"Against the Heavens: The Villain's Return"

Leo sat back on the velvet cushion, one leg loosely crossed over the other. His arm rested lazily on the lion-head carved armrest of his throne, his posture the image of casual arrogance—but his eyes told another story.

They were distant.

Focused inward.

The half-eaten fruit remained untouched in Anne's trembling hands as she stood nearby, her gaze flicking nervously from the fruit to his unreadable face. Her cheeks were flushed pink. Her lips parted slightly as if to say something, but the moment passed.

Leo didn't notice. He didn't care.

His mind wasn't here.

His thoughts had plunged into the darker corners of his past life, a cold place dusted with broken truths and buried memories.

Two names had surfaced from the depths. Names he hadn't dared to speak in years.

"Rio Bladecrest… and Roxanne Bladecrest…"

The words left his mouth slowly, his voice low, deliberate—like invoking spirits.

The Bladecrest twins.

Not just prodigies.

They were legends.

Born of the same womb, same hour, same breath—the perfect embodiment of the Bladecrest Clan's legacy. They didn't just fight side by side—they moved as one. Their blades sang in harmony. Their footwork mirrored the other, creating a storm of rhythm and destruction.

To the common clans, they were an inspiration.

To enemies, a nightmare.

To Leo… they had once been comrades-in-arms. He had admired them once. Envied them. Even feared them.

Until they died.

No, until they were erased.

He grit his teeth, the taste of bitter resentment creeping back up his throat.

Their deaths had caused a stir across the continent. The fight had been captured in a video that spread like wildfire through the cultivation networks—forums, channels, sect debates. Everyone had seen it.

But it wasn't the truth.

Not the full truth.

He had seen both versions. The one that Alex Bladecrest made public... and the one that was supposed to be buried forever.

The uncut version.

A rogue cultivator—some wandering observer—had managed to capture the real battle from a nearby cliff, hidden behind the jagged rocks of the Emberclaw Mountains. The recording had shaky footage, marred by spiritual interference and wind distortion.

Still, it was enough to see what really happened.

And for a brief window in time, the truth had been out there.

Until the video was wiped.

The uploader vanished.

Leo always suspected Alex had dealt with the man personally.

And then, the doctored version was released.

Clean. Polished. Enhanced with edited spirit-flares and falsified timestamps. Alex appeared valiant—heroic even—holding off two supposed traitors. He claimed he had fought alone against two siblings who had turned their blades against the clan.

It was a lie that people wanted to believe.

A tale that reinforced Alex's rising star status.

And now, that same Alex walked around draped in stolen glory.

Leo's jaw tightened.

[ The True Battle: Rio and Roxanne Bladecrest vs. Alex Bladecrest ]

It all came back.

The battlefield—a sunken valley in the eastern wilds, cracked earth scorched black by clashing spiritual forces. Jagged boulders lay shattered, chunks of stone hovering slightly in the air from lingering energy distortions. The very air shimmered with residual pressure, the aftershock of immense power colliding.

Storm clouds churned above, feeding off the spiritual vortex, their gray underbellies crackling with flickers of lightning.

Alex stood on one end of the field, his blue-silver armor gleaming despite the dust. The Bladecrest clan's crest—a spiral sun pierced by a blade—shone on his chestplate. His sword was already drawn, long and narrow with a serrated edge that pulsed faintly with light.

He smirked.

His arrogance bled from every gesture.

"Rio, Roxanne," Alex said, his voice carrying through the valley. "Didn't expect you both to show up at once. You never struck me as the courageous type."

"You stole our birthright," Roxanne snapped. Her emerald twin swords glinted in the light. "You don't belong at the head of this clan."

"Your victory was manufactured," Rio added, his voice calm but cold. He held a single golden short blade across his back. "We've come to take back our name."

Alex gave a theatrical sigh and shook his head. "Still clinging to that nonsense?"

They didn't wait for another insult.

Roxanne dashed forward first—her movement like a bolt of green lightning. She spun mid-air, her twin blades carving arcs of light through the mist. Her momentum created a vortex that pulled dust into a spiral around her.

Rio didn't follow directly. He slipped sideways, disappearing into the mist with silent footwork.

Alex raised his sword and blocked Roxanne's incoming strike.

Clang!

The force of it drove him back a step.

Then came Rio—low, fast, and sharp. His blade aimed at Alex's side. Alex twisted just in time to deflect it.

What followed was chaos.

But not random chaos—synchronized carnage.

Roxanne's vertical strikes drove Alex's defense upward.

Rio's horizontal sweeps pressured his lower body.

When Alex jumped back, Roxanne spun and forced him forward.

When he tried to parry her combo, Rio came from the side.

They moved like parts of a single being—an eight-limbed warrior with two minds and one will.

The sky roared above them, thunder echoing across the battlefield.

Alex grunted, sweat forming on his brow. He was good, no doubt, but even his advanced footwork and reflexes couldn't match their dual assault for long.

He was losing ground.

Step by step.

Slash by slash.

His armor was scraped. His boots kicked up more dirt than control allowed. Every counter was rushed. Every dodge barely in time.

Leo remembered it clearly.

Alex was on the ropes.

Until he cheated.

"Let me show you something special!" Alex shouted mid-duel.

He released a sudden burst of light—a flash bomb technique used by lesser cultivators for ambushes and escapes. It didn't carry lethal force, but its sheer brightness was enough to stun even experienced fighters momentarily.

Roxanne instinctively shielded her eyes.

Rio leapt backward, prepared for a trap.

But it had already done its job.

By the time their vision cleared, Alex had repositioned.

He launched a blast of pale white energy—pure, refined spiritual force tinged with Aetherwind essence.

It was a purification technique.

Forbidden to anyone outside the Aetherwind lineage.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"He never should've had that technique…" he muttered under his breath.

The energy orb smashed into Roxanne, hitting her square in the chest.

She flew backward, crashing into the rocks with a sickening thud. Her ribs cracked audibly under the pressure. Her swords clattered against stone.

"Roxanne!!" Rio screamed.

He rushed to her side.

Alex's smirk returned.

"Just as I thought," he said coldly. "You're stronger together—but useless when separated."

The moment Rio knelt to defend his sister, Alex moved again.

Using shadow step—a high-tier mobility technique—he vanished from plain sight, his presence masked entirely.

In an instant, he reappeared behind Rio and struck.

The blade pierced Rio's back with a clean slice, blood gushing out in a violent spray.

Rio's body jerked.

He gasped—but didn't fall.

Not yet.

"Roxanne…" he murmured, reaching for her.

She screamed in rage and rose despite the injury.

She came at Alex again, blades lashing out in a flurry.

But the injury had slowed her.

Her rhythm faltered.

Alex met her head-on and struck once more with another purification burst—this one aimed at her head.

It didn't kill her, but it knocked her cold.

The siblings collapsed beside each other.

Unconscious. Defeated. Broken.

Leo's fingers curled tightly into fists as the scene replayed in his head.

But that wasn't the worst part.

No.

What followed had turned a tragedy into a deception.

Alex dragged their unconscious bodies several feet apart.

He adjusted the angle of their limbs. Repositioned their weapons.

Then he activated a spiritual recording talisman and took pictures—shots that made it appear as though he had been the lone defender who triumphed against two aggressors.

Later, those images were attached to the video.

Leo remembered the forums.

The way people praised Alex's technique. His supposed composure. His "defensive brilliance."

He had stolen their victory and rewritten history.

And the world had bought it.

Even the elders.

Even Leo, back then, had almost doubted what he saw.

Until now.

Until this second life.

This chance.

He would not let history repeat itself.

Leo's breathing slowed, but his fingers remained curled into fists.

The throne room was silent, save for the soft sound of Anne shifting nervously beside him. The past still pulsed in his chest, like a phantom wound. The memory wasn't just a recollection. It was a scar. A wound that refused to close.

And yet, Leo's expression remained calm.

Still.

Deadly.

He had lived through betrayal. Through deception, manipulation, and the grand theater of lies that cultivators used to claw their way toward power.

And Alex… Alex Bladecrest was the worst of them.

Leo's nails bit into his palms as his thoughts sharpened into something more focused—more dangerous.

He had wasted so much time in his previous life believing the system would reward justice on its own.

But it never had.

It never would.

Now he knew what had to be done.

"Rio… Roxanne…" he whispered, the names heavy on his tongue.

He remembered their expressions in that final moment.

Rio's desperate reach.

Roxanne's fury.

Both silenced by treachery.

"I swear it," Leo said under his breath. "This time… I won't let it happen."

In this new life, he had the power to interfere. To change the course of fate. He wasn't a bystander anymore.

He would find the twins before Alex ever reached them.

He would train them. Sharpen them. Harden them into blades that Alex wouldn't be able to block, twist, or bury beneath fake praise and stolen titles.

Leo's eyes opened slowly, glowing faintly with residual energy from the flood of emotion and intent.

Anne flinched when she noticed. She was still holding the fruit he had asked for earlier—though by now, the edges had begun to brown slightly, the juices drying at the stem.

"Master Leo?" she asked softly, her voice unsure. "Are you alright?"

Her voice pulled him back to the present.

The past slipped away like mist under sunlight.

Leo blinked, his face returning to calm, composed detachment. His lips twitched into the faintest smile.

He looked at Anne—her short stature, bright pink eyes, and the soft silver-blonde hair tied up into twin tails. She wore a frilly maid uniform, custom-fitted for her petite frame. Even now, she tried to hide her concern beneath politeness and discipline.

But her hands were trembling.

She wasn't fooling anyone.

Leo reached out and gently rested his hand atop her head. His fingers brushed through her hair once before giving a soft pat.

Anne's cheeks turned red.

"You worry too much," he said lightly. "It was just an old story. One I remembered all of a sudden."

She nodded slowly, though her eyes remained unsure.

Leo turned away, leaning back into the velvet cushion once more. The high back of the throne framed him like a king not yet crowned. His gaze returned to the far end of the chamber, where the open window let in sunlight through polished glass.

The golden rays spilled across the marble floor in soft streaks, casting light across the chamber like paths leading into the future.

He needed to start preparing.

The timeline was shifting already.

Alex had yet to make his move, but that wouldn't last long. In his previous life, Alex didn't become notorious until the Dominion Realm. But Leo knew now—Alex had started scheming long before that.

This time, Leo would start first.

If the Bladecrest twins were still alive in this timeline—and he believed they were—he had a narrow window to locate them before Alex twisted their fate again.

"I'll find them," Leo whispered to himself. "Before the bastard even breathes their name."

He would need to make contact subtly. A direct approach might draw attention. The clans were always watching—always scheming. Especially the Bladecrest elders, who were notoriously secretive about bloodline heirs.

But Leo had two advantages now.

One: Knowledge.

He knew where the twins had trained before their disappearance. He knew the unique formations they practiced, the mountain ranges they once retreated to for spiritual calibration, and even the style of blade they preferred to wield.

Two: Power.

Not just strength, but influence. Prestige. He wasn't a nameless cultivator anymore. He had risen far already, and the system only accelerated his growth.

Even now, he could feel its dormant hum in the back of his consciousness.

And when the time came… he would activate the [Twin Soul Resonance Protocol].

That hidden technique—once a legend only whispered about—could allow him to synchronize spiritual flow with the Bladecrest twins temporarily. It was an elite-level duo cultivation protocol originally designed for married cultivators or siblings with mirrored soul imprints.

Leo had memorized the theory in his past life.

This time, he would make it real.

Anne finally placed the fruit back on the platter beside the throne, her expression returning to its usual professional calm. "Should I prepare your traveling garments, Master Leo?" she asked quietly.

Leo turned to her, mildly surprised.

"Traveling?"

"You've been silent for a long time," she said, not meeting his eyes. "And you get that look when you're about to disappear for a few days."

Leo laughed softly, shaking his head. "You're sharper than you let on."

Anne puffed her cheeks slightly, annoyed.

"I serve to the best of my ability."

"I know. That's why you'll stay behind this time," Leo said, standing from the throne.

Anne blinked.

"I have something to do. Alone."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Leo raised one hand before she could speak.

"I'm not being reckless. I just need a few days."

Anne hesitated, then finally nodded. "Very well. I'll make sure everything is ready for your return."

Leo nodded, appreciating her discipline.

As he moved past her, his long coat swaying with each step, his mind burned with purpose.

He didn't need the world to believe him.

He didn't need the elders or sect leaders to acknowledge the truth.

He only needed one thing:

For Rio and Roxanne Bladecrest to survive this time.

And for Alex Bladecrest… to suffer the full consequences of his theft.

The legends had been rewritten once.

This time, Leo would write them himself.

And there would be no edits.

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[To Be Continued]

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