Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 315: Fight Against The Moon Eater [II]

I was confused.

What did he mean by ’Fate isn’t heaven’s will’?

Then what was it?

Frowning, I was about to press him for an answer when Michael suddenly raised another, equally important question.

”If the restraints are going to rot away on their own anyway, and fate cannot be changed, then why are you even trying to kill us?” He asked. ”You said it yourself. Leaving one of us aside, we aren’t supposed to die right now. So why bother?”

Vaeghar looked almost amused at that, like he’d been asked something absurd, on the level of why the sky was blue or fire was hot.

”Just because the course of a story is already decided,” he explained calmly, ”doesn’t mean its characters must stop performing, right?”

He lifted one clawed hand. Around him, the suspended droplets of lilac water trembled harder, some bursting into mist as if crushed by invisible pressure.

We tensed, preparing for another attack that didn’t come immediately.

”Fate dictates outcomes,” he continued, ”not the methods nor the paths taken to reach them. You are all destined to survive the foreseeable future, but who ever said you’d survive unscathed?”

Then his gaze shifted and locked onto me. The weight of it slammed down on me like a mountain was dropped squarely onto my shoulders.

”His fate, however, is already clear,” said Vaeghar. ”In fact, it has already collapsed. He will die. That outcome is absolute.”

Then he casually hooked a thumb — if that grotesque appendage could be called one — over his shoulder to point straight at... Alexia.

”And hers,” he went on, ”is unresolved. She may die. Or she may survive with a fatal wound. Hard to tell in my current, suppressed state. Either way, that uncertainty makes her useful to me too. They both are.”

His eyes gleamed.

”I can bend one’s thread. Or weave new ones for the other. The boy, especially, is... unique.” A hint of fascination found its way into his voice. ”Because it’s impossibly rare to encounter mortals still walking around whose death has already caught up to them.”

I rolled my eyes. ”So basically, you’re just being a bitch because someone special rejected you.”

Vaeghar paused, then stared at me with an utterly bamboozled expression — which, I’d admit, looked comical on him. ”W-What? Is that all you understood from my–”

KWA-BOOOM—!!

A lance of condensed white light came whistling through the air and detonated against his ribs, igniting a roaring explosion.

The suspended lilac water was blasted apart in every direction, droplets bursting into vapor as the shockwave tore through them.

For a fraction of a second, the Eight Demon Prince was forced sideways as a massive cloud of dust erupted between us.

On our left, Ray stood with his arm extended and palm smoking, veins of light crawling up his forearm like molten cracks in porcelain.

That was his new upgrade, by the way.

He could supercharge his explosions now and compress them into lances, significantly extending his attack range.

”Go!” Michael shouted instantly. But he didn’t need to.

Lily and Vince were already sprinting past the smoke-shrouded Moon Eater, dashing toward the cavern entrance behind him at full speed.

Alexia, meanwhile, didn’t wait for the dust to settle and just charged in.

Before this battle began, I had made it very clear to everyone that we’d not engage in a hand-to-hand brawl with Vaeghar.

Not only did he have the size advantage over us little humans, but also because if Vaeghar so much as scratched us with his claws, he could form a link and corrupt our souls.

And once corrupted, we’d become his vessels.

Meaning, every shred of logic said Alexia shouldn’t be doing this.

But when has logic ever stood in the way of a Zynx?

So there she was, barreling toward Vaeghar to beat him up as if he owed her money.

She tore through the thinning smoke like a comet wrapped in orange light.

Inside the swirling dust, a twelve-foot large silhouette shifted as Vaeghar’s demonic form lashed out with a claw.

Alexia easily ducked under it and drove a tight fist straight into his side at point-blank range.

CRACK—!!

The sound of it rang out like a struck bell.

Vaeghar snarled and twisted, bringing his raised arm down in a vicious counterstrike.

But she pivoted beneath the slash, spun with the momentum, then jumped and slammed a knee straight into his abdomen.

The impact this time sent a shockwave rippling across the lilac pond.

I still didn’t approve of her fighting at that range, but I couldn’t deny how impressed I was. She was going toe-to-toe with a Demon Prince.

Yes, the Demon Prince was extremely suppressed and weakened right now, but still! What a prodigy she was!

And to her credit, she didn’t overcommit.

She kicked herself off his unmoving body like she was doing parkour and retreated immediately.

Vaeghar reached out and tried to get a hold of her, but that opening was all Juliana needed.

My Shadow sped up the time around her body and rushed forward in a blur of motion, plunging the tip of her rapier into the demon’s back.

...Well, plunging wasn’t quite accurate.

Her blade didn’t pierce his flesh, but the inertia behind the strike was enough to shatter a boulder or two.

So it ought to have hurt, right?

Especially when Juliana followed up with a flurry of similar thrusts, landing at least three more strikes of the same terrifying intensity before Vaeghar was able to react.

But just like Alexia, Juliana didn’t linger.

She jumped back to a safe distance.

And also just like Alexia, her retreat was covered. By me.

A colossal hand of stone erupted from the basin floor, surging up beneath the Moon Eater and clamping around his torso before he could even take a step toward Juliana.

The colossal stone hand then hoisted him high into the air as another lance of condensed light slammed into his suspended body.

The explosion that followed was catastrophic.

KA-BOOOOM—!!

Stone, lilac water, and scorched flower petals were all sent flying into a violent storm of shrapnel and rain. The entire basin convulsed like it was being swallowed by a landslide.

The resulting shockwave flattened smaller boulders nearby, peeled large chunks from the caldera wall, and threw debris all across the battlefield.

For a split heartbeat, everything went still.

Then...

That same booming thrum from before resounded again.

From the epicenter of the blast, a crescent wave of distorted pressure rolled outward and obliterated what remained of my stone construct.

Alarmed, I threw my hands up and hastily formed multiple earthen barriers in front of me... only for them to disintegrate instantly upon contact with the incoming attack.

The compressed pressure wave screamed toward me, ready to tear me apart when—

—CLING!!

THWAAAM—!!

Michael jumped in front of me and cleaved clean through it. He brandished a dark longsword, its blade layered in writhing, sinister shadows.

I’ve said this before—but this time, I truly meant it.

I know I have said this many times before, but this time I truly mean it when I say — I had never been happier to see Michael’s stupid face.

Ahead of us, the dust cloud shuddered... then collapsed inward, as if something massive had inhaled it.

When it cleared, Vaeghar descended slowly... like an angel descending from the heavens, looking utterly unharmed.

His feet sank into the lilac pond as he touched down.

He glanced at Michael, slipping a mildly surprised remark. ”Is that my brother’s sword? Aren’t you very fortunate?”

...Then he attacked again.

Another swing of his claw. Another thrum. And another crushing wave of pressure shot toward us.

I immediately erected a tall stone platform and elevated myself off the ground as Michael grit his teeth and brought his sword down in another brutal slash.

His blade was again able to cut down the pressure wave, wisps of shadows screaming as they peeled away from the sword like living things.

But this cut wasn’t clean like the one before.

The crescent of distortion fractured into jagged arcs that tore past us on either side, pulverizing stone and water as they went.

One sheared through another section of the basin wall behind us, the other detonated against the far edge of the caldera, shaking the entire structure like it was about to cave in.

Michael slid back a step, his boots skidding on wet stone and shoulders sagging.

But he’d done his job.

He’d bought me time.

I willed Essence into my legs, bent my knees slightly, and launched myself off the platform toward Vaeghar like a fired arrow.

Midair, I spun once and brought my axe down.

Vaeghar noticed, because of course he did.

He reared back a claw to unleash another pressure wave toward me. But right then, a golden lasso snapped tight around his arm.

It was Alexia. And she pulled with everything she had.

Before Vaeghar could react, a flaming lash wrapped around his other arm and yanked it aside.

This time it was Kang. Vince was pouring every buff he had into the teen wolf, ensuring he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by Vaeghar’s strength and get dragged in instead.

I had given Kang this Card before the battle.

One of his and Alexia’s jobs was to do exactly what they were doing right now — create an opening for me to capitalize on.

Which I did.

The curved blade of Scorched Oath was enveloped by scorching hot blazing flames as I felt it using my Essence for fuel.

THWAAAM—!!

The axe came down hard and smashed into Vaeghar’s face, snapping his head down as I landed in front of him.

Without giving him a single second to recover, I twisted my wrists and dragged the axe blade back up. Flames screamed as Scorched Oath left a fiery trail in the air and bashed his chin.

THWAAAM—!!

His head snapped back this time.

I spun and swung low, aiming for his knee.

THWAAAM—!!

His leg didn’t buckle.

If anything, it felt like I was hitting a steel container with a bamboo stick. The sheer density of spiritual pressure around his body was absorbing most of the damage.

The Monarchs’ restraints could suppress his powers, but not that.

Still, we didn’t relent.

Vaeghar tugged his left arm inward, yanking Kang off his feet.

Despite his partial transformation, Vince’s buffs, and special Circulation Technique, the force was overwhelming and Kang was hurled toward the Moon Eater.

Vaeghar extended his arm and aligned his claws to impale the boy on it—

THAAM—!!

But a kunai slammed into his shoulder from behind, knocking his upper body just off-line.

On the current course, Kang would’ve slammed into the pond instead of being skewered. So Vaeghar adjusted accordingly.

If claws wouldn’t do, then he lunged toward Kang with his maw.