"Everyone is clear of their own position, right?" Riddle asked once again.
It was finally the day of the Inter-dorm Spelldrive Tournament. Everyone related, including you, grim, the Heartslabyul squad, Lilia, Silver, and Sebek from Diasomnia, was gathered in Heartslabyul in the early morning for the last briefing.
Not long after Riddle and the others discovered Leona's plan, Jack Howl from Savanaclaw made contact with you. He was the only one in his dorm who knew the plan yet refused to participate in it. He noticed that you and the Heartslabyul squad were taking action to stop the scam, and it was why he came to you. With Jack's confirmation, you guys got more detailed information regarding Savanaclaw's plan. However, he wasn't there in the final briefing, so as to prevent his dorm mates from discovering his mutiny.
You didn't have the best sleeping quality last night. You had been worrying if everything would be smooth, whether the audience and other players would be safe. Although you had tried not to, you could not deny the fact that you were also worried about Leona.
According to school rules, Savanaclaw would be disqualified if they were found cheating, and today, your mission was to expose their scam.
"Y/n, are you alright?" you heard Ace asked. You shook your head so as to come back from zoning out. "Yes, I'm fine." You gave him a small smile.
The Diasomnia trio returned to their dorm to prepare for the tournament after the meeting, while you and the Heartslabyul squad got ready to go to the stadium, where the tournament would be held.
From the recording you secretly took in Savannaclaw, and Leona's admission, you knew that he would use a potion to control all the audience in the venue, so they would uncontrollably rush around, and eventually, Malleus would be stepped on and get hurt. With Malleus' absence, Savannaclaw would beat Diasomnia and the other dorms easily and become the champion.
However, you and the other would make sure that their plan would not work.
According to your plan, you would be responsible to help evacuate the visitors, so as to minimize the number of people getting injured. You could not use magic, so you were not arranged to go to thw stadium with the others. Although Riddle didn't explain that clearly, you knew that he had arranged you to this position so that you didn't need to confront Leona directly again.
Everything was ready. Ace gave you a pat on your shoulder before leaving the dorm. "Everything will go smooth, Y/n. Don't worry." He comforted.
Apart from the stadium in Savanaclaw, there was also another one on campus. It was where the tournament would be held. When you and the squad arrived at the side street outside the venue, there were already booths for selling food and souvenirs. Same as last year, they were all arranged by Azul.
The inter-dorm tournament was not just a simple intra-school competition. Due to the reputation of Night Raven College, not only would tickets be sold to the public, but the tournament would also be broadcasted worldwide. Usually, representatives from different professional leagues would come to watch the tournament, to search for potential players to join their leagues in the future. It was why Azul would not waste this precious chance of gaining profit from the food stalls.
"Be careful, Y/n!" Was what Deuce reminded you before you parted with the Heartslabyul team. Riddle and the freshmen would be standing by in the stadium, while you would be on the side street.
"You too!" You replied. Despite having Riddle, a housewarden-level mage, and more manpower on your side, you still couldn't help but worry that something out of expectation would occur. Having these concerns in your head, you walked to some less exposed area. As there was still some time before the game officially started, the audience hadn't entered the stadium area yet, and the street was almost empty. You could only see three people not far away from you, or maybe you should say one.
The one facing your direction was Cater, who had come here much earlier than you to prepare, and the other two facing you with your back were wearing Diasomnia's uniform. From the colour of their hair, people might think they were Silver and Sebek. However, when you walked closer, you realized that those were just wigs.
"Yo Y/n-chan, you're here!" Cater first greeted. What followed was the other two people turning to you, greeting you at the same time. You realized that they were just Cater's duplicates wearing Diasomnia's uniform. You knew his unique magic, Split Card, was astonishing, but you were still a bit startled when you saw three Caters at the same time. He even took a selfie with you and his duplicates in another dorm's uniform and said that he would post it to MagiCam after the whole operation was over.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Night Raven College interdorm Spelldrive tournament!" The PA system announced, indicated the entry of visitors. Soon, the side street was filled with people. They all grabbed their time to buy food and souvenirs from the booths on the two sides before the competition started.
Cater had left and gone to Stadium to support his dorm mate. You stood next to Cater's duplicates, carefully watching the visitors, and waiting for a certain moment.
On the other side of the venue, the hyena did not plan to keep you waiting. He opened the smelly potion which smelled like a aged stewed gym sock, and poured every single drop of it into his throat.
"Let's send the audience running like a stampede of wildebeests! LAUGH WITH ME!" Ruggie yelled.
You noticed a stone on the ground slightly bounced. Just when you were going to crouch down and have a closer look at it, a huge noise came from the other end of the street. The next second, a man next to you all of a sudden started running towards the east entrance, and another woman next to him, and another man, and soon everyone on the street was converging in a reckless stampede.
"Everyone please, calm down! I beg you!" The PA system tried to stop what was happening, but it wouldn't work.
The street turned into a mess, where people were running around and screaming out of fear. You were the only person on the street who could still move freely under your own control.
Before you came here, you had drunk a potion given by Vil. It enabled the user to resist any external magic attack. As the ingredients were not easy to find, there were only enough portions to make a tiny glass of the potion, and everyone had agreed to give it to you, who could not use magic for self-protection. Vil also mentioned that the effect of the potion varied from person to person, so you should finish your work as soon as possible before the effect was gone.
Suddenly, you saw a boy being trapped and fell onto the ground. Behind him was a group of people, uncontrollably running towards him. He would definitely be stepped on by them.
You immediately ran towards him and pulled him up from the floor. "Hey, are you okay- Wait!" Right after he stood up from the ground, his body again uncontrollably moved and started running like the other audience. You couldn't hold his arm and could only watch him run to the other side with the crowd.
"Leona... what have you done?" Looking at this horrifying scene, you couldn't help but mumble.
"Everyone, protect Malleus-sama!" You heard someone yell. It was one of Cater's duplicates, but you couldn't hear any worries in his voice, as it was part of the plan in order to trick Ruggie.
"This way, Malleus-samaaaaa!" N-no! We're too late! Ahh!" The duplicate who was pretending Sebek shouted, but it was even faker.
Just then, you saw a familiar figure fly up to midair. It was Malleus in his sportswear. Just like what Lilia had expected, he was not injured by the stampede. He seemed to notice you, too. You gave him a nod to assure him that you were not under control. After confirming that you were not affected and had gone to a safe position, he used his magic to direct the rushing crowd to a safe spot.
Under Malleus' magical intervention, the directions where the people were running to were unified. Malleus led them to the sports field not far away from the stadium. It was large enough to accommodate all visitors.
You stayed at a side on the side street. You helped those who fell to prevent them from being stepped on and assisted Malleus to direct some audience members who were still rushing in different directions. You could see children among the crowd. Some of them were crying and their parents were not next to them. They could do nothing but kept running without knowing where their destination was.
About 20 minutes, all visitors moved from the side street to the sports field, which was out of the area that would be affected by Ruggie's unique magic. They could finally control their own body. Due to Malleus' magic and your assistance on the side street, only a few people got some shallow scratches, and they were sent to the medical room immediately.
You walked around the sports field to see if someone needed help, and it was when you saw a little boy who was crying because he got lost with his parents. You took out a sweet from your pocket, which was given by Ace this morning, and gave it to the boy. He looked at the candy in your palm, and carefully took it while slowly stopping the crying.
"Let's go find your parents, alright?" You smiled, trying to calm the boy. He slightly nodded with a tiny sob and held your hand.
You two were heading to the broadcast room in the main school building, but it was when you all of a sudden felt a strong wind blow from the direction of the stadium. You turned to where the arena was, and you were totally startled by what you saw.
The sky above the stadium all of a sudden darkened. Today was a sunny day, the sky was blue and there were no clouds. However, the sky above the stadium and the area nearby became a mixture of brown and grey, just like the colour of sand and dust. Strong winds blew from the direction of the arena, and the circular stadium started to become blurred from your point of view.
"What are those...?" You gasped as you realize what was surrounding the stadium— a sandstorm. It was like the sand in the wind formed a barrier that separated the stadium and the outsides.
"Ouch!" Your eyes felt prinking and uncomfortable when the sand in the strong wind entered your eyes. You lifted your arm and put them in front of your face to protect yourself. You told the boy to stand behind you so you could block him from the wind.
Riddle had told you not to go to the stadium, as you were not able to use magic and might not be able to protect yourself if there were any magical attacks, but at that moment, you knew something out of control was happening behind the wall of the stadium, and your friends were all in there. Leona was there.
You turned to an Ignihyde sophomore near you, "Flynn-senpai, would you please take this kid to the broadcast room? He got lost with his parents during the stampede."
You crouched down to meet the boy's eye level. "Hey, you'll find your parents soon, okay? My friends may be in danger, and I have to help them. Don't be afraid, he'll take you to the broadcast room, where there'll be staff helping you to find your parents." The little boy nodded. You gave him a little pat on his head before you turned around and ran toward the stadium. Flynn wanted to stop you, as it was clear the stadium was not a safe place to go, but you had already run far away.
The closer you got, the stronger and turbid the wind was. Even the air became drier. You could not help but cough when the sand in the wind got into your mouth.
As soon as you came near the stadium, you realized that the building itself was slowly turning into sand. The grey bricks changed into gold sand and fell onto the ground, but you had no time to worry about that. You used your jacket to cover your face and ran through the sandstorm surrounding the stadium and got into it.
You decided to hide behind the corner first to observe the situation. You looked into the sports ground. The four members of Heartslabyul, Grim, the Diasomnia trio, and some Savanaclaw students were there. What caught your attention was a huge white wolf that you had never seen before, but you soon figured out that it was Jack, as they had the same fringes.
In the middle of everyone, it was Leona and Ruggie. Ruggie was kneeling on the ground. Pain was all written on his face when he grabbed his throat with coughs. "Le- Leona... san...n! Can't... b-breathe...!" The hyena tried to seek help.
"His defense magic is too powerful! I cannot collar him!" Riddle yelled. He tried to use his unique spell, Off With Your Head, on his upperclassman, but it didn't work at all.
According to the plan, they would be confronting Leona and informing him that his scam was failing. Leona would have no choice by to surrender. But how did things turn out like this...?
"WAAAA! Everything Leona touched, and the stadium are turning to sand!" Grim yelled, followed by a few coughs, as the sand got into his nose.
"Hah hah hah! How do you like that, Ruggie? It hurts, right? Is your mouth too fry to keep licking my boots? That was your finest talent, after all." You heard Leona mock with laughter.
"Ruggie's arm! The skin is cracking!' Deuce pointed at the sophomore.
"Your spell can legit dry out a human being?!" Ace gasped in shock.
"Heh heh heh..." Leona snickered, "That's my unique spell, The King's Roar."
You all of a sudden remember that Leona refused to tell you what his unique spell was back in the Enchanted Forest. That time, he tried to use the King's Roar to turn the tree into the sand, but it didn't work, and it proved his guess that they were in a place that inhibited magic.
Leona pressed his fingers against his temple with a sarcastic snicker, "Ironic, ain't it? Nothing the savanna hates more than a drought. Yet its prince's magic desiccates everything— reduces it to sand."
The next second, Ace all of a sudden fell onto the ground while grabbing his own neck. He was at a spot near Leona, and the air there dried his mouth and his throat, which made him hard to breathe. He kept inhaling heavily while coughing to get more oxygen but it was insufficient.
"ACE!" You could not hold yourself from shouting when you saw your friend was in danger. You didn't think much before running into the sports ground and directly to Ace. You kneeled on the ground and put Ace's head on your forearm.
Hearing your voice, everyone in the arena, including Leona, especially Leona, turned to you. Everyone was startled by your sudden appearance. According to the original plan, you were not supposed to be here.
Shock was shown in Leona's widened eyes, mixed with anxiety and frustration. He looked around the stadium and at you. He was in such a horrifying status, turning everything into sand, the status of himself that he hated the most, and you were there, looking at that horrifying him.
"Leona's concentration was broken!" Riddle shouted when he noticed the change in the emotion on Leona's face. He pointed his magic pen at Leona, "Off With Your Head!"
"GAAAAH!" With Leona's growl, a red-and-white collar of Riddle appeared on his neck, preventing him from using magic. The next moment, the sky turned back into blue, and the air in the stadium became clear again. The King's Roar was inhibited by Off With Your Head. The cracks on Ruggie's arm stopped extending, and he coughed and gasped to breathe.
Same as Ruggie, Ace in your arms coughed and breathed heavily to obtain oxygen. He could finally breathe. "Y/n... wh-" he wanted to talk, but of cut off by his own coughs.
"No... NO!" Leona's bellow caught everyone's, including your attention.
"You CANNOT collar a lion!" He yelled furiously at Riddle.
"Don't you think this is enough?" You finally could not hold it and uttered, with your head remaining low.
Leona paused, he turned to you, who was still sitting on the ground, taking care of Ace. The last person he wanted to be judged by in the stadium, was you.
You didn't wait for Leona to reply before you spoke again, "There were already enough innocent people being injured because of you and your plan. Is it still not enough?!" You raised your voice while looking up at him with frustration and anger in your eyes. You never wanted to shout at him like this, not again, but what he was doing was beyond acceptance. You didn't understand. Why? How? What happened to the Leona you knew? The one who was always calm and alert, the one who acted cold but actually cared about the others deep down in his heart. What had made him this... cruel and cold-blooded?
The stadium all of a sudden became silent, and nobody dared to make any noise or say anything to interrupt you.
"There were children in the audience! Do you not care about their safety?!" You questioned while recalling the terrible scene back in the side street. If you weren't there, if Malleus wasn't there, they might have been heavily injured. You looked at Ace, who still had not fully recovered, and turned to Leona. "And now you want to turn my friends, and your own dorm mate into sand and ashes." You stared at him.
Leona was speechless. He looked at you in frustration, with a mixture of anger and anxiety. Once again, that feeling of heart-wrenching that he had had in Ramshackle Dorm when you confronted him appeared again, and it hurt him.
"Would that the lion king of the savanna could witness this absolute farce." Finally, another person decided to speak. You looked towards the owner of the voice, and it was Lilia. He remembered what Leona had said before you arrived, about the fact that he would never be king because of his birth order. You had chitchat with him before, but you weren't so familiar with him.
"If you ask me, the collar suits you far better than a crown ever could." He continued. Hearing that, the frustration and uncertainty on Leona's face became pure anger. "...HUH?!" He bellowed.
"You may bemoan the fact that you're not higher in line to be king. But with that sensitive ego of yours? That so quickly directs all your petty anger at your retainers." Lilia uttered with a smirk. That was harsh, but you couldn't say what he had mentioned was totally wrong.
"Well, the idea of you ever contending with the REAL king like our Malleus— is absolutely laughable." Lilia said, "Even if you COULD defeat Malleus, you would never be fit to rule!"
Hearing what Lilia said, Leona paused for a second, before he let out a burst of sarcastic laughter, "Hah hah... Yeah, you're probably right. No, you're EXACTLY right...! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"I will never become king. No matter how hard I try!" He growled.
"Destiny can never be altered, and I will always be the hated second prince who will never be king!"
That yelling of Leona woke a memory of yours, the one where you and Leona chatted in the Enchanted Forest.
"Life is simply unfair."
"No matter how hard I try, as long as I'm the second prince, I will never be as good as Falena. Most importantly, I will never be the king of Sunset Savanna."
"This is something that I can never change."
"Guess I am just the useless second prince who will never be king."
Just when you were still recalling your memories, a huge rumbling sound brought you back to sense. Then, the collar on Leona's neck all of a sudden disappeared.
"It's not magic power. That's negative energy... EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" Lilia warned.
"I've been loathed since the day I was born. I've never had a place, never had a future!" Leona bellowed out of frustration. You didn't know how, but this sentence of his pricked your heart.
Ever since you were born, you had no place in your family, not even a future. You had been living under the domination of your father, and the shadow of your brother. You understood that hopeloess and desperate feeling.
"Leona... wait..." you finally realized something, and voiced. How could you not understand that uptill now? You blamed yourself. The reason, the root behind this whole plan of Leona. You did not understand why Leona was so despertate to win, that he even had to cheat, but you did now. You finally knew that, but he could not hear you, and you were immediately cut off by him.
"None of my hard work is ever rewarded!" Leona bellowed, "HOW COULD ANY OF YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND?! MY DISAPPOINTMENT?! MY PAIN?!"
"No, Leona... I..."
"ROARRRRRRRRR!"
"LEONA!" You shouted, but it was too late. Deuce immediately pulled you away from the lion so as to prevent you from getting hurt.
All of a sudden, the ground rumbled, and the stadium further turned into the sand in the strong wind. The sky once again become turbid, and the air became dry. The ground of the stadium cracked, and the fragments of the ground floated into midair.
Black ink accumulated from the ground around Leona. It climbed up Leona's leg like vines and extended upward to the other parts of his body. Inks effused from his forehead, and soon covered his whole face. Leona kneeled on the ground, and suddenly, the puddle of ink gushed upward and surrounded Leona like a cage. The ink continued to extend and covered the whole body of Leona, his clothes, his arms, and his legs.
"LEONA! Deuce let go of me! LET GO!" You were at the edge of losing your rationality when you saw the situation of Leona. You had never seen anything like this in your whole life, but you knew Leona was in danger, and you could not just let him be. You tried to struggle, but Deuce grabbed you and refuse to loosen his arms. "Y/n, it is dangerous! Just- stop!" He yelled.
"Whatever that fucking ink is, it is crawling up Leona! How can we-" You were still arguing, but you paused when you saw a gigantic shadow coming out of Leona.
"That's... the incarnation of his blot!" Lilia next to you uttered with a vigilant and worried voice, "Leona is overblotting!"
Overblot? What the hell is overblot??! You had never heard of this word, but you could tell it had nothing good.
The next second, part of the ink on Leona's body started to drop onto the ground, showing his skin underneath. However, the look of Leona had totally changed. His original dorm uniform turned into a black fluffy neckwear paired with a black corset and a piece of ragged cloth around his waist. There were vines like ink surrounding his arms and feet.
At last, Leona looked up, a drop of ink dropped out from his left eye, and there was a golden yellow flame surrounding that eye of his. There was nothing but coolness and pure anger in his eyes. "GRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWWWRRR!" He roared.
"What in Twisted Wonderland is happening..." Ace looked at Leona and the monstrous shadow behind him and gasped.
"Leona is in the condition of overblot." Lilia explained, "At the moment, Leona is overcome by negative energy, and has lost control of his magic and emotions. It is a dangerous condition that mages must avoid at all costs."
"Originally the magestone on our magic pen would help absorb the blots produced when we mages use magic, but when a mage overblot, it indicates that the blots have exceeded the capacity of the magestone. Leona will be releasing his magical energy until his energy pool is dried up."
"What will happen... if his energy pool dries up?" You asked with a slightly shaking voice.
Lilia hesitated for a second before he spoke again, "He will lose his life."
Your heart sank when you heard Lilia's words. "Lose his life... like d-" You covered your mouth before you said the word "death", as you were too scared of that possibility.
"Deuce, help me take the wounded outside!" Riddle did his housewarden's job and ordered, he then turned to Lilia, "Lilia-senpai, please get help from the faculty!"
"Understood. Stay strong until I return." Was all Lilia dropped before he disappeared with his teleport spell.
"Don't worry, Y/n-chan, we'll do this together, and we will save Leona." Cater comforted before he turned to his housewarden, "Right, Riddle-kun?"
Jack, who had already turned back into human form helped Ruggie to stand up from the ground. "I don't know what's going on, but if we hit Leona-senpai hard enough, maybe we can snap him outta it." He said.
Ruggie coughed while one of his arms was put on Jack's shoulders so he could stand up straight, "I... I'll help too... No way am I taking what he said lying down...!"
Hearing Ruggie's words, Leona laughed, "Even the lowly hyena turns against me? AHAHAHAH! What a total joke!" You could hear two voices speaking at the same time.
Lilia had left to seek help from the teacher. Riddle demanded you and Deuce, the freshmen take care of Ace and the other injuries, leaving Riddle, Cater, Ruggie, Jack, Silver, and Sebek who would fight again Leona. Although Sebek and Jack were also freshmen, Jack had awakened his unique spell, and Sebek had been practicing the use of magic since he was small, they were allowed to join the battle.
"If we beat Leona, maybe Crowley will allow me and Ramshackle Dorm to participate in the tournament! Let's go, everyone!" Grim issued an order as if he was the boss. Despite being helpless about Grim, everyone took out their magic pen and got ready for the fight.
You were forced to sit near the stand with Deuce and Ace. You knew you would only be a burden for Riddle and the others if you join the battle, but you still could not help but feel frustrated for sitting here and not being able to do anything.
Your two hands were unconsciously grabbing each other. From your point of view, you saw the magical attack of the fellows against Leona. Riddle cast a fire, but was blocked by Leona's dark cosmic magic. Leona sharpened the rock fragments floating in midair with his magic, and they were all as sharp as daggers. All of a sudden, all of them flew toward Riddle and the other at an extremely high speed. You uncontrollably stood up from the seat, but Deuce grabbed your arm to calm you down.
"Watch out, Riddle!" Silver quickly stood in front of Riddle and cast a protective spell. The fragments stopped and fell onto the ground in front of the boys just like there was an invisible barrier.
Ruggie summoned a broomstick and rode on it. He planned to attack Leona in the air to distract his attention. As a member of the Spelldrive Team, especially one of the most flexible ones, Ruggie easily hooked the wooden part of the broom with one of his legs and hung himself upside down. "Ahh shi... my abdomen!" The difficulty level increased a bit when he was injured, but he could totally handle that. Ruggie aimed at his boss with the magic pen. The spell hit Leona's arm, but it seemed that it was not strong enough to injure him.
Leona turned to Ruggie, who was still in midair with a glare, and immediately cast an attack on the hyena. Luckily, Ruggie was agile enough to quickly lower his broom and dodge the attack.
The two sides seemed to have entered a tug of war. Riddle and the others tried their best to dodge Leona's attack and cast a spell on him at the same time, while Leona kept on splashing his magical energy.
"If I cannot overthrow the world, I will turn it into sand!!" Leona growled with the double voices, followed by another roar.
"Nothing matters... whatever it is... IT DOES NOT MATTERS!!" He bellowed. Maybe it was just your wrong impression, but you could feel that Leona was looking toward you when he said that.
"You have been thinking about that all way through, don't you? Turning over the world, getting rid of the destiny..." You murmured while looking at Leona who was combating the others, "I should've known... Should've understood why you wanted to win..." It was never only about the game.
"GRRRAAAWWW!!" Another roar of Leona brought you back from thinking. He waved his arm, and the next second, a strong burst of magical energy pushed everyone on the sports ground onto the ground.
"YOU ALL ARE GETTING ON MY NERVES! I'LL TURN EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU TO SAND!!" He yelled.
You tried to get closer to the battlefield, but the duo just wouldn't let you go. You looked towards Leona, and it was when you noticed something that shocked you. The skin of Leona's arms and legs started cracking, but he seemed to not be aware or care about that. Every time he released the magical power, the cracks extended.
Cater, who was near Leona, also noticed that. "Leona-kun's magic power is too strong. It seems that even his own body cannot withstand that and starts to collapse." He explained.
"Trein-sensei talked about that in class either. Kingscholar-senpai's magic has exceeded his control and it is consuming himself. It is some sort of backlash effect." Deuce recalled, "If this situation goes on, Kingscholar-senpai may-" he didn't say the last word out, so as not to further scare you, but you knew well what was going to happen to Leona:
If you cannot stop him, right here, right now, the whole body of Leona will collapse, and he will die.
You calmly stood up, and Deuce tried to stop you again. You put your hand on his, which was holding your arm, and gave him a nod, "Deuce, I will be fine." The boy looked at you with hesitation, and you grabbed that tiny moment when Deuce's concentration was broken and ran towards Leona and the others.
"Wait Y/n!" You could hear Deuce yell from behind, and Ace tried to stand up and stop you but failed. However, you could not, and you would not stop. You could not sit there and watch Leona dry up his magic energy pool and die.
This time, Leona, I will not let go.
——
NOTE
Oh my god I have never expected that I'd actually write Leona's overblot. This chapter was quite difficult to write, as I found it hard to describe Leona's overblot process and his outfit. Anyways, this chapter is not totally the same as Leona's overblot in the game. I hope you enjoy this :D Bonus: hot overblot Leona (his ob design is actually my favourite