I'm A Sucker For Extras - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

“Brody, stop.”

At the sound of that voice, Brodie froze in place.

‘What’s happening? How did this…? ’

Brodie stood still, trembling in her spot.

The description of being “frozen” was not a metaphor for her emotions. Her body genuinely did not move an inch. It felt heavy, as if paralyzed or turned into a stone, and a dreadful sensation, like insects crawling all over her body, added to the stiffness.

“Come here, Brody.”

Brody’s eyes widened. The light in her pupils flickered and shook.

“Whose voice is that…?”

Ironically, the owner of that voice wasn’t Aidan.

Earlier, due to the sudden reaction of her body, she couldn’t tell.

But now, she was sure.

The owner of that voice was unmistakable.

Brody slowly turned around. Clunk, clunk. Somehow, her movements were unnatural and stiff.

As she turned, her cloudy eyes looked in the direction of the sound.

But it was clear in her two eyes.

A confident-faced man with flowing golden hair.

“How…?”

Aidan turned and blocked Brody’s front with a fierce look on his face.

Duke Jax McCarthy stood with his legs apart, confidently flipping his cloak in front of them.

“Oh, what a coincidental meeting this is. To stumble upon the two of you while passing by.”

‘Coincidence? Ha, that’s unlikely.’

Aidan furrowed his brows at his absurd remark.

Since he couldn’t have seen Brody moving through the trees, he probably stepped behind him.

He’s probably making jokes like that because he’s embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t find Brody on his own and ended up following someone else’s footsteps.

If it were Aidan’s normal self, he would have noticed Jax following him, but he was so focused on tracking Brody that he didn’t notice.

Although his physical skills were not as good as his, Jax was still the capital’s greatest knight.

Sneaking up behind someone who was concentrating elsewhere wouldn’t have been a difficult task for him.

Aidan regretted underestimating him due to his exaggerated and flamboyant personality.

Jax spoke as if nothing had happened, sweeping his hair like an actor on stage.

“Brody, don’t waste your life wandering aimlessly. Come back with me.”

He reached out towards Brody with a well-refined pose. In response, Brody began to walk slowly towards Jax, stumbling.

Aidan, surprised, grabbed Brody’s arm.

Clunk, and in her grasp, Brody, as if a malfunctioning doll, continued walking, crossing her legs.

“Brody, could it be that your body isn’t listening to you?”

Brody barely turned her pupils to look at Aidan.

She wanted to nod, but like a stiff screw in a joint, she couldn’t move at all.

Instead, her breath became rapid.

Aidan shouted angrily, holding Brody in his arms.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Oh, dear. Dear me. How should I put it? Is it really okay to scare Lady like that?”

Jax shrugged his shoulders and answered with a nonchalant expression.

With no one around and the current situation, but looking at the current situation, it was like Aidan was blocking Brody from going to Jax voluntarily by snatching her away.

Jax acted as if he had done nothing wrong.

“Brush it off and come here, Brody.”

Clunk. At the new command, Brody’s body began to move on its own again.

It felt like being trapped in a nightmare, unable to move as if crushed by scissors, using all her strength to control her movements.

She tried her best, but no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t remember seeing that Jaxs in the original novel had this ability.

She tried her best to control her movements, covered in cold sweat, but Brody’s hand, raised slowly, began to pierce through the gap between Aidan’s arms, pushing him away.

Her sharp nails penetrated Aidan’s arm, which was covered with light clothing.

“Stop! Please! Stop!”

Brody looked down at her hands, scratching Aidan, and cursed inwardly.

The sensation of her fingertips digging into his skin was strangely transmitted.

Blood began to seep into his clothes from around her fingers.

“For goodness’ sake.”

Aidan would not let Brody go even if he died and was confident that he would, but he soon changed his mind when he saw Brody’s face becoming more and more contemplative as she hurt him.

Blocking Brody like this wasn’t going to work.

“I’m sorry, Brody.”

Aidan bit his lip and pulled her waist as if rolling her, causing Brodie’s light body to fly through the air like a piece of paper and land softly on the smooth ground.

At the same time, Aidan, who had drawn his sword unnoticed, rushed towards Jax like the wind.

Jax was surprised, but being the warrior he was, the distance between them wasn’t enough for him to fail to draw his sword.

Clang. Clang.

Soon, a heavy metallic sound echoed in the humid air of the south.

Clang, clang, clang. Jax skillfully caught Aidan’s powerful sword falling from above.

However, this was a different story from the battle that had taken place before the war, where the outcome was undecided until the twelfth move.

But now, things were different.

This time, there was no reason for Aidan to capture Jax as a prisoner.

The thirteenth strike was sharply aimed at Jax’s throat.

Before the sword pierced through, Jax already felt like Aidan’s ruthless gaze had pierced his heart.

“If you kill me, Brody will die too!”

“…!”

The sword, which had made a small scratch near Jax’s Adam’s apple, quickly withdrew.

Tiny droplets of blood on the sharp end of the sword scattered around them as they followed the centrifugal force.

Aidan, who had put away his sword, stepped on Jax’s chest and neck as he fell with a growl.

The back of Jax’s head, breathing heavily, slammed onto the ground.

He looked up at Aidan with a distorted expression.

“People can be so rough, even in such moments. Nobility should maintain its dignity…”

Aidan had no intention of matching his nonsense with that muttering jaw.

Aidan brought the tip of the sword to Jax’s lips.

The cold and sharp sword, smelling of blood, seemed capable of piercing Jax with just a slight movement.

“Explain.”

“Could you move the sword a bit…”

Jax tried to mitigate the situation with a nonchalant expression.

However, the tip of the sword moved further between his teeth.

“Explain, or I might as well make dying a preferable option.”

Despite wanting to grind his teeth in frustration, Jax couldn’t move his mouth properly due to the sword lodged between his lips.

“Ugh, and oh, forgive me, it’s c-com… complicated…”

Aidan furrowed his brow.

The muffled sound emanating from Jax’s mouth was incomprehensible due to the sword, making it impossible to understand what he was saying.

“Ugh.”

Aidan turned the sword slightly, stopping it between Jax’s teeth.

“Speak clearly.”

Reluctantly, Jax, with a grumbling noise, managed to say, “Brodie and I are connected.”

Aidan wrinkled his brow in disapproval. It was a gesture demanding further explanation.

With a pained sound, Jax added, “In this connected state, if you kill me, Brodie will die too. Since she is attuned to the caster’s mind, we’ll experience the same death. Oh yes, we could say we’re sharing our fate.”

As Jax attempted to adopt his verbose manner again, Aidan moved the sword a bit, threatening him.

Jax’s mouth snapped shut again.

He couldn’t kill this guy.

So, what’s next? Should he keep him restrained, supervise him, and even travel together to ensure he doesn’t engage in foolishness?

Aidan’s eyebrows wriggled as if expressing dissatisfaction.

“Release her.”

“Huh, that’s a joke. The moment I freed her, my life would be sent back to the gods by your hands, wouldn’t it?”

Aidan’s eyes narrowed at his words.

Seeing that he didn’t say he couldn’t solve it, it seemed like there was a way to break this connection.

With his sword still at Jax’s throat, Aidan only moved his eyes to observe him closely.

As a result, Aidan noticed an incongruous bracelet on Jax’s wrist that didn’t match his appearance.

“Extend your right arm this way.”

Jax’s eyes widened at that statement. His expression betrayed his confusion.

“Why my arm…?”

As Jax hesitated, Aidan applied more pressure to his foot.

Coughing, Jax exhaled slowly and then bit his lips.

Shaking, he slowly raised his arm.

“Take off the bracelet and place it on the ground.”

“No, Duke. It’s one thing if you ask me to put a knife to my neck, but taking someone else’s accessory, what are you planning to do with it? This may be expensive…”

As Jax grumbled, he attempted to move his left arm.

It was natural for his left hand to move since it was necessary to remove the bracelet from his right arm.

But his movement seemed unnatural.

With a slight kick, Jax scattered a bit of dirt on the ground beneath him.

‘An act.’

The damp soil from the southern region didn’t fly around, so the effect was negligible.

As if anticipating this, Aidan subtly shifted his body backward to avoid the dirt while swinging his sword.

In any case, he just needed to retrieve the bracelet.

If things went awry, he was prepared to cut off Jax’s arm.

“Heuh.”

Aidan swung the sword, and Jax tried to move his arm.

The bracelet on Jax’s right arm was struck, and with a crunching sound, it shattered.

Since the bracelet was quite thick, Jax was able to preserve his arm. However, obstructed by the broken bracelet, the trajectory of Aidan’s sword changed, grazing Jax’s forearm.

As Aidan heard the sound of the bracelet shattering, he sighed in relief.

However, at the same time as the cracking sound, the sharp voice of Jax pierced the air.

“Brody! Stop the Duke and protect me!”

“…!”

Aidan’s eyes widened, and the feathers on his nape stood on end.

‘Could it be something other than the bracelet? ‘

Yelling out the command, Jax tried to retreat, but Aidan reflexively swung his sword again.

“Khaaak!”

A scream echoed through the forest.

Although he aimed for the mouth, Jax swiftly dodged, resulting in a deep cut from under his chin to his chest.

“Khaaak! You, you son of a… My face!”

Holding his jaw, Jax screamed in agony.

Aidan turned around quietly, as a dense mass of plant tendrils was reaching threateningly towards him.