Day of the Dead [Arcana: Overlapping Fate]
Originally, fates that were meant to diverge and head in separate directions could never intertwine at a single point. But why else would a miracle be called a miracle? It earns that name precisely because it turns the impossible into the possible.
Application: Overlapping Fate
Flash!
The two overlapping cards erupted in a blinding golden light that stung the eyes.
"Kkiruk!"
"Kkak!"
Blinded by the intense light source Lerven had created inside the barrier, the chimeras covered their eyes and staggered back hesitantly. But they only retreated—they didn't actively try to block it or flee the area.
Chimeras, being artificial creations, possessed no fate of their own, nor the ability to glimpse fragments of destiny. Thus, they couldn't perceive the doom awaiting them at the twisted end of that fate.
"The barrier still has time before it breaks, and I've got a new card in my hand. You get the gist, right?"
The golden light pouring from inside the barrier gradually faded, revealing Lerven shaking the unified card with a smile. Flashing a childlike, innocent grin as if eager for what was to come, he slowly released his fingers from the card one by one.
As each finger peeled away, the card tilted downward. When only his thumb and index finger remained, Lerven spoke.
"Now, kill each other."
Plop.
With that single command, his fingers fully released the card. The golden card drifted slowly toward the ground, obeying gravity.
Though there was a significant drop from Lerven's upper body to the floor, the card soon touched down without a sound—thud—and erupted once more in that dazzling golden radiance.
Whoosh—
Golden beams of light shot out in all directions. The chimeras, caressed by its warm glow, voiced their confusion at this unfamiliar phenomenon.
"Kkinak?"
"Kyuek?"
But the light, which seemed harmless at first, passed quickly. Soon, the chimeras' murky eyes began to tint with gold.
The moment that happened, Lerven knew the game was over.
Reverse Lovers: Betrayal
Upright Temperance: Copy
⟨ Overlapping Fates: Spreading Madness ⟩
"Kyukap!"
"Kkinak!"
Betrayal took hold of one chimera, and its effect copied onto the others. The copied madness spread from one to the next.
"Kk!"
Puk!
"Kyap!"
Sskak!
Two chimeras with golden-glowing eyes lunged at each other, claws and teeth sinking deep. More piled on from behind, turning the scene into instant chaos.
Psshk!
Kwajik!
Ududuk!
Black, viscous blood splattered atop the barrier; chunks of rotten flesh snagged on bushes and branches. Bones snapped, brains scattered. A horrific, brutal, gruesome spectacle.
Lerven turned his back on it entirely, gazing down at the unconscious Sidus's face.
"...Even with all this chaos, she's still out cold. Amazing."
Sidus breathed quietly, deathly still amid the chimeras' screams and the sounds of rending flesh. One might expect her to wake from that alone, but her eyelids remained shut.
"She's so quiet and pretty when she's asleep..."
While waiting for the chimeras' brawl to end, Lerven took the chance to closely observe Sidus's face—something he'd lacked opportunity for before.
Dusted from rolling on the ground and the fights he'd stirred up, her beauty still shone through, fully justifying her status as a popular heroine. But it stirred little in Lerven. The moment her eyes opened, she'd be itching to devour him—looks hardly mattered.
Twitch.
"...?"
As Lerven stopped staring at her unmoving face and began to turn away, he caught a faint movement in his peripheral vision.
Not the sway of branches in the breeze, nor an insect crawling on the ground. It came from Sidus herself—a subtle tremor in her body.
Reacting as if to some external stimulus, her quiver made Lerven narrow his eyes.
"...Just to be sure, you're not pretending to be asleep or anything, right?"
"......"
He glared at her with sharply raised brows, but after a long pause, Sidus showed no reaction.
"Did fatigue make me see things...?"
Figuring battle weariness had tricked his eyes, Lerven scratched the back of his head awkwardly. If she'd been awake, she'd have bolted up, caused a fuss, or jumped in to fight. No way she'd fake it out of embarrassment from passing out at a single touch.
Muttering to himself, he turned back toward the chimeras' winding-down melee—missing the way Sidus's body now trembled far more violently than the glimpse he'd caught.
*
"Kkiik..."
"Kkeuk..."
The chimeras' battle, driven purely by instinct rather than targeted strikes, was utterly wretched. Most had been torn and crushed beyond recognition, reduced to meaty lumps. The two survivors clung to life with just one leg or arm each.
"Kkuk...!"
"Kkeuk...!"
Yet remnants of murderous madness drove them to hurl their broken bodies at one another. A mere twitch cost an arm; a lurch, a leg. Even as limbless torsos, they dragged themselves forward to finish the job.
Swipe.
Lerven, no longer able to stomach the horror, stood up. Mindful not to use his broken arm, he exited the barrier, which faded away translucently.
No regrets—it had done its job perfectly.
Crunch.
Approaching the torso chimeras, he stomped the tusk off the elephant-faced one's head, then picked it up with his usable left arm. Pressing it to a writhing chimera's skull, he stomped down hard. The sharp tip pierced tough hide and bone, ending it for good.
One more time, and no living chimeras remained around him. Just rotting flesh piles and filthy blood.
"Haa."
Victory all but assured, Lerven scanned the corpses once more, prodding them to confirm. Only then did he fully accept his win, exhaling a deep sigh from the depths of his chest. Legs giving out, he collapsed onto the ground.
"That was fucking exhausting..."
With the sigh came a thick curse. He lay back on a spot spared from chimera blood, gazing up.
His vision filled with clear blue sky and dense green canopy. I wonder if Evan's and Sionel's seeing the same view right now—
Suddenly, his sight spun wildly.
"...Urk."
Tension released, adrenaline crashed, unleashing delayed fatigue and pain in a torrent. Vision blurred, agony surged, exhaustion sapped his limbs. In this maelstrom of suffering, staying conscious grew harder.
So he chose to pass out.
Thud—something snapped in his mind. Darkness swallowed his sight.
"──── ────!"
"───────."
As vision blackened, faint voices reached his fading hearing—one familiar, one utterly alien. Unable to hold on, Lerven let go, hoping they weren't hostile.
This was all that happened on just the second morning of the academy semester.