Ryker walked out of the shadowed cave without looking back, the broken body of Kael Throne left buried behind both rubble and regret. The flicker of black chains in his vision had faded but the voice of the Extra still echoed in his mind.

He knew about him.

He knew Ryker's purpose. He knew his goal. He knew far too much.

Ryker clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing as he thought about it, "He is watching more than I thought. Much more."

That was dangerous. Too dangerous. If the Extra could hijack a corpse and speak through it… how long he had been observing him? How many plans had he already seen?

He inhaled slowly, then exhaled sharply.

"I need to accelerate everything."

*****

The massive gate that once was a swirling portal of abyssal landscape, now stood completely still. Cracks marred its surface, like a dying heart that had finally stopped beating.

One by one, the surviving students emerged from the gate bloodied and worn. Some limped. Some were carried. Some didn't make it out at all.

Medical staff rushed forward pulling stretchers, casting healing spells, screaming for potions and mana restoratives. It was chaos disguised as procedure.

Professor Aria stood nearby, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her sharp eyes were uncharacteristically soft as she watched the scene unfold before her.

Beside her, Vice-Chancellor Kevin Voss stood. He said nothing, his jaw was tight and his expression grim.

Aria broke the silence.

"This was a tragedy." Her voice shook, barely above a whisper. "One hundred twenty one students. Gone."

Kevin's gaze darkened. "We can't bury this incident. Not this time."

"No," Aria agreed. "We can not make it disappear. There are too many witnesses. Too many grieving families."

Kevin closed his eyes as he thought deeply,

"In the long history of Nexus Academy…" he began, "There hasn't been a massacre like this. Not even during the Demon Incursion of the First Cycle."

Aria looked up at him. "Do you think this was a unplanned event?"

Kevin didn't answer her immediately.

Then, after a moment,

"…No. This wasn't. It's just a tragedy. It was a sign"

His eyes drifted to the horizon, where the ash laced wind howled across the scorched gate.

"A sign that something far worse is coming."

******

The quiet beeping of monitoring artifacts filled the room. Ryker sat there shirtless on the reinforced bed, his torso wrapped in glowing white bandages etched with silver healing runes.

A tired, elderly doctor examined him with careful hands as he examined him. He kept muttering under his breath as he checked Ryker's mana flow and internal organs.

"…Cracked ribs. Torn mana circuits. Strained spine. Internal bleeding from two organs. Fractured kneecap. And… burnt nerves?"

The doctor leaned back in his chair and removed his gloves. "It has been a long time since I have seen someone still conscious with this many injuries. You shouldn't have been able to stand, let alone fight."

Ryker gave a strained smirk. "Guess I am stubborn and lucky"

The doctor didn't smile.

"You are lucky to be alive. That is not just stubborn. That is suicidal."

He turned, picking up a chart.

"You need at least three weeks of total rest. No mana usage. No skill activation. No training. Not even minor channeling."

Ryker's smile faded hearing it. "That won't be possible."

The doctor paused at the door, turning back with a sigh.

"Of course it won't. Still, I had to say it."

He stared at Ryker for a moment longer, then added softly, "You did well, son. Damn well. Not many could have done what you did. You should be proud."

"…Thanks," Ryker muttered.

Then the doctor left.

Ryker leaned back, his breath was uneven.

"Looks like the stunt I pulled made me even more famous…"

He closed his eyes.

But in the darkness behind his eyelids, he saw the Extra's smile. Heard his voice. The mockery. The truth hidden between lines.

"Looks like for safety… I will need to completely change the rest of the plotline."

Just then,

[DING!!!]

His system interface appeared before him in glowing letters.

[SYSTEM ALERT!!!]

[FINAL CONTRIBUTION CALCULATION COMPLETE]

[Contribution: EX-Rank]

[Performance exceeded calculated trajectory]

[User has gained 508% experience]

[0%––––––––[43%]–––––––—–––––[100%]

[You have leveled up]

Ryker's eyes widened.

[You have obtained a new class]

[New Class [Dissonant Luminary] has been assigned]

[Your actions have warped your destined class beyond expectation]

[You are given a class that stands between Light and Darkness. Between Salvation and Ruin.]

[New Affinity Obtained!!]

[You have obtained "Darkness" affinity]

[Obtained by devouring the soul of Kael Throne]

[Your class is influencing your affinities and making your skills mutated]

[Light Based Skills Are Merging…]

["Radiant Mend", "Sacrificial Restoration", "Luminous Barrier", "Sanctuary Veil"

Merged into "Heaven"]

[You have obtained another New Skill]

[You have obtained "Hell"]

[Description: unknown]

[A manifestation of your will to destroy. A secret sealed by your soul]

[Due to class influence, you are now the only known being able to wield two opposing elements]

[Note: Due to Class influence you can have limited amount of skills]

[Max number of Skills can be obtained is 7]

[Current Skills count: 4/7]

[Note: Universal Law Broken. Consequences Unknown]

Ryker stared at the words. Then he laughed softly.

"Even Arthur… Seraphina… Lucas… none of them could do this. None of them could weld two opposite elements. But I can."

He glanced at his class hovering in his status screen.

————— •[Ryker Case]• —————

Level: 23

Exp: [0%——[8%]–––––——————[100%]

Class: Dissonant Luminary

Rank: Adept

——————————

[Attributes]

ㄴ Strength: 118

ㄴ Dexterity: 103

ㄴ Endurance: 170

ㄴ Intelligence: 220

ㄴ Wisdom: 10

ㄴ Charisma: 300

——————————

[Affinities]

ㄴ Light [23%]

ㄴ Darkness [15%]

——————————

[Skills]

Heaven [007]

Hell [069]

Hade's Spirit-Eating Chains [SS]

Mental Resilience [A]

——————————

[Quests]

•Kill The Extra

————— •[Ryker Case]• —————

"This changes everything. Even if I can have only seven skills"

"Two Numbering Skills, one SS rank skill and one A rank skill"

"Most students or Espers would never be able to have these many ranked skills"

An idea formed in Ryker's mind at that moment the system alerted him once more.

[WARNING!!!!]

[User has utilized excessive amounts of life force to maintain functionality during battle]

[Current Life Force: 3%]

[Due to devouring Kael Throne's soul, life force increased +4%]

[Current Life Force: 7%]

[However, soul injury detected. If no action is taken, death is inevitable]

[Estimated Time Remaining Unit Death: 243 Days, 17 Hours, 23 Minutes, 10 Seconds…]

Ryker froze. His mind went blank.

"I have… what?"

The numbers stared back at him unmoving, absolute.

He felt something cold crawl up his spine.

'243 days… to live'

He slammed his fist into the bedframe.

"Son of a…!"

******

[A/N: With this chapter we have finished the first volume of Kill The Extra. With the amount of chaos and death happened in the first volume, let's take a step back in the Next volume.]

[Volume 2 will be the Romance Volume. We will finally meet our Fml]

[Thank You All For Reading Kill The Extra!!!!!]

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