My F-Rank Sagea is Secretly an EX-Rank Calamity

Chapter 25: Override Confirmed

The students were back in the Grand Arena, and the tension was suffocating. It was finally time for the last round before the semi-finals.

Asher sat on the edge of his seat, a cold sweat breaking out across his temples.

’It’s my turn now... finally my turn,’ he thought, his chest tightening.

Up in the VIP lounge, Lord Malovik stood up. The Aetherscope immediately zoomed in on him, capturing his sharp, authoritative features on the massive broadcast screens.

"Asher Flynn and Marnie Cortez descend to the arena," Lord Malovik’s booming voice vibrated through the stone architecture.

The arena went dead silent. There were no cheers, no chanting - just an eerie, heavy quiet. Asher could hear his own heartbeat slamming violently against his ribs.

He forced his legs to move, walking past the other students, through the massive arched doors, and out onto the dusty battle floor.

On the opposite side, Marnie stood waiting, her eyes locked onto him like a hawk.

’Nova Vesta?’ Asher called out mentally.

No response.

’Huh? Nova Vesta? You there?’ Internal panic flared, though he managed to maintain a rigid, blank stare.

"This is a match between students of the same faction to conclude the Quarter-Finals," Lord Malovik announced, his voice echoing across the stadium. "With that said, show us your utmost strength. You may begin!"

Marnie wasted no time. Her hands blurred through a series of complex signs. "Illusion!"

In an instant, the battlefield blurred.

Half a dozen perfect duplicates of Marnie materialized across the dirt. Asher’s eyes darted between them, his stomach dropping - every single clone cast a perfect, solid shadow. He couldn’t tell which one was real.

The crowd remained dead silent, some watching with mild surprise, others with cold indifference.

Asher stood rooted to the spot, feeling as though he had just jolted awake from a nightmare.

’NOVA VESTA! WHAT THE HELL?!’ he screamed internally.

"Why is he just standing there?"

"Is anyone going to remind him he’s in a duel?"

"Boo! Stop wasting our time, Flynn!"

The silence broke into a wave of critical murmurs and heavy booing at Asher’s frozen state.

Marnie pressed her advantage. Each duplicate moved with independent precision, as if they possessed minds of their own.

"Geoshot!" one of the clones shouted, stomping her foot. The stone floor beneath her shattered, sending jagged chunks of rock levitating into the air before they launched toward Asher like artillery fire.

’NO, NO, NO!’

"KAITO!" Asher yelled in sheer desperation.

With a flash of light, Kaito manifested in front of him.

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE]

[SYSTEM ERROR RECOVERY: ORDER PHANTOM SHIFT AVAILABLE]

’OH, YOU’RE ALIVE NOW?!’

"Kaito! Phantom Shift!" Asher commanded hurriedly, backing it up with his own magic.

"Stone Wall!"

A barrier of rock erupted from the ground to shield him, but Kaito didn’t need it. The beast’s physical mass dissolved into a weightless, shimmering stream of pure photons.

Phasing effortlessly through the barrage of Geoshot, Kaito reformed right in front of the attacking duplicate, slashing downward.

The clone dissipated into mist instantly.

"Whoa!"

"Isn’t that a Sol-Aura Beast?"

"For real? I thought he just had a squirrel!"

Up in the stands, Rowan’s eyes widened slightly at his brother’s swift retaliation. A small, proud smile tugged at his lips. ’You’re full of surprises, Asher,’ he thought.

But Marnie was relentless. The remaining duplicates coordinated a flawless, multi-directional assault.

"Umbral Mire!"

Even behind his Stone Wall, the ground beneath Asher’s boots suddenly liquefied into a thick, sticky tar of glowing green sludge. It didn’t deal direct damage, but it anchored him instantly, dragging his mobility down to zero.

"Maze!" another duplicate shouted, raising her hands. A dark, localized box of compressed magic manifested around Kaito, trapping the beast in a labyrinth of tiny, restrictive spaces.

"He’s down!" a student shouted from the crowd.

Laughter erupted from the upper tiers.

"What the hell?!" Asher growled, struggling violently against the sludge. He had been underestimated before, but this public humiliation tasted entirely different.

Up in the lounge, Remi’s hand clutched tightly over her chest, her fingers digging into her clothes as if praying for him to break free.

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder.

"Jeez, can he get any worse than this?"

"He wasted a Sol-Aura beast!"

Asher strained against the binding magic, his muscles aching. "Why the hell is this so strong?"

"Because my illusions don’t just mimic me - they act as entirely separate entities," Marnie replied, her voice ringing out with a cold, detached confidence.

She stood perfectly still, dismissing her remaining duplicates as she looked down at him. "You can’t move. This round is mine."

’Seriously? Over in a single combo?! No way!’ Asher’s chest heaved in panic.

High above, Lord Malovik stood up to call the match.

The stadium fell quiet again.

"He was so strong during the trials..." a student muttered nearby.

"I know, right? Back then, he used those insane flames," Ria chimed in, her expression falling.

The students who had survived the Merit Trials with Asher looked deeply disappointed. They had genuinely believed there was more to Asher.

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE]

[CRITICAL RESTRAINT DETECTED. DO YOU WISH FOR ME TO AUTOPILOT?]

’Huh? Autopilot?’

Asher’s eyes darted toward the massive Aetherscope screen.

Malovik’s hand was already rising to declare Marnie the victor. In a surge of pure adrenaline, frustration, and pride, Asher threw caution to the wind.

’Do whatever it takes!’

[OVERRIDE CONFIRMED.]

Suddenly, Asher’s eyes flared with a flash of blinding, pure white light before settling back to normal. It felt as though Nova Vesta had physically fused into his nervous system.

"Kaito. Glitch," Asher muttered, his voice suddenly dropping into an eerie, layered resonance.

The trapped beast literally fragmented like a broken digital image, phasing out of the dark maze and reappearing perfectly beside Asher.

Marnie gasped, her confidence instantly evaporating.

Up in the lounge, Lord Malovik let out a low chuckle and slowly took his seat again.

"Nova Synergy," Asher commanded calmly.

The two curved solar crystals atop Kaito’s head ignited with blinding brilliance, its eyes reflecting the same stellar light.

In the blink of an eye, Kaito vanished from Asher’s side.

Before Marnie could even register the movement, the beast reappeared right in front of her.

Kaito began circling her at an impossible, supersonic speed, creating a swirling vortex of dense, smoky energy that completely enclosed her. The vacuum of the barrier rapidly siphoned the mana right out of her pathways.

Marnie crumbled to her knees, gasping for air as her magical reserves hit rock bottom.

"Deform," Asher said.

The thick, green sludge binding his legs instantly dissolved into harmless vapor.

As Asher stepped forward, free from his restraints, his eyes flashed white one last time before his consciousness snapped back to full control.

"Huh?" Asher blinked, looking down at Marnie, who was completely breathless and defeated on the floor.

’Uhhh... Nova Vesta?’

[YOU ARE WELCOME.]

Asher stared at his hands, a cold sweat running down his neck. ’Damn.’