The Extra's Rise

After Seraphina and I regained our bearings, we stepped out of the trial room, the door sealing behind us with a soft hum.

The path ahead was eerily quiet. Not the kind of quiet that felt peaceful, but the kind that hinted at something waiting.

"Up ahead is the boss?" Seraphina asked, her voice steady, but her grip on her sword tightening just slightly.

I nodded. "Six-star beast. Glacial Imp."

Seraphina frowned. "A Glacial Imp? That's humanoid, right?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "Not just humanoid. Intelligent."

We finally reached the boss gate—an ancient, ice-covered door that pulsed faintly with mana. The air around it was colder than the rest of the dungeon, the frost creeping along the edges like veins in stone.

I turned to her. "I'll help you. Equip Bone Armour again."

Seraphina exhaled, nodding. When she had hugged me earlier, she had instinctively dismissed Erebus' Bone Armour. Now, at my command, the crimson bones formed once more, wrapping around her like a second skin, glowing with an ominous sheen.

She looked terrifyingly beautiful in it.

We both needed to fight at full power for what lay ahead.@@novelbin@@

I could have used Erebus myself, but I needed Seraphina to take the lead. This was her fight as much as mine.

We pushed the gate open.

The doors groaned, shifting with an unnatural smoothness, revealing the arena beyond.

Inside was a massive body of water, still and deep, its surface reflecting the pale blue glow of the cavern walls. The room was cavernous, cold and empty, except for one thing.

In the middle of the water, perched on a jagged rock formation, was a girl.

No—not a girl.

Not human, not elf, not dwarf.

Something else entirely.

Her skin was pure white, unnatural in its paleness, almost glowing against the icy backdrop. Her hair, long and ghostly, shimmered in waves of silvery frost, cascading down her back. Two curved blue horns jutted from her head, glistening with frost, their color mirroring the icy blue of her eyes.

She was watching us.

Unmoving.

Waiting.

Seraphina tensed beside me, her breath visible in the freezing air. "She looks... young," she muttered.

I didn't reply.

Because those cold, inhuman eyes—calculating, distant, aware—held nothing of youth in them.

This wasn't a child.

This was a predator.

"Don't be fooled," I warned, my voice sharp. "She's dangerous. Go full throttle from the start."

Seraphina barely had time to nod before a wave of frozen spikes hurtled toward us, the air cracking with the force of their creation.

Fast!

I didn't hesitate. Lucent Harmony activated instantly, my mana surging through my circuits like a storm. I extended my hand, my mind working at Laplace speed, constructing the five-circled matrix of a fire spell.

Flame Beam.

A lance of blue fire erupted from my palm, colliding with the incoming ice spikes. The cavern flashed with opposing elements—fire and frost, heat and cold—as they clashed in midair, shattering into bursts of steam and shards.

The moment the magic dissipated, I locked eyes with the Glacial Imp. She hadn't moved from her perch, but the air around her pulsed with power, wisps of frozen mist curling off her skin. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

'She's between five-circle and six-circle magic.'

It was because she was this weak despite being a six-star beast that my spell, empowered by Lucent Harmony, had been able to match her attack.

I had to be faster.

"Sera!" I called, summoning Evolis into my grip. The Ancient-grade sword gleamed in my hands, its weight familiar, its power humming beneath my fingers. A gift from Headmaster Eva Lopez, a reward for slaying the Demon Baroness—though, in truth, Rachel and Cecilia had helped far more than they admitted.

I adjusted my stance. White Star flared to life, golden light flooding my veins. With Erebus already in Bone Armour form, I didn't have to worry about the clashing resonance between light and dark mana.

That was one reason I had given Seraphina Erebus.

The other was simple:

At her current level, she wouldn't be able to contribute otherwise.

She was strong, but this was a fight against a superior opponent, and she was a swordswoman, bound by range. Spell casters could fire from a distance, adapt, adjust—but Seraphina had to close the gap.

Which also meant she was in the most danger.

That was why Bone Armour was crucial. Not just to bolster her strength and speed, but to absorb damage, to turn fatal wounds into survivable ones.

I exhaled.

Seraphina moved first.

She blurred forward, the crimson glow of Bone Armour shimmering as she lunged at the Imp, her sword flashing with deadly precision. The Glacial Imp barely tilted her head, frost forming in an instant, an icy shield blooming in front of her like an expanding lotus.

Seraphina slammed into it, her blade carving deep—but not through.

A fraction of a second. That's all I needed.

I focused everything. Every ounce of speed, precision, power—

And attacked in a blur of golden light.

God Flash.

The arena blurred as I moved, golden light bursting forth—

God Flash.

The Glacial Imp barely had time to react before my blade found its mark, Evolis slamming into her ice-armored torso with the force of a collapsing star. The sheer velocity of the strike sent her skidding back, her feet carving deep trenches into the frozen rock.

But she didn't fall.

Instead, she twisted, hands outstretched, and the ice retaliated.

A shockwave of razor-sharp frost erupted from her body, spreading out like a shattering mirror.

I barely had time to pivot before the cold hit me—a solid wall of force, slamming into my ribs, hurling me backward. My feet skidded against the ice, the impact rattling through my bones.

Seraphina was already moving.

She lunged, her sword dissolving into a storm of plum blossoms, each petal glowing with lethal intent. Mount Hua Sect's swordplay was built upon rhythm, movement, and absolute precision, and Seraphina embodied it flawlessly.

The blossoms rushed forward, twirling and twisting through the air, cutting through the frozen mist like it was nothing.

The Imp responded instantly—shards of ice formed, rising up like a shield, but Seraphina didn't stop. She spun mid-air, her body a streak of red and silver, her sword reforming in an instant—

And then she cut.

A single, devastating arc—sharp, controlled, lethal.

The ice split apart, the defensive spell crumbling like shattered glass.

The Imp shrieked, staggering. This was our opening.

I didn't hesitate.

White Star surged through my circuits, light mana reinforcing my entire body. My strength, speed, and reaction time skyrocketed in an instant.

This is it.

Seraphina landed, breathless but steady, and her grip on her sword tightened.

"I'll set you up," I called. "You finish it."

She gave a small nod, her eyes locked onto the Imp. "Understood."

The Glacial Imp wasn't done yet.

The air plummeted into freezing cold, the ground groaning as it froze over completely, and above us—

A storm formed.

Not just ice spears. A full-blown blizzard, mana thick and suffocating, reality itself distorting under the sheer force of the six-star beast's power.

If she let that spell finish, we were dead.

No time.

I moved.

My mana flared as I launched forward—not using speed alone, but pure explosive force.

The ground cracked beneath me as I shot forward, Evolis igniting with golden radiance.

The Imp thrust out a palm, her blue eyes glowing like the heart of a glacier—a death sentence incoming.

I struck first.

White Star-infused Evolis met her core with full force.

The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the cavern, golden light crashing against the deep blue mana of the Imp.

She shrieked—for real this time—her form flickering, the ice surging around her fracturing under the sheer impact.

"Now!" I roared.

Seraphina vanished—

No, not vanished.

She accelerated, her entire body wrapped in a surge of violet mist.

The air trembled.

The temperature shifted.

Violet Divine Mist Art—First Movement: Violet Sunset Genesis.

Her sword became mist—not just an illusion, but a storm of slashing phantoms, dozens of strikes happening at once, impossible to track, impossible to block.

The Glacial Imp screamed as the technique devoured her, the violet mist sinking into her mana circuits, corroding her very essence.

And then—it ended.

The beast froze—not by its own magic, but by the absolute stillness of death.

A moment passed.

Then, her body shattered, dissolving into ice, scattering into the wind.

Silence.

Seraphina let out a breath, exhausted but victorious.

I lowered my blade, my breathing heavy.

Slowly, we turned toward the center of the arena—

Where, resting amidst the frost, a single lotus bloomed.

The Ice Crystal Lotus.