The Extra Who Stole the Hero's System-Chapter 40: The Mythic Dragon’s Eye

"I’m Herald of Eudenia." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The name, spoken with such calm, vibrated in the now mana-saturated air. My body ran cold, then surged with a terrifying realization. Herald. Herald of Eudenia. I knew that name. Knew it intimately, from countless hours spent binging the pages of Hero’s Vow. Herald wasn’t just a character; he was the hero’s master, the protagonist’s enigmatic mentor. He was considered one of, if not the, strongest characters in the entire novel. His power was legendary, almost mythical.

And that his left eye. The one that glowed with an ethereal blue aura, saturating the environment with raw mana. That was it. That was the S-tier artifact the system had detected. The novel had described it in painstaking detail: the Mythic Dragon’s Eye. An S-tier artifact of unparalleled power, known for a multitude of incredible abilities, including granting its wielder immense longevity. It was said to be a relic from the now dead Mythic Dragon, a fragment of a true dragon’s essence.

Everything clicked into place with a horrifying, yet strangely exhilarating, clarity. In the novel, Herald had recruited and trained Eren Valtor, the hero, because he had been anticipating someone with a special ability, an ability I know possessed, he wanted someone who could help him in his lifelong crusade against the cult – the insidious organization known as the Face of Asmodeus. Asmodeus, the Demon Lord, supposedly defeated by Eren at the climax of the story. Herald had been fighting them for centuries, a silent, relentless war waged from the shadows.

And now, he was here. In the Sapphire manor. Confronting Lord Sapphire. And calling him a "cult member."

My mind raced, piecing together the implications. Lord Sapphire’s hidden armory, his secret power, his late-night whispers of "let his will be done," the assassin from his own guards, it all pointed to one terrifying conclusion. The Sapphire family, or at least Lord Sapphire, was involved with the Face of Asmodeus. My new adopted family, was actually part of the very evil the novel’s protagonist was destined to fight.

The realization was a cold hard slap to the face. I had escaped one death, only to land squarely in the middle of a far greater, more dangerous conflict.

As I processed all of this, a growing pressure began to build around me. The air, already thick with Herald’s raw mana output, became almost suffocating. It felt like an invisible weight pressing down on my chest, making it difficult to draw breath. My lungs burned, struggling to expand against the oppressive force.

It must be another ability of the Mythic Dragon’s Eye, as described in the novel: the ability to compress the mana within a specific radius of the wielder, transforming it into a crushing gravitational force. It wasn’t just mana; it was mana weaponized, turned into an invisible, irresistible hand that could crush anything in its grasp. I was partially suffocating, my vision gradually blurring.

Lord Sapphire, his face grim and unreadable, wasted no time. His gaze, cold and hard, swept over Herald, then to the guards who stood ready. "Apprehend him!" he commanded. "Now!"

More than twenty guards, all armed to the brim with swords and spears, moved in unison. They surrounded Herald, forming a tight circle, their weapons pointed inwards. They appeared well-trained.

The first five guards, brave or foolish, lunged simultaneously, their blades aiming for Herald. They moved with practiced coordination, a deadly, synchronized attack.

But then, something truly terrifying happened.

Herald didn’t move. He simply stood there, his blue-glowing eye fixed on the charging guards, a faint, almost imperceptible hum emanating from him. And then, as the first five guards reached him, something strange, horrifying, and utterly impossible occurred.

They exploded.

Their bodies, in a sickening, instantaneous implosion, compressed into nothingness. There was no sound of tearing flesh, no scream, just a sudden, violent whoosh of displaced air. Their full bodies, moments before alive and charging, left only faint, human-shaped indentations on the ground, as if an invisible, impossibly heavy hand had pressed them flat, erasing them from existence. There was no trace of them left, no blood, no bone, no armor. Just the faint, disturbed earth where they had stood. It was as if they had been pressed by an unimaginable, crushing gravitational force.

This was the Mythic Dragon’s Eye. Its ability to compress the mana within a specific radius of the wielder, turning it into a crushing gravitational force. The raw mana that saturated the environment, the mana that was making me suffocate, was being drawn in, condensed, and then unleashed as a localized, devastating gravitational field. It was instantaneous, silent, and utterly complete.

The remaining guards froze, their faces pale with horror, their weapons trembling in their hands. The air around Herald, already dense, seemed to thicken further, vibrating with the residual power of the impossible act.

Herald’s blue-glowing eye, which had been wide open, now slowly, deliberately, closed. The oppressive mana density around him immediately lessened, allowing me to breathe again, though my lungs still burned. He then charged. Not with the overwhelming power of the Mythic Dragon’s Eye, but with a terrifying, almost casual, speed and precision.

He was a blur of motion, a dark shadow weaving through the frozen ranks of the guards. His sword, the broad blade, moved with impossible speed, a silver streak in the dim light. He didn’t kill them. Not outright. He disarmed them, struck them down, incapacitated them with brutal efficiency. A punch to the gut, a kick to the knee, a swift hilt to the temple. Guards crumpled, fell, screamed, their weapons clattering to the ground. He was a spiral of controlled violence, utterly overwhelming. Within mere seconds, the remaining guards lay scattered on the ground, groaning, unconscious, or too terrified to move.

Herald stood amidst the fallen, his breathing even, his posture relaxed. He wiped a speck of dust from his simple blade, his gaze sweeping over the incapacitated guards, then to Lord Sapphire, who stood frozen, his face a mask of disbelief and dawning horror.

"I expected more," Herald said, his voice calm, almost disappointed, "from a great noble house."