The Extra's Rise-Chapter 474: Resurgence (4)

I knew Master Li was right. All of us were just going to hold him back by staying here when someone like Cassius von Noctis was present.

The gap between our power wasn’t just wide—it was a chasm, the kind that made even the bravest warriors look foolish for trying to cross. We’d already accomplished the impossible by defeating Lazarus and Vale. Pushing our luck against a High Immortal would be suicide dressed as courage.

So I nodded, meeting my master’s gaze with the respect he’d earned a thousand times over. "Thank you, Master."

And then, I turned around to escape.

That was my first mistake.

My second was believing I had a choice.

The air behind me compressed, folding like origami made of reality itself. A cold whisper of movement brushed my neck—the only warning my enhanced senses could provide. Not enough to dodge. Not enough to counter.

Just enough to understand I was about to die.

"ARTHUR!" Rachel screamed.

I didn’t see Cassius move. None of us did. One moment he was engaged with Li, their powers clashing in a spectacular light show of lightning and night energy. The next, he was behind me, claws extended for my heart, his face a mask of cold fury.

"The prey doesn’t get to walk away," he hissed.

Master Li’s response was instant. A bolt of concentrated lightning struck Cassius from the side, powerful enough to vaporize a lesser being. But Cassius merely shifted, absorbing the impact with one arm while continuing his strike toward me with the other.

"Predictable," the Vampire Prince sneered.

The chamber exploded into chaos. Lucifer, despite his injuries, hurled himself forward, a barrier of white and black mana materializing between me and Cassius. Seraphina’s sword flashed in a desperate arc. Cecilia unleashed a torrent of crimson flame that would have melted stone.

All futile. Cassius brushed through their attacks like they were mild inconveniences, his focus unwavering, his target clear.

Me.

"Enough games," Li growled, his usual calm fracturing under the urgency of the moment.

The air crackled with ozone as my master abandoned restraint. Lightning cascaded from his form in waves, not wild but precisely controlled—the signature of a true master. The bolts sought Cassius with unnatural intelligence, curving and splitting to cut off all angles of attack.

For a heartbeat, it seemed to work. Cassius was forced to divert his attention, night astral energy swirling around him to counter Li’s relentless assault.

That was when everything changed.

"Domain of Eternal Night," Cassius intoned, his voice resonating with power older than the chamber itself.

The air shattered.

Reality peeled back like skin from a wound, revealing something darker, hungrier beneath. The chamber—everything within a thirty-meter radius—was suddenly somewhere else. Not physically, but fundamentally.

We were in Cassius’s Domain.

Here, light dimmed to a memory. Sound muffled as if trapped under miles of cold water. Most terrifying of all, our movements slowed while his quickened, the basic laws of physics bending to accommodate their new master.

"A Domain at your age," Li said, genuine surprise coloring his voice. "Impressive."

But admiration didn’t stop him from countering with his own Domain.

"Realm of the Storm Sovereign," he responded, silver light erupting from his core to battle the encroaching darkness.

Two Domains—two fragments of reality shaped by will and power—collided like tectonic plates, creating a fractured landscape of competing rules. In some patches, Li’s lightning moved with supernatural speed; in others, Cassius’s shadows devoured light itself.

I felt Luna stir within me, her ancient power responding to the clash of Domains. ’This is beyond us, Arthur,’ she warned. ’Even I cannot counter two High Immortal Domains simultaneously.’

Around me, my friends struggled against the oppressive pressure. Rachel’s healing light sputtered like a candle in a hurricane. Rose had collapsed to one knee, blood trickling from her nose as she fought to remain conscious. Even Lucifer, with all his talent, could barely maintain his protective aura under the strain.

And through it all, Cassius kept coming.

He moved like liquid shadow, flowing between the fragments of Li’s Domain, using the boundaries to his advantage. Li responded with devastating counterattacks—lightning plum blossoms that could split mountains, wind that could scour flesh from bone—but Cassius was too focused, too determined.

"I warned you," Li called to us, his concentration divided between maintaining his Domain and attacking Cassius. "GO!"

Seraphina grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the eastern passage. Deia supported Lucifer, whose injuries had reopened under the strain of the competing Domains. Cecilia and Rose took the rear, their powers ready despite the futility of resistance.

We made it perhaps ten steps before Cassius broke through.

One moment the vampire was locked in combat with Li, their powers creating a maelstrom at the center of the chamber. The next, he was directly in my path, night astral energy coalescing around his hand like a blade of pure darkness.

"You won’t escape me," he said, his voice terrifyingly gentle. "Not when your death will finally open her eyes."

Li appeared behind him, moving with speed that defied comprehension, his legendary sword—Storm Cleaver—aimed for Cassius’s spine. But the vampire had anticipated this, his Domain warping space to create distance between them without moving.

"A child’s trick," Cassius mocked, his focus remaining on me.

I called on everything I had left—every technique, every drop of mana, every lesson Luna had taught me. My sword came up in a defensive arc, enhanced aura blazing along its edge. I knew it wouldn’t be enough, but I’d be damned if I died without fighting.

"You fought well against Lazarus," Cassius acknowledged, almost respectful. "But surely you understand the difference between us. He was a candle. I am a star."

His strike descended—perfect, unstoppable, aimed with the precision of centuries of combat experience. I braced for impact, for pain, for whatever came after.

It never landed.

Crimson threads, delicate yet stronger than steel, erupted from nowhere, wrapping around Cassius’s arm and halting his attack mere inches from my chest. More threads appeared, weaving through the air with intelligent purpose, binding the Vampire Prince despite his struggles.

The competing Domains wavered, then collapsed entirely as a new presence entered the chamber.

"Enough, Cassius."

The voice was soft, musical, and carried more authority than a shouted command from any emperor.

Alyssara Velcroix stood in the chamber entrance, her cyan eyes glowing with power, her pink hair moving as if caught in an unseen current. More crimson threads extended from her fingertips, creating an intricate web that completely immobilized Cassius.

"Release me," Cassius snarled, night astral energy surging as he fought against the binding. The threads tightened in response, cutting into his perfect flesh, drawing blood that was darker than human blood had any right to be.

"You promised," Alyssara said, her voice tinged with disappointment rather than anger. "You swore you wouldn’t interfere with him."

"He killed Lazarus!" Cassius roared, his composure shattering entirely. "Your precious experiment slaughtered an elder of the court!"

"Lazarus knew the risks," she replied calmly, stepping further into the chamber. Her gaze passed over all of us, lingering on me for a moment longer than the others. Something flickered in those cyan depths—recognition, satisfaction, perhaps even pride.

Master Li had recovered his stance, Storm Cleaver still drawn but no longer crackling with power. He watched Alyssara with wary respect—the look of one dangerous predator acknowledging another. freewebnøvel.coɱ

"Chief Advisor," he said formally, inclining his head slightly. "Your intervention is... timely."

"Master Li," she returned with equal formality. "I apologize for the behavior of my subordinate. Rest assured, he will be disciplined appropriately."

Cassius laughed, the sound bitter and broken. "Subordinate? Is that what I am to you now? After everything we’ve shared? Everything I’ve sacrificed?"

The crimson threads tightened further, silencing him. Blood now flowed freely from multiple wounds, but the damage seemed to cause him no pain—only the words had hurt him.

Alyssara looked at me. And, she let out a soft smile.

"You chose correct Arthur Nightingale."