The Extra is a Genius!? Chapter 610: Against the Horde [IV]

Everything changed the instant the Ascendants reached the front line.

A sudden transformation swept through that segment of the battlefield, acting like an invigorating surge. Fighters who had been barely clinging to their positions through sheer determination recalibrated into closer formations, while the sturdier defenders stepped up to absorb the brunt of the assault. The defensive line wasn't just organized again; it had transformed into something truly unbreakable.

Marcus, accompanied by Garron and Laziel, moved into the most precarious zone without a word exchanged. These adversaries were distinct from the previous waves—they possessed faster reflexes, carried more weight in their strikes, required more effort to kill, and executed their attacks with far more malice.

A wolf-like creature, its forelimbs covered in plates, lunged through a gap among the debris and shattered barricades. Marcus met it head-on, slicing through its throat with his blade before thrusting his free hand toward the earth. "Stoneburst." Sharp rocky shards erupted from the ground beneath the next two enemies. One stumbled while the other lost its footing entirely. Seizing the opening, Marcus delivered an "Azure Flare Strike" directly into the chest of the first beast, burying the blue fire deep before it blasted through the opposite side in a spray of heat and viscera.

Beside him, Garron managed the immense pressure with his trademark raw power. As a broad-shouldered creature armored with bone growths charged, Garron met it with a collision that forced his boots deep into the soil. He gripped the beast’s limb, threw its momentum off-kilter, smashed his own forehead into its muzzle, and brought it crashing to the dirt with enough intensity to rattle the ground.

Laziel maintained a position slightly behind the front, keeping a vigilant eye on the chaos. He regulated the surrounding space with precise maneuvers, conjuring frost barriers, ensnaring roots, and creating timely disruptions whenever the enemy attempted to swarm them. Whenever a monster strayed too far, it was Laziel’s intervention that prevented one threat from turning into an overwhelming trio.

The momentum began to stabilize: slay, push, cover, advance. For the first time in what felt like forever, their section of the line was doing more than just surviving; it was actively retaking territory.

Then, the harmony shattered.

A massive entity plowed through the enemy ranks, scattering them like worthless trash. Marcus spotted it only a heartbeat before the impact. The beast was low-slung yet massive, possessing the build of a living battering ram. Pale, armored plates shielded its shoulders and cranium, with one jagged, broken horn and another formidable, curved spike. Its dark hide stretched tight over a frame designed for devastating impact, while ivory ridges ran along its spine like buried blades.

The Gravehorn Ravager did not hesitate. With a single charge, it tore through a group of defenders, sent bodies sailing through the air, obliterated a shield wall, and hammered into Marcus’s sector with enough force to shock everyone present.

The Gravehorn Ravager struck like a landslide possessed of fangs.

It collided with Marcus’s section, turning their formation into ruin in one fleeting moment. Shields splintered under its massive weight; a dwarf was hurled sideways, spinning through the air before colliding with a broken cart. Nearby stone spikes raised by a mage failed to hinder it, as the beast simply plowed through, sending shrapnel flying as if the earth itself could not restrain it. Its long horn impaled a defender, tossing the man backward in a spray of blood before the Ravager ripped itself free to continue its rampage.

Standard warriors attempted to impede its path, but spears merely skidded off its bone plating. Sword blows against its dark hide caused nothing more than shallow scratches. When a knight brought a hammer down onto the beast’s spine, the Ravager simply threw its bulk sideways, crushing the man under its shoulder like a closing vault door.

"Fall back!" Marcus hollered, already in motion. He planted himself in the path of its next charge and snapped his hand out. "Stoneguard." A massive slab of stone erupted from the ground just as the monster slammed into it. The impact echoed like a crumbling tower. The stone disintegrated into heavy fragments, but the barricade absorbed enough energy to prevent him from being decimated.

Even so, the force sent him stumbling backward. He immediately anchored himself. "Rooted Stance." Mana poured from his legs into the soil, bracing him so firmly that the Ravager’s subsequent shove only gouged furrows in the earth instead of sending him flying. He slashed his sword into the beast’s neck as it barreled past, but the strike lacked depth. Too much muscle. Too much plating. Too much velocity.

Garron roared on his right and threw his entire weight against the beast’s flank, successfully diverting its trajectory. That provided an opening. Laziel instantly responded, weaving frost and roots beneath the Ravager’s feet, hindering it for a fleeting second.

Marcus raised a hand. "Blazing Pillar." Blue flames surged upward from beneath the beast, engulfing its lower body in a furnace-like inferno. The Ravager shrieked, yet even when the flames dissipated, it remained in motion—charred, enraged, and alive.

He hammered an "Azure Flare Strike" into the exposed joint of one foreleg. The resulting blast forced the creature to wobble, yet it was still not enough. As he began gathering mana for a "Molten Lance," the Ravager twisted and shattered their line again with another ferocious rush, forcing Marcus to abort the spell before it backfired.

Across the battlefield, their sector was collapsing. Defenders began to retreat—not by choice, but because the beast rendered every stance unstable. Watching it tear through rock, shields, and men alike spread terror faster than bile.

Marcus exhaled, his gaze locked on the monster as it turned for another onslaught.

This was no longer a battle to be won by brute strength. He needed to decipher it.

The Ravager lunged again, and this time, Marcus didn't just meet force with force. He observed. The beast crouched slightly before every charge, just enough to gather tension like a bow. Its left flank was heavily armored, deflecting blows with ease compared to its right. After every impact, its rear right leg reacted with a marginal delay. It was a detail invisible to most, but not to Marcus.

The tide of the fight shifted.

"Left!" he shouted, and Garron obeyed instantly. The big man slammed into the beast’s armored side at the turn, forcing the monster to compensate in the direction Marcus sought. Laziel followed by spreading frost and roots behind Marcus, not to stop the beast entirely, but to funnel it into a tighter path.

The Ravager charged. "Stoneguard." Rock rose before Marcus. The wall shattered instantly, but it served its purpose: it slowed the momentum, tilted the beast’s head, and granted Marcus the split-second needed to step aside and strike the damaged foreleg joint.

The creature reacted violently; good.

As it pressed in close, rendering long-range spells impractical, Marcus shrouded himself in heat and earth. "Molten Skin." A mantle of azure heat and hardened mineral mana coated his frame. When the Ravager’s shoulder slammed into him, the impact was painful, but the contact scorched the beast, and Marcus held his position long enough to drive his blade into a soft gap near its throat before being forced to retreat.

Then the final blow arrived. The monster wheeled around, preparing an impact capable of crushing both him and Laziel. Marcus didn't hesitate to stand in its path. "Earthen Shell." A curved stone dome manifested just as the Ravager crashed into it. The shell buckled and cracked, sending debris flying. Laziel stumbled but quickly capitalized, casting roots around the beast’s hind leg as the dome fell.

Marcus made his move. "Stoneburst." The ground beneath the Ravager detonated, destroying its balance. He lunged through the dust, striking the foreleg joint once more and slicing the lagging rear limb. "Azure Flare Strike." The explosion sent the beast lurching forward in pain.

He began to gather energy for a "Molten Lance" before stopping. It still wasn't enough. There was no clear opening yet.

He finally understood why. The kill wouldn't come from attacking the head or matching its charge. It required breaking its rhythm, targeting the legs, and striking the throat only when it was exposed.

Marcus gripped his sword tighter as the Ravager recovered—wounded, furious, but no longer unpredictable.

The situation remained dire, but the victory was finally within reach.

The Gravehorn Ravager gathered itself for one final surge, and the others understood the gravity of the moment. If it broke through now, the entire line would fold. The beast charged, low and lethal, cutting through the earth like a heavy blade.

"Garron!"

No command was necessary. Garron plowed into the beast’s armored side, ruining its angle of approach. Though the Ravager still carried enough power to devastate, it entered Marcus’s reach crooked rather than straight.

"Laziel!"

"On it!"

Roots and frost clawed from the dirt, ensnaring the Ravager’s foreleg and the wounded hind limb. The hold was brief, but it gave Marcus exactly what he needed.

Marcus braced himself with "Rooted Stance," locking his boots to the earth. When the Ravager slammed into him, the shockwave rippled through his body and cracked the ground, but he didn't yield. He slashed deep into the foreleg and thrust his free hand down. "Stoneburst." Jagged rock erupted under the beast’s chest, forcing it to drop precisely where he wanted.

There. Beneath the neck.

He condensed his energy—earth and azure fire compressing into "Molten Lance." It manifested in his hand like a burning spear. He drove it forward, punching through the exposed flesh and bone of the throat, the tip emerging on the other side in a spray of blood and fire.

The beast shrieked, vainly attempting to advance. Marcus finished it. "Blazing Pillar." A column of blue fire erupted from below, tearing through the wound and consuming the beast. When the flames faded, the Gravehorn Ravager collapsed into a smoldering, lifeless heap.

The defenders gazed at the carcass, then at Marcus—bloodied, scorched, gasping for air, but standing firm. The pervasive dread evaporated. Shouts replaced whispers. Soldiers who had been retreating now stood their ground, their grip renewed. Garron roared in triumph. Laziel, though pale and drenched in sweat, managed a ragged laugh.

The line stopped retreating. It began to push.

It wasn't enough to win the war, nor enough to quell the chaos across the territory. But for that single section of the line, life had returned.

Marcus remained over the fallen creature, his chest heaving, his muscles screaming. That section hadn't survived due to fortune; it had endured because he forced it to.