How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 96: Personal Vendetta

[Arthurr-Sun's POV]

It felt like time had frozen. The world around me stood still, and a chilling fear gripped my heart. Never before had I found myself in such a perilous situation, where the uncertainty of the future loomed like a specter.

What if my other half were to meet his end? Would I, too, cease to exist? Or would Arthurr the whole human cease to exist, existing only as Sun, myself?

Questions I didn't want answered.

I wanted to come to his aid, but the demon had me pushed back and occupied while also assaulting Moon with his other tentacles.

I felt a sense of helplessness, my heart pounding so fiercely that it seemed on the verge of cracking my ribs.

In that fleeting moment, I delved deep into the well of faith I'd never before explored, trying to restrain my dread of the impending outcome — failing to do so.

I had no clue where salvation would emerge, but I yearned for a miracle.

The tentacles drew closer to my other half, and I helplessly watched in the corner of my eye.

The world hung in suspended animation as I confronted a storm of desperation.

At that moment, I was willing to accept anything, be it divine intervention or the darkest of arts, as long as it altered the course of events that were bound to happen.

However, as the tentacles inched nearer, it seemed like my prayers would never be answered.

My mind raced through a relentless parade of terrible scenarios, like a cruel slideshow I had no choice but to watch; each painted a grim fate for Moon, devoid of any happy endings.

The tale of Arthurr would conclude today, as we had bitten off more than we could chew, that's how I felt.

We should've just run away. Just because we were a little powerful, that made us worthy of dealing with a demon that even adults fear?

Foolish.

Moon and I were separate beings but were also the same person. He was the yin to my yang, the yang to my yin.

If he died, even if I ended up living, I didn't know if I would have the focus to continue living.

It felt over right then and there, everything was about to crumble.

That was it.

The end.

Off to the afterlife he goes and I would join him soon.

Then, suddenly, a miraculous interruption:

"Swish!"

As the world teetered on the brink of collapse, a blur of motion caught my eye. It was so quick that I only caught a thousandth of a millisecond of the movement.

"Squelch! Thud!"

In what felt like a blink of an eye, instant teleportation, a figure appeared between Moon and the demon: it was Bell, brandishing his sword with both hands gripping the handle.

His blade made contact with the tentacles just before it reached Moon, redirecting the tentacles toward the wall, and sparing my other half from further harm.

In an instant, my racing heart leaped with this surge of hope and disbelief as he had materialized out of nowhere, saving the life of my other half.

In that instant, my heart surged with an overwhelming mix of relief and joy, emotions so potent they threatened to engulf me and endanger me because my focus protecting me from the demon's attacks slightly wavered.

t was a miracle, a rescue I had scarcely dared to hope for. In that brief moment, a smile graced my lips, but I knew my own danger still existed so I quickly tossed it to the side.

"Oh my, human. I didn't know you were capable of such speed," the demon uttered in a voice that was so distorted that it felt like I was listening to a recording that had been damaged or altered.

It can speak English?

If it was capable of communicating with us then why was it roaring and letting out nonsensical sounds?

"You don't know half of what I'm capable of, you ugly octopus," Bell retorted, his right hand crackling with small bolts of lightning aimed at the demon's head.

"Thank you, Bell," Moon said, moving out of the tentacles' reach. "You've been on the front line for a long time, but could you give Sun and me a moment to heal?"

"Are you suggesting I take on all the attention?" Bell inquired as he weaved the wings, then countered with three quick slices.

The demon played along, focusing solely on Bell. "I dare you to try that, human," it hissed.

"Sorry," I told Bell, racing over to Moon.

"Hurry," he urged."

.

.

.

[Bell's POV]

Truthfully, I hadn't expected Moon to be the one making a mistake; I thought it would be Sun with his primal instinctual style of fighting.

If I hadn't used Liona's ability to close the distance, Moon would have lost two arms in less than a second, becoming a liability in battle, and in danger of losing the rest of his limbs, or worse, his life.

They asked me to handle Selgaath by myself for the moment while they healed which wasn't actually healing.

Essentially, their "healing" was a temporary merging into the singular Arthurr, followed by a quick separation. It drained a significant amount of mana, but the regenerated arm more than justified the cost.

"Is this the so-called hero who dealt with a demon and a dark arts user?" Selgaath taunted me. "Come on, puny human. Show me how you got your reputation."

Hmm? How does he know that?

I taunted back, "And you're supposed to be a demon, the superior race to humans. How come you can't handle a little puny child like myself?"

"Ha! I'm barely breaking a sweat," he retorted.

"You're also thousands of years old, you old bum. If I were as ancient as you and had that many years to get stronger, you'd be dust by now," I said, laughing.

I tried to throw him off his game despite knowing it wouldn't make a significant difference, given his actions in battle were heavily influenced by the novel's rules and patterns.

Beads of sweat were flying off my face and arms as I moved.

I was being pushed to my absolute physical limit. My mind felt like it was about to experience a migraine from how much processing it had to do.

"I'm back," Sun announced, thrusting his right fist and sending a blast of fire. He'd switched to wielding the saber with his left hand.

"Switch with me, Bell. I've got you," Moon said, also switching to his left hand to wield his saber.

They seemed to have figured out which limb Selgaath was focusing on.

"How did you know?" Moon asked as he came beside me, while I took a step back.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand what he was asking about.

"It's my artifact," I explained.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sun inquired, not suspecting any bad intentions from my mistake.

How wrong he was.

I did have bad intentions. I wanted them to owe me. I wanted them to feel inferior to me. I wanted them to know that even as the protagonist of the original novel, they would be playing second fiddle to me from now on.

Obviously, I was never going to voice that out loud.

"We were in a rush with the demon approaching, and I forgot," I lied.

"Sure," Moon rolled his eyes, not pressing me for the truth despite his suspicions, understanding that I had just saved his life.

"Where are you going, human!?" screamed Selgaath, spittle flying from his mouth. His eyes even seemed to flash as he gazed towards my direction.

Is he talking about me?

I was genuinely confused. Why was he so fixated on me?

He had initially been drawn here by the quality of Arthurr's soul, and while I knew my soul was also of good quality since Diamesca desired it so badly, it couldn't possibly be as the soul of Arthurr who was basically two souls in one.

Is it because I taunted him? I thought he wasn't easily influenced by taunts from the novel.

I couldn't help but wonder if my actions had changed something and influenced his character to alter.

Nevertheless, a question lingered: How did he know I was the so-called hero?

"What's your obsession with me, ugly tentacle boy? Do you have a crush on me or something?" I taunted in an attempt to pry an answer from him while also charging a ball of lightning at the tip of my middle finger, aiming it like a rifle with one eye closed.

"Haha!" Sun laughed at my joke as he slid between Selgaath's legs and struck it with a palm attack then immediately linked it with a swing of his saber.

"You have jokes, human. I'll give you that. But you won't be laughing when I consume your soul," Selgaath grinned, his bat-like ears flaring.

"Bang," I uttered as I shot the ball of lightning that had grown to the size of a basketball and then was condensed to the size of a marble.

It was like a literal bullet as it traveled through the air, striking Selgaath in the middle of his chest. The impact pushed him back slightly, affording Moon the opportunity to set up a seven-chain combo.

"That was a good one, Bell Agnus," Selgaath complimented, using my name. "You're just as talented as your father."

The acknowledgment confirmed that he knew me.

His appearance in this specific location at the campus wasn't about Arthurr; it was personal, directed at me.

Honestly, I was stunned.

I hadn't anticipated a personal vendetta. I had expected a regular battle between individuals in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"How do you know me, you demon?" I demanded."Please, just call me Selgaath," he responded while melting Moon's sword with his tentacle.

"Selgaath, what an ugly name your parents gave you," Sun quipped. "Makes sense since you're one ugly son of a gun."

"True," Moon chimed in.

Ever since the "three" of us discovered that Selgaath was capable of communicating in the human tongue, we had begun speaking more, trying to taunt him, get him off his game.

I used the spell that turned my lightning into a bow and I began to strike at the tentacles, pushing them back, altering their paths, stunning them for split seconds, and overall providing the two Arthurrs with more opportunity to deal damage with their sabers.

"You humans are funny," Selgaath mused. "It's a shame that I have to kill all of you. If not for my orders, I'd adopt you three as pets."

"Answer my question," I pressed as three lightning arrows struck his forehead in quick succession.

"Why not? Since it won't matter anyway when you're dead. I know you, Bell. I know your father too, but he's not the reason I'm here. I don't care about your relationship with him," Selgaath said as he spun his body and tentacles in a dangerous dance.

It looked silly but it was extremely dangerous and if the two Arthurrs weren't careful, it could be another mistake.

"Bell, young hero. I'm here simply to nip your potential in the bud before it can bring any more trouble to my king's plans," Selgaath said with a devilish smile that made him appear like a demonic jester. "Guess I'll be making my king proud because what a coincidence, I find not one but two talented humans, and I have the honor of bringing you both to death's door."

He was referring to Arthurr who he had seen merge back into one a few moments prior.

"The only thing being brought to death's door is you and your stink breath," Sun retorted.

"Sun, swap with me," I said as I dashed forward.

You're here to kill me specifically.

If I wasn't already motivated before — I was extra motivated now.

Why?

Because this was protagonist 101.

The villains must have a personal vendetta to kill you. Even though there existed people far more powerful than you, they spent all their resources, time, and energy on trying to kill you instead.

When your existence is acknowledged as a thorn in the big bad's plans, that's when you're truly a protagonist.

I licked my lips as I skipped across the wall on my right, rotating my body as I lunged at the demon, slicing a thin cut on his neck.

One step closer to my redemption.