Extra's Descent

Chapter 83  Voices of the Chord [2]

Step—

Stepping forward, Brandon immediately halted after hearing Raven call out to him.

"Where are you going?"

"I have something to do."

He couldn't tell him.

He couldn't tell any of them.

Especially Sarah.

"There's Wraith Beasts inside that forest."

Sporting a frown, Claire chimed in as she held the unconscious Rachel in her arms.

"...I know."

"Then if you knew, then why go?"

Brandon didn't respond. But the look in his eye told Claire what he was about to do.

She turned to glance at Sarah who looked at her back with a confused expression.

"Uh…"

Everything revolved around Sarah. She didn't need to involve herself even further.

She had lost enough already.

"Brandon, you should wait."

All of a sudden, Raven approached Brandon.

"Vanessa's coming, along with Reinhard and Liam."

"...I see."

If Vanessa were to assist them, then the Wraith Beasts would easily be dealt with.

Meaning, Brandon could enter the forest with ease.

And in the nick of time, Vanessa had already arrived, along with two familiar faces.

"What's the situation?"

As expected, she was Professional. She didn't even need to ask about the grim atmosphere. She was straight to the point.

Turning around, Raven alternated his gaze between Reinhard and Liam. He then turned to look Vanessa in the eye.

"Brandon needs to go through the forest."

"I see. I can sense a high concentration of mana in there. Wraith Beasts, perhaps…?"

"Yes."

Brandon immediately responded.

"Understood."

After those words left her mouth, Vanessa stepped forward. Entering the forest, she turned to look at everyones gazes.

"I'll handle the Wraith Beasts. Most likely, there are Mana Beasts as well. It's a good experience, if any of you want to follow, then come along. The Wraith Beasts will be dead before you know it."

After all, compared to Wraith Beasts, Mana Beasts are in the E to D category, something manageable for first year students.

In fact, in the middle of the semester, one of their exams will involve Wraith Beasts subjugation.

It was a chance to get ahead of everyone.

And everyone understood that.

At that, Reinhard, Liam, Raven, Amy, and Brandon made their way towards Vanessa.

Sarah and Claire stayed behind with the unconscious Rachel, seemingly about to leave.

Whatever happened to Rachel, Brandon didn't know. But he planned on asking her later.

That being said, everyone entered the forest.

However…

Tzzz——!

Brandon immediately flashed forward, leaving everyone else behind.

"Eh, wait!"

But Raven's voice didn't reach him.

He couldn't let them see what was about to happen.

'Never.'

***

Waving her hand, the atmosphere around Vanessa shifted.

Compared to other mages with special affinity, Vanessa's form didn't take a drastic change.

She remained the same.

"Hurrrrrr—"

Six Wraith Beasts had surrounded her from each side.

But it didn't faze her.

She was an S ranker. Just a tad bit weaker than Evelyn.

Clenching her fist, the ground suddenly shook.

Cr… Crack!

And the Wraith Beasts around her had been heavily forced down on the ground.

"Hurrrrr—"

Gradually adding more force to the gravity, cracks started to form on the ground. The Wraith Beasts were slowly flattening as black blood started to drip from their eyes.

Slowly moving her hand even more downwards, a massive crater started forming from where the Wraith Beasts stood.

The sound of the Wraith Beast's howl echoed in the air.

Crack!

The sound of their bones were like music to Vanessa's ear.

Crack– Crack— Crack——!

And…

Spurt!

All of the Wraith Beasts gruesomely flattened, as black blood splattered in the air.

Just like that, six Wraith Beasts, a calamity in the B to A rank tier, were easily dealt with.

Lifting her head, she looked behind her. Scanning, the students seemed to be working together to handle the Mana Beasts.

"Good."

She nodded in approval.

***

They were supposed to work together.

At least, that's what Amy proposed.

However, Reinhard and Raven…

They were competing…

…On who could score the most kills.

"Monsters…"

Liam could only stand and watch the entire ordeal, even Amy only stood back, they couldn't do a single thing.

BOOM—!

Explosions resounded from every corner. Towering flames incinerated the mana beasts in seconds.

Slash—!

No matter where they looked, Mana Beasts would be cut apart in a flash.

Reinhard and Raven…

They were monsters in their own field.

Even more so than the Mana Beasts themselves.

***

Throughout the entire fight, for some reason, Oliver and David were at a stalemate.

Oliver should have been stronger, but most likely, due to experience, the Wraith possessing David's body was keeping up.

This persisted for the next few minutes.

But that was until…

The Wraith was slowing down.

'He actually did it…'

Brandon…

He was doing what needed to be done.

The threads—which were hard to follow at first had now become slower.

But that was only from Oliver's perspective. Lower ranked mages would still have a hard time in following such threads.

Zone's weren't an absolute cheat skill. It would just expand the caster's magic radius.

Meaning, Oliver could cast his magic from anywhere.

Yet David was still skilled enough to dodge and disperse the flames with his threads.

Swoosh—!

Using the opportunity, Oliver swiftly evaded the threads and dashed towards David, leaving curse flames in his trail.

Snap.

Snapping his fingers, curse flames erupted below David.

BOOM—!

Explosions echoed throughout the entire domain. Looking up, David was sent flying.

Planting his feet on the ground, Oliver jumped up as high as he could.

Thrusting his palms on David's chest, another explosion echoed.

BOOM—!

The curse flames sent both Oliver and David flying. The green flames fluttered and burnt a bit of Oliver's flesh.

"Khh!"

Gritting his teeth, he recoiled back and landed on the ground with both legs.

Crash—!

Looking in front of him, David crashed down on the ground. His entire clothes were burnt and scorched marks appeared in his body.

Not giving David any time to recover, Oliver immediately dashed towards him.

Snap.

With a quick snap, a myriad of cursed flames materialized behind David—who was trying to get up.

As soon as Oliver lifted his hand down, the flames rained down on David.

Boom– Boom— Boom——!

Dozens of explosion sounds echoed throughout the entire zone. Looking at David, his entire body had turned into charcoal black.

At that, David was unable to move.

The sheer destruction that ensued from Oliver's curse flames had damaged his body significantly.

He then approached him. Planting his feet on David's torso, Oliver's mouth opened.

"Be free, David."

But that was when…

Spurt!

Threads that he hadn't seen struck him from behind.

A dozen of them.

Spurt, spurt, spurt—!

Blood splattered everywhere.

"Ukh!"

Oliver spat out blood.

With the threads piercing his entire body, Oliver was lifted up.

Due to his sentiments, he did not finish David off when the opportunity presented itself.

A blunder.

David was already weakened, most likely Brandon's doing.

And yet Oliver had let his guard down at the last moment.

However…

Vooosh–!

Curse flames erupted and burnt the threads down.

Thud!

And Oliver dropped down. Holes etched in his body as blood seeped down from it.

Drip. Drip…!

Taking a step back, his vision started to get hazy.

A sense of vertigo washed over him. Looking at David, it seemed like he was the same as well.

In fact, he looked like a walking charcoal.

"Hooo…"

Oliver took deep heavy breaths.

Wooosh—!

And sprinted.

Behind him, the Zone was about shatter. His advantage will soon be gone.

Waving his hand, a ring of cursed flames materialized. Pouring most of his mana into the ring, the heat intensified.

Booom—!

Oliver didn't need to do this.

But for him…

It was his final requiem.

His own way to atone for his sins.

With such thoughts gathered, his mouth parted open to say,

"Binding vow."