The Extra's Rise-Chapter 319: Elemental Conquest

The third event of the Inter-Academy Festival dawned with appropriate elemental drama—a sunrise painted in vibrant oranges and reds that seemed designed specifically for the occasion, as if the sky itself was setting the stage. Elemental Conquest was widely considered one of the festival's most visually spectacular events, combining raw power with precision control in a way that transformed combat into art.

The arena had been reconfigured overnight into an expansive battlefield divided into distinct environmental zones—a central volcanic field surrounded by forested areas, water features, mountain terrain, and wind-swept plains. Elemental nodes pulsed throughout these regions, glowing beacons that represented the primary objective: capture and hold these power sources to enhance one's own elemental affinity while weakening opponents.

"Contestants, take your positions," she announced. "Elemental Conquest begins in five minutes."

As they moved toward the arena, Lucifer found himself walking beside Rachel. Rachel's sapphire eyes flicked to him but she didn't say anything.

"Contestants," Professor Valerie's voice echoed across the arena, "Elemental Conquest begins in thirty seconds. Your objective is to capture and maintain control of the elemental nodes. Points will be awarded for duration of control and strategic utilization of enhanced abilities. Deliberate injury to opponents is grounds for disqualification—this is a conquest event, not combat."

The countdown appeared as massive holographic numbers floating above the arena's center. As it reached zero, a resonant tone signaled the start, and sixty contestants surged forward from their starting positions.

The first moments were chaos—a rush of bodies and elemental powers as competitors raced for the nearest nodes. A Serpentstone water mage slipped on ice created by an Ashenhold opponent, colliding with two others and creating a tangled pile of limbs and curses. A wind specialist from Pillen used their affinity to leap high above the melee, only to be caught in a sudden updraft that sent them tumbling off course.

"Amateur hour," Aria muttered as she sidestepped the confusion, maintaining a direct course toward the central volcanic zone.

A bulky earth manipulator attempted to block her path, raising a stone barrier directly in front of her. Without breaking stride, Aria executed a spinning kick that left a trail of flames, the heat so intense that the stone cracked and split apart before she even made contact.

"Out of my way, mountain boy," she called over her shoulder as she passed through the gap, leaving the earth manipulator staring in disbelief at his shattered defense.

Lucifer's approach contrasted sharply with the frantic energy around him. While others rushed and collided, he walked calmly forward, activating his Yin-Yang Body Gift. Six elemental energies manifested around him—fire, ice, water, lightning, wind, and earth—orbiting in perfect harmony as he assessed the developing battlefield.

"Is he... strolling?" a spectator asked incredulously.

From his elevated position, Lucifer surveyed the battlefield like a general. Three key nodes formed a strategic triangle in the central region—targets that would give him control over a significant portion of the arena. With a precision that spoke of countless training hours, he plotted his course.

An earth node stood closest. As he descended toward it, three competitors converged on the same target, determined to claim it first. Lucifer didn't accelerate or change course. Instead, he simply channeled lightning through his right hand and earth energy through his left. When the first competitor attempted to intercept him, Lucifer touched the ground between them. The resulting controlled shock wave sent all three challengers stumbling backward without causing actual harm.

"My apologies," he said, his tone more formal than apologetic. "This particular node is necessary for my strategy."

"You smug—" One of the competitors, a muscular girl with earth-affinity tattoos covering her arms, launched herself at him.

Lucifer sidestepped her attack with minimal movement, simultaneously placing his palm on the node. The earth around it responded immediately, forming a protective barrier that completed itself just as the girl's fist would have connected with his shoulder.

"Perhaps try the water node in the eastern quadrant," he suggested through the earth barrier. "It would complement your secondary affinity better."

Across the arena, Rachel moved with surprising speed toward a water node nestled near the boundary between forest and mountain terrain. Two competitors were already approaching it from different directions—a water specialist from Serpentstone and a lightning user from Gravehold.

"The princess thinks she can claim water? That's my domain," the Serpentstone student called out, his hands already drawing moisture from the air to form ice javelins.

Rachel didn't respond verbally. Instead, she channeled Purelight through her palm, creating not a weapon but a brilliant flash that temporarily blinded both opponents. While they were disoriented, she reached the node first, placing her hand on its surface to establish connection.

In the central volcanic zone, Aria had reached her first fire node. The heat was intense enough that the air shimmered around her, but she showed no discomfort as she connected with the pulsing ruby energy.

"Finally," she sighed, the flames responding to her presence by rising higher, taking shapes that mimicked her movements. "Something worth working with."

A fellow fire user, a boy with flame-red hair and a nervous expression, approached cautiously. "Aria Gu? I'm Jin-Ho from—"

"I know who you are," Aria interrupted, not unkindly. "You have potential, but your control needs work."

"I was hoping we might cooperate? Control adjacent nodes to create a larger fire territory?"

Aria considered this, watching as across the arena, competitors were already forming similar alliances of convenience. "Cooperation has merit," she acknowledged. "Take the node to the southeast. I'll handle the northwest one. When we've secured both, we'll establish a connection."

Jin-Ho's face lit up with relief and excitement. "I won't let you down!"

"See that you don't," Aria replied, already moving toward her next target.

By the twenty-minute mark, clear patterns had emerged across the battlefield. Most contestants had claimed one or perhaps two nodes, establishing small territories they struggled to maintain against incursions. But three competitors had created notably larger spheres of influence.

Lucifer had secured his triangle of nodes—one each of earth, wind, and fire—and was systematically expanding outward, his multi-elemental control allowing him to adapt his approach for each new conquest.

When a water specialist attempted to flood his territory, Lucifer redirected the attack into carefully positioned channels that actually strengthened his earth barriers. When an air user tried to disrupt his wind nodes, Lucifer incorporated the foreign currents into his own patterns, effectively turning his opponent's strength against them.

Rachel had transformed her initial water node into the center of an expanding network. Golden-infused water flowed outward along channels she created, reaching additional nodes and gradually bringing them under her control. When a forest node connected to her network, the trees began producing blossoms that emitted Purelight, creating zones where darkness couldn't penetrate.

Indeed, there was something unmistakably cleansing about Rachel's approach. Areas under her control seemed brighter, more vibrant, as if the elements themselves were being restored to some idealized state. Competitors who ventured into her territory often found themselves hesitating, their aggressive intent temporarily forgotten as they experienced an unusual sense of peace.

Aria controlled the volcanic zone completely, with assistance from Jin-Ho who had successfully claimed a secondary fire node as promised. The two Starcrest students had created a blazing territory that none had successfully penetrated, fire nodes pulsing in synchronized rhythms under their command.

Inside her fiery domain, Aria had created a spectacular display of elemental artistry. Flames twisted into complex patterns above her head, forming shapes that resembled creatures from ancient mythology—phoenixes, dragons, and more abstract forms that seemed to dance to some unheard rhythm.

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"Show-off," Jin-Ho commented good-naturedly as he maintained his position at the secondary node.

"Presentation matters," Aria replied with a grin. "Besides, it keeps our opponents guessing about what's decorative and what's a trap."

The final phase of the event introduced a new challenge—elemental instability. The nodes began pulsing more erratically, requiring constant adjustment from their controllers to maintain harmony.

"What's happening?" Jin-Ho called out in alarm as his fire node suddenly flared, nearly overwhelming his control.

"Phase three," Aria replied grimly. "They're testing our adaptability. Stay focused!"

Across the arena, competitors scrambled to adjust to the fluctuations. Many lost control entirely, their carefully established territories collapsing as nodes rejected their influence. Some more experienced participants managed to maintain basic connection but were forced to abandon expansion efforts to focus on stability.

Lucifer adapted seamlessly, his expression unchanged as he calmly adjusted his multi-elemental balance. If anything, he seemed to anticipate the changes, his six elements shifting in perfect response to each new pattern.

"He knew," muttered a nearby competitor, watching in disbelief as Lucifer not only maintained control but continued to expand his territory. "He must have studied previous years' tournaments."

"Or he just learns that quickly," replied another, respect mixing with envy in their voice.

Rachel's network trembled under the instability but held, her recent breakthrough to first-stage Integration allowing her to maintain more complex connections than would have been possible at high Silver-rank. Her Purelight served as a stabilizing influence, calming the erratic pulses within her domain.

"Adaptation is key," she murmured to herself, making minute adjustments to the flow patterns. Where before she had emphasized expansion, now she focused on reinforcing existing connections, creating redundant pathways that could compensate for unstable nodes.

A small group of competitors who had lost their own territories gathered at the edge of Rachel's domain, watching her work with academic interest.

"She's using harmonic wave theory," one observed. "See how she's creating interference patterns to cancel out the instability?"

"That's university-level elemental physics," another replied, impressed despite himself. "No wonder she made it to Integration-rank."

Aria struggled more visibly with the fluctuations. Despite her mastery of fire, the unpredictable surges tested the limits of her White-rank capabilities. Twice she had to abandon outer nodes to prevent cascade failures within her network.

"Jin-Ho!" she called out, seeing her partner's control slipping. "Focus on pure containment. Direction doesn't matter now—just keep it from breaking free!"

The young fire mage nodded, sweat pouring down his face as he concentrated all his effort on maintaining the most basic connection with his node. Even that was proving difficult as the ruby energy pulsed erratically, flaring and dimming in unpredictable patterns.

Aria herself was forced to abandon her elaborate fire sculptures, diverting all her attention to stabilizing her primary node. Her territory contracted, but what remained stayed firmly under her control—quality over quantity becoming her necessary strategy.

"We can't hold this forever," Jin-Ho warned, his voice strained.

"We don't need forever," Aria replied through gritted teeth. "Just longer than most of them."

When the final signal sounded, ending the event, the rankings were clear. Lucifer had dominated through superior strategy and multi-elemental versatility, his control extending across multiple environmental zones. Rachel secured second place, her innovative integration of Purelight with conventional elements creating a resilient network that weathered the instability phase impressively. Aria claimed third, her absolute mastery within her specialized domain compensating for its more limited extent.