Reincarnated as the Final Villain's Vessel

Let me say this again.

Theo carrying a sword was an insult... an insult to the blacksmith who made it, an insult to the person who gave it to him, because I doubt he bought it with his own money.

And an insult to me.

At first, I thought he was disoriented because his illusions didn’t work on me, maybe staggering because of the first clash that burned his hand?... I don’t know.

But as the fight went on, I realized it... he was swinging like a maiden who picked up a sword only to defend her honor... and at least the girl had honor, but what about him?... I don’t think so.

.. Sorry, I’m not exaggerating... and I’ll give my apology to the children later... and this raises the chance that he dedicated his life to raising his rank and controlling his illusions.

The only reason he’s still standing until now is that he’s much stronger and faster than me... this grows the envy inside me more, one day I’ll get a heart attack from envy, I’ll die in bed hooked up to medical tubes.

Okay, I’m exaggerating about that last part.

The sounds of crying metal rose around us, this part of the forest had been smashed a while ago, the ground that had been covered with roots became muddy craters everywhere.

The giant trees had fallen near their cut trunks... we were at the edge of the forest, so the moon lit up the place here, and the sounds and sights of the other battles were still raging far from us.

I knew the rough state of the situation there, it wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad, meaning my team hadn’t lost and hadn’t won there, they’d gotten into an even struggle.

I stepped back so his sword could carve a horizontal arc that lit up the darkness, and even though the sword didn’t touch me the essence left a horizontal wound on my chest, but it was just a shallow scratch.

Taking advantage of that, I turned the grip in my hand as I stabbed toward him, he barely tilted his torso, so the blade passed beside his ribs and spilled some blood.

But I didn’t stop at that, because no matter how fast and strong Theo is, the poor guy is still confined to the laws of physics, the momentum of the missed blow affects him and pulls him along its path for a moment.

With my other sword I carved a wound on his right thigh, it was deep enough that I saw the flesh hanging for a moment, before he tightened it with essence, letting out a grunt of pain.

”Damn it, don’t you feel anything... what’s wrong with you, do you like torturing your opponents, this act is unethical, especially for nobles...” he screamed... yeah, he screamed in what looks like a protest against my fighting style... or because I’d left wounds on every inch of his body.

I wanted to drop the swords and put my palm on my face. ”I’m not a noble, you bastard....”

”Why are you calling me a bastard?... just because we’re fighting each other doesn’t mean we’re enemies.” He protested and pulled back.

”Because you woke me up from my sleep, you bastard.” Yeah, this guy was strange, I stepped toward him, putting my weight on my leg and pulling my torso in the opposite direction, using all my strength I struck at him with both my swords in a double cut.

He barely got his stance back to raise his sword in front of me in time, the force of the blow was enough to send him flying toward a tree.

His back hit it which made the wood twist there and shatter into jagged fragments.

It was obvious I was getting the upper hand, slowly the wounds started piling up on his body one after another, until he could barely tighten them using essence to stop the bleeding.

He’d lost a lot of blood, and this made him pant weakly, his pale skin getting even paler... at least if it wasn’t covered with dirt and dried blood.

He looked like he was about to lose.

And once again he used his illusions, disappearing from in front of my eyes... but there was no use of course.

In every clash I left more injuries on him, some of them bled and others were burns from the essence explosions.... on the other side, I started suffering from a shortage of essence, but generally my body was fine because I’d healed the most important injuries.

But why did this bastard look like he’s enjoying it... this made me feel uneasy.

He didn’t laugh or smile again... no, he was groaning and letting out muffled screams sometimes when I stabbed him, but his eyes... they looked like someone who hadn’t doubted for a moment that he’d win.

This made my heart sink, I didn’t back off or drop my guard for a single moment... I wanted to end this as fast as possible so I could join the others... or just to take him out and feel relieved.

He’s not supposed to have any trump cards. A Relic?... but the ones that could tip the scales were banned.

”Ah...” His back hit the trunk of a tree at the border of the forest, his breath leaving his lungs all at once, and the sweat and the blood had ruined his supposedly attractive appearance.

I wasn’t in a better state, my muscles were crying, while my joints had started creaking from all those heavy blows I’d blocked... this made me wonder if I’d faced someone else... someone like Demir or Riven.

Would I lose?

But I didn’t face them, and I hadn’t lost yet.

I moved toward Theo who was leaning on the tree, I didn’t say anything and neither did he.

He moved away from the black trunk, came toward me, and we started circling around each other... each one waiting for the other to attack first.

”My judgment was wrong... huh, bad things for me.” His voice came out hoarse and shaky; he looked about to laugh.

I raised my eyebrow, but the next moment he rushed at me, his movements were fast, but full of gaps... a lot of them.

There wasn’t anything special, just closing the distance and trying to stab me with his sword, not even a sword wrapped in essence but just metal.

Dodging it would leave my defense open, so I raised my sword to block it... I didn’t think for a moment about mocking his stance... slacking off in the end always brings a loss.

Our eyes met at that moment, as I expected the usual metallic sound of swords blocking... but no.

There was no sound of collision... I didn’t feel the weight of his blow in my arm... my bones didn’t scream so they wouldn’t break.

There was none of that.

Just silence.

And a cold feeling crawling in my chest... cold and unbearable.

That’s when I caught his sword, it passed through the metal like it’s made of air, its edge sinking straight into my chest... the blade was pale and ethereal like it’s about to disappear at any moment.

I caught Theo’s eyes again. But this time they were bloodshot... like they’re about to come out of their sockets.

Thin crimson lines leaked from his nose and his eyes, drawing paths on his face.

But even so, he was smiling.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out of it... just a thought.

How?