A Villain's Survival Guide

Confusion was written all over Leomaris as he watched. The Endbringer had turned her focus to Lucius now, leaving him, Charlotte, and Raine sheltered within Charlotte’s barrier.

"He was the one who tried to kill you during the Great Citadel raid. I don’t know what his motives are, but I know he’s working with Instructor Moon."

Raine watched Lucius with disgust in her eyes. "Everything about him is a lie. I think this ’training’ was arranged to kill you too. And if I’m right, the only reason he wanted me in his faction during the citadel raid was so you’d be left defenceless, and he could kill you himself."

Leomaris found some relief, at least. If nothing else, this handed him the chance to deal with both Lucius and Instructor Moon at once. Lucius was going to come after him sooner or later, and Instructor Moon wasn’t the sort of problem he could put off indefinitely.

Something else nagged at him, though. Lucius hadn’t earned the title Arcane Mercenary for nothing. The whole point was that he took money to eliminate targets he was already after and killed two birds with one stone every time.

Did that mean Lucius had known all along that Leomaris had played a part in his parents’ deaths?

Leomaris couldn’t help but laugh, and it wasn’t a pleasant laugh.

He’d always sensed something strange about Lucius, from the start. But he hadn’t anticipated the original story being mangled to this degree, and certainly not that Lucius had already started killing.

More pressingly, though, it led somewhere he hadn’t allowed himself to think before now.

"I can finally kill him."

What came out of him was seductive and strange, nothing like him. It caught Charlotte and Raine off guard. Both turned to look at him, confusion plain on their faces.

Raine let out a sigh. "I’d like to kill him myself, but I don’t think this is my fight. Charlotte and I will take care of the Endbringer. You should take care of him."

He turned and walked without a word. Charlotte had no choice but to deactivate her barrier.

His greatest threat had always been Lucius. He knew better than to think Lucius’s death would sort everything, but it would be one less, and a significant one at that. The threat to his life wouldn’t vanish, but it would thin considerably.

More often than not, it came to him. The desire to kill Lucius while he was still a Magician. Especially after he consumed the Abyssal Cube, after he consumed the Goddess’s myths, and after he became a Sorcerer. These thoughts grew persistent.

He knew how formidable Lucius’s defenses were. But these gave him a fighting chance, at least. That was something.

But he’d never thought it through. He had no reason to kill Lucius; not when he believed the man could be brought over to his side, not when he knew firsthand what it meant to be utterly alone.

To do it after the original Leomaris’s sins would be a weight he might never shake. And even setting all that aside, there was no world in which he could have actually gone through with it, evil enough or otherwise.

Now, though, everything had changed. Lucius wanted him dead. He wasn’t going to lie down for that.

The moment he stepped out of the castle, he stopped. His head tilted back, eyes tracking the clouds as they drifted slowly overhead.

"I was actually starting to get close to you, you know? The past few weeks have been great... even though I knew everything you did was forced — your smiles, your care, your kindness, it was all just an act."

He felt Lucius closing in behind him. He didn’t turn to face him. Even with his back exposed, he kept his eyes on the sky.

"I actually grew accustomed to you waking me up... it got to the point where I could sleep without worry."

He laughed. "Isn’t that funny?"

When Lucius was close enough, he finally asked.

"How was it? Acting out all those emotions when you feel nothing."

Lucius joined him, and together they stood looking up at the sky.

"As strange as it may sound, I truly wanted to feel something. I know you are a great guy... and if I could feel something, I would have been empathetic enough to ask you why you sent your men to deliver false information to my parents. Maybe I would have tried to understand you, because I know you have a genuine reason for your actions."

He wore a forced smile.

"But I don’t. I don’t feel anything, and I think that’s a good thing. It will help me kill anyone who had a part in my parents’ death... including you, Leomaris."

"But I think somewhere along the line, I grew soft. Instead of killing you myself, I listened to Instructor Moon far too much and decided to let the Endbringer kill you instead. That mistake won’t happen again. This time, I’ll kill you with my own hands."

Leomaris let out a sigh. "I’d like you and me to settle this now too. Even if you don’t want to fight, I would have killed you regardless. I want to be freed from these shackles, and I have no intention of dying."

Lucius let out a soft laugh. "Then isn’t it a good thing that I’m willing to fight?"

His expression darkened soon after. "But just so you know, I’m going to kill you. I will kill your brother, and I will kill your father."

"I don’t really care about them. You don’t have to get me wrong. I’m not killing you because you are coming after my family. If you had gone after them first, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I am killing you because you are a threat to my life."

"That will make killing you less interesting. Who would have thought you cared so little about your own family?"

His eyes were still on the sky when Lucius spoke. No sooner had the words come than something changed in the air around him. He didn’t flinch. He just sidestepped, and the wind from the attack alone nearly snapped his head clean off.

Leomaris didn’t retaliate. And with that sidestep, something else went with it... all the tension that had knotted up inside him, clouding his judgement. The fear of falling for Instructor Moon’s scheme had been colouring everything he did. But now he was himself.

"It’s very rude to land a sneak attack, Lucius."

Lucius didn’t seem to mind. He sent another attack, and this time, Leomaris had no choice but to give him his attention, blocking it head-on.

"So tell me... when is Instructor Moon going to show up?"

Lucius let out an agitated sneer. "Don’t get ahead of yourself. You won’t get the chance to meet him, because I will kill you first."

Leomaris smirked.

’Interesting... that means Instructor Moon is somewhere within this realm.’

He was going to kill them both. If it was the last thing he did.