Ascension Of The Villain

"Ew," Vyan said, scrunching up his nose at Iyana's heartfelt expression.

"Pardon?" Her face twisted into a storm of anger and annoyance. "What did you just say?"

"You are covered in the saliva of a creature that hasn't cleaned its mouth since the dawn of time, Iyana. What do you think I said?" He cringed, holding her as if she were a radiation-emitting sack.

How dare he? She was fighting tooth and nail to save everyone at the camp for his sake, so he wouldn't get blamed for any casualties, and he had the audacity to be disgusted by her!

Feeling petty, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer. The slick saliva on her clothes smeared onto his. "You are not so clean yourself anymore, either. How about that?"

"Great. Now, we are both ew," Vyan deadpanned.

"Ye—" Suddenly, a big splash of water drenched them both.

They turned to glare at Clyde, who stood there looking unapologetic.

"Sorry, but you both really needed a rinse. This is just gross," Clyde said with a shrug. "And by the way, I am about to pass out from mana exhaustion here. It's taking everything I have got to keep that colossal beast restrained."

Vyan sighed, while Iyana felt little soothing warm sparks covering her as magic spread over her body and clothes, drying her in seconds thanks to the man holding her.

"Just hold on for ten seconds, Clyde. I will handle the rest after that," Vyan said, teleporting a short distance away from the monster. He gently set Iyana against a tree. "Take a breather here for now."

He was about to turn away when she grabbed his wrist. "Hey, Clyde told me you can't move or breathe around black energy. So..." Her face was full of concern, hesitant to ask, "How are you staying alright right now?"

A mischievous smile spread across his face. "It's a secret."

"What—" she started, but paused as she noticed a dark look flash in his eyes when his gaze fell on the charred skin of her left upper arm. Goosebumps prickled her skin, but as she blinked, that darkness was gone, replaced by a tight-lipped smile.

"I will wrap this up soon and get you and the others to the medical facility. Just hang tight for a bit."

Before she could get another word out, he vanished from sight, leaving her to pray for his safety.

Little did she know, it was the Nocturnus Titan who now needed the prayers.

Vyan motioned for Clyde to back away. Through their telepathy, Clyde asked, 'Will you be fine all on your own?'

'Yes, don't worry, I have been taught by the best, unless, of course, I was lied to,' Vyan responded playfully, hinting at how Clyde self-proclaimed to be Vyan's magic teacher on the first day they had met.

'In that case, I have nothing to worry about. Because I assure you that you weren't scammed,' Clyde grinned. He had never doubted Vyan, and he wasn't about to start now. With a final nod, he stepped back from the battlefield.

Vyan stood alone, facing the massive, headless Nocturnus Titan. Its hulking form was thrashing wildly and spewing torrents of fire in every direction. Each step of the monster made the ground tremble, sending ripples through the earth and shaking the trees around them.

There was no fear in Vyan's eyes. Yes, he was having a breakdown earlier, but after having some time to cool down his head, he realized it was pointless to worry about what the consequences were going to be.

Sometimes all one needed was just a little bit of time to collect oneself. If Vyan had come onto the battlefield earlier, he would have made more of a mess than help out. He couldn't express how grateful he was to get this time, thanks to Clyde, Iyana, Theodore, and Spencer, who had thrown themselves in the way to stop the enemy.

But right now, he was calm and composed. And ready to end this battle.

As a scorching wave of fire rushed towards Vyan, he merely scoffed. "Seriously? Using fire against an Ashstone?"

With even lifting his finger, the inferno died instantly, as if snuffed out by an unseen force.

The Titan's movements faltered, its confusion palpable even without a head, unable to comprehend why its fiery breath wouldn't come out any longer.

Vyan didn't bother to enlighten it; explaining how he could both create and destroy fire to a mindless beast seemed a waste of time. After all, it was the evil wits and intelligence of a demon that set them apart from being a monster, despite the latter being far stronger than the former. Therefore, the lack of human-level intelligence worked as the best advantage for the Titan's enemies.

As Titan flailed its massive arms in a fit of frustration, Vyan gathered the unconscious forms of Theodore and Spencer and deposited them safely out of harm's way. His movements were smooth as he reappeared atop the Titan's broad shoulder, gazing down at the armored chest below.

"Hmm, how to crack these scales?" Vyan mused aloud, twitching his lips. "Destructive magic would be the easy way to go, but…" He might take down the entire forest if his calculation went just a little bit off. He could afford that mistake with the five feet Talonraith, but not with the big-ass eighteen feet Nocturnus Titan.

The memory of Iyana's burned arm flashed through his mind, which twisted his chest once more. With that, he finally decided on his weapon.

Summoning the wind spirits, Vyan allowed them to carry him gently to the front of the Titan, positioning himself directly before its chest.

"I will beat you with your own element, alright," he murmured, raising his palm and channeling his energy. Because he believed anything could be melted as long as it was set to the perfect temperature.

A blaze of blue flames erupted from his hand, hotter than anything the Titan could muster. The flames licked at the armored scales, melting and warping the chest scales with relentless heat.

The Titan's body convulsed, its arms flailing in a desperate, headless attempt to fend off the searing assault. But without its head, the poor thing couldn't even scream.

As the blue inferno continued to chip away at the monster's defenses, a wicked grin made its way on Vyan's face.

"Feeling a bit hot under the collar? Let me help." Orange flames erupted on the Titan's exposed flesh above the jaw, sending waves of excruciating heat coursing through the creature's body.

The Titan's movements grew more frantic, its agony evident in every jerky motion.

"Oh, we are just getting started." Vyan chuckled darkly as he recalled the images of his knights slaughtered on the ground. "You crushed my knights with those hands and feet, didn't you?" He conjured a series of fiery tendrils that wrapped around the Titan's limbs, tightening with each passing second.

"Now, how about a little taste of your own medicine?" Vyan sneered, creating a ring of fire that encircled the Titan's neck stump. The flames danced and flickered, sending searing pain through the creature's body.

Vyan watched with cold satisfaction as the Titan's thrashing grew weaker, its strength ebbing away under his merciless assault.

As the scales over its chest finally melted away, Vyan started to say, "Let—" he coughed a little and resumed with the same determination, "Let's end it now."

With a cruel twist of his hand, he sent a surge of concentrated heat straight into the Titan's chest, targeting the very core of its being. The monster's body arched in a final, desperate spasm as the flames consumed it from the inside out.

"Burn," Vyan hissed, his eyes gleaming with vindictive delight.

The Titan's chest exploded in a shower of molten scales and charred flesh, its massive form collapsing in a smoldering heap. Finally, this was over.

"Geez, you went so overboard," Clyde commented, appearing behind Vyan. He had been watching from afar, his eyes narrowing in concern.

Without turning around, Vyan ordered, "Take Sir Jacques, Spencer, and Iyana to Thea. Get them healed."

"I will do that, but aren't you coming?" Clyde arched an eyebrow.

"I will be there in a bit. I have something to check," Vyan replied, a trickle of blood sliding down the corner of his mouth, unnoticed by Clyde.

Clyde hesitated, sensing something was off with Vyan's behavior, but nodded. "Alright," he said, disappearing into the wind.

As soon as Clyde was gone, Vyan let out the violent cough he had been holding back.

Blood sprayed across the ground in dark, wet splatters as he collapsed to his knees, each cough wrenching more from his lungs. He clutched his chest, the searing pain like molten iron coursing through his veins, gasping desperately for air. His vision flickered, the world around him dissolving into a hazy blur.

His body convulsed uncontrollably, every muscle seizing in agony, his skin slick with cold sweat.

"Shit, that was a bad—" he gasped for oxygen, "bad move. It hurts... hurts so much. Ahh..."

He had cast a spell on himself to pause any harm to his body for a certain amount of time, allowing the damage to accumulate until the spell ended. It was a lost spell, mostly used to delay imminent death. Turns out learning random spells had its benefits, even if it came at a hefty price.

However, Vyan hadn't anticipated his body to have reacted so violently due to the monster's dark presence. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and his heart was being stabbed with thousands of needles while being mercilessly squeezed at the same time.

Minutes passed, but the pain didn't cease. "Oh, come on, I didn't even stay in the monster's presence that long. This... this is so unfair."

He struggled to understand why the pain wasn't stopping when suddenly a sultry voice called, "Vyan."

And suddenly, his question was answered.

He barely raised his head, meeting the venomous brown eyes.

"So you could use magic all along, huh? It's my bad I could never tell until now," Sienna uttered, her long light brown curls bouncing over her black cloak. "Also, if I knew you were so weak to black magic, I wouldn't have bothered sending my pets to the battlefield. I would have paid you a little visit myself."

Each step she took towards Vyan made the pain worse. She was intentionally releasing more of her black aura.

"You saved the day," she smirked, standing before him and looking down, "but who will save you now?"