The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 525: Noel vs The Second Pillar (Part II)

Chapter 525: Chapter 525: Noel vs The Second Pillar (Part II)

Noel forced himself up.

Stone grated against his palms as he pushed, and his ribs answered immediately, a deep, ugly ache that didn’t feel like a bruise anymore. It felt like something inside him had shifted the wrong way and refused to settle back. He swallowed hard, tasting iron again, and for a second his vision pulsed in and out with his heartbeat.

’Move,’ he told himself. ’If you stay down, you’re done.’

His legs obeyed late, trembling under his weight as he rose into a half-stance with Revenant Fang dragging up after him. The sword felt heavier than it should have, like the island itself was pressing down on his wrists. Shadows clung to the blade anyway, stubborn and thin, responding to a will that was starting to lag behind his body.

Across from him, the Second Pillar didn’t rush.

Her chains moved in clean arcs, controlled, patient, the way a predator circles when it already knows the outcome and only cares about the timing. Noel’s skin prickled as the links shifted, not swinging wildly, not snapping at random. They were placed. They were chosen.

He lifted Revenant Fang and caught the first strike. The impact rang through his arms and into his teeth. He redirected the second, barely. The third forced him to pivot hard enough that his side flared and his breath broke.

He could feel the pattern forming: block, slide, correct. Every mistake would be paid for immediately.

Noel didn’t throw a Fireball. He didn’t try to force distance with Flamethrower. The mana cost sat in the back of his mind like a warning label he couldn’t ignore. If he emptied himself now, he wouldn’t get a dramatic end. He’d get a quiet one.

A chain snapped in for his throat.

Noel vanished into his shadow on reflex. "Shadow Step."

He reappeared a few strides to the left, boots skidding, chest heaving, and the chain cut through the space where his head had been.

He steadied his grip, jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

The first mistake was small.

He stepped through shadow a heartbeat too late and came out slightly off, boots landing where the stone dipped instead of where it held. His balance wavered and a chain skimmed past his thigh close enough that the air burned. Noel twisted away, pulse spiking, and forced his stance back into place before the opening could widen.

The second came faster.

He snapped his wrist and sent a curved blade of fire forward.

"Fire Arc."

The flame tore through the space between them, hot and sharp, exactly where he’d aimed it. It should have clipped a chain. It should have bought him half a breath.

It missed.

Heat washed over metal that never slowed. Noel felt the failure immediately, not as pain but as certainty settling in his gut.

He was slipping.

Mana still answered him when he reached for it, but it felt heavier now, less fluid. The flow hesitated where it used to surge, like forcing breath through lungs that refused to expand fully. He could still cast. He could still move. Every action just took more out of him than it should have.

A chain snapped low and wrapped halfway around his leg.

Pain flared sharp and bright as the metal tightened. Noel sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, shadow reacting on instinct as he tore himself free and stumbled back. Another second and it would have locked. Another second and he would have been dragged down.

He vanished just as another strike came in.

"Shadow Step."

Noel reappeared a few strides away, boots skidding as he caught himself, chest heaving. The chain cut through the space where he’d been, missing him by nothing at all.

’Not yet,’ he thought, forcing his breathing back under control.

Noir’s voice broke through the strain, close and urgent in his head. ’Dad. We’re close. Hold on. Just a little longer.’

The words brought relief.

That was the problem.

Noel blocked again, Revenant Fang ringing as shadows flared thinly along the blade. He’d been here before—too many times—caught between holding the line and waiting for someone else to arrive. Another chain lashed out and he met it head-on, muscles screaming as he forced it aside, boots grinding against stone as he held his ground anyway.

This time, he didn’t retreat immediately.

The Second Pillar slowed.

Not stopped. Not hesitant. Just... still. Her chains remained poised, coiled and ready, but she didn’t press the opening she could have taken. The space between them stretched, fragile and dangerous, measured in seconds Noel could feel slipping through his fingers.

He breathed once. Twice.

Noir’s voice cut through the tension again, closer now, strained. ’We’re close. Almost there Dad!’

Noel didn’t answer.

He already knew what that meant. Close wasn’t soon. Soon wasn’t now. And now was all he had left.

He drew the shards out with shaking fingers. Four pieces of condensed wrongness, dull and cold in his palm, heavier than any weapon he’d ever held. For a heartbeat he stared at them, then did the stupid thing first, because his mind was frayed and pain made people dumb.

He brought one to his mouth and bit down.

"Auch—fuck," he hissed instantly, jerking it away as pain shot through his teeth. The shard hadn’t cracked. It hadn’t even scratched. It just sat there, unmoved, like it was mocking him.

No time for that.

Noel closed his eyes and forced his focus inward, ignoring the chains shifting across from him. He pressed the shard against his chest and reached, not with his hands, but with his mana. He grabbed at what was inside it and pulled.

Something tore loose.

The shard went dim as power flooded him, violent and immediate. Noel gasped as it slammed into his core, heat and pressure colliding until his vision blurred. He didn’t stop. He grabbed the second shard, then the third, then the fourth, ripping them open the same way, dragging everything they had into himself without finesse or care.

Mana surged out of control. His core screamed. Revenant Fang vibrated in his grip, shadows snapping tight around the blade like they were being dragged into alignment by force. The pain didn’t fade. It sharpened, cutting clean lines through the chaos instead of drowning him in it.

Across from him, the Second Pillar finally moved.

Noel opened his eyes, breath ragged, power roaring under his skin.