Aetheric Chronicles: Reborn As An Extra

Chapter 366: This might as well be the beginning

As Bane soared away with Adrian, Ardel, and Dorian, the Ruin Guardian let out a guttural roar that shook the battlefield. Its gaze, now burning with rage, scanned for a new target. Losing sight of Adrian and Ardel, the massive creature shifted its attention to the frontlines where Ella, Claire, her two classmates, and Ceil fought valiantly against its remaining minions.

The Guardian's eyes locked onto the five of them. With a furious bellow, it began to stomp toward them, each step sending tremors across the battlefield. The earth beneath it cracked, as jagged stones shot up to fortify its path.

"Adrian's right, we need to get them out of there!" Ardel shouted, barely catching his breath after their intense assault.

Dorian nodded, already directing Bane to circle back. The flying creature's powerful wings beat against the air as they angled toward the backline where their remaining allies stood.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Ella and Claire had also noticed the Ruin Guardian's enraged advance. Both of them had witnessed the ambush on the symbol-bearing men from afar. While they couldn't see the details, it was clear that the first years had made a decisive strike—killing the key figures and destabilizing the Ruin Guardian. Or making it enraged.

"Looks like the guardian regained its consciousness after Adrian took out the suspicious men," Claire muttered, adjusting her grip on her sword. "As expected of the guy who beat you."

Ella's eyes narrowed at her words but she didn't retort. "...Then it's up to us to bring it down. Ceil take Hugo and Sara, and focus on the remaining minions! We'll handle the big guy."

Ceil hesitated but nodded. She understood her role—without the minions taken care of, they would be overwhelmed. She threw herself into the fight, taking on the smaller monsters with the other third years at her side.

Ella and Claire advanced toward the Guardian, the ground trembling under its massive form. They knew the odds weren't in their favor. The creature's defenses were immense, and its ability to manipulate the earth made it a formidable opponent.

The Ruin Guardian raised its massive arm, summoning large stone pillars from the ground, aiming to crush Ella and Claire in one strike.

"We need to split its attention!" Claire shouted. "You go left; I'll take the right!"

As Ella darted left, her silver hair glimmered in the sunlight, caught by the wind she summoned. With a graceful flick of her hand, she summoned a powerful gust that carried her swiftly out of the Guardian's range. Claire, on the right, conjured an array of Water Dragons from her staff, their serpentine forms twisting through the air as they surged toward the Guardian's towering stone form.

"Let's test this thing's defenses!" Claire called, her red hair flowing behind her as she released a Wind Dragon alongside her Water spells, a combination that made her renowned as the 'Tempest Empress'. The dual-elemental attack struck the Guardian's chest, crashing against its stone armor in a powerful surge of force.

But the Ruin Guardian's defense was no joke. The Water and Wind Dragons collided with its stony surface, sending cracks through the earth and splashing water everywhere, but barely leaving a dent in the creature's hardened exterior. The Guardian roared in fury, slamming its massive fists into the ground, summoning more jagged earth pillars from beneath their feet.

"Claire, watch out!" Ella shouted as a massive stone spike shot up, aiming for her friend.

Claire leaped back, narrowly avoiding the pillar. She clenched her staff tighter, her brows furrowed in frustration. "Its defenses are insane! We'll have to hit it harder than that."

Ella nodded.

Her mind raced, calculating the best way to break through the Guardian's thick defense. Her mastery over four elements gave her an edge, but the creature's earth manipulation seemed almost impossible to crack. Yet, as the 'Elemental Virtuoso', she had learned to adapt.

She raised her hands, summoning a swirling vortex of fire and wind around her. The flames intensified, combining with the wind to form a powerful inferno. The air around her shimmered with heat, and her silver hair whipped wildly as she focused her energy.

"We'll overwhelm it then!" Ella called out, her voice firm with determination. She shot the blazing vortex straight at the Guardian, the flames roaring with intensity. As it collided with the stone armor, the flames licked at its surface, but again, the creature stood firm.

Claire gritted her teeth. "If we can't break through from the outside, then we'll drown it from the inside."

She planted her staff into the ground, summoning a swirling tempest of water from beneath her. The Water Dragons she'd sent out earlier returned, circling the Guardian, but this time with more intensity. The air around her grew cold, the water freezing as it wrapped around the Guardian, seeping into the cracks Ella's fire had weakened.

Claire's eyes flashed with power as she manipulated both water and wind, creating a deadly tempest aimed at the core of the creature.

"Now, Ella!" Claire shouted.

Ella understood instantly. She called forth her strongest lightning spell, focusing the crackling energy into her hands. The sky above darkened as storm clouds gathered, responding to her will. With a deafening crack, a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking the Guardian where the frozen water had infiltrated its stone armor.

The combination was devastating.

The lightning, now supercharged by the conductive water, surged into the Guardian's body, lighting up its entire form with crackling energy. The stone armor began to shatter from the inside out as the frozen water expanded and the lightning fried its internal structure.

The Ruin Guardian let out a final, anguished roar as its massive form crumbled. Stone shards exploded outward as the elemental forces tore it apart, the earth shaking with its collapse.

Ella and Claire stood their ground, panting from the exertion of their aether-draining spells. As the dust settled, the once towering figure of the Ruin Guardian was reduced to rubble. The battlefield grew quiet as the remaining minions, now without their leader, faltered and fell under the combined assault of Ceil and the third years.

"Not bad, right," Claire breathed, a grin breaking across her face. "The rock is down."

Ella nodded, though her expression remained focused. "That should make the rest of the fight easier… but let's not celebrate just yet. This might as well be the beginning."