I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

The battlefield fell silent until the void roared.

Kaen, consumed and unrecognizable, lunged like a beast unchained. His wings of black flame shredded the air, his claws dragging streaks of oblivion across reality itself.

Khael did not flinch. The wind coiled around him, scales of shimmering emerald and gold reflecting the crescent glow of his transformation. His eyes burned not with madness, but with resolve.

Kaen's claws swept down like a guillotine.

Khael twisted, wind exploding at his heels. A dragon's silhouette rippled behind him as his blade carved a cyclone arc. Sparks of flame met void, the impact splitting the earth beneath their feet.

"RAAAAAH!" Kaen's roar was a storm of agony, voidfire crashing in tidal waves.

Khael gritted his teeth, wings flaring to counter the surge.

"Kaen… I won't let you drown in this curse!"

They clashed again steel and claw, gale and void. Every strike ripped the sky open, echoing across the battlefield like gods at war.

From the sidelines, Rael staggered to his feet, clutching his ribs as he stared at the impossible.

"(Dragon Knight… that form… Who are you really, Khael Corzedar? Why—why are you a Dragon Knight?)" His eyes narrowed, burning with suspicion and awe.

Lira pressed her bloodied hand to her chest, trembling as her tears fell anew.

"(He's only thirteen… and yet he's grown this far? To awaken this strength… to fight Kaen at his worst… Khael… just who are you meant to be?)"

Ceyla's lips parted, her stormlit eyes unable to leave his figure.

"(Damn it, Khael… you reckless idiot. But why does my heart—why does it race seeing you like this?)"

Juno's fists clenched, sweat running down his brow.

"(So this is what it means to walk beyond limits… If Kaen is the void's chosen, then Khael… he's something else entirely.)"

Kaen lunged again, faster than sight, voidfire wings tearing craters into the battlefield. His claws grazed Khael's shoulder, void searing into flesh.

Khael roared back, swinging his blade upward.

"(Dragon Knight) Echo art: Severing Tempest!"

A gale like a dragon's breath erupted, splitting Kaen's advance and hurling the Voidborn back. The ground shattered, trees ripped from their roots, the very air trembling beneath the technique.

Kaen staggered, his corrupted eyes blazing, void leaking from his chest seal. He laughed—a broken, monstrous sound.

"GRRRAAAAAHH—STRONGER! STRONGER!! GIVE ME MORE!!!"

Khael's grip tightened on his blade.

"No, Kaen. You're not a monster. You're my friend… and I will drag you back, even if it kills me."

With a thunderclap of wings, the two clashed midair.

Voidfire and dragonwind collided black and emerald flaring into a crescent eclipse across the sky.

The watchers shielded their eyes as the heavens themselves cracked.

Kaen pushed harder, his claws screaming against Khael's blade. The void in him roared, bottomless and unrestrained, swallowing the air itself. His strength was monstrous—each strike heavier, faster, merciless.

Khael grunted as his arm quivered under the onslaught. A claw nearly pierced through his guard, grazing his cheek. Blood sprayed.

Kaen's laugh was broken, guttural.

Khael's wings flared, wind coiling around his legs as he pivoted, turning Kaen's force into his opening. His blade carved a spiral arc

"(Dragon Knight) Echo art: Rending Gale Fang!"

The strike split Kaen's momentum, blasting the Voidborn back with a shriek of tearing air.

From the ridge, gasps broke out.

An elite fell to his knees, trembling as he stared upward.

"I-It's like… a fairy tale… a dragon knight… fighting for us…"

Another whispered, awestruck.

"No… not a fairy tale… a hero."

Lira clasped her trembling hands tighter, her voice barely a whisper.

"(Khael… Kaen….)"

Rael clenched his jaw, eyes locked on Khael's silhouette as the winds danced like scales around him.

Ceyla's lips trembled as she muttered,

"Dragon Knight… a myth… alive in front of us."

Juno's fists tightened.

"(If this is the measure of a hero… then we're witnessing history.)"

Kaen rose from the crater, void swirling violently around him, each breath a distortion in space. His roar shook the marrow of the living.

Khael's blade hummed with the storm, his dragonfire and wind merging into a singular glow. His gaze never left Kaen.

He spread his wings, voice cutting through the chaos.

"Let's end this, Kaen… I will bring you back!!"

The world seemed to hold its breath.

Dragon Knight against Voidborn.

Friend against friend.

Protagonist against Extra.

The final clash began.

Khael spread his wings wide, emerald wind blazing into a spiral halo. His voice carried like a vow etched into the heavens.

"Let's end this, Kaen… I will bring you back!!"

The void screamed in answer, Kaen's roar rattling mountains and rivers alike. Shadows flared around him, claws lashing forward, every movement raw, feral, unstoppable.

They collided.

Wind and voidfire clashed, the sky splitting open in a storm of black and green. The ground fissured beneath them, molten cracks glowing where their power raged unchecked. Temple Guardians and Echo-priest cowered, unable to comprehend the scale two boys, only thirteen, wielding the force of a legend.

Kaen's claw sank against Khael's blade, driving him back inch by inch.

"RAWRRHH!! DESTROY…EVERYTHING!!" Kaen's voice was no longer his own, distorted

by the void.

Khael's arms trembled, teeth gritted.

"(Damnit, Kaen… I know you're still in there! You're not this monster—you're my friend!)"

He closed his eyes, letting the dragonfire surge not through anger, but through resolve. His wings snapped forward, the storm condensing into a single radiant strike.

"(Dragon knight) Echo art—Severing Gale Eclipse!!"

The blade carved across Kaen's chest, not to kill, but to break the void's hold. A burst of emerald light detonated, shredding the shadows clinging to him.

Kaen screamed, the roar twisting back into a human voice. His body thrashed as the void burned away, fragments of darkness peeling off like shattered glass. His claws dissolved, his eyes clearing through tears and agony.

Khael reached with his free hand, grabbing Kaen by the collar, pulling him close as their powers collided one last time.

"Kaen!! Come back!!"

The void erupted in one final flare then collapsed, consumed by the dragonfire's embrace.

Silence fell.

Kaen collapsed against Khael's chest, unconscious but breathing. The monstrous aura was gone, leaving only his human form, trembling in Khael's arms.

Khael's knees buckled, wings flickering weakly as exhaustion gnawed at him. He looked down at his friend and let out a shuddering breath.

"(I did it… Master… I brought him back. Kaen's still here. The story can continue.)"

From the ridge, no one moved. All stared at the sight: the Dragon Knight, bloodied and battered, yet cradling the Voidborn he had just defeated.

Lira whispered, her voice shaking.

"…He… he actually saved him."

Ceyla's lips parted, awe spilling into her words.

"No one else could've done that. No one but… him."

Juno bowed his head, a rare smile tugging at his face.

"That… was the resolve of a true knight."

Rael's fists clenched as he glared at the two figures in the crater.

(Tsk…)

The wind settled. The void receded.

For now, the world was saved.

But in the silence that followed, one truth rang louder than any roar:

The Dragon Knight had returned.

To be continue