Ascension Of The Villain-Chapter 298: Snake In Waiting

A jagged slash of dark energy ripped through the space. It was black and crackling like lightning born from nightmares.

It came too fast, a blur of shadow and malice, and before Iyana could react, it struck her squarely.

Her breath caught.

The force was monstrous. Despite her aura, her body arched backward. Weightless for a heartbeat, then flung like a ragdoll across the hall.

She slammed into the wall with a sickening crack that echoed through the golden chamber. Plaster and paint exploded around her, raining down in dusty clumps as the wall fractured.

Chunks of debris tumbled to the floor, bouncing and skittering across the cold marble ground. One heavy slab landed with a thunderous thud near her feet.

Without wasting time, Iyana staggered to her knees, rubble crumbling around her like bones. The surprise attack had hit like a god's wrath—wild, sudden, and untraceable. Her limbs screamed in protest. Her breath was blown away.

Her senses were still spinning when she saw it. Another beam of darkness slicing through the haze, coming straight for her.

Too fast.

Too late.

I can't dodge it—

No.

She didn't need to.

A wall of fire burst forth in front of her, roaring alive with a heat that didn't just block the blow—it devoured it.

Vyan.

Relief sighed through his chest like lightning. He made it in time. Barely.

He hadn't been watching her. He hadn't needed to. Iyana could handle herself—he knew she could. But the moment that first crash echoed out—wrong, terrifying—his instincts kicked in like a storm. He didn't think. He just moved. He couldn't let her get hurt at any cost.

But those instincts came at a cost. And he paid for it. Without regret.

He felt it before he saw it. The whisper of dark magic striking sharply at him like a viper, brushing past his previous shield like it had been waiting. Jade's attack—those cursed, vine-like tendrils of darkness—speared straight through his left shoulder.

The sound he made was suppressed and hoarse. Not a scream. More like a gasp bitten in half.

The vine writhed as it sank deeper, its edges not sharp but thorny and hungry. It wasn't just pain—it was invasion. He felt the poisonous ivy crawl inside his blood vessels, trying to corrupt and tear them apart from within.

The piercing pain was so visceral that he had to bite back a scream. Succumbing to the exertion briefly, the fire shield he had made for Iyana faltered for a split second, flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Iyana—!" he tried to warn her, voice shredded by pain.

Wyatt saw his chance.

Like a bull let loose with red meat dangling in front of his eyes, Wyatt lunged forward with his sword, aura surging—fierce and wild and desperate to end this.

The fire flickered again. But Iyana had already stabilized herself, blood trickling down her temple, her eyes steady even through the haze.

She met Wyatt's blade with her own just as it came down.

Steel clashed. Sparks screamed.

This was enough to assure him that she was fine.

Having that relief, Vyan's knees nearly gave out from the agonizing stab.

Blood poured from his shoulder as Jade's vine ripped back, slithering away like a satisfied predator. He stumbled, catching himself barely.

"Vyan!" Althea's voice tore through the noise. She turned, abandoning her post without hesitation, hands already aglow with the familiar hum of healing magic.

Soon, Vyan's writhing wound was circled with a golden bubble as he defended himself from another of Jade's relentless attacks.

But the chaos was a blur. So many things were happening at once.

Sienna was enjoying every bit of it.

However…

One second, Sienna was watching with that smug smirk. The next, her feet were off the ground, her neck gripped in Clyde's ironclad fist.

She dangled midair, unexpected, but still there was no sign of fear in her eyes.

His voice was low, dangerous, much unlike the usual jovial, happy-go-lucky Clyde. "How the hell are you using spells?"

She shouldn't be able to. She shouldn't.

She was supposed to be under a restraining spell.

Even if it was not the advanced one.

The advanced restraining spell—Vyan had crafted it with Jade in mind. Powerful, resource-draining, meant to suppress a threat like her and give them some control over the chaos. It was worth a shot, even as they had no idea of the extent of Jade's powers. Obviously, it had proven futile. It was a reality too good to be true where everything would end without engaging in fierce and bloody battles.

He never cast that advanced spell on Sienna. Why would he? Right now, the person who was supposed to be here was a stand-in, a paid actor—decor in the grand illusion. Spending that much mana on their ally would've been a waste.

Even so, a normal restraining spell, cast by someone of Vyan's level, shouldn't be something that someone like Sienna was able to break.

In the grand scheme of things, her powers weren't all that. Nevertheless, for the sake of the show, Vyan put a restraining spell on whom he assumed was the actress. He did… right?

Or did he not?

But Clyde clearly saw a restraining spell on Sienna. He just saw it break too—

Wait, was it an illusion all along?

Had Sienna cast an illusion or self-inflicted a low-level restraint on herself to fool them? Had she been waiting for this element of surprise?

She must have known that she would prove to be useless in a fierce battlefield such as this, unless she attacked when nobody was expecting.

Jade might have been powerful enough to shatter the restraints meant for her, but Sienna? She hadn't even needed to break anything. She'd never been bound in the first place. She was a snake lying in wait, ready to bite.

"Goddammit," Clyde muttered under his breath. The realization bit down on the back of his neck like ice.

They had written her off. Chalked her up as a side character to be handled quietly, dealt with behind the scenes once the real threats were neutralized. She was never supposed to be a variable in the open field.

And yet here they were.

Pure and dark magic flaring. Swords clashing. Blood on the ground—not of their enemies, but of their own. Of Vyan and Iyana's.

Nothing was going to be easy today.

Sienna's lips curled into a smile—sweet, venomous, victorious.

"Since I've now broken free..." she said, her voice echoing with quiet power and spite, "I can break it for my husband too."

And just like that, something glass-like cracked in the air.

A pulse of dark energy surged from her chest and spiraled outward. The magic bindings around Easton dissolved like mist. His dull eyes snapped open, and the moment Sienna gave the signal, he moved like a blade released from its sheath.

He lunged at Althea from behind.

She had been standing a few feet away from where Iyana was fighting against Wyatt, healing the swordsperson on their side with glowing hands from a distance

It seemed like her entire focus was on weaving back Iyana's wounds.

However, even mid-heal, she sensed the incoming attack and instantly summoned a sword to her hand. Their blades clashed with a harsh screech, sparks flying.

Sienna tilted her head slightly, as if admiring her own curated chaos.

"I'll engage your healer now," she purred, watching Althea with cold amusement, "so that those two can't recover."

"You talk," Clyde growled, his grip on her throat tightening again, "as if I'm going to let you do whatever the hell you want."

"Oh, I will," she said with a light, cruel laugh. "I always do whatever I want. Just like I did with your brother."

Clyde's heart skipped.

"...What do you mean by that?" His voice lowered, but the threat was building beneath it.

Sienna's smile didn't waver. If anything, it grew colder.

"What I mean is…" she leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper that slid like oil into his ears, "Whatever your brother did to you—kidnapping you, trying to kill you? That wasn't just him. It was because of our provocation. We twisted him. Broke him. Then..."

She tilted her head again, eyes glittering.

"We got rid of him once our job was done."

Clyde's entire body stiffened.

"...Got rid of him?" he asked slowly, his voice brittle, as if saying the words aloud might crack him open.

His hand trembled. Just slightly.

Sienna nodded with mock sympathy. "It means he is dead. Your brother didn't run away out of shame." Her eyes narrowed, and with quiet finality, she said, "I killed him."

"You—" His breath hitched.

No. No.

No, no, no. That couldn't be right. Myke was cruel. Immature. Irresponsible. Twisted. But Clyde— he might have stopped expecting anything from Myke, but Clyde had never given up on him. Even when Myke spat spiteful words at him. Even when he hurt him. Even when he tried to kill him. He was still his little brother.

Clyde had hoped, prayed, that someday, he'd understand. That one day Myke would realize he didn't need to be jealous of Clyde. All he needed to do was ask him for help and Clyde would drop everything for his sake.

But now…

There was no coming back.

There was no more time.

There would be no older version of Myke that finally looked him in the eye and apologized.

Because he was gone.

Because she killed him.

And that fragile, final thread in Clyde's mind—snapped.

He stopped shaking.

His eyes turned flat, dead. Fury deeper than flames surged inside him, but it was cold. So cold it burned.

Sienna smirked again, victorious.

"That's right," she whispered, eyes glowing with dark joy, "that's what I need. For your mind to break. For your heart to crumble. For your rage to twist you into my puppet." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

She leaned closer, still in his grip, and whispered like a devil into the ear of a man whose soul she had claimed.

"You're mine now."