An Extra’s Rise in an Eroge - Chapter 180

As the visitors cowered behind whatever cover they could find, a few among them displayed unexpected bravery, stepping forward to confront the Abyssals. Despite the inevitable casualties, the defenders seemed to be holding their ground. If the Arcane Academy students and royal guards could keep up the pressure, they might suppress the attack before reinforcements arrived.

But something felt off.

A nagging unease clawed at my thoughts. Something was missing.

Then it hit me.

Where the fuck are the terrorists?

Everyone was too focused on the Abyssals. No one was questioning how these monsters had appeared in the first place.

“Akira, handle things here. I’m going inside,” I said, impaling a monster through the skull with my spear.

Akira skated toward me on a trail of ice, her expression skeptical. “Why? The fight’s out here. What are you gonna do inside? Don’t tell me you’re tired already.”

“No time to explain.” I didn’t wait for her response—I bolted.

And I was right.

Inside, hooded figures surrounded the glass case that held the Abyssal Fang. Some were frantically unsealing the barriers, while others held civilians at knifepoint, ensuring no one interfered.

A few minutes earlier…

While Arthur and the others fought outside, the civilians had been herded deeper into the museum, praying for the nightmare to end.

“Don’t worry, everything will be over soon,” Eveline reassured them. She had stayed behind, healing the wounded.

A woman, her face streaked with tears, gripped Eveline’s hand. “Sister, will I… will I be able to walk again?” Her leg was crushed beneath fallen debris.

Eveline smiled softly. “Of course. I’ll make sure of it.”

A golden glow shimmered from her hands, spreading over the injured limb, knitting flesh and bone back together.

Suddenly, several hooded figures darted into the hall.

“Search everywhere! We need to find it now,” one of them barked. “The plan’s gone to shit—we didn’t expect so many strong people at the museum.”

There were at least fifteen of them.

Then, their eyes landed on the civilians huddled in a corner.

“Well, well…” One of the men grinned, his gaze dripping with malice. “Look what we have here.”

“Boss! We found it!” a gruff voice called from near the display case. “But it’s sealed.”

“Tch. Let the enchanters handle it,” the leader ordered. “The rest of you, grab anything useful.”

Then he turned back to the terrified civilians.

“In the meantime…” He drew a wicked-looking dagger, his lips curling. “I think I’ll have a little fun.”

He strolled toward a trembling woman, dragging the tip of his blade along her cheek.

“What a beautiful face,” he mused. “I wonder how it’d look with a scar—”

“P-please… spare me,” she whimpered.

A pungent smell filled the air.

The man’s face twisted in disgust. He glanced down at his boot—wet.

“…Did you piss yourself?” His voice dripped with revulsion.

His expression darkened.

“Filthy bitch.”

With a brutal kick, he sent her flying backward. She hit the ground hard, coughing up blood.

Fury flickered in his eyes.

“You ruined my fucking boots.”

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He snapped his wrist, hurling his dagger straight for her skull.

Clang!

A yellowish barrier shimmered into existence, stopping the dagger mid-flight. It clattered uselessly to the floor.

“Huh?”

The man’s eyes narrowed as he turned toward the source—Eveline.

She stood firm, her hands glowing with radiant holy light. She had activated [Sanctuary], a powerful defensive spell that created a protective dome around the civilians.

For a moment, silence hung in the air. Then—

“Hoh~ What do we have here?” The terrorist’s lips curled into a twisted grin. “I must’ve used up a lifetime’s worth of luck today.”

His voice was laced with sick amusement as his gaze darkened.

“The Saintess of the Light Church herself… I wonder what reward the Demon Lord will grant me if I slaughter you?”

“Dream on.” Eveline’s voice was unwavering.

She met his gaze, unflinching.

“A wretched traitor like you—someone who abandoned their own humanity—will never be able to pass the holy barrier.”

For a brief second, the terrorist simply stared. Then—

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

His laughter was a manic cackle, filled with something inhuman.

“Then… let me show you the power bestowed upon me by our lord.”

Crack!

His bones shifted violently.

His spine snapped and elongated, grotesquely jutting out from his back. His ribcage expanded, splitting through his skin as dark, vein-like tendrils coiled around his grotesquely mutating body.

His jaw unhinged, stretching into an unnatural, jagged maw lined with serrated teeth.

His fingers thickened into claws, and in mere moments, the man was no longer human.

A two-and-a-half-meter abomination stood in his place.

With insane strength, he slammed his clawed fists against the golden barrier.

BOOM!

The civilians flinched, the force of the impact shaking the dome.

Eveline gritted her teeth. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips.

BOOM!

The second strike made her body tremble.

BOOM!

The third impact made her knees buckle.

The fourth—

Crack.

A fracture formed in the barrier.

Her vision blurred.

The fifth—

“No…” Eveline whispered as she felt her strength slipping.

Then—

BZZZZZT!

A blinding streak of blue lightning cut through the air.

A spear, crackling with electricity, pierced clean through the mutant’s skull—impaling him against the far wall.

The monster twitched, its grotesque body spasming uncontrollably.

Then, it fell limp.

A heavy silence followed.

Eveline’s eyes widened.

She turned her head.

At the entrance stood Arthur—his stance unwavering, his aura crackling with restrained power.

His gaze locked onto the scene before him. Eveline coughing up blood. The civilians cowering. The grotesque corpse pinned to the wall.

His fingers clenched.

“…I made it in time.”

Eveline, upon seeing Arthur, let out a breath of relief. The golden glow of her barrier flickered and shattered as she slumped to the floor, huffing from exhaustion.

The remaining demonic contractors stood frozen for a moment, their gazes locked onto the lifeless corpse of their leader—his grotesque, mutated form skewered against the stone wall by Arthur’s spear.

Then—

“You bastard… YOU’RE DEAD!”

A chorus of enraged voices erupted as several hooded figures lunged forward, their bodies twisting in unnatural ways.

Their human forms melted away, revealing grotesque monstrosities—as if their bodies had been stitched together from countless abominations.

One had four arms, each wielding a jagged dagger.

Another crawled on all fours, its limbs bent at unnatural angles, a massive maw gaping from its stomach.

One grew wings, its flesh oozing as thin, membranous appendages burst from its back.

Arthur, unshaken, didn’t even let them get close.

With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed hell.

“Fire Burst.”

A concentrated ball of fire shot forward, exploding in a violent inferno, engulfing two of the monsters. Their agonized shrieks filled the air as their flesh melted away.

“Wind Cutter.”

Invisible blades of wind sliced through the air, severing limbs like they were made of paper.

“Chain Lightning.”

Electricity snaked through the ranks, jumping from one contractor to another, turning them into convulsing, smoldering husks.

One of them managed to charge through the onslaught, only for Arthur to raise a single hand.

“Cursed Bind.”

Dark tendrils erupted from the ground, coiling around the monster’s limbs, suspending it mid-air. It twisted and screamed, thrashing violently.

Arthur clenched his fist.

“Crush.”

A sickening snap echoed as its bones shattered all at once, leaving its lifeless body hanging like a broken puppet.

Half the creatures were already dead before they even reached him.

But before Arthur could press forward, a voice cut through the chaos.

“It’s done.”

A hooded figure at the back stood triumphantly, holding something in his hands.

“The weapon is in our hands. Make a way for us!”

The monsters halted, exchanging glances. Then, as if they understood, their bloodshot eyes locked onto Arthur with renewed intensity.

Their movements became sharper, their attacks more coordinated.

Because now, in their eyes—

Arthur was the only obstacle standing in their way.

“Everyone, attack together! He has no weapon! He can’t unleash spells on all of us at the same time!”

One of the remaining contractors shouted, and as if on cue, the monstrous horde lunged at Arthur in unison.

A twisted grin stretched across their grotesque faces. No matter how powerful Arthur was, he was just one person. He couldn’t fight them all at once— or so they thought.

But Arthur, unfazed, let out a cold chuckle.

“Who said I don’t have a weapon?”

His body blurred— vanishing from where he stood.

Before anyone could react, a sickening CRACK echoed through the hall.

The head of the commanding enchanter exploded in Arthur’s grasp, crushed like a brittle fruit. Blood and brain matter splattered across the floor as his lifeless body collapsed.

As he fell, something slipped from his trembling fingers—

A sword wrapped in black cloth.

It slid across the marble floor, landing just inches from Arthur’s feet.

The fabric unraveled slightly, revealing a serrated, jagged blade with veins of pulsating violet light coursing along its darkened steel. The very air around it seemed to warp and shudder with dark energy.

Then—

A whisper slithered into Arthur’s mind.

[Come closer, warrior.]

[You seek power, don’t you?]

[Pick me up. Hold me. Wield me, and no one will stand in your way.]

Arthur stiffened. The voice was gentle, seductive, yet laced with something ancient and malicious.

“Arthur, no!” Eveline screamed, struggling to get up.

“That thing will corrupt your mind!”

But it was too late.