"The world calls me a villain. I only became what they created."
The sky bled crimson as the chains bit into Kael Varian's flesh.
Iron hooks pierced through his shoulders, pulling his arms outward like a broken cross. A crowd of thousands had gathered in the Sanctum of Radiance, the holiest place in the Radiant Empire, to witness the execution of a boy they once knelt to. The Demon Prince, the traitor who nearly brought the world to ruin.
He stood barefoot on the sacred altar. Shirtless. Bloodied. Betrayed.
The white marble beneath him had been scrubbed clean of gore every hour, but the magic seals continued to draw his lifeblood into the stone, feeding an ancient ritual designed not to just kill him—but erase him from existence.
The Archbishop's voice thundered through the air, amplified by divine runes.
"Let it be known! Kael Varian, son of King Azarel, bearer of the Crimson Sigil, is condemned by the Holy Concord of Seven Kingdoms for crimes against mankind, gods, and reality itself!"
Kael didn't flinch.
He was only nineteen. And yet his presence, even in ruin, made grown kings tremble. His black hair clung to his blood-slicked face. His eyes—no longer glowing with infernal magic—still held a cold, spine-cracking calm.
He looked at the platform in front of him. His father, King Azarel, stood with the other monarchs. He couldn't even meet Kael's eyes.
Beside him stood Aeyla, Kael's childhood love, in golden armor. She didn't look away. Tears rimmed her violet eyes. But she didn't move.
The last person Kael looked at was General Riven Thornshade—his most loyal commander. Chained. Kneeling. His lips moved.
"I'm sorry…"
Kael smiled.
It wasn't cruel. It wasn't kind. It was final.
"You made me the villain," he whispered. "And now you're afraid of what I'll become… even in death."
The High Executioner raised the Heavenpiercer Blade, a divine sword said to cut even the soul. The crowd cheered. The priests chanted. And the sky cracked with divine thunder.
Then—
Slice.
The blade fell.
So did Kael's head.
And for a heartbeat, time stopped.
[System Rebooting…][Error Detected. Target not fully erased. Initiating "Villain Rebirth Protocol."][Binding Host Soul…][Time Reversal – Synchronization Complete.][Welcome, Kael Varian. The Path of Tyranny begins now.]
Path Chosen: VILLAINObjective: Become the Supreme Monarch or Face Eternal OblivionFirst Reward: Minor Memory Retention + 100 Villain Points
Kael's eyes snapped open.
He gasped as air rushed into his lungs like fire. He sat up with a jolt—sweat-soaked and wide-eyed. His body was whole. Unscarred. Weak.
He looked around.
Stone walls. Moldy books. A shattered window.
His old room. In the Varian Estate.
"No… Impossible."
He staggered to a broken mirror. The face that stared back wasn't the bloodied, scarred man who died on the altar. It was a seventeen-year-old—with no signs of magic, no demonic power, no royal grace. Just a skinny, discarded prince everyone laughed at.
He stared into his own reflection.
"I'm… back."
[Villain System Activated.][New Objective: Avenge your execution. Reclaim the Seven Thrones. Destroy the World That Betrayed You.]
[First Quest: Kill a Noble.Reward: Unlock "Dominion of Fear (Tier I)"]
Kael's breath steadied. His fingers clenched.
He remembered everything now.
The betrayal by his father. The false trial. The branding as a demon. The massacre of his soldiers. Aeyla's kiss of death.
And now… a second chance.
Footsteps echoed outside his room.
Duke Ronir's son—Lord Halden—burst in with a sneer.
"Well, well, the 'fallen prince' is still alive? I thought the maids would've hung you by your bedsheets by now."
Kael didn't answer. His mind moved like a storm. In the past, this man humiliated him, spat on his food, whipped the servant who dared call Kael "my lord."
Halden strolled closer.
"You don't speak? Cat got your tong—"
Kael moved.
A hand to the throat.
Halden choked, stumbled backward—but Kael had already thrown him to the floor. The fire poker from the hearth clanged in his hand a second later.
"Wha—Kael? Stop, I—!"
CRACK.
One blow.
Two.
Three.
Blood sprayed across the stone tiles. Halden's nose shattered. Teeth flew. His shrieks turned to gargles.
"You taught me mercy is weakness," Kael whispered. "So allow me to show you strength."
He drove the iron into Halden's throat.
[Quest Complete. +100 VP][Skill Unlocked: Dominion of Fear (Tier I) – Your presence now lowers morale in enemies within 10 meters.]
Kael stood over the corpse, heart steady. No guilt. No doubt.
Only purpose.