Chronicles of Forgotten Extra - Chapter 173

Chapter 173: The Chaos Unfolds
As soon as Alden entered the portal. Everything turned white before colours returned.

He was in a new location. A vast ruin of an ancient city was in front of him. Most of the structures were broken.

The ruins stretched across the land like the skeleton of a once-great city.

Cracked stone roads led between broken buildings, their walls crumbling and roofs long gone.

Old towers leaned to one side, covered by vines and dirt.

Pieces of shattered statues and pillars were scattered around, covered in dust.

It was clear—this place had been destroyed a long time ago.

Maybe because this teleportation was short-range, none of the students reacted like before.

Even Aziel looked fine.

“You can explore the ruins with your groups, and be careful not to touch anything strange.”

With that, Sorin walked off toward the post where academy and association officials were seated.

“So, bro, what’s the plan?” Aziel asked, casually putting his hands on Alden’s shoulder.

“Why are you asking me?” Alden replied.

“Why so snappy today?” Aziel muttered. “Did you not get your beauty sleep today?”

“I read somewhere that lack of sleep increases chances of heart attack.” Nyx added another one of her ridiculous references.

Why do I always feel she’s trying to pull me closer to death?

Must be my overthinking.

“So, what’s the plan?” Amyra stepped in. “I think we should split up into groups.”

There was definitely no bad intention behind her suggestions. Or maybe there was. Maybe she wanted to be luckily paired up with Alden.

Alden didn’t notice her thoughts.

He already had plans to split up. But unfortunately for Amyra, they were vastly different from hers.

“Yeah, I also think that it would be a good idea to split. We’ll be able to cover more ground that way.”

“Aziel, you should go with Cecilia.” Aziel just grinned.

Cecilia didn’t object either. She just nodded.

Aziel looked at Alden, flashing him a smile.

Alden knew well the meaning behind the smile. ‘Thanks for the assist, bro.’

He could literally hear those words from just the smile.

Amyra looked at Alden with anticipation.

Her mind is repeating the same thing. ‘Choose me.’

Nyx looked at Alden with narrowed eyes. She has seen through his plan–he was going to choose Amyra and then under the pretext of research…

Her thoughts turned wild.

No, I can’t let that happen.

Before Alden could say anything.

She spoke. “I’ll go with Amyra.”

Amyra’s expression froze. She turned towards Nyx. ‘What did this b*tch say?’

‘I swear I’ll kill her with my own hands one day.’

Her face didn’t betray her thoughts in the slightest. It was as calm as always.

Alden’s mind, however, was completely different. That’s exactly what he wanted.

His plan was to pair with the other four and go exploring alone. He needed to check for some traps and see if he could disarm them before the attack began.

“Yeah, that works.” He replied.

With that settled, the group split off.

__

Through an ancient ruins site, two beautiful girls wandered silently.

One walked ahead with light steps, her black hair shone slightly and her blue eyes carried aloof energy.

The other one with white hair was the definition of the word ‘composed’; her face didn’t have a single expression. But her deep violet eyes betrayed the storm inside her mind slightly.

“Why?” Amyra asked, her voice low. She had decided to win Alden’s love genuinely, but this girl… this annoying girl wasn’t even letting her do that.

She was always interfering whenever she tried to get closer to Alden.

“Huh? What happened, Amyra?” Nyx asked innocently, tilting her head. ” Did you say something?”

Amyra’s jaw clenched.

This bitch.

Still, she held some semblance so as not to cut her into millions of pieces already.

She asked again, gritting her teeth. “Why do you always keep on interfering?”

Nyx looked shocked at first, then she understood what Amyra meant.

She felt pity for Amyra.

She wanted to yell how that guy– Alden – had been deceiving her.

How has she been trying to save her from ruin?

But she couldn’t reveal it… it was the price of her decision.

She’s too innocent.

Nyx thought.

She doesn’t see it—the way he manipulates people. Someone has to protect her from him.

But she couldn’t say that. That would mean admitting what she suspected without proof.

I don’t want to hurt her… but I can’t let her fall for him, not when he’s like this.

So she lied.

“I like him.”

She let the revelation sink in for a moment before continuing.

“I love Alden too,” Nyx added, her voice calm. “I wanted to fight fairly for his love.”

The words felt disgusting to Nyx.

She wouldn’t like that playboy in a million years. But if a lie could shield Amyra from heartbreak, then so be it.

Amyra didn’t react at first. She had suspected this much. Nyx’s boldness still caught her off guard.

But something else bugged her even more.

“Fairly?” Amyra scoffed. “How was that fair?”

“If Alden had chosen one of us, the other would have lost. So I paired us together—so neither of us would get an unfair advantage. Now we both start at zero,” Nyx said, her tone awkwardly earnest.

“So you want a fair fight?” Amyra was slightly amused. “Fine. But don’t expect me to hold back.”

Nyx gave a small smile. “I have one request.”

“What is it?”

Nyx’s fingers fumbled, her gaze dropping. “Whatever happens… Can we still be friends?”

Amyra blinked.

For the first time, her expression faltered.

Friends?

That word felt distant. Alien.

She had asked Alden to be her friend—but only because she loved him. Cecilia and Aziel were… acquaintances, at best.

When Nyx had called her a friend before, she hadn’t paid it any mind.

But now… she felt it. The sincerity.

Nyx didn’t want something from her. She wasn’t manipulating.

She just wanted to be her friend.

Why?

What does she hope to gain?

Amyra didn’t know.

Why does the girl in front of her want to be her friend?

And that made her uncomfortable.

But not… angry.

Not this time.

She felt a small warmth.

“Okay, I promise.” Amyra spoke after a brief pause.

___

Unbeknownst to everything that was going on with the ladies, Alden was busy digging a hole in an isolated place.

Soon his hands felt a metallic texture.

One more explosive. That made… what, twenty?

He was starting to feel like a one-man demolition crew.

He’d been digging up bombs since the group split.

His Spirit Domain helped him with detecting them.

The association could have found these. They didn’t. Which meant someone didn’t want them found.

Some of the people present here were actually demon contractors. Alden didn’t know their exact identity. But some of the association supervisors were also part of them.

Alden quickly put the explosives inside his mana ring. He had already collected tens of them.

These explosives played an important part in the attack. Injuring many students.

They were quite expensive and useful. So by removing them, he was taking care of two problems at once.

Just then—his ManaSync buzzed.

It was an announcement from the academy group.

“All the students return to the centre.”

The sky was darkening, signaling the end of the day’s exploration.

There should be a few more minutes before the attack begins,

Alden thought. In the original novel, the ambush had started only after everyone gathered.

But just as he took a step forward—

Thunderous sound erupted.

The ground trembled beneath his feet.

The attack had already begun.

Chaos had arrived early.