I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Raul PoV]

The match had ended.

Miria de Coruna, the strongest student in the first-year class, had been easily defeated by Leon of the Tsardom of Slavia. It clearly demonstrated just how heavy a counter Anti-magic could be against mages like Miria.

”What do you think of my loyal attendant’s ability?” Princess Alisha asked me.

”I think his agility is quite impressive, but the most troublesome part is his ability to neutralize his opponent’s magic entirely,” I answered her.

Hearing that I could deduce Leon’s ability from just a single observation, Princess Alisha’s expression shifted.

”Hee~ So you really did figure it out right away,” Alisha said, smiling at me.

Of course I knew — I’d programmed every NPC skill in this game myself.

”You’re right, Leon has a Profound Codex called Anti-magic,” Alisha revealed. ”But that’s not his only ability — he still has other cards he hasn’t played yet in this tournament.”

Princess Alisha smiled as she said that, as though inviting me into some kind of guessing game.

Oh, you mean the wind Nature Mana he also has? I figure his spells mostly just extend Leon’s reach. He also can summon the legendary sword Balmung, though I doubt Leon can do that right now.

”You might be right, Princess Alisha — at a glance, Anti-magic looks impossible to break through,” I told her. ”But I can already see there’s still a gap in that ability.”

Hearing this, Princess Alisha’s eyes widened, as though caught off guard. It seemed she hadn’t yet noticed the gap I was referring to.

I supposed that made sense — she wouldn’t have been able to spot it.

Right now, Leon’s Anti-magic ability was still only at stage one. Every Profound Codex ability had three stage total. With each stage gained, the ability would evolve, growing far stronger and closing whatever gaps or weaknesses it originally had.

”Alright, let’s move on to the next match!”

The announcer’s voice broke our conversation. The participants here turned their attention back to the field.

”The second match will continue with Viera Regnan versus Princess Alisha Romanova!”

I watched the archer from my committee let out a sigh. She seemed fairly pessimistic about her chances against Princess Alisha.

”Looks like it’s my turn now,” Princess Alisha said, rising from her seat. ”That’s one of yours, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I won’t go too hard on her.”

Princess Alisha said this with a playful smile. She then walked out of the stands, heading down toward the field.

Watching her cheerful demeanor like this, I couldn’t help but wonder — did she feel no anxiety or fear at all, given she had less than two years left to live?

Before long, Princess Alisha and Viera stood facing each other in the middle of the field.

”Are both competitors ready!?” the announcer asked Princess Alisha and Viera.

Both women nodded. Viera already had her bow in hand, while Princess Alisha looked perfectly calm, as though she’d already won this match.

”The second match of round two in the Grunbelt Academy Tournament, begin!”

The match began — Viera fired two Magic Arrows toward Princess Alisha. But suddenly, a wall of ice formed in front of the princess, blocking both of Viera’s attacks.

Princess Alisha shattered the ice wall into several pieces and launched them toward Viera.

The archer dodged by rolling to the right, then fired three more Magic Arrows at Princess Alisha.

But the gray-haired woman summoned another ice wall. She shattered it again and launched the ice shards toward Viera.

This time, the archer had to leap into the air using Axio magic to dodge Princess Alisha’s counterattack.

Viera used her bow again — a blinding light emerged from her Magic Arrow. It seemed she’d combined it with Penetration magic, hoping to punch through Princess Alisha’s ice walls.

Viera launched her Magic Arrow toward Princess Alisha. But this time, the gray-haired woman didn’t summon an ice wall — instead, a magic circle appeared.

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An ice spear emerged from the circle and shot toward Viera’s Magic Arrow.

—Boom!

An explosion erupted mid-air from the collision of both spells, blanketing the arena in a mist of frost.

Viera landed on both feet. But this time, Princess Alisha formed three magic circles around her own body.

Now it was the gray-haired woman’s turn to initiate the attack — a dozen ice spears emerged from the circles and shot toward Viera.

The archer activated Acceleration magic and began running to dodge the dozen incoming ice spears.

A thunderous crash echoed as the ice spears slammed into the arena wall.

Viera managed to dodge Princess Alisha’s attack. Still, several slash wounds were visible on her body — it seemed a few of the ice spears had grazed her.

But she had no time to rest. Princess Alisha summoned more chunks of ice and launched them toward Viera again.

The archer dodged once more, her hand beginning to glow.

Before long, a powerful gust of wind swept through the arena, kicking up dust and obscuring the spectators’ view.

This was Viera’s wind spell — Dust Storm.

She was setting up the same plan she’d used to defeat Senior Mariana earlier.

Once the dust cleared, Viera was already positioned behind Princess Alisha, running to stay within the gray-haired woman’s blind spot.

Meanwhile, Princess Alisha turned her head this way and that, trying to locate Viera.

The archer then launched an Explosive Arrow spell at Princess Alisha. This time, Viera’s spell made no sound at all — it seemed she’d activated Silent, one of her Profound Codex abilities.

—Boom!

An explosion erupted, but not from Viera’s arrow striking Princess Alisha — instead, it hit a fairly massive wall of ice.

Viera looked stunned that Princess Alisha had detected her spell at all. In the previous match, Senior Mariana hadn’t been able to sense the attack coming whatsoever.

Princess Alisha then shattered the giant ice wall and launched the fragments back toward the archer.

Still caught off guard, Viera couldn’t dodge in time — the massive ice chunks slammed into her with tremendous force, the impact producing a thunderous crash.

Once the attack subsided, Viera’s body lay unconscious, covered in wounds from head to toe.

”The winner of the second match, Princess Alisha Romanova!”

The moment the announcer declared the result, cheers erupted throughout the arena.

The priests rushed onto the field to treat Viera, while Princess Alisha walked back toward the corridor, apparently heading back to the participant stands, since she hadn’t sustained a single injury at all.

The only reason Princess Alisha had been able to sense Viera’s silent attack from her blind spot was because she possessed an ability called Sensing Mana.

Sensing Mana was an ability that let the user detect someone’s magical activity and gauge the amount of mana within their body, within a certain range.

That’s exactly how Princess Alisha had detected Viera’s shot.

With Sensing Mana, no one could hide from Princess Alisha if they used magic. Only through pure physical combat could someone approach her without being detected.

Princess Alisha and Leon...

These two from the Tsardom of Slavia both possessed abilities that directly countered magic.

”Alright, let’s move on to the next match!”

The announcer prepared to call out the next set of competitors.

”Prince Vlad mel Dracul versus Raul de Garcia!”

[Vlad PoV]

Hearing my name and that man’s called for battle, I smiled — the moment I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

I quickly rose and left the stands to wait for him in the corridor leading to the field.

I was going to kill him in this match. To do that, I needed to destroy the Limiter ring artifact he wore, the one participants used to protect themselves from spells or wounds that could otherwise prove fatal.

Surely the academy wouldn’t condemn or detain me if I ”accidentally” killed one of the students here, would they?

Still, I wasn’t going to kill him outright — I intended to torture him first, until he begged and pleaded for mercy.

I would humiliate him in front of every citizen of the capital and every noble watching here today. I would shatter Elena’s opinion of Raul de Garcia into a thousand pieces.

Once I managed to strip Raul de Garcia’s influence out of Elena’s life entirely, only then could I manipulate her however I pleased, turning her into a slave who obeyed only me!

After waiting a while in the corridor, the man finally came down and approached.

I moved to block his path, and his gaze finally fixed on me.

”Prince Vlad? What is it? We need to head to the field for our match,” the bastard said.

”I’ll be honest with you,” I told him. ”The Kingdom of Draconia has no intention of forming an alliance with the Aragon Empire by marrying me off to Elena.”

That’s right — from the very beginning, our plan was never to form an alliance by marrying the two ruling families together.

I intended to tell him the truth, hoping to finally shatter that flat expression of his. His face, always looking so utterly disinterested, infuriated me to no end.

I wanted to destroy that face until nothing was left of it.

”We’re going to form an alliance with the Republic of Venetia instead, and destroy the Empire until nothing remains,” I revealed to him. ”Once we’ve crushed the Empire, that’s when I’ll marry Elena, break her mind apart, and turn her into a slave who obeys only me!”

I was revealing this secret plan to the son of an imperial noble. But I wasn’t worried he’d expose it to anyone. He had no proof of this impromptu conversation.

Yet even after I laid out our entire plan, his flat expression didn’t change one bit, which only infuriated me further.

”I’m going to rape Elena, force her to bear children from a man she despises, a man who destroyed her country!” I smiled sadistically as I told him this. ”I’ll make her scream in pleasure every single night until her very soul shatters!”

Well? Hate me! Show me your resentment! Get angry at me — because nothing brings me greater joy than crushing people who despise me deeply.

Watching their despair, watching their hope crumble at my hands — it sends my whole body into a state of pure ecstasy!

A pleasure words could never fully capture.

”Are you finished?” the man said, his tone as flat as ever. ”In that case, I’ll head to the arena first.”

He then walked right past me.

I turned and watched his back as he walked away. Rage and fury began surging through my body. This man infuriated me beyond measure. Never before had I felt such an overwhelming urge to destroy someone.

”I’m going to make her life a living hell!”

He stopped in his tracks at my shout.

Heh, finally feeling something now?

”Go ahead and do whatever you want,” he said, just as flatly as before, then continued walking out of the corridor toward the field.

Tch, just you wait, Raul de Garcia. I will destroy you in this match.