I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

Khael's voice broke the heavy silence.

"You're not the only one… who's lost someone. I too… lost someone."

His eyes lowered, shadowed with grief.

Inside, a thought he could never speak aloud burned like an ember:

(My past life… my family from my past life is gone. I'm here… alone in this world.)

Everyone turned toward him. The others, Kaen, Rael, Lira, Juno, Ceyla saw only the sorrow etched into his face.

To them, it was the pain of someone who had buried loved ones in this very world.

And in truth… it was no less real than theirs.

Kaen whispered, voice tight, "Khael…"

Serin's eyes wavered. For the first time, the fire of his anger dimmed.

He saw not just strength in Khael, but a wound that mirrored his own.

"…Ho…" His lips trembled. Then, sharper, almost accusing, "Then how did you forget it?"

Khael's gaze lifted, steady but glistening with memory.

"I didn't. I never forgot… It's still here—in my mind, in my heart."

He placed a hand over his chest. His voice deepened with resolve.

"But I overcame it."

Serin's voice cracked. "How…?"

For a heartbeat, the battlefield grew quiet. A boy's desperate question hung in the air, begging for an answer.

But the silence shattered.

"Tch—times up for this little drama."

Veymorr's mocking tone slashed through the moment. With a flick of his hand, he hurled Serin like a ragdoll.

"Serin!!"

Khael surged forward, wings snapping open. His arms wrapped around the boy midair, shielding him from the crushing impact. The force drove him back, his boots gouging into the earth before he steadied.

The others reacted instantly.

Rael's spirit blade gleamed as he lunged.

Lira's bloom affinity flared, vines spiraling around her arms.

Juno shifted into Taishin stance, ready to strike.

Ceyla's eyes burned with echo power, her focus razor-sharp.

Kaen's aura erupted in emerald fire.

"You bastard!!!"

Veymorr only laughed, voice rolling like thunder, fangs flashing in the gloom.

"Yes… much better. Now—show me your despair!"

The battlefield trembled.

Rael's spirit blade gleamed as he lunged, but Veymorr's kick sent him flying.

"Rael!!" Kaen shouted, his voice hoarse, his body still torn from Voidborn backlash.

Veymorr's shadow loomed, he slammed a fist into Kaen's gut. The emerald fire-user gagged, blood spraying from his mouth. Desperation burned in Kaen's eyes, and he roared:

"Echo Art—FIRE FIST!!"

The blazing punch collided, but Veymorr caught it with ease and backhanded Kaen across the face. Kaen's body skidded like broken stone across the earth.

"You fucker!" Ceyla screamed, storm Shinrei erupting around her. Bolts danced wild and rabid.

Juno forced open the Fifth Taishin Gate, veins bulging, body trembling with inhuman force.

Khael stood at the center, Serin trembling in his arms. His own veins screamed in protest. (Damnit… I'm still at my limit…)

Serin looked up at him. In Khael's weary face, he saw a reflection of his father, the same determination, the same fire, even if it burned at the edge of breaking.

Serin's voice cracked. "H-How did you overcome it… that kind of loss?"

Khael's gaze softened. The battlefield faded from his mind for just a breath. "By remembering the happy memories we shared… and by holding onto them. No matter how far away they are, they live on in here—" he pressed a fist to his chest, "—in my heart."

Serin's throat tightened. His father's smile flashed again, the moment before he died, still standing, still protecting.

Veymorr's laugh shattered it. "Time to end this."

The Voidborn hurled another strike, sending shockwaves that cracked the ground.

Khael twisted, shielding Serin with his wings. His heart thundered. His pain, his memories, his conviction they all fused into one single, roaring thought:

(I won't let another bond be broken.)

And as the others rallied around him, Kaen dragging himself upright, Rael rising with bloodied lips, Ceyla's storm howling, Juno's gates flaring, Lira weaving vines of radiant bloom the true battle for Heliana began.

Veymorr spread his arms wide, drinking in their defiance.

"Yes… show me! Struggle! Break yourselves for me!"

The ground shook under the weight of his voice.

Rael spat blood, spirit blade raised.

"(I don't care if my body shatters… if I can just pierce that monster once—just once—it'll be worth it.)"

Kaen clenched his fists, flames snarling around his arms.

"(Voidborn or not… I'll burn you until nothing's left.

Ceyla's storm cracked overhead, lightning splitting the sky.

"You're dead, you fucking parasite! This time you bleed!"

Juno's teeth ground as veins bulged across his body, his voice a guttural growl.

"Taishin Path—Iron Nerve Gate… opened. My body's screaming, but my will won't break!"

Lira pressed her palms together, vines coiling like serpents around her arms, blooming in defiance of despair.

"Heliana still lives… as long as even one flower blooms, we won't fall."

Their Shinrei roared as one.

Kaen surged first, emerald flames twisting into a spiraling fist.

"Echo Art: Blaze Strike!!"

Rael dashed in his shadow, blade dragging sparks across the ground before slicing upward.

"Seraphis—guide me! Echo Art: Azure Sever!"

Ceyla's storm lashed down, bolts converging on her palms before she hurled them like spears.

"Thunder Break!!"

Juno's body blurred, his gate-fueled muscles launching him forward with terrifying speed. He slammed into Veymorr with a crushing elbow strike, bones cracking like stone under pressure.

Lira's vines erupted last, glowing tendrils spiraling around her allies' attacks, amplifying their force, weaving flame, lightning, and spirit together.

"Bloom Art: Binding Radiance!"

The battlefield detonated flame, storm, steel, and bloom converging in a symphony of Shinrei. For an instant, even the air screamed, torn apart by the combined strike.

Veymorr caught it all.

His claws clamped around Rael's blade, flames wreathed his chest, lightning scorched his skin, Juno's elbow dug deep, vines constricted his limbs yet his grin never wavered.

"Pathetic. You think your little sparks can eclipse the void?" His voice rolled like thunder. With a violent twist, he hurled them back, their bodies scattering like broken meteors across the battlefield.

With a savage twist, he flexed. Power erupted outward, and the squad was hurled back like broken meteors. Dust and blood filled the air as they hit the ground hard groans, gasps, but no surrender in their eyes.

Then—

"Don't forget about me, you piece of shit!"

The words cut through the chaos like steel.

From the smoke, Captain Kaedros emerged armor cracked, body wrapped in bandages, every step labored. His once-pristine blade was chipped, his stance uneven. And yet… his eyes blazed with unshakable fire.

Veymorr tilted his head, amusement curdling into mockery.

"Hah… you… ou look like a corpse trying to walk."

Kaedros' grip on his weapon tightened, blood dripping from his knuckles.

"Maybe I am a corpse. But corpses don't quit until their duty is done."

His thought cut deep, raw and resolute:

(Even if this body breaks… even if I fall again… Heliana still breathes, and I'll fight until my last breath to keep it that way.)

Veymorr's laughter rumbled across the battlefield, low and cruel.

"Duty? Hah! That word tastes so sweet on your kind's tongue… right before I rip it out. You are nothing. All of you together are still nothing."

The others struggled back to their feet, Kaen bracing against the rubble, Rael steadying himself with his blade, Ceyla spitting blood as her storm flickered, Juno forcing another breath through a torn throat, Lira clutching her Shinrei vines like lifelines.

But Veymorr's presence loomed above them, suffocating, untouchable. His aura was a tide of black flame, crushing down on their bones. One swing of his claw split the very ground. One laugh drowned their hope.

(He's still stronger… stronger than all of us combined…) Rael thought, his teeth gritted.

(We're ants scratching a mountain… and the mountain is laughing at us.)

Yet in Kaedros' broken stance, in his defiance, a spark ignited in the others again.

He raised his battered blade and pointed it at the Void Lord.

"You're right about one thing, monster. Alone, none of us are enough. But together… even if we fall a hundred times, we'll stand again. And one of those times… will be the end of you."

Veymorr's grin stretched wider, his claws flexing, shadows writhing around him like serpents.

"Then come, insects. Break yourselves on me again. Entertain your Lord."

And the battlefield roared as the clash reignited, this time, with Captain Kaedros leading the charge.

To be continue