A Villain's Survival Guide

After what felt like forever, Leomaris woke up to the reddish sun piercing through his retinas. His eyes recoiled immediately before his brain began to wonder why he was facing the sun this way.

He soon realised his head was on Raine’s lap. Eyes squinting, he wondered if he was dreaming. The gentle, steady scent truly belonged to Raine, but he’d never thought she had enough proportions to block his view of her face from this angle.

’Has she always been like this?’

He got up, head thumping through it all, pausing until he was seated upright.

The lap did indeed belong to Raine, but she was fast asleep, leaning against a building not far from where the battle had taken place.

His head snapped around looking for Hazel, his butler, but she was gone. She’d taken his uniform with her, which meant she’d already exited the Rune Realm.

He hadn’t managed a single step when Raine stirred awake, rubbing her eyes in the same breath.

"Are you looking for Hazel?"

Her crimson eyes settled on Leomaris. "Instructor Moon’s body was completely burned, but the others’ corpses remained intact. I asked Hazel and Ren to deliver them to the organization."

She shrugged. "It was also an opportunity to introduce my clan, so I seized it. Since Instructor Moon’s organization is affiliated with the Firstlight Goddess, it serves as an ideal opportunity for a clan opposed to the churches to make its debut against."

Raine rose to her feet, a soft smile playing on her lips. Leomaris’s expression remained flat as he tilted his head slightly to meet her eyes.

"I went with the name Souls of Cinder. So, what do you think?"

Leomaris swallowed hard, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Why that name?"

She mulled it over for a moment, as though weighing the idea. "I was going for something like Souls of the Dead. Since the churches destroyed my family and all."

Leomaris gave a pleasant response.

Raine’s expression darkened a moment later. "Did you sense it as well? The darkness surrounding Instructor Moon was the same power Adeline used."

He felt it too. In fact, he felt the deadly gaze of the Philosopher behind it all, and beyond that, something else entirely.

He jerked his head in all directions, grasping for the sensation, but it was gone. Someone had been watching the battle. And strangely enough, it was someone he knew.

He couldn’t quite place his mind on it, but when he used his ability, Paradox, to wield the mystery surrounding his character, Jester of the End, the power he possessed was enough to feel them. Not enough to identify them.

He knew he couldn’t feel them again, and so his attention shifted toward the changes in Raine. Initially, she’d been an inch or two shorter. Now she was an inch or two taller.

She had developed a more slender build alright, but now her waist was well-defined, her hips slightly wider, and her chest moderately large in proportion, like an exquisitely carved sculpture crafted to embody beauty.

She’d always been this way, but there was a discernible touch of maturity to it, one that hadn’t surfaced overnight.

"How many years have I been out?"

"What do you mean?"

His frown deepened. "How is it that you’re taller than I am?"

Raine didn’t respond. A white thorn crown appeared instead, floating inches above her head, and she gestured toward it. With it came an enormous aura that made Leomaris tremble for a moment.

"It was this artifact. It increased my strength and more besides. I was wondering if you could help me understand what exactly it is."

Leomaris motioned positively. It finally made sense, though he couldn’t help wondering what an artifact like that would be doing within a Malice Rune Realm.

He tried touching it, but Raine stopped him.

"You can’t. I got it from the Endbringer the moment I touched it. I believe it would pass on to you if you did the same."

Most artifacts were like that, and he understood it completely. It still didn’t make the crown any less shady, though.

"Hold on. Did you say the Endbringer was wearing the artifact?"

Raine answered with a nod.

Leomaris mulled it over for a moment. That was strange. Endbringers would never wear an artifact. Creatures of destruction, and unlike the Lords of Citadels, they didn’t necessarily gain awareness.

This gave him all the more reason to check it out. He’d gathered enough mystery and suspicion around the artifact. He used his ability, Learn, on it right away.

For a moment, his expression held, and then it didn’t. He turned pale, the experience dragging back the headache from earlier, more intense than ever.

Raine clocked his dazzlement. She grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him three shakes, snapping him from his daze.

"What happened?"

Leomaris stared at the crown in confusion. He wasn’t sure, but what he saw reminded him of something Mystery, his entity, had told him a while ago. Some of the information came through, but the majority was blocked as though it were an unclimbable wall. That was exactly it. An unclimbable wall.

He found Raine’s concerned eyes and put on a smile straight away.

"I think I can touch the artifact. It chooses its wielders, and I doubt it would ever choose someone like me."

Raine’s expression went flat as she dismissed the crown. "Is that all?"

"Well, it is an artifact that enhances strength. It has refined your body into its optimal state, allowing you to wield your abilities more effectively. And again, you can shift it from a white crown to a dark one, and I believe you already understand what that implies."

He let out a sigh. Not telling her everything had crossed his mind, but after weighing it out, he realised it would be best to let her know.

"The price of the artifact is straightforward: upon death, it claims the wielder’s corpse and utilises their abilities until a successor is found. However, it is peculiar that I could not determine anything further, nor why it selected you. Something powerful appears to be protecting it, or perhaps governing it. You will need to be careful."

Raine furrowed her brow. "Are you saying it will deliberately lead me to my death just so it can use my corpse?"

Leomaris shrugged. "I can’t say, but who knows? You might be right. I couldn’t even learn anything about the previous wielder, or why it was created, or who created it."

Raine went dazed for a moment, as if regretting taking it. Leomaris caught it and spared her a few words.

"Don’t worry. I believe whatever it is, you’ll be able to break it when you become strong enough. And if it becomes a problem, I’ll always be there to help you get rid of it."

Raine’s cheeks flushed crimson. "I will be looking forward to that."

Soon enough, Charlotte closed in from behind with the helmet of the slain Endbringer in hand.

The sight of her resurfaced something important in Raine’s mind, and she was quick to ask.

"About Instructor Moon and Lucius, what are we going to do? We can’t just claim we killed them, can we?"