Extra’s Rebirth: I Will Create A Good Ending For The Heroines - Chapter 461

Chapter 461: Planting Fear
The elves immediately focused on him, their eyes narrowing with the same unified hostility he had already sensed from the moment he stepped into Elun’varis.

Even so, Azel had gotten a feeling from the beginning that this sparring event wasn’t only about ganging up on him… although they were clearly eager for that.

They also fought among themselves. The arena was filled with chaotic motion, insults being thrown around in Elvish, and more arrogance than he had ever seen in one place.

Alvinus’s brother was currently trading blows with another elf from House Lunethis… which was Feliora’s lover probably.

Their fight was actually interesting to watch.

Despite the elegance expected of elves, the two of them were practically brawling, unleashing kicks and fist strikes amplified with tiny bursts of mana.

Behind them, another group of three elves circled for an opening, clearly intending to strike whichever of the two lost balance.

Azel watched them for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.

He could feel the entire arena shifting every time someone slammed into the wooden floor, and the magic woven into the structure healed each dent immediately.

Whoever designed this arena had serious craftsmanship.

Three elves suddenly turned toward Azel again… finally remembering their original target. He exhaled slowly.

They rushed him at once. The first came in recklessly, leaping forward with a flying kick aimed straight for his chin.

Azel leaned backward with a smooth motion, his torso bending at an angle that made a few elves gasp.

As his hand touched the ground, he flipped backward, and during the motion, his foot whipped upward and connected with the back of the elf’s head. The poor guy shot forward like a loosened arrow, slamming chest-first into the arena floor.

Azel landed on his feet lightly. Another elf immediately jabbed toward his ribs with a palm strike, green mana coating his arm.

“My Magic Martial Arts… Ozone Fists allows me to land rapid attacks on you!” the elf declared proudly.

He began a rapid series of strikes.

His hands moved so fast they became blurry, leaving faint trails of green light in the air. It would have been intimidating… if Azel wasn’t casually parrying every single hit. He didn’t even use mana.

His body simply moved the moment an attack approached, blocking, redirecting, countering.

To the surrounding elves, it looked like blurs clashing. Sparks of mana erupted from every blocked hit, little bursts of green crackling around the two bodies.

But to the elf himself, it was worse… he could clearly see the human matching his speed perfectly without effort, like he was swatting away dust particles.

His confidence shattered.

He mis-punched, his form breaking under pressure. Azel shifted slightly to the left, avoiding the wild strike.

Azel’s fist sank into the elf’s stomach.

The elf’s body folded around the blow. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed onto his knees before falling face-down with a thud.

Azel took a single breath before turning.

The first elf he had kicked earlier was already rebounding from the wall, shooting toward him with reckless speed with his face contorted with rage and embarrassment.

Azel simply raised his hand and caught him by the face mid-charge. The elf’s momentum stopped instantly.

With one downward motion, Azel slammed the elf onto the arena floor.

Wood cracked beneath the force, but the arena repaired itself the next second, leaving the unconscious elf lying perfectly on intact flooring.

The third elf of the trio stood frozen and Azel looked at him.

The elf swallowed, raised both hands, and stepped out of the arena to put his shirt back on.

‘At least there’s one smart one,’ Azel thought.

He gently kicked the unconscious elves toward the edge so they would be moved off the field, then glanced around.

Only five fighters remained standing and the others were still watching him with a mixture of fear, resentment, and disbelief.

He stomped lightly on the floor and the wood rippled, healing the dents instantly.

‘Is there a goddess of wood?’ he wondered. ‘Because that would be convenient…’

[Idiot… you already have my healing. You don’t need the blessing of a lesser goddess.]

Nyala’s voice chimed in, clearly irritated.

‘I was just joking.’

[You better. The next goddess that joins the plane will take a very hard test. We don’t need more cases like Elarielle.]

[HEY!] Elarielle yelled in his ear.

The two goddesses immediately broke into verbal bickering, then into playful fighting sounds, and he instantly shut the channel off so his ears wouldn’t explode.

However, the next voice that echoed wasn’t the goddesses and wasn’t Feliora. It was the Elf King.

“You are allowed to use spells.”

The moment those words left the Elf King’s mouth, the entire arena shifted.

Magic surged at once… violent and overwhelming pure mana filling the air like a storm brewing around him.

Azel’s instincts screamed.

Time slowed. The world whitened as a dangerous pressure flooded the arena… something akin to when he gathered power for Star Strike.

He slowly turned in the direction of the attack.

Alvinus’s brother extended a hand toward him. Starlight gathered around his fingers, forming a small glowing orb.

It pulsated like a miniature star, emitting a faint ringing noise. Mana around it compressed, warping slightly.

The power behind it didn’t match the elf’s physique… it was pure raw talent.

The orb shot forward.

It tore through the air, leaving craters behind it as its energy grazed the wooden floor. The force alone caused several elves to stumble backward.

Sylvia’s breath hitched… she could feel the destructive nature of that spell even without being its target.

The orb collided with Azel’s palm.

There was a huge explosion which was a blinding light that swallowed half the arena.

Dust shot upward and the shockwave forced several elves to cover their faces. One apprentice elf was blown backward into the wall and knocked out cold.

Time snapped back to normal.

Sylvia’s heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her ears. She stared anxiously at the cloud of smoke.

‘Did he survive…? That was full-force Starlight…’

Even the Elf King narrowed its eyes. Its expression didn’t change… it rarely did but its posture shifted slightly in interest.

When the smoke cleared… Azel stood there steaming slightly but was completely uninjured.

Holding a small fragment of starlight in his palm like it was nothing but a warm stone.

The arena’s destruction healed around him automatically, but the scorch marks remained for a few seconds before fading.

He crushed the starlight in his palm and it scattered into harmless glittering dust.

Every elf froze.

Those who had mocked him earlier closed their mouths quickly. Alvinus’s brother’s face lost all color and even Feliora stopped smiling.

Azel looked down at his hand, then at Alvinus’s brother, and lifted his eyes toward Feliora before glancing at the Elf King.

“I should use my own spell now right?”

…

He raised his hand up and a flow of energy rushed outward, holy power drowning the entire field in a blinding surge of gold-white radiance.

To say he was pissed was an understatement… his anger rolled off him like heat from the sun.

‘I thought this was supposed to be a sparring match… and now they’re trying to assassinate me in front of everyone?’ Azel thought with a slow shake of his head as his holy aura swelled violently, his hair fluttering from the sheer pressure. ‘If I didn’t use Reverse… he would’ve blown half of my body off. Are these idiots trying to make widows out of all my wives?’

The arena trembled under the weight of his fury.

His holy energy thickened, charging the air until every elf felt their own mana destabilize. Even Sylvia’s hair was whipping around her face, her gown snapping in the wind generated by his aura.

Just then, the Elf King raised its hand. A soft but imperious pulse of magic rippled out. Azel felt his holy energy suppressed… not fully, but enough that the air eased.

“Contestant…” the Elf King said. “I understand your troubles, as he has broken the rules. But several people cannot pay for the sins of one.”

Alvinus’s brother… bloody-lipped and trembling looked smug for half a second, as if believing the Elf King was defending him.

Azel stepped forward, shadows from the holy light framing him like a descending deity.

“I understand, Elf King,” Azel said, his calm voice contrasting the wrath twisting beneath it. “However… even though this was meant to be a light spar in preparation for tomorrow, he chose a killing move. A move that would have ended my life if I hadn’t been careful.”

His voice deepened, the arena vibrating with the weight of his words.

“I will let the others go. But for him… I must return a strike of equal killing intent.”

Sylvia swallowed.

‘He’s so terrifying like this… but this is good. Very good. Everyone will fear him. Everyone will fear me by extension.’

The Elf King stayed silent for a long moment before finally nodding.

“That is fair.”

The moment those words were spoken, Azel’s holy light surged again… this time pushing everyone else off the arena. The ground beneath them split, forming a clean boundary that left Alvinus’s brother alone in a circle of mana.

He backed away instinctively, panicking as the holy pressure doubled.

A grimoire materialized in front of Azel, pages flying open with violent speed.

Each flip released another wave of holy energy, blowing back the hair and robes of every spectator and the arena creaked under the weight of it.

The Elf King’s tri-tone eyes narrowed slightly.

‘Where did you obtain such a blessed human… Sylvia?’ it wondered.

Azel lifted one hand. Light surged, condensing into a dense orb… identical in size to the Starlight spell the elf had used earlier.

But this one spun faster, brighter, hotter, absorbing mana from the holy field like a star feeding on worlds.

Gasps erupted among the nobles. Even seasoned advisors stiffened.

Sylvia’s heartbeat thundered. Outwardly, she placed a hand against her chest with a worried look.

Inwardly, she smiled coldly.

‘Perfect. Show them, my darling. Show them all why I will win.’

With a burst of golden force, the orb shot forward.

It slammed into Alvinus’s brother before he could even scream.

A shockwave exploded outward… like glass shattering making dust fly around as the wooden arena cracking like eggshell.

The elf was thrown backward violently, smashing into the wall.

His flesh had been torn, bones completely shredded and his right arm vanished in a spray of light and blood.

His side had caved in too, his ribs were shattered and organs ruptured from the impact.

Sylvia gasped for dramatic effect.

The holy aura faded slowly, leaving the arena in ruins. In the corner, healers rushed forward instantly, pouring green restorative light into the mangled elf. He twitched weakly, barely clinging to life.

“He is stabilized,” one healer called out shakily. “But he may not be able to fight in the upcoming trials.”

Azel turned away coldly. “Good.”

The Elf King rose with a commanding sweep of its cape.

“The spar is concluded. The winner is the human.” Its emotionless voice echoed through the space. “Everyone… return to your rooms and prepare for the first trial tomorrow.”

And before anyone could react, the Elf King teleported away in a flash of lunar-silver light.

Silence blanketed the arena.

The elves, who previously glared at Azel with disdain, now looked at him with full-blown fear.

Even the main house heirs stepped back.

Sylvia ran up to him immediately, placing both hands on his chest.

“Darling… are you hurt? Do you feel anything wrong?” she asked in a trembling voice, her fingers trailing his sides as if checking for damage. “You tanked a whole Starlight strike…”

Her expression was soft and worried.

Inside, she was ecstatic.

“I’m fine,” Azel said with a sigh, rubbing his neck. “All I need right now is a proper bath… and some cuddles.”

“You’re too old for cuddles…” Sylvia muttered, puffing her cheeks as she pressed her hand against his abs. “Honestly.”

…

Soon they arrived at her private bath which was Azel’s second time here today. The room was warm with steam and perfumed mist.

He sat in the wide marble tub with a towel around his waist while Sylvia scrubbed his back gently.

Despite the tension earlier, the moment felt peaceful.

“This is the life…” Azel sighed, leaning forward as she worked the sponge over his shoulders. “Having a princess attend to me is really it.”

“Don’t get used to it…” she muttered, though a tiny smile tugged at her lips.

She scrubbed carefully, moving from his shoulders to his neck and then ruffling through his hair with slow circles. “We have long trials ahead of us.”

Her voice softened.

She couldn’t deny she was nervous but with him, those nerves were far easier to swallow. All she needed was to make sure he stayed exactly where she needed him.

‘I just need to keep him focused on me. Keep him feeling needed. Keep him thinking I’m grateful and devoted.’

She tapped the back of his head with the sponge.

“Darling… I hope you didn’t think the Elf Trials were just punch… kick… slap…”

“What else would they be?” he asked.

Sylvia tugged his hair sharply.

“Ow—! Hey!”

“Right…” She sniffed triumphantly. “I will now tell you what the Elf Trials truly are, as the benevolent lover that I am.”

Azel rolled his eyes fondly, leaning back against her legs.

“Lay it on me.”