Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!

Chapter 109: Betrayal (II)

The answer came from the stairwell. A figure emerged from the darkness, walking slowly and deliberately. It had the shape of a human but looked wrong. As it stepped into the crystal light, students gasped.

It wore a mask which was a smooth and featureless white porcelain that reflected the ambient light. Dark robes concealed its form, and essence radiated from it in patterns that hurt to perceive directly.

"A masked cultivator," Henrik breathed. "Everyone, maximum defensive posture! These are assassins from the capital’s underworld guilds!"

Before anyone could react, Derek’s voice cut through the tension.

"Finally! About fucking time you showed up!"

Everyone turned to stare. Derek stood at the edge of the defensive formation, no longer looking unstable or angry. He looked triumphant.

"Derek, what are you—" Roland started.

"Shut up." Derek channeled fire essence, but this time with perfect control. Flames wreathed his entire body, burning with intensity far beyond what he’d shown during the expedition. "You all thought I was just some angry student with poor control? You thought I endangered you accidentally?"

His flames intensified, creating a pillar of fire that reached toward the ceiling.

"I’ve been planning this for weeks. Every outburst, every ’reckless’ action was calculated just to make you lower your guard. And now..." Derek’s grin was manic, "...now I get to watch you all die."

The masked figure gestured, and the shadow wolves attacked.

Chaos erupted instantly. Six wolves hit the defensive formation from multiple angles, their shadowy forms moving faster than normal beasts. Students scrambled to respond with their weapons meeting shadow-flesh that resisted physical strikes.

Roland engaged the nearest wolf, his earth-enhanced sword cutting through its form but not destroying it. The shadow simply reformed, and the wolf’s massive jaws clamped onto his shoulder. Roland screamed, channeling essence defensively to prevent the teeth from crushing through his armor.

Sarah tried to help him but a stone golem intervened, its massive fist crashing down where she’d been standing. She rolled aside, the impact cratering the floor and sending stone fragments flying.

The golem pursued her with relentless determination, each step shaking the ground. Sarah launched fire attacks that scorched its surface but didn’t penetrate to the core buried deep inside its rocky body.

Two more wolves broke through the defensive line, heading straight for the support section. Mira created a light barrier but shadow-flesh passed through it like it wasn’t there. Emma and another support mage launched wind blades that cut into the wolves but didn’t slow their charge significantly.

Kai moved to intercept, his sword blazing with fire and wind essence combined. He met the first wolf’s charge with a horizontal slash that separated its head from its body in one clean motion.

The shadow-form dissolved into dissipating darkness, and the wolf’s physical body collapsed—underneath the shadow exterior was actual flesh and bone, vulnerable once the essence coating was destroyed.

"Target the physical cores!" Kai shouted. "The shadows are just enhancement!"

But his warning was lost in the chaos. Students were fighting desperately, barely holding the formation against coordinated attacks from creatures that shouldn’t exist together.

And through it all, Derek stood apart, laughing.

"This is beautiful! Look at you all struggling!" He channeled more fire, creating a wall of flames that cut off the only exit passage. "Henrik was right about one thing—I did endanger you. Just not accidentally!"

Henrik tried to reach Derek, his sword cutting through a shadow wolf that blocked his path. But the masked figure intervened, moving with speed that left afterimages. Its hand touched Henrik’s chest almost gently.

Henrik flew backward, crashing into the chamber wall with bone-breaking force. He slumped to the ground, blood trickling from his mouth.

"Master Henrik!" Multiple students cried out.

The masked figure gestured again, and more shapes emerged from the stairwell. More masked cultivators, about three of them, each radiating deadly intent.

"Four assassins plus Derek plus controlled monsters," Marcus assessed quickly while fighting a stone golem. "We’re severely outmatched!"

Lin stood beside Kai, her water techniques keeping two wolves at bay. "This was planned. Derek has been working with them from the beginning!"

"Yes." Kai’s mind raced through options. Four professional assassins, Derek at revealed higher power level, nine controlled monsters, and Henrik already down. The math was terrible.

Seraphina appeared on his other side, her flames burning bright as she finished destroying a shadow wolf. "We need to break through and retreat!"

"The exit is blocked by fire," Kai pointed at Derek’s wall of flames. "And the only other way out is through the stairwell they’re guarding."

"Then we make a new exit." Seraphina channeled essence into her blade. "Or we die fighting."

One of the masked cultivators moved toward them with fluid grace. Its hand came up, and darkness gathered around its fingers not shadow like the wolves, but something deeper and stronger.

The attack launched a bolt of pure darkness that crossed the distance in an instant.

Kai barely got his sword up in time. The darkness struck his blade and the impact sent shockwaves up his arms. His practice sword shattered completely, fragments scattering across the stone floor.

The masked cultivator tilted its head, almost curious, then prepared another attack.

Across the chamber, Derek’s laughter echoed above the sounds of combat.

"Hahaha, fucking bastards!" Derek said, clutching his injured arm where Roland had managed to land a desperate strike. Blood seeped between his fingers but his maniac smile never wavered. "You thought I didn’t have a plan B? I teamed up with these fuckers!"

He gestured wildly at the masked cultivators. "They promised me power, resources, everything I’d need to prove I’m better than all of you! And all I had to do was lead you here—to the perfect ambush point where no one would hear you die!"

The masked cultivator attacking Kai prepared to finish him.

And somewhere in his mind a memory stirred. This had happened before. Not in this loop but in previous ones. The story had mentioned something months ago about a student who would betray his expedition team.

Derek.

It had always been Derek.

And Kai had just triggered the betrayal arc two days earlier than it was supposed to happen.

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