Path of the Extra

”Yelena, what’s wrong?”

A look of concern crossed Lumine’s face as he turned to her.

Yelena had stopped walking.

Her body trembled violently, as though some unseen cold had seized her from within. When Lumine looked closer, he saw that her teeth had begun to chatter. Her face had gone pale, and no matter how hard she seemed to try, she could no longer keep herself composed.

Immediately, Lumine grabbed her hand.

He almost hissed.

It was sickeningly cold.

”Yelena!”

Panic filled his voice as he took her other hand as well and stepped in front of her.

”Snap out of it! Yelena!”

”I-I can’t...!”

Her voice quivered. She squeezed her eyes shut, looking utterly terrified.

Just what had happened?

They had only been following the path her [Instinct] had led them toward. Then, without warning, she had ended up like this.

Lumine was not only baffled.

He was growing more and more apprehensive.

”L-Lumine...” Yelena stammered, her voice breaking. ”W-we... we have to leave... now...! Now!”

”W-what...?”

Before he could even process her words, Yelena grabbed him and tried to pull him back, away from the direction he had been facing.

Lumine remained frozen as she struggled to drag him away.

”W... why? Yelena, calm down and talk to me properly.”

He tried to keep his voice gentle, but Yelena only shook her head. She looked past him, glaring fearfully at whatever waited beyond his back.

”S-something...” she whispered. ”Something really... really bad is over there. My [Instinct] wasn’t leading us there. It was warning us.”

Her fingers tightened around his hand.

”I-I don’t want you to go there... p-please... let’s leave...!”

Lumine had never seen her like this before.

She looked as if she were on the verge of tears.

Slowly, he glanced behind him.

But he felt nothing.

”...So it’s something evil?” he muttered.

”Seriously evil!” Yelena cried. ”I-I can’t tell what it is, but if we go there, it won’t end well for us! Please, Lumine!”

She sounded so desperate that he almost obeyed.

But Lumine pursed his lips and stood his ground.

What would have happened if he had not gone with Yelena just like in the previous loops? Had she turned back then as well? Or had she pressed forward alone?

No.

Lumine could tell.

Yelena was not this terrified because of her own life.

She was terrified because of his.

And yet, Lumine already knew this was a failed loop. He had prepared himself for the possibility of death. For sacrifice. For the sake of knowledge, he had already accepted that he might have to throw himself into danger.

So the answer should have been simple.

He should press ahead, despite Yelena’s pleas.

So why was it so difficult to refuse her?

That answer was simple too.

Because he loved Yelena.

And seeing the person he loved get hurt...

Seeing her die...

That was the worst thing he could imagine.

’Just... why is this happening?’

What had he done to deserve this?

No.

That was not what frustrated Lumine the most.

What truly tormented him was the thought that he had to drag his childhood friend—the girl he loved more than anyone—into harm’s way simply because he was too weak and powerless to find another path.

Yelena did not deserve such cruelty from him.

And he did not deserve her.

So, while she continued to beg, Lumine could only give her a resigned smile.

Then, without warning, he reached out and patted her head a few times.

Yelena fell silent.

After that, his hand lingered, and the pats softened into gentle strokes through her hair.

”Sorry,” he said quietly.

Yelena was frozen.

For a few seconds, she simply stood there, feeling the warmth of his fingers against her scalp. Then she looked up at him, her eyes trembling, tears already slipping down her cheeks.

”...You’re mean, Lumine.”

”I know.” His voice was soft. ”But I have no choice. Remember what I said? I need you to trust me without question.”

Yelena looked away, struggling to keep her emotions in check as she pursed her lips.

”You know how lucky you are to have a woman like me...?”

”I’m the luckiest person alive, yeah.”

”I’m the best childhood friend you could have gotten, right?”

”Indeed. You’re the best.”

”Anyone who wasn’t me would have left you already.”

”I know. I’ll be eternally grateful—and eternally in your debt—for how lucky I am.”

Yelena sniffled.

”So...” she murmured, still refusing to look at him. ”When we’re done with this scenario... spoil me a lot, okay?”

Seeing how adorable she looked in that moment, Lumine’s smile became far more genuine.

His eyes softened, crinkling with quiet warmth.

”Then we have a promise.”

*****

It did not take long for them to leave the endless maze behind and reach the arched entrance to what Lumine and Yelena could only describe as the underground colosseum they had heard so much about.

The path led them toward what seemed to be the stands, where the people of this world must once have gathered to watch the arena below.

Still, Yelena’s legs would not stop trembling.

Lumine, caught between joy, embarrassment, and guilt, kept holding her hand—partly to comfort her, and partly to comfort himself.

And so, when they took their first step into the stands, they were both struck still.

Like lightning had run through their bodies.

They stood there like fools, hand in hand, frozen in horror and revulsion.

Right at the edge of their feet lay dried blood.

What had once been a pool had darkened into a crusted stain across the stone. And in the middle of it was a severed arm, clad in armor that concealed the skin and hand beneath.

It looked like the arm of a knight.

The scent of blood and flesh still lingered in the air.

Both of them paled at the sight of it lying right in front of them.

Yelena clenched Lumine’s robe with one hand while gripping his fingers with the other.

”Are... are you sure...?” she whispered. ”We... we can still go back...”

Fear trembled in her voice once more, and Lumine gritted his teeth, drowning in shame and self-loathing for making her experience this.

’Even if I tell her to go back without me, she’ll never listen.’

Perhaps Yelena already knew what his answer would be.

Her fingers loosened from his robe.

She looked down, resigned, yet her hand tightened around his even more.

”Let’s... let’s go.”

”Y-yeah...”

They stepped over the severed arm and moved deeper into the stands.

With every step, their horror grew.

There were limbs scattered across the stone, strangely placed in certain spots, as if they had not been discarded randomly, but arranged.

Neither of them said anything.

They simply forced themselves forward, one step after another, until they reached the very edge of the stands.

And then their breath was stolen from them.

There...

There...

It was difficult to describe the evil they saw.

Lumine felt his senses almost abandon him. His body wavered, and he staggered a few steps back before Yelena’s scream tore through the air.

She clutched his hand so tightly it felt as though she might crush it.

And yet, Lumine realized he was doing the same.

”Oh gods...”

He brought his free hand to his mouth, staring at the scene before him in pure dread.

The arena...

It was...

It was like a canvas of blood and flesh.

And what stood out most were the rows of stakes.

Neat rows.

Each one pierced with a severed head.

Lumine’s eyes had gone unfocused without him realizing it. His gaze drifted across the carnage, passing over the blood, the bodies, the blasphemous arrangement of death—

Until it stopped.

There was a familiar figure seated in the middle of the arena.

Motionless.

Meditating.

At the heart of that unspeakable act of evil.

Then Lumine and Yelena finally met the figure’s gaze.

And in that moment, Yelena understood what her [Instinct] had been warning her about.

Not the blood.

Not the gore.

Not the severed limbs or the skewered heads.

No.

Her [Instinct] had ignored all of that.

Because the true evil was sitting in the center of the arena, staring back at her with crimson eyes filled with a terrible, familiar calm.

Lumine and Yelena’s breath caught.

”...Nol?”