The World's Greatest Hero Is Actually a Villain?

The wind howled like a mourning banshee as a black streak shot across the sky of New Geneva.

High above the clouds, far away from the prying eyes of the Federation drones and the cheering citizens, Ethan was losing his battle against his own body.

The adrenaline that had fueled his Heaven-Splitting Slash was rapidly fading, replaced by a cold, suffocating numbness that was seeping into his very bones.

’Damn it... is this what being a five-minute man feels like?’

Gritting his teeth, Ethan pushed his flight speed to the absolute limit.

In the distance, the towering silhouette of his mansion loomed like a black monolith.

He just needed to make it home. He could not afford to let the world especially the hidden League of Villains see the "The world’s greatest hero" in this pathetic state.

Boom!

With a final, desperate burst of speed, Ethan crashed right through the secret roof hatch of the Nexus Corp penthouse.

Only this time unlike his usual superhero landings he didn’t gently float down.

Instead hit the polished marble floor like a discarded ragdoll, tumbling across the room before slamming hard against the base of his desk.

"Arghhh!"

A guttural scream tore its way out of his throat as the S-Rank ability, Overdrive, completely deactivated. The rebound hit him like a freight train made of agony.

It felt as though millions of invisible needles were piercing his cells simultaneously. His muscles, which were previously overflowing with world-ending power, rapidly began to atrophy, visibly shrinking and shriveling more than before.

The skin on his face became pale and sunken, his cheeks hollowing out as his vitality hit rock bottom.

He coughed, splattering a mouthful of dark, blackened blood onto the pristine white marble.

His vision was fading to pitch black. The suffocating weight of burning his life force, his physical strength, and his mental energy was dragging him down into an abyss of unconsciousness.

Yet, just as his eyelids were about to close completely, a familiar translucent blue light illuminated his dimming vision.

[Overdrive utilization successful. Negative emotions suppressed.]

[Imperion Fusion progress has increased: 5% -> 10%!]

[Threshold Reached. Unlocking a new diary page...]

Reading the glowing text, a weak, bloody smile crept onto Ethan’s sunken face.

’I did it... I survived.’

With this, he knew he had taken his first massive step away from the original novel’s doomed plotline.

With a knowing smile, his consciousness finally gave way, and the world’s strongest hero passed out on the cold floor.

.................

Time soon passed, and several hours later Ethan finally opened his eyes

However, this time, he was no longer lying on the cold marble.

Instead, he was resting on the ridiculously massive, silk-sheeted bed in his master bedroom.

The agonizing, cell-tearing pain had dulled to a heavy ache. Thanks to the massive vitality reservoir of his Imperial Body, his atrophied muscles had already begun to slowly knit themselves back together, steadily regenerating the flesh that Overdrive had greedily consumed.

Before he could even attempt to sit up, he felt a soft, warm dampness pressing against his forehead.

A gentle hand, trembling slightly, was delicately wiping the dried blood from his face with a warm towel.

Ethan slowly turned his heavy head. Sitting by his bedside, illuminated only by the faint moonlight spilling through the penthouse windows, was Lilith.

She looked battered. Her usually pristine modern black and red crop-top was torn, and her pale skin was littered with minor cuts and bruises from her own battles against the Aberrants in the city below.

Yet, she paid absolutely no attention to her own wounds. Her striking, blood-red eyes were completely fixated on his face, and they were glistening with unshed tears.

"Lilith...?" Ethan rasped, his voice sounding like grinding sandpaper.

"Don’t speak," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Just rest. Your body... Ethan, you were almost dead..."

She dropped the bloody towel into a nearby basin and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly between both of hers.

Her skin was freezing cold, betraying the sheer terror she had felt upon seeing him in such a vulnerable state.

For a long moment, the room was engulfed in silence. Ethan could feel the genuine, raw emotion radiating from her.

In his past life, he had died alone forgotten by society. Nobody had held his hand. Nobody had even shed a tear for him.

But here, in this crazy world of gods and monsters, this woman was looking at him as if he were her entire universe.

"I’m sorry," Ethan forced out, managing a weak smile.

"I guess I didn’t look very cool back there."

A single tear escaped Lilith’s eye, trailing down her pale cheek as she let out a wet, choked laugh.

But the smile vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by an expression of unparalleled determination.

"Ethan... I am leaving," she said, her voice steadying into an absolute, unwavering vow.

Ethan’s heart violently skipped a beat. "What? Lilith, what are you talking about?"

"I promised myself that I would always stand by your side," she continued, her grip on his hand tightening.

"I promised that I would be the sword that cuts down your enemies so you wouldn’t have to push yourself so hard. But today... today I had to watch you fight a Level 5 monster alone."

"I had to watch you burn your own life because I wasn’t strong enough to stand beside you."

She leaned in closer, her crimson eyes locking onto his blue ones.

"I refuse to ever see you hurt like this again," Lilith declared, her voice echoing with a heavy, terrifying conviction.

"I refuse to be dead weight when the true enemies arrive. I am going to leave New Geneva, and enter closed-door training. I will no matter what break through!"

" I won’t return until I officially break through to Level 5."

Hearing this, a sharp pang of genuine pain pierced Ethan’s chest.

Only this time, it wasn’t the pain from his injuries, neither was it the lingering feelings of the original Imperion. Ethan himself had grown deeply attached to this silver-haired woman.

The thought of being separated from her right after they had grown closer like a cruel joke.

Every selfish instinct in his body screamed at him to tell her to stay.

He wanted to tell her that he was Imperion, that he was the strongest and that he could protect her.

But then, the glowing memory of the Datafication panel flashed in his mind.

[Unlocking a new diary page...]

He remembered the first page of the soul-bound diary, the terrifying, incomprehensible Cosmic Horrors "They" that were coming to invade the world.

If humanity was going to survive, he couldn’t afford to be selfish. He couldn’t keep Lilith caged in New Geneva just to make himself feel less lonely.

She needed to spread her wings and more importantly, she needed to reach Level 5.

Swallowing the bitter lump in his throat, Ethan slowly raised his free hand and gently brushed a strand of silver hair behind her ear.

"A Level 5 Lilith," Ethan whispered softly, a proud smile gracing his lips.

"The world won’t know what hit it. Promise me you won’t push yourself to the point of breaking."

Lilith’s eyes widened slightly, realizing that he wasn’t going to stop her, but rather, he believed in her completely.

She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as fresh tears fell.

"I promise," she whispered.

Leaning forward, she pressed her soft, cold lips against his forehead in a lingering, tender kiss.

When she pulled back, the vulnerability in her eyes had been replaced by the fierce, regal aura of an S-Class hero.

Without another word, Lilith stood up. She walked towards the open balcony of the penthouse.

With a sharp surge of God particles, two massive, blood-red wings erupted from her back, casting a crimson shadow across the room.

She cast one final, loving glance back at Ethan, and then launched herself into the night sky, disappearing into the clouds.

Ethan lay there in the deafening silence of the empty penthouse. The warmth of her hand was already fading from his skin.

The pain of separation stung, but the burning resolve in his chest was stronger.

"She is getting stronger," Ethan muttered to the empty room, pushing himself up until his back rested against the headboard.

"I can’t afford to be left behind."

With a thought, he summoned his system. The translucent blue panel materialized in the air, glowing with his newly acquired 10% Fusion progress.

But more importantly, a worn, leather-bound book materialized in his lap. The soul-bound diary of the original Imperion.

Ethan took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. He reached out and flipped past the terrifying first page.

For the first time since he had transmigrated into this world, the second page of the diary yielded to his touch, fluttering open to reveal the ink written by his predecessor.

It was time to learn the truth about this world.

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