The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 508: The Thing Bound in Chains [II]

Selene lifted her hand without a word. Frost and gravity rolled outward together in a low pulse, spreading around the guardian’s legs like a ring of winter.

"Permafrost Halo."

Ice formed in a wide radius, the air turning sharp as the halo reduced the monster’s movement, not stopping it, but forcing every step to cost more. The ground groaned under the weight, yet the pace stuttered just enough to matter.

Elyra knelt and slapped her palm to the stone.

Lines of mana lit up beneath them like a grid drawn by invisible ink, spreading outward under the group and stabilizing their spells as it expanded.

"Mana Grid," she said, voice clipped. "Stay inside it."

Elena shifted to the flank immediately, vines and leaf-thin currents moving around her like a quiet storm held in check. She didn’t waste mana trying to bind the guardian again. She aimed for control, angles, and anything that tried to approach from the sides.

Then Charlotte moved.

She stepped in near Garron, eyes sharp, expression tight in a way Noel didn’t see often from her. Her hand pressed briefly against Garron’s back, and a Blessing surged through him like a second heartbeat.

A protective layer settled over his skin, faintly luminous, holy energy wrapping his muscles and bones in something that felt like armor without weight.

Charlotte’s breath hitched.

Color drained from her face in an instant. She swayed just slightly, enough that Noel saw it, enough that Garron definitely did.

Garron’s head snapped toward her, fury flashing across his features even as he forced himself forward to meet the next strike.

The guardian’s blow came down again. Garron caught it, and this time the impact didn’t drive him as far. The Blessing held. The ground still cracked, the pressure still bit, but his stance didn’t collapse.

Garron swallowed hard, then spoke through clenched teeth without looking back.

"Don’t do that again without warning me."

Charlotte’s reply came immediately, flat and sharp, like she was refusing to let him turn this into a conversation.

"Shut up and don’t die."

Noel’s voice cut in, faster than usual, not panicked, just focused in that way he got when the fight started demanding structure.

"Selene, slow it down," he said, eyes tracking the guardian’s shoulders, the way the chains tightened before each motion. "Elyra, keep the ground from breaking under us."

His gaze flicked to the side where Elena was moving.

"Elena, control the flanks. Anything that tries to close in, you stop it."

He lifted Revenant Fang, heat and shadow threading along the blade at the same time, a tight coil of readiness in his posture.

"I’m going to look for an opening."

Noel waited for the next step, the next shift in the guardian’s weight. When it came, he didn’t hesitate.

Lightning surged.

"Stormpiercer."

A crack of electric light snapped across the air as Noel launched forward, Revenant Fang leading, the spell propelling him in a straight line with brutal speed. The blade struck the guardian’s torso near the Shard, lightning exploding on contact, pushing into chain and armor like a spear meant to punch through.

For half a second, it looked like it might work.

Then the guardian’s chest held.

The resistance snapped back like recoil. Noel felt the impact run through his arms into his ribs, and the spell’s momentum turned against him, hurling him backward as if he’d slammed into a wall that refused to move.

The world tilted.

Noel couldn’t Shadow Step again. Not in time.

Noir hit him from the side.

A black blur with purple accents, all instinct and timing. She collided into his hip and shoulder and forced him out of the guardian’s follow-up range, her paws skidding across the stone as she dragged him behind the edge of Elyra’s Mana Grid. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Noel’s boots caught. He stumbled, dropped to one knee, and forced himself upright with Revenant Fang still in hand.

Pain flared through his side. His breathing came out rough.

He stared at the guardian, eyes sharp despite the strain.

’...I can’t bring it down alone.’

He exhaled once, slow, then spoke out loud, voice steady even if his body didn’t feel it.

"Okay," Noel said.

He lifted the sword again and set his stance.

"This is going to take a while."

The guardian didn’t press immediately.

That, more than anything else, made Noel uneasy.

It stood there for a brief moment, massive frame settling as the chains along its torso and limbs tightened again, pulling taut with a metallic groan. The Shard in its chest pulsed once, brighter than before, and the pressure around it shifted—not expanding, but compressing inward, like the air itself was being dragged toward its center.

"Careful," Selene said quietly. "It’s adjusting."

Garron rolled his shoulders, muscles still glowing faintly from Charlotte’s Blessing. He stepped forward anyway, planting himself where the next hit would land if it came. His jaw was tight, eyes locked on the guardian’s core.

"Then let it," he muttered. "I’m still standing."

The guardian moved.

It wasn’t a charge. It was a controlled advance, each step heavier than the last, chains scraping through stone as they resisted its motion. When it swung this time, it wasn’t wide or reckless. The blow came straight down, precise, aimed to break Garron’s stance rather than overwhelm it.

Garron met it head-on.

Mana surged through his frame as he braced, veins standing out along his arms and neck. The impact drove him knee-deep into the ground, reinforced stone cracking outward despite Elyra’s magic. He held it for a heartbeat.

Then another.

Then his foot slid back half a meter, boots grinding against shattered rock.

Charlotte sucked in a breath but didn’t move.

Noel did.

Fire flared along Revenant Fang as he stepped in from the side.

"Fire Arc."

A curved blade of flame tore across the guardian’s ribs, striking between chains and detonating in a sharp burst of heat. It didn’t stop the creature—but it twisted its upper body just enough.

"That’s it," Noel said. "Angles."

Elena reacted instantly. Roots burst from the ground at the guardian’s flank, not trying to bind it fully, but forcing its leg to drag for a fraction of a second. Selene layered gravity over the motion, not enough to pin it, but enough to make the adjustment costly.

The guardian staggered one step.

Just one.

But it was the first time it had been forced to.

Noel felt it then—a shift. Not weakness, but resistance building unevenly.

’It’s not invincible,’ he thought. ’It’s just constrained.’

He tightened his grip on the sword, eyes narrowing.

"Keep it busy," Noel said. "I’ll find where it breaks."

The guardian raised its head.

The chains screamed.

And the fight dragged on.