Reborn As An Extra In My Own Novel-Chapter 55: Rouge Icicles [3]

Reaching the campsite, Reni called the rest of the group to the area where fallen trees surrounded us.

As soon as the entire group settled, I began explaining our current situation to them, from the zombies to my theory about the horde of monsters.

"I see." Matt was the first to comment, as he sat on the highest tree root that faced the direction of the cliff.

The wood of the tree root I sat on was rather uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like there was any other option.

With a tree branch in my hand, I began drawing the overall layout of the entire region I saw.

We were all smart, so we didn’t really need to stay too long on any topic, so the conversation flowed rather quickly.

Matt placed his hand on his chin, pondering what our next step would be.

It was safe to assume that the drifters were already on their way here and that Deerheart too knew about this movement, so he would surely start whatever experiment he couldn’t perform because of the fear of attracting drifters to his lab.

After some time of complete silence, the wind sounding like a ghost blew in our direction, as the sound of the horde of monsters became audible.

"Argh!!! Why don’t we just catapult there? You guys are just thinking way too much. Can’t I just make a giant catapult then you guys charge it with mana and we fly there?" Amy said gesturing with her fingers.

Her words cut all of us off guard for a moment as we turned to face her.

"Amy, you’re a genius. How did I not even think of that?" Matt commented.

"I... am?" She stammered, blinking a couple of times.

Amy’s plan sounded insane, sure, but... It was also pretty realistic. And insane wasn’t exactly the most unpractical thing in this world.

This was a fantasy world after all.

"So how long will it take to finish?" Anica asked.

Amy cleared her throat, her shoulders raised up smugly. "Less than a minute."

"Hmmm..."

I glanced at the east region and sighed.

The distance was a lot to cover with only a catapult, but even if it could take us half the distance, during the time when most of the drifters had reached the central region—

Then we would be able to cut off the long journey while also avoiding any clash with the drifters.

The plan was crazy enough to work, that was if Amy was fed enough mana to extend the catapult far enough.

"The plan won’t work." We all turned to Anica who yawned lazily.

Matt raised a brow. "Why is that?"

She sighed. "Did you guys forget that she has to concentrate while she is channeling her mana, which means there has to be an external force that will physically pull the catapult allowing us to blast off into the air."

Matt’s face darkened, so did the faces of the rest of the group.

It seemed it was my time to step up.

With a single thought, my shadow danced, making Matt who was by my side, change his stance.

The remaining three didn’t flinch. Amy and Anica had seen my saints before and I was sure Reni had seen them in her visions.

Mana surged through me, making the surroundings glimmer with a faint light purple hue. The familiar heat I always felt when summoning my saints filled me once more as the dancing shadow grew even larger.

In an instant the saints formed, around me.

Gumiho twirled around me, while Shiki knelt on one knee together with Gobo.

"What the hell!" Matt exclaimed then he turned to the girls. "Why are you guys so calm? Freaking shadows came out of his shadow!" He gripped his head. "I thought you were an ice user?"

Anica shook her head. "Kai’s talent is quite weird, isn’t it?"

Matt nodded as he examined the saints with his eyes. "Do you know what they do?"

Anica shook her head again. "No, never asked."

Matt turned to her. "Why didn’t you ask?"

Anica’s eyes widened like Matt was the weird one. He sighed then nodded in approval. "I think this would work." He paused then turned to me. "So how long can you summon them for?"

I tilted my head, my hand on my chin. "Come to think of it, I never experimented with that."

Matt looked at all of us then sighed. "I swear if I stayed with you guys since I was little, I would be mad by now."

After calming himself down, he turned to me. "Should we start now?"

"Huh? Why are you asking me?"

He paused, nodded then moved forward. "Ok, we will start now, that way we can reach the lab before evening."

I nodded then pulled my gaze away. The snow was still raging, reducing visibility to almost zero. The landscape was grim and foreboding.

’I’m not really a fan of cold weather... Huh?...’

I felt a sudden cold dread settle within my bones as a frigid sensation enveloped me.

’Am I imagining things?’ There was nothing visible in plain sight, yet I could have sworn that something seeped into the awareness of clairvoyance.

My eyes narrowed as I channeled mana through myself, causing the others to turn and look at me. I could feel their perplexed stares, but I was more than certain of what I sensed.

With a single mental directive, I dispatched Shiki to the location where my instinct screamed at me to move to.

The group gazed at me as if I had lost my mind, but it wasn’t just the paralyzing sensation I perceived, more than that, there was the unmistakable scent of death.

As soon as Shiki launched his fist forward, as if on cue, a massive monster that couldn’t have approached unnoticed manifested right before us with a thunderous growl.

Shiki, unable to withstand the full brunt of the impact, was hurled past us before we could even respond. The group’s eyes widened in shock at the beast now before them.

I gritted my teeth, then barked, "You idiots, move!"

I didn’t need to say more, they weren’t fools to remain rooted in place.

The colossal monster unleashed a resounding roar as drifters began to emerge from the direction of the cliff.

’How the hell did they get here?’

The weather was undeniably cold, yet I could feel my body heat rise, my heart thundering like a war drum as my eyes darted from left to right in search of a solution.

The drifter gave me no time, as if tearing through the very air, it materialized before me, its talons slicing through the wind.

Clairvoyance was engaged, placing my perception a step ahead of its movement.

I could evade it. Just one step to the left.

But the heavens offered no kindness.

As if to mock my feeble efforts.

A singular, gentle, slightly alien voice echoed through each of our ears. It was a voice I had grown accustomed to hearing, even after we transmigrated, it still retained the exact tone and warmth I remembered.

The word she spoke... No—at that moment, from the way she sounded, I doubted I could even call her human... The soft-spoken words, void of malice, made me shudder; my heart sank deeper, my mind spiraling into disarray.

"Kneel." She commanded. A solitary command that even the beasts obeyed.

And there in the sky was... Hari.

She looked resplendent in the approaching blizzard.

A crown adorned her head, a jagged crown forged of ice.

In her eyes, like mine yet wholly unlike mine, was a star; only unlike the one I bore, hers was an icy blue hue.

Her sky-blue, nearly frosted hair swayed with the wind as she gazed down upon us all.

But what was even more haunting were her eyes...

They were hollow, devoid of life or emotion...

An unnatural, venomous smile curled up her lips, as she stared directly at me.

This wasn’t Hari.