William was an ordinary person.
Born in an ordinary way.
Coming from an ordinary family, not a slave, but not a noble either.
His life was uneventful, nothing special.
The only thing he was good at was having a better memory than others.
That was why Atlas Academy invited him to study, even though his magical power was only average.
William thought that the moment he set foot in Atlas Academy, the story of his life would truly begin.
But no.
He was wrong.
Nothing had changed.
He was still just a supporting character, no, a background character giving the main characters a chance to shine.
William didn't like this.
He wanted to stand out, he wanted to have an important role in this damn world.
And that was when Sarah approached William.
She gave him an Artifact, and forced him to make things difficult for Evelyn Evernight.
Agreeing to it was a stupid choice.
But, in order to escape this boring life, William accepted to become a fool.
To be honest, at first, he was scared and hesitant.
Because if he was caught, wouldn't he be executed for using an Artifact?
But as time passed, those initial feelings naturally disappeared, as if they never existed.
William also realized another side of himself that he didn't know about.
He liked to torment others, especially those who were arrogant, surpassing him in every way.
And coincidentally, Evelyn was that kind of person.
Furthermore, playing with death like this… really made him feel excited.
It was like doing drugs.
Additionally, as long as he didn't get discovered, it was fine.
Today was the same as the previous days, William was given the task by Sarah to control a few Tower Creatures to attack Evelyn's house.
He ran around, continuously pouring magic into [Absolute Imperative], with a smug smile on his face.
Today, he would still experience that feeling of excitement.
"Today, I will once again become an important character, a main character!"
William shouted loudly.
But then, a voice came from behind him.
"Found you."
The voice was filled with danger, as if it wanted to kill him at any moment.
It wasn't a woman's voice, but a man's.
No… to be exact, it sounded like it belonged to a demon.
Following that, a kick aimed straight at his leg, sending William flying to the ground, covered in mud and dust, looking no different from a dirty dog.
"Who are you?" He growled.
But then stopped when the moonlight from above shone directly on the person's body.
That person was indeed a protagonist, destined to become one.
William's eyes widened.
It was Kael Draven, the new transfer student!
***
"Good job, Kael."
An icy voice, devoid of any emotion, rang out from behind Kael.
"It's nothing."
Then, he slowly moved aside, allowing Evelyn, who had just stepped out from the shadows, a chance to see the culprit with her own eyes.
"It really is you, William?"
This time, her voice contained a different emotion.
It was contempt.
Like someone at the top of the food chain would treat their prey.
Her gaze swept over the culprit's entire body, then stopped on a staff that was still in his hand.
An emotionless smile appeared on her elegant face.
Beside him, Kael had also noticed the existence of this staff, from the very beginning.
Although he rarely used that Artifact in the game, this was definitely [Absolute Imperative]. There was no way it could be wrong.
"Give me that staff." Evelyn stepped forward, at the same time, extending her hand.
It wasn't a request.
It was an order.
But it seemed that William couldn't hear the meaning in her words.
He gripped the staff tighter, his eyes flashing with a hint of hatred, and a little panic.
"I don't understand what you're talking about." William spoke up.
He knew that he would be in trouble if he gave this staff to Evelyn.
"Sigh. What? You only know what fear is now?"
She continued.
"When you manipulated those monsters to attack my house, did you feel fear?"
She turned her palm towards him, starting to chant a spell in her mind.
"Tsk. You dare to do it but don't dare to admit it? You're the type I despise the most."
Cold sweat ran down William's forehead and back.
He felt an insane amount of killing intent.
His life had never felt so fearful like this before.
Almost immediately, William turned to Kael - who was still standing there without saying anything, and looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Please Kael Draven, save me! I don't want to die!" His voice was trembling.
He was truly afraid.
But the only thing he got in return was Kael's chillingly cold gaze.
He just stood there, arms crossed, watching everything, as if he were an outsider.
"Die." With that, she clenched her fist.
At the same time, William's body turned into blood, not even the bones remained.
He was dead.
A horrible death.
Even Kael felt goosebumps from the villainess's cruel methods.
But, deep inside, he actually felt admiration for her for some reason.
'Wait, is this truly admiration?' He wondered.
An emotion that Kael didn't experience in the past had begun to arise in his heart.
Evelyn, on the other hand, didn't care about what had just happened.
To her, it was like killing a mosquito.
Calmly, she walked forward, picked up the staff that was lying on the ground, and stared at it.
Who would have thought that something as ordinary as this would actually be a weapon that could truly destroy a village, or even a city?
'With this, Sarah definitely won't be able to live anymore.'
She smirked.
At this moment, she was truly a villainess.
[Authority of Gluttony.]
The shadow appeared, cleaning up the scene for Evelyn, leaving no trace behind.
"Is that what you want?" Kael asked.
"Yes."
"What do you plan to do with it? If you don't need it… can you give it to me? Or after you've achieved your goal…" He forced a smile.
His intentions were obvious.
He wanted that Artifact.
[Absolute Imperative] was really useful.
In response to Kael, Evelyn gave a meaningful smile.
Then, her lips opened.
"You probably won't get that chance."