After the disaster he caused at the fair, Ruggie finally returned to his dorm and met Leona at the Magift stadium, where the rest of the Savanaclaw students were also waiting for him. "Huff... Huff... Leona, I did it! Did you watch the broadcast?" He said proudly between exhausted gasps.

"Yes. It was wonderful, Ruggie," Leona congratulated him, satisfied. "Goodbye, Malleus. This year the throne will be mine."

Ruggie laughed softly and raised a fist above his head. "He he! Long live the king! Shi, shi, shi, shi!" He exclaimed victoriously.

"Long live the king!" The other students repeated as they celebrated between gestures of victory and cheers. "Hooray!!

Leona did nothing but stand straight smirk, and look at his students celebrating for him. However, the moment of celebration stopped the second a new group of people approached them.

"We've heard enough," Riddle's voice said quietly, followed by Ace, Deuce, Yuu, Grim, and even Jack, directing at them frowns of annoyance and disappointment.

All the Savanaclaw students jumped, and some exchanged confused murmurs, but Leona and Ruggie quickly pulled themselves together.

"Look at this, but if it isn't the entire group of Heartslabyul, and to top it off, with one of our first-year rookies," Leona said listlessly before looking at Jack with disappointment. "Did you transfer to Heartslabyul?"

Jack glared back at him with addition of fury, showing that he didn't feel the slightest bit of regret at being on a different side. "I just can't stand being on your side right now," he bellowed, even earning a look of suppressed rage from Ruggie.

"You damn traitor!" Leona growled as he gripped his wooden staff tightly.

Before he could say anything else, Riddle took two steps forward as he ground his scepter authoritatively on the ground. "Your actions have tarnished one of our traditions," he said with calm severity, "as Heartslabyul dorm leader who assesses rigor, I cannot turn a blind eye to such a thing."

Leona sighed and put a hand to his head, an action he used to do when he got fed up with something. "Hey brats, could you save your 'hero of justice game for your fantasies?" He asked.

Ruggie looked around, as if he wanted to confirm something, and took his magical pen out. "You have guts to trespass our territory with such a small group of people, you must be out of your minds!"

Several Savanaclaw students quickly understood Ruggie's intent, and a burly one approached Leona. "Leona, should we get them out of here?" He asked expectantly.

The dorm leader smiled slightly. "Hmph. Have some fun," He offered.

The attackers closed in on them menacingly, bringing back to Yuu that horrible memory of his first visit to the dorm, but before they could even make an attack, Riddle quickly raised his scepter. "Off With Your Head!"And in the blink of an eye, his famous magic-sealing collars closed around the attacking students' necks, who flinched from the slashing sensation.

"...He's strong..." One of them growled.

"That dorm leader is crazy..." another wailed.

Riddle gave them a quick blank look. "Hmph. You are not even worth mentioning. Ace, Deuce, can you handle the rest?"

"Perfectly," Ace said cheerfully.

"Of course!" Deuce said decisively before pulling the magic quill from him, ready for battle.

For his part, Leona looked with a mixture of disappointment and bewilderment and clucked his tongue. "Tch. These guys don't stand a chance against Riddle," he spluttered.

However, Ruggie laughed. He was far from feeling threatened or worried about impending defeat. "Shi, shi, shi! But even if you defeat us here, it's too late for Diasomnia!" He exclaimed.

"Oh? But what an interesting thing you just said."

That new voice turned out to be that of Lilia, who had just entered the field with a new group of people made up of Cater and two other Diasomnia students, all dressed in their respective dorm uniforms. "Who says it's too late?" The tall green-haired student, who Yuu named as I-Want-To-Kill-You Face #2, asked with annoyance.

"As you can see, not a single one of the Diasomnia students were injured," the silver-haired boy known as I-Want-To-Kill-You Face #1 said calmly, before waving his hand at the group of Heartslabyul. "And all thanks to them."

Ruggie's confident expression turned into one of profound shock. "What!? But how!?" He asked, confused. "I saw you get crushed by the stampede...!"

"Wrong!" Cater exclaimed with a malicious air. "Those were a bunch of clones of myself, created with my Unique Magic, 'Split Card'. They were all dressed in disguise to look like them."

A new murmur of confusion rose among the Savanaclaw students, even Leona was startled to hear that. "Come again?" He asked with a cold look, taken aback.

"I was so lucky! I always wanted to try on the Diasomnia uniform," Cater added happily before taking his smartphone out, "I have to upload it to Magicam later."

"Well, now. If that is the case, I would have lent you my uniform any time," Lilia said cheerfully.

Cater smiled nervously. "Hmmm... I think your uniform would be too tight, Lilia..." He replied. Lilia was shorter and less broad-shouldered than him, after all.

"Hey, what is this farce?" Leona demanded to know, reminding them to leave that conversation for later.

"Riddle told us everything," Lilia answered calmly. "So we put together a little performance for you."

"Then... Then Malleus is...?" Ruggie stammered.

"Of course, he is in good health!" The tall student exclaimed sternly. "And he safely guided the panicked audience to the coliseum without magic! Be grateful!"

"Is that allowed!?" Ruggie asked, still trying to process this new information.

After hearing that, Leona stopped frowning, stared at the ground for a few long seconds in silence, and sighed. "Ah, whatever..." he muttered dryly.

That sudden behavior change caught the attention of everyone present. "What?" Ruggie asked, confused.

"It's over. Over," Leona limited himself to say while closing his eyes in defeat.

"Wait, Leona. What are you saying?" Ruggie asked again, beginning to worry.

Leona looked at him blankly. "Idiot. There's no way we can win if Malleus is going to play in top condition," he answered as if it wasn't obvious. "There's no point in playing such a game." He lowered his staff before saying something completely unexpected. "I'm dropping out."

"What!?" Ruggie exclaimed, genuinely horrified.

Concerned exclamations went up among the Savanaclaw students; Yuu, Grim, and the Heartslabyul boys exchanged a confused look with each other, the Diasomnia students remained alert, and Jack had a similar reaction to Ruggie, too stunned to say anything.

The general atmosphere completely changed from hostile to gloomy. Even Ruggie felt a weight on his heart and got anxious. "But Malleus aside, we got rid of the star players from other dorms," ​​Ruggie reminded him in a small voice, hoping to get the idea out of his head. "But if you're not playin', I doubt very much we can reach the top three..." He looked him in the eye. "What's gonna happen with our dreams?"

None of those words seemed to reach Leona, who just glared back coldly. "No matter how many times the world watches us, we're just a bunch of students playing around. And I must admit I was surprised that you all still went along with that of your dreams."

Ruggie clenched his fists, refusing to believe what he was listening to. "Why...? Weren't we going to flip the world on its head!?"

"Your complaints are annoying..." Leona said irritably. "Then let me give you a dose of reality: you're nothing but a worthless hyena from the slums, and I am the despised second prince who will never be king! No matter what we do, that will never change!"

Yuu jumped in horror at that horrible comment, the others didn't know how to react, but the majority didn't remain indifferent either.

What Leona said was the straw that broke the camel's back for Ruggie, he couldn't believe that the man he had served and admired since his first year of school was turning his back on both him and the rest of his dorm and saying something so hurtful to him! Angry tears soon welled up in his eyes. "Don't... DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the hell are you saying!? Giving up after coming this far...!"

"Don't do that to us, Leona!" One of the collared students implored.

"We're going to make you play, whether you like it or not!" Another one exclaimed in despair.

Similar comments echoed among the other Savanaclaw students.

Despite the horrible things they had done, Yuu couldn't help but feel sorry for them, especially for Ruggie. After all, they trusted a powerful leader who was now throwing away all the efforts they had made with him.

However, Leona was far from feeling that same empathy and clenched his jaw in annoyance. "Ah... you're all so irritating! Shut up, you idiots!"

He raised his staff once again, began gathering a large amount of magic into his gem, and slammed his free hand down on the ground. At that very moment, Yuu heard after a long time an overflowing rain of ink. He had a horrible feeling and got scared, but now didn't have time to think about it anymore because an extensive number of huge clouds of sand sprang up in the air around all the people there.

Everyone started coughing and having trouble breathing or opening their eyes, including Ruggie and the rest of Savanaclaw, who began to scream in discomfort.

"What the hell is this!? My nose is dry... and my eyes hurt!" Grim exclaimed, nervous, as he tried to brush the dust around him with his paws.

Jack took a closer look at Leona's behavior and was the first to understand what he was doing. "Everything he touches is turning into sand!?" He asked out loud.

"This is my Unique Magic... 'King's Roar'," Leona explained. "Ironic, isn't it? For a prince of the savannah, that hates drought more than anything in the world, to be born with this..." He approached Ruggie threateningly. "With magic that dries everything and turns it into sand!"

He carelessly grabbed Ruggie around the neck, causing Ruggie to close his eyes in pain, cough, and grab Leona's arm in an attempt to get away from him. "Leo... na... I can't brea...!" That was the only thing he could say since he felt an undesirable dryness both in the tongue and in the throat. He didn't take long to feel horrible pain throughout his body either.

The others were horrified to notice that Ruggie's arm was beginning to dislodge sand and leave cavities in its trail.

"Ruggie's arm is cracking!" Deuce yelled.

"Can he do that to people too!?" Ace asked incredulously.

Riddle wasted no time to take two quick steps forward as he realized Leona's apparent murderous intentions. "Leona, stop right now!" He ordered in anguish before raising his scepter. "Off With Your Head!!!"

But before the flash of magic reached Leona's neck, he made a quick movement with his staff that caused it to deviate in another direction.

"Fffgna!? Riddle's collar has been rejected!!" Grim remarked, confused.

"But how?!" Yuu exclaimed while Riddle looked at his scepter.

"You have talent, but don't underestimate your elders," Leona told Riddle before giving a cynical smile. "Unfortunately for you, I have good grades in defensive magic."

Riddle clucked his tongue in frustration as he covered his mouth with his arm to hold his breath.

Leona turned his attention back to Ruggie, whose injuries were getting worse with each second. Unlike the others, Leona was amused seeing him in that state and laughed in a macabre way. "Ha, ha, ha! How're ya feeling, Ruggie?" He asked with a mocking tone. "I bet it hurts. Is your mouth so parched you can't use that silver tongue of yours?"

Ruggie could not answer anything but moans of choking and pain as he felt more cracks form on his body and through his clothes. Nobody could notice from their position, but Leona's yellow magical gem was getting darker and darker within the lion's wooden jaws.

At that point, everyone knew Leona had no intention of stopping, and Ruggie was in mortal danger, to the point of asking for help with his eyes.

"This is bad, Ruggie's in trouble!" Jack exclaimed earnestly.

"¡We have to do something!" Yuu said worried as he tried to think of an idea to save Ruggie. He did not care if Leona was much taller and stronger than him, he was seriously considering throwing himself at him even if he got punched in the attempt.

He took a few steps forward, but Riddle stopped him by holding an arm in front of him. "Wait, it could be dangerous. Let me try to talk some sense into him once more," Riddle told him before turning to Leona. "If you have that much power, why do things like this!?" He demanded to know.

"Why?" Leona repeated nonchalantly. "How is knowing the reason going to change things? Are you going to scold me and then comfort me? In this world, there are many times when talent and effort make no difference." He tightened his grip on Ruggie's neck. "Just like right now Ruggie can't do anything. So pathetic... Truly pitiful."

Ruggie tried to say something, but the cracks on his arms got worse, and others started to appear on his neck and face. Now it was more than clear that Leona would not stop until he got completely rid of him.

"He's crazy!" Yuu exclaimed.

Jack lost what little patience he had left. "KNOCK IT OFF!!" He yelled before furiously taking his magical pen. "UNLEASH BEAST!"

A wolf howl resounded near him, and a blinding glow completely enveloped his body. When it dissipated, everyone was startled to see a big, white wolf with amber eyes.

"That's...!?" Riddle exclaimed, being the first to react.

"He... he transformed!" Yuu stammered, almost not believing what his eyes were seeing.

In his wolf form, Jack approached Leona growling menacingly before lunging at him with strength.

Leona barely had time to react. "But what the...!? Gah!" He could shout before being knocked to the ground, letting go of his staff and freeing Ruggie in the process, who also fell to the ground.

Riddle didn't hesitate to seize the chance. "Leona is off of guard! Off With Your Head!"

A flash approached Leona and the metallic heart collar closed around his neck successfully, causing him severe discomfort. The clouds of dust disappeared immediately, the cracks in Ruggie's body closed, and he coughed as the choking sensation inside his throat ceased. Yuu's first instinctive move was to run to him to help him. "Hey, can you stand up?" He asked as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Come with me!"

Ruggie opened one eye with effort and surprise, he didn't expect the boy who could not use magic to be the first to rush to help him. He wanted to ask why he was doing that, but the only thing that came from his mouth was a weak cough.

"Well done, Riddle! You've stopped Leona's magic!" Cater celebrated.

"And he let go of Ruggie! Bring him here!" Deuce exclaimed.

As soon as he heard it, the silver-haired boy made a gesture with his arm. "Sebek, let's get the wounded out of here," he said to the green-haired student, now finally known as Sebek.

"Don't think you can give me orders, Silver!" Sebek exclaimed, annoyed.

Silver ran towards Yuu, still with Ruggie. "Let me help with Ruggie," he said before approaching Ruggie and placing one of his arms over his shoulders. "Hold his other arm, let's take him to Riddle and the others. Can you do it?" Yuu nodded and did as instructed, though with some effort. They went back with the group and let Ruggie sit down so he could rest for a bit.

Jack returned to his original form, and Silver rejoined Sebek to guide wounded and collared Savanaclaw students out of the field. Leona's eyes widened as he quickly understood his situation and tried to remove the collar around his neck. "Sh*t! A collar, on a lion like me!?" He exclaimed with a combination of disbelief and indignation. "Jack! Where the hell did you get a banned transformation potion!?"

Yuu understood what he meant, he learned in Alchemy lessons that complete transformation potions were severely prohibited by law since many crimes were enabled with them, especially those related to identity theft or defamation. They were only legal if the body transformation was partial or the face of the person taking one was still recognizable. He also heard that in some cases documentation was needed to demonstrate that the person in question could use them.

"Unleash Beast! It's my Unique Magic, it allows me to shapeshift into a wolf! Jack growled, still furious.

Leona snorted in response. "So you can use magic to become a giant dog? Now that is unique!"

Jack's angry gaze reflected the feeling of betrayal that got intensified after watching him hurt Ruggie so much. "Leona... I... I...! I wanted to enter this school because I looked up to you! Where has the Leona I admired gone to!?" He yelled in a hurt tone.

The pain of his words did not seem to reach Leona's hard heart either, and he glared at him. "Stop shoving your dreams onto me...! It pisses me off...!" He mumbled, fed up.

Yuu frowned, sad. "I guess this is why they say never meet your heroes," he whispered.

Riddle walked over to Leona and closed his eyes. "I may not have the right to say anything, but I can't stand to look at you right now," he said, remembering the tantrum he had thrown less than two weeks ago in Heartlabyul and visualizing the same behavior in Leona. "Go back to your room and cool your head for a bit!"

Refusing to obey, Leona gave him a look of hatred before glaring at the others and rose to his feet. "...And what do any of you know? You keep nagging on and on like my brother," he murmured.

To everyone's surprise, Lilia approached Leona and looked him up and down blankly. "Hmph. Men like you are more deserving of a collar like that than a crown. To hear a royal lion from the savannah talk like is appalling," he said calmly.

"What!? Leona bellowed, furious and indignant. As if he had not heard enough that day!

Days ago, Yuu had also learned during the meetings at Heartslabyul that Leona was not the only prince at Night Raven College. Malleus Draconia was the next heir to the throne of his kingdom, the Briar Valley, and Lilia was something like his right-hand man, so he had experience with royalty.

Then Lilia smirked in a devilish way Yuu would not have imagined on him until that moment and scoffed at Leona. "You appear to be lamenting how you'll never be king due to lack of ability or order of birth..." He continued. "But you live slothfully if you are not rewarded, if things do not go according to your expectations, you become petty and blame your retainers. To become a king as you are..." He shook his head, as if he was going to correct himself, and crossed his arms. "The fact that you want to compete against our lord Malleus makes me laugh. Even if you were able to defeat him, as long as you hold that rotten grudge in your heart... You will never become a true king!"

Yuu was getting worried as Lilia said those harsh words, it was even the truth, and Leona deserved to hear it, he did not find being hostile towards an emotionally unbalanced person the most prudent thing in a moment like that. "Wait..." He whispered, fearing a new attack of anger.

His fears were confirmed when Leona, after processing that lecture, just chuckled and flashed a creepy smile that did not convey anything good. "Ha. Ha ha... You're absolutely right... It's just like you said... Ha ha ha ha!" He frowned angrily again. "I will never be king... No matter how hard I try...!"

The ground shook and a thick cloud of dark dust rose all over the place like fog.

"What's going on!? My fur is standing on end!" Grim exclaimed nervously as he hid behind Yuu's legs.

Riddle flinched and pointed his scepter at Leona with difficulty. "Leona's magic is increasing too fast," he growled uncomfortably. "I can't keep the seal...!!!"

"No, this isn't magic at all," Lilia murmured. "This amount of evil, negative energy..." He widened his eyes in horror upon recognizing what was that. "It can't be!" He realized too late that his harsh speech had been the straw that broke the camel's back for Leona, even though it was likely for him to reach that point in a matter of time.

Yuu and the others also recognized it, that mist was similar to Riddle's before falling into Overblot and Yukiko's when she was about to.

"Everyone, stand back!" Cater yelled.

They all heard him and moved away at a more than safe distance from him. The magic-sealing collar disappeared, and the blue sky suddenly darkened.

"He...he sent Riddle's collar away!!" Cater exclaimed, as horrified as the others.

Leona clenched his fists tightly and fixed his grim gaze on the floor. "I've been loathed since I was born. I had no place to belong and no future in sight. That won't change, no matter how hard I try. This agony, this despair..." He looked at the group with tear-filled eyes, before being engulfed in a whirlwind of dark sand. "HOW COULD YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?"

A lion's roar thundered through the place, and Yuu quickly put both hands to his head as he felt a horrible buzzing sound echoing there. He closed his eyes and visualized Leona's magical gem, yellow like desert sand, turning pitch black like coal...

He suddenly opened them again upon hearing a second lion's roar, this time coming from Leona, whose appearance was completely different. Some of his hair was pushed back, revealing his forehead and some dark marks that crossed his left eye and scar, with an orange flame emanating from them. His clothing consisted of a garment of black fur that encircled his torso and shoulders, adorned with a golden plate with sharp metallic fangs. A black corset covered his abdomen and hips. At the bottom of his body, he was dressed in a long, open black skirt that revealed his legs in matching colored pants. A copious amount of black ink covered his arms and legs, embellished with golden bracelets and anklets. His barefoot toenails were black and terrifyingly sharp.

He was levitating in the air a few centimeters from the ground. The stadium was filled with suspended sand while large rocks rose into the air. A huge quadrupedal shadow materialized behind him in the form of a giant lion with patched fur, a thick dark mane, and a glass vial filled with ink replacing his face.

"What's that...!? Jack yelled, horrified to see his dorm leader in such a state. "A giant shadow has appeared behind him!"

"That's... an incarnation of the blot!" Deuce exclaimed, no less scared.

"That means... he's goin' 'evil berserker mode' like Riddle!?" Grim asked.

"Not again!!!" Yuu exclaimed.

Riddle couldn't believe what was happening in front of his eyes. Was that monstrosity the same thing he turned into less than two weeks ago at his dorm? He shook his head, he didn't have time to think about it. He had to act fast. He growled in frustration that he couldn't do enough to stop it and looked at the Savanaclaw students who were still there. "Gr... Retreat on your own if you can stand and seek shelter!" He exclaimed in a firm voice. "Ace, Deuce, get the injured outside! Lilia, please go get the teachers for assistance!"

"Yes, sir!" Ace and Deuce nodded determinedly before assisting the students.

"Understood. Hang in there until I return," Lilia said seriously before disappearing in the blink of an eye to look for help.

Leona roared once more, and his monstrous shadow snarled at the sight of so many people moving around.

"Ugh. Why do we always have to face something terrifying?" Cater complained, anguished. "I'm not made for this kind of thing!"

"I won't mind if you're scared and want to run away," Riddle told him as he prepared his scepter for the new battle.

But Cater shook his head and took his magical pen. "Trey would have my head if I left you here alone. Count me in, dorm leader," he told him with a wink.

"I still don't understand what's going on, but we just have to knock him back to his senses, right?" Jack asked, ready to fight.

"Yes, exactly!" Yuu exclaimed. "See that glass jar on the monster? We have to attack there and break it completely, then Leona will be safe!" He wasn't a fan of Leona and was still afraid of him, but Yuu wasn't going to back down to save someone from something so dangerous, even if it was someone like him.

Ruggie struggled to get up and let go of his injured arm. "I... I'll help too," he said with determination before coughing, still weak. "I can't sit still after all he said..."

Yuu wasn't entirely convinced, he thought Ruggie should have sought refuge with the others. But accepted because they needed all the help they could get, and Ruggie was willing to fight.

"A lowly hyena dares to defy me?" An enraged Leona asked in a double-sounding voice before laughing evilly. "Hahahahaha! What a stupid joke! None of you will see the morning sun!"

Grim seemed to remember something and patted Yuu's legs to get his attention. "Yuu, if we defeat him, we're gonna be in the Magical Shift tournament!" He said with malicious enthusiasm before frowning. "Let's start with this!"

Yuu swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm down and prepare for battle. "Let's go, guys! Here he comes, be prepared!" He exclaimed with determination.

A new showdown for every life in that stadium had just begun.

[Published on 19/7/2022]

To Be Continued...