The Extra's Supremacy

As Alvin and his group walked through the dark corridor, only the sound of their footsteps filled the silence.

Lily’s voice broke through the gloom. "Everyone, stay close. Hold each other’s hands."

The darkness felt alive—pressing down on them like a thick fog. Alvin led from the front, his eyes scanning the shadows.

Then he saw it.

A faint glow in the distance.

He slowed slightly. "There’s something ahead."

After a few more minutes, the others began to see it too.

"There’s a light."

"I see it too."

Their pace quickened.

And soon, they stood before it—a glowing red portal.

"Finally! We found a gateway back home!" one of the students exclaimed, voice trembling with relief.

But no one else celebrated.

Because they all knew what that color meant.

Alvin’s voice was calm but heavy. "It’s red... That means it’s not a doorway."

He stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "It’s a domain."

The words dropped like a bomb.

Faces turned pale.

A domain—a sealed space hidden inside ruins. Forbidden places not by chance, but by design.

Because domains didn’t just hold danger... they held the truth behind the ruins.

"We have no choice," Bob said suddenly, his tone surprising even himself. "We need to go in."

"I—I can’t," someone stammered. "We—we won’t survive in there!"

"Y-Yeah," another added, voice cracking. "Let’s just wait here. Someone will come. Help will arrive."

Alvin turned to face them all.

"I know you’re scared," he said.

"I won’t force you to follow me. If you choose to stay, that’s your choice. But I won’t be the one dying of hunger in this place."

He took a breath, then looked each of them in the eye.

"So, decide. Will you fight to the end? Or will you give up and rot in the dark?"

He let the question hang.

"I want you to ask yourselves—why did you even join this ruin exploration?"

His voice sharpened.

"If you truly want to see the real face of this ruin... then come with me."

Without waiting for a response, Alvin turned and stepped into the red portal.

Behind him, silence.

But the portal remained open.

Giving them time to choose.

The old Guide took a step forward, glancing back at the uncertain students.

"Trust me, kiddos," he said, voice steady. "It’s too early to give up. We haven’t even seen what’s on the other side of that portal yet."

Without another word, he walked through and vanished into the red light.

Bob and Lily exchanged a quick nod.

"If the old man’s going, I’m going too," Bob said.

Lily followed silently behind him.

One by one, the remaining students looked at each other, fear still heavy in their eyes—but the sight of the strong moving forward sparked something inside them.

Resolve.

They clenched their fists and followed.

On the other side of the portal...

Alvin stepped forward, his vision blurry from the sudden shift in light.

His eyes adjusted slowly—

And then widened in disbelief.

His heart pounded.

His breath caught in his throat.

Before him stretched a broken world.

A blood-red sky loomed overhead, with no clouds in sight—only a sun, dark crimson and pulsing like a wound in the heavens.

Jagged black spires towered across the landscape, stabbing into the sky like obsidian fangs.

And beneath them... carnage.

Hundreds—no, thousands—of monstrous corpses littered the scorched earth.

Tier-5 beasts. All dead.

Some were crystallized entirely, their bodies turned into jagged statues of shimmering ice. Others were impaled by massive crystal spikes, frozen mid-roar.

Blood still dripped from their wounds.

Fresh.

It had happened not long ago.

Alvin’s eyes swept the battlefield, his throat dry.

This wasn’t just a domain.

It was a massacre.

The others stepped through the portal—and immediately froze.

The scene of the massacre left them breathless.

Terror gripped their hearts as they took in the blood-soaked land and the corpses of countless Tier-5 monsters scattered like discarded dolls.

Lily covered her mouth, pale.

Bob took a shaky step forward, his eyes locked on the devastation.

"This... This domain was already cleared by someone," he murmured.

Alvin nodded slowly. "Yeah. And to kill this many Tier-5s... the one responsible must be a Sovereign."

The old Guide added with a grim nod, "Not even a Lord could manage this kind of slaughter. Only a Sovereign holds that kind of power."

"But..." Lily’s voice was barely a whisper. "There are only nine Sovereigns alive. Seven belong to the Great Families. The other two are council founders..."

She turned toward Bob.

Bob gave a tense nod, eyes still on the battlefield.

Alvin narrowed his gaze. "Or... it wasn’t a human."

He looked at the others. "What if it was a Tier-7 Aberration? One with intelligence."

The words made everyone stiffen. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But before anyone could respond,

A calm voice spoke from behind.

"Indeed. It was."

Everyone turned at once.

Alvin’s eyes widened as he saw the man standing there.

Short white hair. A refined suit. Unassuming, yet unmistakable.

A face he had seen once before—in a distant memory, over two years ago.

’That butler... from that memory...’

His mind raced.

’What was his name again? Right. Robert.’

Alvin’s expression hardened.

’Shit. I don’t have a disguise.’

Alvin’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively took a quiet step back, slipping behind Bob’s shoulder like it was second nature.

He kept his face angled down, letting the others take the spotlight while he observed from the shadows.

’Please don’t recognize me...’

But another thought struck him like a hammer.

’Wait—if Robert’s here... then Alvida might be too?’

Robert turned back to the group, his voice steady.

"Follow me, I will take you to my group members, we’re also searching for a doorway out of this place."

Bob squinted at him. "Who are you, exactly?"

Robert gave a small, respectful bow. "I am the butler of the Vaelcrest family."

The moment the words left his mouth, a collective sigh of relief passed through the students.

Even the tension in Lily’s shoulders eased slightly.

The group began following him without protest.

But Alvin’s mind was spiraling.

’What the hell do I do now?’

’Should I break away and leave?’

’What if someone recognizes me?’

Alvin sighed, shaking his head slowly.

’Whatever’s going to happen...’

’I don’t have many options left. Even if I leave now, there’s no guarantee I’ll find another clue.’

He exhaled, long and quiet.

"Haa..."

Then, with a calmness that felt like surrender, he reached up and untied the ribbon in his hair.

The strands fell loose around his face.

’Fuck it. If they recognize me, I’ll deal with it then.’