The Extra Who Inherited Ragnarok

The next morning arrived without the usual excitement.

Noah noticed it immediately.

The arena was still crowded, the academy banners still flew above the stands, and the spectators still shouted whenever a contestant entered the battlefield.

But something had changed.

The tournament officials were nervous.

The headmasters were watching the ground more than the contestants.

And beneath Hildgard...

something was moving.

Noah stood with Laura, Luna, and Damien near the entrance of the arena.

Eric joined them a moment later.

"Have you guys heard?"

Noah looked at him.

"Heard what?"

"Some of the officials went into the lower district last night."

Damien frowned.

"Why?"

"Apparently, they felt another tremor beneath the city."

Laura’s expression tightened.

"Another one?"

Eric nodded.

"Three minutes long."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

He could feel it.

A faint warmth beneath his feet.

Not enough to hurt.

But enough to make his skin crawl.

Then the system appeared.

[External resonance detected.]

Noah’s expression changed.

[Source: Hildgard underground sector.]

He stared at the message.

Laura noticed.

"What is it?"

Noah hesitated.

"The system says there’s something beneath the city."

Damien looked around.

"Something?"

"Yeah."

Luna quietly asked:

"Ragnarok?"

Noah shook his head.

"I don’t think so."

Then a second message appeared.

[Warning.]

[Ancient resonance increasing.]

Noah clenched his fist.

"We need to find out what it is."

Laura immediately stepped forward.

"Then we do it together."

The Next Event

A horn sounded across the arena.

Everyone turned.

The massive projection activated.

EVENT ELEVEN

DOMINION CLASH

The crowd erupted.

The Hildgard official stepped forward.

"This event will determine which academies advance toward the final stage!"

The projection displayed the rules.

DOMINION CLASH

Four contestants per academy.Teams enter a controlled battlefield.Each academy receives a territory.Contestants may capture opposing territory.Defeating an opponent grants points.Holding territory at the end grants bonus points.The highest-ranked academies advance.

Noah looked at the battlefield.

A massive artificial landscape had been constructed.

Forests.

Rivers.

Ruined structures.

Fortresses.

The arena had become a miniature war zone.

Jordan watched from the Asgard section.

Reinham stood across from him.

Their eyes met.

Neither smiled.

They both knew what was coming.

The gates opened.

Fifteen academy teams entered.

Valhalla.

Asgard.

Elementro.

Volstra.

Milgard.

Niflheim.

Freya.

Jotun.

Skadi.

Jazdris.

Kingsguard.

Delenhart.

Velaguard.

Singcard.

Veynholm.

The crowd became deafening.

Noah looked at his teammates.

"Stay close."

Laura nodded.

Damien cracked his knuckles.

Luna disappeared into the shadows.

Noah smiled.

"Here we go."

The starting horn sounded.

BOOOOOONG!

Every academy charged.

Valhalla immediately encountered another team.

Three contestants rushed from the forest.

Damien raised his hand.

A barrier appeared.

BOOM!

The first attack bounced off.

Laura moved through the opening.

WHAM!

One opponent went down.

Noah followed with a burst of fire.

The remaining contestants retreated.

Their territory marker changed.

VALHALLA TERRITORY

SECURED

Damien smiled.

"That was quick."

Noah looked toward the horizon.

"Too quick."

Laura noticed his expression.

"What?"

Noah looked down.

The ground trembled.

Very slightly.

Then again.

Thump.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"The underground."

Across the battlefield, Elementro had secured its first territory.

Reinham stood in front of the captured fortress.

"Elementro doesn’t lose!"

Flora laughed.

"Try not to destroy the entire fortress."

Reinham grinned.

"No promises."

John looked toward the distant Valhalla territory.

"I wonder what Blackwood is doing."

Daniela stood quietly.

She wasn’t looking at Noah.

She was staring at the ground.

Her perception activated.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then:

"Something is beneath us."

Flora’s smile disappeared.

"What?"

Daniela looked toward the center of the battlefield.

"There is a massive energy source underground."

Reinham frowned.

"How massive?"

Daniela’s expression became serious.

"I can’t measure it."

That was enough to silence everyone.

Volstra

Alcris stood inside the captured territory.

His teammates celebrated.

He didn’t.

His eyes were closed.

His perception moved through the ground.

He saw the energy beneath them.

A gigantic structure.

Ancient.

Dormant.

And connected to the three moons.

Alcris opened his eyes.

"So that’s where it is."

One of his teammates looked at him.

"What did you find?"

Alcris smiled.

"Nothing."

He turned toward the battlefield.

Then he saw Noah.

His perception activated again.

For a brief moment, he saw the energy inside Noah.

Ragnarok.

Then...

something beneath it.

Something responding to the underground structure.

Alcris’s smile disappeared.

They’re connected.

He had finally found the missing piece.

The relics weren’t simply ancient artifacts.

They were keys.

And Noah’s Ragnarok was somehow connected to whatever those keys protected.

Alcris quietly whispered:

"Now I understand."

The ground suddenly shook violently.

BOOOOOOM!

Every contestant stopped.

The artificial battlefield cracked.

A massive fissure opened between the territories.

The three moons brightened overhead.

Crimson.

Blue.

Scarlet-violet.

The crowd went silent.

Then a symbol appeared within the fissure.

A dragon.

A serpent.

A bear.

Noah stared.

His system immediately appeared.

[Ancient resonance detected.]

[Ragnarok responding.]

Noah’s flames erupted.

Orange.

Then maroon.

Laura grabbed his arm.

"Noah!"

He looked at her.

"I’m fine."

But his voice wasn’t completely his.

For a moment...

his eyes darkened.

A second voice whispered inside his mind.

"We’re close."

Noah froze.

"Close to what?"

The answer came from beneath the battlefield.

A deep pulse.

THUMP.

Then another.

THUMP.

And somewhere beneath Hildgard...

something enormous opened its eyes.

The battlefield stopped being a battlefield.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

The massive fissure cutting through Hildgard’s artificial terrain continued widening.

CRACK.

Stone collapsed into the darkness below.

The three moons above the city brightened.

Crimson.

Blue.

Scarlet-violet.

Noah stood at the edge of the fissure.

His flames burned around his arms.

Orange.

A faint maroon shimmer.

Laura grabbed his sleeve.

"Don’t go closer."

Noah looked at her.

"I wasn’t planning to."

The voice inside his head whispered again.

"Closer."

Noah’s expression hardened.

"Shut up."

Laura heard him.

"What did it say?"

Noah didn’t answer.

Because something had moved beneath them.

A massive shadow.

Across the battlefield, the Hildgard officials were shouting.

"Stop the event!"

"Everyone evacuate!"

"Get the contestants out!"

The announcement system crackled.

"ALL CONTESTANTS, WITHDRAW IMMEDIATELY!"

The crowd began panicking.

Students from the fifteen academies started moving toward the exits.

But the fissure suddenly erupted.

BOOOOOOM!

A wave of energy swept across the battlefield.

Contestants were thrown off their feet.

Noah planted himself against the ground.

Laura grabbed Luna.

Damien raised a barrier.

Reinham slammed his fist into the ground.

Jordan summoned lightning.

Daniela’s perception activated.

Alcris simply watched.

The wave passed.

Silence returned.

Then Daniela whispered:

"That wasn’t an attack."

Reinham looked at her.

"What?"

"It was a pulse."

She stared into the fissure.

"Something underneath just woke up."

Noah felt his heart pounding.

Thump.

The same rhythm.

Again.

Thump.

His system appeared.

[Ragnarok resonance: 49%.]

Noah’s eyes widened.

"Forty-nine?"

Laura looked at him.

"What happened?"

"It increased."

"By how much?"

"Eight percent."

Laura’s expression changed.

"From what?"

Noah looked toward the fissure.

"I don’t know."

A maroon flame appeared on his palm.

This time...

it didn’t disappear.

It moved slowly across his skin.

Noah stared.

"Dead Zone."

The flame formed an eye.

The eye opened.

"Found it."

Noah froze.

Laura stepped closer.

"What?"

Noah whispered:

"Dead Zone knows what’s down there."

Laura’s expression hardened.

"Then we need to leave."

"No."

She looked at him.

"No?"

Noah stared into the darkness.

"If it knows..."

His flames intensified.

"...I want to know too."

Elementro

Daniela stood at the edge of the fissure.

Her perception pushed downward.

Ten meters.

Twenty.

Fifty.

Then deeper.

Her vision suddenly became distorted.

She saw enormous stone pillars.

Ancient symbols.

Three sealed chambers.

And something at the center.

A massive black structure.

Daniela’s breath caught.

Then a voice whispered through her perception.

"Vannheim."

She immediately shut down her ability.

Daniela stumbled backward.

Flora caught her.

"Daniela!"

Daniela looked pale.

"What happened?"

She stared into the fissure.

"It knew my name."

Reinham stepped forward.

"What knew your name?"

Daniela didn’t answer.

She couldn’t.

Because something else had appeared in her vision.

A woman.

Standing beside the ancient structure.

Long violet hair.

Her face hidden.

And beside her...

a young girl.

Laura.

Daniela’s eyes widened.

That memory again.

Volstra

Alcris had seen enough.

He turned away from the fissure.

His expression was unusually serious.

One of his teammates noticed.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere."

"Shouldn’t we stay with the others?"

Alcris looked back.

"No."

His perception activated.

He looked toward Noah.

Then Laura.

Then Daniela.

Three different reactions.

Three pieces of the same mystery.

His eyes narrowed.

Laura remembers something.

Daniela can perceive something.

And Noah is connected to it.

Alcris smiled faintly.

"Perfect."

He turned toward the nearest exit.

But before he could leave...

a voice entered his mind.

"You seek Ragnarok."

Alcris stopped.

His smile disappeared.

"Who are you?"

"You are not worthy."

Alcris’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s not your decision."

"It already is."

The connection vanished.

Alcris stood silently.

Then laughed.

Not loudly.

Just enough for himself.

"So that’s how this works."

His fingers tightened.

"Then I’ll prove you wrong."

The evacuation continued.

But Noah remained near the fissure.

Laura stood beside him.

"You’re not going down there."

Noah looked at her.

"I know."

"Good."

A pause.

"But you’re thinking about it."

"...Maybe."

Laura sighed.

"Of course you are."

Noah smiled.

Then the ground beneath them suddenly shifted.

A stone platform emerged from the fissure.

Ancient markings covered its surface.

Three symbols.

Dragon.

Serpent.

Bear.

And beneath them...

a fourth symbol.

A flame.

Noah’s eyes widened.

The system appeared.

[Ancient seal detected.]

[Ragnarok resonance confirmed.]

[Dead Zone responding.]

Then another notification appeared.

[Unknown entity detected.]

Noah stared.

"Unknown entity?"

The platform began glowing.

The three medallions buried beneath the battlefield responded simultaneously.

Balgard.

Sylthin.

Flaros.

Their lights rose into the sky.

The three moons answered.

And beneath Hildgard...

something opened its eyes.

This time, everyone felt it.

Every contestant.

Every headmaster.

Every spectator.

Even Alcris.

A voice echoed from beneath the city.

"THE SUCCESSOR HAS RETURNED."

Noah’s flames exploded.

Laura grabbed his hand.

"Noah!"

His eyes turned maroon for one second.

Then returned to normal.

The system displayed one final message.

[Dead Zone synchronization: 1%.]

Noah stared at it.

"One percent?"

The maroon flame whispered:

"Not yet."

Then the ancient platform collapsed.

The fissure sealed.

The tournament battlefield returned to silence.

But nobody believed it was over.

Because every person in Hildgard had heard the same thing.

The successor had returned.