My F-Rank Sagea is Secretly an EX-Rank Calamity

Chapter 13: Elite Fractures

>> THE VANGUARD CATACLYSM RAID <<

Rowan had successfully navigated the Auric Circle to their designated high-tier zone, but they had arrived a moment too late.

The outskirts of the region had already been systematically decimated. An enormous, scaled dragon and a swarm of its vicious underlings had ripped through the settlement, leaving a trail of smoking ruin in their wake.

Springing into action, Rowan immediately began issuing rapid-fire commands, his voice ringing with absolute authority.

He assigned one squad of students to secure a perimeter and escort the fleeing civilians to safety, instructed another group to establish an emergency shelter for the wounded, and ordered a third to tighten security around the evacuation zone.

With the logistics handled, Rowan turned his attention to the true threat. Accompanied by Fang, Seraphina, and two other elite upperclassmen, he stepped forward to face the titanic dragon.

"They’re here! The Ravenhurst Elites are finally here!" a terrified civilian yelled from the wreckage, a spark of hope igniting in his eyes.

"Please, save us!"

Rowan surveyed the devastation, a heavy knot of regret tightening in his chest. He shouldn’t have let his fractured emotions slow his pace during the march.

If he had led them quicker instead of letting the rumors about Asher distract him, half of this destruction could have been avoided.

"I summon you—Erebus!" Rowan commanded.

With a deafening roar of ambient mana, his SS-Rank nine-tailed shadow wolf materialized, its massive, ethereal tails instantly fanning out to form a impenetrable barrier against any incoming aerial strikes.

Not wanting to be outdone, Seraphina channelled her Aether and summoned her own partner. "Wolveria!"

A sleek, formidable white wolf manifested beside her. Though notably smaller than the towering mass of Erebus, her aura was incredibly sharp, her snowy fur bristling with latent electrical energy.

"Fang! Caspian! Laurette! Intercept the underlings and keep them off our flanks!" Rowan declared wisely, analyzing the battlefield in a split second.

The three elites immediately fanned out, deploying their own high-tier Sageas to drive back the dragon’s lesser brood.

Rowan turned back to Seraphina. "You and I will take the main—"

"Too slow!" Seraphina snarled, completely ignoring his tactical layout.

She was already pushing her Aether to its absolute limits, eager to claim the glory of the kill for herself.

"Wolveria! Shadow Lightning!" she commanded.

In an instant, the sky above the battlefield curdled into an unnatural, pitch-black dark, thunder rumbling violently through the clouds.

A jagged, crystalline horn sprouted from Wolveria’s forehead, acting as a lightning rod.

The white wolf directed a massive, descending bolt of localized shadow lightning, slamming it directly into the dragon’s chest.

The explosive impact forced a sharp cry of agony from the beast, but as the smoke cleared, its scales remained unbroken.

The attack had merely scratched its hide.

Seraphina’s brow furrowed in frustration.

Rowan snapped, his eyes flashing with irritation.

"Don’t just blindly throw high-tier attacks without analyzing its defenses! You’re just upsetting it even more!"

The dragon unleashed a deafening, sky-rending roar, its massive jaw beginning to glow with an incandescent, melting heat as it prepared to retaliate.

"Thanks to your impatience, we have zero time to formulate a proper plan!" Rowan lashed out angrily, stepping into a defensive stance.

Seraphina hissed, but as she glanced down at her vision, a system prompt made her stomach drop.

DING!

[WARNING: CRITICAL ENERGY EXPENDITURE]

[TOTAL MANA RESERVES: 36%]

’Damn it!’ she cursed internally, her fists clenching.

’I shouldn’t have thrown a maximum-output spell right out of the gate’.

High above them, the dragon flared its wings. Channeling its rage, it conjured thousands of flaming swords out of thin air, the molten blades hovering mid-air before descending toward the students like a meteor shower.

"Now, Erebus!" Rowan ordered calmly.

Erebus let out a low, resonance-altering howl, drawing directly from Rowan’s stabilizing mana pool to activate its signature defensive trait: Engulf.

In a seamless, swift motion, the shadow wolf’s gaping maw expanded, its void-like energy completely swallowing the volley of flaming swords whole, neutralizing the cataclysmic strike.

"Good job, buddy!" Rowan exclaimed.

The dragon roared in absolute fury, its ancient pride utterly triggered by Rowan’s effortless counter-offensive.

Suddenly, the beast’s body began to swell, expanding in size until its massive wings completely blotted out the sun, plunging the battlefield into shadow.

"What the hell?!" Fang shouted from the perimeter, momentarily distracted by the terrifying mutation.

The dragon let out a piercing screech that shook the very earth beneath their feet.

"Well?! Aren’t you going to do something?!" Seraphina snarled, turning on Rowan. "You have an SS-Rank Sagea, so use it!"

Rowan’s mind raced, calculating the beast’s trajectory.

He had a strategy that could bring it down, but for it to work, he needed synchronized execution.

"I’ll bind it and tackle its physical weight. Both Erebus and Wolveria need to land their finishing blows simultaneously."

Seraphina bit her lip, but seeing the towering dragon prepare another blast, she could only nod in frantic agreement.

"Cursed Chain!" Rowan roared.

His hands were instantly coated in a dense, shadow-like violet substance. A massive, ethereal chain erupted from the ground, surging skyward like a striking viper to bind the dragon.

The heavy links wrapped securely around the beast’s massive neck, but the dragon resisted violently, flapping its wings and lifting off, threatening to drag Rowan into the sky along with it.

"No... you... don’t!" Rowan gritted out, his voice severely strained as his boots plowed deep furrows into the dirt.

DING!

[SYSTEM BUFF ACTIVATED: BOOST PHYSICAL STRENGTH +30%]

Rowan dug his heels in, his muscles tearing and reforming as he fought the literal weight of a dragon.

The surrounding civilians watched in absolute awe and terror as the lone Academy Captain attempted to single-handedly anchor the monstrous beast.

Seraphina couldn’t just stand by and watch him claim the entire victory.

"Let me assist!"

"No! Not yet!" Rowan bellowed back, his teeth grinding.

[SYSTEM BUFF: PHYSICAL STRENGTH INCREASED TO +50%]

The veins along Rowan’s arms and neck pulsed with a brilliant, glowing violet light.

His eyes flashed a radiant, predatory purple.

With a final, earth-shattering grunt, he yanked the chains downward, completely locking the beast’s neck against the terrain.

The dragon thrashed, its wings creating gale-force winds that threatened to blow the students away.

"NOW!" Rowan screamed.

Seraphina took a deep breath, chanting her high-tier incantations at rapid speed. Wolveria levitated into the air, her fur crackling with blinding electricity.

"Lightning of Judgement!" she commanded.

Wolveria channeled a massive cage of pure, cascading lightning bolts, slamming them down around the dragon to lock it within an electric prison.

Simultaneously, Erebus bounded into the air, heading straight toward the trapped dragon’s exposed underbelly.

[CURRENT PLAYER MANA OUTPUT: 30%]

"Use Maximum Fatal Claw!" Rowan ordered, pushing the last of his offensive reserves into the strike.

[SKILL EXECUTION: MAXIMUM FATAL CLAW — CRITICAL THRESHOLD!]

Erebus moved at a speed that defied the human eye, becoming a blur of darkness and claws as it sliced through the beast, delivering millions of lethal shreds in a fraction of a second.

By the time the dust settled, the other students had successfully neutralized the underlings, gathering around just in time to witness the final, spectacular downfall of the dragon.

Rowan huffed, his chest heaving as Erebus dissolved back into his shadow.

DING!

[NOTICE: COMBAT CONCLUDED]

[TOTAL MANA RESERVES: 47%]

[NEW SKILLS UNLOCKED: MAXIMUM FATAL CLAW | FLIGHT | ABSOLUTE BINDING]

"Tell me later,"

Rowan muttered under his breath, his voice laced with pure exhaustion.

He had only ever pushed himself this hard physically once before, and that was during his hidden duel against Argentrix. But right now, the toll on his body felt heavier than ever.

Seraphina remained frozen in place, staring at the crater. She honestly hadn’t expected Rowan’s reckless plan to actually work out so perfectly.

Before she could process it, a crowd of uninjured civilians came running over, cheering loudly.

"You saved us! The students saved our town!" a woman wept happily.

Several men rushed over to help Rowan to his feet, and Fang quickly stepped to his side, supporting his weight.

Later that evening, the grateful townspeople escorted the Auric Circle to the grand local tavern to lodge for the night.

To show their ultimate gratitude for preventing a total cataclysm, the students were showered with free food, premium drinks, hot baths, and the finest rooms the establishment had to offer.

>> INSIDE THE TAVERN <<

The tavern was alive with boisterous energy. Elite students cheered around massive, heavy wooden tables, clinking their glasses together and celebrating their resounding victory.

Fang was seated directly next to Rowan, who was eating silently but with a terrifying intensity—a literal tower of empty ceramic bowls had already accumulated next to his plate as his body craved nutrients to restore his core.

A few tables over, Seraphina sat in brooding silence. The sight of Rowan being praised made her blood boil, the memory of the battlefield looping in her mind.

’Why couldn’t I have been the one to devise that strategy?’ she thought bitterly, her fingers gripping her glass so hard her knuckles turned white.

’Why does it always have to be him? Just because he possesses a legendary SS-Rank Sagea?’

>> THE VEILED SANCTUM <<

"Ah? The Auric Circle has already concluded their raid?" Lord Ignatius asked, a look of mild amusement crossing his face as he watched the tavern scene unfold through the floating Aetherscope projection.

"So it seems," Lady Kaelen confirmed smoothly, tilting her head.

The Lords of the Academy glanced at one another, exchanging silent, knowing nods. The performance was satisfactory, and they were already preparing the metrics for the next phase of the trials.

However, Lord Malovik remained completely silent, his brow furrowed as he stared at the projection.

His acute intuition told him that despite the impressive teamwork display out on the field, the volatile relationship between Rowan and Seraphina was about to implode.

>> BACK TO THE TAVERN <<

"I still don’t get why you had to lead the team..." Seraphina muttered aloud, her head lowered as her voice cut through the localized noise of their table.

Rowan caught her words instantly. He set his tenth empty bowl down onto the table with a soft, deliberate click.

"Excuse me?" Rowan asked, his eyes narrowing.

Seraphina stood up abruptly, the legs of her wooden chair screeching violently against the floorboards. She was seething with pure, unadulterated rage.

The surrounding tables suddenly fell dead silent. The cheering died out instantly as the other students and the local townspeople realized the academy’s two top elites were locking eyes.

"Why the hell are you being so dramatic right now?" Rowan countered, his voice steady but dangerous.

"Did you happen to forget that I am the Academy Captain? Leading the vanguard is my literal responsibility."

Fang nervously shifted his weight, glancing back and forth between the two. "Guys... come on, let’s calm down. We just won, let’s not—"

"Stay out of it!" both Rowan and Seraphina snapped in perfect, terrifying unison, causing Fang to instantly flinch and raise his hands in retreat.

"Academy Captain or not, you shouldn’t even be holding that title!" Seraphina hissed, leaning over the table, her voice dripping with venom.

"Not when you consciously decided to cover up for that fraudulent, useless brother of yours! You’re protecting a parasite, Rowan!"

A collective murmur rippled through the gathered students. The townspeople looked on in stunned silence, entirely powerless to intervene in a dispute between high-ranking mages.

Suddenly, a suffocating, dark purple aura surged violently from Rowan’s silhouette. The shadows beneath him twisted as Erebus partially manifested, its glowing eyes locking onto Seraphina.

Refusing to back down, Seraphina released her own Aether, Wolveria’s white, lightning-streaked aura flaring to life around her.

But the moment Rowan stood up to his full height, his dark purple aura expanded exponentially, completely engulfing her light and flooding every square inch of the tavern with an oppressive, crushing pressure.

The sheer weight of an S-Rank aura forced Seraphina to take a physical step back.

Realizing she was completely outmatched in a raw display of power, Seraphina bit her lip until it bled.

With a sharp snarl, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the tavern, Wolveria dissolving into mist behind her.

Rowan watched the heavy oak doors swing shut. Silently, he reined in his suffocating aura, smoothed down his uniform, and calmly settled back into his seat to finish his meal.