Path of the Extra

The last thing Azriel read in his previous world, in Path of Heroes: Battle Against the End, before he was thrust into its reality, was the demise of Vergil, the Apostle of Dreams.

Vergil—among the Apostles, he was unique, invaluable.

The book had not delved too deeply into Vergil’s abilities, but from what Azriel could gather with his knowledge…

That boy was far more cunning than he let on.

And… he could see the future.

Or at least, different variations of it.

It had been all but confirmed when Vergil spoke to him about Zoran.

That must have been the first time Vergil had experienced such a thing.

The only strange part was that Azriel did not seem to exist in that dream.

But his dreams were not limited to glimpses of the future… they held knowledge as well.

In the year 2154, Vergil would have a dream—one that led him to Antarctica’s mountains.

There, he encountered a Voidwalker.

The first known appearance of one.

They fought.

Vergil died.

And the treaty was broken.

The weight of this knowledge pressed on Azriel’s mind, suffocating and terrifying—yet at the same time, it allowed him to breathe, to feel reassured. A paradox.

Because he understood that some things were simply beyond his power to change.

Though he had read the book, his knowledge was incomplete, unreliable. He was not the only one with foresight—others might know more than him, or see the world from a different angle.

It was like holding decayed puzzle pieces in his hands.

And the Sovereigns, Apostles, Gods, Great Kings—perhaps they held the same or other fragments.

If all pieces were gathered, maybe the full picture would emerge.

What Azriel knew was much, yet not enough.

The treaty between the Gods and Voidwalkers had always been fated to end in the year 2160. But with the rules broken, its dissolution had come early, allowing both sides to interfere once more.

The Gods and Voidwalkers were forbidden from killing one another.

The Gods and Voidwalkers were forbidden from killing humans.

The God of Death was forbidden from interfering in any way.

The God of Time was forbidden from interfering in any way.

Until the year 2160, as known to humans, no Voidwalker or god was permitted to make direct contact with a human.

Only the Ten Gods, except for the God of Time and the God of Death, were allowed to bestow their blessings upon humans.

The God of Life was only permitted to bless one human until the year 2160.

The God of Hunger was only allowed to bless one human until the year 2160.

No Gods or Voidwalkers were permitted to set foot on “Earth.”

World Providence is not allowed to interfere outside its own world.

World Providence is not permitted to kill the children of the gods without proper cause.

World Providence is not allowed to break the rules, along with all other involved parties, including the children of the gods.

There were likely more, but Azriel was unaware of them.

These were merely the pieces he could piece together from the book.

An Apostle was still human—or at least, Azriel believed so.

What he did know, however, was that the Voidwalkers and the Gods…

They were the same.

Not two entirely separate beings.

All of them were divine.

Something had happened, long ago. A schism. A war waged among their own kind, dividing them.

Whether ‘Voidwalkers’ and ‘Gods’ were even their true names, Azriel did not know. He doubted it. These were merely the labels given to them by humans—humans with limited understanding. Even the most knowledgeable among them had only fragments of the truth.

The Ten Gods—their names were the only certainty humanity had uncovered from ancient history. The ones feared most in the war that had perhaps torn worlds apart:

The God of Life. The God of Death. The God of Dreams. The God of Time. The God of Ruin. The God of War. The God of Storms. The God of Hunger. The God of Beasts. The God of Rot.

Where these Gods—these beings—were now, no human knew. At least, Azriel thought so. Perhaps the Sovereigns had some insight.

Yet… something gnawed at him. A minor, insidious detail.

Of all the Gods, the one spoken of the least, as if feared, as if avoided, was the God of Death.

There had never been a rule against an Apostle killing another, after all. It had already happened—Lumine had slain an apostle in the book.

Then again… the Gods were not limited to a single Apostle. Even if one perished, a God like Ruin could simply choose another.

Azriel exhaled, wiping the blood off Void Eater with a handkerchief. The three-headed—no, now one-headed—serpent before him remained still, its last remaining eye growing dim with blood loss.

“If I had read just a little more… I would have known more. Alas…”

A wry smile formed on his lips as he looked up at the dying monster.

“I didn’t. And the rules are already broken. It was bound to happen… but I would have felt better if I weren’t the cause.”

With a quiet thud, Azriel dropped Void Eater, its blade sinking into the black sand.

“But I doubt the Voidwalkers and the Gods… well, they’re all Gods, after all. I doubt they’ll act just yet. Or even be aware.”

He raised his left hand, running his fingers over the runes etched into the scythe’s handle.

The soul always remembers.

“I didn’t understand what this meant before,” he murmured. “But now…”

His gaze sharpened.

“I think I’m starting to.”

And that terrified him.

Because he was beginning to know things—instinctively—from his previous loops.

If this continued… would there come a time when he remembered them all?

For a fleeting moment, fear flickered in Azriel’s eyes.

It was frightening.

Everything was frightening.

The ringing headache that clawed at his skull today…

It might even be connected.

“They probably need a more plausible reason than a simple rule being broken. I know the God of Time and the God of Death broke it… yet they are too feared to take action, I suppose. But a Voidwalker killing an Apostle and an Apostle killing a Voidwalker? That’s definitely a reason to wage war.”

“Something else doesn’t make sense, though… The Supreme Archon… what is he doing? Scheming? Having Voidwalker blood… the gospels he gave to the Heptarchs… Is he trying to break the rules? Trying to save this world from getting dragged into the inevitable war?”

The book was never meant to have a happy ending. Azriel could predict that much.

But then again…

Azriel still wanted to see how it all ended.

A war where only death was certain.

But then… what were the Void Creatures? What was the Void Realm? What connection did they have with the gods?

It wasn’t ten gods… the ten gods were simply the most known.

A sigh escaped Azriel’s lips.

“Too many questions… but—”

Azriel took a step back, and a beautifully intricate throne of ice formed behind him as he allowed himself to fall into it.

“Another day, perhaps. It’s time for what I’ve said to be buried with you… thank you for allowing me to vent.”

Talking did, indeed, help sometimes.

A malicious glint flashed in Azriel’s eyes.

Azriel raised his left hand, and a mist of biting, cold frost began to seep from his fingers, surrounding the air in a chilling embrace.

Then he raised his right hand.

Crimson blood, crackling lightning, swirled around his palm.

“Choose. Ice or lightning?”

Azriel smiled, his grin widening.

“Or perhaps both?”

The serpent eyed both his hands with a trembling, tired gaze. With a resigned look, it turned its attention to Azriel’s frost-covered hand.

Then, it closed its eye.

“Choosing how to die like your brothers, huh… very well. Thank you and goodbye.”

With a motion of his left hand, a similar spike of ice erupted from the sand beneath the serpent’s head, piercing it instantly—its life extinguished on the spot, just like the other two heads.

Azriel rose from his throne, summoning his soul armor.

The smooth, black plates wrapped around his body, hugging him perfectly, comfortably. He looked down; the damage was gone.

Except for his stomach, where a scar now marked the skin—a scar no one could see.

He picked up Void Eater.

An euphoric sensation washed over Azriel’s body, and he exhaled sharply, a shuddering breath escaping his lips.

Just then, a sudden, metallic, robotic voice echoed through the entire facility.

[“Warning: All power on floors 0, -1, and -2 has been shut down due to a malfunction. Opening all containment cells in 3… 2… 1…”]

Azriel couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow before flashing a toothy grin.

“Impeccable timing.”

He looked at the serpent one last time before he started walking back to the control room.

There was only one thing left to do…

Kill everything on this floor and become an advanced.

*****

While Azriel and the Extermination Squad were busy eradicating everything on the underground floors, the situation above was spiraling out of control.

Floor 0 was being overrun by multiple Void Creatures.

Floor 1 had been abandoned.

And on Floor 2… something unexpected was unfolding.

“P-please… let me go… I-I did everything you a-asked!”

Edge’s voice trembled, his sobs barely audible as he sat bound to a chair. His eyes, however, betrayed something far deeper than fear or horror—they reflected a growing abyss of despair. His left cheek was marred by a bleeding cut, and a simple white cloth was wrapped around his arms and the chairrest, binding him in place.

“N-no! Please… stop! A-aghhh!”

Edge screamed, thrashing violently against his restraints. The sharp sting of a small knife pierced his shoulder, where Azriel’s frost had once left its mark, the cold steel twisting deeper into the wound.

A low, maddening laugh echoed through the room, dark and twisted. The one seated before him spoke, his voice dripping with a sarcastic, almost amused edge.

“Stop? Why would I end the show so soon? We’re only in the first act! The grand performance is still to come!”