Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain

If it were him in Rebecca's position, he would have already thrown a fit and stormed off in anger.

"You want her to find out by herself when you eventually slip up? That's the worst possible outcome. It would take forever to convince her you don't see her as a fool. Trust me," Atherna said with a huff.

"You're right… but still..." Maximilian wanted to respond, but he didn't know what to say in the moment. He took a breath and slowly began organizing his thoughts as the initial shock faded.

"There's a lot of... questions... in my head right now. First off, what did you say to her to make her accept that Max, the one she admired… was actually me the whole time? Usually, when someone finds out they've been deceived, they get angry," he asked.

"Well… I have absolute power over time," Atherna said, puffing up her chest with pride, causing Maximilian's eyes to unconsciously drift toward the jiggle.

"Hmmm? See something you like?" Atherna teased.

"Ahem! Err… right. But what does that have to do with changing her mind? It's not like you can control her thoughts. And you're not exactly good at persuading people," Maximilian replied.

"You know about the multiverse, the 'what ifs,' and alternate timelines, right? I just swapped in the version of the timeline where her thoughts were the least angry and most accepting of you, and brought that into the current timeline. In other words, if she couldn't accept it in any timeline, there'd be nothing I could do," Atherna explained.

"What? You can do that?" Maximilian was stunned by the revelation. It seemed that Atherna was far more than she appeared to be. She became more mysterious as time went on.

At first, he had thought she was simply the soul of his girlfriend from his previous life, someone who had died and just happened to be in charge of the system that now resided within him.

Instead, she had revealed that she possessed power over time. That was something he had never even imagined.

But the fact that this woman was his girlfriend hadn't changed, so he didn't bother asking who she really was or why she had such an ability. Of course, he was curious, but he believed there should be a basic level of trust between a couple.

If she didn't tell him, or seemed unwilling to share, then she must have her reasons.

"Aren't you going to ask me who I really am? Or why I can use time-related powers?" she asked, clearly annoyed at Maximilian.

"You don't seem like you want to tell me, so I figured you must have your reasons. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, you know? Besides, I trust you. That's all there is to it," Maximilian said with a smile.

Hearing this, the annoyance on Atherna's face became even more apparent.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?" Maximilian smiled wryly.

"Of course, you dumb head!" she snapped. "You're too trusting! I know you love me, and I appreciate it, but not everyone would just appreciate your trust! Most of them would take advantage of it!

Isn't that exactly what that bitch Abigail did when she took advantage of your trust?"

Atherna gave Maximilian a proper scolding. Of course, she liked this part of him, but she also hated it. In her opinion, his trust should only be monopolized by her, because she would never take advantage of it… probably.

At the mention of Abigail, Maximilian's face soured. It wasn't because he missed that woman; it was because he thought about his daughter, who was still in his previous world.

Was she safe? Was she happy? Would someone take advantage of her? These questions lingered at the back of his mind every time he woke up in the morning.

"I'm sorry," Atherna said quietly.

"It's okay. We'll go back there eventually, so don't worry about it," Maximilian replied. "I just worry about Ellie... and my parents." He turned and walked upstairs to calm himself. The mention of Abigail had shaken him. He still resented her, though Atherna's presence had softened that resentment.... It's just not enough to forget it entirely.

That night, Atherna decided to sleep in Rebecca's room. She still needed to properly strengthen her bond with her future sister.

Maximilian didn't bother initiating the trial again. He was too mentally unsettled. Going into the trial like this wouldn't be optimal.

But… something felt off.

The moment he lost consciousness, he found himself in a blank white space, surrounded by three figures. He was completely unprepared. One of them was Faceless, the one who had defeated him last time. The other two had acted as judges during that previous encounter.

The first looked like he had stepped out of a vampire movie, dressed in a blood-red coat. The second wore a massive high-tech suit of armor, more accurately, a mecha suit, standing over four meters tall, bristling with weaponry: shoulder cannons, arm-mounted guns, and drone-mounted miniguns.

"What's the meaning of this?" Maximilian asked.

None of the three replied. Instead, they attacked him simultaneously. The vampire-like man charged at him with wind-like speed, while Faceless lunged toward his blind spot.

Maximilian, weaponless, tried to control the shadows, but realized that in this blank space, there were none to command.

Pierced.

The rapier stabbed into his left side, then slashed, opening a deep wound in his stomach. Maximilian grunted in pain. Fortunately, the vampire-like man's follow-up attack was blocked.

Maximilian quickly retreated from the encirclement, just as the man in the mecha suit aimed all of his weapons at him.

Ratatatatata! Boom!

Maximilian, unable to dodge quickly due to his injuries, had his entire left arm blown off.

He grunted in pain. His regeneration didn't kick in immediately. It was working, but clearly suppressed. It might have been the result of the initial sword wound. These three knew his abilities well and weren't giving him a moment to breathe.

But… amidst all the bad news, there was one good sign.

His EF could feel again. He could sense shadow.

There were no shadows in this white space, at least not from physical objects. But blood, organs, and internal components still cast shadows.

Hundred Face rushed toward him while he was kneeling on one knee, raising his sword for a finishing blow.

But—

Pierced! Splash!

A small shadow thread, formed from the blood on the rapier, suddenly pierced through Hundred Face's skull and exploded from the inside, scattering bone fragments and brain matter, generating more shadows.

Maximilian quickly manipulated the shadow threads, drilling them downward into the body, generating as much blood as possible. Each drop created new shadows that he could sense.

Without hesitation, he commanded all the threads, shaping them into hair-thin needles and launching them at the vampire-like opponent.

"Shit!" the vampire-like man cursed. But before he could move, the needles struck him all over. The shadow threads converged inside his body, spreading into his limbs and completely paralyzing him.

Before Maximilian could finish him off, he felt a sudden threat and immediately leapt back.

Ratatatatata! Boom! Boom!

The man in the mecha suit launched a full barrage, but Maximilian had already regenerated enough to move swiftly again.

His suppressed regeneration was still lagging, but his spilled blood gave rise to more shadows. He commanded them to pursue the mech-suited enemy.

The enemy, having seen what the shadow threads did to his comrades, took to the sky in retreat.

Maximilian used this chance to finish off the vampire-like man.

Splash!

The shadow threads burst, shredding blood and organs into a gruesome spray. The resulting blood pooled on the ground, generating even more shadow for Maximilian to control.

He had lost a lot of blood. Dizziness was setting in. But he couldn't stop. He needed to eliminate the last one.

The threads chased the man in the mecha suit like a tide of darkness, circling around him and gradually closing in.

The man couldn't do anything but flee. His weapon systems had overheated, and he needed time before he could use them again.

As the threads encircled him, he landed on the ground and charged all his remaining energy into one final attack.

Boom!

A powerful plasma shot shattered the thread cage, giving him an escape route. But....

What he faced was Maximilian, charging straight at him, right fist glowing with condensed qi.

Boom!

The punch landed squarely on the mecha's chest, unleashing power equal to what he had once used against a Behemoth's leg.

Splash!

The force instantly liquefied the man inside, reducing him to bloody pulp within his metal coffin.

With that final blow, the white space collapsed, and Maximilian's consciousness began to fade.

"Max!?"

"Max!"

"Don't do this to me! Max!!!"

Two familiar voices cried out in panic.

Maximilian slowly opened his eyes to find both Atherna and Rebecca hovering over him.

He realized it was already noon the next day.

"God… thank goodness!" Atherna hugged him tightly. Rebecca threw herself at him as well. He noticed her eyes were red. She had clearly cried hard before he woke up.

[Congratulations on acquiring special trial reward…]