The Extra is a Genius!? Chapter 599: The Place Beyond Manacode [I]

Noel awoke in a spot he couldn't identify. He lay motionless, his eyes sweeping through the gloom encircling him as his thoughts raced to comprehend. A strange unease hit him right away, not precisely threatening, but off in a manner hard to put into words. His mind worked sharply, his sight was clear, he could shift if he chose, but his sense of self felt loosely linked to his physical form. It seemed his awareness had landed there ahead of everything else, with the body catching up in a flawed manner.

’Where am I? What is this place?’

He glanced downward at his own shape. It was visible, yet the feel of it remained remote. The usual press of his garments was absent, the breeze on his flesh undetectable. Even being upright felt odd, like his soles pressed against something visible to his eyes but intangible to his touch.

Noel compelled his brain to focus. His final memory stood out vividly. The chimera. The climactic battle in the valley under the ridge. That remaining one percent. Next came the system interface. Then the rise.

Manacode.

’This must stem from that.’ No other reason fit.

The realization took hold, and his subsequent attempt emerged almost on reflex. ’Noir? Are you there?’

Silence. No reply came. This unsettled him more than the surroundings. Noir had accompanied him for ages, her essence so ingrained it was effortless, ever-present, something he sensed without effort. Now, only quiet reigned—no words, no response, no subtle tie lingering in his thoughts.

Noel breathed out gradually and started moving forward. What lay underfoot resembled a serene ocean, shadowy and still, but it didn't resemble liquid. It scarcely registered as solid ground. His footfalls produced no noise, no waves trailed behind. Overhead loomed a pitch-black firmament dotted with stars, vast and unusually vivid. The hush was total.

Suddenly, far off, a shape appeared. A lone form seated ahead, limbs extended, torso propped back on both palms, just gazing up at the infinite starry void.

Noel squinted a bit and advanced toward the silhouette.

The shape showed no sign as Noel drew near. In such profound quiet, the tiniest motion ought to be noticeable, but the individual stayed unchanged, limbs out, torso supported on hands, gaze locked on the starry blackness overhead as though unaware of his approach. Close up, the contours remained vague, more due to the enveloping dark than any concealment of features.

Noel halted next to them briefly, examining the profile of their visage. No response. Thus, he sank down and settled beside.

"Hello?"

The response was swift. The shape almost leaped from surprise, body twisting sharply to one side, one palm sliding on the ground below as they spun about with startled eyes. "Who the hell sneaked in here?!"

Noel blinked. "I’m Noel Thorne. I don’t really know how I got here either."

The fellow gaped at him. Not idly, not mere interest, but raw astonishment blended with near denial, like Noel’s arrival baffled more than the rest of this realm. "You’re serious? How the hell did you even get here?"

Noel held silent briefly, observing in return. The timbre rang familiar. The inflection too. Then realization struck next.

He knows me.

"Wait," Noel uttered. "You know who I am?"

The fellow huffed a brief disbelieving puff and eyed him as if the query was absurd. "Of course I know who you are. You’re the one who got farther than all the others. We’ve talked before." He shook his head, gaze fixed.

Noel’s gaze intensified as recognition snapped into view. The fellow reclined once more, less relaxed now, and gestured casually at his own frame. "Noctis," he stated. "I’m Noctis, Noel."

The name hit like a rock plunging into tranquil waters. Noel remained wordless for an extended beat. After all the tales he’d heard, after all his suppositions, this was the ultimate identity he’d never anticipated encountering here. Noctis sat right there beside him.

Noel at last regained speech. "What...?" The term emerged softer than planned, more instinct than inquiry. He fixed on Noctis another instant, as if intense scrutiny might transform the countenance into another. It held firm. The resemblance grew clearer with prolonged inspection. "Noctis? I thought you couldn’t appear in the world anymore. I thought that was it. I thought I wouldn’t see you again."

Noctis snorted lightly through his nostrils, a mix of mirth and incredulity, then angled his head skyward to the ebony expanse anew. "Yeah," he replied. "I thought so too. That’s why I told you that. But this isn’t Vaelterra." His tone shed some prior shock and eased into familiarity, though his glance darted to Noel periodically to verify reality. "I didn’t expect this either. You showing up here makes no sense to me."

Noel’s eyebrows furrowed faintly. "Then why are you here?"

Noctis paused, one hand drifting idly over the odd terrain below before responding. "Because I can’t leave." He halted. "And even if I could, I wouldn’t risk it. It’d be too dangerous."

For one like Noctis to declare that so directly lent the term undue gravity. Noel allowed the quiet to linger briefly before posing the key query above all. "Where are we?"

Noctis surveyed the boundless shadowy stretch with the comfort of long acquaintance. No puzzle on his features. No delay. "This?" he remarked. "This is the dimension where I keep my brother imprisoned."