The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 590: Stormscale Dragon

The platform remained quiet for several seconds after the movement below the slope. Noel stood with Revenant Fang angled loosely at his side while the teleportation circle behind him continued engraving itself into the stone. Thin lines of mana burned slowly through the mountain rock as the anchor synchronized with the circle waiting in Valon. The process was steady, but not fast.

Another sound rolled through the ravine, heavy enough that the vibration reached the platform again. Rock shifted somewhere below the narrow approach, and dust slid down the slope in thin streams, scattering into the darkness between the cliffs. What followed was not a growl or any natural roar. It began as a low electrical crack, like distant lightning building inside thick clouds.

Noel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

A sharp flash erupted from the darkness below, illuminating the slope for the briefest instant. In that burst of blue-white light, something enormous moved upward with deliberate weight, claws digging into the rock as it pulled itself onto the ridge.

The creature’s body was long and powerful, built like a dragon shaped by storms rather than flame. Black scales layered across it like hardened plates, each one reflecting faint pulses of electricity running along their edges. Thin arcs of lightning crawled across its shoulders and down its spine, and two massive wings remained partially folded against its body, the membranes scarred and torn in places but still large enough to block part of the sky above the ravine.

The creature raised its head. Cold light flickered behind its eyes.

Noir’s ears flattened slightly as she stared at it. ’Dragon.’

Noel studied the creature without moving. The mana surrounding its body was dense and aggressive, rolling outward in irregular pulses that blended with the unstable currents already present in the mountain range. ’Archmage level.’ He exhaled once, almost amused. "Of course there’s a dragon here."

The creature spread its wings. Lightning gathered between the scales along its chest before bursting outward in a jagged bolt that tore through the air and slammed directly into the platform where Noel had been standing, shattering stone and scattering sparks across the rock.

"Shadow Step." His body dissolved into darkness and reappeared several meters away along the edge of the platform. The dragon lowered its head again, electricity crackling along its jaws as it prepared another strike. Noel adjusted his grip on Revenant Fang and moved to meet it.

The dragon did not hesitate after the first strike. Electricity continued crawling across its scales as it advanced along the slope, claws grinding against stone with a weight that echoed through the narrow ravine. Each step carried a low rumble through the mountain itself, small fragments of rock breaking loose and sliding down the walls around them.

Noel stepped forward just enough to draw the creature’s attention away from the unfinished circle behind him and raised his free hand slightly. "Fire Arc." A curved blade of flame tore through the air and struck the dragon’s neck just below the jawline, scattering sparks across the scales in a brief flash of orange. The fire washed over the dark plates and burned, but the scales held, darkening slightly where the heat struck before the fire dissipated into smoke.

The dragon’s jaws opened wide and electricity gathered inside its throat with a violent crackle. The air itself seemed to tighten for half a second before the creature released it in a continuous stream that struck the platform like a focused storm. Noel raised his hand without retreating. "Frost Wall." A barrier of thick ice surged upward from the stone between them just as the lightning slammed into it, electricity exploding across the frozen surface as spiderweb cracks spread through the barrier. It held for two seconds before shattering, fragments bursting outward in every direction as the energy tore through the last of the defense and scorched the rock beneath.

By the time the lightning faded, Noel had already moved. At the edge of the platform, Noir’s body dissolved into darkness. The shadow stretched and expanded rapidly until she emerged in her larger form, surging upward into an eight-meter shadow wolf, black fur absorbing the scattered light while faint streaks of purple shimmered along her frame.

She launched herself at the dragon’s left wing, jaws closing around the thick membrane near the joint as she tried to drag the limb downward. The dragon reacted with a sideways sweep of its claw that caught Noir across the side and hurled her across the platform. Her massive form crashed against the rock wall with a heavy thud before sliding back down onto the stone. The dust hung in the air for a moment, then Noir pushed herself back up, shadow rippling across her body as she shook off the impact.

Noel watched the exchange carefully. The dragon shifted its stance again, electricity still dancing along its scales as it prepared another attack. ’Fast.’ His grip tightened slightly on Revenant Fang as he stepped forward. ’Too fast for its size.’

Noel did not rush forward after that exchange. The dragon had already shown enough for him to understand the basics of the fight. Its speed was abnormal for something that large, its scales resisted direct elemental damage better than expected, and the electricity surrounding its body was not simply decoration but a natural extension of its mana circulation. Brute force alone would waste time.

He lowered his stance slightly and shifted his grip on Revenant Fang while the dragon adjusted its footing on the broken slope. The creature’s wings spread wider as it prepared another movement, arcs of lightning crawling along the membrane like living veins. Noel raised his hand slowly. "Gravition Hold."

The air around the dragon distorted. It began subtly, a pressure pressing downward from every direction at once. The creature’s wings dipped a fraction lower as the invisible weight settled across its body, loose stones around its claws cracking and sinking deeper into the mountain surface as the field intensified. The dragon lifted its head and roared, electricity bursting outward in jagged arcs that snapped through the air like whips and clashed against the invisible pressure, disrupting parts of the spell as the creature forced its wings open again. The gravitational hold did not collapse entirely, but the dragon was strong enough to push through portions of it, its next step forward coming slower than the last.

That was enough. "Zero Point Burst."

A small sphere of warped space formed beneath the dragon’s chest. At first it looked like nothing more than a faint distortion in the air, but the effect grew rapidly as gravity began folding inward toward the center point. Loose fragments of stone lifted from the ground and dust spiraled into the sphere as the pull intensified. The dragon’s claws dug violently into the rock as the force dragged its body toward the distortion, its wings flaring open instinctively, but the sudden gravitational collapse disrupted its balance and the enormous creature lost its footing.

The sphere detonated. Gravity snapped outward in a violent shockwave that slammed into the dragon’s body and blasted fragments of stone across the platform. Several of the black scales along its chest cracked under the pressure, pieces breaking away and scattering down the slope.

The dragon roared again, this time with anger rather than surprise. Electricity surged wildly across its body, far stronger than before, and the unstable mana currents in the mountains reacted instantly, feeding into the creature’s natural affinity. Dark clouds began forming above the peaks as stray bolts of lightning flickered across the sky. The storm was answering the dragon’s presence.

The dragon’s roar rolled through the mountain as lightning continued to build across the sky above them. Fragments of broken scales slid down the slope where Noel’s gravity attack had struck, exposing darker plates beneath the outer layer. It was not a lethal wound, but it had proven something important. The armor could break.

Noel stepped forward before the creature could fully recover. "Ignition Surge." Flames erupted along the edge of Revenant Fang, wrapping the blade in a sheath of burning orange that shifted with the weapon like living fire. He vanished before the heat had finished spreading.

"Shadow Step." His body dissolved into darkness and reappeared above the dragon’s shoulder, landing briefly against the curve of its armored back. The flaming blade came down immediately, cutting across the ridge of scales running along the creature’s spine with a burst of sparks and flame. Cracked scales split apart under the heat, fragments scattering down the dragon’s side as the blade tore a glowing line across its back.

The dragon’s head snapped backward with terrifying speed, jaws opening wide as electricity burst across its teeth and the massive jaws closed where Noel had been standing. He was already moving. "Shadow Rift." A thin tear of darkness opened beside him, no larger than a doorway but deep enough to swallow his silhouette instantly.

He stepped through and emerged a heartbeat later behind the creature’s neck, Revenant Fang tearing through another section of scales and widening the damage from before. The exposed surface beneath flickered with unstable electricity as the dragon twisted violently to throw him off.

Noir moved at the same moment. Her massive form melted into darkness from the far side of the platform before erupting forward again. "Night Pounce." The eight-meter shadow wolf burst from the creature’s blind side like a projectile, her entire body slamming into the dragon’s flank with crushing momentum, jaws snapping shut around the base of its wing.

The combined force drove the dragon sideways, claws scraping uselessly across the rock as the impact pushed it into the ravine wall. The collision shook the entire platform, stone cracking under the dragon’s weight as the massive body slammed against the cliff, scattering broken scales across the ground.

Between the fractured armor and the lightning coursing beneath it, something deeper became visible within the creature’s chest. A concentrated electric core pulsed beneath the broken plates. Behind them, the teleportation circle continued engraving itself into the stone, its lines burning steadily deeper as the synchronization process moved closer to completion.

The moment the dragon felt its core exposed, the creature changed. The storm above the mountains thickened instantly as electricity erupted across its body in violent arcs, lightning crawling along every scale and gathering around its chest in a growing sphere of unstable power. The air around the platform vibrated with the charge building inside the dragon’s body, the pressure rising quickly enough that even the stone beneath Noel’s boots began to crack under the energy.

The dragon lifted its head and opened its jaws wide. The lightning gathering inside its throat was far larger than before, and if that attack reached the platform, the unfinished circle behind him would not survive it.

"Cooling Veil." A thin wave of frost spread outward from Noel, the temperature around the platform dropping sharply as the spell suppressed the violent thermal pressure building in the air. The sudden cooling disrupted the charge just enough to destabilize the dragon’s attack, thin streaks of lightning scattering outward instead of forming a single concentrated blast.

He raised his hand toward the creature’s body without pausing. "Gravity Collapse." The air distorted again, this time with far greater force than before. The gravitational pressure slammed downward onto the dragon like an invisible hammer, forcing its massive body against the rock beneath it. The creature struggled violently, wings flaring outward as it tried to lift itself free, but the sudden increase in weight trapped the wings between its own body and the fractured ground. Stone shattered beneath its claws as it fought against the crushing force.

Electricity began gathering along Noel’s form. "Stormpiercer." Lightning erupted around him as the spell activated, arcs of pure electricity wrapping around his body before launching him forward in a blinding streak. He reappeared directly in front of the dragon’s chest as the attack drove him forward like a living bolt, Revenant Fang piercing through the fractured armor and plunging directly into the exposed electric core.

The dragon’s body jerked violently. Noel did not withdraw the blade. "Eclipse Rend." Darkness surged outward from Revenant Fang as the blade cut through the core in a sweeping arc, the wave of void energy carving across the exposed cavity and severing the lightning source at its center as if night itself had sliced through the storm.

The electricity surrounding the dragon’s body flickered once, then faded. The massive creature remained standing for a breath longer, its head still raised toward the darkening sky, before the life left its eyes. The enormous body collapsed slowly against the slope, rock grinding beneath its weight as the dragon slid down the ravine wall and came to rest among the broken stone.

Silence returned to the mountain.

A faint glow appeared before Noel’s eyes.

[You have slain Stormscale Dragon (Archmage – Elite). You have received 1% Core Progress. Current Core Progress: 75.00% — Mana Core: Archmage]

Behind him, the teleportation circle completed its final sequence. The engraved lines across the stone brightened briefly before stabilizing, the connection with Valon locking into place as the last fragments of mana settled into the mountain.

Noir’s massive shadow form dissolved slowly until she returned to her smaller shape, landing lightly beside him. She glanced at the dragon’s corpse, then toward the sky where the storm clouds were beginning to fade. ’That was loud.’

Noel wiped the remaining sparks from Revenant Fang before sliding the blade back into its sheath. His gaze moved across the surrounding peaks, studying the endless ridges disappearing into the distance. "Good." He looked deeper into the mountains. "Let’s see what else lives here."