Reborn as an Extra with the SSS-Divine Debt System and my Past Skills

The junkyard shook with every movement, twisted towers of scrap clattering against one another as if they too were afraid of what lurked inside.

Lucius steadied his stance, gun in one hand, blade in the other. The monsters circling him gleamed with armor-like hides, eyes burning with unnatural light.

They were no ordinary beasts—something about the divine energy pulsing through this land had changed them, made them stronger, coordinated, almost intelligent.

When they attacked, it was not as wild animals but as soldiers in formation.

Three lunged from the front, two swept from the flanks, and another leapt from the shadows behind.

Lucius pivoted sharply, firing bullets infused with mana. The first three staggered, chunks of armor blown away, but the others pressed on.

Steel claws raked at his side.

Lucius twisted in time, his blade flashing upward, severing the arm before it could pierce him.

The monster's shriek was deafening. He shoved it back, only to feel another slam into his shoulder from behind, throwing him against a heap of rusted metal.

For a moment, the static in his head roared, blinding him. The divine energy embedded here was straining against his system, trying to overwhelm him.

Lucius gritted his teeth and forced his body to move. He couldn't afford weakness—not here, not now.

"Come then. Let's finish this."

He muttered under his breath, raising both weapons.

The beasts surged.

______

Meanwhile, not far from the clearing, Jamie, Verus, and Luna were locked in their own desperate fight.

The monsters chasing them were smaller than the ones with Lucius, but faster—swift shadows darting between the heaps of scrap, their movements eerily coordinated as if guided by the same unseen will.

Jamie fired shot after shot, each bullet finding its mark, but for every one that fell, two more closed in.

Verus swung his blade to cover their flank, his strikes efficient but his breathing sharp with nerves.

Luna, still frustrated by being dragged along, now channeled her anger into battle.

Mana coursed through her palms as she struck one of the beasts square in the chest, blasting it into a pile of rusted gears.

"Good, princess. Now do that ten more times, and maybe we'll live long enough to complain later!"

Jamie shouted between shots.

Luna growled, her pride stung, but she obeyed. She hurled another mana blast, then another, pushing the swarm back.

Yet no matter how many they killed, the shadows kept circling, pressing them closer together.

Verus stole a glance toward the glowing horizon of the junkyard.

"Shouldn't we help Lucius? He's fighting alone!"

Jamie didn't look back, her eyes sharp as she snapped another shot.

"He told us to survive. You want to help him? Stay alive. Deliver what we salvaged. Don't waste his choice."

Her words struck Verus harder than the enemy's claws. He gritted his teeth and struck with renewed vigor, silently swearing not to falter.

______

Lucius ducked as one beast snapped its jaws inches from his throat. He rolled, pressed his palm against the ground, and summoned a surge of mana into his bullets.

The next shot he fired tore through two monsters at once, ripping them apart in a blaze of energy.

But more came. Always more.

It was then he noticed it—the pulse of divine energy beating like a second heart within the junkyard.

Every time it throbbed, the beasts moved sharper, faster, as though receiving commands from it. His system screamed in protest, static filling his ears.

"Ah,"

Lucius exhaled, realization cutting through the chaos.

"You're not fighting me. You're puppets."

He raised his gun toward the direction of the strongest pulse.

Atop a mountain of broken machines, half-buried under twisted metal, a crystalline device pulsed like a star. It was cracked, leaking divine energy that spilled like poison into the land.

The monsters roared as if realizing his intent. They surged all at once, throwing their full strength at him.

Lucius dropped his blade, reloaded his gun with bullets saturated in mana, and steadied his hand. His eyes narrowed. He had one chance.

He fired.

The bullet streaked like lightning, piercing the crystal dead-center.

For a heartbeat, silence.

Then the world exploded.

The device shattered, releasing a shockwave of divine energy so violent that even Lucius was thrown back, his shield barely holding against the blast.

The monsters froze mid-charge, their eyes wide as the energy sustaining them unraveled. One by one, they collapsed into heaps of lifeless flesh, their armor dissolving into dust.

Lucius pushed himself to his feet, chest heaving. The static in his head finally dulled, fading into silence. The junkyard was still again.

______

Jamie, Verus, and Luna felt the shockwave ripple through the air, knocking their enemies off balance.

The monsters that had been harassing them froze, trembling violently before crumbling into ash.

Jamie exhaled in relief, lowering her gun.

"Guess that means boss is still alive."

Verus dropped to one knee, exhausted but relieved, while Luna straightened with a huff, refusing to show weakness.

"What now?"

Verus asked.

Jamie tilted her head toward the fading glow in the distance.

"We find him before he collapses, or worse."

______

They reached Lucius not long after, finding him standing amid the wreckage, his coat torn and dirt streaking his face. Yet his eyes were sharp, his weapons still at the ready.

"You're late,"

He said dryly, as if nothing had happened.

Jamie smirked, holstering her gun.

"You're welcome. We saved the trouble of babysitting you."

Lucius ignored her jab, his gaze falling on Luna.

"Next time, try to follow orders."

Luna scowled but said nothing, her pride burning. Verus shifted uneasily, caught between them.

Lucius finally sighed.

"We've wasted enough time here. Gather what's left of the salvage and prepare to move. Whatever created that device isn't finished. And next time, it won't just be beasts waiting for us."

The weight in his voice silenced all arguments. Even Jamie's smirk faded.

As they regrouped, the junkyard lay silent around them, but the air still hummed faintly with divine remnants.