The silence after his voice was almost worse than the chaos before.
Cadets stood in shock, their breaths ragged, the stench of blood and burnt Rift energy hanging thick in the air. Even the monsters—hulking, twisted things of fang and sinew—had faltered, their snarls turning into wary growls.
For the first time since the rift tore open, there was space to breathe.
Aurora's glowing blade wavered, its light sputtering as if mirroring her hesitation. She stared at Leonard—the boy everyone had dismissed, now standing in the clearing with a pale mask obscuring his face. The echo of his command still rang in her ears.
"That wasn't… Selene," she whispered, her voice trembling. "That was you."
Selene staggered forward, her eyes wide, one hand clutching her throat as if to confirm the voice still belonged to her. "No… no, that was mine. My Gift. My song. How did you—"
Leonard didn't answer. His throat burned, raw and torn, as if he'd swallowed fire. Each breath scraped like broken glass. It felt unnatural, forcing another person's Gift through his body. Like wearing skin that didn't fit.
His mask hid the grimace, but inside, he was already cataloging the sensation.
Copying isn't free. There's a backlash. Adaptation failure.
The System Box stirred before his eyes. The black page bled new lines of ink, written in strokes that dripped like liquid shadow:
[Copy Power: Active]
Target: Selene D'Artois
Gift: Siren's Voice (Temporary)
Remaining Duration: 04:52
Warning: Host body not adapted. Excess use may cause permanent damage.
Four minutes.
Leonard exhaled slowly, ignoring the ache in his throat. Four minutes to hold this formation together. Four minutes to prove I'm not just another actor.
---
The cadets, meanwhile, were unraveling.
"What… what was that voice?" one muttered, glancing at Leonard as though seeing him for the first time.
"He stole Selene's power… that's not possible. That's not possible!" another screamed.
"He shouldn't even be here—Leonard Krauss is nothing but dead weight!"
Aurora silenced them with a sharp glare, though her hands shook. Even she couldn't hide the confusion storming across her face.
Darius, sweat and blood dripping from his knuckles, growled, "I don't know what trick you pulled, Krauss, but don't think I'm letting you order me around."
And yet… none of them could deny what they'd heard. That voice had stopped the monsters. That voice had steadied their trembling hearts when despair threatened to crush them.
Even Selene, trembling with fury, couldn't meet Leonard's gaze. A part of her was terrified. Another part… relieved.
---
Then came the voices.
The blue System Windows hovering in the air flickered, and text scrolled across them like a chat feed gone mad:
> 「What?! He wasn't supposed to do that!」
「The cadet with no Gift copied another's power?! Intriguing.」
「A liar, a thief, a counterfeit! Delicious chaos!」
「He was scripted to die here. Why is he still standing?」
Cadets stiffened as the words poured down. Some whimpered. Others shouted back at the screens, desperate for the voices to stop.
"Wh-who's writing this?!"
"Stop watching us!"
"We're not your toys!"
But the feed only laughed louder.
> 「Scream more. We like it when you scream.」
「Actors forgetting they're actors. Adorable.」
---
Leonard ignored them. His attention was on the black page only he could see, hovering before him like a book of cursed scripture. Unlike the cold, clinical blue windows, his was alive, bleeding, whispering.
It spoke again:
[Note: Leonard Krauss was scripted to die in this Stage.]
His masked face betrayed nothing, but inside, his thoughts hardened.
Scripted to die… and yet here I stand. Then the script is flawed. Breakable.
The ink bled another line, smaller, scrawled like handwriting shoved between the margins:
"…Do not repeat my mistakes."
For a heartbeat, Leonard froze.
My mistakes? Who wrote this? Another Author?
But the moment passed. The battlefield demanded his focus.
---
The monsters stirred again, shaking off their hesitation. Their glowing eyes fixed on the cadets, hunger rekindling. The brief reprieve was over.
Leonard's hand curled into a fist. The mask cracked faintly, but his voice rang firm, stolen yet steady:
"Form up. We don't have time to panic. Hold the line."
The cadets flinched at the command—but their bodies obeyed before their minds could argue.
Aurora raised her blade once more, positioning herself at the flank.
Isolde's frost began to seep across the ground, forming barriers of ice.
Even Darius, gritting his teeth, fell into position.
And Selene's trembling song continued, threads of melody weaving through the clearing like invisible chains, binding their courage together.
All moved by the masked figure at their center.
---
Leonard's throat ached, his pulse raced, and every second his stolen Gift ticked toward its end. But as the formation locked into place, as the cadets' eyes turned to him instead of despair—he felt it.
The shift.
For the first time, they weren't actors flailing blindly on a stage.
They were soldiers. And he was their commander.
Four minutes left. I'll make every second count.The silence shattered with a bestial roar.
The Rift-born creatures lunged once more, tearing through the broken moonlight. Their bodies shimmered with unnatural patterns, flesh twisted as if reality itself had botched their design. Some resembled wolves, others bore the horns of bulls, but all shared the same unholy glow dripping from their veins.
The ground shook under their charge.
"Here they come again!" a cadet shrieked.
Leonard's voice cut through the fear, steady and commanding despite the fire clawing at his throat.
"Frontline—Darius. Left flank—Aurora. Right—Isolde. Selene, keep singing. Everyone else, support!"
The words struck like hammer blows. Even those who wanted to argue found their feet moving, compelled by the unnatural weight of his tone.
Darius snarled, his dragon-hide fists crackling with faint sparks. "Damn it, Krauss—I don't take orders from—"
But his body slammed into position at the front, knuckles smashing into the skull of the first charging beast. The impact echoed like a cannon. Bone shattered, flesh tore, and gore sprayed across the dirt.
"—from anyone," Darius finished, panting, though he didn't step out of line.
Aurora darted left, her blade of light carving radiant arcs. She slashed through two monsters in one swing, holy fire sizzling in their wounds.
"Don't get cocky, Leonard. This doesn't make you our leader!" she shouted, yet her eyes flickered to him, searching for the next order.
On the right, Isolde's frost swept outward, coating roots and branches in crystalline ice. Her face was blank, calm, as if the chaos couldn't reach her. The monsters snarled as their claws slipped, frozen mid-stride.
"Don't waste time," she said coldly. "Kill them while they're slowed."
Selene's trembling voice rose above the din, fragile yet powerful. Her melody wrapped around the cadets like a lifeline. Panic dulled, fear faded, and for the first time, the battlefield didn't look like certain death.
---
Leonard stood at the center of it all, watching as if he were conducting an orchestra of desperation. His mask hid his face, but his dark eyes tracked every movement.
Left flank weak. Aurora overextending. Reinforce.
He turned, voice booming:
"Two of you—support Aurora. NOW."
The cadets obeyed instantly, charging to Aurora's side. She glanced at them, startled, then back at Leonard. She didn't argue.
Right flank stable. Isolde's frost buying time. Shift resources left. Maintain balance.
The black System Box flickered again.
[Copy Power: Active]
Gift: Siren's Voice (Temporary)
Remaining Duration: 03:01
Three minutes. That was all he had.
---
The monsters pressed harder, snarling, eyes glowing with Rift light. One leapt straight for Selene, fangs wide.
Leonard moved before anyone else. His voice tore through the air, raw but thunderous:
"STAND BACK!"
The beast froze mid-leap, its body convulsing under the stolen command. It crashed into the dirt, stunned long enough for Aurora to cleave it in two.
Selene gasped, falling backward. Her wide eyes locked on Leonard. For a moment, relief and fear mixed in equal measure.
"That's my—" she whispered, clutching her throat. "That's my voice…"
Leonard didn't answer. He couldn't afford the luxury. His throat screamed with every word, veins throbbing, but he pushed through.
If I hesitate, they all die.
---
The battle raged, cadets fighting with renewed cohesion under his orders. One by one, the monsters fell, their twisted bodies collapsing into piles of ichor.
But the Rift wasn't finished.
From its jagged maw emerged larger silhouettes—hulking shapes that scraped the treetops. Their roars split the night, deeper, heavier.
The cadets froze.
"No… no, those aren't in the Academy's bestiary…"
"They're… real Rift bosses. We can't—"
Aurora's sword trembled in her grip.
"Leonard, what do we do?!"
All eyes turned to him.
---
The blue System Windows flickered violently, a storm of words scrolling across them like cosmic graffiti:
> 「Yes, YES! Look at him lead!」
「A loser cadet turned commander?! This is delightful!」
「Bet 200 Coins he collapses in two minutes.」
「No, he's rewriting the flow! He's a variable!」
One message lingered longer than the rest, a sharp contrast:
> 「You're not supposed to exist.」
Leonard's mask hid the way his jaw clenched. Not supposed to exist, huh? Then I'll exist anyway.
---
The towering beasts stepped forward, shadows blotting the broken moonlight.
The cadets' courage faltered, their line wavering. Selene's song cracked, her voice trembling.
Leonard's mask tilted upward, his voice—hoarse, painful, but commanding—rang out once more:
"Hold your ground. Do not break."
The Rift-born titans roared in answer.
The second act of the Trial of Beasts had begun.
The silence shattered with a bestial roar.
The Rift-born creatures lunged once more, tearing through the broken moonlight. Their bodies shimmered with unnatural patterns, flesh twisted as if reality itself had botched their design. Some resembled wolves, others bore the horns of bulls, but all shared the same unholy glow dripping from their veins.
The ground shook under their charge.
"Here they come again!" a cadet shrieked.
Leonard's voice cut through the fear, steady and commanding despite the fire clawing at his throat.
"Frontline—Darius. Left flank—Aurora. Right—Isolde. Selene, keep singing. Everyone else, support!"
The words struck like hammer blows. Even those who wanted to argue found their feet moving, compelled by the unnatural weight of his tone.
Darius snarled, his dragon-hide fists crackling with faint sparks. "Damn it, Krauss—I don't take orders from—"
But his body slammed into position at the front, knuckles smashing into the skull of the first charging beast. The impact echoed like a cannon. Bone shattered, flesh tore, and gore sprayed across the dirt.
"—from anyone," Darius finished, panting, though he didn't step out of line.
Aurora darted left, her blade of light carving radiant arcs. She slashed through two monsters in one swing, holy fire sizzling in their wounds.
"Don't get cocky, Leonard. This doesn't make you our leader!" she shouted, yet her eyes flickered to him, searching for the next order.
On the right, Isolde's frost swept outward, coating roots and branches in crystalline ice. Her face was blank, calm, as if the chaos couldn't reach her. The monsters snarled as their claws slipped, frozen mid-stride.
"Don't waste time," she said coldly. "Kill them while they're slowed."
Selene's trembling voice rose above the din, fragile yet powerful. Her melody wrapped around the cadets like a lifeline. Panic dulled, fear faded, and for the first time, the battlefield didn't look like certain death.
---
Leonard stood at the center of it all, watching as if he were conducting an orchestra of desperation. His mask hid his face, but his dark eyes tracked every movement.
Left flank weak. Aurora overextending. Reinforce.
He turned, voice booming:
"Two of you—support Aurora. NOW."
The cadets obeyed instantly, charging to Aurora's side. She glanced at them, startled, then back at Leonard. She didn't argue.
Right flank stable. Isolde's frost buying time. Shift resources left. Maintain balance.
The black System Box flickered again.
[Copy Power: Active]
Gift: Siren's Voice (Temporary)
Remaining Duration: 03:01
Three minutes. That was all he had.
---
The monsters pressed harder, snarling, eyes glowing with Rift light. One leapt straight for Selene, fangs wide.
Leonard moved before anyone else. His voice tore through the air, raw but thunderous:
"STAND BACK!"
The beast froze mid-leap, its body convulsing under the stolen command. It crashed into the dirt, stunned long enough for Aurora to cleave it in two.
Selene gasped, falling backward. Her wide eyes locked on Leonard. For a moment, relief and fear mixed in equal measure.
"That's my—" she whispered, clutching her throat. "That's my voice…"
Leonard didn't answer. He couldn't afford the luxury. His throat screamed with every word, veins throbbing, but he pushed through.
If I hesitate, they all die.
---
The battle raged, cadets fighting with renewed cohesion under his orders. One by one, the monsters fell, their twisted bodies collapsing into piles of ichor.
But the Rift wasn't finished.
From its jagged maw emerged larger silhouettes—hulking shapes that scraped the treetops. Their roars split the night, deeper, heavier.
The cadets froze.
"No… no, those aren't in the Academy's bestiary…"
"They're… real Rift bosses. We can't—"
Aurora's sword trembled in her grip.
"Leonard, what do we do?!"
All eyes turned to him.
---
The blue System Windows flickered violently, a storm of words scrolling across them like cosmic graffiti:
> 「Yes, YES! Look at him lead!」
「A loser cadet turned commander?! This is delightful!」
「Bet 200 Coins he collapses in two minutes.」
「No, he's rewriting the flow! He's a variable!」
One message lingered longer than the rest, a sharp contrast:
> 「You're not supposed to exist.」
Leonard's mask hid the way his jaw clenched. Not supposed to exist, huh? Then I'll exist anyway.
---
The towering beasts stepped forward, shadows blotting the broken moonlight.
The cadets' courage faltered, their line wavering. Selene's song cracked, her voice trembling.
Leonard's mask tilted upward, his voice—hoarse, painful, but commanding—rang out once more:
"Hold your ground. Do not break."
The Rift-born titans roared in answer.
The second act of the Trial of Beasts had begun.