The Cursed Extra: Bloodline of Sacrifice - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: The Gates Opened

She gestured toward the window. “Before the collapse, this world was nothing like what we know now. No one could use magic. Mana simply didn’t exist.”

“And yet, after the red moon shattered… the world changed.”

Arianna leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping lower.

“The air itself became different. The oceans. The land. Even living creatures. It was as if reality itself had been rewritten.”

She looked at them carefully.

Ed swallowed. So mana wasn’t something natural—it was a consequence this is new thing he hadn’t expected that.

Zareth frowned slightly. “But if mana came from the red moon’s destruction, then… does that mean the moon itself was made of mana?”

Arianna’s lips curled slightly. “That is the theory.”

Silence followed.

She folded her hands together. “The red moon’s destruction did not just bring mana… it brought something else.”

Zareth raised an eyebrow. “Gates”

“Yes, the gates”

Ed didn’t know why, but something about that word sent a strange unease crawling up his spine.

Arianna’s next words only made it worse.

“And that… was when the true disaster began.”

The room was silent.

Arianna’s words lingered in the air, sinking into the weight of the lesson.

“Gates?” Ed finally asked, his brows furrowed.

Arianna leaned back slightly, crossing her arms. “Yes. You’ve seen dungeons before, haven’t you?”

Ed nodded. “Of course.”

“Then tell me—where do dungeons come from?”

Ed hesitated. He had never questioned it before. Dungeons had always existed.

[A/N: Dungeons are different from portals]

They were simply part of the world. But now that he thought about it…

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

Arianna’s eyes flickered toward Zareth and Vynesaa. “Then maybe one of you can answer.”

Vynesaa sighed, rubbing her temples. “The Gates, obviously.”

Zareth, who had been lazily resting his head on his hand, smirked slightly. “Come on, do we really need to go over this part?”

“Yes,” Arianna said immediately. “Because you two are spoiled brats ”

Vynesaa clicked her tongue, but she didn’t argue.

Then she turned toward Ed. “Alright, since you don’t know, I’ll make it simple.”

She raised a finger. “One day, the moon collapses—boom, mana appears. That’s bad enough. But then?” She raises a second finger. “Suddenly, tears in the fabric of the world start forming.”

Ed’s eyes narrowed. “Tears?”

Arianna cut in. “The Gates.”

She continued. “They appeared everywhere. Not just in one place—not just in cities or ruins—everywhere. In the sky. Underwater. Beneath mountains. Across entire continents. Rifts in reality itself.”

Arianna nodded. “And through those Gates…” Her expression darkened. “Monsters emerged.”

Silence.

Ed didn’t speak.

He didn’t need to. The weight of the words spoke for itself.

Zareth sighed dramatically. “This is the part where everyone starts panicking.”

Vynesaa gave him a look. “You say that like it wasn’t the single worst disaster in history.”

“It was,” Arianna confirmed. “Monsters poured into the world by the millions. Entire cities were wiped out before people could even understand what was happening.”

Ed exhaled slowly. “How did anyone survive?”

Arianna didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she posed a question.

“What do you think happens,” she said, “when an ordinary person breathes in a world suddenly flooded with mana?”

Ed blinked.

Vynesaa’s expression grew more serious.

Zareth sat up slightly, glancing toward Ed. “You’re thinking, ‘They became stronger,’ right?”

Ed hesitated. That was exactly what he had been thinking.

Vynesaa shook her head. “No.” Her voice was quieter now. “They died.”

Ed’s breath hitched slightly. “What?”

Arianna nodded grimly. “At first, yes. The human body was never meant to process mana. Imagine someone who has never swum before suddenly being thrown into the deepest part of the ocean. They drown.”

Ed swallowed. “So, then… how?”

“How did anyone survive?” Arianna finished for him.

Ed nodded.

Arianna’s gaze turned distant. “The answer,” she said, “is The Awakening.”

Zareth sighed. “Here we go.”

Arianna ignored him. “Not everyone died when mana filled the world. A rare few… changed. Their bodies adapted. Some awakened abilities. Others gained something far greater—bloodlines and blessings.”

Vynesaa leaned forward slightly. “And those people became the first Awakeners.”

Ed listened carefully. Bloodlines. Blessings. These words had always been part of this novel world, but he had never thought to question where they came from.

Arianna tapped the desk. “But this was not a gift. It was survival. The ones who could not Awaken perished. And those who did?”

Vynesaa’s voice was quiet. “They fought.”

Arianna nodded. “And for a time… it seemed like they had a chance. They adapted. They learned to wield their new abilities. The first organized groups formed—early clans, warlords, factions. They carved out what little was left of civilization.”

She exhaled. “But this was only the beginning.”

Arianna looked at them carefully.

“The Gates,” she said. “They weren’t all the same.”

Ed frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Arianna’s fingers traced an invisible circle on the table. “Some Gates led to places filled with beasts and monsters. Some led to ancient ruins. Others?”

She looked directly at him.

“Others led to something far, far worse.”

The air in the room grew heavy.

Ed stared at her.

Zareth had stopped twirling his pen.

Even Vynesaa, who had been the least interested at the start of the lesson, now looked… uncomfortable.

Arianna’s voice was quiet, but absolute.

“One of those Gates led to the Demon Realm.”

Silence.

Ed felt a cold, sinking weight settle in his chest.

“You mean…” His voice came out slower. “After all that—after the world was already ruined—demons appeared?”

Arianna’s gaze was steady. “Yes.”

Zareth rubbed his temples. “Yeah, that was a bad time.”

Vynesaa gave him a flat look. “Understatement of the century.”

Arianna exhaled. “The Gates had already shattered what was left of the world. The Awakening was supposed to be the moment when humanity finally started fighting back.”

She paused.

“But when the demons arrived… even the Awakened ones fell.”

Ed’s heartbeat slowed.

Zareth sighed, resting his forehead against the table. “See? This is why I hate this story.”

Arianna ignored him. She looked toward Ed.

“What do you think happened then?”

Ed exhaled, feeling the weight of the history settling in.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

Arianna’s eyes gleamed slightly.

“That,” she said, “is what we will discuss next.”

“A WOLF APPEARED”