Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son

High above the clouds, the floating castle hung in the sky.

Its tall, sharp towers pierced the clouds, each one glistening in the sunlight.

The entire structure floated, with bridges and archways connecting different parts of the castle, all suspended in midair.

The walls were smooth and shining, made of a material that caught the light like glass. Long, graceful spires stretched upward.

Around it, the soft clouds drifted lazily, hiding the lower parts of the structure.

Within the castle, a large hallway stretched, supported by pillars that glowed softly.

And at the center of the hallway was a beautiful purple throne, and a purple crown lay on it.

The crown looked normal with no mana radiating from it, unlike the whole castle brimming with mana.

It's been like this for time uncounted, waiting for the one who can be worthy of it.

The crown moved slightly as someone entered the castle.

But it returned back to its usual state, noticing the person.

The castle shook for an instant, tilting to the side.

The crown slid to the edge of the throne before it gently hovered mid-air.

It hovered for a while as if sensing something from far away.

A part of it tried to move in that direction, but a part of it refused.

A low booming voice echoed within the castle, a shockwave hurtling everything away.

The crown slowly started to break from the middle, the energy it created shook the entire castle violently.

It finally broke into two, one part rushing out of the castle, the other slowly laying back on the broken throne.

Step. Step.

Someone walked closer to the throne, her steps echoing in the castle as she arrived near it.

Her rosy, delicate hand moved to pick up the broken crown.

Her golden eyes reflected in the smooth surface of the crown.

Her head turned, golden hair touching the ground fluttered around towards the direction the other crown floated.

Her lips parted as she whispered softly, "...Qais?"

.....

.....

.....

Sypha's heart hammered in her chest.

Her gaze forward, eyes unblinking, as someone slowly emerged from it.

"...Young master?" Sypha tilted her head as Azariah walked forward.

His gaze didn't show the fear or anger she expected, but a dull sense of calmness.

Controlling her emotions, Sypha grinned widely as he walked towards her, "What happened to yo—"

But her words halted abruptly as he ignored her and walked past her.

Still shocked, Sypha turned to look at him.

He slowly reached the girl who stood in front of everyone.

Her blue eyes met his as he stood before her.

As his gaze landed on her broken hand, he whispered softly, "...Does it hurt?"

Christina shook her head in reply, trying not to show any signs of pain.

Azariah lowered himself, his head gently pressing against hers.

He remained silent for a few moments before gently stepping back.

A sense of relief washed over him as his gaze landed on Shyamal, who averted her face.

"Take them away," he whispered softly, looking at them, but nothing happened.

"...I know you can hear me, take them away."

"Huh?"

They let out a startled voice as their bodies began to hover mid-air including Lauryn.

Azariah looked at them one last time before turning around.

Sypha stood still, her hands clasped behind her back.

"You still care about her?" She mumbled, tilting her head, "...I thought she was your least favorite."

Azariah ignored her words as he looked around him where hundreds of weapons fell from the sky and implanted themselves in the ground.

"Looks like my lady wants us to fight." Sypha smiled brightly as she looked at Azariah, "...Isn't she cruel? Making a mother figure fight her own son."

Azariah lowered his body, marking a few of the weapons.

His mind reminded him of all the time he spent with her—with Aunt Belly.

How she took care of him, how she helped him, he remembered everything.

He couldn't even sense what emotions he was feeling right now.

"Remember how we used to play around?" Sypha said, her smile unwavering, "I miss those times when you did everything I told you."

"...I truly loved Aunt Belly," Azariah whispered, grabbing the hilt of a sword, his gaze on her, "...I don't know who you are, but for impersonating someone I loved...I have to kill you."

Sypha smiled brightly, nodding, "...And how are you going to do it?"

Azariah let out a tired sigh as he whispered softly, "...Emperor's time."

A broken purple crown slowly started to emerge on his head.

Azariah felt a strain on his entire body and life source, he felt like his body was being cut into thousands of pieces.

The strain felt so heavy that his hair started to turn white from his usual purple.

One of his eyes slowly changed from purple to blue.

Every memory that he had of Sypha slowly started to break, turning into pieces in his mind.

A dreadful feeling gripped Sypha as she looked at him.

Her body instinctively moved forward as she took out her halberd.

Her halberd blurred as she was upon him, her mark on his shoulder.

Azariah shifted his body, the halberd grazing past his shoulder.

His body spun, and a kick hit Sypha in the midsection, sending her flying back.

His heart beat once, the injury on his shoulder healed the next instant.

.....His body rejected reality itself, returning it back to its past self before the heartbeat.

...For one whole minute, Azariah's body could reject reality seventy-two times.

Sypha's body crashed into a tree, breaking it before halting after the fifth crash.

Her weary eyes glared at him as she stood up, "...What have you become, young master?"

Azariah didn't reply. Instead, he stretched his hand back before throwing the halberd at her.

A purple mark was engraved on it.

Rejecting the limitations on his speed, he moved at full capacity.

His body blurred, following the halberd.

Sypha caught the halberd while spinning her body.

A thunderous sound echoed, her legs dug deeper as she used the staff to stop the kick aimed at her head.

Azariah's body blurred again before he stood a few yards in front of her.

Four of the marked weapons moved before they slowly started to rotate around him.

With no limitations on his blessings due to the crown, a sun disk came to life, glowing behind him.

Sypha's body blurred as she was now on top of him, her halberd leaping fast, making it hard to follow. Grabbing a sword, Azariah met her halberd mid-air.

Rejecting the limitations of his strength, he threw her body high into the air, the ground beneath him breaking.

A beat later, his body blurred, rejecting gravity as he arrived above her.

A heavy blow landed on her chest, knocking the wind out of her lungs, and like a broken kite, her body fell to the ground.

A shockwave followed her crash, uprooting the trees around her.

Azariah landed back on the ground as she pushed herself up, bruised but not fatally injured.

"What is this?" she asked, letting out a crazed laugh, "It feels like I'm fighting someone of my rank."

Another heartbeat echoed in Azariah's mind as Sypha's body blurred again.

This time, she went all out, reaching him in a split second.

A burning ripple ran through his body as Sypha plunged her halberd into his stomach.

Azariah grabbed the staff of the halberd before his head moved toward the bridge of her nose.

A crunching sound echoed in the forest as her body hurtled back from the impact.

Azariah pulled the halberd out of his stomach, and the next instant, his injury healed by itself.

"HAHAHAHA," Sypha laughed through her pain as she looked at Azariah.

Blood dripped down her nose, but it didn't seem to affect her in any way.

"THAT ANGER!!!" she yelled, wiping the blood away from her face.

"Don't ever let that anger calm down!!!"

She propelled back, the grin on her face never wavered.

Her body started to change.

The horn on her head slowly elongated, curling backward high on her head.

Two more pairs of hands emerged from both sides of her body.

Her skin turned tanned like bronze, her loose dress tightening on itself, showing her muscles that threatened to tear her clothes.

Two more pairs of halberds emerged from her bracelet as she grabbed them with her hands.

Her hands blurred as Azariah twisted his body to let two of the halberds rush past him.

His gaze on her as she brought two of her lower hands, forming a hand sign.

"...Odic Vow." she whispered softly, her mind turning blank for a split second before her consciousness returned.

The ground around her moved like rubber before it started to take shape.

Azariah tilted his head as a huge turtle, comparable to a house, made of stone, emerged beside her, with spikes covering its entire shell and four tails, each with its own beak-like mouths.

Sypha moved slowly before her body picked up speed, the turtle matching her pace, leaving destruction in its wake.

Azariah moved as well as the huge turtle roared at him, the voice numbing his mind.

A few walls made of stone emerged in Azariah's path, which he broke with ease.

He leaped forward as soon as the turtle was close, losing grip on his sword, and he threw a punch at its face.

The punch connected, but the contact turned Azariah's hand to stone.

Without thinking, he used its head as a platform to jump and evade Sypha's halberd.

His leg turned to stone as well, but with the next heartbeat, everything returned to normal.

Sypha jumped after him, her halberd aimed at his chest.

Grabbing the sword beside him, he deflected the blow, but Sypha grabbed his wrist with her free hand.

Using her hand as a spring, she yanked him close before kneeing his midsection.

Azariah placed his hand in between; his hand cracked, but the force twisted his body upward.

Using the momentum, he placed his legs on her back before grabbing her arm with both hands.

The limit of strength in his body was rejected as he uprooted her arm.

But the next instant, the world around him spun as the turtle crashed into him.

The spikes on its back elongated, capturing Azariah within them.

His gaze burned as the sun disk expanded, breaking through all the spikes.

His body gently landed on the ground as he looked at Sypha, clutching her missing arm.

A grin was still plastered on her face.

"You fought well, young master," she said, observing him, "…But how long can you last?"

The turtle rushed towards Azariah once again, its mouth opening to send another shockwave.

Azariah brought the sun disk in front of him, the sound wave collided with it before the disk flipped upside-down.

The shockwave returned with twice the intensity, numbing the turtle.

Azariah moved, placing his hand in front of him.

Leaping forward, he whispered, "Muspelh."

A burning white flame emerged from his hand, engulfing the entire turtle.

From the left, he heard Sypha's scream as the huge turtle turned to nothingness.

His body blurred again as he arrived in front of Sypha.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she raised her weapon in time to defend.

But her weapon betrayed her, moving toward Azariah's hand.

Twisting the halberd, he lodged it deep into her shoulder.

But Sypha grabbed his wrist before punching him hard.

Azariah rejected the weakness of his defense, so the punch connected with no damage to him.

His knee dove into her midsection, throwing her away.

Azariah arrived beside her again, grabbing two of her arms and diving knee-first into her face.

The ground broke, enough for water to flow up from it.

His body twisted, evading her grip as he landed nearby.

Sypha laughed as she stood up once again. "Never let that anger calm down, young master!"

Her body moved forward, a crazed smile etched on her face. "Burn everything in this world with that anger, then return to me."

Her body strained as she gasped for breath. "…Because your place is with me, with my lady!!"

"Shut up."

His body moved once again—no.

The world moved toward him.

He rejected the flow of time, making it faster on his body.

In response, the world slowed down.

One step, and he was inches away from her.

His hand moved, grabbing her wrist before yanking it away one by one.

A high kick to her stomach made her body fall, leaving her half-dead.

Azariah grabbed her head as he slowly began to push it off.

…But Sypha still grinned, looking at him.

Because Azariah...

…was smiling back.

But before he could take her head off, a kick to his side threw him away.

El's blessing effect ended, and his body returned to normal.

His blurry gaze landed on Adaliah as she picked up Sypha's broken body.

"I will kill her," he whispered quietly as he crawled toward her.

"I will kill her!" His voice grew louder as Adaliah turned around, ignoring him.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!"

He shouted, his voice echoing across the sinking island.

"I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!"