"Last time I visited, you were so chill. What’s up with the mood swings now, Elias?" Viella asked walking towards him. "Are you on your period? You want me to buy you some flowers and chocolate?" The mock in her voice was clearly visible.

"I am asking one last time- tell me how you managed to steal all my data and release it!!!" Elias shouted, his face turning red outta anger. The veins in his neck popped.

Boredom was visible on Viella’s face. She let out a long sigh. "Tsk... you’re no fun, Elias. Shouting so loudly in such a big house. you’ll give yourself a migraine." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Anyways, you wanted to destroy my brother’s business. You wanted to kill my people just to prove a point," she said, her voice dropping the playful tone for something much sharper.

"So, I simply destroyed yours. You spent so much time trying to make me your puppet, playing god with your little ’plot,’ that you forgot the most basic rule of security: the human element."

She stopped, turning to face him fully. The light from the chandelier caught the cold glint in her eyes.

"I didn’t have to hack into your servers, Elias. That’s too much work, and I’d hate to ruin my manicure. I just had to buy your own people. Your head of security? His daughter needed a surgery you wouldn’t pay for. Your lead developer? He was tired of being your footstool." She shrugged.

"I offered them more than just money. I offered them a way out from under you. And boom... there you go."

She tilted her head, a cruel smirk playing on her lips. "Money always works you know~"

Elias felt his blood boiling. The realization hitting him- It was his own men, the ones he thought he owned had turned their backs on him for a better price.

"You think you can just buy the world I built?" Elias hissed, his hands shaking as he stepped toward her. "I created this! I wrote every detail of this reality!"

"And yet," Viella interrupted, her smirk widening into a cold grin, "you couldn’t even write yourself a loyal staff. How embarrassing for an ’Author.’ You’re sitting in a house full of traitors, Elias. How does it feel to be the only one left who believes in your own story?"

Elias let out a low growl, his fingers curling into a fist as he stepped into her personal space. The air between them felt intense. He loomed over her, his shadow swallowing her small frame.

"Loyalty is a fairy tale for the weak, Viella," he hissed, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and a strange admiration. "I didn’t want their loyalty, I wanted their fear. If they sold me out for a paycheck, it just proves I was right about one thing : everyone has a price. Even you."

He leaned in closer, his breath hot against her ear.

"You think you’ve won because you played with my bank accounts and leaked some files? You’re still just a character in a room I designed. You’re sitting on my couch, in my house, breathing the air I gave you. You can buy my servers, you can buy my guards, but you can’t buy the ending. I’m the one holding the pen, and I haven’t decided to let you walk out of this mansion yet."

"Oh, is that so? And who is going to stop me from leaving? You... or your guards who are no longer among the living?"

Viella’s laughter enchoed.

Elias stayed still. He looked toward the grand entrance, then toward the servant quarters. The silence was deafening.

Then suddenly he remembered when he had drive into the driveway, there were no guards at the gate.

When he burst through the doors, there was no maids as well.

"What? Can’t process the reality before you?" Viella tilted her head, her eyes flashing with a predatory light.

"Do you still believe I am that pathetic Vivien? The weak girl who could only tremble while you moved her like a piece on a board? I told you... I am Calestine Viella. The true owner of this world. The original Villainess. And as the ’Author,’ you should know best of all- what happens when a Villainess decides to strike"

She smirked, her gaze fixed on him.

Elias let out a shriek, his face twisting into a mask of pure madness. "You think I need guards to suppress a mere character? I created you! I am enough to destroy you!"

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a dagger from his coat- the very weapon used to kill the original Viella. He licked his lips, his eyes bloodshot. "I killed you once, and I will relish killing you again!"

With a roar Elias lunged. His movements were fast.

Whoosh!

Within The second he was Infront of her.

Viella didn’t panic. Her body moved with grace. She stepped lightly to the left, the hem of her dress fluttering. In the same motion, she reached into her thigh holster.

Click-clack!

She drew a silver handgun and fired.

BANG!

The bullet grazed Elias’s ear, drawing a little bit of blood but he didn’t slow down. Driven by the killing intent he spun in mid air, using his momentum to launch a second strike.

The blade whistled toward Viella’s throat.

Viella raised her weapon, using the reinforced barrel of the gun to dodge the strike.

CLANG!

Metal sparked against metal. The vibration traveled up their arms, but neither retreated.

Elias was like a mad dog, his strikes wild and unpredictable. He slashed at her chest, then her legs, forcing Viella into a defensive retreat.

They moved across the hall, their shadows dancing wildly against the floor.

Elias let out a high stab, but as Viella raised her arm to block, he suddenly dropped his body. He lunged forward aiming directly for her abdomen.

Viella’s eyes narrowed. She tried to pivot, but the edge of her gown caught beneath her heel for a split second.

It was the only opening Elias needed.

Squelch!

The sharp cold steel of the dagger tore through the fabric of her sleeve and sank deep into the flesh of her upper arm.

Viella gasped as a sudden sharp pain jolted in her body sending her staggering back against a cold marble pillar.

She didn’t scream. Instead, she stood perfectly still, her breath hitching as hot blood began to soak the silk of her sleeve. The red liquid dripped onto the white floor.

She clutched her wounded arm. She looked down at the blood, then up at Elias.

Elias stood a few paces away, his chest going up and down. A terrifying grin stretching across his face. He held the bloody dagger and watched the blood dripping with satisfaction.

"In the end you’re nothing but a mare villainess Infront of me," Elias hissed, his voice trembling with a sick joy. "Your plot ends here, Viella!"

Elias approached her with a slow stride, expecting to see a woman shivering in her final moments. He watched the blood soak her sleeve. But as he drew closer, he realized her shoulders weren’t shaking from fear- they were shaking from suppressed laughter.

Viella looked up at him and finally let out a mocking giggle. She pulled her hand away from the "wound" and Elias Stopped in his track.

The bleeding had stopped instantly. As if by magic, the tear in her flesh closed and vanished, leaving her skin as smooth as pale jade.

"How... how is that possible?" Elias muttered, his voice trembling with frustration.

"I mean, if the dagger is fake, shouldn’t the wound be fake too, isn’t it?" Viella mocked.

Elias stared at the blade in his hand. He had felt it sink into her. He had seen the fresh blood. He stood there in utter disbelief.

"What? Can’t believe your own eyes?" Viella stepped forward. "Pfft. Did you really think I was dumb enough to leave the original dagger out in the open for your men to find? You truly are stupid, Elias."

Elias looked at his own hand where he once stabbed with the same dagger. He watched it bleed. There’s no way he got deceived by her.

His eyes landed on her arm, where the silk of her dress had been torn away. Beneath the bloody fabric, something was drawn into her skin. He grabbed her wrist, yanking her hand forward to get a closer look.

His pupils shook. Carved into her skin were the same symbol he used to control all the characters in this book and their soul.

Viella’s smirk widened into a victorious grin. "Don’t tell me you don’t know this trick, ’Author.’ Hahaha! Oops... I beat you at your own game again."

Before he could utter another word, Viella’s leg flashed out in a powerful strike.

THUD.

The kick caught him off guard and it landed on his chest, sending him scrambling back across the marble floor.

Elias collapsed against the base of a statue, gasping for air as the world spun. Before he could even try to stand, he felt the cold, hard press of a steel barrel against his heart.

Viella stood over him, the silver gun pointed directly at his chest, her eyes cold.

She shot him directly in his chest, the bullet piercing the exact spot where Lily had been shot in the previous event.

The impact sent Elias reeling back against the cold marble pillar, blood rushing out across his white shirt wetting it.

Despite the hole in his lung, he let out a blood flecked grin. "You think... this can kill me? I am the one who wrote the rules of death here..."

Viella simply shook her head, her expression calm. She reached into her waist and pulled out the original dagger.

"The bullet won’t," she whispered. "But this can... I just had to take the revenge first, you know~"

She grinned with total maniac expression.

Elias stopped grinning. The sight of the true dagger, extinguished the last spark of arrogance in his eyes.

"Goodbye~"

With that, Viella lunged forward and plunged the dagger deep into his heart. She didn’t stop at one. She stabbed him again and again. The sound of metal meeting flesh echoed through the silent mansion until Elias’s body finally went limp.

Viella stood up, smoothing her dress and wiping a stray drop of blood from her cheek.

She reached into her pocket, pulled out a single Uno Reverse card, the same one he gave her and tossed it carelessly onto his cooling body.

She turned and began walking away, her heels clicking rhythmically on the marble.

Elias, struggling for his final breaths, watched the card settle on his chest. He watched her retreating as the light in the foyer slowly began to fade into a dark, hazy grey.

"The game... isn’t over yet..." he muttered as his eyes finally closed.

Viella didn’t look back. She pushed open the heavy doors and stepped out into the night, the world finally belonging to her

Finally she was free from Elias’s sick game and Dante’s obsession.....

Or so she thought.

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TO BE CONTINUED