Path of the Extra

Celestina's face twisted in anguish, her once radiant silver armor now drenched in the thick, dark blood of the clones she had just slain.

Her boots, slick from the pool beneath her feet, slid as she staggered backward.

Her gaze flickered to the other cadets huddled close.

No more clones came from the shadows.

The black holes had stopped spitting out the abominations.

There was a stillness, but it wasn't the relief she craved.

It was a false calm, a silence that felt far too unnatural.

Her eyes drifted toward the Dark King.

Ba-thump!

Her heart pounded in her chest, echoing louder than the silence around her.

Ba-thump!

The air itself seemed to constrict as if the very world was holding its breath, waiting.

Ba-thump!

The Dark King stirred.

Ba-thump!

Its crimson orbs locked onto her.

Ba-thump!

Not Azriel.

Ba-thump!

Her.

Ba-thump!

Her breath hitched.

Cold sweat slicked her skin, trickling down her spine like icy fingers.

The hairs on her neck stood rigid.

The King's gaze was piercing, not merely seeing her—but into her.

It wasn't just a stare.

It was rage, pure and primal, swirling behind the Dark King's helmet.

It hated her.

The way it looked at her, its unblinking eyes bore into her soul.

The fury radiating off it was almost a physical force, pressing down on her.

She swore it was commanding her to kneel, demanding submission without a single word.

"Princess Celestina... what should we do?" a voice, trembling and unsure, broke the suffocating silence.

The cadet who spoke was pale, his face etched with fear, his eyes darting between her and the motionless King.

It didn't move. It just watched.

Surrounding the King, the platform—splintered and broken from the earlier battle—began to mend, the cracks reversing, healing as if time itself was being rewritten.

Yet Celestina couldn't tear her focus from the King.

Her grip tightened around her sword, knuckles white.

She gritted her teeth, the weight of her own heartbeat crashing in her ears.

"What else can we do?" Another hissed, barely audible.

"We take its damn head."

Vergil, standing beside her, seemed almost unfazed, his eyes fixed on the looming figure.

"Don't overreact. Scary as the king in knights armor looks, the instructors won't let us die... probably," he muttered, though the attempt at reassurance did little to calm anyone.

"Cadet Vergil is right, we need to—"

""...!""

Her words caught in her throat as a collective gasp rippled through the group.

The Dark King moved.

The chains binding it groaned, metal twisting, then shattering with a deafening clang as it rose from its obsidian throne.

The broken links slithered down to its feet like discarded serpents.

They were never meant to hold it.

They were meant to deceive.

It loomed over them, towering nearly two meters tall, its presence suffocating, oppressive.

Those blood-red eyes never once left hers.

Celestina stood frozen, her body unwilling to move, to breathe.

She had faced its clones before, but this... this was different.

The clones were mere shadows, weak imitations.

They didn't possess mana cores, their strength barely scraping the surface of what a true Grade 2 monster could do.

But this...

This was no imitation.

This was the Dark King.

The real one.

And it was standing before her.

Step—!

Its first step sent cracks splintering through the ground.

Step—!

Each footfall resonated with her heartbeat, the rhythm tightening in her chest.

Step—!

It was as if the floor itself trembled at its approach.

Step—!

'Why... why is it so different from all the others?'

Her thoughts spiraled, panic creeping in.

She had faced monsters before—monsters that clawed and snarled, that devoured their prey with mindless savagery.

But this... this was unlike anything she had ever encountered.

The Dark King was deliberate.

Methodical.

And utterly terrifying.

Step—!

The Dark King's image warped before Celestina's eyes, twisting and overlapping with something—a figure from a nightmarish past.

Blood flowed from its body like a grotesque waterfall, staining the air with a sickening red mist. Its eyes were hollow, empty sockets that seemed to drain the light around them.

A toothless grin spread across a gaunt face that belonged to someone who had been dead for over seven years.

Her vision wavered, the spectral figure blurring with the Dark King's form, sending icy shivers through her spine.

Her heart raced, her breath came in ragged gasps.

She felt a rush of panic, her mind screaming in desperation.

'No! What am I doing...!'

She forced herself to focus, shaking her head violently as if to clear the horrific image.

The Dark King's form solidified again in her vision, its malevolent advance menacing.

'Didn't I swear to obliterate the entire void realm? How can I be paralyzed by something so insignificant now!?'

The shame clawed at her, a gnawing reminder of the promise she had made—not just to herself but one she told Azriel as well, who even admired her.

To falter now, to show fear in the face of such a creature...

'I will destroy it... I will destroy it all.'

"Celestina, I am—"

"No."

Lumine's voice was cut off by her icy refusal, leaving him and the others stunned.

Her voice, usually warm and reassuring, was now a chilling command.

"It wants only me... stay out of it."

"What?"

Lumine's eyes widened in confusion, his voice barely a whisper.

"Oi Princess, what are you—"

Vergil's protest was swallowed by the shock of what happened next.

Under the bewildered stares of her comrades, Celestina surged forward, her movements a blur.

"Huh, Celestina!?"

"What the hell!?"

"Haha! The princess has lost her mind!"

Ignoring the shouts and gasps behind her, Celestina closed the distance between herself and the Dark King.

*****

"I've never seen her like that before."

Azriel nodded as Jasmine's whispered words reached his ears.

'It seems it's finally stopped eyeing me like a creep… though I'm not sure how to feel about it targeting Celestina now…'

She clearly wasn't handling it well. Something had shifted.

The dark king's sudden movement had stunned them all, but the real shock came from Celestina herself.

Her cold, cutting voice surprised even Azriel as she ordered the others to stay back as she went to fight alone.

'Is it because of…'

"Instructors, what's going to happen after this?"

Jasmine's voice broke through, directing Azriel's attention to the instructors.

Azriel followed her gaze.

The instructors looked at the two of them, then at Celestina, and back again.

"...Everything will proceed as usual."

Instructor Kevin smiled slightly as he spoke, causing Jasmine to narrow her eyes.

"Even with the sudden floor shift? It's abnormal. How do we know it didn't happen on the other floors as well?"

Her words carried weight.

She knew that the void dungeon seemed to have an unsettling focus on her little brother, though she couldn't disclose that detail.

The void dungeon had always been unpredictable, but this was different.

"Even if other floors had experienced a shift, what difference does it make? The fact remains that they were scheduled to face a Grade 2 monster on the third floor anyway. This year's batch is exceptional—far more talented than previous ones. This floor shift could actually be seen as an blessing for them.

It's almost as if the void dungeon itself recognizes their skill and is upping the ante, perhaps considering the challenge insufficient for their capabilities."

Jasmine's lips pursed as she considered his words.

The objective was to reach the fifth floor, and encountering a dangerous floor shift seemed almost implausible.

Yet, in this unpredictable age, avoiding slight increases in risk would lead nowher

"Aren't you going to fight, Cadet Azriel?"

An instructor's question pulled Azriel from his thoughts. He looked at the instructor, his face unreadable for a few seconds.

'Instructor Alicia...'

A smile spread across his face.

"Unfortunately, the void dungeon would need another floor shift to make it a challenge if I were to step in now."

"..."

"..."

"Pfft! Haha! That's brilliant! I like your confidence, Cadet Azriel!"

Instructor Alicia laughed, holding her stomach and wiping tears from her eyes. Instructor Kevin and Benson looked at him, stunned and surprised.

"You shouldn't underestimate the void dungeon, Cadet Azriel. Even if it isn't the void realm, unforeseen things can happen here," Instructor Kevin warned.

Azriel nodded.

"Refrain from speaking any further, Instructor Kevin. Instructor Alicia."

Instructor Benson scowled as the two instructors grinned at him.

"Jeez, Ben, you really need to loosen up! It's not like we're helping them or anything. If Cadet Azriel doesn't care about his points and decides to sit this one out, why can't we enjoy the moment?"

Instructor Alicia said, wrapping her arm around Instructor Benson's shoulder.

Instructor Kevin nodded in agreement.

"They certainly are... close."

"Mm, they really are."

Azriel nodded as Jasmine whispered again. They were indeed close.

Bam!

A loud crash jolted them from their banter. Azriel and the others turned toward the sound of something being destroyed.

The fight between Celestina and the dark king was heating up.