“...Hey Nia?”

“Yeah?”

“How did we end up in this situation?”

As I asked Nia that, I looked down below me.

Every student at the High School of Magic and Swordsmanship was letting out angry growls while their glowing green eyes glared up at me as I stood on the roof of the school.

“At this point, I’m just as lost as you are.”

“...I see.”

Well, maybe remembering what happened before now might help. But to do that, I guess I need to start from the beginning.

“The school is hosting a…what?” I asked. Confused about what Roy was talking about.

“It’s the annual Hallowscream festival! It’s where different classes get together and put together a bunch of terrifying events that are meant to scare students from other classes and even give you candy as you go along. And the best part is we get to dress up in costumes while we do it! It’s really fun!”

At this point and time, the Hunter Games situation was fully wrapped up, and the school trip where we went out and explored interesting locations on a floating ship was a little ways off. So I was surprised to hear there was some other event about to take place.

It didn’t sound familiar when Roy brought it up, so I wondered if this was part of the game this world was based on, or if it was a new event exclusive to this world.

And from the sounds of it, the event was similar to Halloween. A popular holiday from my old world.

“So what do you say to joining me? It’ll be a lot of fun!” shouted Roy as he looked between me and the one standing beside me. That being Flynn who simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t mind joining you. It wouldn’t hurt to cut loose every now and then.”

“Awesome! What about you Axel?”

I thought about it for a moment before giving my response.

“Nah. I think I’ll skip it.”

“Huh!? But why!?” asked Roy. Sounding a bit disappointed.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. It sounds cool. But knowing what the people think of me at this school, do you really think they’d happily let me participate?”

“Er…Well, I mean…”

Roy couldn’t deny it. Causing me to let out a sigh as I got onto my feet.

“Well, you two be sure to enjoy yourselves. And let me know how it goes.”

“R-Right. Yeah. We’ll do that!”

“Cool. Alright. See you two later.”

After saying that, I jumped off the roof and floated down to the ground.

The rest of the week went by without much occurring in terms of major incidents. And before long, the night of the Hallowscream festival had arrived.

While Axel was relaxing in his dorm room, Roy and Flynn entered the building wearing rather silly outfits.

Roy was dressed in something akin to a vampire while Flynn donned a set of knightly armor that was dramatized for effect. And as the two of them looked around, Roy’s eyes couldn’t stop sparkling.

“Check it out, Flynn! They have a cotton candy machine in that classroom! We gotta check it out!”

“Should we really grab something like that this early? It’d be a pain to carry around while we checked out the other classrooms.”

‘Oh…Yeah. I guess you got a point.”

Seeming a bit disappointed, Roy tried to laugh it off as he and Flynn resumed looking around.

Their first stop ended up being this place called a haunted house which was filled with all forms of different ways to jump scare students. However…

“Uh…Are these supposed to be scary?” asked Roy.

“I wonder that too. So far there hasn’t been much in terms of actually horrifying sights. Maybe it will get scarier later on?”

“Maybe. Come on. Let’s keep going!”

But sadly, it didn’t get much scarier and when they left the haunted house with chocolate in their hands, Roy let out a disappointed sigh.

“Well, at least we got some chocolate out of it,” he muttered as they started walking off to the next stop on their list. But before they could make it too far, a familiar voice rang out.

“Hey there you two!”

Turning toward the voice, Roy and Flynn saw Dianne run up to them with a wave.

She appeared to be wearing what looked like a dragonkin costume. Making her look similar to Valentina who was currently running her own event for the festival.

However, unlike Valentina’s crimson red scales, Dianne’s were a bright purple which actually looked quite beautiful on her body.

“Hello, Miss Dianne. It’s nice to see you,” said Flynn as he bowed his head.

Dianne bowed in response before looking around them.

“Say, is Savoncho with you?” she asked. Curious about what he’d wear for a costume. However, Roy shook his head.

“Sadly, he wasn’t interested. So he plans to skip the festival.”

“Oh really? That’s too bad.”

Trying to not look too disappointed, Dianne clapped her hands together.

“Well regardless, how about the three of us look around the school together? I’d love to check out some of the different events with you two.”

Roy grinned and gave Dianne a thumbs-up.

“That sounds great! Come on! Let’s go check out some of those attractions!”

After shouting that, Roy hurried forward with Flynn and Dianne following close behind.

Meanwhile, a certain group of students were working on some form of green crystal within the confines of their classroom.

“Come on you guys. We gotta hurry up. Otherwise, the festival will be over before we can show off what we’ve been working on!” shouted a girl who looked to be a second year and was around the age of seventeen.

“Sorry, Hina! We’re hurrying as fast as we can!”

As the other students scrambled around trying to set everything up, the girl called Hina flicked her dark green hair and approached the green crystal.

Someone stood next to her and wrote some stuff down while speaking with her.

“So once this crystal activates, it’ll transform the entire school to look like a real haunted house with ghosts and everything?” asked the person as Hina nodded her head.

“That’s right. And once it’s all set, we’ll rule this event for sure.”

Getting that confirmation, the person walked away while Hina smiled to herself.

“As well as the whole school. Forever,” she muttered as Hina stared down at the green crystal. Excited for the festivities to begin.

Meanwhile, Roy, Dianne, and Flynn were enjoying their time going through all the different classes and checking out what they set up.

“Say, is your class setting up anything?” asked Flynn as he turned to Roy, who nodded.

“Yeah. It’s a spooky cafe covered in all sorts of decorations. But I’d rather save that for last. So come. Let’s keep looking around!”

“Understood. Well then, shall we?”

When Flynn asked that while looking at Dianne, she nodded her head and followed close behind them.

That’s when she noticed something in the corner of her eye.

“Hey you two, what’s that?”

Turning toward where she was referring to, Roy and Flynn saw some form of green magic circle floating above the school.

“Hm. Not sure. Maybe we should check it o-Ut!?”

Just as Roy finished his sentence, he suddenly collapsed to the ground as the walls turned a dark green.

“R-Roy!” shouted Dianne as she ran up to him. However…

Crash!

Hearing a noise behind her, Dianne turned around to find Flynn had collapsed as well.

“W-What's going on?” she asked herself as Dianne took several steps back.

That’s when she noticed that not just those two, but everyone had fallen to the floor. Leaving just her still standing. All while a strange glowing aura surrounded her body.

“H-Hey! Are you two okay!?”

Worried most for her friends, Dianne shook both Roy and Flynn. Waiting for a response. And just as she was about to give up, she felt Roy jerk slightly as he let out a small growl.

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright! What happened th-”

“Grrrgh!”

Out of nowhere, Roy tried lunging at Dianne.

“Wha-!?”

Barely ducking out of the way, Dianne jumped back to see Roy moving around in a rather strange way with his whole body moving in a rather limpy manner.

Next to him, Flynn rose to his feet and moved around practically the same way.

All the while they continued letting out weird growls as their eyes shined a bright green.

“W-What is happening?” Dianne muttered as more and more students rose to their feet with that weird green glow in their eyes.

“Uh…What’s with that weird magic circle?” I asked Nia as I looked out at school.

Like I said before, I hadn’t planned to attend the Hallowscream festival. So I was currently relaxing in my room reading when a giant green magic circle floated up above the school. Just slightly out of reach of my dorm room.

Getting out of my seat, I put the book down, left the dorm, and approached the school as the magic circle floated above me.

“What a weird design. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before,” said Nia from within the grimoire.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Is that so?”

So Nia didn’t know what she was looking at.

In that case, I guess we needed to figure things out the hard way.

Taking in a deep breath, I stepped into the range of the magic circle.

As I did so, I felt some form of weird pressure in my mind. Like it was being crushed flat. Leaving nothing but an empty brain.

However, that pressure vanished a few moments later as I let out a sigh.

“What the hell was that?” I muttered as I tried to use my expanded thinking to figure out the cause.

But when I did so…

“Agh!”

That pressure reappeared. And it took several minutes before it dissipated.

“Okay. Now I’m really confused.”

It seemed like whatever this was, my expanded thinking was taking the brunt of it. Leaving my real mind to give me control of my body.

In other words, I had to deal with this stuff without my expanded thinking. Not an impossible task, but slightly inconvenient.

Thus, I took in a deep breath and began making my way into the school.

To cut things short, I walked inside, all the students had weird glowing eyes and kept growling at me. Leaving me no choice but to run until I flew up to the roof.

In the end, it looked like trying to think back was a waste of time because I still had no clue what was going on. And all I could do was let out a frustrated sigh as I rubbed my eyes.

“What should I do about this?” I muttered as I rested my hands on my hips.

“S-Stay away!”

Suddenly hearing a familar voice, I looked down to find Dianne running from none other then Roy and Flynn who were flailing their arms all over the place while they chased her.

Jumping down from the roof, I ran after them and moved in front of Dianne.

“Get back!” I shouted as I formed a ball of wind and sent Roy and Flynn flying.

“A-Axel!” Dianne shouted. Sounding relieved.

“Hang on tight. I’m gonna get us out of here!” I said as I used wind magic to pick Dianne up and jumped up through the air until we reached my spot perched up on the roof where I put Dianne down.

While I did so, the students on the ground below clawed at the walls trying to climb up to us to no avail.

Looking at them all, they kinda reminded me of zombies with how they were acting right now. But more importantly, I had to talk to Dianne.

“Say, how come you aren’t like all those guys down there?” I asked while turning to her.

“I-I could ask you the same question.”

“It’s…complicated. But anyway, why isn’t whatever this is affecting you?”

I knew that I could survive because my expanded thinking was shielding me, but how was Dianne able to resist it?

Dianne seemed a bit unsure as to whether she should answer or not but in the end nodded her head as she came to a decision.

“It probably has something to do with my blood.”

“Your blood?”

“Yes. It’s said my family's bloodline comes from those of the angels which means we have a strong resistance to magic. At least, I think that’s how it works.”

Huh? Well, that’s a bit of Dianne lore I never knew. I wonder why it was never brought up in the original game. But moving past that for now, I sat down.

“Well, I guess I kinda understand. But in that case, it means I have no way of knowing how to turn the others back to normal.”

I was hoping we could recreate whatever Dianne did in order to free everyone, but it looks like that wasn’t gonna work.

Lying on my back, I stared up at the magic circle in the sky.

Besides its green texture, the actual design of the whole thing was actually rather unique.

It was shaped into the form of a spider web with the middle looking like a flame shooting outward and burning the different webbing.

As much as I hated to admit it, the design was rather nice to look at.

“Hey, Master?”

“What is it, Nia?”

“I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but doesn’t the design look like it’s pointing in a certain direction?”

“Hm?”

Confused as to what Nia meant, I looked at the magic circle one more time and paid closer attention to the flame in the middle.

That’s when I noticed it.

Flames spread out across the entire web. That was true. However, one noticeable flame was shooting out farther than the rest. Like it was trying to connect with something.

Getting up onto my feet, Dianne turned toward me.

“What is it, Axel?”

“There’s something I need to check. Wait here,” I said before flying off.

“W-Wait! Axel!”

Ignoring Dianne’s calls, I flew forward. Curious to see where this flame would lead me.

“The hell is this?” I muttered as I arrived at my destination.

Entering one of the many club rooms this school provided, I was met with the sight of several zombie-like students and a single glowing green crystal floating there high in the air.

“My guess is that’s the cause of this whole situation,” said Nia as I nodded in agreement.

“That means I just have to destroy it and this whole thing will be over. Sounds easy enough,” I said as I began to prepare a wind attack to destroy the crystal. However…

“Oh no you don’t!”

Hearing a rather eerie voice, I noticed something aimed at my head and I barely ducked out of the way as a scythe grazed my hair.

Jumping back, I turned toward where the scythe came from and some girl stepped forward.

“I won’t let you destroy my finest work yet! For I, Hina, the queen of the zombie school, refuse to be dethroned by a mere commoner!”

The girl whose name was apparently Hina has slimy green skin and a crown on her head. She looked like a real honest to god zombie. And as she gave me a slimy grin, she brought up her scythe once more, ready to attack.

“Take this!” she screamed as she swung her weapon.

Jumping back, I sent a blade of wind flying in her direction but she sliced it in two and charged forward with a murderous aura surrounding her body.

“...Well shit,” I muttered as I jumped away from the club room and out toward the yard as several students turned toward Hina and my direction.

“Attack him my subjects! And tear him to shreds!” shouted Hina as she pointed in my direction.

Nodding their heads, the students all charged toward me at rapid speed.

“Well guess that clears up who the ring leader is now,” I said as I dodged an attacking student.

I had pondered whether Hina was the real threat or not. But judging by her authority over these guys, it basically confirms she’s the one behind it.

However, even if I took her down, as long as the crystal was still up, these students were just gonna be a nuisance to deal with. So I was gonna have to finish this fast.

Thus, I ducked out of the way of another student and prepared my counterattack against Hina.

Meanwhile, Dianne made her way down the stairs of the roof and reached the ground before ducking behind a pillar to avoid the attention of the zombified students nearby.

And as she poked her head out, she saw Axel moving off in the distance and tried to stealthily follow behind him. However…

“EEEK!”

She accidentally tripped and gave away her position. Thus, she was now being chased by multiple students who were continuously letting out angry growls while following after her.

“T-This wasn’t how I expected this festival to go at all!” Dianne shouted as she kept running from the students while keeping her eyes on Axel in the sky.

But just as she was about to catch up, Axel moved toward the ground. Meaning from here on, Dianne had to figure out where he was based on one thing and one thing alone. And that was…

Crash!

The damage Axel would cause while trying to solve the problem.

Following the sound of the destruction, Dianne was finally able to lose the zombified students that were chasing her and then reached Axel who was currently fighting against some green fleshy girl who looked to be a second year.

Unsure about what was going on, Dianne tried getting closer to figure things out when she suddenly heard a growl nearby.

Turning her head, she saw none other than Roy standing there looking at her. Causing her blood to run cold.

And then, after a moment…

“RAAH!”

“AHH!”

Despite just losing the other students by ducking and weaving, Dianne now found herself running from Roy who was easily keeping on her tail.

Thus, with no other choice, Dianne ran into a nearby room and locked the door. Blocking Roy out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dianne recomposed herself and turned around.

“...Huh?”

Only to find several more zombified students in front of her as well as a strange green crystal.

Sweat falling down her palm, Dianne was completely still. She had no idea what to do here. Thus, she simply stood still. Struggling to hold back a loud scream.

Dodging Hina’s scythe once more, I created a fireball and sent it flying toward my enemy only for her to easily slice it away with her weapon.

“Y’know, that thing is really starting to get annoying,” I growled as I flew through the sky and the students below me followed in droves.

“Dammit. At this rate, I’ll never be able to deal with that crystal,” I said as I flew toward the ground and slammed my fist into the dirt as a wave of wind sent the students surrounding me flying backward.

Honestly, this whole situation was really starting to piss me off. All I wanted at this point was to head to bed. But that wasn’t an option. Thus, I kept fighting.

Meanwhile, Dianne stood there in the room. Shaking in fear. She was terrified of the moment the zombified students would attack her. However, there was something strange going on.

Looking around, all the students in this room were in a completely dazed state. Like they couldn’t even think well enough to move.

“W-Was it because of this thing?” Dianne thought to herself as she looked up at the green crystal.

Moving forward slowly but surely, Dianne soon found herself standing in front of the crystal as it shined brightly above her head.

Looking around, Dianne noticed a lever under the crystal and an idea of what this gem was doing started to form in her head. Leading her to reach a single conclusion.

“Whoa!”

Jumping through the air, I barely avoided one of the students swinging a sword at my legs. That student was none other than Flynn.

Dealing with all this, I really wished I could use my expanded thinking right now.

If I could, it’d be easy to simply hit all these guys in their weak points and go take out the crystal. But since that wasn’t an option, I had no choice but to fight the old fashion.

So, dodging Flynn’s sword once more, I slammed my metal hand into Flynn’s stomach. Causing him to lose his breath and then I used wind magic to speed up my footing and smash my leg into Flynn’s face. Sending Flynn flying.

“Sorry Flynn. I’ll make it up to you later, promise!” I shouted as I took out another student before jumping into the air and searching for Hina who had escaped my sight.

It was then that I noticed her sitting on a throne of student's bodies as she looked up at me.

“Hah! You can’t defeat me you commoner! This place is my domain now. And I’ll make sure you die here!”

After saying that, Hina snapped her fingers and the mass of students began collecting together forming what could only be described as a giant fist.

“Y-You gotta be kidding me,” I muttered as the fist came slamming down on me.

“Geez. I didn’t wanna do this, but I guess I should try and put in a bit of effort,” I grumbled as my hand suddenly gained a metal coating and I clenched it tightly before bringing it toward the giant hand.

“HAAAH!”

Then, as the ground shook beneath us the fist and I collided with one another.

And then, a few moments later, the hand collapsed.

“H-How did you do that!?” shouted Hina in shock as she got off her chair and prepared to snap her finger once more.

But before she got the chance to do that, I shot forward and smashed my fist into her face. Causing her jaw to get dislocated.

“Y…Youth bratf!” she screamed as she grabbed her scythe and swung it at my head.

Ducking out of the way, I grinned at Hina.

“Sorry, but this is becoming a bit of a pain, so let me get serious for a moment.”

After saying that, I created a ball of wind and slammed it into Hina’s chest. Sending her flying into the wall behind herself.

Confused as to what had just occurred, Hina took in a deep breath only for me to appear in front of her and send her flying once more.

This time, she bounced off the wall and crashed into her pile of zombified students and they flew off into several different directions.

Pushing herself to her feet, Hina tried to fight back.

But as I slammed my hand into the ground, a stone pillar came flying forward and smashed Hina in the stomach.

“W-What isf happening rifht now!?” screamed Hina. Not understanding how she was losing.

But before she could get an answer, I appeared in front of her and grinned.

“It’s simple. You’re done.”

After saying that, I gave her one more hit in the face and she smashed into the wall before falling to the ground. Completely unconscious.

Once that was done, I rested my hands on my hips.

“Alright. With that done, I think it’s time I take care of that…”

Before I could finish that sentence, I suddenly heard a loud whirring sound and a few moments later, the magic circle vanished from the sky and all the students collapsed at once.

Confused, I returned to that clubroom to find none other than Dianne standing there.

“Um…I found out what was causing the problem,” she said with an awkward chuckle. Causing me to respond in kind.

Then, without much thought to it, I sliced up the crystal. Making sure it wouldn’t cause any more problems.

Once that was done, we left the room to find everyone was waking up one after the other.

“Ugh. What happened?”

“Why does my leg hurt?”

“Can someone explain why my whole body is in pain right now?”

It seemed like everyone was starting to come back to their senses. All the while Hina laid there unconscious.

It looked like whatever that situation had been was finally over.

After that, it was discovered that Hina had long since been infected by an undead and was simply posing as a student here at this school. Thus, she was expelled and sent off to be dealt with elsewhere. Meanwhile, I was enjoying some cotton candy on the roof of the school with Flynn, Dianne, and Roy.

“Once again, sorry about beating you up Flynn,” I said while scratching my head.

“It’s alright. Since you bought everyone this cotton candy, I’m willing to forgive you.”

“Heheh. Glad to hear it.”

Thus, the weird Hallowscream festival came to a rather weird end and the four of us moved on with our lives. Little did I realize at the time though, just how drastic of a change I was about to go through.