The Villian Who Broke The Story

Kael slowly opened his eyes.

Silence greeted him.

He expected pain.

After everything that had happened in the arena, after forcing his body beyond its limits again and again, after exhausting every drop of Mana he possessed, he expected every nerve in his body to be screaming in agony.

Instead...

He couldn’t feel his body at all.

There was no pain.

No exhaustion.

Nothing.

He frowned.

Looking around, he realized he wasn’t in the Academy infirmary.

Nor was he inside the arena.

The place around him was shrouded in darkness, stretching endlessly in every direction. There was no floor he could properly distinguish, nor a ceiling above him. It was as though he had been dropped into an endless void where even sound struggled to exist.

Kael slowly looked ahead.

In the distance...

A lone figure sat upon a throne.

The throne itself seemed to have been carved from black crystal, its surface reflecting no light whatsoever. Strange shadows coiled around it like living creatures before disappearing back into the darkness.

What seemed strange wasn’t the throne.

It was the person sitting on it.

The figure looked exactly like him.

The same face.

The same height.

The same features.

Yet...

Everything else was different.

His eyes were deep, eerie jet black, almost like the abyss itself consuming every trace of light from its surroundings.

Those eyes possessed no emotion.

No warmth.

Only an endless darkness.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

”Who are you?” he asked the figure.

The figure slowly turned his gaze toward Kael.

For a brief instant...

The entire space seemed to freeze beneath that stare.

Then the figure spoke.

”I’m meant to be asking the questions, and what is your connection to that bastard?”

The figure asked.

His words only confused Kael further.

”What are you even saying, who are you?” Kael asked once more.

The figure remained silent for several seconds.

He simply observed Kael.

As though trying to determine whether he was telling the truth.

Finally...

He asked another question.

”Are you from here?”

The question caught Kael off guard.

He frowned.

”No, I’m from Hell idiot, tell me who are you?” Kael asked one last time.

The figure slowly rose from the throne.

Each step echoed throughout the empty space despite there seemingly being no floor beneath them.

”You tell me that I’m meant to be you, but you are not me, who are you?”

The figure said, approaching Kael.

The closer he came...

The heavier the atmosphere became.

Kael instinctively tensed.

There was something incredibly wrong about this person.

Not simply because he looked identical to him.

But because...

The figure felt familiar.

Almost as though they shared something beyond appearances.

Kael immediately squinted his gaze.

”You are linked to the original Kael Draven, what is he?”

Kael asked.

The figure stopped walking.

For the first time...

Something resembling surprise crossed his otherwise emotionless face.

Before Kael could ask anything else...

The figure suddenly vanished.

Everything around him shattered like broken glass.

Darkness swallowed the world.

The next instant—

Kael jerked upright from the cold floor beneath him.

”Hah!”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

Immediately...

His entire body erupted in pain.

Every wound he had accumulated throughout the tournament returned all at once.

The aching sensation spread through every muscle.

His arms trembled.

His ribs throbbed.

Even breathing became difficult.

”So... this is where the pain went.”

Kael muttered bitterly.

He slowly sat down, resting his back against the cold stone wall behind him.

His breathing gradually steadied as he observed the room around him.

Unlike the strange void from moments ago...

This place was very real.

Stone walls.

A solid floor.

Iron bars.

A single dim lantern hanging near the entrance.

It resembled more of a prison cell than a recovery room.

His brows furrowed.

Instinctively, he raised one hand to rub his forehead.

A metallic sound interrupted him.

Clink.

Kael looked down.

Heavy chains wrapped tightly around both of his wrists before extending toward iron restraints embedded deep into the floor.

He stared at them silently.

”...What is going on?”

He asked himself.

His thoughts immediately drifted back to the final moments of his battle against Auriella.

”I remember I used the Celestial Moon Art when she died, chosen then I...”

Kael paused.

Fragments of the battle replayed inside his head.

The Darkness Mana.

His strange state.

Auriella’s frightened expression.

Then...

Nothing.

”I blacked out.”

”But it seems that my body didn’t.”

Kael muttered quietly, trying to figure out exactly what had happened after he lost consciousness.

No matter how hard he tried...

He couldn’t remember anything beyond that point.

Only empty darkness remained.

In another part of the Academy...

An atmosphere far heavier than the one inside Kael’s prison cell hung over a large conference room.

The Principal sat quietly at the head of the table.

Beside him was the Vice Principal.

Their respective secretaries stood behind them in silence.

Xavier leaned lazily against his chair with his usual carefree smile, as though the meeting concerned nothing more than an ordinary school matter.

Seated opposite them...

Was a woman whose entire face was concealed beneath a dark veil.

She remained perfectly motionless.

Resting gently between both of her hands was a mysterious purple sphere that pulsed with faint light every few seconds.

Each pulse caused tiny ripples to spread across its surface before fading away.

No one dared interrupt her concentration.

The room remained silent until the Principal finally spoke.

”So what do you think we should do about the child?”

The Principal asked.

The veiled woman remained silent.

Before she could answer...

The Vice Principal’s secretary spoke first.

”He seemed to have been possessed by a demon and unleashed this amount of strength at a young age.”

”It’s better to kill him now, than to harbour something that dangerous.”

The secretary said.

The room fell silent.

Then—

Her head slipped cleanly from her shoulders.

It struck the floor with a dull thud before rolling across the polished stone.

Her body remained standing for only an instant before collapsing beside it.

Blood slowly spread across the floor.

No one moved.

No one had even seen the attack.

The Vice Principal’s remaining secretary immediately froze.

Even the Vice Principal herself narrowed her eyes.

Only one person inside the room continued smiling.

Xavier.

He rested his chin against one hand before speaking casually.

”Madam Draven finally decided to grace us with your presence.”

”It has been over a hundred Chapters already.”

He said with a smile.

At the far end of the room...

Space quietly distorted.

A woman dressed entirely in black stepped forward.

She wore an elegant wide-brimmed hat whose shadow concealed most of her face.

Behind her...

A maid walked gracefully while holding an umbrella above her head despite there being no sunlight inside the room.

The maid’s movements were flawless.

Neither hurried nor slow.

Simply perfect.

Without acknowledging the corpse lying nearby...

The woman calmly took a seat.

She crossed one leg over the other before directing her gaze toward everyone gathered around the table.

The temperature inside the room seemed to drop.

”I urge you to continue on your filthy plans for my son.”

”Let’s see how this debacle ends.”

Madam Draven said.

The moment those words left her lips...

The weather outside the Academy suddenly changed.

Dark clouds gathered overhead.

Thunder rumbled across the sky.

Lightning flashed repeatedly between the clouds.

Everyone inside the room felt the overwhelming pressure radiating from her.

Only Xavier remained completely relaxed.

He sighed softly.

”Come on now.”

”We aren’t going to execute him.”

”Even I won’t allow that.”

”That is why we’ve called her, Lady Sylvia.”

Xavier said, gesturing toward the veiled woman seated nearby.

”She was reading into Kael’s fate, but so far she hasn’t given us an answer.”

He continued.

All eyes turned toward the mysterious woman.

Her body trembled lightly.

The purple sphere hovering between her hands suddenly became unstable.

Cracks of violet light spread across its surface.

Slowly...

She opened her eyes beneath the cloth covering them.

Her breathing became uneven.

”I can’t see his fate.”

She muttered slowly.

Madam Draven remained silent.

Then she calmly turned toward the maid standing behind her.

”Isabella, could you be a dear and check up on my son for me?”

She said.

As Isabella stepped closer...

Madam Draven gently held her hand.

Then...

Her grip tightened.

Far tighter than necessary.

So tightly that Isabella could feel her fingers beginning to ache

Madam Draven smiled warmly.

Yet...

The obsession burning within her eyes made the smile far more unsettling than comforting.

”Tell him that his mother really really really really loves him.”

Madam Draven said.

Her gaze remained fixed on Isabella.

The maid showed no change in expression.

She simply bowed respectfully.

”Alright Madam Draven.”

”I’ll convey your love for him.”

Isabella said.

Without another word...

She quietly left the conference room.

Outside...

Another deafening bolt of lightning split the sky above the Academy.

The gathering storm only continued growing stronger.

The clouds surrounding the Academy continued to rumble.

Lightning flashed repeatedly across the sky, bathing the conference room in brief bursts of white light before darkness reclaimed it once again.

Xavier glanced toward the ceiling before returning his attention to Madam Draven.

”Come on now, Draven relax a bit. She said she couldn’t see his fate,” Xavier stated.

Madam Draven slowly shifted her gaze toward him.

”I think you need the permission of a child’s mother before you start snooping into dangerous private things like his fate,” Madam Draven stated.

Her tone remained calm.

Almost gentle.

Yet everyone present could feel the pressure hidden beneath those words.

The Vice Principal folded her arms.

”He was possessed by a demon in an academy where they teach students to hunt demons, we are being lenient not killing him on the spot,” the Vice Principal stated.

The instant those words left her mouth—

A shadow appeared before the Elven Principal.

No one present had sensed it.

Not the Vice Principal.

Not her remaining secretary.

Not even the Principal himself.

Only Xavier continued smiling.

The Vice Principal’s eyes widened.

She instinctively stepped backward.

She hadn’t sensed the attack.

Not even the slightest fluctuation of Mana.

The remaining secretary beside her froze in place, realizing she also hadn’t noticed anything until it was already there.

Madam Draven maintained her solemn expression.

Her fiery eyes remained fixed on Xavier.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of hesitation within them.

Only unwavering resolve.

”I came here prepared to die with you if you planned on staying in my way,” Madam Draven said, glancing at Xavier.

The room fell silent.

No one doubted those words.

She wasn’t making a threat.

She was merely stating a fact.

Even the Principal unconsciously straightened in his seat.

The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily upon everyone inside the conference room.

Xavier finally let out a small sigh.

He slowly raised both hands.

”Let’s take things easy and talk like true civilized people, we already know that it’s a temporal possession, we just need to find out how it happened,” Xavier stated.

His calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the overwhelming tension filling the room.

The Principal closed his eyes briefly.

He released a weary sigh before opening them again.

The past few hours had been nothing short of exhausting.

His gaze shifted from Xavier to Madam Draven.

Then back again.

Finally, he spoke.

”Don’t worry Madam Draven,we would be freeing him from his cell, maybe you could pay him a visit,” the Principal stated.

As soon as he finished speaking—

Space distorted quietly behind Madam Draven.

A circular portal materialized.

Its interior shimmered like a calm night sky filled with countless stars.

Madam Draven rose gracefully from her chair.

She adjusted the sleeve of her black attire before turning toward the portal.

For a brief moment...

Her gaze drifted toward the direction where Kael was being held.

Although her expression remained composed...

The obsession hidden within her eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

”I have already handled all my affairs here, maybe I’ll see my son during the holiday,” Madam Draven said.

Without another word—

She stepped into the portal.

The portal silently closed behind her.

Almost immediately...

The dark clouds surrounding the Academy began to disperse.

The thunder gradually faded.

The violent lightning vanished.

Sunlight slowly broke through the clouds once again, bathing the Academy grounds in warm light as though nothing unusual had happened.

Inside the conference room...

Everyone remained silent.

The pressure that had suffocated the room only moments earlier finally disappeared.

The remaining secretary quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

The Vice Principal slowly relaxed her posture, though the seriousness in her eyes remained.

Xavier continued smiling to himself.

The Principal leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples with obvious fatigue.

No one spoke.

The events of the day had left every person in the room with more questions than answers.

Kael Draven’s sudden demonic possession...

The unknown entity that had taken control of him...

The inability to read his fate...

And Madam Draven’s overwhelming reaction...

None of it could be explained.

For now...

The only certainty was that Kael remained locked away until they fully understood what had happened inside the arena.

And whatever secret surrounded the Draven family...

Had only just begun to reveal itself.