The Extra's Rise-Chapter 464: Festival of the Red Sun (4)

I woke up to the soft hiss of filtered air and the distant rhythm of a mana monitor.

The ceiling above me was a dull off-white, the kind you only ever saw in hospitals or places where comfort was an afterthought. My body felt heavy, like someone had poured molten lead into my veins and forgot to drain it out. Every breath I took felt wrong—too controlled, like the room itself was making sure I didn’t forget I wasn’t in charge right now.

It took a moment to sit up. A long one. My hands were shaking, and my vision swam with static. But I pushed through. I had to.

Then it came back.

The way the mana inside me had twisted, spiraled, snapped— And how I’d lost control. No. Not just lost it. Unleashed it.

And they were there.

Rachel. Cecilia. Seraphina. Rose.

I saw their faces. I felt their fear. Because of me.

"Damn it..." I muttered, my voice hoarse and dry.

’You were trying to protect them,’ a voice echoed gently in my mind.

I blinked. Luna.

She was always there, even when I tried to forget. Even when I didn’t deserve her.

’You saw what I did. What I almost did. Don’t try to coddle me.’

’You lost control, yes. But you didn’t give in. You held on at the last second. That matters, Arthur.’

I sighed and stared down at my hands. They were mine. But I didn’t feel like me.

"I should’ve handled it better. I should’ve—I don’t know—trained more, held back. Anything but that. Anything but turning on the people I love." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

The words burned coming out. I hadn’t said it aloud before. Not even to myself. But it was true. I loved them. All four of them. And I’d nearly destroyed everything.

I leaned back against the bed, letting the silence press down on me.

And for once, I let myself breathe.

I wasn’t dead. I hadn’t killed anyone. That was something. Not much, but something.

I took another breath. Then I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood. Unsteady, but upright. A few more minutes and I could—

The door slid open with a soft hiss.

Alyssara Velcroix stepped inside.

She looked exactly how I remembered her. Calm. Immaculate. Perfect posture, measured steps. That subtle scent of cold metal and starflowers followed her like a memory. And as always, those eyes—too sharp, too familiar.

I stiffened instantly.

"What do you want?" I asked, harsher than I meant to. The hostility bled out without permission.

She tilted her head slightly, but didn’t flinch. "You’re awake. Good."

"I wasn’t planning to stay in bed forever."

We stared at each other for a moment too long. She didn’t look away. I hated that.

Because every time I looked at her, a part of me whispered something I couldn’t quite grasp. A familiarity I couldn’t place. And I couldn’t shut it up, no matter how hard I tried.

"Is that it?" I asked, keeping my tone cold. "You just came to check if the unstable lunatic survived his breakdown?"

A flicker of something crossed her face. Guilt? Pain? I wasn’t sure. Maybe I imagined it.

"No," she said, voice quieter now. "I came to ask you something."

I didn’t move.

"Come to the festival," she said. No sarcasm. No games. Just words.

I blinked. "What?"

"I want you to come with me. Just... come." Her voice wasn’t commanding. It was genuine. Almost... unsure.

That threw me off more than anything.

"No," I said automatically, but it came out weak. I wanted to say more. Wanted to push her away, keep that distance, pretend she wasn’t who I feared she might be.

But my throat closed around the words.

She looked at me—really looked. And for the first time, I couldn’t see the sharp Velcroix brilliance or the calculated daughter of high nobility. I just saw a girl asking someone not to leave her behind.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

"...Fine," I said quietly.

She smiled.

And I hated that I didn’t regret it.

The Festival of the Red Sun transformed the Southern Sea Palace into something otherworldly—a place where reality felt thinner, where the boundaries between the mundane and the mystical blurred into ruby-tinged twilight. Lanterns floated overhead like captive stars, and the air was heavy with incense and anticipation.

I shouldn’t have been there. The medical staff had protested vehemently when Alyssara arrived with formal attire for me—a suit of deep crimson and black that matched her own ensemble far too perfectly to be coincidence. But no one, not even the Head Physician, could overrule the Chief Advisor to Lord Daedric.

So here I was, walking beside her through the central courtyard, my body still aching from the mana deviation, my mind clouded with questions I couldn’t voice.

"You should try this," Alyssara said, offering me a small cup filled with something that glowed faintly golden. "Sun-blessed wine. It’s only served during the Festival."

I hesitated, then took it, our fingers brushing briefly in the exchange. The contact sent an uncomfortable jolt through me—not unpleasant, exactly, but disorienting. Like déjà vu, but stronger.

"It won’t poison you," she added with a hint of amusement. "Though I’m flattered you think I’d need to resort to such methods."

"That’s not what I was thinking," I replied, taking a small sip. The wine was unlike anything I’d tasted before—warm honey and distant spices, with an aftertaste like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. I felt my tense muscles relax slightly as the liquid’s subtle mana infusion worked through my system.

"What were you thinking, then?" Alyssara asked, her cyan eyes studying me with that unsettling intensity that always made me feel exposed.

I looked away, scanning the crowd instinctively. "I was wondering where my friends are."

A shadow passed briefly over her face, so quickly I might have imagined it. "The Academy students have their own section for the festivities," she said smoothly. "We can find them later if you’d like. But first, there’s something I want to show you."

Before I could press further, she led me toward a performance area where dancers in flame-colored silks moved in hypnotic patterns around a central fire. Their movements told a story—the ancient myth of the Red Sun’s creation, how it had been torn from the sky by jealous gods and shattered into seven aspects before being restored by a hero’s sacrifice.

Despite myself, I was captivated. The dancers moved with inhuman grace, their bodies bending and flowing in ways that suggested enhancement—either through training methods or actual physical modifications. In the Academy, we’d studied various cultural expressions of mana manipulation, but I’d never seen it integrated so seamlessly with art.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Alyssara murmured, standing close enough that I could feel the warmth of her presence against my arm.

"Yes," I admitted. "It’s... impressive."

"The lead dancer is from a bloodline that has performed this ritual for over seven hundred years," she explained. "The movements are passed down genetically—muscle memory encoded into their very DNA."

I glanced at her, surprised. "That’s not possible. Genetic memory doesn’t work that way."

She smiled enigmatically. "Many things are possible in the Southern Sea that the outside world considers impossible, Arthur. You of all people should understand that."

There was something in the way she said my name—like she was tasting it, testing how it felt. It made me uneasy.

"I should find my friends," I said abruptly, taking a step back. "They’ll be worried about me."

"They know you’re with me," Alyssara replied, though something in her tone struck me as off. "But if you’re concerned about them, you can try your communicator."

I reached for the device at my wrist, only to find it unresponsive. "It’s not working."

"Ah, I forgot to mention—communication devices are temporarily disabled during certain ceremonies. Security protocol." She gestured vaguely toward one of the Palace towers. "It’s only within specific areas, though. If we move away from the main ritual grounds..."

I nodded, not entirely convinced but unwilling to make a scene. "Lead the way."

Instead of heading toward less crowded areas, however, Alyssara guided me deeper into the Palace complex, through corridors I’d never seen despite months of residing at the Academy nearby. The Festival crowds thinned, then disappeared entirely, until we were alone in a small garden enclosed by walls of living crystal that hummed faintly with mana.

"This should be far enough from the interference," she said, though she made no move to remind me to try my communicator again. Instead, she seated herself on a bench carved from what appeared to be a single massive ruby, patting the space beside her. "Sit with me, Arthur. Please."

I remained standing. "What is this place?"