I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

The unknown reaction of the junior student. Feeling the confusion and urgency in that, Alkiné ran through the rift faster than ever.

The further she went, the more regret piled up for not following from the start.

She never thought the inside of the rift would be this dangerous.

Even though she had always emphasized not to let their guard down because the rift was dangerous, it made her furious to think that she created this situation herself.

‘It’s already happened. Stay calm.’

She was the only one who could handle this situation, so she couldn’t afford to crumble.

With that thought, Alkiné forced her emotions down.

Yeah, they should have been able to manage without her. Even though the situation was serious, they were all capable individuals.

Right now, she needed to focus on joining them as quickly as possible.

Her judgment was indeed correct. The anomalies inside the rift were things that the other Student Council members could handle.

However, she didn’t expect that greater dangers lurked beyond that.

“Run! Get away!! Don’t get too close!!!”

“Gahhh! My arm!!”

The first thing that caught her eye when she saw them panicking was a black monster that took on a humanoid form.

As soon as she saw it, she realized it was a demon race.

Even if she put forth all her strength, she wasn’t sure if she could win… No, she was certain she would lose. The demon race was on a different level than monsters.

With her current abilities, just holding off the monster would be the best she could do.

But… she couldn’t just stand there.

If she didn’t step in now, those who were fighting would be in even greater danger.

Half of them were somehow holding on, but the other half had already fallen into a state of combat incapacity.

Thanks to the monster’s capriciousness, it seemed none had died yet, but… if things were delayed any longer, who knew what could happen?

There was no need to think any further.

Alkiné took advantage of the demon’s openings and charged in.

Simultaneously, she transformed her mana into the form of a great sword and swung it with both hands.

Boom!!!

The demon who was hit by the attack flew and crashed into a massive rock.

The rock crumbled, burying the demon, but if that was all it took to end the situation, it wouldn’t have escalated this far.

Alkiné clicked her tongue unconsciously.

‘I swung thinking I could cleave it in half…’

That last attack hadn’t even scratched the demon’s skin.

Not even a mark from the mana sword’s cutting power. Its durability was astonishing.

A desperate situation where she couldn’t inflict a single injury on the demon.

However, she couldn’t show it, so she spoke coolly.

“Well done hanging in there. Everyone.”

“President!”

“Oh, President….”

“You’re finally here…!”

Those still capable of fighting and those who had become combat ineffective yet were still holding onto their consciousness all sighed in relief at her appearance.

But it was too early to relax. The current situation was dire.

Alkiné had to choose between two options.

To fight or to flee.

But winning against that thing that didn’t even have a scratch on it was impossible.

Yet fleeing meant leaving behind too many injured.

With no clear answer in this binary choice, a groan escaped Alkiné’s lips.

It would be just like her to even consider the option of abandoning the injured and running away.

And… if it were her choice, it was practically predetermined.

“Briefing, please. Grain.”

“Yes, President.”

Fight.

That was the only thing she could do right now.

Shriek!!!

As if stimulated by her last attack, the demon began making even more grotesque sounds as it rose from the rubble.

In this uncertain situation of what the demon might do, Alkiné gathered all her nerves and prepared to respond, while Grain quickly relayed information.

“It attacks by compressing the surrounding space. There are premonitory signs, but they aren’t visible, and defense seems impossible. It’s tough, but… you’ll have to read the mana’s discordance around and dodge it.”

“Got it. Any other unusual points?”

“I’m reaching my limit here; I think I’m about to faint. Can I count on you to watch my back?”

“Ha, I’ll make sure to meet your expectations.”

At Alkiné’s words, Grain smiled softly and closed his eyes.

He didn’t seem injured, but it looked like he had been pushing his abilities to the max.

If it hadn’t been for him, they probably would have been wiped out by now.

To shake off the negative thoughts, she gave orders to those around her.

“Those who are okay, take the injured and hide. I’ll deal with this thing alone.”

If they tried to escape with the injured, they could find themselves in a more dangerous situation.

Thus, she could only tell them to hide.

However, that command was equivalent to saying she would win and handle the rift alone, which made everyone look at Alkiné with worry.

“President….”

They could only watch. No one could step in.

As one by one they started to leave, the demon had already reached in front of Alkiné.

With its six bizarrely blinking eyes trained on her, it became clear that it was just a monster masquerading as a human.

Still, well… at least she was grateful it wasn’t targeting those fleeing.

“Thank goodness you’re not a beast-like creature.”

Shriek!

It seemed they had shared a word, but there was no understanding between them.

Grrr!

When the monster let out another strange sound, Alkiné felt a discord in the air.

It was as if the mana surrounding her had suddenly frozen.

‘So this is what mana discord feels like.’

Thinking that, her body had already moved away from her spot.

Crrrrack!!!

The space where she had just been standing warped.

Even though she had clearly avoided it, a shiver ran down her spine as if she could feel the weight.

Deciding that she couldn’t afford to give it an opportunity to attack, Alkiné instantly charged in to seize the offensive.

Boom!

A strong impact sent the demon flying.

Again, it hadn’t received a single scratch, but that didn’t mean she would stop.

Whenever the demon got back up, she would attack again and send it flying.

She felt the premonition of its attacks and dodged. Then she would send it flying again.

Endlessly sending it in the opposite direction of those fleeing.

She repeated that for quite a while.

At first glance, it appeared as though Alkiné was the one pressing the attack, but in reality, it was the opposite.

The demon was simply absorbing all her blows.

No matter how many attacks it took, the demon remained unscathed while Alkiné could only afford one hit before being gravely injured.

The longer the battle continued, the clearer the results became, but she couldn’t give up here.

If she ran away… the demon would surely seek out the hidden Student Council members.

With that thought, Alkiné continued her assault.

Once she reasoned that everyone should be hiding, she started using her full-powered techniques against the demon.

Still, she couldn’t inflict a single injury, but besides that, there was nothing else she could do.

…How much time had passed?

Alkiné’s attacks noticeably slowed. Her momentum was significantly weakened.

She had reached her physical limits.

Yet she forced herself to take one more step.

She knew all too well what would happen if she fell here.

But she couldn’t take that next step.

Powerlessness. Exhaustion. Pressure.

All of it bore down on Alkiné.

Perhaps the demon sensed that too, as it began to leisurely approach her.

Alkiné could do nothing but watch as the demon drew closer.

Is this how it ends?

If she died here… her parents would be so sad.

“…Help me.”

Even though there was no one who could help her, her unreachably distant wish slipped from her lips.

Knowing it was futile only made her more despondent.

Then it happened. A familiar voice rang in her ears.

“Whoa, man, if I were any later, this would have been a real catastrophe.”

Somehow, someone had stepped between her and the demon.

Due to her blurred vision, she couldn’t recognize him at first, but as she regained focus, she saw her junior from the Student Council.

It was so surreal that he had entered this situation that she thought she was hallucinating…

“Sorry for being late, President. But this is more because you rushed ahead than anything else, so please forgive me.”

His calm demeanor was strikingly similar to the junior she knew, bringing her back to reality.

“Rudion! That thing is dangerous! Move back now!”

Despite her desperate shout, he didn’t seem to have any intention of listening.

Instead, he surprisingly drew the short sword from his waist and pointed it at the demon.

“Oh, no.”

In an instant, she realized that the demon was targeting her junior’s left arm.

“Rudion!”

She called his name urgently, seeing the scene of his arm getting crushed.

But it was far too late for him to react and flee. That fateful moment came when his scream echoed…

Crack!

Grrr!!!

“…Hmm. Can’t see well, but it’s not impossible.”

What she had feared didn’t happen.

On the contrary… the demon, who had remained unharmed against every attack, began to scream in pain.

“You… what are you….”

“First, let’s take care of this guy. I’ll explain later. Just rest.”

He said that and began to slowly approach the demon.

Alkiné couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.

How did he know about these dangers from the start?

If he knew, then why did he follow her all the way here?

What on earth had he done to the demon, which she couldn’t injure a single time, that now it was suffering so badly?

She couldn’t understand any of it, but… one thing was certain: right now, his back looked incredibly reassuring.

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