Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain

[Congratulations on acquiring special trial reward…]

[Due to the special conditions requested by the trial masters, all EF (Extraordinary Faculties) granted from this special trial reward will be bestowed upon the host at their maximum potential state. If the host already possesses the EF, it will be upgraded to its maximum potential.]

Hundred Face's EF

Inorganic Animation ⇒ Inorganic Lifegiver

Inorganic Lifegiver: Grants the ability to control any inorganic object or entity, animating it to move or act independently. The object must possess sufficient mass to sustain animation. Additionally, the user may give life to an inorganic object or entity three times per year.

Bloodlust's EF

Hemomancy ⇒ Blood Emperor

Blood Emperor: Grants absolute control over the user's own blood and allows manipulation, shaping, materialization, animation, and hardening of external blood within a one-kilometer radius. The user may also directly control a single target's blood inside their body.

The Dreadnaught's EF

Fast Learner ⇒ Supreme Prodigy

Supreme Prodigy: Allows the user to understand and mimic any target's actions with over 80% accuracy and drastically reduces the time needed to learn new skills. The user also gains insight into the movements, techniques, and knowledge of the target while observing or learning.

Upon seeing the abilities, Maximilian was startled. The powers he had gained were formidable. Besides the EF, he also obtained the combat techniques of all three trial masters. However, none of them could compare to the Bajiquan Supreme Master,no, some weren't even a match for the fighting skills he got from Blood Mongoose.

He had to admit, Blood Mongoose, as the first trial master? is pretty crazy. The guy is a beast.

"Max," Atherna's voice pulled Maximilian back to reality. He turned to her with a look of confusion.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You've been unconscious for weeks, and your vital signs dropped to a dangerously low level," Atherna explained, then gestured toward the IV drip beside Maximilian's bed.

"I see… thank you…. both of you," Maximilian said as he looked at the two women who had taken care of him.

"How's the situation been these past few weeks while I was out?" Maximilian asked.

"Not good," Rebecca began. "The mutant war is about to start, and we still haven't heard from Atlas himself. Worse, based on what I've gathered after hacking into some restricted data, the first target the mutants plan to attack is this place." She said this with clear trepidation.

"Okay, that's the bad news. Rebecca already covered it. Now for the mixed news," Atherna added.

"Mixed? Not good news?" Maximilian asked.

"What, you thought that after bad news, there would automatically be good news? That's not how reality works," Atherna replied with a mischievous grin.

Maximilian: …

"Anyway, after that guy named Manifesto got captured, there was a major investigation and impeachment campaign led by that Strauss guy against Gideon Voss, the UEC Chief Secretary. That… led Gideon Voss to defect and join the mutants. He took all of his private forces with him and leaked a ton of UEC secrets.

Now the UEC Central has suffered heavy losses due to mutant terrorism. They've lost several key facilities, which has cut off communication and coordination with Central.

At this point, each city-state is on its own," Atherna explained with a grin.

"Are you sure this counts as mixed news? Because it sounds worse than what Rebecca just told me," Maximilian frowned.

"Well, at least that Manifesto guy is now enjoying a cozy little stay in a special maximum-security cell at Purgatory Maximum Prison, right?" Atherna said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"But…" Atherna paused. "Enough of that. There's something more pressing and concerning than the war… it's about the thing in your chest," she said, placing her hand on Maximilian's chest.

Maximilian looked down at his chest, remembering the moment he first transmigrated into this body. It wasn't that long ago—he clearly recalled waking up in some kind of vat.

"The thing in your chest was made by a villain. You remember who, right?"

Maximilian nodded and continued to listen.

"Dr. Omnipotent created it. At first, I thought he designed it to choose his successor, someone who could help him avert the destruction of this universe. But I was wrong. The destruction was just an excuse. That man only wanted to transcend mortality. And now, he's halfway there. The last thing he needs is to tear that medallion out from inside your chest," Atherna explained.

"You mean… the medallion embedded with various jewels in my chest was created by that guy to help him ascend to godhood? Then why did he let others use it? And why can't the abilities be taken back? That doesn't make any sense," Maximilian asked.

"It doesn't make sense because I'm the one who changed it," Atherna replied. "When Dr. Omnipotent asked me to help him manage this… contingency, I reviewed the system thoroughly. I fixed a lot of things and altered the medallion to truly perform the function it was supposed to, help you."

"I see. So now, he wants to get it back so he can complete his ascension to godhood?" Maximilian asked.

"Yes. As the creator, he must have hidden his soul inside the system alongside the villain souls. Out of the twelve villain souls, I only realized the truth after you were unconscious. And it turns out I was right. Dr. Omnipotent consumed the remaining souls in the system and didn't allow them to assist you.

Because of his ulterior motives, he arranged the trials so that the more powerful villains, the ones with higher chances of beating you, would come first. So in a way, you've already extracted most of the benefits the system could offer.

Even worse, he has already disabled most of the system's functions. The only thing he couldn't interfere with was the basic mechanism that maintains your existence," Atherna said.

After hearing everything, Maximilian let out a long sigh. He turned to Rebecca, who was watching him silently with a worried expression, showing no surprise at what Atherna had said.

"I guess you already told her everything," Maximilian said with a smile.

"I told her most of it, but not everything, unless you want her to know about your dark history," Atherna added with a mischievous grin.

"Er… don't. Just don't. I beg you," Maximilian said with a wry smile. This girl never missed a chance to tease him.

"So, what are we going to do now, Max? I'll support whatever action you choose," Atherna asked.

"How is Dr. Omnipotent going to take the medallion? Isn't he just a soul?" Maximilian asked as he looked down at his chest again.

"Don't worry about the medallion, Max. He's not inside it anymore. My best guess is that he's already in the realm of gods, planning his true ascension. That bastard used the one opening I left behind, the same pathway I used to reach the realm of gods. Since he's there now, I think he'll use the mutants or even some gods to try to kill you and take back the medallion," Atherna said.

"If so, I'll help the UEC resist the mutants," said Maximilian.

"Oh? Are you sure? That's not something a villain ought to do," Atherna teased.

"I know… but who told me to live here? Besides, you said it yourself that Dr. Omnipotent or whatever will use the mutants to try and kill me. It's better if I cause him some trouble first. The guy nearly killed me, after all," said Maximilian.

Atherna nodded. "Got it… I'll head to the realm of gods and hunt that bastard down."

"Atherna, I wanted to ask you something," Maximilian began, suddenly remembering something. Didn't Atherna say she only had a three-day time limit to maintain her body?

"It's been weeks since I was out. Why can you still maintain this body? I mean… the ticket," he asked.

"What? You don't want me here?" Atherna asked, her teasing smile appearing as she glanced at Rebecca.

"I see, you want to eat Rebecca up, don't you? And I was just in the way! Hmph! Typical man!" she said with a fake pout, pretending to be upset.

Rebecca's face turned red from embarrassment.

"Oi! Don't act cute! I'm asking because I want to know. I don't want you to push yourself or anything," said Maximilian.

Hearing this, Atherna let out a wide smile.

"Just kidding. And don't worry, I'm not forcing myself. It's because the other side broke the promise first, so I have no intention of keeping mine to stay out of the mortal realm.

Even though the ticket expired long ago, it's easy for me to control my power just enough so the mortal realm won't reject me. The rules of the system stopped mattering the moment that bastard tried to pull the rug out from under me," Atherna explained.

"I see…" Maximilian nodded in understanding, then continued. "Let's end this stupid war first. After that, I'll bring both of you to meet my parents," he said with a smile.

With that, Atherna vanished into motes of light and returned to the realm of gods to hunt down Dr. Omnipotent, who had already empowered himself with the remaining villain souls inside the medallion.

Maximilian went to check the combat readiness of his power suit. It was a blessing in disguise that he had inherited the knowledge of The Dreadnaught, who was a scientist-type villain.

With that knowledge, Maximilian was able to repair and tune up his power suit to a whole new level.