The Vengeful Extra's Ascension

Meanwhile, back at the students, they sat and waited patiently, looking out the window for when Raphaeline and Arannis returned.

As time moved on, the storm began to thin as the immense pressure that had dominated the heavens slowly withdrew, leaving behind only the rumble of distant thunder and the faint shimmer of residual lightning.

Finally, after that long wait, Raphaeline and Arannis returned, alongside a third, mysterious figure, Saphira.

Even to the students, who were accustomed to meeting various beings with great power, Saphira's presence was something else entirely.

Each of her steps rippled faint waves through the clouds, shimmering with hues of molten gold and deep violet. Lightning bent toward her as if drawn to her will, the storm seemed to recognize her as its sovereign.

She simply walked upon the sky, the faint radiance of her form trailing behind her like the reflection of a dying sun. Inside the Human carriage, the moment the first shimmer of her aura touched the air, every student felt it.

All of their head's snapped up, their eyes wide as the mana pressure within the room shifted instantly, and all of their instincts flared in protest.

Miranda was the student who took the brunt of the pressure, her divine instincts alerting her alongside her Gift, 'Eternity' which whispered great danger in her ear, "What… what is that?" she breathed, her fingers tightening on her knees.

Lucian's expression hardened, his green eyes narrowing as the stormlight flickered against the window. "That's not a demon. Or a god," he muttered, "That's something…."

Elara froze in her seat, her heartbeat hammering in her ears. Her spectral map, normally a stable anchor for her mind, flared with uncontrollable static.

Every rune, every trace of mana, was distorted beyond comprehension, "I—I can't even read her," she whispered. "It's like she's… rewriting the mana around her."

Zeus gritted his teeth, the veins in his arm standing out as he pressed a hand to his chest. "Feels like my lungs are about to burst. What kind of monster is this?"

Only Albedo sat perfectly still. He didn't need to look to know who it was. The pressure. The radiance. The faint echo of draconic divinity within her aura. He knew this woman from the Novel.

Saphira.

'The Chaos Dragon of Creation and Ruin.'

In the novel he remembered that Saphira didn't appear until far far longer. Her role had been critical, as Saphira was one of the strongest beings still alive in the current world, especially due to being the only alive Chaos Dragon.

Chaos Dragons were the supreme Dragons, as they were the only ones who inherited the Dragon Goddess' immunity to all magical attacks.

From her birth, Saphira had inherited mana memories of Dragons before her, and would go on to be a 'World Anchor,' a being who'd dedicated her life to defending the world against the Abyss on the frontlines.

She had a direct connection to the Dragon Goddess, and her influence on the plot was monumental, as she would be a 'Primordial Witness', one of the beings tasked with protecting the world, and testing all the wannabe heroes to make sure they were strong enough to fight on the frontlines.

But here she was. Now.

Albedo's mind spun as he recognized her.

'This shouldn't be happening yet. The timeline hasn't even reached the Divine Cataclysm arc. Why is she here?'

And worse, she wasn't here for Lucian, as she had been in the book. In the Novel, she'd heard of Lucian after all of his great feats and came to test him, but now, he could feel her gaze and aura pinpointed on him.

He exhaled slowly, steadying his breath. Ember's contract mark pulsed faintly against his palm, her energy stirring restlessly inside her space. Even she was uneasy.

When the doors of the carriage opened, a rush of cold, ozone-laced wind swept through.

Arannis was the first to step in, his usual calm touched by something tighter around the edges—unease masked as formality. Raphaeline followed, her expression carefully neutral, though her crimson eyes flicked once toward Albedo before returning to the others.

And then Saphira entered.

The sheer presence of her aura, despite being suppressed to what must have been less than a fraction of its true strength, pressed into every soul like the weight of the ocean.

Every student in the carriage instinctively straightened, their mana flaring defensively even as instinct screamed that resistance was useless.

Her eyes swept the interior once, molten gold meeting each of theirs in turn. When they landed on Albedo, they lingered, just for a second longer than anyone else could notice.

Then she smiled.

It wasn't a cruel smile, nor one of arrogance. It was the kind of smile one gives upon finding something unexpectedly fascinating.

"My, what a charming group of younglings," she said, her voice low and melodic, layered with the faint resonance of thunder. "Arannis and Raphaeline told me much about you all. I see now why he keeps such company."

Zeus blinked,"You… know them"

Saphira's lips curved faintly, "Oh, the Elf and I go back far further than your kingdoms do, little warborn. We have shared too many wars and too few drinks."

Arannis sighed, already rubbing at his temple. "Saphira…"

"Oh, hush," she said with a playful glance, before seating herself gracefully across from Albedo. The starlit fabric of her gown shimmered faintly as she moved, flowing like water.

Despite her size, her movements were utterly elegant, like a creature who had never once known imbalance.

Raphaeline took a seat beside her, folding her wings in irritation. "She'll be joining us to the Garden," she announced curtly.

Saphira leaned back against the seat, one leg crossing over the other in perfect grace, the faint hum of her aura still rippling through the air like the aftershock of lightning. Her molten eyes drifted lazily across the young faces before her.

"I must say, Raphaeline," she murmured, her tone laced with amusement. "You've done well this year. Quite the talented brood of Humans you're raising. Much better than the sniveling fledglings I remember from prior decades."

Raphaeline gave her a side-glance sharp enough to cut through stone. "They're students, not hounds," she said dryly, though the faintest twitch at her lip betrayed her irritation,"

"Oh, of course," Saphira replied smoothly, resting her chin upon her knuckles. "But it's rare to see mortals with this much potential all gathered in one place."

A strange silence stretched across the carriage, broken only by the faint rumble of thunder outside.

The carriage began to move again, the spectral steeds lifting them through thinning clouds. The sky was clearing now, a pale aurora bleeding faint light into the horizon, marking their path toward the Garden of Perpetual Blooming Agony.

Saphira tilted her head slightly, her gaze turning to the window as the landscape below began to emerge — dark forests tangled in silver mist, rivers glowing faintly with enchanted phosphor, and far beyond, the faint violet shimmer of the Garden's barrier dome.

"Mm," she hummed, her voice soft but resonant. "It's been too long since I've seen this part of the world. The Demon Kingdom still has its charms, I'll give it that."

Zeus exhaled through his nose, trying to ease the pressure in his chest. "Feels like the air got heavier just by having you around," he muttered under his breath.

Saphira turned her head slightly, her golden eyes glimmering with playful light. "Oh, it did," she said sweetly. "Be grateful I'm restraining it. You wouldn't survive a heartbeat otherwise."

The look on Zeus's face froze halfway between a glare and a nervous laugh. Elara tried to hide her smile behind her hand.

Her eyes flicked toward Albedo then. Just for an instant. A quiet moment that no one else seemed to notice. Her smile didn't fade, if anything, it deepened.

Albedo kept perfectly still. His pulse didn't quicken, but his mind sharpened like a blade drawn against whetstone. Every instinct told him she knew.

'She knew something,'

The carriages continued through the thinning storm, the silence growing more bearable as the light of day began to break through. The faint hum of runes glowed beneath their feet as the airships stabilized, gliding smoothly through open sky.

Saphira finally closed her eyes and leaned back. "Relax, children," she murmured, her tone softening like distant thunder fading into calm rain. "I've no intention of harming you. Today, at least."

Her words did little to comfort anyone.

The rest of the journey passed in uneasy quiet, a silence broken only by the rhythmic crackle of runes, the occasional gust of cold wind, and the faint, ever-present hum of power radiating from the dragon in human form.

When the clouds finally broke, the vast expanse of the Garden of Perpetual Blooming Agony stretched before them, an endless field of luminous flora swaying beneath violet mist, where beauty and madness danced together in perfect balance.

The carriages began their slow descent, and the students leaned forward to see. Even Saphira's eyes shimmered faintly with approval.

But as Albedo stared out the window, he froze.

A whisper brushed his mind.

Soft and Ancient. The voice was warm like molten gold.

"You feel it too, don't you?"