The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 246

Late at night, in a simple laboratory setup on Acken Island, Silvenia Robester opened a book.It was a collection of her life’s research on Celestial magic. She was about to finish writing the Sage’s Seal, which would go on to become a major subject of research.

Soon, she would use Time Prison on herself to go and see the dark future that awaited her world with her own eyes.

Although it would be a long battle against darkness, she encouraged herself, certain that she would somehow be able to get through it.

She had tried to summon a being who might be able to create a new path within a closed future. She pursued that slim possibility as if grasping at straws. She lived her whole life studying Celestial magic in order to summon a man who suffered in his loneliness, in a world beyond the most distant stars of her own.

However, she could never confirm the results of her efforts.

Whether the man would arrive in her world, when he would arrive, or if it would even lead to any meaningful results… she couldn’t confirm anything.

She was simply doing all she could in her current position.

She only knew fragments of information about the man she had observed from a world far beyond the most distant stars of her own.

He lived in a world full of tall buildings that reached high into the sky and various machines. He always managed to survive despite his life constantly being at risk.

Despite the deaths of his many colleagues, he never let go of his own life. Even after experiencing several tragedies that left him drowning in grief and sorrow, he always ended up trying to make the most of the life he was given.

A person who continued to survive until the very end, despite the hardships and despair he faced.

So, even if Silvenia couldn’t observe him…

She knew that if he ever came to her world one day, he would surely survive and stand on that final stage.

[The Sage’s Seal, Preface.]

At the beginning of the book that contained her life’s work, she slowly began writing words addressed to him.

[To you who survived.]

***

Ed Rothstaylor stood up from the rubble, letting out a loud cry. In order to control his body, already covered in blood, he had to clench his teeth hard.

Even in great despair, his will lived on. With an army of spirits filling the sky behind him, that third-rate extra—neither a main character nor anything of the sort—stood up on his own two feet.

***

[At the end of that long journey, where your life was at risk every moment, it may be very different from what you thought it would be.]

***

Ed Rothstaylor gathered all the magic power he had left, once again manifesting the high-ranking wind spirit Merilda. He coughed up blood as a streak of blood trickled from his ears.

While continuing to stare straight at Silvenia despite his vision growing blurry, the giant wolf stood up.

Silvenia swallowed as she realized that, for some reason, the wolf seemed familiar to her.

***

[But what does not change is the fact that after bearing through that difficult journey, at the end of the day you are able to stand proudly.]

***

Silvenia stumbled backward in shock. Normally, she would have quickly gathered her magic power, but that moment of shock prevented her brain from functioning properly.

Ed Rothstaylor then cast elemental magic. The beginner elemental spell Wind Blade struck Silvenia’s right arm. A single drop of blood flew through the air.

Silvenia couldn’t believe she had just allowed beginner magic of all things to wound her. She quickly covered the injury on her right hand.

Even the most powerful advanced spells couldn’t land a scratch on her, but looking straight at the man standing upright… Silvenia couldn’t stop her eyes from trembling.

The one who stood at the center of the change in the future… perhaps it was none other than that man, Ed Rothstaylor.

***

[Were you happy to have survived?]

***

The memory of writing the preface back on Acken Island, looking out the window at the starry sky.

***

[Or are you afraid of continuing to live a life of pain and anguish?]

***

The memory of those days when she fell asleep believing that someday, that man would come and somehow find a way to break through the future.

***

[Have you found a reason for living?][Was it a life worth living?][What did you gain and what did you lose?][Where did you succeed and where did you fail?][How did those moments of joy and despair shape you?]

***

The contents of the letter she wrote to that man in the distant future, who would somehow survive to the end, were engraved in her mind.

The man survived.

He survived and reached the final stage. The journey was long, arduous, and difficult. Nevertheless, he never once accepted his death.

***

[Why are we so obsessed with continuing to live our lives when we know it’ll all be futile in the end?]

***

Taylee, Ayla, and Ziggs grabbed Elvira and left Ophelis Hall.

They were running toward the square, where Friede was flying through the sky and Velbrok was running rampant.

The supporting character Bell Maya sent them off, thinking to herself, Please let them be safe. Please help them somehow survive until the very end and end that calamity.

***

[What is the reason to needlessly try to change one’s journey, which already has a predetermined ending?]

***

The Blade Demon Clevius slashed through the monsters and arrived at the square. After slaughtering hundreds of monsters alone, he had become drunk on blood. He rushed into the plaza, engulfed in madness.

Daike followed after him with his fists clenched. The other combat department students followed behind them, running toward the battlefield. They subdued the monsters Clevius hadn’t taken care of.

***

[Why do we struggle unnecessarily just to survive?]

***

Lortel Kehelland joined the battlefield alongside the other merchants and mercenaries. She cut through the monsters flying around, making her way to the square with her magic power.

When they ran into a group of knights from Saint Clarice’s Cathedral Garrison coming from the other side, they simply nodded to each other and joined forces, running toward the square.

***

[This book is an agonizing record of that answer.]

***

Princess Penia and Princess Selah had been separated.

Penia was looking up at Velbrok, while Selah was busy supporting the emperor.

One was working toward ending the situation. One was working to protect the emperor’s safety.

Despite their completely different values, it was impossible to say that either of them was incorrect.

People were different.

Some took leading roles, while others provided support.

Some people stood proudly under the spotlight on the stage, while others lived their lives to the fullest in the dark.

Even if the spotlight never fell on them, they were definitely there.

Tanya Rothstaylor was making her way into the square. Professor Kaleid cleared a path by killing countless monsters to protect the students. Obel Forsyth was stuck at the Substitute Altar, maintaining the last piece of the seal. Trayciana Bloomriver was protecting the magic department students.

All of them looked up at the sky, which was filled with spirits and celestial magic.

At some point, they stopped being afraid of Velbrok’s roar.

They were fighting back with nothing but their will to survive.

***

Boom!

Silvenia quickly responded to Merilda’s wind magic.

For some unknown reason, she had been shocked, allowing an attack to hit her. However, she wasn’t so distracted that she would allow a follow-up attack to land.

She raised her wand to gather more Celestial Magic Power, but Lucy quickly jumped down from the spire and landed on the floor. She then cast the advanced lightning magic Divine Judgment.

Booooooom!

Before the lightning even disappeared, the spiritual skill Dark Blade rose from the ground, trying to cut Silvenia.

However, Silvenia quickly cast defensive magic, deflecting the attack with reaction speed that exceeded human limits.

Yennekar was completely exhausted, yet she still stood tall. As if she had already lost her vision, she stared into the air with empty eyes. She simply felt the flow of magic power.

She had already figured out where Silvenia was.

Silvenia flew into the sky to try to get out of Ed’s spiritual skill’s range, but when she gathered her Celestial Magic Power to leap into space…

Once again, Lucy completely canceled the spell through her overwhelming magic power.

“Where are you going?”

Even with blood flowing down her face and covering her eyes, her voice was eerily calm.

Leaning forward and barely standing, she looked as if she were nearly unconscious. Nevertheless, she still radiated hostility.

She was on the verge of losing consciousness after drawing so much of her future magic power. Even so, she remained standing, determined to defeat Silvenia.

Silvenia let out a deep breath as she raised her wand once more.

First, she needed to somehow subdue Lucy without using Celestial Magic Power. After all, Lucy was the only one who could actually suppress Silvenia’s Celestial Magic Power.

However, Lucy was in critical condition. Just one direct hit from elemental magic would be enough to defeat her.

The moment Silvenia was about to gather regular magic power…

Whoosh.

At the moment Yennekar was busy fending off monsters and Lucy had just blocked Silvenia’s Celestial Magic Power…

There was only one person left who could gather Celestial Magic Power.

Ed Rothstaylor forced himself to gather every scrap of Celestial Magic Power he could and quickly cast Forced Collection.

Celestial magic could only be countered by Celestial Magic. However, Silvenia’s Celestial Magic was being completely canceled out by Lucy, who was on the verge of losing consciousness.

Silvenia’s body was quickly pulled toward Ed Rothstaylor. Forcibly dragging her into his range, he thrust his dagger into her shoulder once again.

“K-Keuk…!”

Ed put the weight of his body behind the dagger, not even giving her a chance to scream.

With little strength left in his body, the only way he could land a meaningful attack was by using his weight against her.

“H-Heuk…”

Silvenia’s mind was flooded with pain as the dagger pierced her shoulder.

As blood gushed from the wound, Ed attacked Silvenia once more, climbing on top of her before she could gather more magic power.

“K-Kahak…!”

Stabbed by his dagger, she rolled on the floor. A groan of pain escaped Silvenia as the wound tore wider.

After pulling the dagger from her shoulder, Ed gathered all the strength left in his body and raised it with both hands, bringing it down once more.

But at that moment…

Clang!

Ed’s dagger was blocked by the wand Silvenia barely managed to lift.

Silvenia was trembling from the wound Ed had inflicted. Ed had already pushed his body past its limit, so he couldn’t put any more strength behind his attack either.

The dagger could not be forced any lower because of the strangely even balance between them. Aimed at her forehead, it trembled as it wavered up and down.

Ed’s blood dripped onto her face.

Through his bangs, she could see Ed’s eyes, still filled with the will to survive.

With the trembling dagger between them, the two pushed against each other for a long moment.

It was clear that if she weakened her arms even slightly to gather magic power, the dagger would come down and kill her.

Silvenia barely managed to hold it back, enduring the pain radiating from her shoulder.

However, Ed clenched his teeth and continued pushing down with his battered, weakened body.

Silvenia recognized that look.

The memories of the man she had observed in the distant past slowly began to seep into her mind.

***

The man was a soldier who wandered across battlefields.

In places where bullets flew, he met many people.

He met people of different nationalities and with different goals in life. They laughed together, sometimes fought, and reconciled again. They were more than just comrades; they were like family.

And every single one of them ended up dying.

In the middle of a battlefield where blood flowed like a river, the man trembled amid the gunfire, clutching his head.

The friend he had shared bread with now lay with his head rolling on the ground, a bullet piercing it. A locket containing a family photograph he treasured was buried in the mud.

A female officer he had feelings for was killed by a grenade fragment while shielding him in the grass.

Thanks to her sacrifice, the man and another comrade survived by hiding there. However, that comrade was seriously injured and unable to move. The man carried him through a forest, desperately trying to save him, but eventually the comrade died from excessive bleeding on the man’s back.

The man no longer had comrades. Nor did he have a family.

Living an empty life, he put a gun to his head. Continuing to live felt pointless and painful.

Yet he clenched his teeth, shook his head, and lowered the muzzle. Somehow, he survived the battlefield and returned to his unit.

He was sent to another battlefield, met new allies, formed new bonds, and once again watched them die.

Sometimes he could save his comrades; other times, he couldn’t. Some died, and some lived.

Living constantly on the border between life and death, the man continued to survive.

And in that way, he eventually endured the waves of war.

He earned a brilliant record and high praise for his service, but the thigh struck by a bullet never regained feeling.

Returning to society as a wounded soldier, he was ordered to spend the rest of his life in the arms of his peaceful homeland.

After growing accustomed to a life filled with flying bullets, he couldn’t adjust to a city of towering buildings and people intoxicated by peace.

When he fell asleep in the quiet city, the faces of his dead comrades appeared behind his closed eyelids.

Waking in the middle of the night, he would stumble to the living room, drink cold water, and endure the nausea rising within him.

For a time, he suffered from hallucinations, yet he somehow managed to survive those long, dark nights.

Enduring them, the morning sun would eventually rise.

Light would pour through the window of the small building where he lived.

Even if the night was long, morning always came.

The man would read a book.

Sit by the window and listen to music.

Drink coffee.

Have pleasant conversations with comrades who had survived.

Do rehabilitation exercises.

Clean his room.

Play a game.

Open the window to ventilate the room.

Feed the dogs he raised.

Shower.

Change clothes.

Assemble new furniture.

Repair a broken vacuum.

Check his mail.

Eat a meal he cooked.

Occasionally, he remembered the moment he put a gun to his head while running through the forest.

Recalling the gun he struggled to lower, the man fell into contemplation. He didn’t know why, but he hadn’t ended his life back then, even though he saw no reason to continue living.

Since then, nothing particularly major had changed in his life.

His life hadn’t turned upside down, nor had his ongoing troubles—such as his chronic illness—disappeared.

He simply continued to live.

He continued living a life that went on and on.

Then the man realized it.

Peace had felt uncomfortable at first, like wearing clothes that didn’t fit. But over time, he grew accustomed to it and began to enjoy it.

Even in a place where he wouldn’t hear a single gunshot all day, he could sleep soundly.

Even his dead comrades, who once haunted him when he closed his eyes, were smiling back at him.

It wasn’t something that changed overnight. But at some point, it felt as though he had suddenly come to his senses.

That was what it meant to live.

***

Slash!Pwsh!

Ed Rothstaylor’s dagger cut into Silvenia’s opposite shoulder.

Even though Ed Rothstaylor was in critical condition, it wasn’t easy for Silvenia, with her petite stature, to block the dagger being forced down by his weight.

As the dagger slowly pushed deeper into her shoulder… Silvenia slowly opened her mouth.

“You know.”

Ed’s eyes widened at the unexpectedly calm voice. He looked at Silvenia.

Since when?

In her eyes, once filled with madness, a sense of reason had returned. Ed’s blood dripped down her pale cheeks before falling to the floor.

While trapped in darkness, there was a question she had asked herself countless times during her long journey.

She had always been afraid to hear the answer. But at that moment, she calmly asked Ed, “Did I live a worthwhile life?”

Even when everyone else lowered their heads and called it a meaningless struggle, she had held her head high until the very end. Was such a life worth it?

Ed Rothstaylor lowered his gaze, thinking about how to answer.

No matter what he said, once spoken, it would sound like mere kindness.

Ed Rothstaylor was neither smiling nor crying. As always, he was expressionless.

He simply nodded slowly.

At that small affirmation, Silvenia Robester closed her eyes and wept.

Ed released his grip on the dagger.

Slowly, Ed began to lose consciousness.

Velbrok let out another thunderous roar across the skies above the island. The magic power carried in its roar soon spread across Acken Island.

It reached the western coastline, completely restoring it… and the aftermath surged toward the entrance plaza, where the battle continued.

Ed was nearly swept away by the shockwave when a surge of magic suddenly enveloped both him and Silvenia.

The two were instantly covered by the advanced Celestial Magic Spatial Curtain and safely shielded from the impact.