the Magic Engineering Institute, where a group of arcane engineers was observing in the control room, had wide-eyed teachers staring at the exam’s broadcast in shock.
“He actually pulled out an Epic-tier magic card?!”
“Not all Epics are god-tier. Some are duds. We’ll see what category this one falls into.”
Across all the prestigious academies of the Southern Continent, students who possessed Epic-tier magic cards were extremely rare.
[Orange: Epic]—this was the highest tier of magic cards known to exist.
Each Epic card was unique, anchored to the world, woven into history itself.
Once a soul-bound contract was formed, the only way to break it was to destroy the card—which would result in the wielder’s card slot being permanently obliterated.
Because of this, most Epic cards perished alongside their owners, vanishing into history rather than being passed down.
This was why their numbers remained limited in every era.
“Not all Epic cards suit their wielders. Binding one permanently locks a card slot. Choosing an Epic too early could end up being a serious mistake.”
The power to make a legend lay in Sacred and Epic-tier cards—but the same cards could also destroy a legend.
The higher the card’s quality, the harder it was to unbind, which greatly reduced flexibility.
This was the price of [Pink: Sacred] and [Orange: Epic] tier cards.
Binding too many would lock a mage’s deck into a rigid system, stripping away the adaptability that magic cards were meant to provide in combat.
So choosing high-tier magic cards required extreme caution.
A teenager like Lance wouldn’t have considered all these factors when binding a card.
Not to mention—his Epic card didn’t seem combat-oriented at all.
It was a support-type aura summon.
In the Sage Institute’s meeting room, some instructors were beginning to grow concerned.
Epic cards usually formed the core of an entire system.
But Lance’s card… it was clearly not an offensive powerhouse.
The broadcast continued.
The breeze carried the scent of flowers, dewdrops sparkled like tiny rainbow-colored pearls on the fresh grass, reflecting a dazzling array of colors.
The landscape had transformed—
What had once been an oppressive battlefield now radiated the tranquility of a fairytale dreamscape.
Lance’s summoned entity—a Flower Spirit—stood at the heart of this radiant scenery, bathed in sunlight.
Time itself seemed to pause for her.
“…That’s a beautiful card.”
In the meeting room, regardless of gender, the moment they laid eyes on Lance’s summon, they couldn’t help but be mesmerized.
It was like a masterpiece—a creation of the gods.
—Just looking at it felt healing.
Finally, the misty glow began to fade—
A clear, ringing voice echoed across the plains—
“There is no calamity in this world… only boundless love.”
A woman clad in a deep crimson gown, a crown upon her head, her ashen hair entwined with thorns—she stood with her eyes closed, cradling her hands together as if singing a sacred hymn.
At that exact moment—
Flat’s body froze midair.
A snapping sensation ripped through him—like something inside had just shattered.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
A howl of pure agony tore from his throat—monstrous, enraged, and utterly broken.
His facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, as if he was trying to unleash an unspeakable fury—but couldn’t.
The next second—
Flat plummeted from the sky.
Like a bird with its wings torn off, he crashed downward at breakneck speed.
Even Huberian, who had been in full pursuit, found her attention drawn to Lance’s summon.
Hearing the Flower Spirit’s hymn, an unnerving feeling crept into her heart.
The killing intent she had been suppressing for so long was suddenly on the verge of exploding.
For a terrifying moment, she almost couldn’t resist the urge to rush forward and tear open Flat’s heart with her dagger.
She quickly clutched her heaving chest, struggling to calm her erratic heartbeat.
She knew—
The changes in Flat—
And the strange restlessness inside her—
Were all caused by that Epic Summon.
It didn’t just affect enemies—it influenced allies as well!
That Flower Spirit… seemed to mentally affect every target on the battlefield!
—Finally.
As Huberian struggled to keep her mind focused and forced herself to look directly at Lance’s summon, her pupils suddenly contracted.
If one observed closely—
They would realize that the summoned girl, who radiated an angelic and pure aura—
Was actually a succubus, smirking with a hint of mischief at the corner of her lips!
[Poet of Great Love]
[Type: Summoning Card]
[Grade: Orange - Epic]
[Attribute: Mental/Wood]
[Tier: 1]
[Effect: Enhances the emotions of all living beings by a factor of 10 through its enchanting melody.]
[Note: "Love can create everything, but it can also destroy everything!"]
—However.
The examiner Flat, who had just been slammed into the ground, no longer had the luxury of casting an appraisal spell like Huberian.
Because the moment the Poet of Great Love’s voice rang out—
His sanity completely snapped.
A flood of emotions surged beyond his limits, carried by the rushing blood in his veins—
Flat had a cerebral hemorrhage.