I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

Chapter 287 - 281 – Eclipse Vanguard (7)

The air above the frozen plain shimmered with latent energy. Even in her exhaustion, Kiana felt it an almost alive presence approaching, heavy, controlled, and unyielding. It wasn't just Shinrei. It was command, authority, and raw emotion bundled into a force that dwarfed even Lucere's Void Art.Somewhere far, far away, at Veyl Academy, the apex of Shinrei mastery stirred.

Master Isen.

Lucere tilted his head, the faintest smirk on his lips. His eyes, strange and disconcerting, studied Kiana.

"(Isen will come here…)" he thought silently, almost savoring the inevitability of the confrontation.

He didn't panic. Didn't shift. His calm was a storm in itself.

Then, he looked down at Kiana.

"Let's finish this, shall we?"

Kiana wiped the frozen blood from her lip. Her veins burned as her Shinrei spasmed. Her eyes flared crimson and cobalt, colors colliding, forming streaks of raw emotion that radiated outward.

"I won't let you!"

Lucere's hand twitched, and the world stilled again. Not because he moved fast, but because he commanded it. The shard between them screamed in response, vibrating violently against its seals. Frost cracked around Kiana's feet.

Kiana lunged, fists wrapped in her unstable Shinrei. Each step left temporary frostprints that hissed as they sublimated. She channeled every ounce of training, every lesson burned into her by Master Isen, Motorazu's sacrifice, and her own willpower.

"ECHO ART — ICE AGE: ASCENSION!"

The air thickened. Ice erupted from the ground, spiking into jagged shards aiming to pin Lucere in place. Snow spiraled around him like a miniature storm. Her control was shaky the Fifth Gate still unstable but her determination gave it form, if not perfection.

Lucere moved with a grace that made the frost irrelevant.

"Interesting," he murmured. With a faint motion, the ice shattered not violently, just… evaporated into nothing, as if it had never existed.

Kiana's eyes widened. The shard pulsed violently, almost screaming in resonance with Lucere.

"You still cling to rules," he whispered in her mind. "Your kind always tries to bind chaos with structure."

Then, his hands moved, carving through the air like a conductor.

"VOID ART — SERENADE: PHASE TWO."

The silence that followed was thick. It wasn't just the absence of sound. Every atom in Kiana's immediate field seemed to hesitate. Her Shinrei fought to respond, but it was as though the universe itself had paused to test her.

She fell to one knee, panting, fighting to regain the rhythm of her own heartbeat. But even fractured, her will remained.

"You… will… not… win!"

The shard flared. A wave of crimson energy erupted around her, raw, unshaped, chaotic. It pushed against the void that Lucere wielded. He tilted his head, impressed.

"Huh… defiant. I like it."

...

Techniques in Play

Kiana:

Ice Age: Ascension (Fifth Gate): Creates a domain of extreme cold and frozen structures. Freezes movement and slows Shinrei flow. Can immobilize opponents temporarily, but unstable if emotional resonance falters.

Shard Resonance: Kiana's bond with the relic allows her to amplify Shinrei, even in fractured states. It manifests as raw, jagged energy surging around her hands.

Lucere:

Void Art – Serenade: Erases synchronization, desynchronizes Shinrei flow, and nullifies Echo Art sequencing. Phase Two enhances the effect to a field, desynchronizing anything within a 50-meter radius.

Void Manipulation: Not just destructive, but manipulative can warp perceptions, predict reactions, and subtly bend causality around the target.

..

..

Kiana surged forward, flinging ice shards with both hands, the shards spinning in intricate choreography, precise yet chaotic. Each shard carried an echo of her emotional resonance, a slice of frozen intent aimed at Lucere.

He didn't dodge. Not because he was weak, but because he could phase through causality itself, slipping between what was and what could have been. The shards passed through him like water through a sieve. Yet, not a single one was wasted, they all shattered, fracturing the space around him into ephemeral shards that glimmered briefly before vanishing.

"You wield emotion like a child swings a toy sword," he said aloud in her mind. "But raw will is… entertaining."

Lucere's hand traced an arc. Ice vapor condensed mid-air, frozen and then torn apart without touch. Kiana's form was caught in a stuttering loop. Her own movements stuttered, delayed by the phase-shifted void.

She gritted her teeth.

"I'm not… raw. I'm refined! Echo Arts aren't just weapons, they're my soul!"

The shard pulsed violently again. In that moment, Kiana felt a faint whisper from the relic: a warning and a guide. The shard's resonance began subtly synchronizing with her again counteracting Lucere's Serenade.

Lucere's eyes darkened. He moved faster now not merely in space, but in perception.

Kiana's Ice Age domain flared desperately. Frost spikes shot upward from the ground like a frozen forest, aiming to pin him. Her Shinrei erupted through the shards, cascading outward, weaving a lattice of emotion and ice that glimmered blue and crimson.

"Time to test you!"

Lucere smiled. A slash of his hand and the lattice fragmented, evaporating mid-air. Then he lifted both hands, not striking but drawing the space between them taut.

Everything slowed. Not for him. For her.

The frozen spikes that should have pinned him erupted backward, shards spinning wildly, striking the ground harmlessly.

Kiana felt her heartbeat falter. Every motion was delayed by millisecondsbut milliseconds here could mean life or death.

"This… is… impossible!"

Lucere tilted his head.

"Impossible? No. Just unfinished."

He flicked his fingers. A single pulse and Kiana's breath crystallized mid-air. Her Shinrei, still tethered to the shard, began fraying. Her Fifth Gate trembled violently, threatening Void Drift, a state she had only glimpsed in forbidden texts.

Yet, she smiled.

"Then I'll finish it myself!"

The shard flared violently in her hand. It screamed, resonating in tandem with her Fifth Gate. Energy cascaded from it, pure and chaotic.

Ice spikes erupted again, this time fused with raw shard Shinrei, creating crystalline projectiles that were semi-sentient, seeking Lucere's position relentlessly.

Frost and emotion intertwined, producing an almost living battlefield, Kiana danced among shards, dodging void pulses, retaliating with intuitive precision.

Lucere's smile widened.

"Ah… so the relic does choose. Very well… show me your full form."

He extended both arms. The air around him vibrated as the Serenade deepened. But Kiana's shard countered it pushing the desynchronization outward in waves. The battle became a duel of resonances, tempos, and intent, rather than pure physical strikes.

Suddenly, far above the horizon, a massive presence pierced the sky.

A ripple in the spiritual flow. A dragonic pulse of pure Shinrei.

Kiana froze, shard pulsing violently in her grip. Lucere's eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease passing through him.

"Ah… so Isen has noticed. Perfect timing."

The wind stilled. The world seemed to hold its breath.

Kiana's eyes widened in shock.

"I… it's him…"

Lucere whispered, almost in amusement:

"Let's see how you handle this before I finish you."

Above them, the skies tore open in a roar of light and wind. The presence of Isen, the Keiryuu, approached like a living storm.

And the shard, oh, the shard reacted as though it recognized the ultimate authority.

Lightning streaked across the clouds. Ice quivered. Void tension rippled.

The stage was set. The duel had only just begun

To be continue