Extra's Descent

"H-haaa…. Haaa…."

Raven's chest heaved up and down as he took deep heavy breaths.

He had no idea how long he had been fighting the masked assailant in front of him.

While Raven found no difficulty fighting mages due to his [Reflection] skill, it was another story when he was up against another duelist.

And a superior one at that.

His opponent used a rather unique weapon. A weapon that Raven had no experience fighting against.

A lance.

Swoosh, swoosh—

The masked assailant twirled his lance around, then pointed it towards Raven and Rebecca, who also seemed exhausted.

But despite their opponent being obviously more skillful than them, for some reason, they had suffered no injuries at all.

As if they were being kept in the domain to stall for something.

Everytime Raven caught the assailant off guard, his attack would instantly be repelled. It seemed like the assailant had several openings, yet regardless, Raven couldn't breach through his defense.

It was absurd, knowing it was two against one. With Rebecca's [Gravity] magic support. Yet again, Rebecca would easily be overpowered.

Raven clenched his fist at the sudden thought.

He had the system aiding him, providing him with cheat–like abilities. As well as being under the tutelage of Sir Gavin, one of the strongest duelists in the world.

So why….

'Why do I always lose?'

He was tired of losing.

Tired of being overwhelmed by his adversities.

It felt as if the system was being wasted on him. When it could've been given to someone superior instead like Brandon.

It didn't make any sense whatsoever.

He had been training daily, as well as maintaining his physical attributes.

So why….

'Why can't I win?'

Raven's attention was caught by the assailant who peered into something as he said,

"Looks like my job here is done."

"....?"

"You two weren't half bad. Especially you, dagger boy."

"Wai—"

Raven reached out, extending his hand.

But in that instant, the zone was lifted off and the assailant disappeared into the darkness.

Thump!

Frustrated, Raven smacked the cold hard ground.

"Damn it….."

Thinking back when he was regarded as the strongest in his class….

The thought was somehow funny looking back to it.

Strongest?

He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"Pfft…."

When ever since Brandon had returned, all he had ever known was defeat.

Gazing ahead, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the dark, Raven clicked his tongue.

"Tsk."

"You good?"

Raising his head, he met Rebecca's gaze, who offered her hand as support.

"Yeah."

Nodding his head, Raven accepted the offer and got up.

Now that he thought about it, it was unlikely that they were the only ones who were attacked.

"Let's go back. The others might be in danger too."

"You're right."

Just like that, the two turned around and retraced their steps, trying to find any signs of the other cadets.

It was true, they weren't hurt at all.

Now that he thought about it, it felt as if the man was playing with them.

No, maybe testing? Or training them?

It was really weird.

As they continued sprinting through the maze, Raven began to wonder.

'Did Brandon beat his opponents?'

***

It was the same case of Rachel and the other cadets.

But for her, there were two assailants present.

And just like Raven's case, they were all overpowered, yet left uninjured.

But it had to be said that everyone present were in the mid to low B rank. The exception being Rachel, and Claire, being B+, and Reinhard, being borderline A- ranked.

"Haaa…."

Rachel found the entire situation suspicious. What was their purpose even?

Wasting time?

Now that she thought about it, it felt as if they were evaluating them.

To assess where they currently stood.

And if she had to be honest, they had probably disappointed them upon hearing the robust man with black hair start to yawn.

"Huaam…. Are the two of us really needed for this?"

The man asked the other masked assailant, a woman with fiery red locks.

"His orders, we just have to see this through."

The woman spoke without looking back at him.

Him?

At that moment, several theories flooded Rachel's mind. It was already quite obvious that this attack was orchestrated.

But it was quite interesting how they all fell under some kind of leadership.

'His orders…..'

One person.

The thought sent a chill down Rachel's spine. She was already quite aware how strong the two are, and to think there was someone else that was above them in the hierarchy.

"Looks like we're done here."

The woman spoke and turned around.

"Fucking babysitting job."

The man cursed under his breath and turned as well. At that moment, the zone was lifted, and no one could do a thing as they disappeared into the darkness.

"...."

"Again…."

Rachel glanced to the side upon hearing Reinhard's voice. Reinhard had done the most during the entire fight, yet not once had he managed to land a single hit.

"Why can't I….. Haaa….."

Reinhard let out a defeated sigh.

Rachel had felt the same way, if she had to be honest. While Raven and Brandon continued to reach new heights, the same couldn't be said for them.

It's not as if they weren't training hard, they knew the amount of effort they put in. And by comparison to the cadets, they were considered talented for their age.

"Right."

There was no use comparing themselves to Brandon and Raven.

And now that she thought about it.

'What happened to them?'

There were no signs of Brandon, Raven, or Amy around.

Could they have….?

Even if they did encounter the assailants, most probably, they weren't harmed, just like them.

But that was when she began to wonder.

'Did Brandon and Raven beat them?'

***

"Just a bit more."

Brandon stared at his status interface.

——————————

[Special Affinities]

∟[Curse]

∟ [Cursed Threads]: Complete Mastery

∟ [Cursed Flames]: Complete Mastery

∟ [Cursed Chains]: Complete Mastery

∟ [Binding Vow]: Complete Mastery

∟ [Mark of Despair]: 94%

∟ [Soul Drain]: Locked

——————————

Mark of Despair.

He was unsure what the skill could do, but he had been trying to unlock it for a long while.

That, and recently, he had finally increased his strength stat after isolating himself in training whenever he had the chance to do so.

——[Status]——

∟ STR: A —[12%]

∟ MP: A+ —[88%]

∟ DEF: B- —[66%]

∟ AGI: A —[6%]

∟ INT: S- —[2%]

∟ CHA: SS —[55%]

[AVG: A]

————————

That being said, it was time to get down to business. Brandon lowered his head and stared at Zeke's unconscious body.

He could've killed him, however, that wasn't the plan.

He had yet to gain evidence from him. For that reason, he couldn't consult Bellion about it.

However, he knew Zeke was of Milis descent from Raven's fragmented memories.

After all, there was a certain scenario where Zeke exposed himself and started attacking cadets.

For that reason, he surmised that Zeke was an enemy.

"...."

At that moment, Brandon felt several figures emerging from the dark corner.

It was the entire Primordials seated members.

There, he could see Kael, who was the one in charge of stalling Raven. Hein and Alice, who were in charge to stall the cadets who had returned to the starting point upon realizing there was no point in delving further into the labyrinth.

"Take him. I'll handle the interrogation, contact me once he wakes up."

Brandon instructed while staring at Zeke.

"Right, right. And let me guess, we're handling the cleanup?"

Kael, who approached Brandon, spoke.

"I've cleaned up quite nicely. There shouldn't be any traces that would lead back to the Primordials."

The masks they adorned were, of course, an Ironaxe creation. Though it wasn't quite similar to the Mirage Mask, it more or less had the effects that would leave witnesses confused about their identities, regardless if they could see similarities such as hair and so on.

"What happened to your hands?"

As Kael asked, Brandon turned his attention towards his missing nails.

Casually putting on his gloves, Brandon pursed his lips.

"None of your business."

"Right."

And they left it at that. After all, the Primordials had a code of conduct to never peer into the private lives of their members.

"So can you handle things on your side?"

Alice, who was slowly walking towards them, said.

"Yeah, I've narrowed down the story and all. There should be no problems."

"Alright, we'll contact you."

Just like that, the Primordials left along with Zeke's body.

Then, Brandon walked towards where he left Amy's unconscious body.

Brandon then looked at his own figure. His clothes had been roughly torn, and several wounds etched in his body.

He had instructed the Primordials not to harm the other cadets. However, he had an explanation for his injuries.

"Let's go, Amy."

Carrying Amy, who was still unconscious, Brandon sprinted through the darkness.