The Extra's Rise-Chapter 802: Two Years (3)

The private reception hall felt smaller than I remembered, though nothing about its dimensions had changed. Perhaps it was because I had grown used to the vast crystal caves of Xerion Prime, or maybe because the people filling it now carried themselves differently—taller, more confident, touched by power that hadn’t been there when I left.

Stella claimed her spot on my lap with the kind of determined efficiency that suggested she’d been planning this moment for months. At eleven, she was getting too big for such things, but neither of us cared about dignity right now. Her small hands traced the new scars on my arms with curious precision.

"You look different," she announced with typical directness. "Older. And you have more scars than before."

"Two years fighting demons will do that," I replied, settling her more comfortably as the others arranged themselves around us. "But you look different too. Taller. And your hair is longer."

"I stopped cutting it," she said seriously. "Rachel told me you might like it this way when you came back."

Rachel’s cheeks colored slightly from her position across the room, but her sapphire eyes never left my face. There was something intense in her gaze—a hunger that went beyond mere affection. She had positioned herself where she could see me clearly, and I noticed how her hands trembled slightly before she clasped them together.

"I thought it would be nice," Rachel admitted, her voice carrying undertones that made my chest tighten. "I... I thought about you every day, Arthur. Every single day."

The simple exchange broke whatever formal tension had been building, but it also revealed currents beneath the surface. Suddenly everyone was moving closer, their careful positioning dissolving into something more desperate.

Cecilia approached with imperial grace, but her crimson eyes held possessive fire that hadn’t been there before. "Two years," she said softly, reaching out to touch my shoulder with fingers that lingered longer than necessary. "Two years of not knowing if you were alive or dead. Of wondering if you’d decided we weren’t worth returning to."

"Cecilia—" I began, but she pressed her fingers to my lips.

"Don’t," she said with quiet intensity. "Don’t tell me you didn’t consider staying wherever you went. Don’t tell me you didn’t think about how much simpler it would be without five complicated women and all the political mess that comes with us."

The pain in her voice cut deep because part of what she said was true. There had been moments on Xerion Prime when the idea of never returning had crossed my mind—moments when the simplicity of just surviving seemed easier than managing the complex web of relationships and responsibilities waiting for me.

"I came back," I said simply, catching her hand and holding it firmly. "I always intended to come back."

Rose had moved to my other side with business-like precision that couldn’t hide the emotion bleeding through her usual composure. "The guild kept detailed records," she said with forced calm. "Every day you were gone. Every report we filed hoping for some sign you were still alive. I thought about expanding operations to other continents just to feel closer to wherever you might be."

Her brown eyes held depths of worry that two years of uncertainty had carved into her usually confident demeanor. I could sense her power—high Immortal-rank, impressive beyond anything I had expected—but more than that, I could sense the exhaustion that came from carrying burdens alone.

Seraphina approached last, her ice-blue eyes reflecting control that was clearly costing her effort to maintain. "I trained every day," she said with characteristic directness. "Every technique, every form, until my body broke and I had to heal just to continue. Because if you came back wounded, if you needed protection, I wanted to be strong enough to stand beside you instead of behind you."

Reika hadn’t spoken yet, but she didn’t need to. Her violet eyes said everything—absolute devotion mixed with the kind of pain that came from loving someone who had vanished into the unknown. She positioned herself where she could touch my arm, and I felt her trembling slightly.

"Tell us about where you went," she said with quiet intensity that carried years of suppressed fear. "We need to know what you faced. We need to understand what we were so afraid of losing you to."

"Another world," I said, feeling Stella’s complete attention focus on me with mathematical precision. "A place called Xerion Prime."

The silence that followed was profound. Even my parents, who had supported my decision to leave, looked stunned at the confirmation. freewebnøvel_com

"The same summoning network the Order used could be reversed," I explained. "But only for someone with sufficient power, and only for a limited time."

"What was it like?" Aria asked, though her seventeen-year-old curiosity couldn’t hide deeper concern.

"Crystal trees that sing. Two suns—one yellow, one red. Air that tastes like metal because everything is saturated with magic." I shifted Stella slightly as memories surfaced. "And demons. Seventeen Marquis-level demons that I had to hunt down one by one."

"Seventeen," Rachel breathed, her sapphire eyes widening with something that looked almost like fascination. "You killed seventeen Immortal-rank demons by yourself."

There was something in her tone—admiration mixed with a darker emotion that reminded me why some people found her intensity unsettling. She was imagining the battles, the violence, and finding it compelling in ways that went beyond professional interest.

"The first few nearly killed me," I admitted. "I spent months learning how to fight opponents who used miasma instead of mana, who could corrupt reality itself with their presence."

"But you survived," Cecilia said with possessive pride that made her earlier fear transform into fierce satisfaction. "You became strong enough to kill them all."

"And then?" Rose asked with business-like precision that couldn’t hide her emotional investment in my answer.

"Then I had to find a way home. But there was something blocking the path—an Astral Leviathan called Void-Singer Maethis. A creature the size of continents that had been guarding the planet for centuries."

"What did you do?" Stella asked with scientific curiosity that reminded me why I had fought so hard to return to her.

"I killed it."

The words fell into absolute silence. Even Quinn, watching from his position near the windows, went completely still.

"You killed an Astral Leviathan," Seraphina repeated slowly, her strategic mind processing implications that clearly disturbed her.

"It was blocking my path home," I said simply. "So I killed it. The battle lasted three days, but in the end, Void-Singer Maethis was dead and the way was clear."

Rachel’s breathing had grown shallow, her sapphire eyes bright with an intensity that bordered on fever. "Three days of fighting something that size," she whispered. "The power you must have... the techniques you had to develop..."

"Arthur," Reika said with quiet devastation, "you could have died. Really died, with no way for us to help, no way for us to even know."

The pain in her voice broke something in my chest. I could sense their power levels now—all five of them had reached high Immortal-rank, an achievement that should have been impossible in two years. But more than their strength, I could sense the emotional toll my absence had extracted.

"I know," I said, pulling Reika closer while keeping my other arm around Stella. "I know what I put you through. But I had to become strong enough to protect what matters most."

"We became stronger too," Cecilia said with quiet intensity. "All of us. Because the alternative was sitting here helpless while you faced impossible odds alone."

"I can sense it," I replied, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "High Immortal-rank. All of you. That’s remarkable progress."

"We had motivation," Rose said with business-like understatement that couldn’t hide the deeper truth. "Knowing someone we love was fighting for his life on another world tends to accelerate development."

"Love," I repeated softly, the word carrying weight that felt both familiar and transformed by everything we had experienced.

"Did you doubt it?" Rachel asked with the kind of dangerous quiet that reminded me why her devotion could be as terrifying as it was comforting. "Did you think two years would change how we feel about you?"

"Sometimes," I admitted with honesty that made them all go still. "When the fighting was worst, when I thought I might not survive the next battle, I wondered if you’d move on. Find someone who could give you normal lives."

Cecilia’s response was immediate and fierce. "Don’t ever think that again," she said with imperial authority that brooked no argument. "Don’t ever imagine we’d choose normal over you. Don’t ever doubt that we’d wait however long it took."

"Forever," Reika added with simple conviction that held the weight of absolute truth.

"I missed you," I said, the words inadequate for everything I felt. "Every day. Every battle. You were what I fought to return to."

"We missed you too," Stella said with eleven-year-old directness that cut through any pretense. "But you’re here now. That’s what matters."

My parents had been watching this emotional reunion with expressions that mixed relief with growing concern. My father cleared his throat carefully.

"Arthur," he said with business-like precision that couldn’t hide paternal worry, "while we’re all grateful for your return, there are... developments that require immediate attention."

The formal tone made everyone straighten slightly, warm reunion atmosphere giving way to something more urgent.

"What kind of developments?" I asked, though something in the way they were all looking at me suggested the answer would be serious.

Cecilia exchanged glances with the others before speaking with crown princess authority that made the air seem to sharpen around us. "The kind that suggest your training might have been more necessary than we thought. Arthur, things have been building while you were gone. Threats that even our new power levels might not be sufficient to handle."

"How serious?" I asked, already feeling the familiar weight of responsibility settling back onto my shoulders.

"Serious enough that killing an Astral Leviathan might turn out to be exactly the kind of experience we need," Rose said with careful neutrality that couldn’t hide underlying alarm.

Stella shifted in my lap, clearly understanding that our reunion was about to be interrupted by whatever crisis had been building during my absence.

"Arthur," Cecilia said with royal gravity that made everyone in the room focus completely on her words, "it’s time we told you about the Second Calamity. And why we think it might be starting."

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