I Am The Game's Villain

Chapter 758: [Final Event] [Blood Moon Festival] [40] Reunion With Jayden Rayena

A few minutes earlier...

”Are you sure following him is a good idea?” Jennyfer asked, worry slipping into her voice despite how fast she was running.

She hurried beside Jayden, while Alector rushed a few steps ahead.

The moment Leon disappeared without a trace, Alector didn’t hesitate. As the Guardian of the Holy Tree, there was no world in which he could ignore a man like Leon—someone absurdly powerful, unpredictable, and walking freely through Central Vedelia as if he owned the place. Someone who—somehow—knew far too much.

Jayden also felt a sense of responsibility so of course he followed.

”Yeah, something’s definitely off,” Jayden admitted with a sigh. ”But you should’ve stayed back, sister... seriously.”

If they ran into Leon again, Jennyfer could be in real danger—and Jayden wasn’t exactly confident in his own chances either.

Jennyfer shot him a stubborn side-glance. ”I finally found my brother after all these years. I’m not letting you walk into danger alone.”

She had originally wanted to stay with Victor, who was barely able to move, but the knights of Central Vedelia had arrived quickly to take over. And once Jayden sprinted after Alector, Jennyfer’s decision was already made. She had lost her brother once. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

Jayden felt a small, bittersweet smile pull at his lips.

A family.

Even after thinking he had none left.

”Focus, boy,” Alector called sharply without turning around.

His voice was tinged with warning. Even from here he could feel the clash ahead—the air itself trembled with violent shockwaves of mana spreading for miles. The sound alone was almost deafening.

Jayden and Jennyfer weren’t nearly as sensitive as Alector, but even they felt the pressure gnawing at their nerves. Still, at least it made their direction obvious.

”Jayden!!”

Familiar voices suddenly echoed across the road. Jayden froze mid-step, his eyes widening before he spun around.

Four figures rushed toward them, and his face lit up with relief.

”How annoying,” the first girl huffed, blue hair bouncing as she crossed her arms. ”You could’ve waited instead of making us chase you across half the city.”

Arete. Zeus’s daughter—given to Jayden as a familiar, though she had grown a lot since then. Her glare didn’t hide the fact she was clearly worried.

”You should know how he is by now,” another girl chimed in with a teasing grin. Misa Krana, tanned skin glowing under the light and twin chestnut ponytails swaying playfully behind her. ”If he sees trouble, he runs to it.”

”He is the Apostle of Lumen,” said the calm, brown-haired elf walking beside them. Kenia Theven smiled softly. ”If duty calls, why would he wait for us?”

”I... agree,” came a short, quiet answer from behind them—Berthany Kamel, the black-haired girl who always kept her emotions tucked away, except for moments like this when her concern slipped through.

All four of them had come with Jayden to Sancta Vedelia.

Jennyfer blinked and tugged on her brother’s sleeve. ”Who are they, Reinhart?”

Jayden scratched his cheek, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. ”Ah—yeah... they’re my wives.”

”The four of them?” Jennyfer repeated, eyes widening a little.

Arete looked away with a snort, but she didn’t deny it. Kenia flushed softly. Berthany hid her face behind her hair, and Misa simply gave a proud thumbs-up.

”Since you resemble Jayden, you must be his sister!” Misa said, beaming. ”Nice to meet you, sister-in-law!”

”R-Right... that’s... unexpected,” Jennyfer said, smiling stiffly as she tried to process the information.

”And yet,” Kenia added gently, ”you haven’t seen the others.”

”Others?” Jennyfer turned slowly to Jayden, suspicion rising.

Jayden coughed, face turning red. ”...I have twenty-seven wives.”

Jennyfer stared.

Alector didn’t even bother turning around.

Jayden wished, with every fiber of his being, that Leon would reappear right now so the conversation could end.

”T-Twenty-seven?” Jennyfer repeated, staring blankly at her brother.

She wasn’t sure whether to be shocked, impressed, or simply accept that this was exactly the kind of thing the Apostle of Lumen would do. Kingssometimes had a hundred wives—so in comparison, twenty-seven wasn’t that ridiculous.

Still... she couldn’t help wondering whether they all actually knew each other. At least these four seemed close to Jayden. It would be incredibly stupid if he didn’t even know half of his wives well. But then again, his status wasn’t normal. Nothing about him was.

”Don’t look at me like that, sister...” Jayden flinched, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. ”I promise you’ll love all of them as much as I do.”

”Enough chatter,” Alector cut in sharply, sounding like he deeply regretted hearing anything about Jayden’s romantic life.

”Are you jealous, old man?” Misa smirked, leaning forward teasingly.

”H-Hey! Show some respect!” Jennyfer panicked, waving her hands. ”Lord Alector is the Guardian of the Holy Tree!”

Misa blinked. ”Guardian of the Tree?”

”Forgive her,” Kenia stepped in sighing. ”Misa is from Ruthelphia.”

”Ruthelphia... the Western Empire?” Jennyfer asked, surprised. That was incredibly far compared to their current location.

Kenia nodded. ”Yes. Berthany is also from there. They’re familiar with the Treasures of Eden, but not much with our traditions.”

”Yeah, she’s not that bad,” Jayden said sheepishly, scratching his hair. ”Don’t worry, sister.”

”Thank you, Jaydee!” Misa purred happily before suddenly leaping onto Jayden’s back and kissing his cheek.

”W–Wait! Misa!” Jayden yelped, face turning red.

Alector let out a long, suffering sigh, clearly contemplating escape from this increasingly chaotic situation—but then—

-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The ground shook violently. For a second, it felt like the entire world tilted sideways. A crashing explosion tore through the air, followed by a shockwave of mana so dense and heavy that everyone instinctively froze.

”This...!” Alector’s expression hardened. Without wasting another breath, he shot forward like an arrow.

Jayden exchanged a fast glance with Jennyfer and the girls. They all nodded and sprinted after him.

Smoke was already rising in the distance, marking the place of the explosion. The pressure in the air thickened as they approached, like something enormous had shaken the world.

”What is this feeling...?” Jayden muttered. ”Zeus?”

He called out but received no answer.

It wasn’t Leon. Jayden knew that immediately. There was no crushing dread, no suffocating sense of helplessness that Leon’s presence always brought.

This was different. Strange. Cold. It made his body tense up, nerves tightening... but at the same time, something inside him stirred with a faint anticipation maybe.

Then they reached the place.

A scream ripped through the air.

”W—WHY?! Why did you do that?! Why did you kill Saya?! WHYYY?!”

It was the voice of a child—a boy crying with such raw grief that it scraped at the heart.

They all turned toward the source.

And they froze.

A young boy was beating his small fists against the chest of a young man. The man just stood there, looking down at the boy with an expression so calm it was almost empty. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t defend himself. Didn’t even blink.

Jayden’s entire body went cold.

He knew that face.

He hadn’t seen him in over a year, yet that wasn’t someone he could ever forget.

The man he met on the first day of the Royal Eden Academy.

The man he had trusted—his first real friend, someone he considered his best friend.

And the man who later... took the life of his little brother.

”Edward...” Jayden breathed, the name slipping out before he even realized he’d said it. His voice trembled—not out of fear, but out of something deeper. Recognition. Shock. A tiny spark of disbelief.

Kenia, Misa, and Berthany all froze the moment they laid eyes on the man standing there. It was their first time seeing Amael, and even without knowing him, something about him sent a cold shiver down their spines.

Arete, however... she had met Amael before. She had first seen him in the Kingdom of Celesta a year ago—saw him fight, saw him alive and rather very expressive though sometimes in the wrong way.

But the man in front of her now wasn’t the same one.

His white hair was soaked in red and streaked with black, stiff and sticky from dried blood. His white shirt was drenched so thoroughly it no longer had a trace of its original color. Even his skin looked paler, as if the blood he wore wasn’t just on him—but seeping into him.

And then he lifted his head.

Those amber eyes pierced through the smoke and rubble. Now they glowed eerily bright, the only source of light on a face shadowed with blood, exhaustion, and something Arete couldn’t name.

Jennyfer felt her breath catch. ”You... are Amael?” She whispered, recognizing him despite his condition. He had spent so much time with Victor at the academy. She had seen him dozens of times.

”Why! WHY did you kill my sister?! WHY?!”

The little boy’s shriek broke their stupor.

They all turned back toward him—tiny fists slamming again and again into Amael’s chest, even though his blows barely made the older boy sway. Tears streamed down his face, dripping onto the limp body of the little girl lying beside him.

Alector’s eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, cautious.

Something was wrong.

***

I looked up slowly.

Jayden.

Alector was standing with him... and Jennyfer Eginfer. Behind them were several women I vaguely recognized—except maybe the blue-haired one. She was familiar.

”Amael Olphean... what exactly happened here?” Alector asked carefully.

I glanced at him once, briefly.

But the boy still beating my chest didn’t even seem to notice their arrival. His grief drowned everything else out. He kept hitting me harder and harder, his small fists shaking.

A brother mourning his little sister.

I knew that pain very, very well.

”Why did you kill her?! Why?! Tell me!! Murderer!! I’ll—I’ll—!”

His voice cracked in the middle of his scream.

Before he could break himself any further, I placed my hand gently on his head.

His knees buckled instantly, and he collapsed unconscious beside his sister’s body.

”...!”

A spark snapped in the air.

Jayden moved.

With a roar of electrical discharge his entire body flickered like lightning—and he vanished.

-BAM!!

I lifted my arm just in time.

-BAM!!

The next blow crushed into me again``

-CRACK!

My left arm cracked under the force, a sharp pain ripping through it as I was thrown backward. The world blurred, but I dug my heels into the dirt, forcing myself to stop before I tumbled.

”Kenia! How are they?!” Jayden shouted.

The elf girl and the others flinched when they noticed the body of Sirius nearby, but they quickly composed themselves and knelt beside the children.

”The boy is unconscious but...” The Elf said at first before her hands trembled as she checked the girl.

”The girl... is dead.”

Lightning burst across Jayden’s body in response, crackling violently around him.

He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white as he glared at me.

”Edward...”

He spat my name.

”Did you kill that little girl?”

”Jayden!!”

Milleia arrived in a rush. Claudia appeared beside her, glaring at me with such murderous intensity it felt like she wanted to carve me apart with her eyes alone.

”What happened?!” Milleia asked. She hurried over, joining the other girls—only to flinch when she saw the two children lying motionless on the ground.

”Are they alright?!” She asked, panic rising in her voice.

”The boy is,” the tanned girl answered quietly. ”But the girl... she’s dead.”

Milleia froze. Her hands trembled as she immediately knelt beside the small body.

”Wh–What happened...” she whispered, touching the girl with shaking fingers.

”He killed her.”

She pointed straight at me.

Milleia’s breath froze. Her eyes darted to me, wide and horrified.

”N-No! Edward would never do something like that—”

”ANSWER ME, EDWARD!!”

Jayden’s shout tore through her denial, crackling with lightning.

”DID YOU KILL THAT LITTLE GIRL?!”

I didn’t look at him immediately. My gaze drifted instead to Trinity Nihil, stabbed into the earth beside Sirius’s corpse... then further down, to the red gemstone ring still clasped on Sirius’s fingers.

”Edward!!!”

-BOOOOOM!!!

Lightning exploded outward as Jayden’s rage surged, shaking the ground.

I finally turned toward him, irritation flickering across my face.

”You’re noisy,” I said.

”W–What...?”

”I killed her.”

Every single one of them recoiled.

”If that’s what you want to hear,” I added, sweeping my gaze around.

The Blood Moon Spellbounded ones—the people under its influence—were gathering again, bodies swaying as they approached.

”Y–You killed a little girl and you just—!”

Jayden’s lightning surged, crackling violently around him.

I kicked off the ground, my body propelled by Samara’s hands strengthening my jump.

He was faster—no question—but all that mattered was timing.

Jayden shot toward me instantly, lightning splitting the air.

”W–Wait!!!” Milleia cried, but it was too late.

”How low have you fallen, Edward!!” Jayden roared, throwing a lightning-coated punch.

-BAM!!

At the last instant, I twisted. Instead of clashing with him, I slipped past his blow, my foot smashing into the ground as I propelled myself forward—not toward Jayden, but straight toward Sirius’s corpse.

”He’s coming!!”

That woman...

Now, I remember, she is that familiar gifted to Jayden by Zeus.

But I wasn’t interested in any of them.

I skidded to a stop beside Sirius’s body.

Weapons were immediately drawn, rays of mana primed, but I ignored every blade.

I pulled Trinity Nihil free, then crouched down and pried the red-gemmed ring off Sirius’s stiff fingers.

”EDWARD!!!”

Jayden’s shout burned behind me, his aura almost on top of me.

A mirror formed beneath my feet—smooth, and reflective.

I stepped inside.

And vanished.

”D–Damn it!!!”

Jayden skidded to a stop, lightning cracking violently as he scanned the area.

”Where is he?!”

”There!” Someone pointed.

I was already back, standing exactly where I had been a heartbeat ago.

The red ring gleamed in my hand.

I slid it onto my index finger. Pain shot up my arm—sharp, biting—but I clenched my fist and endured it.

I lifted my eyes toward the crimson circle looming in the sky. I had no idea how to cancel it directly... but there was another way.

Weaken it enough to force it to collapse on its own.

”Jayden! Look around!” Someone shouted. ”More people under control! They’re coming!”

”We can’t let them reach us! Restrain them!!”

”Anathema’s Fire,” I whispered.

-BOOOOOOOM!!!

Purple fire ripped outward from my right side, swallowing the group of civilians surging toward me. The flames devoured them instantly.

Screams—brief, raw, terrified—echoed for a moment before being drowned out by the roar of crackling fire.

I let Wrath dull the sound.

For them, it would be fast.

Painless, if they were lucky.

But I couldn’t speak for their suffering.

A silence crashed down over the field.

For a moment, no one even breathed.

”W–What... what just...?” Someone finally whispered.

All eyes slowly turned toward me, horror widening in them like spreading cracks in glass. The burnt remains on the ground still hissed with faint heat, the air thick with the smell of charred flesh.

”H–He killed them...”

Jayden’s face was the worst. He stared at the blackened corpses with disbelief carved into every line of his expression, as if his brain simply refused to accept the sight in front of him.

”Amael... you are the worst kind...” Claudia’s voice trembled.

Her mana burst outward like a shockwave, whipping her hair into a wild mane as she raised her staff. Her eyes were pure rage.

”Edward...” Jayden finally spoke, head bowed, fists shaking. ”Zeus told me you... killed my brother. That you did it to spare him... because Ante Eden had him under control...”

Beside him, Jennyfer flinched, eyes widening. She clearly hadn’t known the circumstances of her other brother’s death.

”How naive can you be?”

I let my eyes narrow, letting contempt bleed into my voice.

”You took two people I loved. I took one of yours.”

I lifted Trinity Nihil slightly

”I wanted you to feel the pain I felt,” I continued. ”Did you feel it?”

I watched him, his expression twisting.

”No,” I answered myself with a smile. ”Not quite enough.”

His face only irritated me further.

Every time I saw it, Mary’s tear-stained expression flashed behind my eyes, twisting a barbed spike inside my chest.

”Perhaps another death will get you a little closer to what I’ve been through,” I said coldly.

-BOOOOOOM!!!

Golden light erupted from Jayden’s body, blasting outward with enough force to crack the scorched ground at his feet. The emblem of Lumen flared to life on his arms.

”That’s right, Reinhart.”

I whispered, my white hair blowing violently back.

”You’ve just taken a single step toward what I felt... the moment she died.”