Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son

The sound of wet slapping echoed within the forest filled with the sounds of different beasts.

Delwyn silently moved through the forest.

His hazel eyes were on his hand, holding a device to contact their leader, a thoughtful look on his face.

Ethan and Ruby walked behind him.

Ethan, with swollen eyes, stared at the man's back, his body trembling from time to time.

But unlike him, Ruby had a distressed look on her face, biting her fingernail to alleviate her anxiety.

Her gaze shifted toward Delwyn, her voice filled with frustration. "Are we going to let her live?"

Delwyn halted before turning back. "...What do you mean?"

"Aaliyah," Ruby replied, glaring at him. "She saw what we did."

"And?" Delwyn asked, his voice tired. "...It wasn't my fault that you let her pass the portal."

"What?" Ruby snapped, taking a step forward. "You could have stopped her, but you didn't!"

"It was your job to keep her in control, not mine," Delwyn calmly replied, evading her accusation.

Ruby started biting her fingernail again as she whispered, "We won't have a normal life if she tells everyone what we did."

"You expect a normal life?" Delwyn asked, looking down at her. "The day you joined me was the last normal day for you."

Her lips parted to rebuke, but she couldn't say anything, only the sound of the beasts echoed.

"Uncle," Ethan's soft voice made them look at him. "I don't want her to get involved in all this."

Delwyn quietly looked at the boy.

He looked just like his sister, and it didn't feel good knowing what he had done to him.

"Don't worry," Delwyn whispered in a soothing voice as he stepped forward.

"You have the church backing you up. Even if people find out what you did, they won't be able to touch you or her."

Ethan slowly nodded his head in response as he looked at the man.

"About Oliver..." Ethan whispered, his voice regretful, "...Instead of letting his body rot, can't we give him a proper burial?"

"...No," Delwyn replied, his head shaking slowly. "Even though I respect him, we don't have enough time to do so."

Ethan nodded in reply as he looked at him.

He still remembered the day of the clubhouse competition when they first met.

Even though Delwyn only told him about his family and lineage that day, it was more than enough for Ethan to trust him.

It was him who contacted Delwyn after the trip to Ekari Kingdom.

"I still don't understand, Uncle," Ethan asked. "How did you know I was Asher?"

Reaching out, Delwyn patted his head as he replied, "Someone informed me about it."

"Who?"

"...I don't really know," Delwyn replied, shaking his head. "That guy never met me face-to-face, but he's provided me with information for years."

"I see."

His gaze turned to his side as Ruby walked closer, grabbing his hand reassuringly.

Her brown eyes met his gray ones, and she gently nodded.

"Thank you," Ethan whispered softly, looking at her. "Thank you for being there for me."

Ruby nodded back with a bright smile.

Delwyn calmly looked at them without a single word.

The sound of the beasts slowly stopped, making the entire forest drown in real silence.

Delwyn turned around.

His body froze the next instant, his trembling legs trying to move back as he fell onto his butt.

Blood drained from his face, his body turning cold.

....There stood the devil.

Looking down at him with her lifeless gray eyes.

"R-RUN!!"

Delwyn yelled, his breath shaking.

"Move, and death will be the least of your worries," Esmeray said, her voice echoing within the dead silence.

"...Inrath."

She whispered, and an invisible dome soon covered the entire island and beyond.

Now, everything within the island was under her control.

...Everything.

She blinked. The entire island reflected in her mind.

From the beasts hiding in fear to the men from Principalities trying to kill the students, she knew everything happening on the island.

"Lauryn told me I was expected," her lips parted as she whispered, "and I see no one who could even touch me."

Delwyn's cold hand fumbled as he tried to use the device in his hand.

His lips twisted into a smile as the device rang.

He looked up, a crazed look on his face. "...Hahaha, finally...you will die—"

Esmeray stretched her hand, and the device hovered before landing in it.

Delwyn could only watch as she let the call connect.

Someone picked up.

"Delwyn?"

A deep, harsh voice echoed from the device.

"Haven't you gotten cocky," Esmeray replied calmly.

The call ended.

Noticing it, she threw the device away as she looked back at Delwyn.

His mind hadn't even processed what happened, refusing to believe it.

"...W-Why?" he asked with a broken voice, looking up at her. "H-he is a demigod—"

"He's smart," Esmeray interjected sharply. "He knows it's not just him who's growing in strength."

"...No." Delwyn felt like his mind was breaking apart.

He couldn't fathom her being equal to their leader.

Even thinking about it made him tremble in fear.

"Same fearful eyes you have, Prince," she commented, looking down at him. "You haven't changed a bit."

Her gaze moved toward Ethan, who lowered his gaze.

Don't look up.

He thought to himself.

Don't you dare look up.

Like a child, he kept on repeating it.

Esmeray walked closer to him, stretching her hand to her side as she willed Eldoria—Elohim's sword—to come out.

It slowly materialized in her hand as she stood in front of Ethan.

"Come out," she said out loud as she looked at him, "...Vidar."

Ethan's pupils shrank as he abruptly looked up.

And just as his gaze met hers, his body instinctively tried to step back in fear, but as if something was holding him in place, he couldn't.

"I know you're with him, Vidar," Esmeray said, her voice cold. "...Come out this instant."

A threatening silence lingered within the forest.

Ethan tried to talk with the god who vowed to protect him, but...

...This time, no voice echoed in his head.

Esmeray slowly moved her sword's sharp edge parallel to his neck, her lips parting once again, "...Last warning, Vidar. If you don't come out, I will kill him."

Ruby tried to come closer, but her body remained frozen like a statue.

Delwyn tried to move to save Ethan, but his body refused to do so.

He was once again powerless, like all those years ago.

"You can't kill him!" he shouted, his voice echoing. "He is an Avatar of Elohim!"

She didn't even spare him a glance.

Esmeray knew exactly what she was doing.

If Vidar came out now, he'd ruin Elohim's plan, crafted over tens of thousands of years.

If he didn't, he'd lose all the trust the Avatar had in him.

"As you wish."

That's the last thing Ethan heard.

The sound of bone and flesh slicing echoed within the forest.

A head flew high into the air, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Ethan's headless body fell to the ground.

His head rolled beside his body.

Esmeray swept her sword to remove the blood that dripped from it.

She took a step back, keeping her gaze on his headless body.

"Ethan!"

Ruby yelled as she knelt beside him, her trembling hand moving to try to stop the bleeding, but it was impossible.

Esmeray observed Ruby's reaction deeply.

"Hey girl," she whispered, making Ruby slowly turn to her, "...Have you fallen in love with him?"

Ruby didn't reply, her body instinctively moving away from her.

"...I see," Esmeray whispered softly, gazing back at Ethan's headless body.

And just as she expected, his body twitched.

Gray particles slowly materialized around him, moving between his head and body.

Clasping her hands behind her, Esmeray whispered, "...Are you listening, Elohim?"

Ethan's head slowly started to move back, rejoining itself with his body.

"It seems you can't wait for a new Avatar to be born now," Esmeray continued, as if mocking him. "...The stunt you pulled with Ragnar cost you dearly, didn't it?"

Ethan's body trembled violently as life slowly returned to him.

"I wonder," Esmeray walked forward and raised her sword right above his head, "How many times can you revive him?"

Ethan gurgled blood as the tip of the sword slowly entered the back of his neck, plunging deeply.

"Stop me, Elohim," she whispered, placing her leg on his body as she yanked her sword back. "...Aren't you a [Primordial God]?"

Esmeray slowly looked up as a huge crack appeared in the sky, a cluster of stars visible through it.

But the next instant, it closed on itself without delay.

"Looks like you can't," she whispered before her gaze moved back to Ethan. "Poor boy, even your own god can't save you."

She raised her sword to kill him again.

But...

She blinked. Her sword halted mid-air.

She turned to look north.

And after countless years, she vaguely felt something.

...Was it perhaps pride or something else?

She didn't know.

She just silently kept looking there without saying a word.

The sword slowly vanished as she stretched both her hands.

Except for a few, everyone within the island hovered above the ground simultaneously, including Ethan and Ruby.

Separating the students.

She curled one hand's fingers, crushing every single member of the Principalities to death in an instant.

"If you want death, then make sure next time I don't see fear in your eyes," she whispered apathetically, looking at him.

Delwyn couldn't reply as he blankly looked at her.

"Adaliah," Esmeray whispered, and the next instant, a woman appeared beside her.

...A camera in her hand.

"Yes, my lady," Adaliah replied, bowing.

"Stop him just as he's about to kill Sypha," she ordered, her gaze still on the north.

Adaliah tilted her head in confusion. "...Who can kill a peak Overlord here, my lady?"

Esmeray's lips parted once again as she slowly replied, "...Azariah."