The Extra is a Hero?-Chapter 337: THE NECESSARY MONSTER
Chapter 335: The Necessary Monster
The shadow didn’t just expand; it flooded the room.
It poured from my feet like spilled ink, defying gravity, crawling up the steps of the dais, slithering over the shattered crystal on the floor, and snuffing out the sickly purple light of the Rot.
The air grew freezing cold. Not the elemental cold of Maria’s ice, but the spiritual void of a tomb.
"What... is... this?" Valen stammered. The massive tree-monster shrank back against the throne, his wooden claws scraping against the silver-wood. For the first time since his transformation, the Regent looked small.
"You called yourself the Apex Predator, Valen," I said, my voice resonating with a distortion that wasn’t mine. I stepped into the darkness. "You thought eating a Demon King’s leftovers made you a god."
I raised my hand. The ink-black ocean around me boiled.
"But you’re just a parasite. And parasites are bottom-feeders."
Two massive, golden eyes opened in the darkness behind me. They were larger than Valen. They burned with an ancient, hungry intelligence that predated the Elven civilization.
[Entity Manifestation: Draken (Partial Release)]
A spectral snout, formed of violet bone and ghost-flame, rose from the floor. Horns curved like scythes scraped the ceiling.
GROWL.
The sound wasn’t heard; it was felt. It rattled the teeth in Valen’s wooden skull.
"A DRAGON?!" Valen shrieked, his composure shattering. "Here?! How?! The Wards... the Barrier..."
"Your barrier blocks mana," I whispered. "It doesn’t block souls."
I pointed at the Regent.
"Eat."
Draken didn’t roar. He lunged.
Valen reacted with the desperation of a cornered rat. "Stay back!"
He unleashed everything.
"Root Barrage!"
Thousands of blackened, thorny spears shot from his body, aiming for the spectral head. They were sharp enough to pierce mithril. They were coated in S-Rank poison.
They hit Draken’s face and... dissolved.
The spectral flame wasn’t physical matter. It was Void. When the wooden spears touched it, they simply ceased to exist. Draken didn’t even blink. He opened his maw, revealing a galaxy of swirling darkness inside his throat.
"NO! I AM THE GARDEN! I AM ETERNAL!"
Valen tried to detach himself from the throne. He tried to run. But he had fused himself too perfectly. He was rooted.
CRUNCH.
Draken’s jaws clamped down on Valen’s upper body.
It wasn’t a physical bite. The throne remained untouched. The walls didn’t break. But Valen’s spirit—the glowing purple essence that animated the wood—was ripped violently from its shell.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Valen screamed. It was a sound that transcended physical pain. It was the sound of a soul being chewed.
Draken pulled.
The purple veins on the walls pulsed frantically, trying to hold onto their host. The corrupted wood of the throne groaned.
RIIIIIIP.
With a sickening tear, a massive, translucent purple shape was dragged out of the wooden body. It looked like Valen, but twisted, horrifying, composed of screaming faces and rot.
Draken didn’t play with his food. He inhaled.
GULP.
The spirit of Regent Valen vanished down the spectral gullet.
Draken closed his mouth. He let out a puff of violet smoke.
"SNACK."
Silence fell over the Throne Room.
The massive wooden monstrosity on the throne—the physical body of Valen—stopped moving. The glowing purple eyes dimmed and turned into hollow, dead knots. The thorns retracted. The pulsing veins on the walls turned grey and crumbled into dust.
Without the animating spirit of the Rot, the "Avatar" was just a pile of dead wood.
The purple barrier outside the window flickered once, twice... and then shattered.
Sunlight—real, unfiltered sunlight—streamed into the room as the artificial sun’s containment field stabilized.
I stood in the center of the room, the shadows receding back into my feet. Draken faded, returning to the depths of my soul to digest his meal.
I took a deep breath. The air was clean.
"It’s done," I whispered.
I turned around.
Leon, Elara, and Selena were standing near the doors. They weren’t cheering. They weren’t smiling.
They were staring at me.
Leon looked pale. He held his hammer loosely, his knuckles white. Elara had her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. Even Selena, usually devoid of emotion, had taken a step back.
They had seen me summon a nightmare. They had watched me feed a sentient being to a monster.
"Michael..." Leon whispered, his voice trembling. "What... what was that?"
I looked at them. I saw the fear. It wasn’t the fear of an enemy; it was the fear of the unknown. The fear of a power that shouldn’t exist in the hands of a "good guy."
I could have explained. I could have told them about the Dragon’s Tomb, about the soul bond, about how it was the only way to kill a spirit-regenerator like Valen.
But I didn’t.
Because fear is useful. Fear keeps people in line. And right now, with the Kingdom in chaos, we didn’t need a friendly strategist. We needed a deterrent.
"That," I said, my voice flat and cold, "was the necessary monster."
I walked past them toward the balcony.
"The barrier is down," I said, not meeting their eyes. "Signal the resistance. Tell them the war is over."
The walk back down the Spire was quiet.
The resistance fighters met us at the ruined gates of the Throne Room. When they saw me, they didn’t cheer. They parted like the Red Sea. They had seen the purple dome shatter. They had felt the terrifying pressure of Draken’s manifestation even from the bottom of the tower.
Whispers followed me.
"That’s him... the Anomaly..."
"Did you feel the cold?"
"He eats souls..."
I ignored them. I walked straight to the Royal Chambers, where the healers were tending to King Elandor.
The room was somber. The beautiful silk drapes were gone, replaced by utilitarian bandages and medical supplies.
Maria stood by the window, looking out at the city. She turned when we entered. She looked at me, then at the terrified expressions of Elara and Leon.
She smirked.
"You scared them," Maria stated. It wasn’t an accusation. It was a compliment.
"I finished the job," I replied, leaning against the wall.
"Status of the King?" Leon asked, rushing to the bedside.
Aurelia Miller shook her head, tears in her eyes. She stepped away from the bed.
King Elandor lay on the sheets. He looked impossibly small. The Rot was gone—the grey patches on his skin had faded—but so had his life force. The connection to the corrupted World Tree had drained him for too long. He was a husk, kept alive only by will.
"Father!" Elara cried, kneeling beside him.
Elandor opened his eyes. They were cloudy, blind.
"Elara..." he rasped. His hand trembled as he reached out. Elara took it.
"I’m here, Father. Valen is dead. The tree is safe."
"Safe..." Elandor smiled weakly. "Good. The roots... hold."
He turned his head, seemingly looking for someone else.
"Selena?"
Selena stepped forward. She didn’t kneel. She stood at attention, her face a mask of logic, though her hands were clenched at her sides.
"I am present, designation: Father."
"My beautiful... broken... girl," Elandor whispered. Tears leaked from his blind eyes. "I am sorry. I tried to fix you. I tried to make you... normal. I should have just... loved you."
Selena stiffened. Her processors didn’t have a response for this.
"Logic error," she whispered. "Apology unnecessary. Your actions were driven by parental instinct protocols."
"Selena," Elandor gasped, his breathing hitching. He reached under his pillow and pulled out a simple, wooden circlet. It wasn’t gold. It was woven from the first branch of the World Tree.
[Item: The Crown of Heart]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Authority: Ruler of Denmard]
"Take it," Elandor said, holding it out to her.
"I am... unfit," Selena said. "I lack empathy. A ruler requires emotional resonance to connect with the populace. Elara is the optimal candidate."
"Selana ..my daughter you have heart of a true ruler," Elandor wheezed. "So don’t be sad . But you... you have the mind of a builder. You see the truth... without the lies of emotion."
He placed the crown in her hands.
"You resembles your mother more and you can handle the elders well ," Elandor coughed, blood appearing on his lips. "They need the cold truth. They need... you."
He looked at me. Even blind, he seemed to find my face.
"Protect... her..."
"I will," I promised.
Elandor let out a long, shuddering breath. His hand went limp in Elara’s grip.
[System Notification: King Elandor Veylan has died.]
Outside the window, a single, massive golden leaf detached from the highest branch of the World Tree. It drifted slowly down past the window, catching the light of the sun.
The King was dead.
The room was silent, save for Elara’s quiet sobbing.
Selena looked at the wooden crown in her hands. She ran her thumb over the rough bark.
"Heart rate: Zero," she stated. "Status: Deceased."
She didn’t cry. She couldn’t.
But she didn’t put the crown down.
She turned to face the room. She looked at Elara, weeping. She looked at Leon, bowing his head. She looked at me, standing in the shadows.
Slowly, deliberately, she lifted the wooden circlet and placed it on her head.
It didn’t glow. It didn’t release a burst of magical fanfare. It simply sat there, heavy and real.
"Mourning protocol initiated," Selena said. Her voice was monotone, but it carried a new weight. A terrifying authority.
She walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Leon asked, wiping his eyes.
"The Throne Room is empty," Selena said. "A power vacuum creates instability. Instability leads to conflict. I will stabilize the sector."
She looked back at us.
"I am the Queen now."
She walked out.
I watched her go. The doll had become the Monarch.
"Well," Maria murmured, breaking the tension. "Long live the Queen."
I looked at the dead King, then at the open door.
"Yeah," I whispered. "Long live the Queen."
(To be Continued)
