Psychic Overlord

The stadium erupted.

A detonation of noise blasted through the dome as the dust cleared, with wave after wave of screaming, cheering, crying.

Students pounded the rails.

Instructors let out audible exhales.

Even the reinforced commentator box shook from the impact of collective disbelief.

"KAIZER LUNIN—WINS!" Lysandra’s voice echoed over the intercom, nearly drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Streamers exploded from the upper balconies while spectators threw chairs and the entire student tournament division screamed in utter shock.

The betting board above flickered wildly, then recalibrated in real time:

Match 2 Result: KAIZER VICTORY

Updated Odds

Kaizer Wins All Matches: 1:11 →1:2.3

Defeated by Eleanor: 1:4.1 →1:6.0

Defeated by Lucian: 1:4.8 →1:7.4

Defeated by Tessa: 1:5.2 →1:8.1

Defeated by Roland: 1:6.3 →1:9.7

Defeated by Rina: 1:7.9 →1:12

Kaizer Becomes Crowned Sovereign: 1:5 →1:1.4

..........

In the Heir Pavilion, Davion Plastine stood frozen, one hand clenched tightly around his cane. His eye twitched as he watched the final blast replay on slow loop, again and again, Kaizer’s beam swallowing Tyrron’s.

"No... no, no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to go..." He whispered.

Ryu Kurosawa exhaled, lowering his datapad. "Well... that’s that."

Rafael Azmadi laughed, reclining again. "I bet on Kaizer winning the second match with a beam clash. I just tripled my investment!"

Alexei Vólkov gave a curt nod. "It’s official. This tournament is no longer about who wins, it’s about who survives him."

Davion’s glare was venomous. "This is rigged. That beam shouldn’t have—"

"Save it. He’s not the same guy you beat up more than half a year ago. " Ryu cut in.

"Hehe, its likely that it was precisely your beating that triggered him to intensify his training and reach this new height." Rafael joked with a robust laughter.

Davion’s faced paled as he gripped the railing so tight his knuckles became white.

Even Eleanor, usually immobile, lowered her eyes slightly.

............

In the Supreme Force Box.

Commander Rae sat down hard, rubbing her forehead. "He broke Tyrron. That walking nuke is out cold."

Commander Durand still hadn’t sat back down. He looked like he’d seen an angel and a demon at war.

Blaze finally allowed himself to relax. "...So the Overlord title wasn’t just theatrics after all."

President Voss sipped his tea slowly, then chuckled. "Two down."

..........

Back on the field, the medics began approaching Tyrron, who was slowly regaining consciousness, dazed and blinking.

Kaizer stood over him, no longer in a battle stance, but with one hand extended.

Tyrron stared at the hand... then slapped it aside!

... Only to grab Kaizer’s forearm instead and yank himself up with a grin full of bloodied teeth.

"You cheated, using feelings like that." He said, laughing faintly.

Kaizer returned a faint smirk. "I thought you liked earthquakes. I just gave you an emotional one."

Tyrron wiped blood from his mouth and limped off the field with a grunt, waving off the medics. "Next time, I punch first."

Kaizer turned away as the arena vibrated with energy again while the scoreboard flashed once more.

Next Match: Eleanor Seltzer "Elementia" vs. Kaizer Lunin "Overlord"

And somewhere in the deepest part of the crowd, someone whispered: "...this guy might really go all the way."

A new presence descended, being Eleanor Seltzer.

She walked down from the competitor platform with eerie calm, her boots barely making a sound against the obsidian floor. Her long twin-tailed hair fluttered behind her, and her red and black cloak rippled with elemental resistance wards that shimmered like rune-laced frost.

With each step, the temperature dropped slightly and not from elemental cold, but from the unmistakable magical pressure she radiated as she was entirely serious this time.

Kaizer turned slowly to face her.

Unlike most opponents, Eleanor didn’t posture, belittle him nor smirk.

Instead, she reached into her cloak and drew out a worn yet thick leather-bound tome, wrapped in velvet bindings and secured with an astral lock inscribed with ancient glyphs.

The audience went silent in confusion and the instructors sat up straighter as they recognized this thing.

Even Dean Rochester narrowed his eyes., but did not comment.

The lock hissed open as Eleanor pressed her finger against a glowing sigil at the center, which responded only to her bloodline. The moment it clicked, waves of old magic pulsed outward, sending visible rings across the arena.

Carlisle Freed straightened with shock. "Whoa."

Lysandra’s eyes widened. "She actually brought it..."

Madam Sylvia’s voice was reverent. "The Book of Merlin..."

"Wait—what? Did she just pull out a grimoire mid-match?!" Anchor Tae Ishi blurted in the commentators’ box.

Her co-host Ferron Blaze leaned forward, nearly losing his balance. "No!!! That’s not just any grimoire! That’s the Seltzer heirloom! The original!!"

"Point of correction. They were never the Seltzer family to begin with." Dean Rochester said softly.

All heads turned to him.

Dean Rochester’s voice was low but resonant. "That family’s original name... was Merlin."

The crowd collectively gasped.

"That Merlin?"

"The Archmage?!"

Kaizer’s eyes flicked to the book, then back to Eleanor.

A thought crossed the crowd like wildfire, which he easily picked up: "She’s a descendant of the original Merlin..."

The Book floated now, pages fluttering open by themselves as runes glowed with a color not found in the natural spectrum.

Eleanor finally spoke, her voice poised and sharp. "This book has been passed down for generations. It has gone through wars, through societal collapse, and even through exile."

She raised her hand and a page turned itself. "You’re not the only one who’s awakened something ancient, Overlord."

Kaizer’s jaw tightened, not in fear... but anticipation.

She extended one hand, and the arena floor cracked in elegant spirals of glowing runes, forming a ritual circle beneath her.

"I won’t hold back." Eleanor said simply.

Kaizer’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. "I didn’t ask you to."

Up above, the betting board went absolutely berserk.

Upcoming Match: Kaizer Lunin (Overlord) vs. Eleanor Seltzer (Elementia)

New Historical Modifier Detected: ’Legacy of Merlin’

Ancestral Relic Activated: Book of Merlin

Magical Domain Status: Unlocked

Payout Multipliers Temporarily Tripled

In the Heir Pavilion, even Davion stood in stunned silence.

"Wait... she... used it?" His voice trembled with a cocktail of awe and resentment.

Ryu Kurosawa adjusted his glasses, murmuring. "So Lady Eleanor’s going that far."

"She only uses that book when she intends to kill." Alexei Vólkov muttered, shuddering as he remembered a previous heir’s meeting in which Eleanor was part.

Rafael just grinned. "Ooooh... finally. Magic versus Mind."

As Kaizer entered his stance and Eleanor floated above the magical circle, her spellcasting already weaving around her like a lattice of logic and fate, a strange electricity fell over the crowd.

"Begin!"

BOOOOM!!!

The instant the word was declared, Eleanor Seltzer vanished, leaving only a ghostly outline of runic shimmer behind her.

A storm of sigils spiraled outward as the Book of Merlin glowed, pages flipping midair as if possessed by an unseen archivist. Golden glyphs burst into life, carving themselves into space around her as she reappeared high above, with both hands clasped like a priestess mid-ritual.

"Runic Type: Sol Invictus."

Her voice rang out like a commandment.

The sky cracked open, and a searing spear of solar fire lanced down toward Kaizer.

Kaizer’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move from his spot as his hands moved from behind his back, his chin tilted slightly upward.

Blue fire crawled over his arms as he pointed upwards.

"Six Paths: Elemental Control—Sunfire Mimicry."

WHOOOM!

A shield of brilliant blue flame spiraled up around him that was not just a fire attack, but an exact mirror of the solar lance, replicating it down to the molecular signature.

The attacks cancelled out with perfect synchrony, creating a soundless implosion that warped the light in the arena briefly before vanishing.

Eleanor’s eyes flicked. "So that’s how it is."

She turned a page.

"Runic Type: Lunar Gale."

Frost condensed into blades of wind, slashing across the field like ghostly serpents. They came from eight angles at once, drawn with marksman-like precision.

Kaizer’s fingers twitched.

"Elemental Control—Moonwind Counter."

The very air shimmered and split, forming mirrored gales of the exact same velocity and shape.

CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING!

The arena was filled with layered explosions of silver and blue as each elemental attack nullified its twin.

The crowd was left silent by the exchange so far, wondering where this battle would go.

The Book of Merlin pulsed again as Eleanor’s expression remained composed, but her stance shifted. She raised both hands this time, and a complex circle of tri-elemental glyphs formed behind her.

"Runic Type: Aria Tria—Glacial Thunderstorm with Molten Core."

The air pressure dropped as a cyclone of ice, lightning, and magma formed above the arena, churning with intent to erase Kaizer entirely.

And Kaizer...

His lips curled upward.

"Six Paths: Elemental Control—Glacial Thunderstorm with Molten Core."

He mirrored her invocation word-for-word.

And from behind him, a near-identical tri-elemental ring pulsed to life.

CRAAACK—KABOOM—ROOOAR!!!

The two storms collided above the field like two titans of nature fighting for supremacy, exploding into fragments of light, fire, frost and sound that rained down across the arena like debris.

Inside the instructor’s box, Carlisle Freed blinked.

"Wait... is he copying the spells as she casts them?!"

Lysandra’s voice was tight. "No, he’s predicting them."

Madam Sylvia’s fan had stopped fluttering. "He’s matching her element for element through his psychic path."

Dean Rochester closed his eyes with the faintest of smiles. "He’s not adapting, he’s answering her."

Back in the arena, Kaizer walked forward slowly, hands now behind his back. Each of Eleanor’s castings was blocked, mirrored, or erased and not by brute force, but by comprehension.

Her spells weren’t being overpowered, they were being matched.

Eleanor’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as the Book of Merlin pulsed red now, entering a higher tier of invocation.

"I didn’t want to do this so soon... but so be it."

She held the book open with one hand, then raised her other palm, fingers bent into a complex configuration.

The air hummed as ten separate runic scripts appeared behind her, each from a different elemental school, all converging into a single point at her chest.

"Runic Type: Genesis Cascade."

A barrage of mixed elements began to build, each one layered on top of the other, forming a chaotic celestial construct like a star being born from contradictory principles.

Kaizer stopped walking as he raised a single hand, palm open.

"...So this is what magic looks like when wielded perfectly."

He smiled, and his fingers began to glow.

"Then allow me... to show you psychic symmetry."

All at once, his telepathic control, telesthesia, and elemental manipulation fused together.

The power on his body vanished.

Instead, shifting colors of blue, red, green, and silver began to crawl over his skin as he summoned every elemental resonance Eleanor was calling upon.

He was no longer mimicking, rather mirroring the concept behind her spells.

Psychic energy and ancient magic—two forces born from opposite sides of the mind—collided.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The first cascade struck, but Kaizer didn’t flinch. He met it with a feedback copy so perfect it inverted the original.

Explosions tore across the battlefield as Kaizer and Eleanor stood at the center of a battlefield made of color and light, each representing a philosophy older than civilization.

And for the first time since the start of the tournament, Eleanor smiled faintly.

"...You really are annoying." She said, her voice soft but amused.

Kaizer smiled back. "It’s mutual, Lady Merlin."