The Extra's Rise-Chapter 501: Lumiaren City (7)

I wrapped my arms around Arthur from behind, holding him like I could physically pull him back from the brink just by wanting it enough. My tears wouldn’t stop. They streamed down my cheeks, hot and fast, like someone had finally opened a valve I didn’t know existed. Dignity? Gone. Royal decorum? Irrelevant. I was a Saintess and a princess, yes, but right now I was just a girl who’d found the boy she loved bleeding into her lap.

I hadn’t seen him in so long.

I’d imagined our reunion differently. I was supposed to surprise him—sweep into Lumiaren City with the northern reinforcements like a heroine out of an old epic, kiss him breathless, tease him, maybe steal his cloak just because I missed the way it smelled. I’d imagined the way his eyes would light up at the sight of me.

Not this.

Not... this.

He looked half-dead. Which, in fairness, was still one half too many.

Across from me, Seraphina knelt, her silver hair falling forward to hide her expression as she clutched Arthur’s hand with white knuckles.

I breathed in sharply, and the light responded. Golden wings of Purelight erupted from my back, fanning out with a mechanical hiss and holy hum that set the very air around us trembling. It wasn’t subtle. But subtlety was overrated when the man you loved was bleeding out and had a hole in his chest the size of your fist.

Seraphina’s head snapped up, her ice-blue eyes meeting mine. No introductions needed—we’d spent three years sharing combat classes and dormitory space. "Rachel," she acknowledged, her voice steadier than I would have expected given the circumstances.

I didn’t bother with pleasantries. "Move your hand," I instructed, nodding toward where she clutched Arthur’s chest. "I need to see the entry point."

She complied immediately, shifting her grip to his shoulder instead.

My hands glowed as I pressed them against Arthur’s chest, directly over the gaping wound where the vampire’s blood spear had pierced him. Healing spells flowed like water from a broken dam. I didn’t hold anything back. If I could burn my own lifespan to heal him faster, I would. Arthur came first. Always.

The battlefield around us was quiet in that strange, high-pitched way that only happened when everything else was too loud. The three Mount Hua Elders were already dead, reduced to corpses and regrets.

Even if they hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have cared. My priority was Arthur. It wasn’t strategic. It wasn’t rational. It definitely wasn’t what a Saintess or a princess was supposed to do.

And I didn’t care one bit.

The golden light from my wings intensified, focusing into needle-thin beams that penetrated Arthur’s wound. I could see everything—the shredded tissue, the punctured lung, the shards of bone from shattered ribs. Worse, I could see the strange, ominous darkness that lingered in the wound—blood magic, still working to destroy him from within.

"Blood corruption," Seraphina said, her tone clinical despite the tension in her shoulders. "Third-tier, based on the coloration."

"Fourth," I corrected automatically, the old classroom rivalry surfacing even now. "See the fractal patterns at the edges? It’s fourth-tier, verging on fifth."

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "Still correcting me after all this time, Rachel."

"Only when you’re wrong, Sera," I replied.

"Hold him still," I instructed. "This will hurt him, even unconscious."

Seraphina’s grip tightened on his shoulders. I noticed how familiar she seemed with his body, how she knew exactly where to apply pressure to keep him stable. The possessive feeling flared again, hotter this time. How many battles had they fought together while I was away? How many quiet moments had they shared?

Arthur’s body arched suddenly, a choked gasp escaping his lips as the Purelight battled against the corruption. Seraphina bent close to his ear, whispering something I couldn’t hear over my own singing. Whatever it was, it seemed to calm him, his body relaxing slightly despite the pain.

My vision blurred, not from tears this time but from fatigue. Healing this deep, this fast, it took more out of me than most battles. The golden wings flickered momentarily as my concentration wavered.

"Rachel!" A sharp voice cut through my focus. "Don’t overextend."

Lilith Windward stood on the other side of the chamber, her attention split between me and the partially frozen vampire. The legendary Windward looked exactly as she always did—tall, imposing, with golden hair and eyes the color of emeralds. Her armor, crafted from the rare azurite metal found only in the deepest Northern mines, gleamed with runes of binding and judgment.

"I’m fine," I called back, though we both knew it was a lie.

Lilith’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t press the issue. Instead, she turned her full attention back to the Vampire Ancestor, who was struggling against the ice that encased her lower body.

"You Northern barbarians," the vampire hissed, her aristocratic features contorted with rage. "This is far beyond your jurisdiction. The East belongs to the Monarch!"

"Funny," Lilith replied, her voice colder than the ice she wielded. "I don’t see his name carved anywhere."

Still looking at the vampire, she called out to me again. "Rachel, stabilize and withdraw. I’ll handle this quickly."

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order from the woman who’d helped train me since I was a child, the woman who was practically family through her bond with my sister Kathlyn.

I knew she was right. Arthur was stable enough now that he wouldn’t die in the next few minutes. The corruption was contained, if not fully purged.

With a final pulse of golden light, I sealed the worst of Arthur’s wounds and withdrew my power. The wings folded back into nothingness, leaving me light-headed and swaying.

"He’s stable," I told Seraphina, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Arthur’s face. My voice came out more possessive than I’d intended. "I’ve stopped the corruption from spreading, but he’ll need more specialized care. My care."

If Seraphina noted my tone, she didn’t comment on it. "Thank you," she said simply.

I summoned what remained of my healing energy. No wings this time—I didn’t have the strength for that display again—but my hands still glowed with gentle golden light as I pressed them against her wound. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"It’s not as bad as it looks," I said after a moment. "Clean through, no corruption."

As I worked on healing Seraphina, I kept one eye on Lilith and the vampire. It was almost unfair, really.

She may have been a Vampire Ancestor—terrifying, ancient, and very full of herself—but she was still only low Immortal-rank. And already weakened.

Lilith? She was two levels above that, and worse, she knew it.

Her sword, Frostmourne, carved through blood magic like it was late for something. Vampire Ancestor blocked once. Maybe twice. Then she started bleeding for real.

"This is impossible," she hissed, genuine fear replacing her earlier arrogance. "The Monarch will—"

"Send his regards?" Lilith finished for her, driving Frostmourne deeper into the vampire’s shoulder. "I look forward to receiving them personally."

It wouldn’t be a long fight. The universe had already penciled in the outcome and was moving on to more interesting storylines.

But I didn’t care about that, either.

I just felt... tired. Not the magical kind. The emotional kind. The kind that sits in your lungs and weighs down your ribs and makes your breath catch in your throat.

I should have been faster. I should’ve been here sooner. I should never have let him be in this state again.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Lilith strode over to us, her expression softening slightly as she knelt beside me.

"You pushed yourself too hard again," she chided, though there was no real heat in her words. She reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face with unexpected gentleness. "Kathlyn would have my head if I let anything happen to her little sister."

I managed a weak smile. "I’m fine, Lilith. Really."

"Hmm." She clearly didn’t believe me, but turned her attention to Arthur instead. "How is he?"

"Stable, but unconscious. The breakthrough to peak Integration combined with the vampire’s blood corruption..." I shook my head. "He needs more specialized care."

Lilith nodded, then looked at Seraphina. "Princess. I am Lilith Windward, leading the Aurora Knights. We come at the request of the Mount Hua sect, as allies to the Eastern Coalition."

Seraphina inclined her head with perfect formal grace, despite her disheveled appearance. "Mount Hua welcomes the Aurora Knights, Captain Windward. Your timing was... fortunate."

"We should move him," Lilith interjected. "The pavilion isn’t secure, and he needs proper medical facilities."

"The Northern delegation has a secure compound on the second terrace," I said, already gathering Arthur’s limp form into my arms, unwilling to let anyone else carry him. "My personal healers are standing by."

Seraphina watched me with an unreadable expression. I could see the calculation in her eyes—weighing her position as Princess of Mount Hua against the reality that I wasn’t asking permission.

"I’ll come with you," she decided finally. "Arthur remains under Mount Hua’s protection."

"Of course," I agreed, my tone making it clear I was allowing her presence rather than requiring it. "We’re all on the same side here."

For now, at least.

As we made our way out of the blood-soaked chamber, I held Arthur close against my chest, feeling the steady, if faint, beat of his heart. He was alive. He would stay that way. I would make sure of it.

Behind us, Lilith dealt with the frozen vampire and the bodies of the fallen Elders. There would be time later for mourning, for questions, for the inevitable conflict between my claim on Arthur and Seraphina’s.

For now, he was alive. And really, that was all that mattered.