I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

The carriage wheels screeched as the convoy rolled past the gates of Heliana, the temple village nestled among white cliffs and flowing streams. But instead of the usual calm, the air carried a foul, suffocating weight. A low hum—like whispers carried on the wind—crept into their ears.

Kaedros' eyes sharpened the moment he stepped down from the front. His hand went to the hilt of his blade.

From the fog ahead, shapes twisted and writhed, shadows with hollow eyes and bodies that bent like broken marionettes. Their mouths opened in noiseless screams, dripping with black ichor.

Kaedros' face darkened.

"Bastards!!"

The rookies froze for a moment, then—

Khael narrowed his eyes, his voice calm but taut.

"...A Voidborn."

Kaen's fists ignited with flickering embers, his heart already surging.

"Let's help them!"

Rael's jaw tightened. His hand brushed the hilt of his Lumen Blade as his eyes flared green with the Verdant Mirror spirit.

"Voidborn…" His voice carried disgust. "Those pests… they don't belong in this world."

Ceyla cracked her knuckles, sparks crawling along her forearms, her grin wicked.

"Tch—let's zap these bitches."

Juno, arms folded, gave a sharp sigh.

"Don't rush. If you lose focus against those things, you'll die."

LirA, her blue eyes reflecting fear and determination as she whispered:

"…We can't let them near the village."

Khael's voice cut through the tension.

"Let's go."

And Kaedros moved first. His blade sang as it left the scabbard, his Shinrei exploding outward in a cyclone of sharp wind.

"Echo Art—Wind: Slash!"

A massive arc of compressed air tore through the frontline of Voidborn, splitting them apart in one swing. Their bodies shrieked, dissolving into black vapor.

From behind the temple walls, armored figures rushed out.

"Captain!!"

One knight stumbled forward, bloodied but alive. His silver crest was dented, his breathing ragged.

"Captain Kaedros!"

Kaedros strode forward, his voice heavy with command.

"Are you all okay?"

The knight saluted shakily, his nameplate glinting—Hebara.

"We're still holding, sir… but barely."

Kaedros' expression hardened.

"Report. What's the situation?"

Hebara's face twisted with frustration and exhaustion.

"Sir… the Voidborn keep coming. No matter how many we cut down, more emerge from the fractures. It's like the land itself is bleeding despair."

Kaedros' grip on his sword tightened, his teeth gritting.

"Tsk!"

The rookies glanced at one another, tension rising. Even Kaen—normally reckless—felt the weight in Hebara's words.

Kaedros spat into the ground, breaking Rael's grim thoughts. His voice snapped the group back to reality.

"Listen up, rookies. Don't hesitate. Cut them down—or you'll join them."

Kaen's flames flared higher.

"Fine by me. Let's burn them all to ash!"

Khael, however, kept his eyes on the swirling horizon of black mist.

Something about the Voidborn… felt off.

Then The mist thickened, shrieks cutting through the temple grounds. Another voidborn emerged larger than the rest, its skin rippling like melted shadows, hollow eyes dripping black tears.

Kaedros's grip on his sword tightened. "A Greater Voidborn… damn it, not here."

The rookies tensed. Kaen raised his fist, Rael unsheathed his blade, Ceyla sparked with lightning, but before anyone could move—

Khael stepped forward.

The air shifted.

He inhaled deeply, his gaze narrowing as if feeling every thread of the corruption. Then, with a sharp exhale, he stamped his foot on the ground. The wind stirred violently, spiraling in patterns too precise to be natural.

"...Echo Art: Gale Rend."

The voice was calm, but the attack was fierce. A blast of compressed wind shot forward, ripping into the voidborn's shell. Yet inside that storm was something deeper—an ancient force, sharp as grinding scales, heavy as a dragon's breath

The voidborn screeched, staggering back, its form unraveling.

Kaen's eyes widened. (That pressure… it's not just wind.)

Rael narrowed his gaze, the Verdant Mirror within him flickering. Something is cloaked… as if another force is layered behind the Echo Art.

Ceyla muttered, "heh… show-off." But even she felt her chest tighten. That wasn't ordinary Shinrei.

Only Juno, arms crossed, watched with furrowed brows. He didn't speak.

The voidborn fell with a shriek, dissolving into a puddle of writhing shadows. Khael exhaled softly, brushing dust from his sleeve, as though nothing unusual had happened.

Kaedros raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He knew the look of someone holding back.

"Stay sharp." Khael said evenly, turning back to the team, his calm smile masking the dragon's breath still whispering faintly in the wind.

No one spoke it aloud but all of them had felt it.

Something about Khael's "wind" wasn't just wind.

Kaen grinned, wiping soot from his cheek. "That was cool… but it feels different from before. Not like the practice, or even in the mock battle against Motome. Stronger—sharper."

Khael tilted his head, expression calm. "Well… just things I've been learning."

Rael's blade cut cleanly through the skull of a lingering voidborn, black mist scattering. He narrowed his eyes toward Khael, thoughts sharpening like glass. (Who are you really, Khael…?)

The battlefield fell silent as the last of the voidborn dissolved into ash.

Captain Kaedros sheathed his sword with a heavy click, his cape snapping in the lingering wind. "Nice job… young boy."

Khael met his gaze evenly. "I am Khael."

Kaedros gave a small approving nod, the lines of a soldier's smile creasing faintly. "Then Khael… and the rest of you—follow me. I'll show you around Heliana."

The group exchanged brief looks, Kaen's eager grin, Rael's silent frown, Ceyla's smirk, Juno's calm nod, and Lira's soft watchfulness.

One by one, they fell into step behind the Captain, the shadow of Heliana's towering gates looming over them.

The battle might have ended… but their true trial inside the temple was only about to begin.

As they followed Captain Kaedros, the damage of battle was clear. Villages that once bustled with life now lay in ruins burned wood, broken walls, and fallen roofs. The people worked quietly to rebuild, their tired hands and sorrowful faces showing the weight of what they had lost.

Khael slowed his steps, eyes sweeping over the ruins. His chest tightened not at the destruction, but at the heaviness that lingered in the air. The Voidrot's stain.

Juno finally spoke, voice low but steady. "What exactly happened here?"

Captain Kaedros's jaw tightened as he glanced at the ruined homes. "It was a month ago. The voidborn came in waves… endless. And all of it, because of that monster."

Khael's eyes narrowed. "That monster?"

Kaedros gave a sharp nod, the weight of memory pressing into his tone. "He calls himself… the Cursed Eclipse Lord."

Lira's soft voice trembled as she repeated the name. "Eclipse Lord…?"

The Captain's expression darkened. "It's better if we reach the temple. There, I'll explain what we're truly facing."

Silence followed, heavy as stone.

Rael gripped the hilt of his blade tighter, his thoughts sharp and bitter. (An Eclipse Lord… tch. They're on par with a Crimson Veinwalker—an elite beyond most captains. If that's true… then this land is already standing on a knife's edge.)

The group pressed on, the broken villages passing by like ghosts of what once was. Ahead, the towering silhouette of the Temple of Heliana loomed a sanctuary, and perhaps the only place where answers awaited.

To be continue