"So what is it?.. Tell me… What is it that you are forced to be which you know you aren't?" Tongue asked, her voice dipping low as she leaned further forward. Her palms pressed against the shimmering galactic table, the swirling cosmos inside it pulsing faintly under her touch, casting dim lights across her face. She stared at Razeal like she was dissecting him peeling open his chest, his mind, his past piece by piece.

Razeal just stared back at her. Unmoving and expressionless. only a single, small sign escaped that something in him didn't want this conversation to continue.

Slowly, he shook his head. Not in denial, but in silent refusal.

He knew.. that if he opened his mouth and said what was actually sitting in his chest, someone was going to get mad about it not to say going to take offense. And he would rather not deal with that. Still… he opened his lips anyway. A long breath left him, and in the calmest, coldest tone he had:

"I don't want to be a villain."

His back leaned into the soft cosmic couch again, shoulders dropping slightly as if finally releasing a small weight. His face stayed perfectly straight, blank, unreadable. No twitch, no anger, no shame. Just a raw truth said without emotion.

Tongue blinked. Then a small grin appeared at the corner of her lips.

"Ohh, at least you're honest with yourself." She chuckled softly as she sat back down, satisfied, tapping one finger rhythmically against the table. Her head tilted as she replayed his words in her mind. A villain? What was that supposed to mean? Acting evil? Pretending to be some menacing stereotype? She genuinely found the concept amusing she couldn't understand why he thought that was what he was forcing to be. She was in her own thoughts while.. Razeal was to get busy as someone was really interested to talk about this statement of Razeal more then her.

[Host?] The system's tone wasn't just shocked it was offended, confused, almost personally attacked. [What is the meaning of this?.. You don't want to be a villain?..] If systems could widen their eyes, this one would've.

Razeal answered dryly in his head without looking surprised. "The meaning is whatever I said."

He cracked his neck to the side, habitually rolling his shoulders as he responded with complete indifference: It wasn't me who decided this whole villain thing, Villey. It was put on me.

[But… you are a villain, host.] Now the system sounded like a betrayed parent. [You're supposed to be one. That's what we want. Why would you say something like this? As if you're forced into it?.. I don't understand. I need an explanation.]

Its confusion spilled through the connection, like static vibrating against his mind.

Razeal silently exhaled through his nose.

Villey. "it wasn't my choice from the very beginning. You keep acting like I picked this path like I woke up one day and thought, Oh yeah, let me be a villain.. If I wanted to be one, I'd have become one on my own. But it wasn't my choice. It never was."

His jaw clicked as he clenched it for a second, remembering things he didn't want to remember.

Tell me, Villey, he continued, a cold sarcastic chuckle escaping him, what's the difference between you and Raven? Or the entire damn world? Everyone wants me to be a villain. Every single one. None of them ever asked me what I wanted. Everyone just decided for me.. Even you aren't an exception.

He ran a hand through his hair unconsciously, irritation flaring in the back of his head.

Why do you think I never learn anything from the villains you keep throwing at me? Razeal asked. All I ever take are the skills.. the power the parts I need. Not their ideology. Not their mentality. Because I don't desire to be like them. It's something you're forcing on me. Everyone is forcing on me.

The system was silent for a moment.. longer than usual.

Then

[You are thinking in the wrong way, host.]

Its tone sharpened slightly, defensive. [You are comparing me to Raven? Really?..]

Razeal could practically feel the system frowning.

[Host, I help you. You need me. Because of me, you are what you are. I'm your strength. You shouldn't see me like that. And I never forced you to do anything. Never once did I force you to follow any rules or any traits. There are no rules I set for you. All I said was: do whatever you want. That is villain. That's all. You're misunderstanding. Its your freedom.]

There was something almost desperate behind its words like it couldn't understand why he was suddenly rejecting something so fundamental to its existence. Like he had just shaken the foundation it operated on.

"What are you.. different from Riven? Or… what this whole world wants from me?" Razeal's voice echoed quietly inside his own skull, but every word carried weight, irritation, and a calm that wasn't calm at all something cold and simmering underneath. "Doesn't it want me to be a villain? Isn't that what everything pushes me toward? It even offers me power… beyond everything. Power to destroy the world. To tear it apart and remake it. To 'balance' it again. remake the world… whatever the hell it wants. But does any of that even matter?"

"Tell me," he continued, voice still steady but carrying an undertone of bitterness, "does it genuinely matter? Even if you're just calling it a word 'villain' as a label I'm asking you… who are you, or anyone, to decide that label for me?"

His crimson eyes narrowing as his thoughts sharpened.

"I will be a villain if I want to be. If I decide that path." He sajd softly. "But why am I given the label before I even choose anything? Why am I shoved into it? What have I done to deserve it?"

His voice dipped lower.

"A villain is a label for someone who harms others by choice. Intentionally. Someone who causes suffering, destroys, manipulates, exploits. Someone who ignores humanity, crosses every boundary for desire or selfishness. Someone who becomes a source of fear." He looked up slightly as if he could see the system, speaking to the system now with dead calm. "Tell me… isn't that what a villain is?"

The system responded almost instantly, its tone defensive, metallic, oddly fragile.

[It's just to be a villain, host. I've never forced you. It's always on you.. whatever you are. All I want is to make you the perfect being that exists… the best villain. The perfect villain. You have the chance to learn, host… from the greatest villains in all realities. You can learn whatever resonates with you, in whatever way you think is best. I won't stop you even if you decide to do good things. Everything depends on you. The choice is yours.]

Razeal chuckeled.. not loudly or mockingly.

But the kind of that carried disbelief, the kind that came from someone who had heard something absurd yet expected.

"Helping someone without kindness is manipulation, Villey," he said, finally lifting his eyes upward, a small amirk on his face but it wasn't a happy at all. It was hollow. The kind people wear when they've already figured out the truth long ago. "You never wanted the best for me. Don't insult me by pretending otherwise. I'm not a naïve fool.. Villey."

His smile grew slightly, but his eyes stayed cold.

"All you want is to turn me into a villain, no matter what I'd have to or want to become, no matter what I'd have to suffer. You'd put me through torture, pain, loneliness, despair… without a speck of hesitation if you thought it would 'improve' me." His voice became quieter, calmer in a scarier way. "Tell me. Have you ever told me to stop, that something would hurt me? Have you ever encouraged me to do something for myself? To be happier? To be satisfied? To enjoy life? You've only ever encouraged me to walk deeper into darkness."

His tone didn't rise. It didn't shake. It was the calm of someone who had accepted something long before verbalizing it.

"You're manipulating me into being a villain."

He chuckled again

"I did something wrong… so my sister punished me. But tell me, was that punishment even equal to what I actually went through? I have SS-rank pain tolerance Villey. What she did was nothing compared to what you put me through. If I hate her for hurting me… what should I feel about you?"

The system didn't falter this time; it immediately defended itself.

[That was all for you, host. Your decision. You wanted strength I showed you the direction. And obviously, to gain strength, you need to work hard, bleed, suffer. Pain is the price for power. I didn't force anything. You chose. I simply provided the way. And as for encouraging you to be happy… that's not my function. Just like all the other things I don't interfere with unless necessary. As I said… you have full freedom. If you wanted to do something do it, you could. Being a villain is simply where my interest lies.]

Razeal closed his eyes, letting the system finish before he inhaled slowly.

"I was thirteen when I died in last life, Villey," he said quietly. "Thirteen. I had no parents. No one to educate me. No one to teach me right or wrong or even how to think like a normal person. I wasn't raised with high intellect or great mindsets. I wasn't trained to see deeper meanings or long-term consequences."

He opened his eyes again, staring straight ahead.

"But when I was reborn… when I got this new family… something in me wanted to think for myself. To grow. To explore. And then you appeared."

His breath tightened slightly.

"You told me in what brilliant plans and manipulations I was trapped in. You told me who was my enemy and who would become one. You told me I had to prepare. I had to fight. I had to get strong. I had to be aware of everyone around me."

"I was planning at an age where children should be playing. I was calculating at an age where I should've been carefree. I was thinking about alliances, threats, opportunities… while kids my age were running around, laughing, doing stupid things."

His voice became quiet.

"That's manipulation, Villey."

The system responded instantly again, almost stubborn.

[You're taking it the wrong way, host. I was preparing you. Nothing more. Nothing less. You've always had freedom. You will always have freedom. Whatever you choose, that's what you will be.]

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Thank for reading guys.. your handsome author back 🤧🤧To ask for powerstones and Golden tickets❣️Love ya all

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