As A Mafia Boss, I Refuse To Be An Extra

Zavier and the others looked at Damian, their hands twitching toward weapons, ready to unleash the same devastating combinations that had won their tournament match in five seconds.

But Damian gave a subtle shake of his head – barely visible, just a slight negative movement that carried clear meaning.

’Not yet. Conserve strength.’

They understood immediately.

This wasn’t a tournament with medical teams standing by.

This was survival, and they had no idea how long the fight would last or what else they’d face after these creatures were dealt with.

Showing their full capabilities from the start would paint targets on their backs from Nobles who’d love any excuse to eliminate commoner threats.

Better to appear competent but not exceptional.

So they held back for now.

Zavier protected Lysa with efficient strikes rather than overwhelming force, his spear finding vulnerable points rather than obliterating entire sections of enemies.

Ronan used his earth-enhanced strength to maintain the shield wall rather than going on the offensive, his massive frame absorbing impacts that would have broken lesser students.

Edrin continued providing tactical coordination, his analytical mind processing battlefield information faster than anyone else present, his orders keeping the formation functional despite constant pressure.

Lysa remained completely focused on her sensory skill, calling out enemy positions with mechanical precision, her Aura burning to enhance the ability beyond normal limits.

And Damian...

Damian stood in the center, Omega Point active, firing precise crimson bullets at enemies who were about to kill students.

Not the ones attacking shields – those could be handled by defenders.

Not the ones in open space – those could be handled by ranged attackers.

Just the ones slipping through gaps, exploiting mistakes, about to deliver killing blows to students who’d frozen or fallen or failed in critical moments.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

His Aura bullets curved around allies, struck creatures with surgical precision, saved lives without drawing excessive attention.

The kind of contribution that would be remembered as helpful.

****

[The Battle Intensifies]

Rain continued falling harder, turning the entire battlefield into a slippery nightmare where every step could mean death.

Lightning cracked overhead, illuminating scenes of horror in frozen moments – creatures tearing through shields, students screaming as claws found flesh, bodies falling into mud and not getting up.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Thunder followed, nature itself seeming to celebrate the carnage.

Sophia Verratoux’s pink Aura spread outward in waves, her mind-principle skills searching for consciousness to attack.

But they were too mindless.

No consciousness to attack, no thoughts to disrupt, just pure instinct and hunger driving bodies that barely qualified as sentient..

Her face twisted with frustration, then calculation. If she couldn’t control their minds, she’d control everything else.

A dead creature’s corpse lifted from the mud, puppet-like, and flew toward the horde.

SMACK!

It crashed into three creatures, sending them sprawling.

More bodies rose. Weapons torn from dead hands. Shields ripped from corpses. All of it became projectiles under her telekinetic control.

"If you won’t think, then DROWN IN YOUR DEAD!"

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

A storm of corpses and metal slammed into the creatures, buying precious seconds, creating barriers of flesh and bone that slowed the advance.

****

David Evergreen moved through the formation constantly, green healing Aura flowing from his hands, closing wounds and restoring stamina.

But he couldn’t be everywhere.

For every person he healed, three more were injured.

The screaming never stopped.

"I SHOULDN’T HAVE JOINED THIS TOURNAMENT! I DON’T WANT TO DIE HERE! MOMMA–"

A boy – maybe eighteen, Noble family crest on his torn uniform – went down with claws through both legs.

He crawled through mud, leaving trails of blood, still screaming for his mother as creatures closed in.

His face showed terror mixed with childlike desperation, all Noble pride stripped away by pure animal fear.

RIP!

A creature tore his arm off at the shoulder.

The boy stared at the empty socket, his mind unable to process what his eyes were seeing, his screams becoming higher, more primal.

"THAT’S MY ARM! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT–" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

CRUNCH!

Another creature’s jaws closed around his head.

Not biting it off cleanly.

Just... closing.

Slowly.

The wet sounds of skull cracking audible even over the battle, the boy’s muffled screams cutting off as his head compressed like fruit, brain matter and blood squirting between teeth.

A boy’s legs gave out from pure terror, his hands shaking so badly he dropped his weapon.

"I can’t... I can’t do this... I want to go home..."

A creature grabbed his head and lifted him screaming into the air.

CRUNCH.

His skull collapsed like wet paper. Brain matter dripped through clawed fingers.

"GODS NO! NO NO NO–"

A girl watched her best friend get torn in half, the two pieces pulled in opposite directions while intestines stretched between them like grotesque rope.

"Hehe...hehe...heheheheHAHHAHAHAHA!"

The girl started laughing.

It was hysterical and broken.

Her mind shattered by horror it couldn’t process.

Mud mixed with blood, making footing impossible. Students slipped and died. Weapons were lost in the slurry.

Rain poured harder, washing blood into eyes, making everything a nightmare of reduced visibility and desperate survival.

****

"HELP! SOMEONE–"

A commoner girl – Republic Academy, maybe seventeen – slipped in mud trying to retreat from a breach in the line.

A Noble boy nearby – shield still intact, Aura still strong – looked at her with calculating eyes.

Then grabbed her arm and threw her at the creatures.

"Take her instead!"

The girl’s scream was betrayal mixed with terror as claws found her back, tore through her spine, paralyzed her from the waist down while she remained conscious.

She fell face-first into mud, unable to move her legs, feeling everything as creatures began eating her alive from the feet up.

"Why? Why did you– I can’t feel my legs! I can’t– AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

William Greene saw it happen.

His face went from shock to rage in an instant.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD!"

He lunged at the Noble boy, but another breach opened, forcing him to defend instead of seeking justice.

But he remembered.

They all remembered.

Several other Nobles had done the same – sacrificing commoners to buy themselves seconds of survival.

The division remained even here, even now, even while humanity’s next generation died screaming.