Transmigrated as the Villain: I Will Destroy Fate

Chapter 177: Revert [1]

He opened his eyes to a white ceiling.

For a moment, there was only the sterile, silent room and the faint scent of antiseptic and medicine.

Then his memory returned, not as a trickle, but as a flood into his brain.

The battle royale. The shattered boundary. Mesmer’s voice speaking through Mira’s corpse. Lilith’s manic attack. Jason Vrell’s grief-hardened face. The sword coming down. And then the darkness, the red ribbon, and the ’choice.’

His heart, and even his second one, beating in the bottom of his stomach where he placed it, turned to a stone of ice in his chest. He remembered accepting Yeon Li’s offer. Not from trust. Not from desire. But from necessity.

Death was not an acceptable outcome.

Ronan pulled up his status page, his gaze bypassing everything – skills, stats, notifications.

His skills had gone up.

So had his mana core. It went from rank 2 initial stage to rank to middle stage. Again, the leech had spit in his face and increased it for him. But this time, Ronan felt less annoyance than the last time, because before he thought he could do it himself.

This time, he wasn’t so sure. He needed everything he could get.

He went straight to the timer counting down his life.

The number stopped his thoughts cold.

[Demon Leech Assimilation: 92 days remaining]

Ninety-two days. Three months.

He stared, the number burning itself into his mind. Before, he had nearly three hundred days. Now, his time had been gutted, quartered, reduced to a sliver. Dread settled through him. There was no way.

The task had been nearly impossible before, but he had been operating with the assumption that time was a resource he could still manage.

He had planned to use the Radiant Crown Tournament, to reach the Sanctum of Light, to seize the crown and absorb its divine energy.

He had thought that if he reached the crown with two hundred days left, its power might double or triple his remaining time. Four hundred days. Maybe six hundred, if he was lucky. It would have bought him room. Not safety, but room to maneuver, and then later to find a permanent solution.

Now, that entire strategy was ash.

By the time the tournament reached its conclusion, he might have only days left. Three. Five at most. Even if the crown worked exactly as he hoped, it would only be a reset, pushing his deadline back to where he started. One hundred days. Maybe two hundred.

He would simply be back to step 1. And unlike before, if he failed, then he would simply die.

Ronan felt a deep, chilling displeasure.

But there was no other option.

The crown was still his best chance.

His only chance.

What else could he do?

He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

A nurse in a crisp uniform noticed him, her eyes widening.

She seemed kind, but the moment she made eye contact with him, she flinched. She quickly tried to gain her professional composure.

"Sir Ashbourne, you’re awake. You shouldn’t be moving yet–"

Ronan did not give her time to finish.

He stood, testing his body.

No pain. His arms, once burned down to the bone, were whole. His chest, once shattered, felt solid.

The Leech had repaired him too well.

This is concerning. What if the Academy questions this? I will have to make an excuse.

The nurse hurried toward him, her hands outstretched as if to gently push him back onto the bed. "Please, sir, you need to rest. You’re not ready to leave."

He looked at her, his expression utterly flat, and used his name like a blade.

"Who do you think you are talking to? I am the Ashbourne heir, I believe you should know this. You are a commoner. Do not think you have the right to obstruct me."

She froze, the words striking her with the force of a physical blow.

Ronan walked past her without another glance.

He could not afford a single wasted minute. He needed a new plan. A foolproof one. The Radiant Crown Tournament was the center of everything, but the original novel was no longer a reliable map. He had to create plans, then backup plans.

The Academy halls were a testament to the attack. The damage was clear.

Rough patches of new stone marred the walls. Some doors were missing entirely. The polished floors were webbed with cracks, and the protective runes before were more scarct.

The school was functioning, but only just.

He had been unconscious long enough for stabilization, not for repair. Long enough for questions to begin.

But that was still too long to be unconscious for. He needed to know the situation.

He reached the boys’ dormitory wing.

And walked straight past it, towards the girls’ dormitory without hesitation.

His presence sent ripples through the hallway, and heads turned.

Girls stared. Whispers broke out among the girls like wildfire. However, none dared to stop him, avoiding his gaze when he went to make eye contact with them.

He didn’t understand why.

He thought he would face some resistance at least, but he wasn’t one to face a gift horse in his mouth.

Then he saw Irene.

She froze, her eyes finding his.

Surprise changed into an alarm. She glanced left and right, her posture rigid with the impropriety of his being here.

"Ronan? This is the girls’ dormitory. What do you think you’re doing here?" Then ask if she meant to ask along, she continued. "When did you wake up?"

He contemplated walking past her, but decided she could answer an important question for him while she was here. "Has Father requested a meeting?"

The question caught her completely off guard.

Her disciplined composure wavered. "He has... How did you know?"

"Date?"

"Huh? He... didn’t specify," she said, surprised by his bluntness.

"I will meet him tomorrow."

He gave her a short, dismissive nod and walked past.

Irene’s irritation seemed to rise, and she followed him with her eyes. "Where are you going?"

He stopped in front of a specific door.

Aura’s door. He knocked once, the sound sharp in the tense hallway, creating a loud noise.

"Why," Irene’s voice was extremely suspicious, "are you knocking on Aura Acheron’s door?"

The door swung open. Aura stood there, an annoyed expression on her face that changed into shock when she saw him.

Ronan turned his head just enough to look back at Irene, his face a blank mask. He gave her the simplest, most effective answer.

"She’s my girlfriend."

He paused for effect, then added, without a flicker of hesitation.

"We’re going to have sex."

Irene looked at him slack jawed.

Aura’s face went crimson, and she looked like a tomato at that moment.

She dragged him into the room and slammed the door shut, leaving his sister standing alone in the silent, gaping hallway.

The room was... pink. Plushies of – pink – demonic-looking but undeniably cute creatures were piled on her bed. Delicate, flowery curtains framed the window. It reminded him of the ’Hello Kitty girl’ aesthetic he had seen online in his past life. A strange, jarring contrast to the noble demon who now had him pinned against the door.

A sharp contrast to those gothic clothes she wore all the time.

Aura did not give him time to analyse her decor.

She grabbed his collar and got on top of him, putting her hand on his neck. Her face was furious, completely red.

"What was that!?"

Ronan remained perfectly still, his expression unchanged. "A cover. We’ll be meeting frequently over the next three months. We need a convenient excuse."

"So you say I’m your g-girlfriend?!" She stammered with a glare. Then, she physically calmed herself down, her face still fully red. "Was... was the last part necessary?"

"It was," he said, his voice flat. "If they believe we have a sexual relationship, it excuses our presence in suspicious places. A dark corner or a restricted path after hours. It can all be dismissed as two students sneaking away for sex."

"S-sex?! C-call it intimacy o-or making love. Not that crude term," Aura coughed, visibly struggling to recover her composure. She pushed herself off him, crossing her arms. "I’m not so immature that I’d be bothered by something like that, however. We are nobles, however. We are above that!"

"Good."

She shot him a glare, then her eyes darted away. "You never even asked me out."

"I was unconscious."

"That’s not an–!" She cut herself off, then let out a frustrated breath.

"You don’t have to worry. I have no intention of actually dating you. It’s a ruse, that’s all."

For a second, Aura’s expression shifted into something he could not read.

He did not let the silence grow.

"Were you questioned?"

Her focus snapped back to him, her expression turning serious. "You know I was there? At the end?"

He nodded.

"I saw you approach through Yeon Li’s eyes before I passed out."

"Who is Yeon Li?"

"The name of the Demon Leech," he explained. "I saw fragments of his – his – memories."

"So the assimilation has advanced." It was not a question.

"Not from the memories alone. The Leech forced a choice on me. Die, or accept its help to survive. To make its point, it showed me a memory where it – where Yeon Li – was forced to choose between his wife and his child."

He told her the story, making sure to include everything important.

Aura’s brow furrowed. "That doesn’t make any–"

"Don’t say it," Ronan cut her off. "I already know."

Yeon Li could hear them, and he didn’t want Yeon Li to hear the conversation that would stem from this.

It was not a parallel at all, even Aura knew that. Yeon Li’s tragedy and Ronan’s situation were nothing alike.

The Leech, from its warped, ancient perspective, seemed to believe Ronan’s refusal to surrender his autonomy was a form of pride. Like surrendering his body to the leech was some sort of shameful act for him. Yeon Li had actually believed he was giving Ronan a choice.

It was absurd. He would sacrifice almost anything to continue living in this new world.

He moved on.

"What did you tell the Academy?"

"I wasn’t questioned about it in depth," she said. "I told them the barrier broke. That I fought some of the lesser demons. Then a massive red pillar of energy erupted, and I ran toward it, thinking someone was in danger."

Ronan nodded. Not a bad story. It was vague enough not to interfere with whatever he decided to report.

But it left another, more dangerous loose end.

"Seraphina." The name was cold. "I need to meet with her. Soon."

He thought of the Leech’s actions.

What a fool, Yeon Li, you have truly inconvenienced me.

Yeon Li had killed Jason without a thought but had healed the princess. Leaving a witness, a royal witness at that, had been foolish. A grave mistake.

You should have killed Serapina there when you had the chance, but instead you heal her?

But if he was here, in an infirmary, and not locked in a subterranean cell being tortured for information, it meant Seraphina had not talked.

That did not mean she was safe.

He’d... have to control her.

Aura looked at him for a long moment, her frown deepening.

He noticed her stare.

"What is it?"

"You seem... different."

"How?"

She pointed at him, her gaze narrowing.

"For the first time since we started speaking," she said, her voice quiet and serious, "you haven’t called me that accursed nickname once. And you haven’t smiled, once"

The observation hung in the air between them.