RE: The Extra's Dominance-Chapter 37 - I DID NOT FALL!

(Raven’s POV)

’I just need to survive a minute more and I’m safe.’

I thought as I avoided the lightnings pouring like rain on me.

BOOM! BOOM—!!

’Calm down, Raven! This is just like your fight with the [King Wolf], but a lot harder!’

I tried to focus myself as I was slightly getting nervous.

As the spirit said earlier, it wasn’t using its full power yet, I think it’s not even using half of it.

Looking around, I saw a pretty big rock. It was about a quarter of my size.

’I could use that!’

I ran to it and picked it up without stopping.

-Hmm, that’s smart.

The spirit said—then ten lightnings fell from the magic circles in the sky, all coming at me from every direction!

I crouched down and a huge amount of mana circulated in my lower body.

BAM-!

SWOOSH–

Then I leaped forward!

I jumped here because there would be fewer lightnings here. But there were still three of them!

I raised the huge rock that I was carrying—

BOOM!

And I blocked one of them with it!

"Keuk...!"

I still received some damage because of the impact.

Meanwhile, the rock was destroyed, so I threw it away completely. It was just a one time shield of mine.

I ignored the pain and raised my right hand to the closest incoming lightning—

"[Devour]!"

Then I activated a skill, a black vortex swallowed the lightning I aimed at, and I felt my mana replenishing.

BOOM!

"GRAAAAH!"

I let out a pained scream as I couldn’t swallow nor avoid the last lightning, thus it hit my left leg directly.

-Too slow.

The spirit said, looking at me.

It’s calculating my movements and was slowly tormenting me.

I frowned. Then two black wings grew on my back.

FWOOSH~

-Oh?

The spirit looked at me with interest, but I ignored it.

I immediately flew into the air. I’m still full of mana as I was absorbing lightning made of mana every now and then.

-Well, being able to fly is good... But it doesn’t change the situation that much.

ZOOOSH—!

The spirit said—then three lightnings that were supposed to go straight to the ground shifted their trajectories and were now coming at me again!

FWIISH—

My frown deepened, then I flew down as fast as I could.

A lightning quickly followed behind me.

I twisted my whole body to avoid it—

BZOOM!

"GAH...!"

But the right half of my body still got struck including the right wing on my back... And that caused me to fall.

THUD!

Even though it hurt, I still forced myself to land on both feet. Then not minding anything else, I immediately dashed backwards.

BOOM! BOOM!

Which was the best decision as two lightnings fell in front of me, where I had just landed.

-You have a good intuition, not bad.

The spirit mumbled and waved one finger.

BOOM!

"KRRGH...!!!"

Then I took a direct hit from a lightning out of nowhere!

-But you’re still not good enough.

’It hurts.’

In my past world, feeling this kind of pain and still moving is impossible.

But now, even though I can feel insane tingling pain all over my body every second and my knees were about to give up—I still kept on going.

And I dashed forward again!

ZIIIING—BOOM!!

Countless lightnings were trailing me as lightning struck every place I went and stepped on.

BOOM!

"ARGH! FUCK!"

I got grazed by another one. And as time passed by, I got slower and slower.

But after a while of running away...

"Huh?"

Suddenly, no more lightning were coming after me, I was not hearing them go down too.

I was confused.

I stopped and looked at the spirit, it was smiling playfully.

And then it pointed upward.

I looked up at the sky... And my face crumbled.

In the sky—an enormous magic circle was forming, and I was standing in the center of its target area!

As I was looking that, I sensed something and immediately jumped sideways.

BOOM!

A lightning struck where I was standing earlier.

I looked at the spirit.

-I can double cast, so you can’t take a rest.

It said. Looks like it just wanted to show me the big magic circle to see my reaction as lightnings started to come at me again after that.

I ran and dodged every single one of them. I got hit and grazed many times, but I didn’t fall nor stop!

And this time, while running... I was also racking my brain.

There was only one topic my mind is focused on right now—

’HOW THE FUCK COULD I SURVIVE THAT?!’

I asked myself, pertaining to the giant magic circle in the sky.

*****

Just after a few seconds...

"Huff...huff... Huffff..."

Rough breathing could be heard from Raven.

-I had fun.

The spirit said as it looked down on him from above.

-Just fifty more seconds and you win our deal.

It added.

"Oh yeah? I think you don’t like that idea, huh?"

Raven mumbled weakly.

Above him, in the sky was a gigantic magic circle, as wide as half of the meadow.

He was already exhausted and he’s barely holding onto his consciousness because of the damage he accumulated in just a short amount of time. He can’t dodge the spell that will come from the magic circle.

He knows that it’s a wide-range spell just by the look of it.

The spirit knows too that he can’t move now, so it didn’t launch any more lightnings at him and decided to finish him using the magic it was currently charging up.

And meanwhile—over a hundred and a half meters away from the two—Clifford and the others are not in the range of the magic circle.

They’re looking at Raven and the spirit with complicated expressions on their faces.

They saw the young man struggling to dodge every lightning he could, and they saw him take damage for about five minutes.

And not being able to do anything made them feel the worst.

"This situation sucks..."

One of [Coldvale]’s female members mumbled in frustration.

Clifford and the others all thought the same as her, they wanted to help, but doing so would endanger their teammates.

"Sir Clifford..."

Oscar worriedly called to their leader, who was clenching his fist tightly.

Clifford wants to go right now and save Raven, but he needs to prioritize his members’ safety—that’s his job as the guildmaster.

-Let’s end this.

The spirit said with a bored look and started to chant.

W H O O S H–

The winds got stronger as the mana and trees in the surroundings started to sway violently, indicating how strong the incoming spell was.

Raven didn’t move—no, he wanted to move, he just couldn’t.

He looked at the enormous magic circle in the sky with a frown.

"I think it’s a 6th-tier magic..."

Said Oscar while looking at the same thing. At his words, the faces of [Coldvale]’s members crumbled.

But one face remained serious—it was Clifford.

They were all crouching on the ground... But he suddenly stood up!

"Guildmaster?"

"Sir Clifford?"

The others called out to him with expressions asking, ’What’s wrong?’

He looked at them one by one, and then he bowed his head...

"I’m sorry for what I’m about to do."

He said sternly. And not waiting for a reply—

B A M!

Clifford dashed toward where Raven was!

SWISH—

"...!"

The group’s eyes widened as he disappeared in an instant!

THUD!

"Grgh...!"

Though, midway, something tackled his side—resulting in him being flung a couple of meters away, his ribs almost breaking too!

Looking at who attacked him, Clifford saw a beast with the appearance of a rhinoceros!

That beast stopped him from advancing halfway from his position earlier and where Raven was.

The beast is a [Flaming Rhinoceros], an <A+> rank beast. And just as the name indicates, it’s a fire-attribute beast.

-GRRRH...

The rhinoceros was planning to prevent him from advancing any further at all costs!

FWIP—

Clifford clenched his dadao with both hands, then water made of mana covered his weapon.

He transformed his mana into that to inflict more damage on the [Flaming Rhinoceros]. It was child play for him, his main attribute is water after all.

-GRRAWHR!

When the [Flaming Rhinoceros] saw that, it let out a groan and ran to Clifford, attempting to tackle him again.

THUD-

Clifford stepped his left foot forward and raised his sword with both hands above his head. His hands and weapon were both covered in mana with water attribute.

And when the [Flaming Rhinoceros] was only about five meters away from him...

FWOOSH—

Clifford tensed his muscles and swung his sword with all of his might downwards!

The winds and mana around them distorted as his dadao slashed through the air.

BOOOM!

And when his weapon made contact with something—an ear-deafening sound echoed through the meadow and debris scattered everywhere!

The whole area was immediately covered in dust.

But Clifford didn’t close his eyes. In his mind, it’s not good to be overconfident, so he wanted to see the enemy’s condition himself.

Then when the debris faded... He could see the results of his attack—his surroundings were a mess, and there were cracks all over the ground.

But in the midst of this, Clifford was frowning.

The [Flaming Rhinoceros] was still alive, and in front of it were two rock golems that received his attack instead!

The three of them were flung about 20 meters away from him.

Both golems were still alive, but they had lost some parts and their bodies had cracks all over them.

Then monsters and beasts started to appear one by one, looking at him.

Clifford, still frowning, clenched his weapon tightly again.

"Move."

He ordered them with an intimidating tone and aura.

-GROOWL!

-GRRRR!

-CREEEE!

But the monsters and the beasts didn’t make a way and just growled at him.

And after that—

-GRRRRRUAAA!!

Three [Flaming Rhinoceroses] came charging at him!

-KIEEEEK!

Followed by two flying monsters above him that have sharp claws!

Clifford raised his dadao again.

Fwoosh~

Then he started to slowly accumulate dense mana in his arms and weapon. He knew it would not charge in time, so he prepared himself to receive some damage.

’That young man did it, so I can do it too.’

Clifford remembered Raven taking some hits from a few lightnings to dodge more.

The three [Flaming Rhinoceroses] were getting near him fast, but he didn’t look at them and focused only on slicing the flying monsters when they came near him.

Then—

BOOM-!

S L A S H–

Clifford split the flying monsters’ bodies in two when their claws were a few centimeters away from his face.

’Huh?’

But he got confused—he didn’t feel any pain. He was ready to receive the tackles of the [Flaming Rhinoceroses].

And upon looking in front of him... He saw Oscar, Alina, and the others blocking the three [Flaming Rhinoceroses]!

"You guys!"

Clifford exclaimed in surprise.

"[Earth Reformation]!"

BOOM!

Then Oscar cast used a magic that reformed the earth around him in a certain distance—he pushed the nearby creatures away with it before looking at Clifford.

"Let’s move forward."

Oscar said and smiled.

"What are you guys doing?!"

Clifford asked in a loud voice, clearly angry.

"Actually, I’m gonna be more disappointed with you, Guildmaster, if you didn’t move until the end."

Alina said as she raised a spear in her hands.

"Yeah, that’s right!"

"I’m okay with these guys seeing us as an enemy, let’s just kill them all!"

"You’re our leader! We will follow your will as long as it’s reasonable!"

The others shouted with smiles on their faces.

"That’s what they said."

Oscar mumbled as he cast another spell.

"Now let’s go... [Wind Spear]!"

-GRUUUAAH!

-KREEEEAK!

-AAAAARGH!

He killed a incoming monsters.

Clifford unconsciously smiled at their words...

SLASH—

Then he swung his dadao everywhere. This time, it was lighter than his previous attacks, but it was more accurate as he could now focus because there were people protecting him.

SLASH—!

-KIEEEK!

Clifford and the others started to fight the creatures as they slowly moved forward toward Raven.

-How touching.

But then, they heard the spirit’s holy voice—it was mocking them.

Clifford and the others frowned and looked up at the sky. The spirit was looking down at them with a disappointed face.

-But you guys are already late.

There were already less than 10 seconds left in the time Raven needed to survive, so the spirit planned to end it before the time ran out.

The spirit didn’t want to lose, but the it wouldn’t go against its own words, so it truly planned to release everyone if Raven managed to survive for 10 more seconds.

Not that it would let him do that!

The spirit had already finished casting, and all that was left was to launch the spell whenever it wished!

"Let’s pick up our pace!"

Oscar, who realized this, shouted to the group.

Then they hastily moved forward—they slashed, stabbed, and shot deadly magic at every creature that tried to stop them from advancing.

Raven looked at them with a complicated expression on his face.

Then he moved his mouth.

’I’ll be fine...’

He mouthed to them with a frown.

Clifford and the others just ignored him and moved faster.

They didn’t believe him. Everyone there knew he would die if he received the spirit’s next attack.

-[Wrath of the Thunder God]

But everything was already too late. The spirit finished casting and waved its hand down.

And at that moment—

ZIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG–!

A gigantic pillar of lightning fell from the magic circle above the sky!

BOOOOOOOOM–!

The world turned white in an instant, and a deafening thunder was heard.

In a moment, everything in the meadow seemed to cease to exist.

The last thing Clifford and the others saw was a gigantic bolt of lightning striking a young man.

And the young man was looking up at the lightning with a bitter smile—as if accepting his fate!

*****

(Oscar’s POV)

"Ah... no..."

I stuttered as the world, which had seemed to be dyed in white, returned to normal.

Well, not really normal... Looking around, all I could see was a mess.

It was total wreckage.

"Coff... Koff."

"Ugh... What happened?"

"W-What’s this?"

The others showed reactions similar to mine upon seeing our surroundings.

"No way... Were we too late?"

Alina weakly muttered, staring at the distance where we last saw the young man, devastated.

The area was covered with debris and thick dust clouds, but we could already imagine what had happened.

If we had been struck by that spell directly, we would’ve had a 65% chance of survival—and that was already low. So, the young man couldn’t possibly have survived that.

After all, from watching the boy—we analyzed that his rank was lower than <B> rank.

"..."

"..."

"..."

We all fell silent.

We were in shock—who wouldn’t be? We had just seen a young man die in front of us, and we couldn’t do anything.

’Even though we decided to help him.’

’If we had just acted sooner...’

I said to myself inwardly, disappointed in myself.

-GRRRR!

-KREEAK!

And as we stood there silently, monsters and beasts appeared in front of us again, as if mocking us.

I glared at them. Not just me, the others as well.

Then... Someone stepped forward and stood in front of our group.

TAP!

It was Sir Clifford. He was giving a death glare to the spirit in the air, who was looking down on us.

-You guys attempted to get in my way earlier.

The spirit said.

-You should all receive punishments.

Then it added. Electric sparks started flickering from its small body.

We just glared at the spirit and took fighting stances.

We were readying ourselves for a long and difficult battle.

-[Tempe–

"HEY!!!"

But before the spirit could cast its magic—or even before the fight began—we all heard a loud yell not far from us, where there was a huge crater.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to where the voice came from.

"?!!"

"..."

"!!!"

And our eyes widened as we saw the source of it!

-...!

The spirit showed disbelief on its face. It was deeply shocked!

Swoosh~

"..."

At this moment, no one could utter a word...

We were all just staring at the young man standing in the middle of the pit made by the giant pillar of lightning earlier.

His sharp black eyes were full of life, even though he looked like he was about to die.

His black, shiny hair was messy.

His whole body was covered with burns, and he was pretty sluggish, swaying left and right.

"Where are you going?"

The young man asked, directed at the spirit.

"I haven’t fallen yet."

His voice was getting louder and stronger.

Even though it was hoarse, his words were clear.

Tap-!

He stepped forward with his right foot, and the sound of it echoed throughout the silenced area.

"This whole fucking time—!"

A bright light was coming out from his body. The aura he was emitting was getting stronger and stronger.

His presence was becoming so big and majestic that we felt like we were being looked down on by a king!

He smiled and looked at the spirit.

"I DID NOT FALL!!!"

Then the young man declared that proudly.

Thump-! Thump-!

The sound of our heartbeats grew louder.

Remembering the deal between the spirit and the young man from the beginning —

It was true. Never once did he fall. Not even to his knees. Never.

Goosebumps washed over my body, the corner of my mouth rose, and adrenaline rushed through me!

The same could be said for the others — even Sir Clifford.

And this scene right now... we wouldn’t be able to forget it even if we wanted to.