The Villain's Story

Chapter 871: Alan Peccator: Origin.(3).

His body felt hot; it ached, yet at the same time, it felt excited. His mouth felt odd; it was as if a few pieces of raw flesh were stuck between his teeth. His legs felt numb, and there was a particularly raw feeling of pain in his gut. Alan sluggishly opened his eyes, finding the Lighthouse towering over him.

He could hear the crackling of a fire, and so, he turned his head, seeing a small fire heating a pot; nothing was holding it there, only magic. A sweet scent was emanating from the pot, making his mouth salivate.

A broken, ruined hand stirred the pot with a stick. Alan expanded his hazy vision to see who it was and let out a gasp.

”...”

It was none other than Valus, stirring the pot with the only hand he had remaining. Gone was the regal and imposing Supreme being, a being of nightmares that Alan was terrified of; only the broken visage of him remained.

He had lost his other arm, and Alan could see a bit of his shoulder bone. There was a wide hole in his chest, half his face had been torn away, and he had lost both legs. The left was entirely gone from the hip, while a few pieces of flesh remained of the right. His remaining horn was gone, lodged in Alanʼs stomach. Alan had a suspicion that the weird piece of flesh lodged in his teeth probably belonged to Valus.

”Did he beat the shit out of you?”

He asked, somehow, he didnʼt feel afraid at all doing it. He was genuinely curious. Valus raised his head and answered.

”What does it look like?”

Although he appeared calm, Alan could tell he was furious. It made him chuckle a bit. Alan Peccator had forgotten fear for the moment. Perhaps it was because of how his body felt right now.

He honestly felt rejuvenated, despite the aches and pains in his body. It was as if he had woken up from a really long sleep, fully refreshed. He supported his body with his hand and sat up, taking a closer look at Valus, who said.

”There were three things wrong with your approach.”

He dropped the stick he was stirring the pot with and raised three fingers on his remaining hand.

”One, you did it against me. You chose the absolute worst opponent to do it against. Trying to trick the only guy in the universe who can see through everything is pretty dumb. Even if you meant for me to see it, it was still pretty dumb.”

Alan let out a sigh and lay down on the ground once more, freezing it with his mana to make it more comfortable. Valus retracted one finger.

”Second, you did it with incomplete information. First and foremost, if the Abyss really had the balls to come here, you would have been fucked. Dominatus would only react if your existence was threatened in any sort of way, and trust me, the Abyss has plenty of ways to fool such a young skill.

Its power is absolute, but the conditions to get it to work are... funky, to say the least.”

Alan smirked. There was something funny about a being that was multiple millennia old using the word ʼfunkyʼ. It had a weird vibe to it, just like the name suggested.

ʼHeh, his usage of the word is funky.ʼ

He thought, as Valus continued.

”Secondly, youʼre unaware of the fact that the Chalice ran out a long time ago.”

Alan suddenly stood up and exclaimed in shock.

”What?!”

It was Valusʼs turn to chuckle.

”What, did you think an artifact like that had an infinite number of uses? The Artifact can only turn time back to a set point, a limited number of times. It ran out soon after the snake came here.”

”Then how? How did the universe... Arenʼt we at the five hundred and fiftieth?”

”Yes, we are, but the Chalice ran out of fuel.”

”Then who...?”

”Who do you think? Aranus and Ardoris did, they supplied the necessary power by shaving off their powerful existences bit by bit. That was your second mistake; you made up conclusions based on fragmented memories.”

He retracted one more finger, leaving only one. The third and final mistake Alan Peccator made.

”Youʼre a fucking idiot.”

”...”

There was a moment of silence until Alan broke it by asking.

”Really?”

”Yes, really.”

”No, I meant like really? All that to end like that? Are you sure youʼre not just taking out your frus-”

”One more fucking word and I will rip your heart out of your body and force feed it to you while keeping you alive.”

ʼ...ʼ

Needless to say, Alan shut up after that, although his suspicions were proven.

”Aranus can beat the shit out of me, but you canʼt. Youʼd do well to remember that. You canʼt use Possession for a good while as well.”

ʼ...Yup, definitely taking his frustration out after losing that badly.ʼ

A part of Alan was really, really scared shitless, another was really, really happy. It was hard to determine which one was stronger.

Should he be scared that the Supreme Being was really agitated, or should he be happy he had gotten the absolute daylights beaten out of him by what was essentially a big brother Alan could call whenever? Well, not exactly whenever, but you get the point.

It felt nice, really nice. Sadly, he couldnʼt gloat about it. He sighed and lay on the ground once more, taking a moment to collect breath. Whilst he was doing this, Valus massaged his face with his remaining hand and said.

”Ask.”

Alan turned his head, but didnʼt say anything. He stared at the black sky for a moment until he finally asked, as he raised himself.

”What am I?”

Valus didnʼt answer for a moment, letting Alan adjust his posture. He waited until he was done, and continued to stir the pot before finally saying.

His tone was heavy and filled with a sort of astonishment.

”Everything, youʼre everything.”

Alan raised his brows, confused at the answer he had been yearning for so long.