The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Swoosh!

Another swing of the sword made it seem like the air was cut into two.

Arthur stood in the centre surrounded by trees on all sides, as he swung a black sword that was loosely held in his right hand.

Well... If one observed carefully, the sword wasn’t even in his hand, but was held just between his fingers, that too on the side of its blade.

Yes...

Arthur wasn’t holding the sword by its hilt, but by its blade, as he swung it in a defined motion, without a hint of losing control over the blade.

The edge of the blade gleamed in the sunlight, as Arthur moved the sword in another wide arc.

Garthel—That was the name of the sword in Arthur’s hand.

A rare Mythical grade artifact—one of the strongest weapons available on the planet.

Arthur’s training had nearly ended, as he observed the blade in his hand for a second longer before storing it away.

It was nearly afternoon, and Arthur now had to return to his house to have lunch with his daughter.

Thinking about Sophie, a small smile unknowingly formed on Arthur’s face, as he closed his eyes in bliss.

Sophie had been healed...

Arthur still couldn’t believe the fact that his daughter was now free of the disease that had plagued her for the entirety of her life, giving nothing other than sheer pain and loneliness.

If his wife had been alive, then maybe... Sophie wouldn’t have suffered much, but Arthur knew better.

The pain would have always been there, it was just that the ways to deal with it would have been more in number, if Sophie’s mother had been alive.

A father couldn’t provide the comfort which was a specialty of a mother.

Arthur had always tried his best to play the role of both parents for Sophie, but... there was a limit to what a lone man could do.

Arthur sighed thinking about the life his daughter had been freed from.

Kael...

Even in a lifetime, Arthur knew he wouldn’t be able to repay the kid for what he had done for them.

Thinking about Kael, it had been a day since he had teleported to Azuna.

That kid... Arthur knew Kael would never stop until his goals were achieved.

Though on the surface he showed that his goals were about world domination... Arthur didn’t believe it.

Kael... The face he had before everyone, Arthur didn’t believe it was the real him or maybe... it was.

It was hard to get a read on that kid no matter how much Arthur tried.

Kael would always have an answer to every problem.

Kael wasn’t just a genius... He was something more than that.

There was a limit to what intelligence could achieve, but in the last two years, Arthur had observed and analysed every move that Kael had made.

Some way or the other, things always went the way Kael wanted them to.

Arthur himself was a decent strategist, but he knew that not even in his lifetime would he ever be able to come close to Kael’s level.

Creating a plan and executing it with perfection was one thing, but Kael—

His plans were made in a way that they left no margin for error.

It was like Kael knew the future, and could therefore predict the flow of all events, from—

Knowing what would make Arthur swear his loyalty to him, trusting the fact that Arthur wouldn’t betray him, making the Mad Alchemist work for him, opening an alchemy guild, a bank, an organization that was now controlling nearly all the criminals in the Veltran Empire, and was even spreading to the territories of the other races at a pace that was hard to believe.

In a mere span of two years, D.X. had become something that could be considered as a major power in the world, capable of influencing the events that occur in Jutan.

Despite witnessing everything with his own eyes, Arthur himself could never believe the ease with which everything had progressed according to Kael’s plans.

Arthur sighed again, as he removed all unnecessary thoughts from his mind.

He had now pledged his allegiance, and Kael had completed his end of the deal.

It was now Arthur’s turn to make sure that his benefactor wasn’t harmed in any way.

A buzzing sound made Arthur turn to his right, where his communication device lit up, as its sound echoed across the silent forest.

Moving towards the device, Arthur accepted the request for communication, as Sophie’s voice came from the other end.

"Dad, are you done?"

"Prepare the table, I will soon be there."

Arthur replied to Sophie’s question as he took out a mana stone in his hand.

"Uhh... Okay. Just be quick."

The communication was cut off from the other end, as Arthur placed the device in its previous place, while heading towards a raised platform in the centre of the training facility that he was in.

Sitting cross-legged, Arthur took out a knife from his storage, before making a clean cut across his abdomen.

Blood spilled out from the wound, as Arthur observed the mana stone in his hand, which was roughly the size of a marble.

Though the stone’s size was smaller than the last one, Arthur could feel that the quantity and quality of essence in this little one was far more than the previous stone.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur stabilised his mind, as he slowly inserted the mana stone through the cut in his abdomen.

The pain began to overwhelm his body, as the mana stone was placed near the mana core, which began to react the moment the distance was closed.

Anything to do with the mana core always resulted in a lot of pain, as the core was the most important part of the body.

It could even be called an individual’s soul.

Arthur’s mana core had begun to absorb the essence from the mana stone, healing itself in the process.

Arthur didn’t interrupt the absorption in any way, though he regulated the rate of absorption as sometimes the core would try to absorb the essence at a faster pace, making the mana stone tremble in Arthur’s abdomen from the sheer intensity of the absorption.

Still... Arthur didn’t even twitch his brows as the pain increased with every passing moment.

Arthur had to get stronger...

For Sophie and—

Kael.