The Extra Who Inherited Ragnarok

The whisper disappeared.

Noah stood frozen in the darkness.

Laura still held his hand.

Luna watched the corridor.

Damien slowly raised his light.

"Did everyone hear that?"

"Yes," Laura answered.

Noah stared ahead.

"It said my name."

Damien’s expression tightened.

"That shouldn’t be possible."

A faint vibration traveled through the stone beneath them.

Thump.

Noah felt the warmth in his chest again.

Thump.

His flames appeared around his fingers.

Laura immediately looked at them.

"Keep them under control."

"I’m trying."

The flames flickered.

For a moment, a thin maroon tint appeared inside the orange fire.

Then disappeared.

Noah swallowed.

"Dead Zone is reacting."

Laura’s eyes narrowed.

"But why?"

"I don’t know."

Damien stepped toward the wall.

"Maybe we should find out."

They continued deeper into the chamber.

The corridor eventually opened into a massive circular room.

Three enormous doors stood on the opposite wall.

Above each door was a symbol.

A dragon.

A serpent.

A bear.

Between them stood a stone pedestal.

Three empty spaces were carved into its surface.

Damien approached carefully.

"These aren’t ordinary doors."

Luna examined the floor.

"There’s writing."

Noah looked down.

Ancient letters covered the stone.

Damien crouched and began reading.

His expression gradually changed.

"What does it say?" Laura asked.

Damien hesitated.

"It’s difficult to translate."

"Try."

He brushed the dust away.

"There are references to... guardians."

Noah’s attention sharpened.

"Guardians of what?"

Damien continued reading.

"The wording is fragmented."

He traced another line.

"Something about the heavens."

Laura looked toward the three symbols.

"The moons."

Damien nodded.

"Maybe."

Noah stared at the dragon door.

A strange sensation passed through him.

Not fear.

Recognition.

He stepped closer.

The moment his hand approached the stone...

BOOM!

The entire chamber shook.

Laura grabbed his shoulder.

"Noah!"

He stopped.

The dragon symbol suddenly illuminated.

Crimson light spread across the walls.

The serpent symbol followed.

Blue.

Then the bear.

Violet.

All three doors glowed simultaneously.

Damien stepped backward.

"That’s impossible."

Noah looked up.

The three colors began intertwining above them.

Then a message appeared in the air.

Not from Noah’s system.

Something older.

THREE GUARDIANS.

THREE MOONS.

THREE RELICS.

The words disappeared.

Nobody spoke.

Luna was the first.

"So the stories were real."

Damien looked at her.

"What stories?"

"The ones about the guardian moons."

Damien stared.

"You knew about them?"

"Only fragments."

She looked at the symbols.

"Old stories from my region."

Noah turned toward her.

"And you never mentioned this?"

Luna shrugged.

"I didn’t think it mattered."

Noah stared at the doors.

"It matters now."

Suddenly...

A loud metallic sound echoed through the chamber.

CLANG.

Everyone turned.

One of the side passages had opened.

Footsteps approached.

Laura drew her weapon.

Noah’s flames ignited.

Damien moved behind them.

Luna disappeared into the darkness.

Then a figure emerged.

A contestant.

His uniform belonged to Milgard Academy.

He looked exhausted.

Blood covered one side of his uniform.

He stared at them.

"Valhalla..."

Noah lowered his flames slightly.

"What happened to you?"

The contestant looked behind himself.

"They’re coming."

Laura frowned.

"Who?"

Before he could answer...

A violent explosion shook the corridor.

BOOM!

The contestant was thrown against the wall.

Noah rushed forward.

"Get down!"

Another blast struck.

Noah raised a wall of fire.

WHOOOM!

The attack slammed into it.

Several shadows appeared through the smoke.

Five contestants.

Different academies.

They weren’t working together.

They were hunting.

The leader stepped forward.

"We don’t care about your squad."

His eyes moved toward the pedestal.

"We want the relic."

Noah looked at the empty spaces.

"There aren’t any relics here."

The leader smiled.

"Then we’ll make you show us where they are."

Laura stepped forward.

"Try."

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The contestants charged.

Laura intercepted the first attacker.

CLANG!

Luna emerged from the darkness and struck another from behind.

Damien raised a barrier around the injured Milgard student.

Noah faced the leader.

The man’s energy surged.

He threw a concentrated blast.

Noah blocked it with his forearm.

BOOM!

The impact pushed him backward.

Noah gritted his teeth.

"You’re stronger than the others."

The man smiled.

"That’s why I’m leading."

He attacked again.

Noah ducked.

His fist ignited.

WHAM!

The man’s guard shattered.

Noah followed with another strike.

The opponent crashed into the stone wall.

The chamber shook.

The dragon symbol flashed again.

Noah stopped.

For a brief moment...

He heard the voice.

Not Dead Zone.

Not the system.

Something else.

"Bearer..."

Noah’s eyes widened.

The voice vanished.

The leader staggered to his feet.

"What are you?"

Noah stared at the glowing symbols.

"I don’t know."

Then the three doors began opening.

GRRRRRNNNN...

Everyone froze.

Beyond the doors was not another room.

There were three separate passages descending into darkness.

One beneath the dragon.

One beneath the serpent.

One beneath the bear.

Damien stared.

"The relics..."

Laura looked at Noah.

"They’re down there."

Noah’s eyes remained fixed on the three paths.

Then his system appeared.

[Three ancient resonances detected.]

A second message followed.

[Dead Zone resonance: unstable.]

Noah clenched his fist.

He knew they had just crossed a line.

This wasn’t simply a tournament event anymore.

Something beneath Hildgard was connected to Ragnarok.

And now...

the four of them were standing directly above it.

The chamber had become unnaturally quiet.

Three passages stretched beneath the ancient doors.

The Dragon Passage glowed crimson.

The Serpent Passage carried a cold blue light.

The Bear Passage shimmered with a faint violet radiance.

Noah stared at them.

His system remained silent after the warning.

That somehow made things worse.

Damien approached the center pedestal.

"These three paths must lead somewhere."

Laura looked at the ancient markings.

"And the relics?"

"Probably at the end."

The injured Milgard contestant suddenly spoke.

"You can’t go."

Everyone looked at him.

His breathing was ragged.

"The relics aren’t meant to be taken."

Damien crouched beside him.

"How do you know?"

The contestant swallowed.

"My team entered this chamber before you."

Noah’s expression changed.

"Your team?"

"Four of us."

He looked toward the three passages.

"We found the doors."

He lowered his voice.

"Then one of them opened."

Laura glanced at Noah.

"What happened?"

The contestant’s eyes trembled.

"We heard something."

"What?"

He looked toward the Dragon Passage.

"Breathing."

Silence.

"Something was breathing down there."

A sudden noise echoed from the passage.

Thump.

Everyone froze.

Another.

Thump.

Noah’s chest responded with a faint pulse of heat.

Laura noticed.

"Noah."

"I’m fine."

She gave him a skeptical look.

"You always say that."

Noah smiled weakly.

"Yeah."

Damien stood.

"We need to decide quickly."

The tournament rules still applied.

They had entered to retrieve the relics.

If they returned empty-handed, they’d lose valuable points.

But this place wasn’t behaving like a normal tournament stage.

Noah looked at the three passages.

"We split."

Laura immediately shook her head.

"No."

"We need to cover more ground."

"Noah, whatever is down there is reacting to you."

"I know."

"That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go alone."

Luna quietly stepped forward.

"I’ll go with Noah."

Noah looked at her.

Laura hesitated.

Then nodded.

"Fine."

Damien looked toward the remaining paths.

"I’ll take the Serpent Passage."

Laura pointed toward the Dragon Passage.

"I’ll take this one."

Noah frowned.

"You’re going alone?"

"I’ll be fine."

Damien looked between them.

"We should stay within communication range."

He activated a small communication crystal.

"Keep these on. If anything happens, call."

Noah nodded.

"Deal."

Luna remained beside him.

The four approached their chosen passages.

Before entering, Noah looked back.

The central chamber suddenly seemed much larger than before.

The three symbols above them pulsed simultaneously.

Dragon.

Serpent.

Bear.

Noah felt a strange pressure.

Then Laura spoke.

"Noah."

He looked at her.

"Don’t let whatever is inside change you."

Noah smiled faintly.

"I won’t."

Laura held his gaze for another second.

Then turned and disappeared into the Dragon Passage.

Damien entered the Serpent Passage.

Luna looked at Noah.

"Ready?"

"No."

She smiled slightly.

"Good answer."

They entered the Bear Passage.

The tunnel descended.

The farther Noah and Luna walked, the colder it became.

The walls were covered in ancient carvings.

Warriors.

Monsters.

Three enormous figures beneath three moons.

Luna stopped.

"Noah."

He turned.

She pointed at one of the carvings.

A humanoid figure stood beneath the crimson moon.

Its body was covered in flames.

But the face had been deliberately scratched away.

Noah stared.

"Who is that?"

"I don’t know."

He stepped closer.

The carving suddenly glowed.

Noah immediately stepped back.

His Ragnarok reacted.

The flames around his hand appeared.

Luna noticed.

"Again."

Noah clenched his fist.

The flames disappeared.

Then a faint voice entered his mind.

"You carry the flame."

Noah froze.

"Luna."

She looked at him.

"Did you hear that?"

"No."

Noah stared at the carving.

The voice continued.

"But you do not carry the whole of it."

His eyes widened.

"What does that mean?"

No response.

The carving went dark.

Meanwhile, in the Dragon Passage...

Laura walked alone.

Her footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

She kept her weapon ready.

The deeper she went, the more familiar the surroundings felt.

Not literally.

Emotionally.

The ancient stone.

The darkness.

The feeling of being watched.

It reminded her of something from childhood.

A locked room.

A voice outside the door.

Again.

Laura stopped.

Her breathing became uneven.

"No."

She closed her eyes.

The memory disappeared.

She opened them.

"Not here."

She continued forward.

Then she saw something on the wall.

A small symbol.

Not a dragon.

Not a serpent.

Not a bear.

A violet flower.

Laura froze.

Her eyes widened.

She knew that symbol.

Her hand slowly rose toward it.

Then she stopped herself.

"Impossible."

The symbol began glowing.

Damien’s path was even stranger.

The Serpent Passage had no carvings.

No decorations.

Only a long blue-lit corridor.

He noticed something unusual.

There were footprints.

Recent ones.

Damien crouched.

"Someone came through here."

He followed them.

Then found something lying on the ground.

A broken tournament marker.

He picked it up.

The name had been scratched away.

But the academy insignia remained.

Asgard.

Damien’s expression hardened.

"Someone from Asgard came through here."

He immediately activated his communication crystal.

"Noah. Laura. Can you hear me?"

Static.

Then Luna’s voice.

"Yes."

Damien exhaled.

"I found an Asgard marker."

Noah’s voice came next.

"Where?"

"The Serpent Passage."

A pause.

Then Noah asked:

"Is Joseph’s marker there?"

Damien looked at the broken device.

The identification rune was damaged.

"I can’t tell."

The communication crystal suddenly crackled.

A fourth voice entered.

Quiet.

Distorted.

Almost like someone whispering through water.

"...Joseph..."

Damien froze.

The connection died.

Back in the central chamber...

A shadow stood where the four had separated.

Joseph Yonder.

He looked at the three passages.

Then at the broken marker Damien had found.

A faint black-orange glow surrounded his hand.

His expression remained unreadable.

He stepped toward the Dragon Passage.

Then stopped.

Something was approaching from behind him.

A voice whispered:

"Joseph."

He turned.

Nobody was there.

The same voice continued.

"Remember your objective."

Joseph’s eyes hardened.

"Kill Noah Blackwood."

A faint smile appeared in the darkness.

"Good."

Joseph entered the Dragon Passage.

And far beneath the chamber...

Three ancient lights awakened at once.

Crimson.

Blue.

Violet.

The relics were waiting.

But so was something else.