Extra's Path To Demon King

As the dust and debris cleared from the last of the clashes, the battlefield was painted in two shades; one was black mixed with green flames, nestling like a swarm of monsters under the lead of the terrifying High-lich, who had just regained the trace of the world energies’ power.

The Deathly Hollow looked upon the other side of the battlefield, separated by a massive chasm filled with fluttering silver butterflies that made it look like a paradise, compared to this side, which felt like a hellish land teeming with undead monsters.

Zabiur’s gaze sharpened as he peered through the swarm of butterflies.

Heinz, Sophia, and Lucien all had weapons pointed towards the High-Lich, their bloodlust pressing against the army of the dead trying to invade this side of the chasm.

Right behind the three, Axel Nomrad was holding Lumina tightly, who seemed greatly frightened.

Lucien slowly turned and held Lumina’s arm. As he touched Lumina, his sister turned to him and hugged him tightly, glad that he was okay, more than herself.

Lucien said through gritted teeth, his eyes moist, "Thank the heavens, y-you’re okay, you’re okay.... thank the heavens...."

Lumina nodded, "I’m glad you’re okay as well, brother...."

For a moment, Lucien’s gaze turned towards the blue-haired runecaster; the prince looked at Axel intently, but there was no hostility or suspicion in his gaze.

But only gratefulness.

The Prince gave a silent nod, filled with acknowledgment and thanks, to Axel. If it wasn’t for him, Lumina might have truly died by now.

As Lucien separated from Lumina, Sophia helped the princess get up and hugged her as well.

The valkyrie whispered to her, "Don’t worry, we will protect you, and we will fight... together."

Lucien extended his hand towards the Absolute Runecaster; all the hatred, jealousy, or inferiority complex he had towards Axel was all gone at this moment, as if they never existed.

Axel stared at Lucien’s hand for a moment, and countless thoughts flashed past his mind; he remembered the times he read the story called World of Eldarion, where the gallant main character shone brightly; the Dragon Prince was always his favorite character.

After all, Lucien was the original main character of the story.

He was the unbridled arrogance disguised through cunning.

He was a dragon that acted like a snake.

But as Axel lived in the story himself as an Extra, perhaps he slowly forgot those facts; at one point, this world became more real than his original one.

And his clash with Lucien primarily stemmed from both of their desire to have Sophia to themselves.

Lucien, from his perspective, was supposed to have her for himself, as he was the future king of Suncrest and Sophia was the Valkyrie.

But for Axel, she was no Valkyrie; she was Sophia, his childhood friend and the woman he loved all his life, but could not have. The person most important to him, in all of his lives.

That conflict eventually escalated.

Slowly turning into something muddier, or maybe at a certain point it became a clash between their opposing bloodlines, which were antagonistic toward each other.

Axel sighed. Despite how much he hated this arrogant bastard, despite how much he would continue to hate this arrogant fool, he still took the prince’s extended hand and got up.

Because despite their differences, the only thing in which they both shared a common ground was when it came to protecting Lumina, and it was only the Sunflower Princess who could bring the two of them together and fight for one purpose united.

Lucien uttered in a barely audible whisper, "Thank you."

Axel did not respond and walked past him expressionlessly.

Lucien sighed, but did not mind Axel’s gesture. After all, he would not hold any negative thoughts towards the person who saved Lumina.

Sophia gazed at Axel for a few seconds and asked tentatively, "Are you ok?"

Axel smiled towards her reassuringly.

The princess chimed in, "I healed Runecaster Axel, so he’s completely recovered now."

Heinz was the only one who did not turn his gaze away from the High-Lich, looking at the enemy coldly, waiting for the slightest indication of an attack. Ready to retaliate in equal measure all by himself if necessary.

Axel called out to the Sage Warlord, "Heinz..."

Only then did the Calamity Wardlord turn to look at Axel.

The Absolute Runecaster requested, "Please take direct command of all the soldiers, protect Lumina in a circular formation."

Axel then turned towards Lumina as he added, "Princess, please constantly provide all the soldiers with your healing powers as the Luminary."

The holder of the Runic Eyes declared with irrefutable conviction, "And Miss Sophia, Prince Lucien and I.... the three of us will kill the High-Lich, right here, and right now...."

Heinz grinned and jumped in another direction as he roared, calling all the spread-out soldiers to gather together. Lumina followed behind him, still in her silver form.

Sophia scanned the battlefield with a wary look and said, "I don’t see Osiris and his minions; where did they hide themselves?"

Axel frowned and looked around as well, but did not see them anywhere. His gaze turned towards the Dark Trio who had rushed close to them; he said to the three, "Jaden, Thorian and Enrick, go and help Heinz...."

Thorian seemed to want to refute, but when he saw the threatening glare of the Absolute Runecaster, the Dark Trio obeyed hurriedly.

Lucien stood to Axel’s left and Sophia to his right.

None minded the prospect of Axel suddenly taking command of everyone, as if it were natural.

The Golden Prince chuckled Darkly, an overwhelming intensity of Golden Aura oozing from him, ready to explode like a torrential storm. "The Lich, he’s preparing for a big attack."

The Valkyrie overflowed with the might of her All-Encompassing Darkness. She chimed in, her voice laced with killing intent, "He’s right, Axel."

In the middle stood Axel, his body crackling with traces of lightning, as his Runic eyes shimmered in a majestic hue, seeing through waves of magical constructs rippling underneath the visible fabric of space.

Axel whispered, "NOW...."

The moment he said that, all three shot up into the skies, charging towards the lone floating figure of the Deathly Hollow.

Lucien chanted, arching back his silver sword, "Imperial Sword Style, 2nd form, Sky cleaving Sword...."

The silver rune sword in his hand became enshrouded in his golden aura in such concentration that it seemed like a golden radiant sword was flashing through the skies.

Sophia whispered, and her voice was like the mumbling of the darkness itself, "Veil of the All-Encompassing Darkness."

From her as the center, the world itself began to lose its most vibrant colors and seemed to turn a shade of gray; a sea of darkness rose behind her, threatening to become a gigantic tsunami that would drown the entire battlefield.

And at the same time, Axel roared, "Blue Lightning storm...."

All the Dark clouds in the skies flashed in bright blue shadow, constantly buzzing with calamitous streaks of lightning.

The world was painted in three colors: Gold, Gray, and Blue...

And the moment all three of them hurled their attacks towards the lone enemy, who seemed to be unmoving all this time, within the empty eye sockets of the dark figurine, virulent green flames flared with harrowing intensity.

The Lich grinned like an abominal monster, unfazed by the three incoming attacks of unbridled strength.

The Deathly Hollow proclaimed in a bone-grinding cackle, "Grave of the endless hands."

Blackness spread from the High-Lich’s figure; the world itself turned dark, the sky itself seemed to grow another hard layer beneath their feet, and from that black ground, countless, almost a million, pitch-black bone hands rose, each with decaying Death Energy of a frightening concentration.

Those hands had the capacity to grab and decay anything and everything.

The skies of the battlefield exploded in chaos, traces of mixed destruction reaching out towards the camps of the two armies.

Axel, Lucien, and Sophia were all shocked by the power of this spell activated by the High-Lich.

Their mighty attacks were stopped by the endless hands reaching out, and they had to flee from those encroaching hands constantly.

Axel’s expression darkened as he said aloud, "This is almost like a pseudo domain in itself. A quasi 5th phase territorial spell."

He added, "I can see through certain weak points of the spell, but barely, and no normal attacks can seep through it. Zabiur has already found a way to block the effects of blue lightning, which was the absolute counter to his Death Energy."

Sophia chimed in, "My Radiation Magic can do it, but it needs a good amount of time to accumulate."

Lucien asked Axel after a moment of hesitation, "Do you have bows and arrows?"

Axel’s eyes shone; that’s right, Lucien was also an expert in archery; in fact, the only forms of Dragon magic the Golden Prince could use thoroughly despite his human form would be related to archery.