Psychic Overlord

As the lights surged back to full brightness, the Silver Division resumed with more matches trickling in, but none stirred the crowd quite like the next two names projected above the arena in glowing silver font:

[Dante "Synaptic Titan" vs. Freya Solheim]

Lysandra’s voice dipped into a fake epic tone. "Prepare yourselves... for the raw neurons of rage! The muscular mind-bender! The brute of brainwaves! Dante of the Divine Cognitive Order!"

The crowd burst into laughter and cheers as Dante marched in like a gladiator. Shirtless beneath his sleeveless fur-trimmed cloak, he pounded his chest once and flexed with such vigor the arena lights seemed to quiver in secondhand embarrassment.

His opponent, Freya, was a lithe ice-user from the Nordic Academy’s exchange program. She raised a delicate brow at his entrance, unimpressed.

"Begin!"

Freya immediately conjured a barrage of freezing shards and spun them in a whirlwind around her as a defensive vortex.

Dante didn’t flinch. Instead, he knelt and pressed his fists to the ground like a monk, murmuring softly.

"Three... two... one... Mind punch!"

Suddenly, a field of mental resistance erupted around him which was not visible, but palpable, sending psychic pulses in timed intervals toward Freya’s defense.

Sophia blinked. "He’s syncing his brainwaves to her elemental pattern. Low-level rhythm telepathy... he’s actually beating her tempo."

Rina chuckled. "What a nerd."

The crowd gasped as Freya’s spinning shards lost synchronization halfway through while a few even collided with each other and then burst into powder.

Dante sprang forward like a berserker with a grin. "Read my mind... AND DESPAIR!"

He threw a heavy punch that was not aimed at Freya, but rather the air, and the shockwave of mental will forced Freya back while staggering and clutching her head with wide eyes.

Rina’s jaw dropped. "He’s weaponizing raw idiocy."

"Winner: Dante! The Synaptic Titan strikes again!" Lysandra announced, shaking her head.

Dante pointed to the sky and flexed his muscles. "To the mind, to the muscle, to the Overlord!!!"

Kaizer leaned back in his chair, hiding his face with a hand. "I... have to talk to these guys about this stuff."

He entirely understood how Frieza must feel with the Ginyu Force now.

The next match followed quickly.

[Cornelius "Thoughtforger" vs. Maya Sung]

Cornelius entered with all the fanfare of a silent librarian. Hair slicked back, spectacles shining, and holding a leather-bound notebook, he moved slowly - irritatingly slowly - to the center.

Maya, a flame wielder, arched an eyebrow. "You’re gonna get toasted, Grandpa."

Cornelius said nothing as he glanced at her with disdain then opened his notebook... and stared.

Maya blinked. "What’re you...?"

She staggered back suddenly, a look of pain then confusion on her face.

"Wait... what was I about to say...?"

Rina raised a brow. "What the hell?"

"He has achieved it, huh? I only suggested binding his Thought Disruption ability to a physical medium and it worked this well." Kaizer murmured.

Rina leaned over. "In English, Psylord!"

Kaizer explained calmly. "He inserts decoy concepts into the minds of opponents so Maya’s train of thought is now derailed."

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "He’s like a cognitive brick wall. You hit it, and everything you were thinking about just... drops."

Maya tried to attack but constantly hesitated, unable to recall her next move.

Eventually, she just walked off the edge of the stage thinking the match was already over, which naturally ended the match.

"Winner: Cornelius by mental derailment!" Lysandra declared.

The Divine Cognitive Order had now fully swept the bracket, but the greatest madness had only just begun.

Lysandra stepped forward again. "Now then... since we’ve somehow been blessed—or cursed—with an entire group of telepathic weirdos making it through to the quarterfinals... let us indulge in the inevitable."

The screen above flickered and displayed it boldly.

Quarterfinal Match: DIVINE COGNITIVE ORDER VS. DIVINE COGNITIVE ORDER

The crowd exploded with interest as students stood, clapping and chanting. Vendors who were serving couldn’t help but spill drinks from leaning too far forward.

Yet in all of this, Kaizer paled as if he had just found out that the world was about to end.

"No... this can’t be... you can’t do this to me, Mentor William, Lysandra..." Kaizer muttered in despair.

Lysandra raised her arms like a game show host. "It’s every Divine for themselves! Five enter and only one will ascend as the true Synaptic Saint!"

The entire arena transformed again, this time into a shimmering obsidian grid, segmented into five separate platforms all linked by bridges.

A battle royale of freaks.

The five telepaths entered from different points, each dramatically postured, each dead serious... and absolutely unhinged.

Julius raised both hands. "Only one mind shall reign!"

Dante cracked his knuckles. "LET’S SEE WHO REALLY LIFTED THE OVERLORD’S TEACUP DURING TRAINING!"

Morgan’s cloak flared. "You stole my memory mirror last time, Julius. Tonight, I take your dignity!"

Cornelius began humming Gregorian chants for no reason.

Eloise activated her emotion sensors and pointed at everyone in turn. "You all fear me. Especially you, Morgan. I saw your search history."

Morgan screamed. "YOU PROMISED NEVER TO MENTION THAT!"

The fight began in pure chaos.

Dante body-slammed a chunk of the platform so hard it lifted Cornelius into the air, who then forgot what he was doing midair and landed in a fetal pose, humming still.

Morgan cast three psychic illusions of herself, only for Julius to scream "DELETE!" and accidentally delete the floor beneath himself, falling into the pit.

Eloise triggered a mass embarrassment feedback wave, making everyone momentarily freeze in shame as their most cringeworthy Academy memories were projected to the crowd.

"Wait, that’s not mine! That’s my dad’s wedding vows!!" Julius shouted as an illusion of a love poem aired across the arena.

Dante leapt up and drop-kicked Julius into Morgan, who screamed and unleashed all her stored psychic noise, instantly short-circuiting every camera drone within a hundred meters.

By the time the smoke cleared, all five lay collapsed in various poses.

Lysandra, cackling at this point, waved her hand. "No winner, only psychic carnage!"

The crowd went wild; this was the kind of amusing nonsense they loved to see!

And for darling Kaizer?

Kaizer was listless as all eyes fell on him, most full of mockery, asking ’Is this your crew?’

"It’s over, the Overlord Force is over." The young man uncharacteristically wailed in lament.

"Hey everyone look, it’s Kaizer, their boss! He said he’s so proud of them!" Rina shouted beside him, her devilish fang displaying itself as she caused trouble.

Sophia just laughed. "They’re... unforgettable. Good luck with them, Overlord Kaizer."

Kaizer groaned. "Rina, you monster..."

But still, somewhere deep down, past the shame and secondhand trauma... a part of him was proud of them for coming this far... just a little.

In the beginning, Morgan could only sense when someone was thinking about food with 80% accuracy, Cornelius could make people forget what they were about to say with a 50% chance, Dante could guess what number one was thinking of if it was between one and three, while Eloise could at best convince people they left the stove on, even if they didn’t own a stove.

Now look at them, telepathic espers that any faction would want to hire if not for their weird natures.

As the psychic carnage faded and the drones were slowly rebooted, Lysandra wiped a tear from her eye and cleared her throat dramatically. "And that, my dear friends, concludes... the most spiritually chaotic psychic brawl in Esper Academy history."

The audience was still roaring, many unable to sit down, some doubled over in laughter, others wiping their eyes as Julius was carried off by two medics chanting "Cognitive convergence... Cognitive convergence..."

Morgan was trying to crawl off the stage whispering, "The mirror is mine... I am the one true reflection..." while Eloise simply stood in the corner muttering, "Everyone fears me... even the mirror."

Cornelius, surprisingly unharmed, was writing notes in his leather book while being stretchered off. "Observation: emotional triggers tied to Julius’ poetry are objectively more lethal than any known neuro-attack."

Dante? He had one arm raised in victory, despite being face-down in the dirt. "Overlord... I hope we made you proud... mind and muscle..."

And in the middle of the stadium, Lysandra stood like a ringmaster to a circus long lost to reason. "Give it up, ladies and gentlemen! Not for the winners... but for the pure, unfiltered insanity of the Divine Cognitive Order!"

The applause thundered so loud it actually cracked part of the sound-dampening barrier near the east wing.

Kaizer, who had spent the last three minutes with his face buried in his hands, finally looked up.

Around him, the Special Echelon was losing their minds in laughter, even Eleanor and Ragnar chuckling loudly while Lucian had a broad smile on his face.

Rina had fallen off her seat laughing, rolling on the ground while holding her stomach.

Titaness wiped tears from her cheeks and thumped her own leg. "Best thing I’ve ever seen, way better than punching a volcano!"

Roland took a sip of his drink and smirked at Kaizer. "I dunno, man. They might be insane, but they’re still yours."

And in the Heir Pavilion?

Davion was so appalled he’d stopped swirling his wine, staring in stunned silence.

Ryu Kurosawa was already sending encrypted footage to several private media channels with the subject: "Divine Dumbasses – Academy’s Secret Weapon?"

Alexei laughed. "Well, if this is what Kaizer teaches, I’m both impressed... and terrified."

Rafael just gave a long, admiring whistle. "Respect. It takes real power to train five nutcases into Silver-ranked nightmares."

Kaizer could only exhale. "...I need a vacation."

As the Silver Division officially closed and cleanup crews swept away the debris of cracked tiles, damaged drones, and one pair of sparkly psychic underwear (courtesy of Julius), the announcement came in.

"Thank you all for enjoying the Silver Division matches! Please prepare yourselves for the upcoming Gold Division battles—where the true elites take center stage!"

As the screen faded out, Kaizer turned to Rina with one final, defeated look. "You did this."

Rina smiled sweetly, barely seating herself, sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose. "Of course I did."

And somewhere, Julius was already updating the Divine Cognitive Order’s motto on their official page.

"All minds are one! All battles are chaos!! All hail the Overlord!!!"

Kaizer nearly passed out.