Extra's POV: I am the Sixteenth Son

The open field had erupted with a wild surge of mana. Two Grandmasters were present, and what's more, the number of master-ranked individuals was crazy high.

The four subordinates of Elowen, Dorian, Erik, Ashlin, and Eoin, all blood of the Eisenklinge family, found themselves cornered by a terrorist group. The craziest thing? They all had wide grins plastered on their faces like they'd just heard the world's best joke.

The only reason they'd been startled at first was because there was a Grandmaster present. But now their commander would handle that big shot, leaving the small fries to them. And these guys? They were no biggie.

They turned to each other and nodded in agreement. No time to waste, they'd work together to quickly wipe out the pawns charging at them.

Ashlin, the one who looked the least eager to dive headfirst into trouble (being the only girl besides their commander), stepped back. She was the only one who didn't charge straight in, and she had her reasons.

She raised her hand, showing off a ring on her right index finger. They all had similar rings, like some kind of fancy family jewelry set. She pushed her mana into it, and suddenly the ring blazed with light. When the glow faded, it revealed a bow that looked like it could give nightmares to nightmares.

The bow was long and dark, its limbs made from dull black chitin that caught the light in shades of violet and green. Thin cracks ran along the surface, not damage, but natural lines like veins in stone. Instead of a regular string, a single strand of what looked like spider silk stretched between the limbs, pulsing faintly with color as if it was alive and responding to the mana around it.

The grip was wrapped in rough hide, and just above it, two small fang-like prongs curved inward, leftovers from whatever beast this thing was carved from.

This was a bow crafted from the remains of a Noctis Widow, an evolved Gloomantula. Ashlin took her stance, her gaze locked on her targets like a cat watching mice.

She pulled back the silk-like string, focusing hard. From nowhere, a glow started to form, thin as a needle but shaped like an arrow, with a jade color that seemed to hum with power.

Ashlin let go of the string. In that moment, the light shot from her bow, leaving a sound wave crackling in its wake. The jade light, racing toward the infiltrators, split mid-air into three separate streaks, each one hunting its own target and meeting them dead center in the head.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Ashlin had dropped three expert ranks like they were practice dummies. "Well, that was easy," she muttered.

With just the master-ranked enemies left, and seeing that she'd done her part by creating a nice little distraction, Eoin's form suddenly ignited. In a split second, he vanished like he'd been teleported by some invisible hand.

He'd picked his target, one of the guards still gaping at Ashlin's deadly light show. Eoin appeared high in the air, and then in the next heartbeat, he came down on his target like divine judgment. His form exploded in a blaze of blue flames, and gripped in his hands was a giant hammer whose shadow seemed to swallow the ground where his target stood.

Eoin's flaming form crashed down on his enemy, blue fire wrapping around him like a cloak. The impact hit like thunder, an explosion that shook the entire field. His target had been crushed under the hammer's weight, dead before he knew what hit him.

"Oops," Eoin said, dusting off his hands as blue flames still danced around his shoulders. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

Next was Dorian, who could see two enemies frozen in shock at how fast their friends were dropping. He wasted no time. In his hands, he equipped silver gauntlets that covered his entire forearms, laced with jagged gold circuitry that pulsed like a sleeping storm. These were gauntlets made from a Stormarc Eidrex, an evolved Volt Zibrax, and they looked like they could punch through mountains.

Tendrils of lightning danced across his form, crackling and hissing. In another second, his form vanished, leaving only a flash and the smell of ozone in his former position.

Dorian appeared in front of the two he'd picked out. In mere seconds, he cranked up the lightning element coursing through his body until it turned golden. Both fists were drawn back, elbows flared, stance locked low like a coiled spring.

Lightning crawled up his arms, dancing across the gauntlets and tracing their jagged gold inlays. His breath was silent. His eyes didn't waver. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.

Then—

"Godpiercer Thrust."

Both fists snapped forward at the same instant, too fast for the human eye to follow. The air didn't break, it compressed and screamed. The first enemy took the blow center-mass, his armor denting inward with a sickening crunch that echoed across the field. The second dropped before he could even scream, his chest untouched, but the lightning shock had fried his spine from the inside out.

Six of the ten enemy master and expert ranks had been dealt with in less than a minute. This made it crystal clear that the Eisenklinge family wasn't playing around. The saddest part? They weren't even done yet.

Erik remained, a long sword gripped in both hands like he was holding winter itself. He exhaled, releasing a chilled breath that you could see in the air, and then he took a single step. The ground below him turned to ice that spread fast across the area like spilled water freezing instantly.

The remaining three enemies turned to each other, nodding briefly in some kind of silent agreement. But before they could turn back, Erik had glided through the ice like he was born on it, appearing before one of them with his sword meeting neck in one clean, too-fast motion.

'Slice.'

Two clean cuts, and only two enemies remained. Erik spun around with the same smooth momentum, reaching for the other two's necks, but then he felt an invisible force slam into him like a giant's fist.

He was tossed backward through his own ice, sliding and tumbling before stabbing his sword into the ground to slow himself down. When he finally stopped, he exhaled a puff of cold air and said, "Telekinesis... huh! Well, that's just cheating."

The air around him shifted as he waved his hand casually. The two enemies facing him were caught completely off guard as the earth around them suddenly erupted upward, trying to swallow them whole like hungry mouths.

One of the two was smart enough to leap out of the earth trap the moment it started moving. But before the other could even think about escaping, Ashlin had already sent a streak of green energy straight into his head, dropping him instantly.

"Thanks for the assist," Erik called out, giving her a little salute with his sword.

Nine of their enemies were now dead, which left just one more. After dealing with him, they'd move quickly to help their commander. The four Eisenklinge warriors nodded at each other before turning their combined gaze back to the remaining enemy. Their aura exploded outward, pressing down on the single surviving fighter like the weight of a mountain.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now he could tell something was very wrong with his earlier assessment. He'd felt they were all masters, but his guess had been dead wrong. The four Eisenklinge standing in front of him were high-ranked master individuals each, and he was just a middle-stage master. This explained why his comrades had died so quickly, he was like a house cat facing four tigers.

He'd already given up and was about to accept his fate when an aura suddenly exploded across the battlefield, making the air itself feel heavy and dangerous.

A figure immediately stepped in front of the single Ouroboros Accord master rank, who had already fallen flat on his face in terror. The four Eisenklinge warriors looked up to see Roch standing there like death itself had decided to take a stroll.

They immediately turned their heads toward the place their commander had been fighting. All they could see was a cloud of dust and debris covering the air, and their hearts sank.

An immense pressure fell on them like a crushing weight, forcing them to drop to one knee as they heard Roch speak in a voice that sounded like grinding stone.

"Hmm... seems I miscalculated your strength." He tilted his head before continuing, his tone casual as if discussing the weather. "I'll take care of you first. I don't like loose ends."

The four warriors exchanged glances. Even with their power, they could feel the difference between them and this monster. But their grins? Those stayed right where they were.

"Well," Dorian said, lightning still crackling around his gauntlets, "this just got interesting."

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(A/N – Was it fire or mid? Don't just vanish—powerstone, comment, review. Let me feel your presence.)