Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead-Chapter 222: Another Enemy?

I felt like I had just been pulled out from drowning.

My body hit the ground on my knees, hands trembling as I sucked on air like some madman.

For a second, I didn't even know where I was. My head ached and my vision swam with black spots, my whole body feeling like it wasn't even mine.

I was back, I realised.

I stared down at my own shaky fingers, blood and dust smeared over my knuckles. The metallic taste in my mouth made me gag, and when I spat, it came out red.

My throat stung, arms shaking, but deep inside…there was silence.

The other version of me, the one that always pushed, screamed, cursed me while I didn't even know was gone.

A slow quietness filled my chest. My body was my own again.

"Noah."

I turned my head slowly inside my mind. Damien's soul floated there, his imaginary face seemingly pale and wet with sweat.

Meanwhile Dario, for the first time everything started, his eyes didn't look like he was about to cut me down.

Instead, they were wide…relieved.

"You're…back," he whispered, like he couldn't believe it.

I tried to answer but my throat closed up. I coughed hard, almost vomiting from the taste of bile and blood again as I managed to force out, "Yeah…I think so."

The electric blue haired boy let out a breath that shook his whole chest. His steps looked wobbly as he closed his eyes for a moment, like he'd just escaped something worse than death.

Around us, I felt the weight of dozens of eyes. The whole area had gone quiet.

My family members, soldiers, they were all staring at me as no one moved.

Their weapons were still raised, but their expressions weren't just filled with hate anymore.

It was confusion and hesitation.

Because now…now they weren't sure.

And I couldn't blame them.

I was the same body that had been tearing through them mercilessly just minutes ago.

But the way I stood, the way I looked at them, it wasn't the same anymore.

I wasn't hacking at them without remorse. I wasn't laughing in madness.

I was just Noah.

One of the older men muttered, "Was…was he really possessed?" His voice shook, but it wasn't loud enough to sound like he was accusing me, more like he was trying to make sense of what just happened.

Another spat on the ground, glaring at me. "He killed our people. Doesn't matter if it was him or something inside him."

My fists clenched, nails digging in my palm as I looked at these hypocrites.

I didn't even know if they were right. Maybe it didn't matter. Those people my split personality had killed were dead.

My split personality had taken control, but it was still my hands that did it.

Dario stepped forward, sword still gripped, his eyes sharp but not burning with the same fury as before.

His lips tightened like he didn't know what to say either. For once, the loudmouth didn't have an insult ready. He was thinking, and the worst part was I didn't even know what I did for the funny guy to change so much.

That silence started pressing against my chest, heavier and heavier. I had to break it.

I straightened up, forcing my legs to stop shaking, and raised my voice. "I don't care what you think I am.

Possessed or not.

That doesn't matter."

They all stared at me, waiting.

I pointed to Pixie, who was still beside Grandpa Venus, unconscious but alive.

"What matters is...as long as I'm breathing, you don't lay a finger on her. As long as I live, none of you will touch her."

The words came out sharper than I planned, cutting through the sudden relief they had just experienced.

For a second, I thought they'd all jump at me anyway.

But they didn't.

I could see it in their faces, their eyes moving between me, Grandpa, and Pixie. Their anger was still there, but doubt had wormed its way in.

They were asking themselves: 'Had he really been the one doing all that? Or was it something else inside him?'

Dario's grip on his sword loosened just slightly. He exhaled through his nose, his voice sad and broken. "If what you say is true…then you'd better control whatever the hell that thing was.

Because next time…" His eyes turned into pinholes. "Next time, I won't hesitate."

I didn't flinch, just nodded. "Fair enough."

Grandpa suddenly stepped between us then, his hand raised like he was trying to calm everyone down.

His voice was rigid, though I could still hear the relief hidden in it. "He's telling the truth. It wasn't him before. But it's him now. And we can't waste more time fighting each other."

For the first time since I'd known him, Dario didn't bite back with a cocky remark. He just stared at me, his jaw tight, and gave a small nod.

Everyone behind him shifted uneasily, lowering their weapons, but they didn't look away.

The battlefield went from a storm to a fragile truce in just a few seconds.

And for the first time, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I wasn't alone anymore.

I let out a shaky breath, turning my head to Pixie. She looked like a mess, and from the way of things around me, I guess she still hadn't completed whatever this transition was.

Grandpa's mood, in the meantime looked extremely sombre.

It was subtle at first but as I followed his line of sight, I realised that speck of dot in the air slowly growing larger and larger.

This continued as more and more people of the family realised as the light of the sun dimmed from above us as a shape began to take form, unnatural and jagged, its presence alone seemed enough to make my chest tighten like chains wrapping around it.

Voices started whispering around me.

Fearful and disbelieving.

I couldn't look away.

Because I knew that shape.

Everyone here knew it.

It was a Kalki. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Not just any Hollow...but the same one that had stolen the Hollow weapon in the greatest auction in the Century!!

And now, for some unknown reason....it was here.

Bearing down on us.

***