I Am The Game's Villain Chapter 758: [Final Event] [Blood Moon Festival] [40] Reunion With Jayden Rayena

A few moments prior...

"Are you certain it's smart to chase after him?" Jennyfer questioned, her tone laced with concern even as she dashed forward at top speed.

She kept pace right next to Jayden, with Alector charging several paces in front.

The instant Leon vanished completely, Alector wasted no time. Being the Guardian of the Holy Tree, he couldn't possibly overlook a figure like Leon in any scenario—a being of overwhelming strength, impossible to predict, striding boldly across Central Vedelia like he ruled it all. A person who, for some reason, held way too many secrets.

Jayden sensed a duty pulling at him too, so naturally, he trailed along.

"Yes, there's something seriously wrong here," Jayden confessed with a heavy breath. "But you really should've hung back, sister... for real."

Should they cross paths with Leon once more, Jennyfer might face genuine peril—and Jayden held little faith in his own ability to handle it.

Jennyfer threw him a determined sideways look. "After searching for you all these years, I've finally got my brother back. No way I'm letting you face risks by yourself."

At first, she'd planned to remain by Victor's side, since he could hardly stir, but Central Vedelia's knights showed up swiftly to handle things. And the second Jayden bolted after Alector, Jennyfer made up her mind right then. She'd already lost her brother before. It wouldn't occur again.

A faint, poignant grin tugged at Jayden's mouth.

A family.

Despite believing he'd lost every trace of one.

"Stay sharp, kid," Alector barked without glancing back.

His words held a sharp edge of caution. Even from this distance, he detected the fierce battle up ahead—the atmosphere quivered with brutal bursts of mana rippling out for miles. The noise by itself nearly overwhelmed the ears.

Jayden and Jennyfer lacked Alector's keen awareness, yet the weight still tugged at their senses. At the very least, it pointed them straight toward the action.

"Jayden!!"

Voices he knew well rang out suddenly along the path. Jayden halted abruptly, his gaze snapping wide as he whirled around.

Four shapes hurried their way, and relief flooded his features.

"How irritating," the lead girl grumbled, her blue locks swaying as she folded her arms. "You could've paused for us instead of forcing a chase through half the city."

Arete. Daughter of Zeus—assigned to Jayden as a familiar, but she'd matured considerably since. Her scowl failed to mask the evident worry beneath.

"You ought to understand his nature by now," another girl added with a playful smile. Misa Krana, her sun-kissed complexion shining in the glow, her dual chestnut tails swinging merrily. "Trouble appears, and he charges right in."

"As the Apostle of Lumen, he bears that role," noted the serene, brown-haired elf striding alongside. Kenia Theven offered a gentle smile. "When duty summons, why hold back for anyone?"

"I... concur," murmured a brief, hushed reply from the rear—Berthany Kamel, the dark-haired girl who usually concealed her feelings, though worry peeked out in times such as these.

Each of the four had journeyed to Sancta Vedelia alongside Jayden.

Jennyfer's eyes fluttered in surprise as she pulled at her brother's arm. "Who might they be, Reinhart?"

Jayden rubbed his cheek, dodging her stare with unease. "Uh—right... they're my wives."

"All four?" Jennyfer echoed, her gaze expanding slightly.

Arete averted her eyes with a huff, yet offered no contradiction. Kenia colored faintly. Berthany concealed her features behind her locks, while Misa flashed a confident thumbs-up.

"You look just like Jayden, so you have to be his sister!" Misa exclaimed, grinning wide. "Pleased to meet you, sister-in-law!"

"Y-Yeah... that's... surprising," Jennyfer replied, forcing a rigid smile while absorbing the revelation.

"And still," Kenia interjected softly, "you haven't encountered the rest."

"The rest?" Jennyfer pivoted gradually toward Jayden, doubt building.

Jayden cleared his throat, cheeks flushing. "...I have twenty-seven wives."

Jennyfer gaped.

Alector didn't spare a backward glance.

Jayden longed desperately for Leon to show up again, ending this talk at once.

"T-Twenty-seven?" Jennyfer restated, blankly eyeing her brother.

Shock, admiration, or mere resignation battled within her—unsure which to embrace, though it fit the Apostle of Lumen's bold style perfectly. Kings often claimed a hundred spouses, after all—so twenty-seven seemed tame by contrast.

Even so... she pondered if they truly connected with one another. These four clearly bonded with Jayden. It'd be foolish beyond words if he scarcely knew half his own wives. Yet his position defied the ordinary. Everything about him did.

"Don't give me that stare, sister..." Jayden winced, scratching his neck sheepishly. "I swear you'll come to adore them all like I do."

"Cut the talk," Alector snapped curtly, his tone dripping with regret over glimpsing Jayden's love life.

"Feeling envious, elder?" Misa teased, arching forward with a sly grin.

"H-Hey! Mind your manners!" Jennyfer fretted, gesturing wildly. "Lord Alector serves as the Guardian of the Holy Tree!"

Misa's eyes widened. "Guardian of the Tree?"

"Pardon her," Kenia intervened with a sigh. "Misa hails from Ruthelphia."

"Ruthelphia... the Western Empire?" Jennyfer inquired, taken aback. Such a distant land from where they stood now.

Kenia inclined her head. "Indeed. Berthany originates there too. They're versed in Eden's Treasures, yet our customs remain unfamiliar."

"True, she's not so terrible," Jayden added bashfully, tousling his hair. "No need to fret, sister."

"Thanks, Jaydee!" Misa cooed delightedly, then abruptly vaulted onto Jayden's back and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"W-Wait! Misa!" Jayden yelped, his face heating up.

Alector released a drawn-out, weary exhale, evidently mulling a way out of this growing mayhem—but suddenly—

-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The earth quaked fiercely. For an instant, the whole realm seemed to slant. A thunderous blast ripped the sky, chased by a mana surge so thick and oppressive that all present halted on reflex.

"This...!" Alector's face grew stern. Without another word, he launched ahead like a bolt.

Jayden shared a quick look with Jennyfer and the others. Nods passed between them, and they raced in pursuit.

Plumes of smoke billowed afar, signaling the blast's origin. The air's tension mounted as they drew near, as if a colossal force had rattled existence itself.

"What's this sensation...?" Jayden whispered. "Zeus?"

He summoned the name, but silence answered.

Leon it wasn't. Jayden sensed it right away. No overwhelming terror, no choking despair that Leon's aura always unleashed.

This felt alien. Odd. Icy. It strung his muscles tight, senses on edge... yet deep within, a subtle thrill flickered perhaps.

At last, they arrived at the site.

A cry shattered the quiet.

"W—WHY?! Why would you do that?! Why did you kill Saya?! WHYYY?!"

A child's voice—a young boy's—wailed with such piercing sorrow it clawed at the soul.

Every head swiveled to the sound.

And they all stiffened.

A small lad pounded his tiny hands against a youth's torso. The young man merely stood motionless, gazing down at the child with a serenity bordering on void. He didn't recoil. Didn't shield. Didn't so much as twitch.

Chill gripped Jayden's frame entirely.

He recognized that visage.

Over a year had passed since last he'd seen it, but forgetting wasn't an option.

The fellow from his initial day at Royal Eden Academy.

The one he'd relied on—his inaugural true companion, viewed as his closest ally.

And the one who'd eventually... ended his younger sibling's life.

"Edward..." Jayden uttered, the word escaping unbidden. His tone quivered—not from fright, but from profound realization. Astonishment. A flicker of denial.

Kenia, Misa, and Berthany all went rigid upon spotting the man. Their initial encounter with Amael, and though unknown to them, an unsettling chill raced down their backs.

Arete, though... she'd crossed paths with Amael once. She'd witnessed him in Celesta's Kingdom a year back—beheld his combat, his vitality and odd expressiveness, occasionally misguided.

Yet this figure before her differed utterly.

His pale hair dripped crimson, marred by dark streaks, rigid and clumped from congealed blood. His pale shirt soaked beyond recognition, stripped of any former hue. Even his flesh appeared ashen, as though the gore coating him sank inward.

Then he raised his gaze.

Amber eyes cut through haze and debris. They shone with an uncanny brilliance, the sole illumination on a countenance shadowed by gore, fatigue, and an indescribable shadow Arete couldn't pinpoint.

Jennyfer's breath hitched. "You... you're Amael?" She breathed, identifying him amid the disarray. He'd lingered often with Victor at the academy. She'd glimpsed him countless times.

"Why! WHY did you kill my sister?! WHY?!"

The young boy's piercing wail snapped them from their daze.

Attention shifted back to him—small hands battering relentlessly at Amael's torso, though the strikes scarcely budged the elder. Sobs poured down his cheeks, falling onto the still form of the girl sprawled nearby.

Alector's gaze sharpened as he advanced warily.

Unease hung heavy.

***

I raised my head gradually.

Jayden.

Alector stood among them... alongside Jennyfer Eginfer. Trailing were a handful of women I half-recalled—save perhaps the blue-haired one. She rang a bell.

"Amael Olphean... what precisely transpired here?" Alector inquired with care.

I spared him a fleeting look.

Yet the lad still pummeling my chest appeared oblivious to their presence. Sorrow overwhelmed all else. He struck with growing force, his little hands quivering.

A sibling grieving his younger sister.

That agony struck deep, all too familiar.

"Why did you kill her?! Why?! Tell me!! Murderer!! I'll—I’ll—!"

His cry fractured midway.

To spare him further torment, I rested my palm softly atop his head.

His legs gave out at once, and he slumped senseless next to his sister's form.

"...!"

A crackle sparked the air.

Jayden surged.

Electricity roared around him, his form blurring like a thunderbolt—and he disappeared.

-BAM!!

I raised my arm barely in time.

-BAM!!

The follow-up strike slammed into me once more

-CRACK!

My left arm fractured from the impact, agony tearing through as I flew back. Vision swam, but I drove my heels into the soil, halting my slide before rolling.

"Kenia! Their condition?!" Jayden bellowed.

The elf and the rest recoiled at Sirius's nearby corpse, but regained poise and dropped to the children's sides.

"The boy lies unconscious, but..." The elf began, then her fingers shook while examining the girl.

"The girl... she's gone."

Sparks of lightning erupted over Jayden in fury, snapping wildly about him.

His grip tightened until bones paled, eyes locked on me in fury.

"Edward..."

He hissed the name.

"Did you end that child's life?"

"Jayden!!"

Milleia burst onto the scene. Claudia materialized at her side, staring daggers at me with lethal intent, as if her glare alone could dismantle me.

"What occurred?!" Milleia demanded. She rushed up, merging with the group—only to stagger upon seeing the pair of youngsters sprawled limp.

"Are they okay?!" She pressed, alarm sharpening her words.

"The boy will recover," the sun-kissed girl replied softly. "The girl, though... she's passed."

Milleia went still. Tremors seized her hands as she sank beside the tiny frame.

"Wh-What happened..." she murmured, fingers hovering shakily over the girl.

"He did it."

Her finger jabbed directly my way.

Milleia's inhale stalled. Her stare flicked to me, brimming with terror.

"N-No! Edward wouldn't stoop to that—"

"ANSWER ME, EDWARD!!"

Jayden's yell shattered her protest, thunder rumbling within.

"DID YOU KILL THAT LITTLE GIRL?!"

My eyes lingered elsewhere at first. They wandered to Trinity Nihil, plunged into the ground near Sirius's remains... then lower, to the crimson-stoned band yet gripped on Sirius's rigid digits.

"Edward!!!"

-BOOOOOM!!!

Thunder detonated as Jayden's wrath peaked, the earth shuddering.

I faced him at last, annoyance crossing my features.

"You're too loud," I stated.

"W-What...?"

"I killed her."

Shock rippled through the group.

"If that's the answer you're after," I continued, scanning the surroundings.

The Blood Moon Spellbounded folk—those ensnared by its power—began clustering once more, forms lurching closer.

"Y-You murdered a child and you just—!"

Jayden's electricity flared, snapping fiercely around his frame.

I shoved off the earth, Samara's grasp boosting my leap.

Speed favored him without doubt—but precision decided everything.

Jayden hurtled my way in a flash, bolts cleaving the atmosphere.

"W-Wait!!!" Milleia pleaded, but the moment had passed.

"How far you've sunk, Edward!!" Jayden thundered, unleashing a bolt-wrapped fist.

-BAM!!

At the final second, I pivoted. Dodging his assault, I drove my heel down and launched ahead—not at Jayden, but directly toward Sirius's body.

"He's heading there!!"

That woman...

Ah, yes—Zeus's gift to Jayden, the familiar.

None of them held my focus.

I braked hard by Sirius's form.

Blades flashed free, mana beams charged, yet I disregarded every threat.

I yanked Trinity Nihil loose, then knelt and tugged the red-gemmed ring from Sirius's unyielding grasp.

"EDWARD!!!"

Jayden's cry scorched from behind, his presence nearly upon me.

A glassy surface bloomed underfoot—sleek and mirroring.

I stepped through.

And faded away.

"D-Damn it!!!"

Jayden braked sharply, electricity popping as he searched frantically.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Over there!" A voice indicated.

I'd returned already, positioned precisely where I'd stood moments before.

The red ring shimmered in my palm.

I slipped it onto my index finger. Agony lanced my limb—keen and stinging—but I balled my hand and bore through.

My sight rose to the blood-red disk hanging overhead. Canceling it outright eluded me... yet an alternative existed.

Drain its strength until it crumbled naturally.

"Jayden! Check the surroundings!" A call rang out. "More controlled ones! They're advancing!"

"We must block their path! Hold them back!!"

"Anathema’s Fire," I breathed.

-BOOOOOOOM!!!

Violet blaze tore from my right, engulfing the wave of townsfolk charging my position. The inferno consumed them in a heartbeat.

Cries—short, guttural, frantic—lingered briefly before the blaze's howl overtook them.

I allowed Wrath to mute the echoes.

For those caught, swiftness would claim them.

Mercifully painless, should fortune smile.

Their torment, though, lay beyond my words.

Quiet slammed across the area.

For a beat, breaths held still.

"W-What... what was that...?" A murmur finally broke free.

Gazes drifted my way, dread blooming wide like fissures in fragile panes. Smoldering husks on the soil still steamed faintly, the breeze heavy with seared meat's stench.

"H-He slaughtered them..."

Jayden's reaction cut deepest. He gawked at the charred forms, incredulity etching his every feature, as though his mind rejected the horror outright.

"Amael... you're the lowest sort..." Claudia's words quavered.

Her mana flared like a gale, tossing her hair into a savage flurry as she hefted her staff. Pure wrath blazed in her eyes.

"Edward..." Jayden uttered at last, head lowered, hands trembling. "Zeus revealed you... ended my brother. To free him from Ante Eden's grasp..."

Nearby, Jennyfer started, eyes flaring. The details of her other brother's fate had escaped her knowledge.

"How innocent can you stay?"

I narrowed my gaze, disdain seeping into my tone.

"You claimed two I cherished. I claimed one of yours."

I angled Trinity Nihil upward slightly.

"I craved for you to taste my suffering," I pressed on. "Did it sting?"

I observed his features contort.

"No," I supplied, smirking. "Not sufficiently."

His look only fueled my frustration.

Each glimpse summoned Mary's weeping face, jabbing thorns into my core.

"Maybe one more loss edges you nearer to my ordeal," I declared icily.

-BOOOOOOM!!!

Radiant gold burst from Jayden, exploding with power that splintered the burnt earth beneath. Lumen's mark ignited on his limbs.

"Exactly, Reinhart."

I murmured, my pale strands whipping wildly.

"You've barely begun to grasp what I endured... the instant she perished."