Reborn as an Yandere : Yandere X Yandere

The dark night had slowly given way to the soft light of dawn, with the peaceful sound of birds chirping in the distance. Today was the long-awaited selection day for the upcoming one-on-one duel. The academy was buzzing with anticipation.

As morning slipped into the afternoon, the academy's students gathered near the edge of a nearby forest. The forest behind the academy, known for being dangerous and teeming with monsters and demons, was strictly off-limits. Entering it would be the same as walking straight to death. So, the academy wisely chose a safer forest with no threats lurking in the shadows. 

Standing at the entrance of this forest were teachers and professors, all of them gathered near a large, open tent, with its fine, luxurious fabric catching the breeze. Despite the lavish setup for the teachers, all of the students stood in neat rows under the open sky. Fortunately, the weather was pleasant; the sun wasn't too harsh, and a gentle breeze made standing in place bearable.

In the back of the tent, Lilith was with her daughter, Kaelith. Though they were mother and daughter, they could have easily been mistaken for sisters—Lilith's youthful appearance contrasted her actual age.

"Hold still," Lilith said, her voice steady as she placed another seal on Kaelith. A soft, glowing energy briefly appeared before settling on her daughter's body.

Kaelith rolled her eyes, a trace of irritation clear on her face. "Mother, it doesn't matter how many seals you put on me. I'm going to win this competition, seal or no seal," she said, her voice dripping with annoyance. Her confidence was unmistakable, almost brimming with arrogance.

Lilith sighed, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Tch… I'm doing this to make the competition fair. If you go all out, you'll end up killing everyone without even trying."

Kaelith smirked, though her irritation didn't fade. "Fair, huh? You're just holding me back."

Lilith ignored the comment, giving her daughter a final look before speaking again. "It's done. Now go."

Without another word, Kaelith turned on her heel and left. But as she walked away, her thoughts drifted back to one particular person. **Esdeath**. The very thought of that girl sparked a dangerous glint in her eyes. A small, twisted smile tugged at her lips.

"If I fight her... I'll kill her," Kaelith muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper. "After all, accidents happen in competitions."

-----------

Meanwhile, Esdeath and Maruti stood side by side in their row, waiting for the event to begin. Maruti, true to her nature, was never one to stay silent for long. Barely three seconds had passed before she turned to Esdeath, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Hey, what do you think? Who's stronger, me or Ethan?" Maruti asked, her voice brimming with energy.

Esdeath didn't even flinch. Her gaze remained cold, her voice even colder. "For now, you are… but with time, Ethan will surpass you and eventually everyone—if everything goes as planned."

Maruti's eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint as she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Then why not just kill him now?"

Without hesitation, Esdeath shot down the idea, her sharp tone cutting through the air. "No, not yet. I still have use for him," she replied, her gaze already shifting toward Sylvia, who was preparing to make an announcement.

Maruti pouted for a moment but quickly let it go, while Esdeath's eyes narrowed, focusing on the Class B teacher as she cleared her throat to speak.

"Ahem, ahem... As you all know, I'm Sylvia, the Class B teacher," Sylvia began, her voice commanding attention. "The first competition will be a group match. Each of you will form a group of four, and every group will be given a large crystal—about the height of an average human. Your task is simple: protect your crystal and break at least one of your opponent's crystals to move on to the next round. Easy, right?" she said with a smirk, clearly enjoying the tension building in the crowd.

She paused, letting the information sink in before continuing. "But here's the twist. There are some rules," she said, her smile widening. "First, you cannot break your opponent's crystal unless you defeat them in combat. For example, if two people are defending their crystal, you must take them down before you can even think about destroying it. The goal of this competition is to sharpen your combat skills, not to sneak around like thieves," Sylvia finished with a playful but challenging tone.

The crowd murmured with excitement, some students already eyeing potential teammates and strategies. 

"Rule number two," Sylvia's voice rang out clearly, pulling everyone's attention back. "If, by chance, your team's crystal is broken, that doesn't mean you've lost. You still have hope. If your group manages to break three of your opponents' crystals, you can still qualify for the next round."

A murmur of relief spread through the crowd. This rule gave them a second chance—a lifeline.

Sylvia didn't let them linger on that for long. "Now for rule number three," she said, her tone sharpening, "In this round, no one is allowed to use offensive or defensive essence stones. You can't use magic either. This fight will be purely about physical strength."

The announcement sent a wave of shock through the students. Gasps and mutters of disbelief filled the air, and it felt as if the tension had tripled in an instant. Many of them, being awakened, had spent years relying on their magic and essence stones. To fight without them seemed absurd. 

"Is she serious? No magic?!" one student whispered furiously to another.

"This is ridiculous," another muttered, shaking his head.

Sylvia didn't seem fazed by their reaction. She let the chatter die down before continuing with a knowing smile. "I understand why you're all so upset. But let me explain," she began. "Time and time again, in the early stages of training, awakened individuals burn through their mana too quickly in battle. And once their mana is gone, they're even weaker than a normal person. Why? Because they've never trained themselves to fight without relying on magic. It leaves them vulnerable. Even a regular person could defeat them if they were out of mana. This test is about survival—how well you can fight when you don't have your mana to fall back on."

The explanation made sense, but the students still seemed uneasy. Training without magic was one thing, but being forced to compete without it was something else entirely. 

Then Sylvia's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Hold on, I'm not done yet," she said, her eyes glinting with excitement. "There's one more thing you need to know. Somewhere in the forest, we've hidden an orange crystal."

Everyone leaned in, curiosity piqued by this sudden twist.

"It's small—small enough to fit in your pocket," she explained, pausing for a moment to let the suspense build. "Whoever finds this crystal and manages to keep it until the end of the competition will automatically qualify their entire team for the one-on-one duel event."

A ripple of excitement shot through the crowd. The orange crystal sounded like a cheat, a shortcut to victory. If they could find it, their path would be set. But they knew there had to be a catch.

"But, but, but…" Sylvia added, her voice teasing as she continued. "As soon as anyone gets their hands on the orange crystal, their location will be revealed to everyone. So, guess what? Every other team will know where you are and will likely come for you. Many teams may attack at once, all for the chance to steal it."

The students' faces shifted from excitement to nervousness. It was clear that getting the orange crystal wasn't going to be easy—it could just as easily become a trap.

"And remember," Sylvia added, her voice growing serious, "If your main crystal is destroyed while you're holding the orange one, it doesn't matter. You've still lost. To qualify for the final event, you must have both crystals intact—the orange and your team's crystal."

The crowd fell into a tense silence as the rules sank in. They knew now that this was not going to be an easy competition. It wasn't just about power, but also about strategy, endurance, and protecting themselves from every angle.

"I know it sounds difficult," Sylvia said, her smile softening slightly. "But the rewards will be worth it. The duration of this competition is only two hours. That's all you have to do—protect your crystals and survive for two hours."

Esdeath couldn't help but smile as she listened to Sylvia's announcements. "This competition is practically made for us. We're going to crush everyone," she thought confidently. The thrill of competition was already igniting a fire within her, and she could feel the excitement building.

Sylvia, standing tall before the crowd, continued with her usual confident demeanor. "I don't have time to read out every team's name," she said, waving her hand. "So, I'm distributing this paper. Look for your teammates on it."

With a flick of her fingers, Sylvia used wind magic, sending a large number of papers flying into the air. They fluttered down like leaves in autumn, each landing neatly in someone's hand.

Esdeath grabbed her paper and scanned the names quickly. Maruti, Luna Cassia, and... Valen Vandris from Class A. 

The moment she saw Valen's name, she groaned softly and slapped her forehead. "This idiot... not him." The mere thought of him made her head hurt.

Valen Vandris was a skinny guy with absolutely no confidence. He wore glasses and always seemed like he was on the verge of fainting. Just looking at him, anyone could tell he was hopeless in a fight. 

The only reason Valen mattered in the grand scheme of things was that he was a total nerd, he got into class A because of this. Despite his lack of strength, he had this strange habit of explaining every fighting technique he saw, even though he couldn't do any of them himself. Whenever Ethan pulled off a cool move, Valen would be right there, narrating it to everyone with his glasses perched on his nose like some kind of expert.

In short, he was the typical guy who explains everything for literally no reason. 

As the crowd started to break up, students rushing to find their teammates, Esdeath stayed put, already feeling a headache coming on. She didn't need to wait long before a skinny figure with orange hair came nervously walking over. 

"Umm… are you my teammate?" Valen asked hesitantly, his eyes darting between her and Maruti.

Esdeath glared at him for a moment, her icy red eyes making him flinch. But finally, she gave a slight nod. 

Just as Valen turned his gaze toward Maruti, his eyes went wide. "Whoa… I'm teamed up with two beauties? What kind of luck is this?!" His face lit up with excitement, almost forgetting the danger that lay ahead in the competition. 

"But where's our last teammate?" Valen asked, looking around nervously. 

 How could she tell him the truth—that she had killed Luna last night? No, that secret was hers to keep. Instead, she quickly came up with a plan.

"Go tell the teacher that our last teammate is missing and ask what we should do," she commanded, her voice cold and sharp.

Valen straightened up, giving a nervous salute. "Yes, ma'am!" He rushed off toward Sylvia, eager to follow the order without questioning her further.

Esdeath turned toward Maruti, who was already yawning, clearly bored from all the waiting. "This is taking forever. I just want to start smashing stuff," Maruti grumbled.

Esdeath smirked, knowing how impatient Maruti could be. "Listen carefully,"she said in a low, serious tone. "You already know where the orange crystal is, right? , that guy"—she pointed toward where Valen had rushed off—and I will defend our crystal. You're going to go after the orange crystal."

Maruti blinked, suddenly more interested. Esdeath's plan was bold and direct, just the way she liked it.

"We don't have time to play around and waste energy in every round," Esdeath continued, her voice growing colder. "We must get selected today, and we need to be promoted to Class A."

Maruti gave a dramatic roll of her eyes, clearly amused but not entirely convinced. "And what if your precious Ethan gets in my way?"she asked, her voice teasing but with a hint of challenge.

Esdeath's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Fuck anyone who gets in your way!"