Chapter 251: Villain [2]

Chapter 250

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Episode 63 - Villain [2]

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Crimson petals emerged from everywhere: from the ground, from the air, from my hands...

... The old man frowned and backed away, putting several meters of distance between himself and the place where the crimson petals had appeared.

Like waves of wind or the tides of the sea, the crimson petals flew around me, ready to attack the old man.

’This guy is definitely hard to kill.’

The Holy Church was by no means an easy opponent.

Because of Light Mana, the strongest members, such as the leaders of an Inquisitor Order like the old man standing before me, possessed an extremely high degree of purity in this type of mana.

Due to this characteristic, Light Mana allowed them to regenerate even entire limbs within a matter of minutes.

Of course, they also had the ability to regenerate their Mana Circulation Channels, which was why the old man had managed to survive my Inverted Mana.

"Hey, old man, I don’t want to waste too much time, so let’s finish this. What do you say?"

The old man pursed his lips and spoke as he assumed a combat stance.

"Shut your mouth, filthy heretic. Don’t think I’ll let you go."

I shrugged and sighed.

"Well, that’s assuming you manage to survive."

Dark Mana surged from my body, and the crimson petals multiplied at least fivefold.

At that moment, the entire plaza—no, nearly the entire front grounds of the Academy—was covered in crimson petals.

It looked like an incredible sight, but at the same time, it was dangerous for anyone who happened to pass by.

The crimson petals covered a radius of a hundred meters.

My Mana began to deplete incredibly quickly, so then...

Whoosh!

I moved my hand, and the crimson petals shot forward at incredible speed.

The old man quickly assumed a stance; Light Mana surged from his body as he swung his sword.

In an instant, a glow resembling an enormous pillar of light emerged from his sword and lunged toward the crimson petals.

White and red clashed, creating an intense crimson radiance that illuminated the entire Academy.

In an instant, our Mana collided, and at that moment, using 90% of my Mana, I poured it all into the crimson petals.

Then...

Boom!

The space around both attacks twisted, and finally, the crimson petals devoured the old man’s Light Mana.

Moving my hands, I manipulated the trajectory of the crimson petals.

Then, the crimson petals slashed through the old man’s body from every direction, but...

’Look at that...’

The old man created an armor of Light Mana and managed to withstand the storm of crimson petals.

Due to the massive amount of Mana consumed by that single attack, the crimson petals vanished into tiny crimson particles.

"Aah...! That was exhausting."

Tap! Tap!

I walked toward the old man. He had lost both arms and was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily.

As I stood in front of him, he looked up and stared directly at me. Then, in a barely audible voice, he said:

"T-the Holy Church... W-won’t... Cough...! W-won’t let you go. You will be executed."

Even with his body covered in deep wounds, he looked at me with eyes that seemed to say that this was simply what would inevitably happen to me.

At that moment, using both hands, I placed one on his shoulder and grabbed his neck with the other.

"Well, I don’t mind telling you this, but... I’m actually killing you all on purpose."

"You see, all of you from the Holy Church are going to do something to a dear friend of mine, and I, of course, can’t just stand by and do nothing."

"Killing you here will simply make me a public enemy, but... that was going to happen sooner or later anyway, so what does it matter if I become a public enemy starting today, right?"

The old man looked at me, staring at the bandages over my eyes as if he were looking straight through them...

... He was speechless and opened his mouth, but...

"Anyway, I have to go now, so good luck in your next life. And I hope that, by then, the Holy Church no longer exists."

With that said, I pressed down hard on his shoulder, and with the hand gripping his neck, I exerted all my strength and...

Crack!

The old man’s head was torn from his body, with his spine still attached to it.

Blood poured from his severed neck, dripping down over the spine.

Then, the old man’s body fell backward and slammed into the ground.

In my hand, I held his head, with his spine dangling from it.

"....."

At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

’Am I becoming too cruel?’

I had ripped the head off a poor old man along with his spine, a man who had simply followed a blind faith and believed in what he considered right.

I’m sure the old man wasn’t a bad person. To him, what he was doing was probably a good deed.

He simply followed his faith and protected people.

Even so, knowing all that, I killed him in a way that only a villain would.

’My Destiny was originally that of a villain, a villain who destroyed the Floating Continent, the Holy Continent, and reopened the Gates to the Abyss.’

That was what I was originally supposed to do, according to what was written in my Destiny, and naturally, I was supposed to die at the hands of not only Lumina, but all of my friends as well.

Now, at this moment, although I hadn’t abandoned my humanity or truly become a villain.

’There is a difference between me and a villain in what I just did.’

I feel emotions, and even though they’re suppressed to the point where no one can see them, I still have emotions, and for some reason...

’... I don’t feel anything.’

Is it because I see the members of the Holy Church as my enemies?

Or is it because, after killing both villains and people who weren’t villains until now, I no longer feel anything when killing people who will become my enemies?

Of course, I still don’t feel good about killing innocent people, but wasn’t this old man technically innocent?

Not only him, but the people who had been around me, or whatever was left of them.

In any case, I had done what I had just done, and I didn’t feel guilty.

Whether they would become my enemies or not, there was no turning back, and my goal of surviving the Fated Day of my death remained my main reason for moving forward.

Tap! Tap!

At that moment, I heard footsteps. I hadn’t noticed them since I was reflecting on myself, but...

"....!"

I turned my head toward where the footsteps were coming from, and the ones approaching were...

"Adel, what are you...?"

"A-Adel, what have you done?"

"T-this, what...? What happened here?"

"..."

The ones running toward me were none other than my friends.

Clank!

I dropped the old man’s head and wiped the blood from my face using my Unique Trait: Gravity.

The smell of blood still lingered, but I ignored it and "looked" at my friends, especially Rinna.

Her expression was filled with countless emotions, but...

’There is no anger or betrayal.’

I gave a faint smile and said.

"Hey, everyone. As you can see... something inevitable happened, so..."

I didn’t know what to say. I simply remained silent for a moment, thinking, and then continued.

"Anyway, I think I’ll have to leave for a while."

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ll actually return to the Academy. Even so...

’Maybe destroying the Holy Church or simply increasing my strength will allow me to return.’

I wasn’t interested in the Academy. What interested me, or rather, what tied me to the Academy, was nothing more than the questions I had yet to answer.

"Could you tell Professor Ashly and Professor Lunia that we won’t be seeing each other for a long time? Ah, and..."

I turned my attention toward Clementine.

"Don’t forget the training I left you."

Then I shifted my attention to Charlotte.

"And Charlotte, do you remember what I gave you that day, the Divine Imperial Blood? Drink it before advancing to Five Stars. That will awaken a Bloodline that only you can awaken."

Then I turned my attention to the rest.

"And all of you, take care of yourselves, especially..."

Finally, my attention settled on Rinna. If there was one person I had talked to the most, it was none other than Rinna.

"See you around, everyone."

"...."

Right at that moment, I turned my head in a certain direction. On the roof of the dormitories, a girl was sitting, looking in my direction.

I smiled and moved my lips, saying...

’See you at the Academic Exchange.’

Lumina nodded slightly and then disappeared without a trace. I had no idea where she had just gone.

In any case, I had somewhere I needed to go right now.

Without further ado, I used Spatial Movement and disappeared from the Academy plaza, where dozens of lifeless bodies covered the blood-soaked ground.

***

Whoosh!

The moment Adel disappeared, none of those present said anything.

They stared at the spot where he had been just a second ago.

However, internally, none of them knew what to say. Anyone would have been not only surprised, but utterly shocked.

The idea of a close friend suddenly killing a cadet was something that, for obvious reasons, none of them had ever believed possible, because they knew Adel.

However, seeing their friend surrounded by blood and scattered remains was an entirely different matter.

None of them said anything.

They simply remained silent, remembering Adel’s words.

On the other hand, Rinna’s expression was unreadable.

The bodies on the ground belonged to none other than Inquisitors of the Holy Church.

And Rinna wasn’t merely a member of the Holy Church. She was also the future Saint who would inherit the title of the previous Saint of the Holy Church after a hundred years.

’Adel...’

At that moment, she pressed her lips together, and her hands trembled slightly.