The Unrecorded Extra

After a long, extended Global Meeting draining his energy, mentally, Crow shifted to his original form. Zio Varrez.

He found his body embraced by the comfy of his dorm bed, already feeling sleepy. Before he fell into the dream world, he told his sword, Retro, not to support him with her cleansing energy.

He wanted to confirm something. His Clairvoyance. He wanted to know if the dream, or more accurately, the nightmare he had experienced was caused by his skill.

With that in mind, he slowly drifted into the dream world. But his consciousness still lingered around.

His physical body was laying on top of the bed defenseless, only to be basked in the moonlight filtered by the window glass of his room.

Lux, or precisely the Odyssey, told him he needed to be in a state of stillness and peace — something akin to Lucid Dreaming — to have the Clairvoyance's Sight to be triggered.

Recalling that particular part, he did what he was supposed to do. And finally…

He let his consciousness fade away, unleashing it into the dream world, hoping what the Odyssey informed him to be the truth.

***

A man stood alone in the middle of the burning city.

The tall buildings and skyscrapers collapsed and were destroyed, and the fire blazed through the city. The streets were filled with red blood from the corpses that lay on the streets. Dark smoke bellowed in the sky, creating an eerie and tragic atmosphere.

Hysterical screams flooded the city, and a loud and deep roar echoed through the sky.

Standing amid all the chaos, the man stood unflinching as though he was already accustomed to what was going on.

Roar—!

An ear-deafening roar resounded from behind. The man instinctively turned back and saw a huge creature. A pair of horns protruded from its forehead, stretching forward and then twisted, making a spiral. The creature was red-skinned. Its yellow irises with void-black sclera glared at him.

When the line of its mouth formed a smirk, which slowly opened and was replaced by a wide evil smile, a pair of fangs in each side of its teeth protruding, stretching upward reaching its big nose.

A demon.

That creature was definitely a demon.

But why? Why was there a demon here, in the city?

The demon roared, its voice carried a terror and could possibly cause a mental attack on anyone who heard it.

Anyone… except for the man whose features were hidden under his black robe.

The demon closed the distance between itself and the man, raising its axe high in the sky, already feeling like it would emerge as the victor.

The demon swung its axe diagonally, targeting him. But he stayed still, not even glancing at the danger approaching.

He seemed like he was in a state of trance. Eyes closed. Breathing steady.

But, the axe that was supposed to decimate the man easily hadn't yet killed him.

The man was still with his eyes closed. Meanwhile, the demon had stopped moving as though something had frozen it in place, in an awkward pose with its monstrous-size hands stretched forward, gripping the bloody axe.

Thud—!

It suddenly dropped its weapon from its seemingly strong grip.

Those with keen eyes would notice the very thin yet strong strings chained the creature tightly, almost buried deep within its tough skin.

The strings tightened. The demon's body was suppressed by the chain of strings binding him. In almost immediate motion, the strings passed through its body and disappeared.

Soon after that, the demon suddenly turned into pieces of chopped meat.

By the time the demon became the not feasible piece of meat, the man finally opened his eyes. Hearing something through the wind, he turned around before another man of the same robe could even land his feet on the ground after being launched somewhere God only knows.

"Aye boss, you 'right?" said the newcomer, referring to the first man in robe as 'Boss'.

Although the newcomer's robe had a similar design, color, and the emblem of the White Chrysanthemum embedded on the back of the robe. His hood was on the unique side, it was not your usual plain-looking hood. It was designed after an owl face — the hood's pointy edge was bent downward.

"What you doin'? Oh! Did you know that I would come so you let me finish that bastard?! Boss~"

Boss stared at him silently.

Then in the next few seconds, he finally opened his mouth.

"You've arrived."

His voice sounded gentle yet empty at the same time. It was as though he had lost reason for life. Full of regret. He wanted to end his life but he could not.

"Where are the other members?" Boss spoke again.

The mysterious guy nodded while pointing behind. "They're over there, ready to go!" 

He wasn't exactly sure where the Newcomer was pointing, but Boss patted Newcomer's shoulder as he walked past him. 

"Let's go then, we don't have much time. Lead the way."

"Aye aye, boss~"

After some walking deep into the burnt city, they finally arrived in front of the mall ruin. 

The view surrounding them wasn't a pleasant one either. As far as their eyes could see, their eyes only caught the sight of what was left from once the mighty, towering buildings and skyscrapers.

Without caring about the potential danger that might lurk inside the building, they stepped inside the mall ruin. Once inside, Boss took in his surroundings.

It was a mess, the building— the ruin was a total mess. Of course! If the place was organized and undamaged, then it wouldn't be called a ruin. 

Concrete floor scattered everywhere, broken and perforated. The roof above the lobby collapsed, creating a conventional path connecting the first level with the second level.

'A five-stories mall,' Boss remarked.

Looking ahead, toward the rubble connecting the lower and upper levels, he watched as four people sitting there. Their eyes fixated on the two men recently entering the ruin.

Four people sitting on the rubble connecting the two floors, including Boss and Newcomer beside him, it would be six people. They casually stared at each other.

Except for Boss. His eyes solemnly observe each of the individuals on the rubble.

A white-haired guy stood at the far left, tying his long hair into a ponytail. In front of him, a broadsword was shoved inside the building carcasses beneath him, creating a display as though it was an Excalibur.

Next to him, sat a woman wearing round glasses playfully throwing and catching the flasks containing a purple liquid and a yellow liquid. She looked like a scientist, wearing a white lab coat and such.

The other two were playing a prank on each other, their features were similar, a twin, perhaps. 

They were young compared to the others occupying this place, more or less 19 years old. Their eyes resembled an emerald. The twin was of different gender, with the boy looking cuter than the girl who appeared to be a tomboy. Though, both had short violet hair.

"It looks like everyone is here," Boss said, a hint of satisfaction was carried in his words.

Hearing how his voice echoed in the air, they looked in Boss's direction with concern on their face. Among them, it was Scientist who wore the most concerned expression directed at Boss.

"Boss, are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"What do you mean? Of course, I'm okay. I will."

"Your face says otherwise though. You are so pale. You look like you're about to collapse anytime soon…" 

Scientist's voice was low and soothing, like the sound of a mother caring for her children.

"She is right. Maybe we can postpone this mission for a while, you should rest first," said the white-haired man after finishing tying his long hair.

Boss sighed, expressing his rejection by shaking his head slowly.

"No. We don't have much time left. We can't delay this any longer to save this already hopeless world."

"Hmm…" The white-haired man thought for a moment before asking Boss a question, "Anyway, Boss. Are you sure the 'thing' we're after is the key to saving this world?"

Boss nodded once. His eyes reflected his resolution. "I'm a hundred percent sure."

"Huu… Well, a hundred percent. Alright!" Newcomer said, breaking his long silence since coming to this place.

"I'm worried that you might lose yourself after losing that person, but it looks like you get yourself back just like the old days," 

Scientist woman said with a sigh, standing up from the rubble.

The twin just gave Boss an excited nod. He nodded back at them. They were having a great ancient civilization way of communication when words weren't a thing.

"Anyway, if you don't mind me asking this…"

The Newcomer beside him spoke up as he walked toward the rubble to join the other four.

"What are we really looking for? Whatever it was, I was hoping this whole demon thing can be stopped."

Boss smiled.

"It is the artifact of the old god, an item capable to turn back time."

Upon hearing what Boss said, everyone was surprised and they blurted the same word at the same time. "Turn back time?!"