Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 98: Leona

A harsh breeze cut low across the cobblestone street, sharp like it carried Leona’s magicked thorns themselves on the wind.

Ezra stared down the woman in front of him - she who calls herself the Magician of Thorns. Her eyes, sensual and glimmering, fell half-lidded with the smugness of someone who believed the outcome of this fight had already been decided.

Her strawberry blonde hair cascaded like a sheet of flame down her back, but it was the way she twisted the whip of thorns that coiled in her hands that drew most of Ezra’s focus.

"You seem a little nervous," Leone said, stepping forward further into the moonlight. The thorns along her whip shifted and curled, moving along the vines like a slow blade of a chainsaw. Ezra took careful note - this magic wouldn’t just rip - it would tear.

"That’s good. I like nervousness. A cornered animal fights hardest. Your flame will burn even brighter before I finally snuff it out.

Ezra stood tall. He felt different in that moment. The realization crept into every one of his veins that this was a true moment - a test of his will. A life or death situation against an enemy with as much conviction as he had - a living, breathing human with untold ability and skill.

One that was powerful enough to hold the title ’Magician’ - who commanded a force of magic that nobody else had.

The storm of mana in his chest swirled within his soul. He wasn’t a Magician by any means, but the magic within reacted to her presence, her malevolence.. The street behind him remained empty, quiet. This part of the village had gone to sleep hours ago. It was just him and her now. Rav and Oby were far away, partying and dancing. Deek was on her way home.

"You’re not the first to think I’d be easy prey. You won’t be the last," he said, hand flicking open his inventory with a practiced thought. "But I’m not nervous. I’m excited to show this world what I’m capable of."

The spear dropped into his hand in a flash of light, and the second it settled in his palm, Leona struck.

The whip hurled through the air, soundless - moving far faster than the speed of sound.

Ezra ducked low, just narrowly avoiding the snarl of thorns that slashed overhead. The wind it carried clipped his cheek as it cracked so loudly through the air it was as if cannonfire had gone off.

With noise like that, their battle wouldn’t be unnoticed for long. Unfortunately, with all the hustle and bustle in the downtown of the Ferin Vilalge, it was unlikely to attract attention that far away.

He countered instantly, hurling the spear with full force toward her chest. Leona raised her hand, and in an instant, a net of blooming vines burst from the cobblestone, catching the weapon mid-air.

The spear spun uselessly in the bramble, trapped and tangled.

"You’ll have to try harder than that, Harbinger," Leona glared.

The vines surged outward, spidering across the street and climbing up walls. Sharp thorns protruded from every surface, twisting and curling into the shape of a massive arena. He was caged.

Ezra summoned another spear, gripping it tightly in both hands. He crouched into a ready stance, every muscle coiled.

Vines shot forward again. One after another, they lashed out like striking serpents. Ezra deflected the first with the shaft of his spear, rolled to avoid the next, and blasted another with a flash of mana. But the attacks kept coming, faster now. They crashed into the ground and wrapped around lampposts, tore into crates and fences, cutting off more and more of his potential escape routes.

He tried to push forward, toward her, but the vines answered every move. The path was closed. The whole alley was wrapped in a patchwork of thorns and choking branches. Even the air seemed to tighten and constrict around him.

Leona stood at the far end, untouched and unbothered. Her whip coiled lazily at her side. She even had the menace to pose to show how utterly unfazed she was at Ezra’s counterattacks.

Ezra breathed hard. The magic in his chest wasn’t running dry, but the pace was grueling. She wasn’t trying to kill him. She was trying to corner him, subdue him. Capture him.

"You’re not even using your full strength," she called, shaking her head. "Is it fear? Or are you Harbingers just not worth the rumors?"

Ezra said nothing.

"Once you’re in my vines, I’ll wrap you up real tight," she went on. "Drag you back to the capital like a good little trophy. And once you’re nice and sedated, I’ll find the Nephilim. I hear their blood burns so sweetly."

Ezra’s breath caught.

Oberyn.

A rage burned hot and sharp in his stomach. The same fire that had saved him before. He screamed, pouring that fire into his hands and into the point of his spear. With reckless fury, he charged the wall of thorns, swung his weapon forward, and let it crack with an explosion of raw energy.

The vines held.

They didn’t even catch fire.

He staggered back, sweat dripping down his brow, chest heaving. Leona watched with an amused, pitiful look.

But suddenly -

A whistling sound cut through the quiet, like a shriek of fire through wind. A second later, something blazed through the wall of thorns in front of Ezra, slicing the vines clean in half.

A flaming boomerang.

The brambles hissed and recoiled as they were cut apart. Ash rained from the ruptured net of vines, and through the smoke stepped a familiar figure.

Deek.

She landed beside Ezra with a triumphant grin, boomerang already spinning again at her fingertips.

"Sorry I’m late," she said. "But you know how it is. Some people need rescuin’. A job for a Sage-in-Training, methinks!"

Ezra blinked, stunned. "How did you even - "

"Heard the commotion. And saw a big wall of evil vines. Wasn’t hard to guess."

She spun her weapon into a battle stance, her footwork nimble and balanced.

"You good to fight, or are we still doing the whole ’alone hero’ routine?"

Ezra looked toward the wall of thorns. It was already starting to regrow.

He turned back to her.

"Let’s finish what she started."