I Am The Game's Villain

A sweeping arc of blood tore toward me like a blade made of screaming wind.

Shit.

That’s bad!

”Aegis!” I called out instinctively, and the amber shield erupted to life before me.

The impact hit like a meteor. The force of it rattled through my arm, numbing my fingers. But the shield held.

”You won’t win,” Nikolas said. ”Even if you could—it’s already too late.”

”Shut the hell up!” I shouted, thrusting Trinity Nihil forward.

In response, a whirlwind of white sand began to spiral at the tip of the sword—swirling faster, denser, like a miniature cyclone ready to detonate. The very ground trembled beneath my feet.

Nikolas’s expression changed. His eyes flicked open just a little wider.

He raised his hand again, conjuring a complex array of eight interlocking crimson mana circles. Without warning, long whips of blood magic burst from them, lashing toward me like venomous serpents.

”Tch!” I groaned, leaping sideways. The whips cracked where I’d stood a second ago—but I didn’t let go of the sand. I kept channeling it, gathering more of Fate.

At the same moment, Roda struck again. Riding low on her wolf’s back, she surged forward and slammed into Nikolas from behind.

Nikolas was sent skidding across the stone floor, but he recovered instantly, flipping backward and landing on his feet.

My eyes snapped back to the cube—only to freeze in growing horror.

It was vanishing.

The massive glass structure, once inscribed with layers upon layers of ancient mana circles, was disintegrating before my very eyes. Each flicker of light peeled away like flaking ash. Worse yet, the stream of energy being siphoned from Amelia’s unconscious body was growing stronger—more violent, more insistent. Her entire frame trembled as though she were being devoured from the inside out.

Shit.

No more hesitation.

I clenched my teeth.

I had to go all out—before that monster inside the cube awakened.

My right arm flared with raw pain and power as I summoned Wrath. Purplish particles coiled around my limb, and my arm trembled under the sheer force of it.

I’m going to kill this bastard.

Nikolas’s gaze sharpened the moment he saw it. The cocky amusement on his face evaporated, replaced with something colder.

True wariness.

He didn’t waste a second. Slamming his sword into the ground, he spread his arms ever so slightly—and a violent surge of crimson mana erupted around him like a tidal wave made of blood.

-BOOM!

The cave quaked as Nikolas’s transformation began. He let out a wild, twisted laugh, his voice warping into something bestial.

”Ahahahaha!”

His form stretched—taller, leaner, more monstrous. Two blackened horns tore through his scalp, curling backward like the crown of a demon. His fingernails elongated into claw-like talons, and his lips twisted upward into a hungry snarl, revealing sharpened canines.

I didn’t care.

I rushed him anyway, Wrath pulsing through me.

”Edward!” Roda’s voice rang out in panic.

Instinct kicked in.

I veered to the side at the last second—and just in time. A blade slammed into the ground where I’d stood, slicing so close it carved a red gash along my cheek. Blood spattered as I landed and rolled, adrenaline roaring in my ears.

Nikolas’s head whipped toward Roda. His expression darkened. He raised his hand, mana pulsing in his palm.

”I’m your opponent!” I shouted, surging forward and swinging Trinity Nihil, now fused with Wrath’s power.

The blade was rejecting it but I ignored it.

-BOOOOOM!!

Nikolas summoned an eight-layered mana circle, crimson symbols spinning like a shield of blood. But as my blade struck, I forced more power into the swing. The holy blade screamed through the resistance, and with a crack like thunder, the mana circle shattered into shards of red light. The explosion that followed blasted both of us backward.

I hit the ground hard, my ears ringing—but then—

-Spurt!

I heard the sound of flesh being torn.

Blinking through the smoke, I looked up—and froze.

Nikolas stumbled back, eyes wide in disbelief. His entire left arm, from the shoulder down, was gone—severed cleanly.

A figure stood behind him, her blade dripping with fresh blood.

Elizabeth.

She wore a calm, amused expression as she brought the blade to her lips, letting a droplet slide across her tongue.

”You should have invited me, Darling,” she purred with a teasing smirk.

But then she grimaced, her nose wrinkling. ”Ugh. Disgusting.”

”Eliza—Elizabeth!” I gasped, rising to my feet. ”We need to stop whatever he’s done to Amelia! If the Behemoth wakes up—!”