Extra To Protagonist

Merlin didn't flinch.

Golden light sparked across his veins. His hand brushed his hilt, not yet drawing. His other hand spread faintly to the side, wind coiling sharp around his fingers.

'Nathan's fastest. Seraphina won't hesitate to strike from blind spots. Dorian will aim to bleed me out. Ethan will test my guard. Adrian, brute force, straight through. Liliana supports. Elara…'

His gaze flicked to her, violet eyes already locked on him.

'Elara will come for me directly.'

The sand cracked.

Nathan moved first. Sparks trailed his daggers in a blur, his grin feral. "C'mon, Everhart!"

Merlin stepped once. Lightning arced across his boots, and Nathan's slash cut nothing but smoke.

Behind, Seraphina's ice spears rained down like knives. Dorian darted through them, his daggers streaking frost, aiming for Merlin's throat.

Wind burst. Ice shattered into glittering shards, sand spraying wide. Merlin's arm snapped up, fingers catching Dorian's wrist mid-strike.

Crimson eyes widened.

Merlin's voice was quiet. "…Not enough."

He flicked his hand. Wind howled, hurling Dorian into Seraphina's path. Both crashed into the dunes, coughing, scrambling to rise.

But already Ethan was there, flame roaring across his sword. The slash lit the air, heat shimmering so hot the sand glassed beneath it.

Merlin pivoted. Water surged from his palm, condensing into a blade. He met Ethan's strike head-on. Fire screamed against water, steam exploded, drowning the field.

Through the mist, Adrian's axe cleaved down.

Merlin's golden eyes narrowed. He raised his hand, lightning surging into his palm. The axe crashed—

Thunder roared.

The impact split the dune, sending sand geysering upward. But Adrian's grin faltered. His arms trembled. Lightning crawled up his weapon, shuddering through his body.

Merlin shoved. Adrian flew backward, crashing through the dunes like a boulder.

Gasps cracked through the circle.

"…One push?" someone whispered.

–––

The mist parted.

Liliana stood, arms raised, her water forming shields across the battlefield, cutting sightlines, dulling blasts. Her voice rang out, trembling but firm: "Don't stop! He can't take all of us forever!"

She didn't believe it. Her wide eyes betrayed that truth. But the others heard the words, and for a heartbeat, it steadied them.

Merlin stepped through the fog. His golden eyes gleamed, lightning crawling lazily across his frame.

Nathan darted at him again, relentless. Sparks blurred with every strike. Merlin parried once, twice, thrice, each clash ringing like bells.

"Faster!" Nathan snarled.

Merlin's lips curved faintly. "…You'll break yourself before me."

His boot snapped forward, lightning surging. Nathan hit the sand with a grunt, sparks sputtering out.

Before Merlin could press, Elara finally moved.

Her blades flashed, violet light trailing with each strike. She came in low, precise, no wasted motion. Not a flurry, not recklessness—each slash aimed at arteries, joints, tendons.

Merlin blocked the first. Dodged the second. The third kissed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

Golden eyes widened.

Elara's voice was calm, breath steady. "…You bleed. Good."

She pressed harder.

–––

For the first time, Merlin's movements sharpened. Lightning surged brighter, wind keened sharper, water condensed thicker. Sparks snapped against Elara's blades, wind buffeted her strikes, but she didn't falter.

Around them, the others gathered again. Adrian rising from rubble, axe crackling with residual lightning. Ethan circling, fire boiling off his sword. Seraphina freezing the ground, Dorian stalking low in her shadow. Nathan staggering up, daggers sparking. Liliana weaving water to shield them all.

They weren't broken.

They weren't giving up.

And together, they closed the circle tighter.

–––

Merlin's chest rose, finally heavier. His cheek stung with blood. His golden eyes swept them all.

The strongest of the first years. Standing against him.

For the first time since the labyrinth, his lips curved, not in mockery, not in disdain.

But in something dangerously close to a smile.

"…Show me, then."

—

The desert trembled.

Sand whipped in spirals, scorched black in places, frozen white in others. Smoke clung to the air like a veil, torn open only when lightning split the sky.

Merlin stood in the eye of the storm. Golden arcs licked lazily across his arms, wind coiled sharp around his boots, droplets of condensed water hovered in the heat shimmer. His chest rose steady. Calm.

Across from him, seven figures braced.

Nathan's daggers sparked relentlessly, his grin tight, breath ragged. Elara's twin blades gleamed faint violet under the desert sun, her stance unshaken. Adrian planted his battle axe into the sand, muscles flexing as raw force rolled off him. Seraphina's ice mist curled at her heels, silver eyes cold and calculating.

Dorian crouched low, crimson eyes narrowed, frost dripping from his daggers. Ethan's sword burned molten, the heat distorting the air. Liliana spread her arms wide, water coiling in spheres around her, steady despite the fear in her eyes.

Seven against one.

The strongest of the first years, united.

The sand cracked as Nathan moved first.

He shot forward like a thunderbolt, daggers blurring, sparks raining. "Let's see you keep up, Everhart!"

Merlin's golden eyes narrowed. He raised his blade just as Nathan struck. Lightning met lightning, each clash ringing sharp. Sparks sprayed, blinding, searing the dunes.

But Nathan didn't relent. His strikes came faster, harsher, the rhythm wild but unyielding.

Merlin parried once, twice, thrice, then sidestepped, palm snapping outward. A gust blasted, sending Nathan tumbling.

Elara filled the gap. Her blades cut arcs of violet light, precise, merciless.

Merlin met her with steel. Their weapons kissed, ringing like bells. She pressed harder, faster, her strikes aimed at tendon and artery, her breath calm.

The third slash skimmed his ribs, drawing blood.

Merlin's eyes widened. 'Again…'

Her voice slid, low, unwavering. "…You bleed."

Then Adrian's roar tore the air apart.

"Raaaagh!"

The massive axe carved down, wind and sand splitting in its wake. Merlin pivoted, catching the edge with his blade, then lightning burst, shoving Adrian backward.

But before he could recover, Seraphina's voice cut cold.

"Now."

Ice erupted beneath his feet, freezing sand solid, locking his boots. Dorian darted in, daggers streaking frost, aiming for his calves.

Merlin twisted. Wind howled, daggers missed by inches, slicing air. Ice shattered beneath him as he leapt skyward.

Flames roared to meet him.

Ethan's sword cut upward, a blazing arc that split the haze.

Merlin raised his arm. Water surged, forming a shield. Fire met water, steam detonated, filling the air.

Through it, Liliana's voice rang desperate but steady.

"Bind him!"

Water spheres lashed out, twining together mid-air, weaving into chains that whipped toward Merlin's limbs.

For the first time, his eyes sharpened. He swept his blade outward, golden arcs exploding from the steel. Lightning shredded water, tearing the bindings apart.

But the moment's hesitation was enough.

Nathan reappeared, daggers screaming sparks. Adrian's axe swung in tandem. Seraphina's ice spears rained from above. Ethan's fire carved arcs across the sand. Dorian lunged low. Elara's violet blades flashed high. Liliana wove water to amplify them all.

Seven affinities. Seven wills. Seven blades converging at once.

–––

The control room vibrated faintly with the clash.

Instructors sat in silence before the glowing projection, the desert battlefield stretching across the glass.

Vivienne's fingers tightened on her arms. Her brown eyes narrowed. "…This is insane. They shouldn't be pushing this hard this early."

Reinhardt's dark beard twitched as he exhaled slowly. "They've been holding back until now. The free-for-all forced them to unite. If they can't topple Everhart together, none of them will stand a chance in the future."

Sophia leaned forward, brown hair falling into her face as she muttered. "Look at their coordination. Seraphina freezing blind spots, Liliana binding, Nathan distracting, Elara carving for weaknesses, Adrian carrying raw force. It's textbook… no, it's better than textbook."

Vivienne's jaw clenched. "And yet—"

Her voice cut when Morgana finally spoke.

The Headmistress leaned against the wall, silver hair cascading over one shoulder, crimson lips curved faintly. Her eyes, sharp, timeworn, and endlessly calculating—remained locked on one figure only.

Merlin.

"They fight well," she said, voice soft, velvety. "But they're still measuring themselves against him as if the gap can be bridged."

Vivienne frowned. "He's only a first year too."

Morgana's lips curved a fraction higher. "…Is he?"

–––

The battlefield cracked open.

Merlin's blade caught Nathan's daggers. Lightning snapped between them. Adrian's axe swung overhead, Merlin ducked, twisting, dragging Nathan down to take the blow's backlash.

Seraphina's spears slammed in next, exploding into shards. Merlin's wind burst outward, scattering them, but the shards turned, following, propelled by Dorian's icy daggers.

Merlin hissed, raising water to shield.

Flames cut the steam apart. Ethan lunged through, sword blazing, his strike so hot the air screamed.

Merlin's arm snapped up. His blade caught the swing, then golden arcs erupted, thunder exploding point-blank.

Ethan flew backward, crashing into dunes.

Merlin staggered half a step. Sweat trickled down his temple. His chest rose heavier. His cheek still burned from Elara's cut.

The circle pressed tighter.

Adrian roared again, axe dragging sand into a cyclone. Nathan flanked left, daggers blazing. Seraphina and Dorian locked his escape routes with frost. Elara's blades came straight for his heart. Liliana's water surged to bind him.

Merlin's golden eyes sharpened.

"…Fine."

Lightning screamed across the battlefield. Wind howled. Water roared.

He moved.

–––

The projection flared bright, so much raw energy the glass screens hissed.

Students watching from the observation halls cried out. Some shielded their eyes. Some pressed closer, hungry.

But Morgana didn't flinch.

Her crimson gaze stayed locked on Merlin.

"…Six stars," she whispered.

Vivienne's head whipped toward her. "What?"

"He's not three. Not four. Not five. Six. And not struggling for it."

The silence thickened.

Reinhardt's eyes narrowed, a storm in their depths. "…If that's true…"

Morgana's lips curved. "Then our academy harbors something far beyond what the gods themselves accounted for."

–––

Back on the sands, Merlin's storm tore the battlefield apart.

Lightning shattered water chains, vaporizing them mid-air. Wind knocked Adrian's axe swing wide, the sheer force hurling him into Nathan's path. Water surged behind him, freezing into spears, but Merlin's blade cut them to dust.

Elara pressed anyway, violet blades kissing lightning with every strike. Her strikes were merciless, precise, carving fresh lines of blood along his arms, his cheek, his ribs.

And still, he stood.

Still, he pushed back.

Seven against one.

The circle cracked.