Why is Background Character the Strongest Now?-Chapter 40: Crimson’s Second Fang

Chapter 40

The silence after the storm was almost cruel.

Wind swept across the shattered battlefield, carrying with it ash, blood, and the scent of scorched earth. Crimson fragments of Ryun’s broken aura still hung in the air, like fading embers after a wildfire.

Ezra’s sword—what remained of it—crumbled to dust in his hand.

His legs buckled.

He staggered forward a step.

Then another.

Then stopped.

The fight was over.

His mana was gone. Not low gone.

Every reserve spent, every shred of energy burned through.

His body screamed in protest with every breath he took.

The glowing white in his eyes dimmed. His vision blurred at the edges, colors bleeding together like melting paint. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, growing fainter with every pulse.

He was falling.

But before the darkness claimed him, he remembered—

His trembling hand drifted up—slowly, like lifting a mountain—with fingers brushing against the worn silver band on his finger.

Ren Kurogane. His master.

The man who had given him this artifact with only one instruction.

"If the day ever comes where your mana is completely depleted...

Tap the ring.

No matter where you are, I’ll come."

Ezra’s lips parted—no words came.

There was no strength left to speak.

But somehow, his fingertip tapped the ring.

Once.

A faint ripple of magic pulsed out—subtle, silent, but undeniable. It shimmered through the air like a heartbeat made of light, then vanished into nothingness.

The signal had been sent.

Ezra smiled—just a little. Broken, bloody, but content.

Then his legs gave out.

He collapsed, his body crumpling into the scorched dirt, one hand still resting near the ring. Dust rose around him like a final breath.

His eyes closed.

——————————

Meanwhile...

Elsewhere, far from the battlefield, Marcus, Daelen, Lyria, Evelyne, and Dravis emerged in a flash of light—teleported by magic.

Before them stood a massive gate embedded in the heart of a crumbling valley, jagged cliffs rising like teeth around it. The dungeon gate loomed at least twenty feet tall pulsing faintly with red veins that hadn’t been there moments ago.

Marcus stumbled forward slightly, the spell on his lips breaking.

"...Where are we?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

Daelen gave him a sharp look. "Are you blind?"

Marcus shot him a glare. "Say that again."

"Enough, both of you!" Evelyne snapped, stepping between them. Her voice was firm, laced with worry. Her green eyes scanned the area. "Where’s Ezra?"

They all looked around, but—

Ezra wasn’t there.

The realization hit them like a blow.

"He was right behind me," Marcus muttered, scanning the area. "Where the hell is he? Did they take him?!"

Lyria put a hand on his arm. "Calm down. First we need to understand where we are."

But before anyone could speak again, a deep rumble echoed through the valley.

They all turned.

The dungeon gate was changing.

The once-dark metal began glowing crimson, as if infected with blood. Faint cracks ran through its surface, leaking mana like steam.

Daelen took a cautious step forward, his eyes fixed on it.

"...Focus," he muttered grimly. "That gate—it’s overloading."

Monsters flooded from the gate—

Dozens of shapes, screeching and clawing their way out.

Some looked like twisted ghouls with cracked, pale skin and hollow eyes.

Others were like insectoid beasts, with bladed arms and twitching mandibles.

Some resembled hairless wolves, their ribs sticking out, their mouths stretched far too wide.

And amidst them, a few slithered like serpents with bone armor, or crawled with spider legs sprouting from human torsos.

Daelen moved first.

He gritted his teeth, gripped his massive greatsword, and charged forward.

Golden mana exploded around him as he leapt into the air.

"Clear a path!" he shouted.

He came down hard.

BOOM!

His blade struck the ground with a thunderous crash—

The earth cracked beneath him.

A golden shockwave burst outward in a wide arc, tearing through the front lines of monsters. Limbs flew. Ghouls shattered. Dust and blood scattered.

Dozens fell in an instant.

Lyria followed, her movements fluid, dancer-like.

Spinning, she formed fiery sigils in the air with every motion—

Kung-fu precision, mage-level destruction.

"Crimson Soulflame: Phoenix Ascend!" she called out.

A giant phoenix burst to life behind her, made entirely of roaring fire, its wings flaring wide.

The phoenix let out a piercing cry, shaking the battlefield.

Crimson mana surged from the flames and wrapped around Lyria like a cloak.

Her red hair lifted into the air, eyes glowing like embers as the phoenix soared forward.

It dove straight into the monster horde—

And everything in its path turned to ash.

Evelyne stood calm and deadly, surrounded by chaos.

A group of beasts lunged at her from every side.

Without blinking, she raised her hand. Green magic circles bloomed in the air.

"Scatter."

In a heartbeat, razor winds erupted in every direction.

The monsters were torn mid-leap—

Sliced into pieces by invisible blades of air.

Green wind mana wrapped around Evelyne like a storm-dancer’s veil. Her black hair swirled in the gusts, and her eyes glowed a piercing green, as if she commanded the breath of the world itself.

With a sweep of her arm, a vortex of slicing wind howled out, sending the remaining beasts crashing backward like leaves in a gale.

Dravis cracked his knuckles, eyes locked on the enemy horde.

"Finally," he muttered, stepping forward.

A blueish aura burst from his body, swirling around his fists and legs—

A hybrid energy of water and ice, controlled with brutal precision.

One beast lunged at him—

THWACK!

A spinning back-kick shattered its jaw, sending it flying back into its allies.

Dravis moved like water—

Smooth, adaptive, lethal.

He ducked low, fists glowing blue, and slammed both palms into the ground.

"Frost Surge: Ice Fang Breaker!"

Water surged beneath the soil, then erupted as jagged ice spears, impaling several monsters at once.

Another came from behind.

He twisted, catching it mid-leap with an elbow to the throat followed by a crushing knee to the ribs.

"Too slow," he growled, slamming a water-enhanced uppercut that launched the creature skyward in a frozen arc.

Frost clung to his fists now, his breaths steaming. Each strike was a perfect blend of mixed martial arts and elemental brutality.

Marcus was everywhere at once.

His eyes glowed bright, chanting multiple incantations at once—

Multicasting.

From the ground, tree roots burst upward, wrapping around monsters and pinning them.

Then—

WHOOSH!

Wind blades sliced through their necks—clean and precise.

Marcus didn’t stop.

He shot upward using wind, hovering mid-air, hands crackling with energy.

The sky turned black.

Storm clouds formed in an instant above the battlefield, rumbling with fury.

"Arcstorm Descent!"

Lightning tore from the sky in rapid bursts—

Exploding across the battlefield, electrocuting dozens of monsters in a flash of light and thunder.

Then, Marcus dropped back down, landing with a smirk.

With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a combo of flame, stone, and lightning, wiping out another wave with elemental precision.

⸻

Daelen stood over a pile of twitching corpses, panting slightly.

He wiped sweat from his brow.

"These are just Rank 1? Then this dungeon must be..."

He trailed off.

Suddenly—

A blur.

Something moved faster than his eyes could follow.

WHOOSH!

A thin shadow slipped past the monsters—

And vanished.

Daelen’s instincts flared.

"Wait—where did—"

SHHK!

The monster erupted from his own shadow, materializing right behind him.

A black claw slashed at his back.

Daelen twisted, dodging mid-roll, but not in time.

Blood splashed.

A deep scratch opened across his left arm.

"Ghh—!"

He jumped back, skidding on one knee.

"Tch... Rank 3." he growled, clutching his bleeding arm.

The monster—humanoid, sleek, with obsidian armor and blank eyes—smiled with fangs bared.

All around the battlefield, the sounds of battle raged like thunder—

Until something shifted.

The monsters... slowed.

Only the strongest remained.

Rank 3s.

Snarling, growling, and far more intelligent than the others—these ones had strategy, speed, and deadlier auras.

Marcus floated mid-air, still glowing with storm-born power.

Two Rank 3 monsters leapt at him from both sides—one flying, one cloaked in invisibility.

His eyes flicked once.

"Double Layer Seal: Temporal Fracture."

A sudden pulse of magic froze time for a split second.

He twisted his hand.

SHHK! SHHK!

Twin lances of compressed wind and lightning shot from his palms—

Both monsters were torn apart mid-air, their charred pieces raining down like shredded leather.

Marcus landed, panting, wiping blood from his cheek.

"Try harder next time."

⸻

Daelen, meanwhile, faced two more Rank 3s—hulking brutes with bone armor and fiery breath.

He slammed his greatsword into the ground, channeling mana through the hilt.

Golden fire crackled up the blade, twisting with streaks of wind.

He muttered, "Flamewind Technique: Spiral Execution."

Then he charged.

WHOOM—!

With unnatural speed, he spun into the two monsters, blade swirling like a tornado of flame.

SLASH—SLASH!

One head flew.

Then an arm.

Then the other monster fell, its torso cut clean through, cauterized mid-slice.

Daelen emerged, breathing heavily, flames still flickering along his weapon.

⸻

Dravis stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lyria and Evelyne now.

He cracked his neck.

"Alright. Let’s finish this."

One Rank 3 lunged at him—fast, skeletal, ice-skinned.

But Dravis caught its strike, twisted under its arm, and exploded water into its chest like a pressure cannon.

WHAM!

It flew back—right into a wall of rising ice spears that Dravis summoned with a stomp.

"Tidal Blitz: Frost Fang Fist!"

His punch landed.

The monster shattered like glass.

⸻

Lyria burned hers with another phoenix dive, crimson wings engulfing it entirely.

And Evelyne, with wind coiling around her arms, lifted into the air and unleashed a hurricane slash that split the last Rank 3 into two clean halves.

All of them were holding well then suddenly-

CLAP.

CLAP.

CLAP.

A slow, mocking applause echoed across the battlefield chilling in the sudden silence.

"Ha... ha... HA—HAHAHAHA!"

It rang through the valley like nails scraping ice.

They turned toward the sound.

And saw her.

Floating above the shattered cliffs, silhouetted against the blood-red sky. Cloaked in black and silver, her presence warped the very air around her. Mana pulsed from her like waves from a storm.

Her long hair—like black smoke—snaked through the wind, and a jagged ice mask obscured most of her face. But those glowing white eyes burned with cold, merciless focus.

She hovered with effortless grace, arms folded, as if watching insects squirm.

"Well done," she called, her voice silk and steel. "Truly... impressive. Rank 3 monsters? You tore through them like weeds."

The group tensed, weapons raised again.

Dravis stepped forward, scowling. "Who the hell are you?"

She tilted her head slightly.

Then slowly raised her hand.

A pulse of mana crackled outward.

"Oh don’t recognise me so sad "

Her tone was mocking. But then she removed her mask.

Her face was pale, perfect, and cruelly beautiful eyes like frozen moons, and a jagged crimson mark running down her cheek like a tear made of blood.

"I am Selica Noir."

A pause.

" #2 hunter of the Crimson Guild."

Gasps rippled through the group.

Dravis’ jaw clenched. "The Crimson Guild again do you bastard —"

She cut him off.

"I know you’re from one of the High Council families. And I know the Crimson Guild will be wiped from the face of this world... but—"

A wicked smile curved her lips.

"My love gave the command... and that means I have to kill you. No exceptions."

Mana surged from her body like a tidal wave, thick with frost and dread. The air dropped in temperature instantly, breath turning to mist.

"Great family or not, you have no place in his grand design."

She raised both hands now.

"Now you die."

⸻

SHHHHHHHH—

Hundreds of glacial spears formed behind her—each one crackling with deathly cold, their tips glowing a ghostly blue. They filled the sky like a falling constellation.

Dravis growled, "Get ready!"

Selica’s voice echoed again. "Let’s see how many of you can dance..."

The spears fell.

FWOOOOOOSH—

Like a rain of knives, they screamed toward the battlefield.

Marcus shouted, "Barrier dome—NOW!"

He and Evelyne combined their magic, wind and lightning whirling together into a swirling dome that caught the first wave.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

Explosions rocked the field as frost spears shattered against the barrier.

Dravis rolled sideways, dodging three in a blur of motion. One grazed his shoulder—instantly freezing the flesh.

"Damn it—!"

Daelen deflected one with his greatsword, sparks and frost clashing midair.

Lyria weaved through them like fire itself, twisting mid-air and casting flame sigils that melted the ice in bursts.

Evelyne spun like a leaf in the storm, slicing spears with wind arcs, dancing on sheer instinct.

Still, the onslaught didn’t stop.

Selica laughed again—eyes gleaming.

"Good. You’re not entirely useless."

She snapped her fingers.

A surge of magic exploded outward.

She chanted in a tongue none of them recognized—arcane, old, and hateful.

"Vyr’en Kal Drosath... ZHURA’THUL NERETHAR!"

A massive sigil burst open behind her—twenty feet wide, carved in ice and blood.

Dravis froze. "Wait. That’s not a normal spell—"

Marcus paled. "That’s a Ritual-Class incantation..."

Selica’s voice thundered.

"Glacier Cataclysm: Endfall."

From the sky, a colossal spear of ice—larger than a dragon—began to form. Jagged, ancient, carved with runes, its tip pulsing like a heartbeat.

Dravis growled, stepping forward.

"We won’t let you drop that thing—!"

He launched toward her—

But Selica was already gone.

She reappeared behind him in a blink.

"Too slow."

BOOM—

A pulse of frost magic blasted him back, sending him crashing into a cliff wall.

She turned to the others.

"You’ve fought well," she said softly. "But this... this is your end."

Then she pointed a single, elegant finger downward.

The massive ice spear—Endfall—started to descend.

Fast.

Too fast.

Marcus screamed, "MOVE—MOVE—SCATTER!"

Above them, the sky was collapsing.

And Selica...

Just laughed.

Cold. Cruel. Certain.

"Die."