The Extra's Rebellion
Chapter 98: Tennis battle

Chapter 98: Tennis battle

Just like how he advanced in his base powers and weaving, he also had a breakthrough with his ’eyes’.

For one he assumed that clairvoyance only forces understanding, it also make him relive his memories, as long that they were in his brain he could relive it.

That assumption was too small

It didn’t just make him relive the memories, it backtracks his mind back to the past effectively bending space - time

It was like he was living in the present and simultaneously in the past. And that was not all.

He also learnt that it wasn’t only his memories, but objects around him. But it didn’t show him the past of the objects, but it whispered names into his mind, that was how he experimented on his Aether and started to hear words like.

Space in-between space

Reality in-between realities.

And what did all this represent— Limbo. And it opened another jar of fresh new problem— if Limbo was the way to the source, he will he get to limbo in the first place.

Zephyr was dragged out of his thoughts when he felt Oliver tugging at his clothes.

"You okay, man?" Oliver’s face was lined with concern. "Not trying to tell you how to live, but maybe lay off the deep thinking for a bit, yeah?"

"I’m fine". Zephyr replied, snapping out of it.

Before Oliver could say more, another voice cut in. "Wassup".

It was Ark, a wiry boy from Squad IV. They usually ranked lower than Zephyr’s team—but last time, they’d surprised everyone by taking fourth place. That loss had triggered Samantha’s infamous hell mode training.

"A bunch of us are heading to the courts for a few games," Ark added. "Wanna come?"

"Sure," Zephyr nodded.

***

"I shouldn’t have come here."

Zephyr sighed for what felt like the tenth time—barely three minutes into arriving at the tennis court.

The location was a custom-built, high-end court with artificial wind control and polished boundaries—but none of that eased the tension swirling in his chest.

Why?

Because nearly all of his antagonists were here.

The same people who still clung to the belief that he had tried to assault the princess. Their eyes followed him with thinly-veiled contempt.

Noctis was here too— his number one hater and brutal predator, he always sniffed Zephyr out whenever they were in team battles. He was the major reason Zephyr couldn’t perform to the best of his abilities.

Cealsen was here—someone Zephyr had nearly forgotten about, until their gaze locked across the court like a warning flare.

Lunethra stood near the benches, chatting coolly with Seralyn, and beside them, as always, was Ceryn. Her silver hair caught the light, and her skin—rich like melted chocolate—stood out against the pale court like moonlight on black silk.

And of course... they were here.

Keal. And the rest of the transmigrators.

They hadn’t forgiven him for turning down their offer.

They didn’t even try to hide it. Their eyes—especially Keal’s—burned with hostility, silent accusations and lingering tension.

Zephyr sighed again, dragging a hand down his face.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "I definitely shouldn’t have come here."

Oliver had been by his side a minute ago, but not anymore. Now he was across the court—with Camila, yes that Camila.

She was laughing as she dabbed a bit of ice cream on Oliver’s nose. The redhead was teasing him, and Oliver was awkwardly scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. But smiling.

How the hell did he land that bird.

Zephyr’s stomach twisted, jealousy stirred, not because Oliver had a girlfriend. No.

Because Oliver wasn’t alone anymore.

Zephyr stood off to the side, away from the laughter and casual flirting. Everyone else seemed caught up in something, or someone.

Victoria was leaning into some guy, clearly flirting—nothing subtle about it. Pp

Cynthia had wrapped herself in a cloth and was chatting with another girl, more confidently than usual. The way she smiled, the way the other girl responded... Zephyr could tell it wasn’t just small talk.

Peter was deep in some conversation, his usual aloof act gone. Even Grey—the quiet one—was talking to a group of girls, smiling more than Zephyr had ever seen him.

None of that bothered him— well not as much as Samantha’s actions.

She wasn’t laughing or anything, but she was standing close to Noctis. Who was playing table tennis with his opponent— Christopher.

She was muttering words of encouragement with a smile plastered on her face. She was encouraging his arch nemesis and also his enemy— Noctis

The guy who never missed a chance to make his life harder. During teams matches he always hunted him like a blood hound, he was the reason Zephyr wasn’t able to contribute much to his squad.

And yet there she was—smiling at him, laughing at something he said, she hadn’t once looked at Zephyr with that kind of face.

Not a smile. Not a kind word. Only scowls. Lectures. Cold shoulders.

There were times he’d thought she might like him. She was always up in his business. Always watching him. Yelling at him. Living in the same house, training together—it felt like something had to spark eventually.

But maybe he was wrong.

’What’s wrong with me?’ he thought, shutting his eyes.

’Isn’t this what I always wanted?’

He’d told himself he wanted to be alone. He chose that path.

But seeing the way everyone laughed, the way they smiled—sharing moments and warmth like it was natural—

He realized something— The road of loneliness was clear and easy.

"You there!".

"Huh?". He came out if his stupor to see Christopher waving the bat in his face to get his attention.

With an amused smile Christopher handed him the bat. "I lost, it’s your turn now".

Zephyr took the bat from his hand and maneuvered his way to the table. From across him, Noctis had a blank look on his face but Zephyr was sure that he was looking for ways to humiliate him.

Zephyr knew the rules, due to how many they are, the strike and you were off the board.

’let’s get this over with’. His plan was simple, serve then ’mistakely fail’ to hit the ball back.

And serve he did, and Noctis hit the ball back, and the ball arrived in his court with a tap, He moved to respond, already planning how to make it look like a mistake. But then—

He caught a glimpse of Samantha, she wasn’t smiling now.

She was watching him with that look—the same one she gave him during training when he deliberately took hits to avoid further fighting, when he deliberately controlled the rhythm of the battle and then slip off the ring.

Disappointment.

And something inside him... shifted.

He didn’t know why. He didn’t understand how. But his instincts kicked in.

He locked the space around the ball mid-flight—freezing it for a split second—and then, with a flick of his wrist, released and redirected it toward Noctis.

Gasps echoed around the court.

No one had expected that. They concluded he was going to miss. Even Samantha’s eyes widened in surprise— not surprise that he managed to hit the ball, but surprise that he was still playing.

But his little stunt was witnessed by someone— Noctis. A smirk found it’s way to his lips. Challenge accepted.

Noctis struck the ball back—fast, too fast. It bounced on Zephyr’s side—normal at first—until its shadow shifted.

Tendrils of darkness lashed out, gripping the ball and twisting its direction mid-air.

Zephyr’s eyes flared. He adjusted on instinct, twisting his body at an unnatural angle. His feet skidded. His back arched.

He was practically horizontal by the time he hit it.

Noctis hit the ball again, the smirk widening on his lips.

But Zephyr was already upright. ’i ain’t got time for this’. He wasn’t here to entertain Noctis and unknownly to Zephyr an evil smile found it’s way to his lips.

He sent the ball back with a soft tap, the ball crossed over to Noctis court, barely escaping the fate of touching the net. But Noctis was already advancing towards the ball, but Zephyr got other plans.

Zephyr folded a thin layer of space, underneath the position the ball was going to land. The moment the ball tapped the ground— Thwap!

It sprang back—upward and backward, reversing direction mid-air.

The crowd froze as the ball landed back in Zephyr’s court.

To the masses, it looked ridiculous.

The ball had tapped Noctis’s side and then exaggeratedly boomeranged right back.

Like a prank.

Silence.

And then—laughter. A wave of it.

But Zephyr locked eyes with Noctis who stared back at him, and then Zephyr grinned.

The dropped the bat, his expression showing that he was clearly pleased at himself.

’how does it feel losing’. That was the expression plastered on his face as he stared at Noctis.

He turned around and started to walk away, he wasn’t in the mood for playing games. He needed to prepare, they had only made it easier him abandon this world.

’Now, how do I get to limbo’.