The Extra's Rebellion
Chapter 93: War trumpet

Chapter 93: War trumpet

Zephyr leaned back in his seat, fingers drumming the side of his cup, eyes locked on Keal. He didn’t speak right away. The weight of everything—Oliver’s story, the Demios legacy, the clan feuds soaked in betrayal and revenge—it all pressed against his chest.

And Keal words made him realize the gravity of the situation, the history of Vermilion clan and Demios clan was in the past now, but an even more terrifying future was coming.

"You’re not wrong," Zephyr said finally, voice quiet. "About the loops. The cycles."

Keal didn’t respond. He just watched, like a viper sensing when to strike.

Zephyr continued, "But breaking the world isn’t the same as saving it. You want to end the cycle—fine. But what replaces it?"

Keal’s expression didn’t change, but something in his body went still. "That’s the beauty of it". He murmured. "We choose. Not bloodlines. Not fate. Not relics or celestials. Us."

Zephyr shook his head slightly, the movement subtle but firm. "And what? You think the others really joined you because they believe in all that?"

Keal’s smile thinned. He leaned forward from his seat, folding his fingers like a teacher preparing to share a forbidden lesson.

"You don’t know about the Vermilion clan History and tell—

"I do". Zephyr cut him short. "Oliver already told me".

Keal gave a small nod of understanding.

"Well," Keal continued, voice going low, "they don’t just rebuild. That pride? That hatred? It eats them alive, rottens them from the inside out".

He smiled like he was telling a ghost story. "They started funding Black Omnibus in secret—yes, that Black Omnibus. Forbidden experiments, cursed arts, things even the madmen won’t dare to touch. They start replacing royal officials with mimics. They even kill the emperor and swap him with one of their own."

Zephyr frowned. "Wait a moment. The Emperor is dead? And you have the guts to say that out loud?"

Has Keal gone mad? Zephyr’s mind reeled. Carelessly revealing that here, with unknown ears all around... doesn’t he fear death?

"Don’t worry," Keal said coolly. "I sealed this place in a dome. No sound leaves this table."

Zephyr stiffened.

’When?’

He hadn’t sensed a thing. And that was what scared him.

Seals—especially silence seals—always left a trace. A shift in air viscosity, a temperature dip, a distortion at the edge of sound. But this... this left nothing. And Zephyr had space sense. Even without activating his eye, it constantly mapped the environment around him. If he hadn’t noticed, that meant— This seal was beyond anything he had seen.

Keal’s tone grew grave. "That event is still far off. It comes after Demios and Vermilion clash again. The Third War. And at their peak of hatred—it arrives."

He leaned forward, voice now a whisper.

"Extinction."

A chill danced across Zephyr’s spine—and not from the wind.

"I’m not talking about an idea," Keal said. "Not a metaphor. I mean the being. A force that predates Void and Aether alike. Something that was never born, because it simply was. A walking finality."

His fingers tapped the table slowly, rhythmically.

"People think corruption was the threat? No. Corruption only spread because the Vermilion Clan lost control of what they were studying. They had it caged. Worshipped it. Tried to harness it."

He paused, eyes narrowing.

"They even managed to kill a skin walker."

Zephyr blinked. That was new.

Keal continued, "They harvested its hearth. You know skin walkers—inhuman, soulbound, nearly impossible to kill. But they managed it. Out of seven Hearth they used for the seven experiments... only one survived. Seth."

"Seth?" Zephyr echoed. "You mean—Noctis’s best friend?"

Keal nodded grimly. "That’s the twist. The one everyone missed. Seth isn’t Seth. The skin walker killed his soul—used his lifeblood to soak its own soul. Absorbed his memories. Wore his presence like a cloak."

Zephyr felt something hollow form in his chest.

"He kept up the act perfectly," Keal said. "Laughed like Seth. Fought like him. Even cared, in a way. But all he wants... is to restore his true body. The one hidden in the third dimension. Buried where even the gods can’t reach."

"And Noctis never found out?"

"Noctis never made it to the final boss," Keal said bitterly. "He died long before the truth surfaced. Long before he saw the real enemy."

Silence.

Zephyr sat back, processing that. He wasn’t shaken—but his interest had shifted. Not from fear. From detachment.

"So," he said, casually brushing a crumb off his lap, "your goal is to stop that ending?"

Keal nodded once.

Zephyr leaned back, voice dry. "Good luck with that."

Keal blinked. "What?"

"You said it yourself." Zephyr shrugged. "This place is a loop of revenge and curses. All I care about is breaking my part of it."

His tone sharpened like a blade.

"I’m going to end the Demios Clan. Everything else? Not my problem."

Keal’s eyes narrowed. "If you think you’ll get a clean shot at them while the world collapses, you’re dreaming. Extinction doesn’t care about grudges".

Zephyr stood.

"That’s fine," he said, turning away. "As long as Demios gets swallowed first."

Keal rose too, more slowly. "You can’t go home if the world ends."

Zephyr paused, then looked over his shoulder.

"Then I’ll go home through its ashes."

Keal stood. "You don’t understand."

"I do". Zephyr said, without turning back. "I do. And I want no part of it. My pain is simple. Revenge. Then I ghost."

Keal stared at him, lips tightening.

"...You really don’t get it."

He took a slow breath, voice low.

"In a few years, the war begins at the Valley of the End, it was just a simple valley, flocked by mountains but the death rate was astronomical that they had to name it, the valley of the end.

"The war starts slowly, but accelerates fast. And now it had already started, just shielded from the students and the civilian".

Keal gaze turned to one of hostility as he said to Zephyr. "You know what’s going to happen, first, they gather the students into six-man teams—some formed, some forced. You’ll train. Learn. Be evaluated."

Zephyr turned slightly, silent.

Keal went on. "Then they send everyone out. A year. To find your source. Clan-born like you will return home. To clad your soul in your clan’s legacy. You’ll become Delta-ranked. Elite".

His next words carried weight.

"Then the Royal Battle begins—open conflict between all the squad in the the Red Sphinx district, the most despicable, brutal, powerful will be drafted straight to the Frontlines, yes Frontline, sending seventeen years old to the Frontlines.

Then the ones that shows less potential would be used as an evacuation squad, the ones who would evacuate civilians from ruined or overtaken cities, serve as suppliers of medicine and food".

For a time evaluation would be easy, not until Seth would release corruption, it twisted humans and beast alike, causing the already brutal war to become more perilous. Supplies would take time to reach the front lines.

Medicines for the illness and diseases created by that demon would not be delivered on time because most of the suppliers would be dead or worst, corrupted".

Then Keal calmed down, but the hostility was still present. "And the worst part is that, riftsprawn and shades under the influence of Extinction begun to gain intelligence, intelligence to speak, to plan, and to ambush".

"Those who get drafted directly to the Frontlines are in constant danger, those who stay behind to protect cities and supply reinforcement are in constant danger. Civilians are in constant danger.

Nowhere is safe, and no one will aid you if you run around trying to get revenge, and I want you to know that running around chasing revenge isn’t going to help no one, not even yourself. Because you will be dooming yourself and the entire world from your childish behavior.

We need all the help we could get and I know how hard this is, trust me i do, but we need Demios clan alive, not just for their present force.

All the previous clan head of Demios clan didn’t die, they chose to go into slumber because as soon as you reach Alpha rank as a son of Demios, you surpass death.

That was why despite all the planning and everything done by Vermilion clan they still failed to bring the Demios to their kness, because they could awaken alm the slumbering gaint".

Zephyr’s face remained unreadable. But then— Ding.

Phones buzzed across the cafe.

Dozens of students blinked, heads down, reading their screens in confusion.

Zephyr’s own vibrated once in his pocket.

He pulled it out.

Administrative Notice— All students report to the Hall. Squad formation begins immediately.

His gaze snapped up.

Across from him, Keal had gone pale.

The color drained from his face—not with fear of battle, but the horror of being right.

Keal’s mouth moved, barely audible.

"...It’s starting."

His eyes met Zephyr’s—no longer calm, no longer calculated.

Fear, terror and horror has overtaken his entire being.

"It’s starting".