I Am The Game's Villain

Chapter 377: [Elizabeth\'s Engagement Party] [12] Earth Tepes

I looked up and saw someone I had never seen before. He had short golden hair swept back and golden eyes that gazed at me with a smile. His expression was a bit unsettling from my point of view.

"Sure, whatever," I shrugged.

He must be some noble from here, even though he clearly had the presence of someone strong. It wasn\'t like I knew every single person in Sancta Vedelia, after all. There were people I only heard about in the game but never actually saw.

An awkward silence settled between us. I pretended to admire the sky, but it only made things more uncomfortable. I should have just refused and told him I needed some air.

"Elizabeth seems quite satisfied with the engagement, from what I have seen," he said suddenly.

Elizabeth? Informally? Is he one of her friends?

"Well, it would be embarrassing for me if she wasn\'t," I replied.

"Indeed," he chuckled. "Even more so when you are both madly in love, from what I heard."

We might have exaggerated the story a bit in our hurry to find reasons behind our sudden engagement...

"Well, yeah," I replied ambiguously.

He was quite talkative and sounded too casual compared to all the other humans who spoke to me. I furrowed my brows a bit, feeling forced to ask, "Huh, who are you by the way?"

He smiled at me. "Finally, you ask, Amael. I am Earth Tepes, Elizabeth\'s adopted brother," he said, reaching out his hand with a smile.

Earth? This is the guy I kept hearing about from Celeste and others. He seemed to be their friend and was supposed to be Elizabeth\'s fiancé if I am right. So this is Earth Tepes, huh? I stared at him for a moment, feeling a strange sensation seeing him. He was never mentioned in the game, though... But again, some characters weren\'t mentioned, so maybe I am overthinking it.

"Glad to meet you," I said, shaking his hand-

"Huh?!"

As soon as I shook his hand, I felt a burning sensation within me, as if my heart was burning to crisps.

"Arghhh!" I clenched my chest.

What the hell is that?!

It was unbelievable pain. Purple flames started enveloping my body, raging around me. A dark vertical slit appeared in my left amber eye as I glared at Earth. These weren\'t my feelings, but I felt contempt toward him now.

"B...Bastard..." My voice sounded deeper and hoarse. It was my voice, but not my words.

Earth looked at me struggling, not confused at all. Rather, he seemed to be observing. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Y...Yeah..." I tried to shake off that bastard\'s voice.

It was Vysindra.

Why is he showing up now?

[<Take back control, Amael. Take a deep breath and control your Olphean Bloodline.>]

Cleenah\'s voice echoed in my mind, reassuring me. I couldn\'t mess up now, not during my engagement.

"Get back," I growled at Vysindra with a glare.

The slit inside my eye vanished, and the purple flames began to recede. After a minute, I already felt better.

"Ah, what the hell was that?" I sighed, resting my hands on the balcony.

Earth remained silent, watching me.

I looked at him. It happened when I shook his hand. What was that? Vysindra had never appeared like this before.

What was that emotion I had felt?

Anger?

Betrayal?

Did he lose control already?

If you aren\'t going to help me, stay inside like a good puppy, Vysindra, I thought with a glare, making sure he heard it.

"A shame."

"Huh?" I looked at Earth.

He looked down on me, disappointed and with pity.

"The host of Vysindra doesn\'t seem that strong at all, Heldora."

"What?"

Did he just say Vysindra\'s name? Did he hear it from Elizabeth or something? And who the hell is Heldora?

My mind was racing, trying to make sense of what happened. Earth looked somewhere as if seeing someone, then chuckled.

"I suppose so. They must be both weak, but I am disappointed," he said, looking back at me. "What are you babbling about?" I had enough and dropped any semblance of pretense.

Earth\'s smile widened. "That glare, now I recognize that hateful, arrogant prick."

"I asked a question," I repeated, my tone dropping to a cold low.

Earth sighed. "I just said I was disappointed. I expected more from you, Nyr."

"!"

I opened my mouth in shock. "N...Nyr?"

How does he know my name?

Vysindra began to regain control, taking advantage of my confusion.

"It\'s your name, right? I prefer to call you that rather than Edward or Amael or whatever, because in the end, you will always be Nyrel Loyster," he said, leaning on the balcony.

"Who the hell are you?"

Even though I asked, I already knew. That displeasing expression, that tone and way of speaking- I was too familiar with it.

Earth looked at me and smirked. "Jayce, of course."

11

Images I had wished to forget flashed in my mind as my complexion turned cold.

\'I—I am...sorry, Nyr. I think I\'ve fallen for you. A bit late and dramatic to confess, I know.\'

Shayna\'s last words to me.

Ephera.

I couldn\'t even speak to her. She lay in a pool of her blood inside that garden in Paris, her body

on the blood-red grass like a painting. Immobile, pale face, cold lips, body, a knife stabbed in

her chest.

I didn\'t even get to say any words to her.

All this was his fault.

"Now, now, ahahaha!" Earth laughed madly. "You are truly Nyr after all! That face, that murderous gaze... I would have begged anyone to see it again!"

-BOOOOM!

My flaming hand reached toward his cheek, but before it could touch him, he jumped away,

and I destroyed the balcony instead. The entire palace trembled.

My eyes, as cold as death itself, stared up at Earth floating in the air. He looked down on me with a smirk as golden flames swirled around him. Pointing his index finger at me, he

beckoned.

"Come, Ephera\'s beloved Villain."

I vanished from my spot and appeared mid-air in front of Earth. "Anathema\'s Fire," I called out, and a longsword of purple fire appeared in my right hand. The vertical slit appeared once more in my left eye. My hatred seemed to synchronize with Vysindra\'s personal hatred. I swung my sword down. The dark sky seemed to split in two as my purple fire raged.

But Earth\'s raised hand released a torrent of golden flames that nullified all my fire. "What the hell?" I was shocked. I had never seen my flames being nullified like that before.

"Ah, I wish Ephera could see your dumb face, Nyr," he taunted, his hand burning with golden

flames. I recognized those flames...

Pyres.

They looked like his Sunfire.

"Sunfire..." I muttered. Hearing it, Earth smirked. "Yeah, that\'s Heldora\'s Golden Fire. Not any pitiful copy the Iris

Project tries to replicate. These are the true Sunfire!"

-BOOOOM!

When he waved his hand, a blade of golden flames swung, ready to slice off my head. I reached

out my hand, burning with Vysindra\'s fire, but I soon felt a dreadful sensation. Remembering how he nullified my flames before, I chose to dodge it.

"Ahaha! Look at you running away!"

"Aghnnnn!" I clenched my chest harder.

Fuck off!

Let me fight peacefully!

Your flames are useless!

I shouted at Vysindra, getting angrier. The only reason I can understand why he is angry must

be because Earth is also using some dragon\'s flames. And Earth seems pretty synchronized

with them.

No choice. I clenched my left hand, causing the emblem on it to glow amber, along with the marks under my eyes. "Perseus."

The amber blade appeared in my left hand in all its beauty. But Earth didn\'t seem perturbed.

"You don\'t understand, do you?"

I ignored him and jumped once more toward him, swinging my blade. He summoned a wall of

fire, but my sword cut through his flames. Earth frowned a bit before reaching out his hand,

creating a sword of golden flames.

[<Amael!>]

I swung down Perseus as soon as I heard Cleenah\'s warning.

-BOOOOOOM!

A powerful shockwave rippled through the dark sky above the Tepes Castle.

"I will kill you," I spat with sheer contempt.

Earth licked his lips. "That\'s right, Nyr. Show me who you truly are."

"Ugh..." I groaned, seeing Earth overpowering me.

How\'s that possible?

"I am using Heldora\'s Flames, Nyr. The flames of purification, the Sunfire," Earth muttered

with a smirk.

"And what?" I glared at him.

"Any flames or attack filled with hatred and unholy emotions like yours would weaken in front of my Sunfire. Do you understand what it means?" He asked with a twisted smile.

I had never heard of that. His flames could weaken and even nullify mine as long as I attacked

him with negative emotions?

"It means-"

CRACK!

The bones in my left arm broke, making me groan. Earth tilted his sword down, swinging it.

"You, especially, can never beat me."

-BAM!

I felt my body being propelled down to the garden of the Tepes Castle. My impact gouged deeply into the ground, leaving a crater. I coughed lightly, blood trickling from my mouth as I

glared up at Earth, who smiled down on me. My whole body was in pain as sparks of golden flames burned me. I thought I was immune to fire, but it seemed not.

Sunfire.

Purification of negative feelings?

I raised my body and stood up. That bastard Jayce had that power? My hatred and wrath only

intensified.

Is that some kind of joke?

The golden flames around my body ignited further, bringing more pain.

[<Stay calm, Amael!>]

"He killed Shayna and Ephera. I will never calm down."

[<If you fight him, you will be defeated for sure.>]

Cleenah\'s voice held no hesitation. I clenched my fists.

"I will use Nevia\'s Fate and kill this fucker."

[<The harder the fate, the more demanding the consequences. You are asking to change

something that will never change within you, Amael. Your hatred toward him will never change. The price will be your life.>]

"I won\'t die against this little bitch."

I stretched out my hand, and white sand swirled around my arm.

[<Amael?!>]

"Stay out of this, Cleenah."

The white sand swirling around my hand soon took the form of a swirling white sword. The

ground trembled under the pressure, and scales appeared on my arms. Another slit appeared in my right eye.

"I will kill this fucker, and everything will be fine."

[<You aren\'t in your right mind! You will die, I\'m telling you! You can see Ephera again, and

you want to lose your life against him?!>]

"I will kill this traitor, Heldora."

[<Get yourself together!!>]

My lips twisted into a twisted smirk. Earth looked down on me, and his golden sword became

larger, scales also appearing on his arms. In a single second, we both shot out at a frightening speed. I lunged toward Earth while he shot down towards me. The air trembled for a moment, and just as we were a meter away from each other, a tremendous pressure fell over both of us.

I saw my and Earth\'s arms being grabbed before we were both thrown down right into the

ground.

-BAM!

I crashed into the ground, my sand dissipating immediately.

"UGH!"

I spat even more blood from the impact.

-BAM!

Earth also crashed somewhere else, and I heard his groan. Looking up, I saw Duncan Tepes

floating with a cold gaze fixed on both of us.

Standing up, I searched for Earth once more.

"Enough."

Before I could rush towards him, I felt a soft sensation behind me. This feeling and perfume

was Cleenah\'s. She wrapped her arms around my chest, hugging me.

"Please, Amael."

She appeared out of her world as she whispered to me. All the anger I had been feeling soon

vanished, and I sat on the ground, breathing out deeply. Cleenah knelt with me.

[<Idiot.>]

After saying that, it seemed she couldn\'t remain and vanished.