Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

Chapter 346: My First Conversation Plan Started with Attempted Murder.

I would be damned.

All this time... I was searching for the wrong answers.

Alden let out a slow breath as he finally began to understand his situation.

Or at least part of it.

The moment he saw the white-haired dragon with a single horn, several pieces suddenly clicked into place.

He didn’t know how it was possible but that woman was definitely the dragon he had met inside the Flux Dungeon and back then, she had openly admitted that she came from a different timeline.

At the time, Alden had suspected she might be an ancestor of Amyra because the resemblance between the two was simply too uncanny. They looked almost identical, aside from their eye color and the horn.

Even so, understanding the situation only raised more questions.

How was any of this possible?

And what was the fragment of his bloodline doing in this era?

But Alden didn’t think about it for much long. His mother had promised that he would receive answers once he found it.

But more importantly, he still wasn’t completely convinced by the whole time-travel explanation.

What if this woman merely resembled the dragon he had met in the Flux Dungeon?

After all, coincidences happen and he once read somewhere that almost seven people in the world could share nearly identical faces. So he resisted the urge to jump to conclusions and remained hidden while quietly observing the battle.

The white-haired dragon woman relentlessly attacked her opponent as the orange dragon soon shrank as well, its massive draconic form giving way as a woman appeared in its place.

She had short orange hair, pale face and a scar running down one side of her face.

Alden blinked.

Damn.

Who would have guessed the orange dragon was a woman too?

He certainly didn’t from the voice he had heard.

The white-haired woman was strong but one of her arms had clearly been injured badly, making her movements noticeably slower. In contrast, the orange-haired woman appeared almost completely uninjured.

Both radiated power at the Ascendant Rank, every clash of their weapons sending shockwaves rippling through the forest, frightening the surrounding beasts into running away.

Even the trees weren’t spared as they were toppled over each other.

Alden’s mind raced.

Should I interfere?

The thought appeared in his mind as he watched the battle unfold. These two draconians were the first intelligent beings he had encountered so closely since arriving in this place.

More importantly, they could talk in the same language as him.

If he could save one of them and gather information, he would finally have a chance to understand where he was, what had happened to Eryndor and how he was supposed to leave this forest because he sure as hell knew instinctively that his bloodline fragment wasn’t in this forest.

As for which one he intended to save, the answer was obvious.

The white-haired woman.

Not only was there a chance she was the same dragon he had met in the Flux Dungeon but she also had an uncanny resemblance to Amyra. That familiarity alone made her seem far more approachable than the scarred orange-haired woman currently trying to kill her.

Of course, Alden knew that appearance meant absolutely nothing. For all he knew, the white-haired one could be a complete psychopath.

Still...

A familiar face was better than no lead at all.

But there was one simple problem.

During the past few days, Alden hadn’t only trained his abilities. He had also spent countless hours trying to force his mana to adapt to his body and in the process, he learned a harsh lesson.

He couldn’t brute-force it.

His body had to gradually grow stronger and adapt to the destructive mana he now carried and there were no shortcuts.

As a result, despite being at Ascendant Rank, he couldn’t unleash the full power of that rank without placing tremendous strain on himself and even if he pushed his body to the limit, he could only release a few attacks at peak strength before his condition became messed up for some time.

It was frustrating but it was the price he had to pay for skipping so many ranks at once.

Which left him with a problem.

If he interfered in a battle between those two monsters, he wouldn’t be able to contribute much through brute force alone. Hell, there was a very real chance he would only get in the white-haired dragon’s way.

Alden narrowed his eyes as he observed the battle.

So... How should I interfere?

The answer came naturally.

A surprise attack.

If he couldn’t defeat her directly, then he only needed to land one decisive strike while she was completely unprepared.

Alden was confident that if he unleashed one attack at his absolute peak using his weapon art, even the dragon woman wouldn’t remain unscathed.

So he drew the Sword of Chaos and held it horizontally before him and then he closed his eyes and waited. The Spirit Domain continuously fed him information about every movement on the battlefield as he carefully gathered his unstable Eclipse Mana into the blade.

The Sword of Chaos began to hum softly as pitch-black energy coated its edge while crimson currents danced across the darkness and yet none of it attracted attention as Alden had hidden every trace of the terrifying energy gathering within the weapon using the Monarch of Mana.

He sensed the white-haired woman being relentlessly pushed back, thrown around and overpowered. The orange-haired woman was clearly toying with her prey.

But Alden remained motionless.

Not yet.

The battle continued as seconds turned into minutes.

Still, he waited.

Not yet.

And then it happened.

The orange-haired woman stepped into his range and at the same moment, she kicked the white-haired woman aside and exposed herself completely.

Alden’s eyes snapped open.

He seized the opportunity without a moment’s hesitation.

"Sevenfold Ruins — Third Step — Eclipse Fang."

Alden whispered softly and swung his sword toward the orange-haired woman. Instantly, all the destructive energy gathered within the blade vanished and nothing happened.

The air remained still, the trees remained standing and the woman remained unharmed. For a single second, it was as if the attack had failed.

Then,

A massive gash tore open across the woman’s exposed back and at the same time, every tree standing between Alden and his target was cleanly severed without the slightest resistance.

Cough!

Alden spat out a mouthful of blood.

Seems like I overexerted myself.

But despite the pain coursing through his body, a small smile appeared on his face because the attack had landed quite fatally.

Unfortunately, the woman was still alive. She immediately turned toward him, anger burning within her eyes.

Not far from her, the white-haired woman was also staring at him in complete shock as all Alden did was wave his hand with a smile.

[A/N: For those who forgot: Third Step – Eclipse Fang – The Slash That Consumes Certainty]

[Description – A blade born from equilibrium of two contradicting elements. When released, the user executes a near-invisible slash of destructive energy that cannot be sensed.]