The Extra's Rise
Chapter 624 - 624: Divine Beast (4)

'As expected, Rachel really bonded with a phoenix,' I thought with genuine satisfaction as I pulled her into a congratulatory embrace, feeling the residual warmth from Aurelius's divine flames still radiating from her skin. Her joy was infectious, and seeing her succeed so spectacularly filled me with pride that had nothing to do with my own ambitions.

'Phoenixes, one of the four mythical beasts alongside dragons, qilins, and basilisks,' I reflected as Rachel practically glowed with happiness in my arms. 'Each representing the pinnacle of their respective magical affinities.'

The categorization was fundamental to magical theory, so basic that children learned it before their first formal lessons. If basilisks were renowned for their mastery of Deepdark magic, then phoenixes represented the absolute embodiment of Purelight—even more than their legendary fire abilities. The duality was perfect, balanced, and had governed magical understanding for millennia.

'Wait.'

The thought struck me like a physical blow, and I felt Rachel's concerned gaze as my embrace suddenly tensened.

'Basilisks are known for Deepdark magic. Phoenixes are known for Purelight magic.' The facts arranged themselves in my mind with crystalline clarity. 'But qilins and dragons... they don't have affinity for either.'

'That's how it's supposed to be. That's how it's always been.'

'So then why...'

The question formed in my mind like a crack in a dam, and suddenly the floodgates burst open.

'Why did Luna, a qilin, give me affinity to both Purelight and Deepdark from her will?'

The contradiction hit me with the force of a revelation that threatened to shatter everything I thought I understood about the magical world. Qilins weren't supposed to possess either affinity—they were masters of harmony and balance.

'But Luna's will specifically granted me access to both Purelight and Deepdark alongside other elements when she bonded with me', I remembered with growing horror. 'How is that possible if qilins don't naturally possess those affinities?'

"Arthur?" Rachel's voice seemed to come from an impossible distance. "Are you alright? You look pale."

I barely heard her. My mind was racing through implications that made less and less sense the more I considered them. Every assumption I'd built my magical development on was suddenly suspect, every choice I'd made potentially based on false information.

'Deepdark and Purelight can't mix.' The fundamental principle of magical theory echoed in my skull like a death knell. 'They're opposing forces. Incompatible. Destructive when combined improperly.'

'But I've been using both for years. Luna's will made it possible. Luna, who shouldn't have access to either affinity.'

Pain exploded behind my eyes like lightning strikes, each thought about the contradiction sending agony through my brain that made thinking increasingly difficult. The ceremonial hall seemed to tilt around me as basic magical principles I'd taken for granted began collapsing under logical scrutiny.

'My brain hurts.'

'Qilins don't have Purelight or Deepdark affinity. That's fundamental. Unchangeable. Basic theory.'

'My brain hurts!'

'Then why does Luna have both? Why could she grant me what she shouldn't possess?'

'My brain HURTS!'

The pain was becoming unbearable, like someone was driving hot spikes through my skull every time I tried to reconcile the logical contradiction. My vision began to blur as the agony intensified, making it impossible to focus on anything except the burning question that my mind refused to leave alone.

'Qilin. Qilin. Qilin don't have either affinity.'

'I can't think. Why can't I think clearly?'

"Arthur, your turn," Uncle Alastor's voice cut through my mental chaos, though it sounded distorted and far away. "The ritual circle is prepared for your bonding attempt."

'No,' I thought desperately. 'Something's wrong. I can't do this now. I can't focus. I can't...'

But my legs were already carrying me toward the starlight marble circle, muscle memory and social expectation overriding my growing sense of panic. Each step felt like walking through quicksand as the contradiction in my mind continued tearing at my consciousness.

'Why did Luna grant me affinities she shouldn't possess?'

'What does that mean about everything I think I know?'

'What does that mean about HER?'

The ritual circle's runes began responding to my presence, glowing with increasing intensity as they detected my magical signature. But instead of the harmonious resonance I'd expected, the energies felt chaotic, conflicted, as if my very presence was creating dissonance in the carefully calibrated systems.

'Something's wrong with me,' I realized with growing terror. 'The contradiction is affecting my magical stability.'

Suddenly, I felt a presence wrapping around me like a desperate embrace, and a familiar ethereal voice whispered directly into my consciousness with an urgency I'd never heard from her before.

"Please, Arthur, don't think about it," Luna's voice pleaded, her mental tone carrying something that sounded dangerously close to panic. "Please, just stop thinking about it."

'Luna?' I thought, startled by the desperation in her usually calm demeanor. 'Why are you so afraid of me realizing this? What aren't you telling me?'

But instead of answers, Luna manifested physically in her child-like appearance that was exactly as I remembered, but her expression carried fear that made my blood run cold.

'She's terrified,' I realized.

"Arthur, you need to stop the ritual," Luna said aloud, her voice audible to everyone present as she reached toward me with small hands that trembled. "Please, just step away from the circle. Don't attempt the bonding. Not now."

But it was too late. The ceremonial energies had already begun channeling through the spire above us, responding to my Purelight and Deepdark affinities simultaneously in ways that the system clearly wasn't designed to handle. Alarms began sounding as monitoring enchantments detected magical patterns that violated fundamental theoretical principles.

'The system is rejecting me,' I thought with horror as pain beyond description began tearing through my mana circuits.

The agony was indescribable. Every magical channel in my body felt like it was being torn apart and rebuilt simultaneously, while the contradiction at the heart of my abilities created feedback loops that threatened to shatter my consciousness entirely.

I could hear shouting around me—Uncle Alastor barking orders to shut down the ceremonial systems, Rachel screaming my name with panic that cut through the chaos, Kali and Reika moving with desperate urgency toward the ritual circle.

'The contradiction is tearing me apart,' I thought as my vision began fragmenting into disconnected images. 'Whatever Luna's secret is, discovering it might kill me.'

But even as my body began failing, even as magical energies ravaged my internal systems like a hurricane of pure destruction, I couldn't stop the questions from forming.

'What is Luna really?'

'What has she been hiding from me?'

'What am I really?'

My legs gave out, sending me crashing to the starlight marble with an impact I barely felt through the overwhelming agony consuming my consciousness. Through rapidly darkening vision, I could see Rachel and Reika rushing toward me, their faces painted with terror that would have broken my heart if I'd had the capacity to feel anything except the burning need to understand the truth.

'Luna,' I tried to think as darkness closed in around me. 'What have you done to me?'

But consciousness fled before I could form any more questions, leaving me drowning in a sea of contradictions that threatened to tear apart everything I thought I knew about myself and the world I'd been fighting to master.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was Luna's child-like face staring down at me with an expression of guilt so profound it suggested secrets that went far deeper than anything I'd imagined possible.

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