The Extra's Supremacy-Chapter 36: Unexpected [3]

As Alvin stood in silence, the others could only stare in disbelief.

Lily had jumped onto a nearby building, trying to get a better view—but by the time she landed, it was already over. The Aberration’s head had been severed.

’What... just happened?’ she thought, stunned.

Bob had seen it all.

He whispered, more to himself than anyone else, "Four strikes... That’s all it took."

He and Lily walked toward Alvin, still processing what they’d witnessed.

Lily spoke first. "What just happened?"

Alvin replied calmly, "It was weaker than I expected. And thankfully, it wasn’t very intelligent."

"No—no, no, no." Bob shook his head, stepping in front of him. He pointed to the collapsing body of the Aberration.

"You’re wrong. That thing wasn’t weak—you’re just too damn strong. And it was intelligent. You just didn’t give it time to act. You killed it in four hits. In under thirty seconds."

His voice lowered.

"Who the hell are you?"

Alvin turned to face him.

"I’m Henry Croft," he said simply.

Bob frowned. "I know that."

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "Then why the hell are you even asking?"

Before Bob could respond, the Aberration’s corpse began to crumble—dissolving into ash, scattered by the wind

But something shimmered in the air—a silver-colored key.

Alvin reached out instinctively and caught it.

The moment his fingers closed around the key, his vision shifted.

Everything around him faded.

He was suddenly above the clouds, looking down from the sky—as if he were some god overlooking the world.

A glowing path revealed itself, leading toward the lone mountain.

Except that path everything else was moving and changing.

He studied it. Memorized every turn, every landmark.

Then, as quickly as it came, the vision vanished.

Back in reality, Bob looked at him with wide eyes. "What was that?"

Alvin turned, a small smile curling at his lips.

"Fifty percent chance it’s a doorway back home," he said, holding up the key.

Bob blinked. "And the other fifty?"

"Fifty percent chance it’s a doorway to the afterlife."

***

They wasted no time. Alvin took the lead, and the group followed without hesitation.

Somehow, in the chaos and confusion, trust had formed.

As they weaved through the maze—turning left, curving right—they noticed something encouraging: the mountain was getting closer.

Bob walked beside him, glancing at the path ahead.

"Hey, Henry... you won’t forget the way if we take a break, right?"

Alvin shook his head.

"Even if I did, I can just use this key again to see the path. But I suggest we keep going. We don’t know what might happen."

Bob gave a quick nod. "Alright, makes sense."

They kept walking in silence until something came into view.

Two bodies.

Alvin’s eyes widened.

He recognized them immediately.

The swordsman.

The dagger user.

The ones who had tried to kill him just days ago.

He stopped in his tracks.

’Them...?’

Alvin stepped toward the bodies, his eyes narrowing as he examined them closely.

The wounds he had inflicted were still open. Unhealed.

’That doesn’t make sense...’

’Why didn’t they use healing potions? Why let themselves bleed out like this?’

Then he saw it.

A faint wisp of black energy rising from one of the corpses.

His eyes widened.

"Curse energy...?"

But the realization only deepened the mystery.

’How? I didn’t even have cursed veins when I fought them.’

Then the thought hit him like a hammer.

’No... It wasn’t me. It was... Rhizome.’

Alvin’s gaze drifted to the brown ring on his finger, Rhizome.

His thoughts returned to that moment—the golden energy swirling around his wind-enhanced punch... and the golden specks inside the dark marble.

’Was that golden energy... your doing too?, Rhizome?’

’Just what are you? What secrets are you hiding?’

Footsteps crunched behind him. The old Guide appeared at his side, staring at the bodies with a frown.

"These two are from the Vaelcrest family."

Lily looked at him in surprise. "How can you tell?"

The Guide pointed to the insignia on their shoulders. "That mark. Since the princess is here, I’d guess her guards split off and died somewhere along the way."

No one said a word as they began walking again.

But their minds stayed on the Vaelcrest family.

After a moment, Lily asked, "Do you think something happened to Princess Alvida?"

"Nah," Bob said with a shrug. "She’ll be fine. She’s a different breed—even among geniuses."

Someone else added, "Is it true she’s stronger than all the other family heirs?"

Bob nodded. "Yeah. At last year’s Seven Families gathering, held at one of the council branches... they had a friendly match between all the heirs."

He grinned.

"Princess Alvida wiped the floor with everyone. Brutally. That’s when she was named the future head of the Vaelcrest family. Her older sister Alice and twin brother Alvin weren’t considered strong enough."

Alvin’s eyes sharpened the moment he heard his name.

He didn’t say a word. Just listened.

"Right," Lily chimed in. "Princess Alice should be a third-year now. And... the Everbright Academy entrance exams should start in a few days."

Bob nodded. "All heirs from the Great Families will be joining, of course. Princess Alvida. Prince Alvin..."

He smirked. "Actually, I’m more curious about Prince Alvin than the princess."

Lily turned to him. "Why?"

"For the last four—no, three years... he’s basically disappeared. Didn’t even show up at the Seven Family gatherings."

"Rumor is, he reached mid-stage Adept by the time he was fourteen."

That made the group go quiet.

Several students lowered their heads.

They were still stuck in the Adept rank—and they were eighteen.

"Relax, I’m just sharing what I heard," Bob added quickly, trying to lighten the mood.

The conversation slowly drifted to other topics as they walked.

After a few more hours of travel, they finally reached the base of the mountain.

They stood before a massive gate of blackened metal, etched with unfamiliar runes that pulsed faintly under the gray sky.

Just a few meters ahead, another gate stood—already open.

"Someone else must have gone through that one," Alvin said, narrowing his eyes.

Bob nodded. "Should we follow them? If they’ve already gone through, maybe they cleared the traps."

But the old Guide shook his head sharply. "No. That could be a mistake. If the keyholder has the ability to sense or disable traps, then what’s safe for them might kill us."

Alvin agreed. "We can’t risk it. Better we open our own path."

He turned toward the sealed gate and studied the key in his hand.

The silver glint still shimmered faintly with the same power he had felt earlier.

He took a breath, then inserted the key.

The runes on the gate flared. The lock clicked. And the metal doors slowly began to groan open.

A wave of black mist erupted from within.

Curse energy.

It rushed outward like a violent gust of wind, slamming into the group.

Alvin took a single step back, bracing himself. But the others staggered several steps and collapsed to their knees, gasping for breath as the dark aura flooded the air.

Only after a few seconds did it subside enough for them to recover.

The students slowly rose, shaken but steady.

Alvin stepped forward without hesitation.

The others followed, one by one.

As soon as the last person crossed the threshold, the ruin began to shift again.

Unseen to them, the forest groaned. Shadows writhed. Something ancient had awakened within the ruin, twisting its shape once more.