Villain's POV: The Heroines Want Me!

Chapter 63: Chapter 63- Broken

Chapter 63- Broken

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

For a long time, Rize kept running and running and running without stopping. His battered body didn’t help with that kind of marathon, but he had no choice. The Zatharis were still in hot pursuit, and he knew that if he stopped for even a moment, they might catch up and end his life. It was better to swallow the hellish pain and run as fast as he could before they could catch him.

His feet sank into the mud as he felt bits and pieces of dirt stick to his foot and to his injured ankle. The pain from that was nothing short of agonizing. It was as if someone was constantly stabbing his ankle with a sharp knife and digging into his flesh. Rize bit his lip until it started bleeding to hold back the pain.

Eventually, he came to a random tree and finally dropped to the ground, heaving up and down as if he was hyperventilating. He rested his back against the tree as he peeked over. There were no flashlights.

They were far away. Rize gulped as he finally arched his head until it rested against the tree and closed his eyes, trying to calm his beating heart. It was beating so fast that he was scared it might explode at any point.

’It’s ok, I think I’m far enough. They won’t find me that easily in this forest, even if they knew how to navigate it.’

"I’m ok," Rize muttered under his breath. "I’m ok... Everything will be ok."

He wiped the dirt and blood off his eyes as he finally checked his ankle. Just one look made him revolt visibly.

’This is messed up, fuck. I don’t know how I can even move much longer.’ He sighed as he rubbed his hair frustratingly. ’I can’t stay here long either; these people potentially are accustomed to this terrain while I’m not.’

The situation, while hopeful, was still very much not safe at all. Rize needed to tread carefully and find an escape from this forest. If he could, his chances of survival would rise exponentially.

’Let’s see... My phone has a map, right?’ Rize pulled his phone out in a hurry and opened the map. Since this phone was very special and was constantly connected to Essence in the air, it could never be "Out of signal" as it gathered information from that same energy.

’A very neat feature.’ He thought as he clicked the map app and suddenly, he had an entire overview of the forest.

Good news: it worked.

Bad news: just as Rize started zooming out of the map to see how far he was from the city, he kept zooming out, and zooming out, and yet, the forest kept stretching farther and farther. At some point, Rize realized that it would take literal weeks to traverse this place back to the capital.

’How the hell did they get me here this fast?!’ He felt all power drain from his body. ’Wouldn’t it take Venera and the others ages to get to me?’

Rize exhaled a long, tired breath as he looked up, his face filled with bitterness. He just didn’t know what else he could do. He was in such a screwed state that for a moment, he truly felt completely lost.

There was simply no way he could survive for that long with these injuries, no shelter, no food, and with a bunch of bloodthirsty people chasing after him, hell-bent on dicing him into pieces. It all felt almost comically bad.

But, at the same time, Rize felt almost peaceful at that moment. He had escaped death countless times.

’I just need to do it one more time. How hard could that be?’ As he started smiling to himself, he suddenly heard something in the distance that made him take a fighting stance. It was the sound of clapping.

"Who’s there?!" Rize yelled as he grabbed his knife. "Show yourself!"

Then, a few seconds later, a person emerged from the darkness. The sight of him sent chills down Rize’s spine. It was none other than Vigil, and he had a very angry, almost resentful look on his face.

"Good job, Rize. You really outdone yourself." He said as he continued clapping with a cold, deadly look on his face.

’I forgot about this bastard...’ Rize’s expression darkened before he smiled. "Hey, Vigil, been a while. How is your family?"

"Dead," Vigil replied.

"Oh..." Rize made a small sound. "Not the best question to ask, I guess."

"Ah, don’t worry about it. My dad died fighting Sagardians. Same for my brother, my uncle, my other uncle, my best friend."

As he talked, he approached Rize while the latter tried to stand up. "I’m sorry to hear that."

"Things happen, don’t they? Some have to face tragedy more than others." Vigil said. "I grew up into this. I grew up into war and conflict. I was taught how to pick up a gun before I learned how to walk."

"..." Rize pressed himself against the tree as he looked left and right, searching for an escape route.

"I was injected with hatred toward you bastards before I could even learn how to talk," Vigil said, his voice rising and the anger and hatred in his eyes. "You always do this. You escape the blame, you escape the reality that you’re cold-blooded murderers."

"I’m not one of them," Rize said. "I haven’t even spent my first proper day in the capital yet. I’m a newcomer. Your problem is with the Royal Family, not me."

"Oh yeah?"

As Vigil approached, Rize suddenly sprang into motion as he quickly tried to run to the side. However, before he could even take a step.

"Mark of Revenge."

Suddenly, Vigil made a particular hand gesture, and a bright red mark was sent flying toward Rize. The boy felt a chill run down his spine as he instantly activated Endless Hunger’s defense mode.

"That won’t work."

"...!!!"

*BOOOOOOM*

The mark exploded upon contact in a large wave of energy that spread everywhere.

"AGH!!!!" Rize groaned in immense pain as he flew back several dozen feet before slamming violently against a tree. He fell to the ground, holding his side. Everything was spinning in circles in his vision, and he lost the ability to breathe completely.

He could only make weak groans as he lay there, smeared in blood and dirt. Then, before he could even recover, he saw Vigil approaching him.

"Newcomer? Don’t make me laugh, Rize. I know you..."

Reaching Rize, Vigil grabbed him by the neck before he easily lifted him up and slammed him against the tree.

"Princess Venera’s new escort. The boy she chose to be her guardian." Vigil said slowly as he stared into Rize’s eyes. "You’re not a newcomer. You’re deep into it, way deeper than you could ever imagine."

"Hnng..." Rize’s face paled at hearing those words as he tried to release himself. "How... did... you know...?"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere. I have dedicated my life to this... To destroying everything Theodore had built for years. I want to take down the empire. For all the blood they shed of my people."

"..." Rize stared at him with clenched teeth.

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