The Extra is a Genius!? Chapter 619: Noel vs Roberto [VI]

Roberto did not act in haste this time. Though his frame was stained with fresh blood and a jagged wound cut across his torso, this latest shift within him ignored the physical agony. A cold, razor-sharp focus had replaced his earlier irritation. Rather than wildly striking at shadows like a man phantom-hunting, he started to perceive the darkness itself as a physical barrier waiting to be severed.

"Flashbind." Instead of a reckless burst, the radiance expanded in a calculated, sweeping wave that forced a massive gap in the encompassing dark. For one shimmering heartbeat, the dim, grey landscape materialized under the eclipse. Roberto stood centered in the spotlight, and briefly, at the very periphery, Noel’s silhouette emerged within that forced clarity.

The darkness slammed shut again. "Radiant Slash." A second arc followed instantly, carving a cross through the first. He was no longer relying on single strikes. Roberto was manufacturing visibility through aggression, etching temporary corridors into the gloom to guide his own gaze. Each crossing flicker of light revealed fragments of the lost battlefield: a stretch of dirt, the fold of a sleeve, the trailing hem of Noel’s coat slipping back into the void.

Driven by pure instinct, Noel reacted. "Shadow Step." He vanished before the secondary slash could connect, but Roberto was already advancing into the vacuum those attacks had created.

"Sanctum Pulse." A circular wave of brilliance washed over the darkness, not purging it, but carving out a sanctuary where he could see for a fleeting moment. When Noel manifested a "Shadow Rift" to the left, lunging low with Revenant Fang, Roberto was ready. Their steel shrieked against one another; before Noel could complete his strike, Roberto’s forearm hammered into his wrist, arresting the blade.

Noel retreated and retaliated with "Glacialis," hurling ice at point-blank range. Roberto swerved, the shard merely grazing his shoulder, though a follow-up "Voltage Needle" crackled from the gloom behind. He pivoted a second too late and caught the strike along his flank, yet he refused to surrender his momentum.

That was the pivotal shift. His perception had sharpened.

Another "Flashbind" ripped the shadows asunder. This time, Roberto anticipated Noel's movement early, forcing an exit with a precise "Radiant Slash." Noel dodged, but the subsequent, violent "Sanctum Pulse" compelled him to prioritize his defense over any offensive maneuver.

Roberto refused to grant him breathing room. The moment Noel halted his defensive posture, Roberto closed the gap with "Sanctified Step." He did not flicker; he arrived with such unnatural velocity that the eye struggled to register his path. His blade led the charge, a horizontal sweep designed to bind Noel’s steel, followed instantly by a heavy body-check. Noel managed to parry the sword, but the physical impact threw him off balance.

"You cannot end this neatly anymore," Roberto murmured, his voice icy and low. "Neither of us can."

Noel let his blade do the speaking. Revenant Fang whipped upward from a low trajectory, necessitating a high parry from Roberto. In that narrow margin, Noel tore a jagged fissure into the dark. "Shadow Rift." He materialized from Roberto’s blind spot, his blade arcing toward the other man’s throat. Guided by a fleeting spill of his own light, Roberto intercepted the strike and countered with a brutal elbow strike toward Noel’s jaw.

Noel shifted his head with the impact and conjured "Glacialis" at near-contact range. The frost detonated against Roberto’s chest, forcing him back, but "Lumina Veil" mitigated the worst of the cold before it could penetrate. Roberto wasted no time. "Corona Breaker." A dense lance of light thrust forward with lethal accuracy, targeting the opening left by Noel’s recovery. Only by diving into the shadow at the final second did Noel escape, the beam searing his side regardless.

So, this was Roberto’s new strategy. Less exertion. Less waste. Maximum penalty for every tiny lapse in technique.

Noel adapted instantly. He abandoned singular evasions in favor of layered pressure. Steel, then movement, then a hidden technique layered into the next angle. He emerged via "Shadow Step" near Roberto’s flank, clashed blades, slammed a knee into his thigh, and used the recoil to launch a "Voltage Needle" toward Roberto’s ribs. Roberto was slow on the reaction, taking the hit and gasping for air, yet his counter remained fierce. His forearm pinned Noel’s sword-arm, and for a tense moment, they stood locked in a stalemate, bound by pure strength and leverage.

"We are in too deep now," Roberto spat through clenched teeth. "You know it as well as I do."

Noel stayed silent. He adjusted his stance, shifted the bind, and carved a low line that opened a wound on Roberto’s leg. It wasn't a crippling strike, but it was real. Blood bloomed once more.

Roberto countered immediately, dragging his blade across Noel’s shoulder in a clean, light-imbued cut that bypassed his timing. Noel felt the searing kiss of the steel immediately.

Both fighters were no longer shielded from the carnage. Though the shadows favored Noel, Roberto had ceased his wasteful movements, and Noel could no longer hunt without inviting retaliation. When they finally disengaged, separated by several paces, both held a new understanding. Noel had grasped the rhythm of Roberto’s cycle, and Roberto had learned to anticipate the reach of the darkness.

Roberto initiated again, but his movements were devoid of any desire for comfort or a clean duel. He charged through the gloom with absolute intent, and Noel felt the shift before the blow arrived. The light bursts were no longer probes; they were components of a calculated sequence.

"Judgment Line."

The shadows fractured. For a blinding second, the dimension was a white scar, grounded in the reality of distance, with Roberto spinning through the slash, blade poised for a follow-up. Noel had studied this rhythm. He didn't hesitate. "Shadow Step." The abyss swallowed him just before the line bisected his position, the silent cut slicing through the space with such violence that the darkness itself seemed to recoil.

Roberto followed in hot pursuit. "Sanctum Pulse." A brutal ring of radiance exploded from his frame, incinerating the surrounding shadows and carving a theater of vision wide enough to prevent Noel from ambushing him. The pulse clipped Noel despite his shift, and Roberto capitalized on the stutter in his movement, applying extreme blade pressure backed by a swift "Radiant Slash." Noel caught the steel, pivoted, and felt the light-edge tear shallowly into his side.

This was the trade-off Roberto hunted for. Noel managed to survive only because he had witnessed the sequence in flashes—and because he had a counter already prepared.

He held the bind for a fraction longer than expected, letting their shoulders and wrists lock, then executed a "Shadow Step" from point-blank range. He materialized behind Roberto’s right, driving Revenant Fang with raw force, not to kill, but to bait the "Lumina Veil." That was his window.

"Voltage Needle." A wire-thin bolt of lightning pierced the edge of Roberto’s defense exactly where the veil had thinned. Roberto convulsed. It was minor, yet sufficient. Noel pressed the advantage. "Glacialis." Ice slammed into the gap, striking his upper torso and further sluggishness taking hold of his reflexes.

That delay was the finish. "Eclipse Rend." A violent arc of void erupted from Revenant Fang, dense and lethal. Roberto twisted, pulling light toward him to parry, but the sequence was flawless. The edge of darkness carved through him from shoulder to torso, deeper than ever before. The blood did not just drop; it sprayed in a dark, visceral line, fracturing the white glow and sending him stumbling back three paces before he found his footing.

He stopped trying to hide the cost. His respiration was labored. One arm drooped at his side. Blood flowed steadily down his frame, and in the gloom, Noel could see that Roberto’s precision had dulled beyond recovery.

Roberto gazed at him for a long moment, then looked down at his own laceration as if verifying its origin. "So this is how it ends," he whispered.

Noel remained stone-faced, his grip tight on Revenant Fang, his body coiled.

Roberto lifted his head, his expression purged of mockery. Only exhaustion, searing pain, and a grim sense of acceptance remained. "Then finish it properly."

Neither moved for a heartbeat. The shadows stabilized, the "Eclipse Sun" anchoring the mangled dimension beneath its dark sovereignty. Both were broken, both were lethal, yet the war for tactical advantage had ended.

Only the final act remained.