Extra's Descent

"He's amazing…"

Evelyn was completely astonished by the sight of Brandon.

Not only that. But added to the fact that he was able to make it in time.

The commotion that ensued outside wasn't as well received as they had hoped.

Though the students didn't seem to notice, most of the professors, and even some of the guests had easily discerned the unstable fluctuation of mana that occurred outside the theater room.

But with Evelyn's influence, she was able to convince her fellow professors and the guests that everything was under control

In turn, the guests settled down and respected the academy's protocols.

But when it seemed like a domain popped up, once again, the guests became rowdy.

Thankfully, the students and guests were separated. The professors and Evelyn were able to take action without alerting the students.

At first, she was quite hesitant with Brandon's request.

But as he went on to elaborate that some of the intruders were now amongst the guest's, Evelyn could only listen to him.

She trusted his decisions, and he trusted her back.

Shortly after, Brandon's performance ended.

Silence ensued, but was soon broken by a lone guest's clap.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Then, it was soon followed by several applause.

Evelyn, along with the other judges followed from there as well.

Brandon had lived up to the mysterious performer hype.

Even Evelyn found herself in tears.

***

It would've been a shame if no one gave their applause.

And so, a lone man showed his appreciation as he broke the silence with his clapping.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

At first he was skeptical.

But as he observed the way the performer's fingers gracefully moved against the piano keys.

"The precision…"

It was a sight he was all too familiar with. And it was something he, and only he, could've noticed.

After all, he had seen 'that' man's abilities several times.

"Threads…"

If his conjectures were correct, then the man who was up on the stage a few minutes ago was the same man he was looking for.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

"Sir, I think something went wrong with the plan."

From beside him, a man's worried voice reached his ears.

He had already expected for the entire plan to fail.

Their plan was sloppy, and there was no way they could even touch any of the powerful professors present around them.

Yes, everything was expected.

But what he didn't expect was the way the man handled things.

His methods…

"Unthinkable."

He stifled a laugh at the thought.

What he thought was them receiving assistance from the man, turned out to be something entirely different.

Instead, he interfered with them.

It was truly unthinkable to go against the organization.

They were lured in like rats, only to be cornered in the end.

That was an unexpected development.

To think the plan was bound to fail from the start.

The man shook his head.

He…

He wanted the entire plan to fail from the start.

The entire ordeal was set up by none other than him.

All so he could assess 'that' man.

And truly, he surpassed his expectations.

As he continued staring at the dark stage, he could vividly remember the sorrowful music from earlier.

He quickly recalled his family.

His daughter…

…And his wife.

For him, the day he had lost them both was the day he died.

All because of one organization that he had worked so hard to build.

An organization that was never meant to grow into what it was now in the first place.

Twilight Syndicate.

He closed his eyes, recalling the performer.

An image overlapped with the performer, and the man he was looking for.

"...So he really was a student after all."

He stifled a chuckle.

Looking around, the entire theater room was dark. Silence gripped the entire room, blending it with the occasional sobbing from the audience.

Drip.

He was no exception, as before he realized it, a single tear flowed down his cheek.

Shortly after…

Flick—!

The lights flickered on and the man turned away. This persisted for a few seconds until his eyes slowly adapted to the blinding light.

"Sir… What do we—"

The man extended his hand forward and his subordinate paused mid sentence.

Though, calling him a subordinate was exaggerating it. The man was nothing more than their supervisor.

"The plan failed."

He solemnly stated.

His subordinate quickly retorted.

"Sir, we can still salvage this. Let us prove ourselves—"

He decisively cut him off.

The man stood up from his seat. The men gathered around followed suit and stood up from their own seats.

He walked towards the exit. But he stopped as he noticed something peculiar.

He looked down, and the light's reflection shone down to reveal a single line following his leg.

"Haha."

He stifled another laugh.

"He's seen through me as well hasn't he…?"

It wasn't surprising. After all, he had never hid his face in the first place.

"So it really is him."

The man left shortly after muttering those words, and his subordinates followed him closely.

***

After his performance, Brandon headed backstage.

Leaning on the wall, he crossed his arms.

"Haa…."

And he took a heavy breath.

His entire performance lasted a total of 28 minutes. But during the entire ordeal, his attention was occupied by a certain guest.

He had his suspicions right from the very start. But the sight of him still took him aback.

"You were great out there."

A soft voice reached him from the side and Brandon shifted his attention.

There stood Amelia in her beautiful white dress. Her eyes seemed a bit puffy for some reason.

Acknowledging her, Brandon nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks."

"Still… You could've at least told me you were the mysterious performer."

"Uh…?"

"Kidding."

Her lips suddenly pulled up into a sly smirk.

"Anyway, you were great. Got me a bit teary eyed back there…"

Teary eyed, huh?

As he scanned her features, there was no way it had just ended with 'a bit teary eyed'.

In fact, it seemed like she had just finished crying.

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts as Amelia inquired.

"Did you see my performance too?"

"Um…. Uh—Ah?"

He couldn't find the right words to say.

His eyes darted all around, and eventually, his gaze landed on Amelia who opened her mouth.

"You didn't….?"

She breathed out a sigh.

"Haa… I told Oscar to get someone to cover for you."

"..."

What sort of….

The entire time, he couldn't find any way to articulate his words at all.

"So?"

Amelia suddenly changed the topic.

"Did you get them?"

Them?

Oh.

"Yep."

Brandon confirmed.

It seemed like Amelia noticed the commotion outside.

"That sound barrier helped settle the guests down. Good work."

Brandon nodded at her words.

Amelia continued.

"After this, you wanna—"

"Later."

Brandon suddenly cut her off.

The string attached to his fingertip suddenly tugged.

'He's on the move…'

During the performance, as subtle as he could, he extended a single thread with as little to no mana to avoid detection.

The thread loomed through the audience and wrapped itself around a specific person's foot.

The same person Brandon couldn't take his mind off.

He suddenly rushed off.

"Wait, where are you—"

And Amelia called out to him.

Her voice soon faded as he abruptly headed for the back exit.

Clank—!

Looking at the thread, he followed its direction.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

His footsteps echoed around the hallway until he reached the stairway. Looking up, he could see the threads extend up the stairs.

And so he followed suit and ascended the flight of stairs.

Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak.

He rushed without pausing.

Tak.

Until he arrived at the rooftop's entrance.

Clank—!

He forcefully pushed the door open.

And what greeted his sight was….

"Took you long enough."

A lone man stood by the railings with his back faced towards Brandon.

He turned around to meet Brandon's gaze. His face was smeared with blood as the corner of his lips pulled up to a smile.

He had already been suspicious a while back.

Whatever his motives were, if he was even on Brandon's side, he was quite unsure.

There were often times when the man had helped him.

It made his motives even more confusing.

Just what did he want?

Brandon took in the familiar sight. His familiar dark onyx hair and green eyes instantly registered within Brandon's peripheral view.

At that, the man cut off the thread that was attached to his leg.

'So he noticed….'

It was expected. If he didn't, then he wouldn't have waited for Brandon by the rooftop.

"This is our first time meeting without your mask. You don't look so bad yourself, Jack the Ripper."

The man shook his head.

"...Or should I say, Brandon Locke."

Brandon stifled a laugh and stepped forward.

The door slowly closed and now only two people stood on the rooftop.

Acknowledging the man, Brandon flashed him an indifferent smile.

"Good to see you again, Smith."