A Villain's Survival Guide

It was longer than any standard katana and as wide as it was tall, lending it a massive reach. The blade curved inward into a concave shape, and its appearance was dark and sleek, carrying an intimidating quality rather than anything ornate.

It was an odachi sword, one Leomaris had gone through considerable trouble to get his hands on. His rich experience from his past life had told him this sword was made for his fighting style.

Brutal and deadly, it suited Infinite Flow perfectly and was every bit as unpredictable.

"Why does it look so dark, though? This isn’t normal, it feels almost as if it’s drenched in shadows."

Raine asked. She sat cross-legged on the training room floor, the sword laid out before her, Leomaris standing opposite with his hands folded across his chest.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris brushed his chin. "Honestly, I’m not sure. That’s why I called you here."

She glanced up at Leomaris, her red eyes finding him briefly before returning to the sword.

"Hmph..."

Leomaris’s eyes narrowed slightly, fixed on the sword. He had seen that dark fog before. It was the same one that had covered the container his grimoire came in.

’But why will it cover the sword?’

He had asked Charlotte to use her ability on the sword. Poems, the right words applied with precision, had rendered the blade sharper, unbreakable, and indestructible. And the best part was that the spell would strengthen as Charlotte did.

None of that, however, explained why the blade had turned completely dark.

"It started turning dark the moment I held it."

Raine let out a deep breath. "Okay... okay. Let’s see what I can do."

With a gentle smile, Leomaris stepped back and watched as Raine began. His eyes drifted to the top of her head, and this time, the ominous eyes were absent. Then, almost instinctively, his hand went to his back, where the cursed words should still have been weeks ago.

He smiled.

When he came to after his near-death experience, the curse was gone. He was glad, but in truth, he had wanted it to stay a little longer. Emerald’s ally was still unaccounted for, and he had no intention of letting that go.

After a few moments, Raine’s eyes opened. She had been silent the whole while, eyes closed as though lost somewhere deep in thought, and when she returned, it wasn’t with a pleased expression. It was confusion.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I didn’t see anything. In fact, I couldn’t even see the sword itself."

"Really?"

With a confused tone in his voice, Leomaris closed in on her and reached down to pick up the sword. This time, he was smiling.

"Why do you look so happy?"

"Who knows?"

Leomaris couldn’t quite contain his amusement. He had suspected why the sword had turned dark, and while he had been fairly sure before, the fact that even Raine’s ability couldn’t locate anything settled it completely.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris’s innate ability was called Conceal, and it made him elusive and harder to understand for anyone who matched or fell below his level of strength.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’The sword is covered in Conceal.’

Up until this moment, he had never truly claimed a weapon as his own. Now that he had, it meant just as Conceal shrouded his fighting style in elusiveness, it had done the very same to the sword.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris turned his attention to Raine, that smile still pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Thank you, Raine. I’d like to duel you with the sword, but I’m not on your level yet."

Raine brushed his words aside, clearly with something of her own to add, but before she could, a voice came from the entrance of the room.

"I brought your handguns over, sweetheart," Rosay said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Anyway, I’ve delivered your message to Mother and Samael... I’d like to speak with you once you’re done here."

Leomaris turned and sighed. She looked wretched: hair in disarray, clothes draped loosely over her shoulders, and dark circles carved beneath her eyes. But the pipe this early in the morning left little room for doubt. She had activated the final slot of her last personality.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Leomaris walked over and picked up the revolvers. He meant to ask questions, but the words never quite made it past his throat before Rosay spoke.

"Don’t ask. I won’t answer."

And with a glance, she began walking away.

"Is she okay?"

Raine asked, concerned.

Leomaris shrugged. "If you ask me, this is the most normal she’s ever looked."

He looked down at the silver revolvers. Both bore an old colt design, elegant and aristocratic in appearance, and yet intimidating, much like his sword.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He made his way to Raine and set the revolvers down in front of her. She hadn’t even managed to voice her confusion before Leomaris started to explain.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He crouched before her.

"Creating an artifact isn’t as hard as you think. Just trace your magic circle onto it, then use your words or thoughts to infuse it with the spell you want."

He got to his feet.

"In this case, I want precision, undo, and accuracy. Since your ability, Vision, can do all of those things, you simply need to draw your magic circle and command the spell."

Raine frowned. "How did you know how to...?" She shook her head, forcing the thoughts away. But something else pressed heavily on her mind. "How did you know exactly what my ability can do?"

For a moment, Leomaris’s expression went blank. He could have found the right words to free himself from the question without revealing he was from another world entirely, but he chose not to.

He allowed the silence to run its course, his face unreadable all the while, until Raine shrugged it off and pressed on.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

With the red ink Leomaris had given her, she set to work tracing her magic circles onto both revolvers, careful and unhurried.

Each grimoire carried its own unique magic circle, tied specifically to the creature within. Without a perfect replication of that circle, the ability simply would not function.

Her eyes never strayed from the magic circle on the back of her left hand, careful to get it right so she wouldn’t have to start over.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Once she was done, Leomaris picked up the revolvers and made them his, and almost immediately, they began shifting, growing darker in shape, smokier and ashen in appearance.

’Perfect... Just perfect.’

Raine got up, gave her clothes a quick brush, and walked out of the room.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Please try to come to class one of these days. Instructor Rosario isn’t pleased with you skipping his class."

"Okay..."

As she left, Leomaris’s attention never wavered from the revolvers, his eyes bright with quiet fascination.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"With this, my shots will never miss a target and can even undo weaker spells."