The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 118

To a warrior, regret was a disgrace.

They lived every single day to the fullest with no regrets. Regardless of whatever opponent they were up against, they faced them with all their might, fairly.

A strong body and a sharp axe. He was a man that could charge in front of any beast as long as he had those two things.

The top student of the fourth-year combat department, Kordek.

He had a square-shaped face with a cleanly shaved head. He gave off a rugged impression with his massive body.

His appearance was so rough that it was hard to tell if he was really a student or a highly skilled veteran that ran wild on the battlefield.

Kordek climbed up onto the arena’s stage as he threw off his shirt.

“Kehuhaha! Hey… Are you the magician that’s been making a name for himself in that ragtag group of third years? Ed… That’s right, your name is Ed.”

His intimidating and threatening muscles were proof of his years of training.

The axe he grabbed didn’t have a blade, but it was useful enough as a blunt weapon.

Even though it was a practical combat experience, you weren’t supposed to injure your opponent. Kordek, with his indecisive personality, wasn’t too fond of that fact. He thought that such restrictions weren’t important.

That was the only reason he didn’t apply for a duel in the Joint Combat Practice. He was similar to a thug that lacked common sense.

Standing still across from him was the blonde-haired magician, Ed Rothstaylor.

He was holding his wrist as he twisted his body around, stretching.

Kordek stepped onto the arena as he glanced around. There were a few other dueling participants, as well as a decent crowd of bystanders that came to watch Kordek’s insane battle.

Kordek loved to fight. To him, it was an extremely satisfying environment to be in.

“Yeah, your luck is quite bad. Having to face off against me, Kordek. It would have been better if you had challenged a moderately strong opponent instead.”

“……”

“Alright. I’ve heard quite the rumors about you. They say you’re quite strong, but that’s only within the third-year magic department. You better prepare yourself.”

Kordek wasn’t one to easily underestimate his opponent. He just talked a lot.

However, when he experiences the bliss of a duel, his body tended to get heated up, filled with excitement. He couldn’t crush and tear apart his opponent like he would when hunting wild animals, but it also seemed like he wouldn’t be short of other means to deal with his opponent.

“Keuhahahahahaha…”

As the battle drew near, Kordek could feel his body heating up. In each hand he held a one-handed axe. His hands started to tremble as they held the axes. It was an excitement that came right before a bloody duel.

The third and fourth year’s joint combat practice was definitely different from that of the lower grades.

When it still hadn’t been long since you entered Silvenia, the school would limit most weapons and magics to try and close the gaps between the students.

Of course, things like sharpened weapons weren’t allowed. Most military-grade weapons were not allowed, and there was also a rule that intermediate magic and higher was not allowed.

However, the duels in the higher grades were completely different. If you continued your school life until you were in the upper grades without growing in an area you were strong in, that was only the result of a student’s laziness.

It was now a practice duel where all forms of strength were allowed without restrictions. Only the lower grades were protected.

“Keukeukeukeu…! My body… is heating up…! Keuhahahaha!”

The reason all students avoided him was because of how much he truthfully loved to fight.

“Alright. Now, if both sides are ready… You may begin!”

As the professor in charge spoke, Kordek let out a roar.

“Keuhahahaha-! Alright, let’s set some things straight before this duel…! As you know, my name is Kordek Veilderk! I never go easy on anyone just because it’s a mock duel…! So, if fear is starting to creep up in your body, it’s still not too late…!”

Bang!

He talked too much.

As Ed had that thought, he clenched his fist, which was overflowing with magic power. Magic that could never be avoided, not unless you concentrated on dealing with it…

Point Explosion.

It was sent straight into the pit of his stomach.

As he let out a ‘Keuk’ sound, he staggered in the middle of the smoke. Then, a lioness the size of him roared as it jumped straight at him.

“Keuaaaak!”

Kordek had a lot of experience dealing with wild beasts, but he didn’t have any experience dealing with one that suddenly appeared in front of him.

He screamed as he rolled on the floor. Then, the moment he grit his teeth and was about to grab the jaws of the lioness, who was about to bite his shoulder—

Boom!

Spiritual Skill:Explosion.

A bat made of flames flew straight into him. As he was already trapped in a hand-to-hand battle with Lacia, it had already found its way close to him.

As the rising smoke dispersed, the completely defeated Kordek fell to the floor. All that was left of him was the gagging and dry coughing.

The bat made of flames and the lioness slid back to Ed, sitting down.

“Good work.”

It only took about five seconds. It felt like he had put in more effort into going easy on his opponent to avoid hurting him than using all his strength to win.

In the crowd that had come to see Kordek’s battle, all that was left was an empty silence.

***

In the lobby on the first floor of Glockt Hall, there was quite a crowd, with all the students waiting around for their matches.

I made my way through the crowd of people as I managed to make it out of the building. It was the smallest of the three buildings that made up the Student Center, so it was extremely chaotic—after all, they shoved all the third- and fourth-year’s duels in there.

I then looked over at Nail Hall, the largest of the three buildings that made up the Student Center.

The protagonist’s generation, the second years, were probably facing off against the first years now.

I planned to head into Nail Hall to watch Taylee’s matches. After all, we were allowed to watch other student’s matches, and since Talee’s matches would already have quite a large number of students watching, I wouldn’t particularly stand out by being there.

I’d already come to terms with it. The story was already completely twisted and heading off track.

That being said, what could I even do about it now? All I could do was stand around and watch how things played out. If the flow began to heavily stray from the original timeline, what choice did I have but to adapt to it?

That was why I wanted to see how things were changing, and figure out what I needed to do to survive.

Fortunately, right now there weren’t any major changes that stood out.

The Joint Combat Practice was following the original timeline. But with things flowing so smoothly, I was starting to have my own worries…

As I walked along the path towards Nail Hall, I tried to organize my thoughts a few more times.

Thinking about things again, the only part that I couldn’t come to understand was… Adele’s reaction.

“I know.”

She completely deflected my warning about her death.

I didn’t think she would have taken me seriously after I said it so abruptly, but Adele had given an unexpected answer before leaving.

As soon as the Holy Father and the Archbishop arrived in Silvenia, the first thing they would do was search for Adele. Adele probably already knew that herself.

Even though she knew she was going to die, she was still planning to go and meet with the Holy Father and the Archbishop?

If she wanted to go headfirst into such a dangerous situation, there had to be some reason… However, there didn’t seem to be any visible reason for it.

In , there were many abrupt and uncertain areas in regard to Adele and Clarice in Act 3.

The final scene in the Joint Combat Practice. The news of Adele’s sudden death was certainly a shocking and interesting directional choice, yet the overall narrative and flow of the story still felt like a piece was missing.

In the end, the story of Adele and Clarice was only considered development for the following battle, Lucy’s Subjugation.

However, thinking of the other storylines in , there was no way that the storyline of an important character would be so loose and unfinished. There was certainly a common sentiment and expectation amongst players that there would be more hidden elements to the story.

The player was unable to learn the full story of Adele’s death because Saint Clarice’s way of thinking and behavior drastically changed after Act 3.

It was obvious that while the player was in the middle of the Joint Combat Practice, there was an incident with Clarice about being a Saint.

However, even after searching through the entirety of Acken Island, there wasn’t even a clue… In the end, the player had no choice but to move on, despite their original expectations.

‘The story of Adele and Clarice will surely be explained in a new spin-off at a later date…’ was what everyone had predicted. People thought that the story was purposely left untold in order to use it as an additional storyline later.

Most of the players, myself included, were at a loss for words over the situation. The reason for that was because the time the player spent in the Join Combat Practice was, at most, just a few hours.

Many people shared opinions that only a few hours was too short of a timeframe to make an entirely new spin-off. Perhaps there was another element of the story that we could unlock so that the storyline moved in a different direction.

Even though we searched through every corner of Acken Island, we also thought that there really might be a new hidden element if we just kept on searching for it again and again.

In the end, even up until now the hidden storyline had never been revealed. Maybe the rumors of a spin-off were true?

Suddenly looking up, I was nearing Nail Hall.

“……”

Only a few hours.

Not months. Not days. Just a few hours.

People’s values, behavior, and way of thinking didn’t change so easily.

And yet, after only a few hours, Saint Clarice’s good-natured way of thinking and behavior had completely changed.

The image of her completely changing as she became The Saint of Distrust, with a burning revenge towards the Religious Group… At the time, to the players it seemed far too extreme.

It would have been fine if they showed the development of a story that gradually exposed the darkness of the Holy City. So, the question of why they chose to make Clarice change so suddenly never disappeared.

“Wh-What is that…?!”

“What…? Am I hallucinating right now…?”

All of a sudden, the people around me were getting noisy.

I had been walking, completely lost in thought, so my reaction was a little late. When I looked around, all the students were looking at the western sky in surprise.

Wondering why there was such a commotion, I looked towards where the students were pointing.

Rrrrumble. Rumble…

An unusual earthquake… was suddenly shaking the ground.

***

Saint Clarice was sitting in the VIP conference room of Trix Hall.

The plan was that, once the Holy Father and Archbishop arrived, she would first sit down with them to talk. Then, along with Headmaster Obel, they would all have a nice luncheon together.

Afterwards, they would take a tour of the student dormitory, have a speech with students that had time in their schedule about faith, and then hold a baptism ceremony in which the Holy Father would baptize representative students in the Student Square himself. The Student Council President, Tanya Rothstaylor, was also scheduled to be baptized.

Once that was finished, he would give a final speech on the history of the Telos Religious Group and their values before getting back in the carriage and returning to the Holy City.

Just talking about it was exhausting, but for Clarice, who had lived her entire life as the Saint, it was something she was already familiar and comfortable with.

However, the Holy Father and the Archbishop were running a little late. It had been a while since their grand carriage had been seen crossing over Mexes Bridge, but it seemed that they weren’t headed straight to Trix Hall.

“Have you not heard anything about the Holy Father’s arrival?”

“Yes, Saint. I believe that there was somewhere they needed to briefly stop on their way to Trix Hall.”

Even though they were outsiders that came to Acken Island, they didn’t head towards Trix Hall, the center of school administration. Instead, they went somewhere else?

She asked where they had gone, but the knight escort only replied saying he didn’t know.

Was there really a schedule that took precedence over meeting with the Saint and having lunch with the headmaster? She wondered whether, whatever the business was, it couldn’t have been pushed back to do later? However, she sat quietly, believing that there had to be a good reason for whatever the Holy Father was doing.

As long as it wasn’t anything dangerous, it was fine. Either way, with the escorting guards around the Holy Father, it was safe to say that he wouldn’t fall into any dangerous situations.

The escort personnel he had with him went beyond elite—they were monsters. In fact, five of the seven ‘Apostles of Telos’, a secret army directly under the control of the Holy Father, were tagging along on the expedition.

The Apostles of Telos were so powerful that each one of them were some of the strongest people in the entire continent. They were people that only followed the orders of the Holy Father. An invincible army that was capable of using various advanced magics with Divine Power to spread their wings and control the battlefield.

Even the talents at Silvenia Academy, which was full of countless geniuses, wouldn’t be able to defeat them. Except for a few exceptionally strong students, of course.

“Hmm… Ehhem, Cough…!”

Clarice cleared her throat in preparation for meeting the Holy Father after such a long time. With not much time remaining, she tried to find an appropriate tone of voice as she groaned.

While doing so, she also practiced greeting him politely and listening to every single word of his with an elegant smile on her face. Even without the empty formalities, she already had a graceful and elegant demeanor. It only made her appear even more holy.

After sitting alone in the conference room for a while, she took a deep breath.

It hadn’t been all that long, but the months she’d spent at Silvenia had been so tumultuous… It felt like such a distant past.

The life where she constantly prayed, baptized, preached the words of God, listened to confessions, and lived a life of dignity while receiving the respect from people…

The young Clarice that lived a colorless life of abstinence missed the days of listening to Adele’s voice, which colored her world.

Thinking of it… I still haven’t met with her…

Even for Adele, shouldn’t she want to quickly try and meet with Saint Clarice somehow after hearing that she had been accepted into the school? And yet, there was no reaction from her. Clarice started to wonder if she was the only one that thought their relationship was special… She started to become rather depressed.

Still, when she closed her eyes, she remembered.

The keeper of the torch that sat by the window, playing her lute.

From a place higher than the Saint’s room, up on the spire she sat, always looking down on the world. That girl’s face was already starting to become a hazy sentimental memory of hers.

A girl that had always been enveloped in mystery.

It was unknown where she was born and how she ended up turning to the Religious Group. She had seen documents that claimed she had come from an orphanage in the Commercial City of Oldek. Seeing her talk with Archbishop Verdio sometimes, she wasn’t sure if she might be just a believer… Adele had never once personally talked about her personal life.

However, Clarice knew that the job of ‘The Keeper of the Torch’ wasn’t a position that could just be entrusted to anyone.

The torch, which always burned brightly at the top of the Holy Father Building, was a flame that expressed one’s aspirations for Telos and the purity of faith. It was something that should always burn brightly in that exact spot.

The very top of the spire. Perhaps the closest place to Telos, the one who always gave, in the Holy Father Building.

Seeing her always managing the top of the Holy Father Building by herself, excused from all other work… No matter how you looked at it, she was definitely not an ordinary girl.

If she had the chance to meet her, she wanted to have a heart to heart with her.

Rumble, Rumble…

While having useless thoughts… there was a sound that seemed to be the conference room, which she was alone in, shaking a bit.

Clarice got up from her seat, wondering if it was an earthquake. The earth’s axis was certainly shaking.

The moment she looked out the window, wondering what it was, Clarice swallowed a gasp.

An incomprehensible scene was unfolding right outside the window.

A large gale with massive wings that stretched out had stormed the academy.

A large open wing covered the sky, casting a massive shadow. And a gaze looking down that was higher than the top of Right Mountain.

The direction was the West Coast.

She could see a splash of water rising from the sea. Streaks of water were falling from the sky. The size of it was unfathomable.

It placed both of its front paws on Acken Island.

Its left foot was placed in the North Forest as its other foot was placed on the shoreline by Mexes Bridge. As a result, the ground began to tremble once more.

Its huge head was visible through the clouds. A protruding mouth and large scales.

Even in mythology, the Blue Dragon was said to have gone extinct.

The shape of the now-awakened dragon… overlooked the entirety of Acken Island.

It was a massive disaster that couldn’t be stopped with human forces, not by any means.

***

Causation.

If there was an effect, there must also be a cause.

If the storyline was twisted, then the cause of it must also certainly exist.

The storyline had already begun to twist.

I was already ready to bear any amount of change to the storyline. As long as the cause could be found, it was enough to deal with the situation.

The reason Yennekar’s act of running away in a rampage took place earlier was because Lucy and Merilda had made a contract too early.

The reason the Golden King Elte had arrived on Acken Island early was because Lortel’s betrayal had been discovered by Elris.

As such, there was always a cause when the story reached a turning point.

That was why there was definitely going to be a new phase of twisting and changing to the storyline. I even thought I was ready to deal with it all, too.

Wasn’t an extraordinary event something that happened when something took place that went way beyond one’s expectations?

The owner of those wings that cut through the sky… Genesis, the Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok.

A monster from mythology that was sealed in the depths of the sea after its wings were cut off by the Primordial Swordsman, Luden.

In the final chapter of Act 5 in , it was the final boss that signaled the grand finale.

I would have graduated by the end of Act 4, so I thought I wouldn’t ever have to worry about that massive Blue Dragon. The monster’s roar… Cut through the air.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !

A roar that grated on my ears as it cut through the blue sky… It engraved fear throughout the unprepared Silvenia.

It was something that human power couldn’t deal with. Even if you brought along Lucy or Obel, the only thing they could do was defend against it.

In order to defeat that monster, you would need a Taylee that had reached End Spec level strength and obtained the final swordsmaster’s skill, which could cut through a dragon’s heart. But even then, he would have to be right in front of its heart. At least, that was the method that I knew of.

Of course, that wasn’t possible at that point in time.

That’s right. As I said, if there was an effect, there must be a cause.

There were times in which the order of the storyline had been mixed up. However, right now the final ordeal of the entire story, which should have appeared in Act 5, had suddenly arrived… I couldn’t even make the slightest guess as to what the cause could be.

No matter how twisted things had become, the reason for such a drastic change to took place… It shouldn’t be possible.

But if the main timeline wasn’t following the original flow, the cause of it had to be me. After all, the only person that could be called an irregular in the world was me.

However, right in front of me was such an overwhelming change that I couldn’t even fathom what the cause could be.

Even when I looked back on the flow of the story up to that point, I couldn’t figure out the cause of such a major twist.

“Kyaaaaaghk!”

“What the! That’s…!! Kyaaaaa! Run!! For now, just run!”

“Where can we even run to…?! To get out of this island… to leave this place… Everyone, run to Mexes Bridge…!”

Crash, Boooom!!!

With a roar made of magic power, all the windows of the surrounding buildings began to shatter.

***

Kakang, Kagagang!

Rumble, Rummmmble.

Crash, crash.

The glass in the building shattered, the pieces scattering across the floor. A girl continued to hum a song as she stepped on the shards of glass with her leather shoes, walking down the hallway.

A lute was slung over her shoulder, and in one hand was the list of matches for the Joint Combat Practice. Adele hadn’t challenged anyone, so she was also automatically assigned a matchup. She was only able to check who it was on the day of.

‘Nail Hall 3rd Arena, 1PM.Adele Cerise vs Clarice.’

Below that was a line of text that had been corrected in hastily added letters.

‘The 1PM joint practice has been canceled due to a sudden change of schedule by the Saint. Please wait until your next matchup is assigned.’

“It’s a shame. I even had a means to meet with you. Though… I wouldn’t have ended up meeting you anyway.”

As the dragon’s roar echoed through the sky, the ground and buildings shook… A girl continued to walk, a bunch of beautiful flowers decorating her hair.

The girl began to weave her way through the buildings without a care in the world, despite the apocalyptic scenery around her.

“The wind will blow again. After all, it’s always been like that.”

Looking up at the massive shape of the dragon that filled the sky, she said it again in a low voice.