Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 89: Defiance

"What do you mean you can’t find Seraphine?" William questioned, his voice barely controlled as he stared at his mother.

Duchess Arabella’s expression was hard as stone. "I mean exactly what the letter says. Someone has taken your sister and is using her as leverage to force you out of the competition."

William read the ransom note again, his hands clenching around the paper hard enough to crumple it.

"We need to send search parties. Now. Every direction, every village, every—"

"And risk them killing her the moment they realize we’re not complying?" His mother’s voice was sharp. "These people clearly planned this carefully. They knew about the noble gathering and knew about Seraphine’s habit, this isn’t a random Kidnapping, William."

"So what? We just do nothing? Let them dictate terms?"

"We need to be strategic. I’ll send discrete inquiries through my intelligence network, quiet searches that don’t alert the kidnappers. But we cannot mobilize obvious search parties that will be noticed immediately."

William stared at his mother in disbelief. "Seraphina is thirteen years old and someone has kidnapped her. Strategy doesn’t matter, finding her does!"

"Strategy is how we find her alive!" Duchess Arabella’s composure cracked slightly. "If we charge in blindly, they’ll panic and kill her. We need to—"

"No." William’s voice was flat. "You need to do what you think is politically smart. I need to find my sister."

He turned toward the door.

"William, stop. That’s an order."

"I’m not one of your servants." William didn’t turn around. "And I’m not leaving Seraphina with kidnappers while we wait for your intelligence network to gather information slowly."

"If you leave this estate against my direct orders—"

"Then I’m acting against orders. Add it to the list of disappointments." William finally looked back at his mother. "I know you care about Seraphina in your own way. But you care about House Cross’s political position more. I don’t."

He left before she could respond not caring about what nonsense she wanted to spout.

The concealed knife Kai had given him was still hidden in his room. The essence storage ring his mother had just given him was on his finger.

He had to get everything he could quickly!

William reached his room and started gathering items hastily.. Kai had taught him basic survival preparation during their training sessions. Travel rations, water flask, spare clothes and weapons.

A knock on his door interrupted him.

"Master William?" The head of house staff’s voice. "Her Grace has ordered that you not be allowed to leave the estate."

"Then you’ll have to stop me physically," William called back while strapping the sword to his belt and concealing the knife.

Silence from the other side of the door. The servant clearly wasn’t prepared to actually fight him.

William finished gathering supplies, then moved to his window. His room was on the second floor, but with someone of his cultivation level this was relatively easy.

He opened the window and climbed out, using the decorative stonework to descend quickly. He dropped the last few feet and landed in a crouch, immediately activating his essence sense to check for guards.

Two guards were stationed at the front entrance, one patrolling the gardens. None of them were close enough to spot him in the growing darkness.

William moved toward the east wall which was the same section Seraphina had used. When he reached it, he examined the ground carefully with both eyes and essence sense.

There were faint traces of struggle now that he looked closer. Someone had definitely taken her from here, and recently enough that essence disturbances hadn’t fully dissipated.

He climbed the wall and dropped to the other side, then focused his essence sense on tracking the traces.

William could feel wo different signatures besides Seraphina’s, both of them were adult cultivators and were clearly trained based on how they moved.

The trail led into the woods in a direction different from the town. Deeper into the forest, toward a rougher terrain.

William started following it at a quick pace, using his enhanced senses made navigation easier for him even in the failing light. The kidnappers had a several-hour head start, but they were also carrying or forcing a thirteen-year-old to move with them. They couldn’t move as fast as he could alone.

Behind him, he heard shouts from the estate. His mother had probably discovered his departure.

She would probably mobilize guards and form a search party but it would be too slow.

William ran faster, following the essence traces through the darkening forest. His mind was clear, focused entirely on tracking.

Everything Kai had taught him about following trails, reading disturbances, using essence sense for tracking all of it came together now.

The trail led deeper into the woods for nearly an hour before William noticed something. The essence signatures were fresher here which meant he was gaining on them.

He slowed slightly, moving more carefully now. If he got too close and they spotted him, they might hurt Seraphina or use her as a hostage to escape.

William activated his environmental essence sense which was an advanced technique his mother had taught him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The forest came alive with information. He could feel small animals moving through underbrush, wind patterns through the trees, and there... he spotted them!

They were less than a quarter mile ahead, moving at a walking pace now. Probably thought they were far enough from the estate to relax their speed.

William moved off the main path, circling wide to approach from a different angle. The kidnappers would expect pursuit to come from behind if it came at all. They wouldn’t expect someone to have tracked them this quickly and gotten ahead.

He used wind essence to move silently, with each of his step carefully placed to avoid making noise.

The sword at his belt felt heavier than usual, and he was very aware of the knife concealed under his jacket.

’In a real fight, there are no rules. You do whatever is necessary to survive and protect who matters.’

’Tsk why am I remembering this now’ He shook his head as he tried to keep his mind calm.

William had never actually fought to kill before. Every combat he had experienced had been training or tournaments with rules and restrictions.

This would be totally different.

He got close enough to see two men in dark traveling clothes, both carrying weapons.

They had Seraphina between them with her hands tied and she looked exhausted and frightened but unharmed.

"—boss said keep we should keep her healthy until Cross agrees to withdraw," one of the men was saying. "After that, doesn’t matter what happens to her."

"What a shame. A pretty thing like that could’ve been sold for good money if we weren’t just using her as leverage."

Seraphina flinched at that comment, and William felt something cold and furious settle in his chest.

The men stopped in a small clearing, apparently taking a break. One pulled out a water flask while the other stood guard.

"Sit," the guard ordered Seraphina, gesturing at the ground.

She sat, while her eyes darted around like she was looking for escape routes.

William circled the clearing silently, positioning himself behind the guard.

He was trying to get to the best angle and think about how quickly he could move before they react.

They were both armed adult cultivators with years if experience he was lacking.

William was eighteen, with a few months of serious combat training and theoretical knowledge he had never used in actual life-or-death situations.

These were terrible odds but Seraphina was right there and he wasn’t leaving without her.

He drew his sword slowly, channeling fire essence into the blade just enough to enhance the edge without creating visible flames.

Then he moved quickly with wind essence accelerating his first step, carrying him across the ground faster than he was.

The guard started to turn, sensing something was wrong but William’s blade was already there.

He struck the man’s sword arm hard enough to disarm him, then followed with a wind-enhanced strike that sent him crashing into a tree.

The guard hit hard and slumped, either unconscious or too stunned to immediately recover.

The second man reacted faster, dropping his water flask and drawing a knife in one smooth motion. He grabbed Seraphina and pulled her in front of him as a shield.

"Well, well," the man said, holding the knife near Seraphina’s throat. "I didn’t expect company this quick. You must be the brother."

William stood ten feet away with his sword ready and his mind racing through available options.

He could see the fear in Seraphina’s eyes, and he could see how close the sword was to Seraphine’s neck, if he made one wrong move he was sure that the man wouldn’t hesitate to slit it.

"Let her go," William said with a steady voice despite the adrenaline flooding his system.

"That’s not how this works, boy. You were supposed to get a nice ransom letter and withdraw from your little competition. Instead you’re here, which means someone’s going to be very unhappy with how this developed." The man’s grip on Seraphina tightened. "Drop the sword. Now."

William’s essence sense was fully active, and he was reading the man’s stance and essence flow looking for any opening. The kidnapper was experienced, his positioning was good and his guard solid.

But he had made one mistake. He was focused entirely on William, treating him like a privileged noble boy who didn’t actually know how to fight.

William channeled essence into the ground beneath the man’s feet and used earth manipulation, one of his less-developed affinities but still manageable enough. The soil suddenly shifted, becoming unstable.

The man stumbled slightly, his knife moving away from Seraphina’s throat for just a moment as he tried to regain balance creating the only chance William needed.

His wind essence carried him forward in a burst of speed and his sword came up and across, cutting through the man right arm causing the blade to fall.

Seeing this chance William quickly grabbed Seraphina, pulling her away while channeling fire essence into a strike against the man’s chest.

The kidnapper went down hard, his hand was bleeding and his chest beagn smoking from the impact. He was not dead, but definitely out of the fight.

William didn’t give him time to recover. He grabbed Seraphina and ran, pulling his sister away from the clearing as fast as he could move while dragging someone with him.

They made it maybe fifty yards before Seraphina’s legs gave out.

"William," she gasped, tears streaming down her face. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have run away—"

"We’ll talk about that later. Can you run?"

"I think so. My legs are just tired from walking all day."

William cut the ropes binding her hands with his knife, then helped her to her feet. Behind them, he could hear the second man starting to wake up, groaning in pain.

"We need to move. Now."

They ran together through the darkening forest, heading back toward the estate.

William kept his essence sense active, checking for pursuit, although he couldn’t feel anything yet he was sure that those men would be back.

Seraphina stumbled and William caught her, then made a decision. He sheathed his sword and picked her up, carrying her while using wind essence to enhance his speed.

"I can walk—"

"You’re exhausted and we need to move fast. Just hold on."

William ran through the forest with his sister in his arms. The estate was maybe forty minutes away at this pace. He could make it.

Unless the kidnappers had backup waiting between here and there.

He burst out of the forest and onto a clearer path, still running. Seraphina had her arms wrapped around his neck, and her face pressed against his shoulder.

"I really am sorry," she whispered. "I heard Mother talking about marrying you to that Elara girl and I just... I couldn’t..."

"We’ll talk about it when we’re safe."

William kept running, burning through his essence reserves to maintain the enhanced speed. The estate came into view in the distance with torches lit along its walls.

They were almost there, just a little bit more.

Suddenly a figure stepped out from the trees ahead, blocking the path.

William skidded to a stop, immediately setting Seraphina down and drawing his sword again.

The figure was large, wearing dark clothing similar to the kidnappers, and the essence signature radiating from him was much stronger than the two men William had just fought.

"Impressive," the man said, his voice deep and calm. "You not only tracked them quickly but defeated them quickly too. The reports about you weren’t exaggerated I see."

"Get out of the way."

"I can’t do that. You weren’t supposed to be here. You were supposed to get the letter, panic appropriately, and withdraw from the competition like a good noble boy protecting his sister." The man drew a sword that looked far more professional than anything the other kidnappers had carried. "Now we have problems."

William pushed Seraphine behind him, this man was strong maybe C-rank combat assessment at minimum, possibly higher. Fighting him while protecting Seraphina would be nearly impossible.

"Last chance," the man said. "Withdraw from the competition. Take your sister and go back to your estate. We’ll pretend this whole incident never happened."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I kill you here, take your sister back, and send your body to your mother as a demonstration of what happens when people don’t follow instructions." The man’s tone was matter-of-fact. "I’m being paid well enough that either outcome works for me."

William channeled essence into his sword, preparing for a fight he wasn’t sure he could win.

"William," Seraphine whispered behind him, terrified. "Run. Just run, I’ll be—"

"I’m not leaving you."

The large man smiled. "Touching. But stupid."

He attacked.

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