The Extra is a Hero?-Chapter 295: THE VOID STRIKE
Chapter 291: The Void Strike
The dust from the disintegrated stone foot hung in the air, glittering with the teal and gold particles of the Ancient Mana.
I stood amidst the debris, my right hand trembling. Small, black sparks of static electricity—Void residue—were arcing between my fingers. The sensation wasn’t pain. It was a terrifying numbness, as if my hand had briefly ceased to belong to the physical world.
"ERROR..."
The Golem stumbled, crashing into the cavern wall. The massive loss of mass on its right side had thrown off its equilibrium. The black rot that usually surged to heal it was stalling at the stump of its leg.
The regeneration vines tried to reach across the wound, but the moment they touched the invisible scar left by the [Void Cut], they withered and turned to ash.
Space doesn’t heal, I realized, a cold smile touching my lips. I didn’t just cut the wood. I deleted the coordinates where the wood used to be.
"Michael!" Leon scrambled to his feet, clutching his chest. He looked at the smoking stump of the Golem, then at me. His eyes were wide with a mixture of relief and absolute horror. "What... what was that?"
"Physics," I rasped, gripping my bent steel sword with my left hand. "I removed the variable."
[System Alert: Mana Toxicity at 85%. Hallucinations imminent.]
[Overclock Duration: 08:42 Remaining.]
The world was starting to bleed colors that didn’t exist. The roots on the ceiling looked like writhing snakes. The air tasted like burning copper.
"It’s not done," I said, forcing my focus back to the enemy.
The Golem roared, a sound of pure, garbled hatred. It pushed itself off the wall, balancing on its remaining leg and the massive knuckles of its right hand. The purple crystals on its back flared brighter.
"ANOMALY... MUST... ERASE."
It opened its mouth. A beam of concentrated Abyssal energy began to gather in its throat.
"It’s charging a beam attack!" Leon yelled, raising his dented shield. "Michael, get behind me!"
"No," I said. The mana rushing through my veins made me feel invincible. It was a lie, a chemical trick of the dungeon, but I used it. "We end this now."
I looked at the Golem. The True Heart—the sphere of white wood—was still hidden under its left shoulder. But now, the Golem was guarding it, keeping its arm tucked tight against its body.
"Leon," I commanded, my voice distorted by the mana overload. "I need one more hit. One big one."
"I can’t reach the head!" Leon shouted. "It’s too tall!"
"Not the head," I said, pointing my sword at the ground. "The floor. Break the stance."
Leon understood. He didn’t ask how. He trusted the tactician.
"RAAAH!"
Leon channeled every ounce of his remaining stamina into the [Breaker’s Hammer]. He didn’t aim at the Golem. He aimed at the mossy ground directly in front of the beast’s supporting hand.
BOOM.
The impact was earth-shattering. The Impact Echo traveled through the floor, liquefying the ground beneath the Golem’s knuckles.
The Golem’s hand slipped.
It pitched forward, its chest hitting the dirt. The beam it had been charging fired wildly, carving a trench of molten glass into the ceiling.
For a split second, the impact jarred its left arm loose. The shoulder armor shifted.
The White Core flashed.
"Checkmate."
I didn’t run. Running was for people bound by friction.
I accessed the [Space Affinity] surging in my blood.
Flash Step.
But with B+ Rank mana, it wasn’t a step. It was a teleport.
One moment, I was standing next to Leon. The next, I was mid-air, five meters above the Golem’s exposed shoulder.
Time seemed to freeze.
I saw the white sphere pulsating frantically. I saw the black rot trying to rush to defend it. I saw the face of Elandra looking up at me, her sewn eyes weeping purple tears.
I transferred the sword to my right hand. The Void energy coating my skin screamed as it made contact with the steel. The metal began to turn grey, then translucent.
[Skill: Void Cut]
[Output: Maximum]
"Sever," I whispered.
I swung the sword.
There was no sound of impact. No resistance of bark or bone.
A vertical line of absolute darkness appeared in the air, bisecting the Golem’s shoulder.
The darkness passed through the armor. It passed through the rot. It passed through the White Core.
SHIIIIING.
The sound of reality snapping back together was deafening.
My steel sword shattered into a million fragments of dust, unable to withstand the Void energy. I fell past the Golem, landing in a roll on the mossy floor.
Behind me, the Golem froze.
The purple light in its eyes flickered.
"Free..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
The voice wasn’t the grinding of stones anymore. It was a whisper. A woman’s whisper.
A hairline crack appeared down the center of the White Core.
CRACK.
The sphere split in two.
The effect was instantaneous. The purple crystals on the Golem’s back turned grey and crumbled into dust. The black liquid flowing through its veins solidified into dry, brittle resin.
The massive construct didn’t fall; it unraveled.
The roots that bound it together lost their tension. The stone armor sloughed off. In seconds, the terrifying Level 60 Elite was reduced to a mound of dead firewood and moss.
[System Alert: Raid Boss Defeated.]
[Enemy: Corrupted Guardian Elandra.]
[Experience: Pending Calculation.]
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the sound of Leon’s ragged breathing.
"Is it..." Leon lowered his hammer, staring at the pile of debris. "Is it over?"
I sat up, clutching my side. The adrenaline was fading, and the pain of my broken rib was returning with a vengeance. The [Mana Toxicity] filter was flickering out.
"It’s over," I wheezed.
I looked at the center of the debris pile.
Lying there, untouched by the rot, was the husk of the High Arborist. She looked peaceful now, truly dead. And resting on the ground next to her was a small, glowing seed.
[Item Drop: Heart of the Guardian (Rare Material)]
But I ignored the drop.
I turned my head toward the center of the room.
The golden pool of Life Dew was still there. It rippled softly, undisturbed by the violence that had just occurred. The light it cast was warm, inviting.
"The Dew," Leon breathed, limping toward it. He looked like he had gone ten rounds with a wrecking ball, but the sight of the objective gave him a second wind. "We did it, Michael. We actually did it."
"Yeah," I said, forcing myself to stand. My legs felt like jelly. "Grab the vial, Leon. Fill it up. Let’s get out of here before the toxicity kills us."
"Right."
Leon knelt by the pool. He reached into his belt pouch to pull out a spare flask.
I scanned the room.
The shadows near the entrance were still. The ceiling was clear.
But my [Danger Intuition] hadn’t turned off.
It was still pulsing. A low, steady warning in the back of my skull.
Why?
The Boss was dead. The environment was stable.
I looked at Leon’s back as he dipped the flask into the gold liquid.
"Leon," I said, my voice sharp. "Don’t turn around."
"What?" Leon paused, the flask half-full.
"Just fill it," I said, my eyes locking onto a ripple in the air behind him. "And get ready to duck."
From the empty air behind the Hero, a shadow detached itself.
It wasn’t a monster. It was a boy in a grey combat suit.
Ren Dover.
He hadn’t fled. He had waited.
He held a dagger in a reverse grip. The blade wasn’t silver anymore. It was coated in a dark, viscous liquid.
Paralysis Poison.
"Ren!" I shouted.
Leon spun around, splashing the Life Dew.
Ren didn’t strike to kill. He struck to subdue.
He stepped inside Leon’s guard—which was nonexistent because Leon was kneeling—and pressed the blade against the exposed skin of Leon’s throat, just above the gorget of his armor.
"Easy, Hero," Ren whispered, his voice smooth as silk. "One twitch, and I sever the jugular. Even with your vitality, you’ll bleed out in thirty seconds."
Leon froze. The flask of Life Dew was in his hand, trembling.
"Ren?" Leon’s eyes were wide with betrayal. "What are you doing? We won."
"You won," Ren corrected. "I’m just collecting my paycheck."
He looked over Leon’s shoulder at me. His eyes were cold, amused.
"Impressive show, Captain," Ren said to me. "That black slash... I’ve never seen a skill like that. Void affinity? You really are full of surprises."
"Let him go, Ren," I said, taking a step forward. My hand went to my belt, but I had no weapon. My sword was dust.
"Tsk, tsk," Ren pressed the blade harder against Leon’s skin. A drop of blood welled up. "Stay right there, Michael. You’re exhausted. You’re poisoned. And you’re unarmed."
He smiled.
"Now... hand over the Dew, Leon. And maybe I let you walk out of here."
(To be Continued)
