Transmigrating as an Extra, But the Heroine Has Regressed?!

SWISH!

CRASH!

Each strike shattered trees and gouged trenches into the earth, but Edwin met them head-on, his blades slicing, parrying, and deflecting the monster's fury.

He could barely be seen—just a blur of white light weaving through the sea of black tendrils.

Leo's jaw hung open as he clutched his bleeding arm. "This… this isn't human. He's fighting on a level we can't even see…"

Ronan, battered but awake, forced himself to sit upright, his eyes wide.

"Every strike shakes the ground… He's holding back a Dread-rank alone…" His voice cracked with disbelief.

Mira and Talia, clinging to each other, felt their fear replaced by awe. Mira whispered, "He… he's like a hero out of the old tales. He isn't even fighting for himself… He's fighting for all of us."

Their hearts pounded, not from fear—but from realization. Edwin was beyond them.

The battlefield became a storm.

Edwin's thoughts sharpened into a single point, burning into his mind as he dodged another tendril and countered with a spiral slash.

(If I can't defeat this one… then I cannot face anything stronger. Heroes don't run. If I fall here, then my promise was worthless!)

He roared, spinning into his Blazing Spiral, his swords whirling like twin stars.

SHHHK! Dozens of tendrils were shredded, spraying black ichor across the clearing. The Shadow Leech screeched, recoiling briefly before regrowing its limbs.

"COME AT ME!" Edwin bellowed, dashing forward again. His blades clashed with another barrage of tendrils. Sparks flew, blood sprayed, and shockwaves rippled outwards.

BOOM!

BANG!

CRACK!

The two forces slammed against each other again and again, so fast that even the eye couldn't track them. The air itself seemed to warp around their movements.

To the wounded team, it was like watching two storms collide.

Leo whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide. "We thought… We thought we could catch up to him one day. But this… this is another level."

Ronan clenched his fists, his bloodied teeth gritting. "To reach his level? Not in twenty years… not in fifty… not even in two hundred."

Mira and Talia both nodded faintly, unable to look away from the impossible sight.

Every strike Edwin landed shook the earth. Every roar of the beast rattled the forest.

But the truth was brutal.

Though Edwin's strikes carved deep wounds, though his aura raged like fire, the Shadow Leech did not fall. Its body writhed and twisted, regenerating again and again. For every tendril destroyed, another formed.

Edwin's chest heaved. His vision blurred red. Blood dripped from his lip.

(So this is… the strength of a Dread-rank. Even giving everything… it still isn't enough.)

He staggered after one final strike, his knees buckling beneath him. His blades, once glowing with furious light, now flickered weakly.

The Shadow Leech towered above him once more, its tendrils raised high.

Edwin fell to one knee, his sword digging into the dirt for balance. His eyes burned with fury, but his body had reached its limit.

Edwin's body gave way. His aura flickered. his sword digging into the dirt to hold him up. His chest heaved.

His body was at its limit.

The Shadow Leech, though wounded, still loomed above him, its body already beginning to reform. Its red eyes glared down, unbroken, hungrier than ever.

Edwin coughed, his vision darkening. His lips curled into a weak smile, though tears streaked his bloodied face.

"…Sorry… Jane…" he whispered, voice faint.

"It's… the end for me."

His sword slipped from his hand as the weight of exhaustion finally dragged him down.

The Shadow Leech's tendril came crashing down, blotting out the misty sky above Edwin. He had no strength left to move, no breath left to roar, no mana left to fight. His knees dug into the dirt, his sword trembling in his grip.

This was the end.

But then—

"Enough."

The voice was soft but commanding. Calm. Feminine.

SHHHK!

A silver streak of light cut through the air. The tendril, which just a heartbeat ago had been descending toward Edwin's broken body, was severed cleanly in two.

Black ooze sprayed across the ground, sizzling against the earth.

For the first time, the Shadow Leech recoiled. Its red eyes blinked rapidly in shock, tendrils lashing back defensively as if sensing a new predator had entered the clearing.

A figure stepped through the mist.

Professor Sylvia.

Her boots crunched softly against the broken soil as she moved into the clearing. She wore the Arcadia Academy's black-and-gold uniform, though it looked almost regal on her.

Around her, a faint aura shimmered, bending the air like a heat haze. Power radiated from her with every step—subtle yet suffocating, the kind of strength that made the forest itself fall silent.

The students' eyes widened one by one. Mira weakly raised her head, her lips trembling.

"P-professor…"

Talia clutched her sister's hand tighter, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. Ronan, half-conscious, exhaled a shaky breath of relief.

Fenn, crawling in the dirt, froze mid-motion, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Even Leo, bleeding heavily, stared with disbelief.

Edwin blinked, his fading vision focusing on her form. His lips parted, but no sound came out.

Sylvia's usually composed face softened as she glanced at them—seven students sprawled, broken, and bleeding across the battlefield.

For a moment, her expression carried not the steel of a professor, but the sorrow of someone who blamed herself.

"I apologize," she said gently, though her voice carried across the clearing like a bell. "I was… late."

Her gaze lingered on Edwin. His body swayed, his sword still clenched stubbornly, his knees buried in dirt. She could see the blood streaking down his face, the tremor in his arms, the aura of power that had flared bright and desperate only moments ago.

(He fought a Dread-rank alone…) she thought, her chest tightening.

(He held it back… for them. Even for just a minute… that was more than most adult knights could manage. If I had been even a little later… all of them would be dead.)

She let out a slow breath, steadying the emotions in her heart. Her eyes grew cold again, the softness vanishing as she turned her attention to the Shadow Leech.

The monster loomed tall, tendrils writhing angrily. It roared, a guttural, otherworldly sound that rattled the branches of the forest. Its eyes focused on Sylvia now—the new challenger.