The Villain's Apocalypse-Chapter 43: Return II

Chapter 43: Return II

The vines kept coming, relentless and swift, forcing him into evasive maneuvers as he pushed the flight speed to the limit. His heart pounded as he realized something even worse—

The Verdant Mammoth wasn’t just attacking. It was testing him.

The vines weren’t just random strikes. They were methodical, calculating, as if gauging his reactions, adjusting to his speed. The beast was intelligent, far more than he had anticipated.

’If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m dead!’

Summoning every ounce of his focus, he made a split-second decision. If he couldn’t dodge forever, he’d have to break through.

Gripping Genesis tightly, he infused it with his remaining mana. Sparks of bluish light flickered along the blade, condensing at the tip. He took a deep breath, then—

"Thundercleave—!"

With a sharp swing, a beam of condensed lightning shot forward, tearing through the air and annihilating the incoming vines in a dazzling display of destruction. The forest below quaked as the force of the attack left a deep scar across the land.

For a moment, there was silence. The Verdant Mammoth stood still, watching him.

Then, as if deeming him not worth the trouble, it snorted once more and turned away, disappearing into the thick foliage. The vines that had once threatened to crush him receded, slithering back into the depths of the forest.

Cassian let out a shaky breath, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

’Holy hell...’

He didn’t wait around to see if the beast would change its mind. Without hesitation, he urged the sword forward, pushing through the sky at full speed, leaving the titan’s territory far behind.

After reaching a passable distance, he allowed the sword to return to its normal speed and continued the remaining journey.

"Those magic tomes that I had brought with me from Uravis’s Grave turned out to be extremely useful."

The skill that he’d performed earlier to escape from the Mammoth’s grasp was something he had learned through the magical tome of Uravis. There were countless other skills like these, each divided by their own elements. Sadly, he could only try out skills of lightning and light elements for now.

"Someday, I will learn everything."

He uncorked a mana potion, downing it in a few swift gulps.

gulp

gulp

puah–!

Why is my mana pool still so damn small? He sighed. I seriously need to rank up soon.

The feeling the restlessness caused by his empty Starseed finally settled in after downing a few bottles of mana recovery potions.

The journey afterward went as smoothly as it should have been without any surprise or unforeseen elements. After nearly an hour of consistent flying, he reached the edge of the mountain range, noticing the shadow of a city far ahead, down the horizon.

The sword too had exhausted every bit of its strength as it slowly settled down, vanishing completely after reaching the ground.

Cassian landed on the grassy floor and instinctively performed a quick scan using his mana sense.

"No trouble for now." With a heavy sigh, he plopped down on the ground, enjoying the rare peaceful time for a moment.

yawn~

"Should I take a quick nap?" he pondered briefly, contacting Leon using their mental link.

"Hey Leon, How are you doing?"

"..."

"Ohh.. Take some rest then, you deserve it." He added some encouraging words and ended the call. "No rest it seems."

He glanced around at the place that he’d just dropped by. "it’s this place."

The vast plain land that he’d dropped onto was a part of the Empire’s territory, called the Barben Plains and it was one of those few places with their own legend and stories passed down through generations.

The Barben Plains was once a flourishing piece of land, governed by the savage barbarian race–a unique race among humans renowned for their immense strength and powerful physique.

They were naturally gifted in terms of physical strength and immense vitality. Sadly, power always comes with a great cost of its own and here, the Barbarians were mostly muscle-headed brutes with negligible intelligence in other aspects other than battle.

Due to their low IQ, they were easy to deceive and were naive when dealing with other races. So, they were plotted against by the other races who felt threatened by their powers and were simply annihilated into extinction.

"Quite a tragic ending for a powerful race but, fate had other plans for them." He mused, recalling a certain someone from the novel who would later rise as the Mad Barbarian of War and Chaos.

"Well, not my problem to deal with." Shrugging his shoulders, he slowly stood up and stretched his body, relaxing those sore muscles and tensed nerves. The pathway from here was pretty straightforward and less dangerous compared to the previous area.

"Let’s head to the Royal Capital now." Donning his usual dark cloak, he continued the journey with a calm and clear mind.

The Barben Plains were not fully explored yet and he had no idea why. Still, there was a secret inheritance in this place, left behind by the great barbarian ancestors for their future generations and he could take it on his way out.

"Nah, I don’t want to deal with this shit again." He simply declined the idea outright without even thinking. The Barbarian’s trial mostly focused on pain, a firm mindset, and more pain. He was both physically and mentally tired after tackling the dungeon and had no energy left to attempt a new one, especially one that involved bearing excruciating pain.

"I will just leave it to its rightful owner."

Bidding farewell, he left the land and headed straight toward the Royal Capital, taking a few breaks in between to recharge his energy. The dangerous areas were mostly gone by now and all that remained was a trail that led him to a proper city.

—

knock knock

"Come in."

A royal servant entered, bowing deeply. "Your Majesty, His Highness has returned safely from his travels."

"Let him rest." A regal, authoritative voice resounded from within, carrying with it a sense of amusement and relief.

"Yes." The servant bowed deeply and left the room.

Alone in the chamber, the Emperor leaned back in his chair, amusement flickering in his regal eyes.

"It seems you’ve had quite fun in your little journey, Son."

A knowing smile played on his lips as he glanced at the reports before him.

"I wonder, How strong have you become?"