The Extra is a Genius!?

- Selene POV -

The silence after the collapse was heavy.

Dust still drifted in the air like ash, and the shattered ceiling above let in faint streaks of crimson light from the burning sky. The sound of battle in the distance was only a dull echo now — muffled, far away.

Selene pressed her hand against the cracked floor, pushing herself up. Her clothes were torn, streaked with dirt and frost. Beside her, ice spread naturally from her body — every exhale misted into a thin cloud of cold.

She looked around quickly. "Noir…?"

From the shadow of a fallen pillar, two glowing violet eyes opened. Noir emerged in her smaller form first, fur dark as smoke, before shifting — her body expanding, tendons cracking, until she stood taller than Selene, a towering figure of living shadow and faint purple embers.

"I'm fine," Noir said, voice low and resonant. "But she's here."

Selene followed her gaze.

At the far end of the ruined chamber, a figure was walking slowly toward the crystal — calm, almost graceful. Each step echoed against the stone. A faint purple haze followed her, bending the light around her like heat over metal.

The Third Pillar.

Her long hair shifted with the mana breeze, and her eyes glowed faintly crimson as she looked at the crystal.

A faint smile curved her lips.

"So… you're are here," she whispered softly. "After all this time, you'll be able to leave that place and come to us."

Before her hand could reach forward, the ground split with a burst of black smoke. Noir erupted from the shadow beneath her feet, jaws wide open.

The Pillar twisted aside at the last second, Noir's fangs snapping shut inches from her throat — the impact shook the floor, leaving cracks webbing outward.

The Pillar smiled faintly. "A beast that bites first. How charming."

Selene raised her wand, eyes glowing icy blue. "Gravitational Hold!"

The air thickened instantly — a pressure wave slammed downward, pinning the Pillar's feet to the ground. Dust and shards of stone rose from the floor as gravity multiplied tenfold.

The Pillar's body tensed, mana flaring in violent pulses as she struggled against it. "Tch… heavy trick."

Selene stepped forward, her wand glowing brighter. Frost spread along the ground, creeping toward the Pillar's legs. "You're not getting closer to that crystal."

Noir moved again, shadows trailing her form as she prepared another strike. "You picked the wrong target."

The Third Pillar's expression shifted — faint irritation, then a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Two against one, then?"

The words lingered in the air like smoke.

Selene didn't understand them — but something about the way the Third Pillar spoke to the crystal made her skin crawl. 'Leave that place?'

Noir didn't wait to ask. The moment the girl's hand twitched, the shadow wolf vanished from sight.

A low hum vibrated through the ground — Shadow Step.

In an instant, Noir reappeared beside the Pillar, her massive form bursting from the darkness with a sound like tearing air. Her jaws snapped toward the enemy's neck.

But the Pillar didn't flinch. She turned her wrist slightly, and a burst of violet mana spiraled outward.

The explosion of energy threw Noir sideways, claws scraping against the stone as she landed on all fours. Sparks of purple light flickered off her fur.

Selene's wand glowed bright blue. "Glacial Thrust!"

A spear of pure ice shot forward, slicing through the haze — it struck true, piercing the Pillar's shoulder and pinning her briefly against a fallen wall.

The enemy didn't scream. She just looked at the shard of ice in her flesh, her lips curling into a small grin.

"Cold, but predictable."

She lifted her arm — the ice cracked and dissolved into a cloud of violet particles. A wave of pressure erupted outward, sending frost and stone flying.

Selene barely managed to block it with a twist of her wand. "Frost Veil!"

Shimmering mist formed around her, softening the blast. Her hair whipped violently from the impact, and her feet slid several inches backward across the ice.

Noir emerged again from the shadows behind the Pillar, her body low and silent. She slashed upward with her claws, black mana trailing like ribbons of smoke.

The Pillar twisted just in time — Noir's strike grazed her, leaving three deep cuts across her back.

A brief silence followed, broken only by the faint drip of blood.

Selene's breath came sharp. "Noir, flank her left. I'll slow her down."

"Got it." Noir's voice rumbled through the air, her eyes glowing like twin embers.

The Pillar looked between them, amused, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "You coordinate well," she said quietly. "But you're not fighting me."

Her gaze shifted past them — to the crystal, still standing unscathed behind Selene.

"You're just buying time for that thing."

Selene's expression hardened. "Maybe," she said coldly. "But it's enough."

The Pillar's smirk deepened, the purple haze around her growing denser. "Let's see how long you can keep me entertained, little moon."

The ground shattered under the weight of their clash.

Selene moved first, her wand slashing through the air — cold mana condensed instantly around her, the temperature plummeting until even the sound of fire from above faded.

"Frostfall Requiem!"

A pulse of absolute cold burst from her chest. The impact spread outward in a single, silent wave — ice bloomed across the floor like glass, climbing the pillars, sealing the cracks, and trapping everything within its reach.

Then came the storm.

Shards of frost fell like rain, thousands of them, slicing through the violet haze the Third Pillar had conjured. Each fragment hit with the sharpness of a blade, the precision of a mage who never missed.

The Pillar crossed her arms, mana flaring bright violet. A circular barrier pulsed around her, each impact bursting against it with deafening cracks. Frost chewed at the light until both colors — purple and blue — merged into a violent blur.

Then, the ground beneath her shadow moved.

Noir appeared behind her, emerging not from the floor — but from the reflection of the ice itself.

Her body shimmered with black smoke and faint streaks of violet energy, something deeper than before.

"Obsidian Howl."

The sound tore through the chamber — not a growl, but a rupture.

The shadows within a thirty-meter radius collapsed inward like ink being sucked into a void, before exploding outward in a violent shockwave. The noise was like a hundred wolves screaming at once.

The Pillar staggered for the first time, blood splattering across the frozen ground. Her barrier flickered, then cracked.

Selene didn't let the moment pass. She dropped to one knee, wand glowing brighter, channeling mana faster than her lungs could handle. The froststorm thickened — spears of ice forming midair, moving as if alive.

The Third Pillar raised her hand, purple light flaring once more — "Enough!" — and the two forces collided.

Frost and shadow met violet fire in a blinding surge that shook the chamber apart.

The ceiling cracked, sending debris raining down, but neither side relented.

Noir roared, her form expanding again, her claws glowing black with residual mana.

Selene shouted over the chaos, "Now, Noir—finish it!"

Noir vanished — Shadow Step.

She appeared directly above the Pillar, both claws drawn back, and slammed down with everything she had.

The explosion swallowed the battlefield — ice, fire, shadow, and light spiraling into a single violent blast.

When the echo faded, the once-solid floor had turned to glass from the sheer heat of the mana.

Selene stood trembling, her breath ragged, wand cracked. Noir's fur smoked faintly, her chest rising and falling heavily.

And the Third Pillar — bleeding, her aura flickering — stood still among the shattered crystal dust, her smile faint but unbroken.

"Well," she whispered, voice cold and quiet. "You actually hurt me."

The impact left the chamber unrecognizable.

The frost that once coated the floor was fractured, cracked in every direction like shattered glass. Steam rose from every surface — the air itself shimmered with unstable mana.

Selene's legs trembled as she steadied herself. Her wand flickered, veins of light running up her arm from the overload. Noir stood protectively in front of her, her fur still dripping with melted ice and dark mana, her breathing uneven.

The Third Pillar stepped forward slowly, her movements steady despite the blood that streaked down her arm. Her violet aura pulsed with each breath — bright, then dim, like a heartbeat.

"You're stubborn," she said softly. "That's not a compliment."

Selene lifted her wand again, ice gathering weakly around the tip. "You talk too much."

The Pillar smiled. "You fight like someone trying to prove something. Who are you fighting for, little moon?"

Noir growled, her massive body lowering, claws scratching against the frozen ground. "Enough of your mouth."

The shadows stretched around her, rippling outward like liquid.

"Umbra Rift."

The world darkened.

The light bled from the room, replaced by a deep, vibrating void. From that void, hundreds of black tendrils rose, writhing like serpents. They converged around the Pillar from every direction, twisting through the air with razor-sharp edges of shadow.

The Pillar raised her arm, summoning a spiral of violet energy — "Mirror Fracture!" — and a ring of distorted light erupted outward. Each tendril that touched it shattered into smoke, but for every one destroyed, another emerged from the ground.

Selene stepped beside Noir, her eyes glowing faintly blue. "Let's drown her in it."

"Gladly."

Selene's wand cut through the air again. "Frozen Lance!"

Multiple lances of compressed ice shot forward in rapid succession, each colliding with Noir's swirling shadows — combining, fusing, growing sharper.

The hybrid storm of ice and darkness struck the Pillar head-on. She crossed her arms to shield herself, but the impact launched her backward, slamming her into a wall that shattered like glass.

For a heartbeat, everything went still.

Then a thin line of blood traced down from her forehead.

She lifted her gaze, eyes burning with a deeper crimson. The grin that spread across her face was no longer calm — it was something else. Something feral.

"Interesting…" she whispered, her mana flaring violently. "You really think you can stop me?"

Selene could barely stand, but she still met her gaze. "No," she said between breaths, "I know I can."