Path of the Extra

”Hey... is something wrong, Lumine? You look very pale.”

Celestina’s tone shifted at once, sharpening with apprehension as she looked at him in concern. But Lumine didn’t seem to hear her. Before she could say anything else, he collapsed to his knees, panting heavily, both hands flying to his throat as a suffocating pressure tightened around his neck.

His fingers clawed at his skin.

’My... my head...’

His pupils trembled.

’My head is still intact...! Ah...!’

Then, all at once, Lumine retched violently, spilling the contents of his stomach onto the ground in front of Celestina.

Her expression twisted into horror.

”W-w-w-wha—! What!? Hey! Lumine, you are bleeding from your nose!? Lumine! Wait, no! Yelena! Yelena! Get down here quickly! Quickly!”

Still disoriented, with a deafening ring shrieking through his ears, Lumine barely managed to understand the words Celestina had screamed.

Words he had heard before.

Exactly as before.

’This can’t be happening...’

His breathing grew frantic.

’I went back in time...? Again!?’

An atrocious sense of déjà vu swallowed him whole. His chest tightened. His vision blurred. The panic took hold of him so completely that he didn’t even realize his own hands were still wrapped around his throat, making it even harder to breathe.

’I don’t want to go through that again...’

His fingers dug deeper.

’I-I don’t want to die...! I don’t want to die again!’

Then someone’s arms wrapped around him from behind.

Gentle. Steady. Warm.

Lumine froze.

”...?”

The touch was careful, almost impossibly tender, as if whoever held him feared he might shatter if they moved too quickly. Like some kind of miracle medicine, his heartbeat began to slow. His breathing, ragged and broken only moments ago, softened little by little.

Delicate fingers pried his hands away from his throat, uncurling them one by one before taking them into her own and lowering them to his lap.

Then a soothing voice whispered beside him.

”It’s all right now... You’re not alone. I’m here with you.”

Only then did he recognize her voice.

Lumine slowly shifted his face from where it had been buried against her shoulder and looked up. Strands of Yelena’s hair brushed against his cheek as she gazed down at him with an adoring, worried smile.

For a moment, he could only stare at her.

The way she looked at him was so gentle that it made something inside him loosen.

Instead of speaking, Lumine buried his face against her shoulder again and let himself relax. Yelena’s fingers moved softly through his hair, ruffling it with affection, and the warmth of her embrace wrapped around him like a thick, fluffy blanket.

”A-ahem!”

At the sound of Celestina’s cough, both of them stiffened.

They snapped out of their little world at the same time.

”Not to burst whatever bubble you two have going on here...” Celestina muttered, looking away and refusing to meet their eyes. A faint blush colored her face, and she coughed again, clearly trying to hide her embarrassment. ”...but seeing as you’re apparently fine after vomiting in front of me, having a nosebleed, and suffering a panic attack...”

She glanced hesitantly at Lumine.

”Do you still wish to do what I asked?”

Reluctantly, Yelena loosened her arms around Lumine and knelt beside him. Then she looked at Celestina.

”I’ll go with him.”

Lumine’s eyes widened.

A relieved smile spread across Celestina’s face.

”If he has another panic attack, or if either of you senses even the slightest danger, retreat immediately,” Celestina said. Her voice had grown serious again. ”There is no shame in refusing to let your pride kill you.”

A steadier resolve began to rise within Lumine.

He looked into Yelena’s eyes. She looked back at him with a daring smile.

Then, at the same time, the two of them nodded.

*****

”Lumine... what happened back there?”

Yelena pinched his sleeve and Lumine looked at Yelena. She stared back at him with a deeply worried expression as the two of them left Celestina behind, though they did not immediately head toward Azriel.

”Please, Lumine,” she said, her voice almost pleading. ”I’m afraid of seeing you like that again. Please tell me what happened.”

Lumine looked away and pursed his lips.

’Should I tell her? I have to... That void creature is still lurking somewhere inside this underground colosseum. The only reason I didn’t see it the first time was probably because I got lucky with the timing. But last time, I was too early, and it killed me. Which means that the first time, it must have passed by me and might have... would have killed everyone else here. Ah, gods! I should have at least tried to figure out what rank it was! The angel said it was a challenge, so it can’t be impossible to beat. But it was definitely stronger than me, so... was it a Demon? Or an Abyssal? No. The casualty rate for beating something like that would be far too high even if there are Masters here...’

His blood ran cold.

’Unless that is exactly what the angel is trying to get at.’

The more Lumine thought about it, the colder his body became. His breathing quickened again, shallow and uneven. Just remembering that void creature—that thing that seemed to have crawled straight out of a nightmare—made every instinct in him scream to run.

’I need to figure this out. It’s not just Azriel I need to save. It’s Yelena, Celestina, Jasmine, and everyone else here too. Everyone will die inside this colosseum if I don’t do something.’

Making up his mind, Lumine grabbed Yelena by the shoulders.

”Listen to me, Yelena. There is a void creature lurking inside this colosseum. If we go now, we will inevitably run into it, and we’ll be killed. But if we take too long, it will arrive here and slaughter everyone in its path.”

’Ugh. I don’t remember how long it took the first time to reach Azriel. Thirty to forty minutes? No, maybe it was longer. Or shorter? Shit.’

Yelena only stared at him in surprise. Yet somehow, she did not seem to think he was completely insane. Not yet.

”How do you know there is a void creature?”

”I...”

Lumine hesitated.

Then he shook his head and made his choice.

”I went back in ti—”

Suddenly, he could no longer speak.

”...Lumine?”

His heart lurched violently in his chest. His body convulsed as two familiar, yet horrifyingly eerie arms wrapped around him from behind. Then an uncanny pair of lips brushed against his left ear and whispered.

”!!!!!”

Lumine’s mouth opened against his will.

His tongue slid out.

It dropped to the floor with a wet, sickening sound, followed by a river of blood pouring from his mouth, his eyes, his ears, and his nose.

Yelena stood frozen, drenched in his blood.

Her gaze fell to the tongue lying at her feet.

Then she screamed.

*****

”Do not worry. I promise you this. Go save Azriel, and once I am free of these chains, I will make both Caleus and Lioren pay.”

”...”

?

...?

...Huh?

”Lumine?”

Lumine looked at Celestina.

[The ??? Skill, [Redo], has successfully been activated.]