I Got Reincarnated as the Game's Villain-Chapter 55: The Legacy of the Fallen [11][Edited]

Since the moment I harnessed ether and awakened my quirk—

Ice.

I’d been having this feeling.

This strange, inexplicable feeling.

I can’t put it into words, but it’s as though there’s a something inside me.

A power I just can’t fit into words.

It’s there.

But I can’t grasp it.

It’s not my bloodline; I don’t know how I know that—I just do.

It’s something else. But what?

"Hah," I sighed deeply, opening my eyes once more, staring at the horror before me.

I was screwed.

Royally screwed.

I didn’t even know where to focus my attacks—the monster was everywhere.

I was exactly where it wanted me to be.

I regarded the mass of flesh lunging for me. My sword struck true, but at that moment, my instincts screamed. Another sword manifested in my left hand, and I launched into the air. Spinning mid-flight, I slashed at the grotesque hands reaching for me from every direction.

BAM!

I landed, but the mass of flesh had already closed in. I was powerless to stop or thwart its attack.

BOOM!

It slammed me hard against the fleshy wall behind me. Then, hands erupted from the walls themselves, grabbing hold of me.

FUCKING LET GO!

I screamed. Suddenly, the hands froze solid.

At this point, I was risking mana pool combustion with every ounce of ether I used, but I had no choice. If I didn’t use it, I was doomed. If I did… well, I was still doomed.

With a desperate surge of strength, I shattered their icy grip and dashed forward, closing the gap between myself and the grotesque mass of flesh before it could reform. My blade slashed at random, tearing into the writhing monstrosity, but every wound I inflicted regenerated instantly. It was hopeless.

BOOM!

The creature retaliated, striking me with a solid hit. I went flying.

It was futile.

I was fucked.

That was the cold, hard truth.

"Argh," I coughed, spitting blood as I fell to one knee. The beast’s other hand morphed into claws and lashed straight for my face. Quick reflexes saved me—I raised the broad side of my sword just in time. The impact rattled my entire body, and my arm felt as though it would snap in two. But I held firm, barely holding my own against the abomination.

"Die," I growled through clenched teeth, channeling the last remnants of ether in my mana pool. Frost spread from my blade, creeping up the creature’s arm. It realized too late what was happening and tried to retreat, but I surged forward, pouring every drop of energy into the attack.

In an instant, the monstrous limb froze—a solid block of ice.

"Hah…" I exhaled, sweat trailing down my face as I surveyed the frozen mass. Its arm stretched outward like some grotesque statue.

I turned back, my relief evaporating as the floor writhed before me. Suddenly, an arm began to crawl out from the ground, like a person emerging from water.

"No…"

I stumbled back, colliding with the block of ice. Gripping my sword tightly, I rushed forward before the figures could fully manifest.

"Urgh," I groaned, slashing at them with everything I had. But the more I cut them down, the more they rose from the ground. I was determined to stop them. If they coalesced into another mass like the one I’d just frozen, I wouldn’t just be screwed—I’d be dead.

I slashed and slashed, reckless and desperate. But then—those hands again. I looked down and realized they’d grabbed my knees.

Slash!

I hacked at them with abandon, trying to free myself from their relentless grip. But the more I slashed, the more they multiplied.

AHH!

Pain erupted in the soles of my feet, sharp and excruciating, as though the floor itself had turned to knives. My shoes felt sticky, and I didn’t need to look to know I was bleeding.

Before I could recover, a hand seized my right wrist. I froze it instantly, but more hands grabbed hold. I lashed out with my left-hand sword, but the agony in my legs intensified, creeping up to my calves. My vision blurred as the pain consumed me.

Then, the hands latched onto my left wrist as well.

I was powerless.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, channeling every last drop of ether into one final act of defiance.

In an instant, everything around me turned to solid ice.

But the victory was short-lived.

More fleshy hands surged forward in a blur of motion, grabbing hold of me and pulling me down until I collapsed to my knees.

At this point, my legs were history. I looked forward, and the last flicker of hope I had was extinguished. Before me stood a battalion of those flesh monsters I had barely managed to take down earlier. These ones, though—they looked even more powerful and far nastier than the one before. And now, there were so many of them.

I… am going to die here, aren’t I?

… No.

No.

I can’t die like this.

I can’t waste Lily’s sacrifice like this!

I can’t die… NOT NOW!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I roared, mustering every ounce of strength I could to pull free from the grip of the fleshy hands. But—

SPLASH!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" This time, it wasn’t a roar of determination. It was a cry of pain—a pain that transcended pain—as both my arms were ripped out of their sockets. I was left there, armless, writhing in unbelievable agony. But the hands didn’t stop. Instead, they surged forward, sensing my weakness, and wrapped around my body.

No.

Not like this.

It can’t end like this.

My eyes drifted upward, locking onto the face above. That twisted grin filled with malevolent glee made my blood boil, but I couldn’t do anything.

I had lost.

I wasn’t strong enough.

I had gotten ahead of myself.

"Haah… Hah… Hah…" I panted, blood pouring from my wounds, staining the fleshy ground beneath me. The ground seemed to drink it in eagerly.

This was what the creature wanted all along.

My blood.

I looked ahead, watching the horde of flesh monsters rushing to finish me off.

…It’s ironic, really.

I came here determined to hunt down this creature and make it my prey.

But now…

I had become the prey.

Even with all my knowledge of the situation. Even knowing from the very start that this house was a trap, designed to lure in unsuspecting victims.

I had deluded myself into thinking I was the predator.

But… there’s still so much I want to know. So much I want to uncover.

What were those visions I saw? Were they real? Or was the creature simply toying with my mind?

But if—by some chance—they were true… then why?

Why couldn’t I remember them all this time?

Doesn’t that mean I’m the one who paved the way for my own downfall?

Doesn’t it mean I’m… responsible for all the torment I’ve endured?

I’ve always hated fate, despised it more than anything in my life. But… could it be that I am the fate of my own life?

Haah…

I exhaled as the first creature reached me, its attack slamming into my broken body with immense force. The next thing I knew, I was flying across the room.

BOOM!

I crashed to the ground, my head lolling to the side, my body unable to hold itself up.

"Ugh… Argh!" I coughed up more blood. My mind was slipping, my consciousness fading. I was so tired. So unbearably tired. But I tried to hold on.

I didn’t want to give up.

I didn’t want to die a meaningless death—not again.

I didn’t want to waste the second chance Lily gave me, paying the price with her own life.

Why am I so stupid?

At this point I don’t even know what to blame anymore.

Those... visions I saw, it complicated my already complicated feelings.

Why am I here?

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

What am I even here for?

I....

... don’t know.

I am just... here, a pawn in game I may never come to understand.

Sighs.

At that moment, when I was no longer able to stay awake—

It came to me.

It was like a forgotten memory.

At that moment, I suddenly understood it.

I grasped the feeling at last, and realized the true meaning of the elusive power that had been inside me since the incident with Lily.

The knowledge I suddenly gained, it was like back when I woke up in this world.

I never learned the language of this place, yet I understood it as if it were second nature.

Perhaps this is the very same sensation felt by all who awaken their bloodline.

At that very moment, before I lost consciousness—

I finally connected with the power.

It fused with me.

And then, in an instant, I felt it.

A strange, overwhelming feeling surged through me.