The Extra's Transcension-Chapter 59 : The Chivalry Attack (3)

*****

(Some Minutes Before)

Emily Theodeus stood in the center of her office, her posture rigid yet composed, hands clasped neatly behind her back.

Her sharp, discerning gaze swept across the vast expanse beyond the towering arched window, where the academy's grandeur unfolded in immaculate symmetry.

Majestic spires reached skyward, their intricate stonework illuminated by the ethereal glow of suspended mana lamps, casting soft halos of light against the encroaching dusk.

Every structure stood as a testament to centuries of tradition and unyielding discipline, yet beneath this veneer of order, an unsettling discord lingered—an imperceptible shift, a whisper of something out of place.

The stillness.

It was unnatural.

The air, usually vibrant with the pulse of thousands of students honing their magic, was silent.

No chatter, no bursts of spells from the training fields, no distant footsteps echoing through the corridors.

A shiver crawled up her spine.

She turned sharply, striding toward her desk. With a flick of her hand, she activated the crystalline orb embedded in its surface.

The artifact pulsed to life, its surface swirling with threads of mana, ready to respond to her commands.

"Locate all students and faculty."

The command was simple, yet the orb hesitated, flickering erratically.

It stuttered once, then again, before settling into an eerie stillness.

No response.

Emily narrowed her eyes.

The artifact was directly linked to the academy's central mana core—it was incapable of failure.

For it to be silent now…

Her fingers curled over the edges of her desk.

Something was terribly wrong.

A surge of energy coursed through her as she reached deeper into the academy's protective wards, searching for a trace of life.

Nothing.

The realization struck her like a physical blow.

She inhaled sharply, suppressing the spike of unease.

This was no mere anomaly.

This was a violation.

A disturbance so profound that it defied the very foundation of the academy itself.

Her mind raced.

Where were the instructors?

The students?

The faculty?

Had they all simply vanished?

No.

That was impossible.

If such a mass disappearance had occurred, she would have felt it.

Then—

A fracture.

A sharp, splintering noise echoed through the chamber.

Not in the physical realm, but in the very fabric of mana itself.

Emily's breath hitched as she turned her gaze skyward—

And froze.

The sky above the academy was breaking.

Jagged fissures of glowing, eldritch light tore through the heavens, expanding outward in chaotic patterns.

The very atmosphere trembled as the unnatural fractures pulsed, their radiance twisting in hues beyond comprehension.

She had seen records of this.

Ancient texts buried deep in the restricted archives.

Warnings from civilizations long lost to time.

She stepped away from the window, heart pounding, even as her face remained composed.

A rift in the sky.

A precursor to something greater.

Her hands lifted, fingers tracing a swift arcane sigil in the air.

She needed answers.

Now.

The sigil flared, activating a connection to the Grand Wardstone beneath the academy. A direct link to the very lifeblood of the institution.

The response was immediate—

Pain.

A stabbing, mind-numbing agony shot through her consciousness as the connection faltered, torn apart by something vast and incomprehensible.

It was not merely interference.

It was something pressing against the boundaries of their world.

Something ancient.

Something waking.

She staggered, catching herself against the desk, breath coming in short, measured gasps.

She knew.

This wasn't just a malfunction.

This wasn't an attack.

This was the unraveling of reality itself.

Then—

The sound of something shifting behind her.

Emily turned.

A shadow stretched across the floor, flickering unnaturally as the dim light in her office twisted and bent.

A figure loomed beyond the veil of space, its presence gnawing at the edges of reality.

A voice, smooth yet tainted with an almost playful amusement, broke the silence.

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"You feel it, don't you?"

The presence coalesced, stepping forward from the rift between realms.

Azrael.

His eyes gleamed with an otherworldly hunger, his silhouette draped in the very essence of the void itself.

Emily's expression did not waver.

"What have you done?"

She asked, her voice devoid of fear, yet laced with quiet fury.

Azrael merely smiled.

"Nothing… yet."

His gaze lifted slightly, as if peering beyond the walls of her office, beyond the academy itself, into the vast, unraveling sky.

"But the stage is set, Headmistress,"

He mused.

"And the first act is only beginning."

Emily's magic surged, crackling around her fingertips.

She would not let this stand.

Not in her academy.

Not in her world.

No matter what it took.

No matter the cost.

*****

Emily Theodeus did not waste time.

The moment Azrael uttered those cryptic words, her magic surged—raw, refined, and absolute.

The air in her office crackled as her mana flared, forming intricate geometric patterns around her.

Yet, before she could strike—

A pulse.

A deep, resonant vibration, not of sound but of existence itself.

Her vision twisted, space distorting around her, and in the blink of an eye—

She was elsewhere.

A sudden, forceful impact sent her staggering slightly before her boots found solid ground.

The lingering trace of Azrael's presence dissipated as the world around her settled.

Emily's sharp gaze darted across her surroundings.

This place—

Her chest tightened.

Eugene's domain.

A grand chamber, adorned with ever-shifting celestial motifs, stretched before her.

The very walls pulsed with cosmic energy, as if the room itself was a fragment of something beyond mortal comprehension. Stars flickered in the high arched ceiling, suspended in an eternal void.

And she was not alone.

Near the center of the chamber stood Eugene, his presence as unwavering as ever, clad in robes that shimmered with astral radiance.

His eyes, filled with unfathomable knowledge, locked onto her the moment she arrived.

Yet, it was not just him.

Emily's gaze flickered to the side—

Alicia was already here.

Her purple hair caught the ethereal glow of the chamber's light, her expression unreadable as she stood, tense and ready.

But something in her eyes—recognition, calculation—told Emily that she, too, had sensed something was amiss long before this moment.

Alicia knew.

And now, so did Emily.

The disturbance at the academy, the rift in the sky, Azrael's cryptic words—everything was converging here.

Emily straightened, her composed demeanor never faltering.

But within, her mind was racing.

Why was Azrael pushing the pieces together?

Why here, why now?

Eugene exhaled slowly, the weight of the unfolding reality evident even in his measured stance.

"You felt it,"

He stated, his voice calm yet laced with undeniable certainty.

Emily met his gaze.

"I did. And I suspect you know more than you're letting on."

Eugene's expression did not change.

"Perhaps. But that is not the concern right now."

His eyes shifted slightly—to a point behind her.

Emily turned sharply—

And saw it.

A distortion in the fabric of space.

Not an ordinary one.

Not like the controlled warps of advanced teleportation, nor the rifts that mages could create through overwhelming force.

No.

This was unnatural.

A twisting anomaly of reality itself, bleeding into the chamber.

And from within that distortion—

A presence.

Something watching.

Something waiting.

And for the first time in a long, long time—

Emily felt it.

A whisper of something beyond mere mortal comprehension.

A shadow of an existence that did not belong.

A force that even she, the Headmistress of the Grand Academy, might not be able to stop.

*****

(Emily Theoudeus POV)

I stood in the center of my office, hands clasped neatly behind my back, my posture unwavering.

The silence was unnatural.

Through the towering arched window before me, the academy stretched out in its full grandeur—majestic spires reaching for the heavens, their stonework illuminated by the soft glow of suspended mana lamps.

The entire institution was a living testament to centuries of knowledge, discipline, and the unbreakable foundations of magic itself.

Yet, tonight, something was wrong.

A whisper at the edge of perception.

A subtle discord in the fabric of reality.

I have ruled this academy for decades.

I have seen countless students rise and fall, faced disasters both natural and arcane.

I know the pulse of this institution better than I know my own heartbeat.

And right now, that pulse was missing.

Where was the chatter of students?

The faint echoes of footsteps in the corridors?

The distant hum of spells being cast in the training fields?

The stillness sent a chill through me.

I turned sharply, striding to my desk, and placed a hand over the crystalline orb embedded in its surface.

The artifact pulsed in response, swirling with mana threads, awaiting my command.

"Locate all students and faculty."

The response should have been instant.

The orb was connected directly to the academy's central mana core—it did not fail.

Yet… it hesitated.

Flickering erratically.

Stuttering.

Then—nothing.

The orb settled into an unnatural stillness.

A cold weight settled in my stomach.

That wasn't possible.

I reached deeper, stretching my senses into the academy's protective wards, searching—prying—for any sign of life.

The wards should have echoed with the presence of thousands of souls.

Yet I felt—

Nothing.

A slow breath left me, measured and controlled, but my fingers curled against the edge of my desk.

This was beyond a mere anomaly.

This was an invasion.

A violation.

A fracture.

And then—

A sharp, splintering noise.

Not in the physical realm, but within the very fabric of mana itself.

My eyes snapped upward, toward the heavens, and my breath hitched.

The sky above the academy was breaking.

Fissures of glowing, eldritch light tore through the vast expanse, spreading like cracks in fragile glass.

The air trembled as those fractures pulsed, shifting through hues beyond human comprehension.

I had seen records of this.

Warnings buried deep within the restricted archives.

Ancient civilizations had spoken of such phenomena—civilizations that no longer existed.

A rift in the sky.

A precursor to something far worse.

I stepped back from the window, my mind racing.

I needed answers.

Now.

Lifting a hand, I traced a swift arcane sigil in the air, activating a direct connection to the Grand Wardstone beneath the academy—the very heart of our defenses.

The response was immediate—

And agonizing.

Pain lanced through my consciousness, white-hot and searing.

It wasn't interference.

It wasn't some outside force disrupting the signal.

No.

Something was pressing against the boundaries of our world.

Something vast.

Something waking.

I barely caught myself against the desk, my breaths coming in sharp, measured exhales.

This was not an attack.

This was not an accident.

This was reality itself unraveling.

Then—

A shift behind me.

A flicker of movement in the dim light.

My magic surged before I even turned.

A shadow stretched across the floor, flickering unnaturally as the glow of my office warped and twisted.

A figure stepped forward from the darkness.

A voice followed, smooth, laced with amusement.

"You feel it, don't you?"

I did not flinch.

I had expected him.

"Azrael."

His name left my lips with all the weight of inevitability.

The entity before me—if one could even call him that—stood draped in the very essence of the void, his presence gnawing at the edges of reality itself.

His eyes gleamed, filled with an insatiable hunger, a predator who knew the hunt had already begun.

I did not lower my guard.

"What have you done?"

I asked, my voice devoid of fear.

Controlled.

But beneath that control—anger.

A quiet fury, seething beneath my composure.

Azrael smiled.

"Nothing… yet."

He lifted his gaze, peering past me—beyond the walls of my office, beyond the academy itself.

To the breaking sky.

"But the stage is set, Headmistress."

His voice was a whisper, a promise laced with something almost giddy.

"And the first act is only beginning."

I had heard enough.

Magic roared to life around me, the air crackling as I shaped my will into raw, tangible power.

But before I could strike—

A pulse.

A deep, resonant vibration.

Not of sound.

Of existence itself.

The world twisted—

And in an instant—

I was elsewhere.

A forceful impact sent me staggering before my boots found solid ground.

The traces of Azrael's presence faded as I adjusted to my new surroundings.

My eyes darted around, sharp and calculating.

And then I realized—

Eugene's domain.

The grand chamber stretched endlessly, adorned with shifting celestial motifs, as if the walls themselves were fragments of the cosmos.

Stars flickered overhead, suspended in a void that defied logic.

He stood at the center.

Eugene.

His presence was unwavering, clad in robes that shimmered like liquid starlight.

His golden eyes, filled with unfathomable knowledge, locked onto mine the moment I arrived.

And I was not alone.

To the side—

Alicia.

Her violet hair caught the chamber's glow, her stance tense yet composed.

Her expression was unreadable, but in her eyes—I saw it.

Recognition.

Calculation.

She knew.

And now, so did I.

Everything—the disturbance at the academy, the sky breaking apart, Azrael's cryptic words—was converging here.

I straightened, my composure unshaken.

But my mind raced.

Why was Azrael moving the pieces into place?

Why here?

Why now?

Eugene exhaled, slow and measured.

The weight of unfolding reality was evident in the slight tension of his posture.

"You felt it."

It was not a question.

I met his gaze.

"I did. And I suspect you know more than you're letting on."

He did not deny it.

"Perhaps."

His golden eyes flickered.

"But that is not the concern right now."

His gaze shifted—past me.

I turned sharply.

And I saw it.

A distortion.

Not a mere teleportation warp.

Not an ordinary rift of overwhelming magic.

No.

Something far, far worse.

A twisting anomaly in the very fabric of existence, bleeding into this chamber.

And from within that distortion—

A presence.

Something watching.

Something waiting.

For the first time in a long, long time—

I felt it.

A whisper of something beyond mortal comprehension.

A shadow of an existence that did not belong.

A force that even I, Headmistress of this Grand Academy called the Deviants Academy, might not be able to stop.

*****