The Extra's Rise

The battlefield was chaos—a cacophony of magic, steel, and sheer desperation.

Tenebris Rex roared, its colossal form blotting out the skyline, moving with terrifying speed for something so massive. Each stomp sent shockwaves through the ruined city, displacing rubble, toppling weakened buildings, and turning entire battle formations into uncoordinated messes.

The second years were in full retreat, their once-organized squads scattering like panicked prey. Even their strongest elites were being forced back, barely managing to hold their lines as the beast cut through them with the inevitability of a natural disaster.

And amidst all this carnage, Lucifer Windward stepped forward.

His eyes, verdant green like shattered emeralds, glowed with unrestrained mana. He had waited long enough. He had watched long enough. Now, it was time.

As he exhaled, the temperature around him plummeted and rose at once, a sudden, unnatural shift that sent shivers down the spines of those nearby.

From his left hand, flames erupted—wild, golden, all-consuming. The air wavered from the heat, flickers of blue appearing within the blaze as the sheer intensity threatened to melt the stone beneath him.

From his right hand, frost took shape—razor-sharp, ethereal blue ice, spreading outward like crystalline veins creeping toward the earth.

Fire and ice. The ultimate contradiction.

And yet, in his hands, they did not clash.

They danced.

Lucifer's Yin-Yang Body, the most broken of Gifts, was finally unleashed.

His enemies had no hope of escaping him now.

A second-year warrior charged, wielding an enormous claymore reinforced with aura. He lunged, his entire body coated in mana reinforcement. A blow meant to cleave through stone, flesh, and anything in its path.

Lucifer didn't move.

The moment the blade entered his radius, the temperature split—half of the metal flash-melted into liquid slag, while the other half shattered into brittle, frozen shards.

The warrior had just enough time to register his mistake before Lucifer flicked his wrist.

A wave of fire and ice erupted outward, engulfing the second-year squads nearest to him. The flames swallowed them from the left, the ice impaled them from the right—a perfectly mirrored annihilation.

Lucifer moved through the battlefield like a storm given form.

One second, he was a blur of fire, setting entire streets ablaze, sending searing torrents toward enemy casters who barely managed to throw up barriers in time.

The next, he was a wraith of frost, freezing solid the legs of second-year swordsmen, turning their movements into desperate, clumsy flails before shattering them with the flick of a wrist.

Even Tenebris Rex took notice.

The six-star beast, amidst its carnage, finally turned its monstrous golden eyes toward Lucifer.

A test. A challenge.

Lucifer grinned.

The monster struck first, a massive claw coated in pure darkness, its weight enough to level an entire city block.

Lucifer met it head-on.

His left hand blazed as he caught the strike, fire surging outward, melting through the beast's reinforced talons.

Then, in a single motion, Lucifer swung his sword and hurled the monster backward, sending Tenebris Rex crashing into a collapsing tower.

The beast roared.

Lucifer grinned wider.

Because now, he was having fun.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Kali Maelkith gritted her teeth, forcing her breathing to steady as she leaned against a cracked stone pillar, her entire body screaming in protest.

Her left arm was numb, her ribs ached from the impact, and she could still feel the lingering heat where Tenebris Rex's energy attack had nearly incinerated her entire squad.

She had barely made it out alive.

Not from lack of strength—far from it. Kali was the strongest second year, a fighter who could actually push Lucifer in direct combat, someone who should have been leading the charge, not running for cover.

But the problem was that she was simply caught off-guard

She had to retreat.

Her legs burned as she forced herself forward, every movement feeling like it took double the effort. The simulation's pain dampeners weren't enough to fully block out the bruises and exhaustion, and she wasn't regenerating fast enough to push through it.

But she made it.

At least, she thought she did.

Until she saw him.

Kali froze.

Arthur Nightingale sat on a broken column, arms folded, watching her with an expression that made her stomach twist.

Not smug. Not gloating.

But expectant.

Like he had been waiting for her.

Her fingers twitched, instinct screaming at her to get ready to fight—but the instant she tried to gather her mana, a sharp pain shot through her body, the aftereffects of her earlier injuries locking her down.

She was too damaged to fight properly.

Arthur knew it.

And he was enjoying this.

"How," she rasped, barely keeping the snarl out of her voice. "How did you know?"

Arthur tilted his head, his expression a mockery of innocence. "Know what?"

Kali's jaw tightened.

"This place," she snapped. "That I'd be here. That I'd even think about retreating here."

Arthur smiled. Slowly.

"Because I made sure you had no other choice."

She stilled.

Realization struck her like a blow.

The Dark Beast.

The chaos.

The way the battle spiraled at exactly the right moment, forcing her hand.

"You…" she whispered, her throat dry.

"You released it."

Arthur shrugged, utterly unapologetic. "I just expedited the inevitable."

Kali exhaled, a humorless laugh escaping her lips.

"You used the second years to wake it up. You let it hit us hardest, while making sure the first years were just far enough away to reposition."

Arthur tilted his head slightly, as if impressed by how quickly she was piecing it together. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to figure that out."

Kali gritted her teeth.

She was bleeding. Bruised. Weak.

But more than that, she was furious.

Not because she had lost a battle.

But because Arthur had outplayed her from the very start.

"So what now?" she asked, voice cold. "You kill me? Drag me back as a trophy?"

Arthur laughed.

"Oh, Kali," he said smoothly, standing up. "I don't need to beat you."

He took a step closer, voice dropping slightly.

"I just need you to listen."

Kali didn't move.

Because for the first time in this entire war, for the first time in all her battles—

She wasn't sure if she had a way out.