Path of the Extra

Smiling, Azriel stepped aside and gestured for the student to enter.

"Welcome to the room of The Apex... Cadet Vergil."

Vergil could only laugh awkwardly as he stepped inside.

"Damn, it's like a 7-star hotel room... while mine's only a 5."

"Well, that's one of the perks of being the Apex, I suppose."

Azriel replied, heading toward the kitchen.

"Why don't you have a seat and tell me why you decided to visit my room at 2 a.m.?"

Following Azriel, Vergil sat down at the counter while Azriel opened the cabinets.

"You want Nebula Spirits, Frost Ember, Duskfall Bourbon, or... Crimson Flame?"

Azriel asked, listing off the bottles.

"Alcohol at 2 a.m.?"

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

Azriel turned toward him, raising his own.

"You got a problem with that?"

Vergil grinned.

"Nope. I'll have Crimson Flame."

"Good choice."

Azriel nodded, picking up two glasses and the bottle of Crimson Flame.

He poured the red liquid and sat down next to Vergil.

"My dear sister told me I wasn't allowed to drink alone anymore... I guess this shouldn't be a problem."

Azriel remarked as he handed over the glass.

Vergil laughed.

"You've got a protective sister."

'Yet she didn't take away her bottle collection for some reason.'

He knew to whom the bottles belonged, and he had always wondered why she left that letter.

They both drank quietly, the air between them strange and tense until...

"You're not going to—"

"Be a dick like you were back at the arena?"

Azriel interrupted, speaking lightly.

"All I wanted was to know who and why, and I got my answers."

"You're not going to come after me? Get revenge?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

Vergil was genuinely curious about Azriel.

For a prince who had punched Kai, he didn't seem vengeful at all.

Vergil had expected Azriel to be angry about his visit or what had happened earlier that day, but there was no sign of anger from him.

"Because I'm not interested in you."

What better revenge is there for someone trying to get your attention?

Ignore them.

Fighting, beating up, or giving Vergil any more attention than necessary would probably be exactly what Vergil wanted—something Azriel obviously wasn't going to do.

'I'm not going to play his games; he'll be dealing with mine instead.'

He wasn't interested in Vergil's reasons, especially after Vergil made it personal by using his name.

There was no way Azriel was going to buy the 'I was curious' excuse.

With the knowledge from the book, Azriel knew how to hurt Vergil the most: by ignoring him.

And Azriel planned to keep doing that until...

"Haa... fine, I'm sorry."

Vergil apologized.

"I shouldn't have underestimated you... When did you figure me out?"

Azriel smiled.

"Figure what out? That you were trying to test me even though I'm a prince?"

Vergil didn't respond, making Azriel sigh.

"It was the moment I caught you glancing at my left arm."

Azriel said, bringing his left arm onto the counter and pulling up his academy sleeve, which he was still wearing like Vergil.

He revealed an arm covered in bandages.

Vergil didn't look surprised as he silently watched Azriel remove the bandages, revealing...

His mark.

"...To think my own eyes betrayed me back then... still, that's one seriously creepy tattoo."

A chuckle escaped Azriel's lips as he brought the glass of Crimson Flame to them.

"That's why I cover it up. Plus, I don't want my family to find out their son is actually a delinquent."

Vergil raised his eyebrows.

"Or an Apostle, but it's not like they would know... I hope."

Azriel shook his head with a sigh.

"You certainly are straightforward at the most convenient times... Anyway, are you going to reveal yours?"

Vergil laughed awkwardly, turning his head slightly.

"…You really want me to strip?"

"…Huh?"

Coughing slightly, Vergil faced him.

"I mean, my mark is on my chest."

Suppressing a twitch of his lips, Azriel spoke.

"You're really embarrassed to show me your chest, like I'm your boyfriend or something?"

Vergil furrowed his brows.

"Wait, why am I the girlfriend?"

"Because I sure as hell wouldn't be afraid to show my chest right now."

Clicking his tongue, Vergil turned away.

"Fine, I am embarrassed. It's not like you need to see anyway, right?"

Azriel shook his head.

"I don't, but at the very least, tell me which god you belong to."

For a few seconds, Vergil stared at his half-empty glass, twirling it before gulping it down in one go.

"The god of Dreams... meaning I am the—"

"Apostle of Dreams."

Azriel finished the sentence, looking at him curiously.

Even in the book, it was never mentioned what apostle Vergil was.

It wasn't even confirmed if he was one, though it was hinted at multiple times.

And considering how Vergil had made Lumine's life difficult, only for Lumine to end up...

'...getting stronger.'

"So, do you know what apostle I am?"

Vergil nodded.

"Apostle of Death... Seriously, the tattoo and the name, downright ominous if I have to say."

'Well, he's right.'

Out of all the apostles, one might think Azriel would be the most villainous.

Maybe that's why Vergil was trying to test him to see where he exactly stood.

A sigh escaped his lips.

"Then you can tell me how you knew I am the Apostle of Death?"

Vergil nodded.

"What else but a dream..."

"A dream?"

"Yes, a dream."

"And? What did you see that led us to be sitting here, drinking buddies?"

"...Give me a refill first."

'Since when did I go from a prince to a bartender?'

Azriel thought, but he complied, refilling Vergil's glass and waiting patiently as Vergil took another sip, sighing.

"Two years ago, I once had a dream—or at least I think it was a dream."

'Wait, don't tell me he's about to give his life story now?'

Azriel wanted to groan.

He wasn't interested in Vergil's life story; he just wanted to know how Vergil had identified him as the Apostle of Death.

It was 2 a.m., and Azriel needed sleep whenever he could get it because sleeping long hours was already difficult for him.

"I was walking forward on a bridge, my feet carrying me without me being able to move my own body. All around me was just... stars. It was like I was in space."

Vergil continued.

"Then, at the end of that bridge, I saw something... I don't know what I saw."

Furrowing his brows, Azriel looked at Vergil, who was gritting his teeth as cracks formed on the glass he was holding.

'...That's an expensive glass.'

"I can't remember. But whatever it was, it made me return to my room in the next second, and all I could think about was how scared I was. I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life, and I haven't been since."

Vergil's body was shaking slightly.

He locked eyes with Azriel.

"But since that day, I knew three words in my mind which I didn't know before: Gods, Apostles, and Dreams."

"...."

"I haven't had a dream like that since then... until—"

"Until you came to the academy."

Vergil nodded as Azriel finished for him.

'Whatever he saw shook him so badly that he forced himself to forget, and...'

It explained Vergil's reckless behavior.

But what had Vergil seen?

The God of Dreams?

Azriel shook his head slightly.

'I better not even go there.'

"The day after the entrance exam, I finally had another dream."

'Finally, we're getting there.'

"Instead of being on that bridge, I walked in a field of lilies... It was a field painted with them, and in the middle stood a throne."

Vergil narrowed his eyes.

"You were sitting on that throne."

Azriel nodded.

'The throne must have represented my title as Apex, and the lilies as... death.'

He didn't think Vergil knew about flowers, so it was an interesting discovery.

"I also saw another thing."

Azriel furrowed his brows.

"What was it?"

"After that, I found myself in a forest. Everything was green and so alive, filled with animals. I then saw a strange butterfly... that butterfly was different from every other animal there and... was beautiful."

'I wish I could have seen it.'

Azriel didn't really have an opinion on butterflies, but he was curious about the one Vergil saw.

"I ran after it, and when I did, I saw it land on the head of another student..."

Azriel sighed as he realized what Vergil was saying.

"Lumine Versille. Apostle of—"

"Life."

Vergil finished the sentence, making Azriel break into a smile.

'So it's true. In the book, Vergil was trying to make Lumine stronger in his own way.'

A way that made him seem like the bad guy.

Vergil was limited in how he could do that without making Lumine suspicious.

It was the easiest method he must have thought of.

'To go to such lengths... everyone here really is a good person in the end.'

It made Azriel feel out of place.

"...I told you the reasons for my actions. You could call it my way of actually apologizing. I won't ask you how you knew about the apostles... not until I can earn your trust, of course, and you tell me yourself."

It seemed like Vergil wanted to have a relationship with Azriel—though not a romantic one.

Azriel didn't say anything, lost in thought.

He didn't hate Vergil for what he did and understood him as well.

In fact, having someone to talk to about these things lightened his chest a little.

He didn't want to speak to Lumine about the apostles and gods yet.

Instead, he preferred that Lumine found out himself.

"...So you want us to be friends?"

Vergil nodded immediately.

"I do."

Azriel sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

He didn't mind becoming friends with Vergil, who was also the Apostle of Dreams.

Someone who was genuinely a good person.

Having him around would only benefit Azriel.

He wanted to be friends with the main characters, so it worked.

It's just...

'I feel conflicted about befriending them for my own gain...'

But it was not like he had a choice when an opportunity presented itself.

And so...

"Let's have another drink. To our new friendship."

Vergil smiled as Azriel tried to match his smile while refilling their glasses.

The plot of the book had already been altered by Azriel's involvement.

He had no idea what was going to happen next.

'It's better to destroy the future and build a new one.'

Azriel knew exactly where the future in the book was headed.

'...As long as I can save this world and create a future for myself, it's worth it.'

Stronger heroes are needed. The plot had to be broken into pieces, and some sacrifices were necessary.

But...

'I'll make sure to save you, Vergil.'

They were friends now, and Azriel wasn't going to let him die.

Especially not at the end of the first half.