The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 245

A drop of blue paint falling into a cup of lukewarm water.

That simple drop of paint that fell into the water only left a small trace behind at first.

However, it would gradually spread throughout the cup until eventually, the entire cup was dyed blue.

A little drop. At first, that was all it was. But by the end, the world inside the cup would have completely changed into a different landscape.

No one knew how the swaying water in the cup would fluctuate, or how that simple drop of paint would manage to spread.

However, the result was always the same. That small drop of paint changed the entire world. That one small variable created a butterfly effect that completely altered the distant future.

“I’ve been researching ways to create this paint-like entity at the Imperial Research Laboratory, Prince Lienfell.”

The words of the Great Sage, Silvenia.

Prince Lienfell had been seriously injured by Silvenia’s research. In return, he had asked her what she was researching and what she had been observing.

However, the answer Silvenia gave him was a future that would one day end without any notice.

The eternal darkness that couldn’t be observed. The ‘Cliff Point.’

A promised darkness that would devour the world no matter what was done. The moment where all possible futures came to an end.

Observing that nightmare alongside Silvenia, Prince Lienfell couldn’t help but swallow his dry saliva.

“No matter what I observe, the future never changes. I locked myself inside the imperial laboratory of Lily Palace to figure out how we can escape from that eternal darkness, but I can’t even begin to guess what the cause might be.”

Prince Lienfell spoke, his voice trembling.

“Then… did you figure out a way to prevent it?”

“No.”

Hearing that, Prince Lienfell swallowed again.

“However, I’ve put together a number of possible hypotheses. The conclusion I reached is that the world we currently live in is a closed one. A world in which, no matter how things play out, we will always reach the same ending.”

“Even if you say that, I still can’t believe it…”

“I don’t expect you to. However, if I am correct… there is also a way for us to fight back. If we can’t overcome the Cliff Point using all means available to us within this world, then we will have to bring in an outsider who will act as a new variable. A person from a world that has nothing to do with the flow of this one.”

Silvenia closed her eyes.

Through Celestial Magic, which she had studied her entire life… she could clearly feel the existence of another world beyond the distant stars of their own.

“I don’t know how I would go about doing it. And since no one has ever tried, I can’t say for sure how it will turn out. After all, we would be bringing someone who is not connected to our world into ours.”

“…Then I will help you with anything you need.”

“Thank you, Crown Prince. However, there are very few things I can be certain of.”

Celestial Magic was a field that remained largely unknown.

Silvenia might have been the pioneer and lead researcher of Celestial Magic, but there was still far too much she had yet to explore.

“It will require an immense amount of time to gather the tremendous magic power necessary. There are also countless spells I still need to research. Even if I succeed, I can’t be certain that they will be summoned into our current era. Whether they will arrive of their own will, or be summoned into the body of someone else in this world… whether they will appear here and now, or in a distant future… there are too many unknowns. And even then, I can’t guarantee I’ll find any answers. Since Celestial Magic manipulates space and time, it is inherently uncontrollable…”

A magic that challenged the very laws of the world. One no one had ever attempted.

An area of research that remained completely uncharted.

“And even if I succeed… I can’t say for sure that they will be able to make any meaningful difference in our world.”

“Then… there’s nothing you’re certain of…! How can you plan to solve an issue of this magnitude like that?!”

“Even so, it’s not as if I can simply sit back and do nothing.”

Weren’t you supposed to try every possibility, even when it felt like grasping at straws?

Life was precious.

She couldn’t accept death like that.

She couldn’t accept the end of the world without doing anything. She had no intention of submitting to such a fate.

Silvenia Robester had no doubt that humanity could escape its fated end.

Not by running away in fear. Not by crying or lamenting.

Even when the fear of darkness tried to consume her mind, she would shake it off and ignore it.

She would stand before the public with a smile, insisting that nothing would happen. She believed the age of peace and prosperity would continue.

Nevertheless, she continued researching how to fight back against the fate of the world.

Unbeknownst to the public, she continued to receive support from Crown Prince Lienfell. She locked herself in the laboratory, calculating endlessly day after day.

She hiked through the Lamelin Mountain Range, observed the stars from its peaks, and calculated the flow of magic power.

At times, she used Celestial Magic to observe other worlds, or to confirm the promised end of her own once more.

A long time passed before she finally completed a summoning circle meant to bring someone from another world. However, even after doing so, the future did not change. It still led toward a cliff of endless darkness.

Nevertheless, Silvenia did not give up. She refined the summoning circle and continued researching, repeating the process again and again. Still, the future refused to change.

Eventually, it was Crown Prince Lienfell who lost patience first.

“No matter how many times you try… nothing ever works! It’s meaningless! It was foolish to think we could resist the fate of our world!”

“Crown Prince…”

“It’s useless! Useless! All of it is useless…!”

Prince Lienfell slammed his fist against the desk in frustration.

He swept away books and research papers, ripping at his hair as he shouted.

“I never doubted that you would be the savior of our world! You were the only one who could stop this fated end! But even you…! No matter what we do, we can’t escape it! This is the end!”

Silvenia couldn’t say a word as she watched the Crown Prince pull at his hair.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his despair and fear.

The only reason Crown Prince Lienfell was still able to maintain his sanity was because the end of the world was far in the future. They both knew their own lives would end long before that point.

That knowledge had allowed them to continue working with purpose.

If the end had been right before them, he would likely have locked himself away, trembling in fear.

But even with time left, there was still nothing he could do.

As the years passed, emptiness gnawed at him. He slowly lost the will to live, believing that no matter how he lived or struggled, everything would ultimately be swallowed by darkness.

And so, Silvenia was exiled from the imperial household.

Prince Lienfell lost all desire to become emperor and gradually faded from history.

When Silvenia was exiled, rumors spread throughout the capital.

Even the Great Sage Silvenia was not exempt from accusations of harming the Crown Prince.

People whispered as they watched her depart for Acken Island. However, she could endure that much.

Silvenia never bothered to explain the truth.

Instead, she smiled brightly as she left for Acken Island.

The distant future she had observed countless times always converged into endless darkness.

Yet she never grew frustrated while witnessing those countless futures.

Because she wanted someone to remember her.

***

—Whoosh—

The Great Sage Silvenia gripped her wand as her eyes widened.

The moment it appeared, a massive giant of darkness swung its arm toward the entrance plaza of the commercial district. A pitch-black blade of darkness flew toward Silvenia, who barely managed to block it with defensive magic.

Claaaaaang!

Glasskan lifted its enormous body upright. Silvenia stared at the massive demon-shaped shadow.

It wasn’t an illusion. It truly existed before her.

Yennekar Palerover had overcome her trauma and manifested the ultimate dark spirit with her own strength.

Dark magic slammed into Silvenia, sending her flying off the spire and crashing into a small shop in the square.

Boom!

Silvenia struggled to stand amid the rising dust, her eyes filled with shock.

A demon of that scale should never have existed.

Dell Heim’s Hourglass, created by Philona Bloomriver, was never supposed to see the light of day.

Lucy Mayreel, who was never meant to understand the fighting style of the weak, should have fallen beneath overwhelming power.

Yennekar Palerover, who should have been crushed by her past failure.

Locked away in Lily Palace, Silvenia had peered into countless futures through Celestial Magic.

Yet the paths unfolding before her now were ones she had never observed.

Silvenia rose from the rubble, her expression unsettled.

Too many things were wrong.

She shook her head as darkness seeped back into her thoughts, her eyes trembling.

And yet, the strangest thing of all—

Was the blond-haired man leaning against the ruined outer wall of Trix Hall, staring at her.

The determination in his eyes carved itself into her consciousness.

As madness surged back up, she gathered her magic power and rose into the sky.

She looked down at Yennekar Palerover, seated within a magic circle, clutching her wand.

The girl’s once gentle eyes burned with hostility.

Her hair had turned white, dark markings spreading across her skin… yet her resolve remained.

Silvenia unleashed advanced elemental magic—fire, wind, water, earth—sending it all toward Glasskan.

Dark magic neutralized most of it. Only a few attacks landed, erupting in massive explosions.

Yet Glasskan was an ultimate elemental spirit.

Such attacks meant little.

Dark-red flames surged forth, engulfing the square.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black flames—Glasskan’s signature—burned matter and magic alike.

Still, they were insufficient against Celestial Magic.

Silvenia emerged from a hastily cast Spatial Curtain, returning to the spire unharmed.

Defeating the giant would take effort, especially against a dark spirit.

But it was still possible.

Or so she thought.

Water had flooded the entire plaza.

She noticed too late.

As though a deluge had arrived, water poured across the square.

Spiritual Skill—Manifestation of a Water Source.

The scale dwarfed anything before it.

Wherever it appeared, it became a sea.

The Ultimate Water Spirit—Friede.

Last time Yennekar summoned it, she had nearly died.

Yet now, gripping her wand, Yennekar accomplished the impossible.

Blood poured from her body as she concentrated.

A colossal whale burst from the ground, eclipsing the sky.

Spirits filled the air like a fleet guarding a mothership.

Reality blurred.

Velbrok roared as monsters were swept away.

Silvenia stood frozen on the spire.

Yennekar bowed her head, bleeding, burning, yet unbroken.

She endured for one reason alone.

To protect something.

Friede roared as Glasskan unleashed darkness.

Silvenia gathered Celestial Magic.

Ultimate Celestial Magic—Nothingness.

Power spread across Acken Island.

She raised her wand, smiling eerily.

But—

Whoooooooosh!

Boooom!

A greater Celestial Magic crushed her own.

Silvenia’s eyes widened.

Lucy Mayreel stood atop a ruined building, blood-soaked, Phoenix Ring glowing in her hand.

A future Silvenia had never seen.

Lucy gathered years of magic power from the future.

Cracks spread across the ring.

Still, Lucy gathered more.

Friede cried. Velbrok roared.

Lucy vanished—

And appeared before Silvenia.

“There was something that old man always used to say.”

“I met the absolute worst teacher there was.”

Boooom!

Celestial magic struck Silvenia.

Memories surged.

Regret. Struggle. Hope.

And then—

Boom!

From the rubble, Ed Rothstaylor stood, bloodied but resolute.

Holding his dagger, he stared forward.

Even now—

His will had never once broken.