The Extra is a Hero?-Chapter 336: THE THRONE ROOM
Chapter 334: The Throne Room
The Throne Room of Sylvaren was designed to be a testament to eternal light. The ceiling was a dome of clear crystal, offering an unobstructed view of the artificial sun. The floor was polished silver-wood, reflecting the majesty of the seated King.
Now, it was a testament to eternal decay.
The crystal dome was cracked, covered in pulsating webs of purple veins that blocked out the light. The silver-wood floor was buckled, broken by massive, thorny roots that had burst from below. And the throne itself...
The throne was no longer a chair. It was a cockpit.
Regent Valen sat fused to the structure. His legs were gone, replaced by a tangled mass of black wood that connected him directly to the corrupted heart of the spire. His skin was bark-grey, splitting open to reveal raw, glowing purple flesh beneath. His left arm was normal, holding his staff, but his right arm was a grotesque, elongated claw of thorns dripping with black ichor.
"You look terrible, Valen," I said, stepping off the balcony and onto the cracked floor. Elara stood beside me, her bow drawn, the arrow tip glowing with wind magic.
"Terrible?" Valen’s voice boomed. It wasn’t just coming from his throat; it was vibrating from the walls. "I have never been more beautiful. I have shed the weakness of flesh. I have become the Garden."
He gestured with his clawed hand.
"Do you see, Anomaly? The Elves were stagnant. Dying in their beautiful cages. I have given them evolution."
"You gave them a parasite," Elara spat, her voice shaking with rage. "You sold our souls to a Demon King!"
"I made a trade!" Valen roared. "Power for survival! And now that the Demon is gone... I keep the power."
He grinned. His mouth was too wide, filled with needle-like wooden teeth.
"The Parasite King is dead. But his gift remains. I am the new host. I am the World Tree now."
BOOM.
The main double doors behind Valen exploded inward. Splinters of corrupted wood rained down on the throne.
Leon Lionheart charged through the smoke, his golden aura blazing like a star. Selena moved in his shadow, her scythe spinning.
"Sorry we’re late!" Leon shouted, seeing the monstrosity on the throne. "We ran into the Captain. He... resigned."
"Leon!" I called out. "Formation Delta! He’s fused to the room!"
"Understood!" Leon didn’t hesitate. He launched himself into the air. "Lionheart Art: Meteor Strike!"
He brought the [Breaker’s Hammer] down on Valen’s head.
CRUNCH.
The hammer connected. Valen’s wooden skull shattered. The impact drove his body down into the throne, flattening him.
"Got him!" Leon cheered.
"No," Selena warned, her eyes narrowing. "Mana signature... rising."
The shattered wood of Valen’s head didn’t bleed. It writhed.
Black vines shot out from the neck stump, knitting together instantly. In seconds, Valen’s face reformed, looking annoyed rather than hurt.
"Physical trauma is irrelevant," Valen sneered. "I am the roots. As long as the Spire stands, I am immortal."
His massive claw-arm lashed out.
SWIPE.
Leon blocked with the hammer, but the force was like being hit by a wrecking ball. He was thrown across the room, crashing into a pillar.
"Leon!" Elara fired a volley of wind-arrows.
THWIP. THWIP. THWIP.
They pierced Valen’s chest, exploding into mini-tornadoes that shredded his bark armor.
Valen laughed. The holes closed up before the dust even settled.
"My turn," the monster said.
The floor beneath us erupted.
Thousands of black spikes shot up from the ground.
"Move!" I shouted.
[Skill: Void Step]
I blinked to the ceiling chandelier. Elara rolled, dodging a spike by inches. Selena leaped, running along the walls to avoid the forest of thorns.
"He’s a raid boss," I realized, hanging from the crystal fixture. "He has infinite regeneration and area-of-effect attacks. We can’t kill him with damage."
[Target: Valen, The Avatar of Rot]
[HP: ??? (Regenerating)]
[Weakness: None Detected]
"Selena!" I shouted over the roar of the thorns. "Analysis! Where is his core?"
Selena landed on a high ledge, her scythe glowing. "Scanning... Negative. The entity has decentralized his consciousness. His core is distributed throughout the entire root system of the Spire."
"So we have to burn the whole building down?" Leon yelled, pulling himself out of the rubble.
"If we destroy the Spire, the barrier falls and crushes the Lower City," Elara shouted back. "We kill the hostages!"
Valen heard us. He smiled.
"Exactly," he rumbled. "I am the load-bearing wall. Kill me, and you kill your precious King. You kill the resistance. You kill everyone."
He raised his staff. The purple veins on the walls pulsed brighter.
"Mass Drain."
A wave of purple gravity washed over the room. I felt my mana being sucked out of my pores. Leon dropped to one knee, groaning. Elara’s wind magic flickered and died.
"I will drink you dry," Valen whispered. "And add your husks to my collection."
I struggled against the drain. My [Gamer’s Body] was fighting to keep my stats up, but the drain was aggressive. It wasn’t just magic; it was biological. He was trying to digest us.
He’s not an elf, I thought, staring at the regenerative mass of wood and hate. He’s not even a demon.
He’s cancer.
And you don’t fight cancer with a hammer. You don’t fight it with arrows.
You fight it by introducing something more aggressive than the tumor. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
I looked at my shadow on the crystal ceiling. It was dark. Darker than it should be.
"Leon," I gasped, dropping from the chandelier and landing in a crouch. "Get Elara and Selena back."
"What?" Leon looked at me, sweat pouring down his face. "We can’t leave you!"
"I’m not fighting him," I said, standing up. The mana drain tugged at me, but I pushed it back with my Void affinity. "I’m going to feed him."
"Michael, what are you doing?" Elara cried out.
I walked toward the throne. Valen watched me, amused.
"Surrendering, Anomaly?" Valen mocked. "Finally realized the futility?"
"You keep talking about hunger, Valen," I said, my voice calm. "You keep talking about eating the world. About how you’re the apex predator because you consumed the Parasite King’s leftovers."
I stopped ten paces from the throne. The thorns parted around me, wary of the void mana leaking from my skin.
"But you forgot something," I said. "There’s always a bigger fish."
I closed my eyes.
I didn’t reach for my mana. I reached for my soul.
I found the bond. The cold, ancient chain that connected me to the entity sleeping in my shadow.
"Draken," I whispered. "Wake up."
The temperature in the room dropped. The purple light of the Rot flickered.
Valen frowned. "What is this?"
"You wanted to be a monster, Valen?" I opened my eyes. They were burning with vertical, golden pupils.
"Congratulations."
My shadow exploded.
(To be Continued)
