Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 100: The Hand of Shadow

With the newly generated hand growing out of Ezra’s back, blocking Leona’s whip was trivial. Alcor, controlling the hand, snatched her whip out of the air at lightspeed and yanked it away from her.

Leona didn’t loosen her grip on the whip - as Alcor yanked, she was drawn forward as well, stumbling toward Ezra. Another opportunity - the only one he’d ever need.

He charged her and wrapped both of his arms around her as if in an embrace, but affection wasn’t his goal. With both of his hands firmly planted on her, he focused his mind singularly on the goal of draining her entirely.

She began to wail in bitter agony as every drop of magic was ripped from her veins and devoured by Ezra. Even her flesh steamed from the sheer intensity of Ezra’s draining power. She couldn’t break away - in a battle of magic she was far superior, but restricted as she was by Ezra’s mighty physical strength, she faltered.

He didn’t let her go until she was completely drained. Not a drop of mana left to her. Her viney magic dissipated, and the whip crumbled to dust in her hands. Unarmed and helpless, she slumped backward. Ezra watched her with disdain. He was also unarmed, but the fight was over - or so he hoped.

In a sudden flash, Leona played her final trump card. She withdrew a dagger hidden within her clothes and brandished it above her head. She’d bury it into Ezra’s heart if she could - even if she got herself killed in the process. The humiliation she’d suffered here could not go unanswered.

As the glimmer of steel stone in the sky above Ezra’s head, he took a deep breath. There wasn’t going to be an opportunity to Rewind this, or Manifest anything else. He just had to -

CLINK!

A boomerang struck Leona’s hand, smashing against bone and disarming her. The knife clattered harmlessly to the ground as Leona lurched away and fell on her rear, clutching her hand.

Deek landed next to Ezra again, doing another cute pose. "Sorry about that, big guy. Had to go grab another boomerang! And I couldn’t let the mean lady know I was still in play, ya know?"

"Clever little Decoy. Although, I guess I was the decoy for you, huh?"

She winked and twirled her dress.

[Your goal is to steal her Magician power and pass it along to Deek, isn’t it?]

Ezra blinked. Alcor’s voice, normally so slinking and invasive, had been a welcome addition to his mind during this battle.

’Are we...starting to learn to work together?’ Ezra thought absent-mindedly.

[Don’t get too emotional about it. Your survival and mine are linked, so of course I’ll help in situations like this.]

Ezra looked down at Leona, who glowered at him from the ground. She might be unarmed and magicless, but she wasn’t surrendering. She - like any Magician of Asteria - would never surrender. If she did, all that would await her is death at the hands of the Royal Army, and that was a fate far worse than dying in battle.

"Just do it," she hissed. "Kill me. Take my power. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?"

[I can take her power. But it’s up to you if we kill her or not, Ezra.]

Ezra glared at the Magician. Killing her would be easy, now. And she knew too much about him. Keeping her alive would only be a liability.

’Do it, Alcor. But don’t kill her. Look at her - she’s already given up the fight.’

[You’re positive this is what you want? You won’t be able to change your mind later.]

’Yes.’

Ezra held out his hand, and the shadowy arm of Alcor stretched out from him and sunk its claws into Leona’s chest. It burrowed into her soul, into the source of her Magician power, and grasped firmly upon it.

It happened quick - almost transactional. A node of unstable energy was drawn from Leona’s bosom and torn from her - the physical manifestation of a Magician’s power. It quivered and trembled in Ezra’s shadowed appendage, curling with arcane energy. Even though all her mana had been drained, the soul of a Magician was still overflowing with power.

Leona dropped to the ground, unconscious. At Ezra’s side, Deek looked on warily.

"The heck did you do to her?" Deek asked, her voice cracking slightly. She subconsciously shifted a step away from Ezra, unease filling her.

"I decided to let her live," Ezra replied, quiet and soft. He took the swirling stone of energy he extracted from Leona into his actual hands, watching it carefully.

"This is the power of the Magician of Thorns," Ezra explained, looking to Deek in the dark night. Their eyes locked together as mutual understanding bloomed between them.

"If you want it," Ezra offered, "It’s yours. You can become a Magician just like you always wanted to."

Deek reached out for the stone, but hesitated. "What...what do I have to do?" she questioned. Though she trusted Ezra, her body language reeked of uncertainty.

[Simply grasp the stone to your heart. If you are compatible, the magic will bind itself to you.]

The voice rang out of Ezra’s mouth, though it was not his own - it was Alcor, speaking through him.

Deek, startled, took a step backward. "What - who the hell was that!?"

Ezra narrowed his eyes. "I supposed you can call him my ’Guide’, of sorts," he said quietly. "We can trust him for now, Deek. Go on, take it. This is the power you’ve wanted, isn’t it?"

She nodded, but still moved cautiously as she took the stone from Ezra.

"So I just - "

Before she could finish her question, the stone exploded into action, and the latent magic within began to suffuse into Deek’s body. She glowed with humming, reverberant magic, and the stone dissolved into her hand, becoming one with her.

A notification appeared in front of her - one that both she and Ezra could see.

[Congratulations, Decoy Vulstine! You have awakened a new Class.

Class: (Custom) Magician of Roses]