Psychic Overlord

As Kaizer landed lightly in the arena, the platform beneath him shimmered with a silver-gray glow. A new seal had been inscribed into the floor by the Academy’s highest esper artificers in under a minute, proof that the course of the esper world itself had shifted.

Across from him, Sophia Rochester emerged calmly, void rippling around her like a cloak. Her boots tapped softly against the enchanted stone, and her face—always calm—showed something unusual.

A trace of emotion.

She stood across from him, arms at her sides languidly. Their eyes met, and for a long moment, it was as if the rest of the arena didn’t exist.

But the world did exist... and it was watching.

Within seconds, the academy’s betting system exploded to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lysandra’s voice returned to the speakers with renewed electricity.

"With the Dean’s declaration, a global betting board has now been opened! Place your bets for each match! Will Kaizer win them all? Or will he fall... and if so, to whom?"

A giant blue holographic table expanded across the stadium’s sky, showing odds, win chains, and potential multipliers.

Kaizer Wins All Matches: 1:94

Defeated by Tyrron: 1:1.6

Defeated by Eleanor: 1:1.9

Defeated by Lucian: 1:2.1

Defeated by Tessa: 1:2.4

Defeated by Roland: 1:2.8

Defeated by Rina: 1:3

Sophia Upsets Kaizer (Match 1): 1:47

Kaizer Wins 1 Match Only: 1:10

Kaizer Wins 3 Matches Only: 1:30

Kaizer Wins 5 Matches Only: 1:50

Kaizer Wins 7 Matches Only: 1:70

Kaizer Becomes New "Crowned Sovereign": 1:150

Popcorn buckets spilled as the students screamed over each other. Mental power espers triggered nosebleeds from excessive mental calculations, their friends and family shaking them in order to get a sure answer.

Precognitive and future sight espers were being visibly chased around by the crowd, while probability and luck-controlling espers were dashing towards the Dean, seeking protection from those who were red-eyed and trying to capture them.

One poor D-rank telepath short-circuited his own cerebral cortex trying to predict whether Sophia would use Void Fold Trap v.3 or the implosion feint first.

Even the professional commentators who were handling the commentary for those watching at home were rife with glee.

"This is madness!!!" Anchor Tae Ishi shouted crazily, almost jumping on her desk.

She clutched her tablet till it began to crack due to her super strength. "Sophia Rochester, the Dean’s own daughter, facing the boy he just declared as successor?"

Her co-host, Ferron Blaze—no relation to the Alpha City Commander—grinned widely, his eyeballs protruding. "Who needs prophecy when you’ve got politics this spicy?!"

........

A torrent of odds, match multipliers, and esper pundit analytics now filled the networks.

It wasn’t just students betting anymore; somehow, international esper networks, corporate syndicates, and even foreign factions were now routing data into the Esper Academy’s betting servers.

Commander Durand gawked at the display. "You’ve got to be kidding me! They opened up a real-time match chain betting system?!"

Commander Rae scrolled through her hologlass, scoffing. "Someone just wagered a Fortune-7 crypto bond that Kaizer wins all fights but draws with Rina."

"Did... did someone really place a side bet that Sophia kisses him mid-match?" Commander Durand blinked with puzzlement.

Blaze, however, stood unmoved, fingers pressed tightly together.

"It’s a distraction, the real bet isn’t on Kaizer winning or losing. It’s whether he can endure the pressure of the world." Blaze revealed coldly.

President Voss finally cracked a soft smile. "There’s the esper world for you. The position of the top comes with extreme pressure unlike any kingship. Heavy is the head, after all."

.......

The betting board blazed across their personal dome ceiling like an upside-down stock exchange.

Rafael Azmadi leaned back with a wine glass. "Look at this, someone bet Kaizer would lose to Roland because of ’resonance fatigue.’ That’s the most creative delusion I’ve seen all day."

Alexei Vólkov was deep in thought, scrolling through Kaizer’s match history. "The patterns show he adapts faster mid-fight than any recorded esper under 25. That’s what the Dean is probably banking on."

Ryu Kurosawa, however, was silent as his fingers tapped slowly on his datapad.

Then he spoke. "I just dropped a wager of 2 million dollars."

Davion raised an eyebrow, smile returning. "For or against?"

Ryu’s eyes flicked up. "For Kaizer, but I didn’t bet on the outcome of the gauntlet. I bet on the crowd."

That drew curious stares.

"I bet... that by the end of today, he’ll have more followers than Reaper did in his prime."

Ryu folded his arms. "And I always bet on information."

Davion, lips twitching, chuckled darkly.

"How touching. Gambling on popularity instead of power."

But his cane’s tapping against the ground grew louder and more frequent, showing his inner turmoil.

"Let’s see how popular his corpse is after the Rochester girl folds him into a cube," he muttered hopefully, glaring at the arena.

Behind him, Eleanor tilted her head slightly, something that none noticed.

The mist of energy around Kaizer faded as he took his stance, which was relaxed, balanced, and not defensive, but aware.

Sophia mirrored him across the platform. Even as the world around was screaming and reacting explosively, in this circle of force and fate... only their voices mattered.

She was the first to speak. "You know... this is the first time we’ve fought seriously."

Kaizer nodded. "I know. Training room sparring doesn’t count. You’ve never tried to fold me in half before."

She tilted her head. "Oh, I did. You just always countered before I could finish."

A rare smile was at Kaizer’s lips. "That’s what a full mental domain gives you."

Sophia’s voice lowered, a little softer now. "Do you think we’ll be friends after this?"

That surprised him, not because he didn’t know the answer, but because he thought she knew it already.

"Sophia... we’re not just friends."

Her breath caught at that as Kaizer stepped forward, eyes steady.

"We’re something akin to family. And our new family, the Overlord Group, will never break over any fight, not even impossible ones."

Sophia’s expression remained unreadable... until she gave the faintest smile.

"Then do your best... Boss."

Kaizer smiled and nodded. "I intend to."

Lysandra’s voice cut in at this moment. "Begin!"

Sophia’s gentle smile disappeared and was replaced by extreme neutrality as she unhesitatingly opened with her full power, her hands coiling with purple-black energy.

She waved them and coiled them inward, like she was trying to crush something. Immediately, the space around Kaizer began to collapse inward, pristine reality cracking to reveal a turbulent void that caused even the least perceptive person to feel extreme fear.

Kaizer glanced at the void and had a complicated expression. He glared at Lysandra by the side, who was looking on with interest, remembering the hellish training she put him through to unlock and control the spacetime ability of the Six Paths.

She had tossed him into the subspace void that manifested and locked him inside with only his psychic barrier as a defense for the cutting spatial winds inside. She had laughed uproariously as he banged against the entrance she blocked, saying that she would either watch him master the ability to survive in voidspace or let him die.

So seeing Sophia crush space until subspace appeared made him remember that event, but he also felt grateful because without that experience, he would have to struggle harder to resist Sophia’s current set of abilities.

Kaizer did something that shocked Sophia and the crowd. He walked right into the gap in space that emerged near him that Sophia created, disappearing from everyone’s vision.

"Is he crazy?!" Tessa asked with shock, and even Eleanor Seltzer stood up in horror, wanting to use her ability to forcefully open the void and save Kaizer.

The crowd was just as shocked.

"Blaze, what is your boy doing?! Is he tired of living?" Commander Rae asked with shock, standing up along with the others.

Blaze was calm. "Sit down, don’t make a fool of yourself. Even the lad’s sister and the Dean are not making a fuss, why are you?"

The Commanders looked over and saw that indeed, the Dean was seated with a smile while the other instructors stood up and panicked just as much as they themselves just did, pressuring him to save his student.

Looking over, they also saw Rina slouched over her throne like a despotic queen overlooking the peasants, not all that worried, rather smiling playfully.

"No, my bet!" A fellow in the crowd howled with agony.

"Ah! What is that guy doing?!" Another fellow seemed to realize the issue and wailed.

"A setup! This is a setup to steal our money!!" One person who bet too much was red-eyed and glowing, about to use his powers to fight the betting company reps to death.

However, he was grabbed on the shoulder by his friend who was utterly shocked.

"Wait, look! Look at the stage!"