I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

Chapter 282 - 276 – Eclipse Vanguard (2)

Raiden pointed lazily at the two boys."Rules are simple," he said with a bored deadpan.

"If you manage to defeat me…"

Lightning cracked behind him like a drumbeat.

"I'll treat you to lunch."

He stretched, popping his back as if he were about to take a nap, not fight two prodigies.

"If you can't…"

A thunderbolt flashed at their feet—bright, vicious, but perfectly controlled.

Not even a hair was singed.

"…you're running laps until sunset."

Kaen's wrists ignited in crimson flame.

Rael's eyes sharpened, Verdant Mirror Spirit flaring to life.

Raiden cracked his knuckles.

"Now, both of you…"

Lightning surged outward.

"…come at me."

The moment Raiden's foot shifted, Kaen exploded forward.

"ECLIPSE INFERNO FIST!"

His fist came wrapped in molten red Shinrei, heat distorting the air. The ground behind him cratered from the burst of acceleration.

But Raiden?

Raiden wasn't even looking.

He yawned.

"Too slow, Kaen."

His hand flickered in a lazy half-circle

and Kaen's flaming punch was redirected like a toy, sending the boy spinning mid-air.

Rael moved instantly to cover him.

"WIND MIRROR, RIPPLE FORM."

A circular barrier of vibrating air formed between Kaen and the ground. Kaen crashed into it, sliding back safely.

Rael didn't waste a breath.

"Kaen. Center-left. He favors redirecting angles."

Kaen exhaled steam from his palms.

"I KNOW!"

They charged together.

There finally Raiden's eyes opened just a little.

"Alright. Let's have fun."

Rael stepped forward first.

"Vein Gate, Second Gate: RESONANCE."

A gust erupted outward, his four affinities harmonizing like a breath of wind, earth, bloom, and lightning.

Kaen followed.

His voice dropped into a growl.

"Vein Gate, Third Gate: STABILIZATION."

His flame snapped into a sharp, controlled pillar.

Shade shadows flickered under his skin: unstable, forbidden, but powerful.

Raiden's eyebrow raised.

"Gate Three already? Hot-headed little monster."

He planted one hand in his pocket.

"Fine."

Thunder carved a circle around him.

"First Gate: AWAKENING."

That alone sent a shockwave slamming into both boys, pushing them back several steps.

Kaen's teeth clenched.

Rael steadied himself with a single exhale.

Raiden, still casual, tilted his head.

"Come. Again."

Kaen vanished.

A crater marked where he had stood.

He reappeared above Raiden, spinning, flame burning into a spiraling helix.

"CRIMSON SHADE IGNITION!"

The technique roared downward like a flaming meteor.

Raiden looked u then simply raised a finger.

A single spark touched Kaen's flaming heel

and the explosion detonated in midair, throwing Kaen backward with a violent burst.

Before Kaen hit the ground, Rael was already there.

"Verdant Mirror, Lumen Blade."

A blade of reflective light formed in his hand, cutting clean through the lingering smoke as he lunged at Raiden.

Raiden finally moved seriously.

Just one step.

A little step.

Thunder wrapped around his foot as he pivoted.

Rael's blade slashed where his neck had been

only lightning remained.

Rael's eyes widened.

(Fast… too fast.)

Raiden appeared behind him, hand raised for a light chop to the neck—

but Kaen jumped in with a furious roar.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"

Kaen's fist collided with Raiden's lightning-coated arm.

The impact sent a shockwave across the entire training field.

Raiden smiled.

"Good punch."

Then he flicked Kaen's forehead.

Kaen flew fifteen meters back.

Rael's breath steadied.

His eyes glowed faint green.

(Verdant Mirror Predictive Pattern Release.)

He was reading Raiden's movements.

The air shimmered.

Rael vanished into the wind.

He reappeared behind Raiden only for Raiden to already be turning.

Their weapons clashed, sparks flying as Rael's light-blade met Raiden's crackling forearm.

Kaen burst in from the side.

Flame + Shade spiraled in his fist, a volatile fusion.

"ECLIPSE…FLARE BREAK!!"

The twin attack forced Raiden to bring both arms up in an X-block.

First time he'd defended.

His smile sharpened.

"Now that's what I'm talking about."

He pushed.

Lightning erupted outward in a dome of thunder.

Kaen and Rael were thrown apart.

Raiden cracked his neck.

"Next phase?"

Kaen wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth, fire burning brighter.

"You bet, old man."

Raiden twitched.

"…I'm still in my late twenties."

Rael was the first to act.

His body lowered, stance fluid.

"Wind Affinity, TRACE STEP."

He zigzagged around Raiden, leaving afterimages that flickered like reflections on water.

Kaen followed with raw force.

"ECLIPSE INFERNO, DRAGON BURST!"

A flame dragon spiraled behind him as he rushed in again.

Raiden's grin widened.

"Good coordination."

He struck the ground with his heel.

"THUNDER LOTUS, BLOOM."

Lightning burst from the earth, blooming upward like a flower of raw destruction.

Kaen shielded Rael with crossed arms, taking the brunt of it

muscles tearing, skin burning

but enduring.

Rael leapt through the smoke.

His voice resonated:

"LUMEN EDGE, MULTI-REFRACTION!"

Dozens of reflective blades of wind and light shot toward Raiden from all angles.

Raiden answered with a single sweep of his arm.

"Divine Current."

A curved wave of lightning erased every blade.

Raiden appeared at Rael's front

Then his back

Then his side

Moving so fast Rael felt the wind change before he saw the thunder.

A chop grazed Rael's neck.

Only Kaen's roar saved him.

"STOP PICKING ON RAEL!"

Kaen smashed into Raiden's side with a flaming hook.

Raiden slid back half a step.

Half.

He brushed sparks off his shoulder.

"Nice hit."

"Still weak."

Kaen flared.

"SHUT UP!"

Raiden's aura flashed.

The casual air evaporated.

Lightning rolled across the training field like a storm awakening.

Rael inhaled sharply.

Kaen grit his teeth.

Raiden raised his hand.

"Second Gate: RESONANCE."

Thunderstorms answered him.

The pressure alone forced Kaen to one knee.

(Shit, his Shinrei jumped tenfold!)

Rael's mirror spirit screamed warnings in his mind.

Raiden spoke softly:

"Watch closely, boys."

"This is real Shinrei choreography."

He stepped.

The world blurred.

He reappeared between Kaen and Rael.

They didn't even see the movement.

Only the aftermath.

A lightning arc slashed through the ground, splitting the earth in a perfect line.

Kaen staggered back, chest bleeding from a shallow strike that came too fast to react to.

Rael's right arm trembled; he'd managed to block but barely.

Raiden exhaled.

The earth around him steamed.

"…I'll raise it one more level."

He opened his palm.

Lightning spirals expanded like blooming flowers.

"Thunder Vein—SHINDEN FORM."

This wasn't casual sparring anymore.

This was an Eclipse Vanguard showing why he was feared.

Kaen spat blood.

Eyes burning.

(Not enough… NOT ENOUGH!)

Shade swirled dangerously behind him.

He screamed:

"VEIN GATE—FOURTH GATE: TRANSCENDENCE!!"

His Shinrei erupted into a spinning pillar of fire and shadow.

Raiden's eyebrow rose.

"…Kid, do NOT open that in a spar—"

Too late.

Kaen charged, flames and shade crackling in unstable fusion.

Rael cursed and followed.

"Kaen, you idiot!"

But he didn't hesitate.

He opened his Third Gate.

"Third Gate: STABILIZATION… RELEASE!!"

The two boys, burning with raw, unrefined power, attacked Raiden together.

Kaen struck with explosive dragon bursts.

Rael sliced with refractive wind-killing lines.

The combined assault actually forced Raiden back several steps.

Raiden grinned like a demon.

"NOW YOU'RE TALKING!"

To be continue