The villainess shall be mine

At first, Stephan thought about immediately killing Eva, appearing in front of her and taking her by surprise, then taking revenge on everyone who betrayed him.

However, he remembered what the mysterious being said. He ordered him to not kill Eva before he had become the most powerful man in the world.

But Stephan saw no point in doing that. He would be satisfied as long as everyone died, or so he thought but…

"Is that all? With this chance, is that all I could do?" He asked himself, remembering one other fact that the mysterious being said.

He realized what the being tried to say. He was too closed-minded, and his vision of the world was too narrow. Even if he had the power to read the mind of people, what kind of difference it would make? That was what the being wanted him to understand, or so he interpreted.

"The most powerful man in the world huh…" Now he could see it. The end. The possibility of the perfect revenge.

If he became the most powerful man in the world, the Holy Mother wouldn't be able to ignore him, and when she finally let her guard down, he would bring her despair.

"Hahahaha!" Stephan couldn't help but laugh at how the table had turned. She wouldn't see anything coming.

He loved her, he did. And this love turned into intense hatred. The more he thought about it, the more the image of Eva in his mind had become twisted.

He wanted to tear apart her limbs and crush her head. He wanted to feed her to the monsters and watch her as she scream in agony.

He wanted to see that form of despair on her face… Hate! Hate! Hate!

However, Stephan controlled his urge, letting his feeling grow deep inside him, waiting patiently for the day when he would taste the sweet nectar of his vengeance.

In the beginning, he had only taken control of a village. Then a kingdom, and finally an entire continent.

He acquired information, monopolized it by killing everyone knowledgeable, then used it as a weapon, causing nations to fight among themselves.

First, he brainwashed the weak and the na?ve, then he blackmailed powerful people using their dark secrets. He then created a group that he could use to control everything from the shadow, executing everyone who could become a threat to him.

No one could escape from him, because they couldn't even understand that they were all being controlled.

In the end, he always ended up being the hero, saving the masses from corrupted individuals, and even monsters.

He learned about the existence of the gift and immediately gathered people who had powerful gifts under him. 𝑓re𝘦𝔀𝗲𝘣𝘯𝘰νℯ𝒍.c𝗼ｍ

Then he realized that the Holy Mother was also doing something similar to what he was doing with the Holy Church.

It was an opportunity, so he approached her and proposed a plan. He knew everything so it was easy to manipulate her into thinking that she had the upper hand over him, that she was useful to him.

And when he saw her new look, the white robe, and the veil, he had a hard time preventing himself from laughing.

Then, she heard about the Holy Mother's plan. The Harvest.

This woman was the one who betrayed him, but now she just looked pathetic. He had to go through all of that pain just for this stupidity. What a joke.

This world shall know pain, he thought, thinking about the fools who treated him like a criminal.

This made him more interested in human nature. How to break people? He begins to experiment on people by inflicting physical and psychological damage on them. With this, he could finally use them when they were broken.

Seeing the Holy Mother made him more ambitious when it came to his plan. He wouldn't stop there.

That was when brilliant individuals appeared. Genius inventors, physicists, doctors, etc… These were all but eccentrics but for him, they were the perfect puppets.

With his power and control over the world, he led humanity to a new era.

Obviously, he had also found a way to extend his life, using extremely inhuman methods. However, it worked, and no one would know about it… 𝐟𝐫𝗲𝙚ｗ𝚎𝐛𝙣𝐨𝙫𝘦𝗹.c૦m

After that, he began to eliminate those who knew too much, one after another. It was a massacre but the masses didn't even notice.

After this, he began to monopolize information once again. He destroyed planets that had advanced civilizations and annihilated races that were too intelligent. They didn't see anything coming despite their intelligence.

The Emperor had already found a way to extend the range covered by his power, so everything was easy. All it took was a traitor, and then the feeling of doubt.

That took thousands of years but the Emperor had become the only superpower in the universe. Monopolizing the information about gifts, new technology, and even about the past…

Now, Stephan, the Emperor had become the most powerful people in the world.

The Holy Mother worked with him all of that time, not knowing anything. However, her presence was remainder to him so that he wouldn't forget about his revenge…

Until the day would come…

*****

"What is this? I don't see your God anywhere. What happened? Is he asleep? Or did he go to the bathroom?" Stephan said mockingly as he squatted in front of the dying Eva.

Her face had become pale, her lips turning blueish because she was losing a lot of blood.

"You probably die right before the Harvest of yours ends," Stephan continued. "You remember that sword right? It was the first thing you stole from me on that day. I didn't even see anything… Without that sword, of course, I would be vulnerable. They beat me and stepped on my face because you took that sword."

"W-what do you want me to say? I….don't regret a…nything" Eva said, looking like she was about to lose consciousness.

"I know. I know that Eva. That's why I didn't kill you all of this time even if I could. I waited for this very moment when your dream is about to become a reality. Then, I will take that dream from you. Well, you don't regret anything so it's all good, right?" Continuing in a mocking tone, Stephan stood up and approached Neige, then circled around the device and walked toward Eva from behind.

"I wonder what would happen later. Would a God be born? I can't imagine. I look forward to seeing it. Aahh! what a shame. I forgot that you won't be able to see that. Sorry, I was being inconsiderate."

Then he pulled her hair from behind and forced her to look at him.

"This is how I looked that day. I was looking up at you, trying to understand what was happening to me. So this is how you felt. Now that I am in your place, I felt a great j," he said with a twisted smile.

"Kuh..kuh…" Eva was about to die, but she couldn't die yet until the harvest was completed.

"I know. You wouldn't be able to attack me because if you do, the process would be interrupted. Such dedication, such faith. Oh Lord above, please bless your most devoted servant." Stephan talked in a theatrical manner and a mocking tone.

"Tch. She lost consciousness. However, her power is still active. I must say, I find her dedication pretty twisted," Stephan freed Eva's hair and let her slump on the ground. "I am not done with her yet. Huh?"

Stephan was about to continue torturing Eva but then he saw a being standing in front of the device.

"Master?" He muttered in surprise.

"I was searching for someone who had the potential all of this time," the being said. "I did it by challenging the authority of Autonomousity. However, I always failed. Both of you were one of such failure."

"What?" Stephan was quite confused by what the entity, the one he referred master, said.

"Most humans don't have what it takes to be able to evolve by themselves even if they were given the power to do so. It's not only about knowledge… There is no God, Stephan. This world doesn't allow Gods to exist… there are only demons."

Stephan paled, understanding what these words implied. That would mean that this being…

"You two had the potential, but you couldn't change the course of things… I saw this, and decided that your existence will be used for something more important."

"You were behind the appearance of that kid? And you were also the God that Eva… You were the one who pushed her to betray me weren't you?"

"What do you think?"

"You…" However, the being disappeared when Stephan was about to rush at them.

And… "You, I know you. You were that Hero."

Stephan looked behind him and saw Adam. What was that being tried to do? It was almost as if everything was his doing. Was he playing in his hand all of this time?