Path of the Extra

”You escaped a Monarch-ranked void creature?”

Azriel questioned them, studying their faces with a complicated expression of his own.

”Uhm... not exactly,” Lumine said, his tone hesitant, and Celestina quickly filled in the rest.

”We knew the void creature was blocking our path to you beforehand, so we had already worked out a handful of plans. Distract it, time our escape correctly, and several others. But when we actually followed the path here, the void creature was nowhere to be found.”

The tremors swelled again. Celestina bit her lip and turned toward the cave from which the sounds were emanating, her words coming faster now.

”It was only a few minutes ago that we realized the void creature had been with us the entire time. It has the ability to camouflage itself. The moment it revealed its presence, we made a straight run for you and Lioren. But the creature is clearly an intelligent type.”

”We should be able to defeat it if we work together,” Yelena said, her expression serious, the weight of Jasmine on her back doing nothing to diminish her composure as the sound crept closer. Azriel noted how close she was standing to the cave’s exit and was about to say something, but Lioren spoke first.

”We? Who exactly are you people? You are clearly at the intermediate level, so I have my doubts as to how much practical use you will be. And Celestina, why have you given some nobody permission to carry Jasmine and put their hands on her?”

”N-nobody?”

Both Lumine and Yelena stared at him, their mouths falling open in identical disbelief. Nobody? Had he forgotten? The entire reason they had been able to hide within the estate for months in the first place was because of Lumine and Yelena.

”They are not nobodies, Lioren. You can trust them. They are my classmates at the academy.”

”So they are cadets.”

Even through that impassive exterior of his, Lioren managed to communicate his disappointment with remarkable efficiency.

At the very least, Yelena, Lumine, and Celestina all had the collective good sense to finally quietly step further back from the entrance.

”Intelligent type, certainly... and a speed type as well. This environment will make dealing with such a creature considerably more complicated.”

The tremors ceased entirely. Lioren delivered those words with his eyes narrowed on the tunnel beyond.

”What are you seeing?”

Celestina asked, already aware that for reasons she could not fully explain, the tunnel entrance before them, which carried the visual quality of a void tunnel without actually being one, was something only Lioren could see through clearly.

”The creature, of course. It is staring back at me. Simply standing there. A staring contest with a void creature is quite singular, I will grant it that, though it is concealing its eyes.”

A chill moved through them all. The image of the creature standing silently in the dark, watching, was not a comfortable one to sit with.

”What were those tremors for, then? If it is... a speed and intelligent type, it would not... would not mean all its stats are concentrated... in strength...” Azriel said, the words coming out in labored intervals between heavy breaths.

”It has collapsed the tunnel we all came through. Sealed it with stone debris. Intelligent, indeed.”

Another chill passed through the group. Several faces darkened. Azriel, however, found the entire situation quietly amusing and let out a short laugh.

’Just great,’ he thought. ’Not entirely my fault this time. I think.’

But then his eyes narrowed as they landed on Celestina.

”How did you... know?”

He asked it suddenly, and the shift in his tone carried a weight that pressed down on all of them.

”Excuse me?” Celestina asked, visibly startled.

Azriel’s lips curved upward by a fraction, though there was nothing resembling humor in it.

”You knew I... was going to bring this cliff... down. Fine, call it a lucky... guess. But you also said you already knew the void creature was here. You knew... Lioren was going to be here, which is why you lured it in this... direction. And the way you spoke suggested you... were certain I would be here from the very start. Then there is the matter of Jasmine. How did you get out? If Lioren is here, I would assume... Sir Felix, who was closest to reaching you while you were chained, might have helped destroy those chains, but there is no way he would... allow Jasmine out of his protection after her kidnapping, not even at your request. Which means someone else helped... you escape. Another master. But who? And beyond all of that, the way you are all... moving tells me you fled from that place.”

Every face tightened in the same instant, and there was no shortage of shock beneath it. Looking at Azriel, one would struggle to believe there was enough blood left in him to sustain a coherent thought. And yet he had assembled all of that with startling speed, after everything that had just transpired.

”That...” Celestina felt herself caught in a bind. There was far too much to account for, and before she could even attempt a beginning, Lioren spoke over her once more.

”None of this changes anything. The most effective way to kill that Monarch, now more than ever, and I say this with renewed conviction, is to kill you, Azriel.”

Everyone but Azriel reacted with wide eyes. Azriel laughed.

”Please. I know exactly... what you are doing. You want me to use... my favors. Even if you have no genuine desire to kill me, you are trying to kill... two birds with one stone.”

”You are on the edge of death. You may as well use them now, or simply die and let them go to waste.”

”What favors?” Celestina asked sharply, her muscles tensing as an instinct she did not entirely understand told her something was building between these two.

”Just some favors Lioren owes... me. I am not using them.” Azriel gave Lioren a dismissive look, then staggered, dropping to one knee, and managed to smile through it as Lioren’s gaze snapped back toward the tunnel entrance.

Celestina moved at once, positioning herself between them as the tension in the air thickened.

”Azriel. Use your favors.”

He coughed, his gaze dropping to the ground, and gave a faint shake of his head.

”...No.”

”You are truly going to be this stubborn until the very end!?”

”I will not... give him the satisfaction.”

”Your death will bring me enough. Either way, I win.”

”Heh... sure.”

”The creature will start moving the second I stop watching it. You have two minutes to decide whether you die here or use your favor to have me spare you. But then there is that gun of yours. I should have wagered more Velts had I known how practical it truly was. You clearly understood its potential far better than I gave you credit for. I have had enough time watching you using it on me now to understand how it works, and the bullets carry a mana quality nearly comparable to a master’s output, enough to harm even me with ease. But you cannot have many left. There is a limit right? So use your second favor and I will kill the creature, or I will force you to drain every last bullet you have.”

Azriel coughed again, hard, and fixed Lioren with a glare.

”...You piece of shit.”

”How many favors does he even owe you?” He heard Lumine mutter somewhere behind him.

Azriel coughed once more and turned his eyes toward Lumine, studying him for a brief moment despite everything pressing down on him.

”It has only been... a few hours since we last saw each other... yet there is something different behind your eyes. A kind of maturity... that was not there before.”

He shook his head and said nothing further.

’I feel like I am going to lose consciousness at any moment. I cannot. Not yet. If I go under now, I will not come back.’

”Lioren... forget it. I am not using any of my favors.”

”Azriel...” Celestina looked at him with worry, and beneath it something that came very close to pleading. More so than Yelena or Lumine, she understood Lioren. She did not know the full history between them, but she knew enough, and looking at Azriel’s current state alongside the situation they were all trapped in, she was reasonably certain Lioren was not bluffing.

”How about this instead,” Azriel said, and a breathless laugh escaped him with it. ”I bring this entire cliff down. Take us all with it, the Monarch too. And gamble on myself to be the one who walks out.”

”W-wait, do not do that!” Lumine shouted immediately, and the alarm on Yelena’s and Celestina’s faces was just as swift.

”That will not work, Azriel, please do not! You will simply die!” Lumine pressed.

Azriel planted his hands back against the ground.

”Azriel, stop!”

His wrists were seized. Celestina had dropped to her knees and gripped them both, pulling his hands up from the ground.

”Are you out of your mind!? You would kill all of us just because you and Lioren cannot set aside your egos for one moment?!”

”Let... go of me.”

”No! I will not stand here and let you kill yourself, or let all of us die because of you two!”

”Did I not just tell you to let go... of me?”

”No.”

”One minute remaining.”

Celestina held firm. The expression on Azriel’s face was as dark as she had ever seen it, his gaze cast down at the ground between them. Whether he was upset or furious, no one present could say with certainty, and his voice gave away nothing at all.

”...Do you think I am stupid?”

He said it quietly.

Then he nodded his head, just slightly, toward where Lumine was standing.

”His reaction tells me everything. His eyes... confirm the rest.”

”...”

”...You are all messing with time, are you not?”