The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings-Chapter 224: Day – 1: Crossing the Border, and an Unexpected Presence

Chapter 224: Day – 1: Crossing the Border, and an Unexpected Presence

Ethan rubbed his eyes open.

"Yaaawn~ what time is it...."

He straightened himself and sat up, leaning against the metallic wall.

The room was still dimly lit. The lights were kept low, just enough to see around. Opposite to him, Cyan was still asleep, his body was wrapped tightly in the blanket Leon had given him.

Ethan snapped his neck from side to side and stretched both his arms upward.

"Haaah... can’t believe I got such a good sleep inside this metal box."

Standing up, he folded his blanket neatly and glanced around.

"...Oh. Leon’s not here."

Only the two of them remained in the Dimension House. Ethan looked toward the entrance.

"He must be up early."

A quick glance at the time told him it was already past eight in the morning.

They had less than an hour.

Ethan walked over and crouched beside Cyan.

"Hey. Cyan, wake up."

He lightly shook his shoulder.

"Mhm... Maria... don’t eat my apples... hey... those are mine... why are you always so rough..." Cyan muttered, half-asleep.

His arms tightened around the blanket.

"...And stop pulling my collar... I said stop... you’re too close..."

"..."

Ethan’s eye twitched.

He stared at Cyan in silence for a few seconds.

’What the hell...’

Part of him considered letting Cyan finish whatever dream this was. But they didn’t have time for that.

Then, an idea popped into his head.

Ethan leaned closer and lowered his voice.

In a surprisingly accurate tone, he whispered near cyan’s ear, "Hmph. You’re too mushy for me."

Cyan’s brows furrowed.

"...Maria...?"

Ethan continued, still in that voice. "I’m leaving. You’re boring."

Cyan frowned deeply. "Wait... noooo... I can change... just don’t—"

Ethan straightened up abruptly.

"What am I even doing," he muttered. "Cough. Enough fooling...."

He grabbed Cyan by the shoulders and shook him violently.

"Hey. Wake up!"

"WAAAA!!"

Cyan jolted awake, eyes wide, breath uneven.

"Where? Where? Huh?!"

He blinked rapidly and froze when he realized Ethan was right in front of his face. Seeing it, his face twisted in a sour expression.

"...Why are you this close," Cyan asked slowly.

Ethan stood up.

"It’s time."

Cyan groaned and rubbed his face. "Already? What time is it?"

"We leave in an hour."

"Tch... you could’ve woken me up a bit gentler."

Ethan smirked. "Sure. Next time, I’ll wake you up right when you’re dreaming about your sweet sweet Maria."

"Whaaa–!!"

Cyan’s face flushed instantly.

"She’s the least bit sweet you know! And I never dream about her!"

"Sure," Ethan replied flatly.

He turned away and stretched again. "Leon’s outside. We can’t leave all the work to him, can we now?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am coming." Cyan muttered as he stood up, fixing his clothes.

He glanced toward the entrance, then sighed.

"...Next time, just shake me like a normal person."

Ethan didn’t reply to him.

He was already climbing toward the portal.

Stepping out of the portal, the first thing Ethan heard was gunfire.

BANG–!

His body reacted on instinct. Mana surged within him, then he stopped.

The shots were coming from ahead. From Leon’s revolver.

Ethan relaxed slightly and reverted fully into his disguise. Leon stood a short distance away, arm extended, holding a brass revolver. His ruby-red eyes were locked forward.

He was aiming at the falling leaves drifting down from a tree just in front of him.

Ethan didn’t interrupt him.

He stood near the portal, and watched him silently.

Another shot rang out.

BANG–!

The leaf shattered into dust midair.

Cyan stepped out from behind him, rubbing his eyes.

"Early morning practice?" he muttered, staring at Leon. "Did he even sleep?"

Ethan didn’t answer. His gaze shifted to Leon’s. He took a glance at his stats.

"Hm?...Ice Attribute?" Ethan frowned slightly.

It was maxed out. It was even more stable than Leon’s Light attribute.

’That’s strange.’

Ethan remembered clearly. It wasn’t like this a few weeks ago.

At this point, Leon’s ice mana was so refined and stable that it could easily be mistaken for someone who had already reached a White Core.

Ethan felt a flicker of curiosity within him. But he didn’t pry. Just like himself, Leon clearly had things he preferred to keep hidden.

Leon raised the revolver again.

The revolver consumed the raw mana and converted it into a pure energy source for the bullet.

BANG–!

The bullet tore through the air at an unimaginable speed. As it traveled, Ethan felt a brief pull of cold, followed by a momentary drop in temperature.

The leaf was erased on impact, and reduced to fine icy crystal dust.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Three more shots were fired.

Each bullet pierced a different falling leaf, all at different angles.

Leon didn’t move an inch from where he stood from the beginning..

After he was done, he lowered the revolver slowly.

Ethan saw a faint grin tugged at the corner of Leon’s lips.

"I didn’t know you were good with a revolver," Ethan said as he walked closer. "Have you been practicing?"

"That was indeed insane," Cyan added. "You took out three at once."

Leon glanced at them.

"It’s been a long time since I picked up a firearm," he said. "But it looks like I still remember how to use one."

Ethan and Cyan exchanged a look before stepping closer.

"So you’re not only good with swords," Ethan said, "but revolvers too. I wonder how many weapons you can actually use."

Leon slid the revolver back into its holster.

"Just these two," he replied. "I don’t know any others yet."

"...Yet," Cyan repeated slowly. "So you plan to learn more."

"If given time," Leon said. "Yeah."

He bent down, picked up his cloak from the ground, and slipped it on.

"I was about to wake you two. Guess that’s not needed anymore."

Leon gestured toward the right.

"I made fish soup," he said. "Caught it from the pond. Go on, help yourselves."

Cyan blinked.

"...You also know how to cook?"

Ethan stared for a second. "You know, you’d make a really good husband. Your wife would be lucky."

Cyan nodded seriously. "Indeed. That Alice girl is lucky."

Leon ignored both of them.

"---sigh... Eat it quickly," he said irritably. "We still have half the forest to cross."

It took them more than an hour to reach the main route.

"We’re late..." Ethan muttered, glancing at Leon.

Leon looked out through the window and counted the number of carriages rolling along the road. The road was still clustered.

"Looks no different," Leon said calmly, then turned to Cyan, who was driving this time. "No guards in sight. Slowly turn the carriage onto the road."

Cyan nodded.

The three of them reverted back to their disguised appearances before leaving.

Leon closed the window and reached into his dimension pouch. One by one, he took out boxes and goods they had seized from the bandits earlier and stacked them neatly inside the carriage.

He arranged everything carefully, making it look as natural as possible.

Ethan helped him, adjusting the placement and covering a few crates with cloth.

By the time they were done, they realized they were already moving along the road, surrounded by other merchant carriages passing by.

’Great. Everything’s going smoothly...’

Time passed.

Soon, the carriage began to slow.

Ahead of them stood the border’s verification point.

A long queue of carriages stretched out before the gate. The closer they got, the more guards appeared, they were stationed on both sides, watching every carriage’s movement closely.

All three of them maintained their composure.

Leon knew Cyan might be nervous. But he also knew Cyan was the best choice to control the horse among them. If Leon were at the reins, it would draw unnecessary attention.

Slowly, their turn came.

A guard stepped forward and approached the carriage.

"Your permit," he said. "And your purpose of visit."

Cyan handed over the fake identification papers.

Leon watched quietly from inside as two more guards peeked in from either side, scanning the goods and briefly glancing at Leon and Ethan.

"You’re from Merlin," the guard said, looking back at Cyan and the others. "All three of you?"

"Yeah," Cyan replied. "We visited Liora for the harvest season."

"I see," the guard said. "What business do you own? Do you have company papers or a merchant license?"

Cyan handed over another set of documents.

Leon had prepared them himself.

The guard examined the papers carefully, and even matched them with the records in his hand.

"Den Cooper..." the guard muttered. "So that’s the owner."

He walked closer to the window and glanced inside.

Leon gave him a casual wave.

The guard compared Leon’s face with the record one last time, then nodded.

"Alright. All clear. Welcome back to the Merlin Kingdom."

"Thank you," Cyan said.

The carriage rolled forward past the border’s gate connecting Liora and Merlin.

They didn’t relax yet, because more guards stood further down the road across the border.

They have Merlin Kingdom’s sigil on their armors. Leon even sighted a few high ranking knights.

None of them spoke with each other. Leon leaned back and pretended to sleep. Even Ethan followed suit, resting his head against the side.

After another thirty minutes, the carriage finally entered a stretch of road where no guards were present.

"All clear," Cyan muttered from the front.

Leon and Ethan both yawned and straightened up.

"Phew..." Ethan exhaled. "I was honestly nervous."

He looked at Leon. "Those papers really came in handy. You even managed to alter the guards’ records."

Leon shrugged. "I hired someone elite."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. I can see the quality."

Leon added casually, "Don’t worry. I’ll add that to the bill."

"Guh..." Ethan groaned awkwardly.

In the game, he had struggled endlessly to create fake identities. Compared to that, Leon had made everything absurdly easy.

"Anyway," Leon said, looking forward. "Where are we now?"

Ethan checked the map projected from his prism.

"Oh," he said. "We’re about to enter Karnak City."

Ahead of them, the road widened, and the gates of Karnak City, the City of Trade, slowly came into view.

Leon slid open the window and breathed in deeply.

"Haah... I can smell salt even from this distance."

Because of the geographical landscape, Merlin and Liora were connected through the northeastern border region. The southern lands were buried under eternal snow, making this route the only active trading path between the kingdoms.

Karnak City was a coastal city.

It served as the central ship trade hub for most kingdoms. Goods flowed in and out through the city’s harbor, which lay at the far end of Karnak, facing the open sea.

After a day, they would be taking the sea route as well.

Although the Sea of Mist was infamous, filled with countless rumors and half-forgotten horror stories, they would be fine as long as they found a ship with an experienced captain.

[Bonus Image — Click here to view the Map]

As the carriage rolled forward, Leon glanced outside again and spoke calmly.

"From this point onward, never use our real names in public."

That went without saying.

Both Ethan and Cyan were already aware. Leon Valentine’s name was known worldwide. If it slipped even once, word would spread faster than they could control.

The carriage passed through the gates.

The dirt road beneath them shifted into smooth, finely laid white bricks, it was polished and clean. The streets were wide, designed to accommodate heavy traffic.

Karnak City was big.

As the carriage continued deeper inside, his gaze was drawn upward.

Ahead of them stood a massive white structure, towering over the city like a frozen monument racing the tip of the sky.

A gigantic white crystalline tower.

Its surface shimmered faintly, refracting light into pale shades of blue and silver. Even from this distance, its presence was overwhelming.

"The Frost Tower..." Leon muttered.

Once ruled by One of the Five Calamities.

Lancaster.

The tower could be seen from nearly anywhere within the city,it was a symbol of both protection and pride of the Merlin Kingdom.

Now, it was under the command of its current Tower Head.

Lady Aisha.

Leon stared at it for a moment longer before Rumi’s voice echoed inside his mind.

’Haru.’

Leon’s attention sharpened.

’What is it, Rumi?’

’The Frost Tower, I am sensing another True Spirit’s presence there.’

Leon replied Rumi in his mind.

’Oh right, that must be Aisha’s Ice Spirit.’ He paused and then added, ’And your Twin Sister.’