The Extra is a Cult Leader

The first step into Eldranor felt like passing through a soap bubble: the almost ethereal resistance of the barrier broke around Ethan, and he felt the dense mana on the other side wrap around every cell of his body.

When he opened his eyes, the sight that unfolded before him wasn't a surprise, but it still took his breath away.

Eldranor wasn't a ruined kingdom. Ethan already knew this thanks to the novel: the forgotten realm remained preserved, as if it had been built just yesterday. Towers of white marble shimmered under a gentle light that hung between shades of blue and silver, giving the sky an almost dreamlike appearance, divided between day and night. Wide polished stone roads crossed plazas and hanging gardens, adorned with ancient inscriptions glowing in an ethereal blue.

Everything there overflowed with mana.

Eldranor was a kingdom frozen in time, not destroyed, but sealed. A perfect reliquary of a lost era.

And then he saw them: the guardians.

Golems.

Hundreds of them, sculpted from a gleaming white material, with lines of blue mana running beneath their surfaces like luminous veins. Some were colossal, resembling armored knights. Others, more delicate, looked almost human, with serene features and precise movements.

Ethan watched as they patrolled ancient routes, completely ignoring his presence. He knew, thanks to the novel, that they wouldn't attack unless they sensed a real threat. Their role was to watch, maintain order, and protect the secrets sleeping beneath the marble.

He took a deep breath, letting the grandeur of the place sink in. A kingdom born in an era when gods still walked among mortals, and where divine energy was as common as air.

Ethan walked with steady steps through the streets, the sound echoing softly against the white marble walls. At each corner, he observed the imposing sentinel golems, all white as snow, their bluish lines pulsing slowly, as if breathing pure mana.

He knew these weren't mere constructs. According to the novel, they were fragments of the souls of Eldranor's first inhabitants, eternal soldiers, made to help and care for the kingdom's citizens.

Among them, there was one golem who commanded all the others. Created from the soul of a forgotten goddess.

She was more elegant, with almost human features and, above all, an absurd concentration of divine energy. She was more than stone and magic, she was the personification of the ancient king's will.

But it was her existence that brought ruin to the kingdom.

Though the lesser gods stood with Eldranor, the greater gods began to hate them. How dare they create something infused with the soul of a god? They unleashed a plague that only affected those with divine energy.

Chaos consumed the kingdom, for nearly everyone there possessed divine energy.

The more divine energy one had, the stronger the plague's effects became. Because of this, the leaders, the strongest among them, were the first to fall. Leaving the citizens without anyone to guide them.

Without them, there was no way to unlock the barrier for foreigners, since its default configuration allowed only those with divine energy to pass. This made it impossible for them to seek help from allied nations.

And their only salvation, the golem who had caused it all, remained unconscious at the center of the kingdom.

Ethan quickened his pace. He knew she was kept in a central chamber, built at the point where the entire kingdom's energy converged. A temple inside the main castle, protected not only by lesser golems but also by complex magical barriers.

Nexus vibrated softly. It felt as though Eldranor's mana itself was reacting to his presence.

"She must still be sleeping, huh…" he murmured with a faint smile. "Let's see if I can wake her up."

With each step, he felt the pressure of the mana increase. The air grew heavier, denser, demanding absolute control to keep moving forward. But Ethan didn't hesitate. He knew he hadn't come to Eldranor just to look from afar. His main goal had always been this: to find the Primordial Guardian.

At the center of the hall, there was a marble altar. Floating above it was a female golem, more humanlike than any Ethan had ever seen. Her surface was made of the same white marble that covered Eldranor, veins of golden and blue mana running across her body, though less visibly than in the other golems, as if they truly were veins.

The Guardian's face, though sculpted from stone, was delicate, almost serene, as if merely sleeping, waiting for a call that never came. Above her head hovered a cracked crystal crown, and her hands were crossed over her chest.

Ethan stopped a few meters away, took a deep breath, and let his gaze sweep across the hall. He saw ancient inscriptions at the base of the altar, he couldn't read them, but he had an idea of what they said.

Many had tried to awaken her and failed. The reason was simple: she needed more mana.

In the novel, she would awaken naturally after a few more years, having absorbed ambient mana for centuries. But Ethan could simply provide the required amount himself, ahead of time.

Yet before taking that first step, he stood there, motionless, simply admiring.

It was breathtaking to see with his own eyes what he had only known through written words. Eldranor, even empty, didn't feel dead. It was as if every stone still remembered who its creators had been. And the Guardian, sleeping there, was the silent promise that their legacy wasn't completely lost.

"And now it's mine," he whispered to himself.

He closed his eyes, sensing the mana around him. The air vibrated; the ambient mana gathered around that place. Ethan raised his hand, and Nexus floated over to the Guardian, circling around her.

Then, eyes still closed, he began channeling his mana into her. Slowly, carefully, so as not to push past his own limits.

The veins on the Guardian's body pulsed strongly, like the beating of a heart of stone. Small fragments began to fall from her shoulders, centuries of dust being swept away.

Ethan held firm, feeling the heat of divine energy rising to the point it almost burned his skin.

With a muffled rumble, the Guardian's fingers twitched. Slow, heavy, but alive.

Her stone eyelids slowly lifted, revealing an intense golden glow beneath.

"Perfect…" Ethan murmured, a smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Awaken, and judge me, Guardian."

The Guardian's eyelids finally opened completely, and the hall was flooded by the golden light emanating from her eyes. For a moment, everything seemed to stop: sound, air, even Ethan's own heartbeat seemed to pause to witness that instant.

With a soft sound, she spoke for the first time in ages.

"At last… I awaken…"

Ethan didn't step back. On the contrary, he inclined his head slightly in respect, never breaking eye contact.

"I am Ethan Blake, herald of Aurelia. I came here for the sole purpose of finally meeting you."

Her voice echoed through the hall, almost like an ancient lament.

"Centuries have passed since the fall of the kingdom… How did you acquire knowledge of my existence?"

"Perks of being a herald," Ethan replied, a faint smile on his lips. "Your return was already predestined, I merely brought it forward."

The Guardian gazed at him for a few seconds, and for a moment the gold in her eyes flared like a solar eruption.

"A herald… then prove with your body and your soul… that you are worthy to walk where gods once trod."

The runes on the floor shone intensely, and a golden and blue aura surged around the Guardian. Each step she took made the ground tremble, as if the very walls of the hall were greeting her.

Ethan clenched his fist, and Nexus, until then in the form of a glove, began to expand, covering part of his arm up to the elbow.

The distance between them closed in an instant; the Guardian struck with a fist that could have turned even a fortress to dust. Ethan leapt to the side, the rush of air so strong it nearly threw him to the ground.

He rolled and got back to his feet, smiling slightly.

"You're not even using half of your strength, are you?"

The Guardian answered only with silence, but her stance grew even more resolute, divine aura rippling like flames.

Ethan drew a deep breath, feeling the mana around them vibrate under her presence.

"All right… let's see how far this goes."

Her fist came again, this time in a sweeping horizontal motion. Ethan crossed his arms; Nexus expanded, forming a momentary barrier that cracked under the force but absorbed part of the impact. Even so, Ethan was thrown back, sliding across the marble floor.

He coughed, the taste of blood filling his mouth. But his eyes gleamed golden, almost amused.

"This won't be easy… and I didn't expect it to be."

Finally, a battle worthy of him.

The Guardian advanced. With each of her steps, fragments of ancient stone broke loose from the ceiling under the force of the mana she radiated. Ethan darted to the side, relying on speed rather than strength, trying to find an opening.

He knew: this wasn't a fight to win. It was a fight to prove something. To be judged.

Her fist came again, a straight thrust charged with mana that seemed to ignore distance itself. Ethan leapt, using Nexus as a springboard, almost like a black coil. He soared over the Guardian's arm, sliding along the divine marble of her shoulder.

For an instant, he stood before her face. The Guardian's golden eyes met his golden eyes.

And in that instant, Ethan spoke softly:

"Look, Guardian. See my soul."

The Guardian hesitated. Her fist stopped mere inches from piercing Ethan.

The mana of the entire hall seemed to freeze.

The Guardian's gaze seemed to pierce right through Ethan.

Then, slowly, the Guardian stepped back.

"I understand… Now I see… why you were chosen."

The light in her eyes softened, almost tender.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ethan Blake."

Ethan, still catching his breath, gave a satisfied smile.

"Thank you… Guardian."

In the silent echo of the hall, he knew: the gates of that entire kingdom were now open to him. And in that moment, Ethan Blake, Herald of Aurelia, had claimed an entire kingdom for his cult.