Reincarnated as the Last Villain

The body lay cold in the catacombs beneath Ravengarde.

Wrapped in wards, bound in chains of silver, and watched by six guards — Kael had ordered it untouched until Nilo could examine it.

Now, three nights after the battle, Nilo stood alone.

Lantern in one hand.

Scalpel in the other.

He muttered incantations under his breath, hands trembling not from fear… but from a feeling he couldn't name.

He removed Ardyn's mask first.

The face beneath was scarred — not by blades, but by ritual. Sigils burned into the skin. Eyes replaced with blackstone lenses, fused into the sockets.

Then came the chest plate.

That's when Nilo stopped.

His voice cracked.

"…Gods."

The Discovery

Ardyn's heart was gone.

In its place: a binding stone, etched with the symbol of Zerath's elite experiment division — known only in whispers as "The Remnant Core."

Worse still — veins of obsidian thread ran through the body, connecting bone to armor, blood to steel.

This wasn't a man.

It was a template.

[Lore Update: The Remnant Core]Zerath's secret project. Converts fallen elite into semi-sentient, pain-immune soldiers.Known units: The Pale Blade, The Shrouded Choir, The Hollow King.Risk: Conversion may still be reversible… if the soul remains.

Nilo rushed to Kael.

He burst into the war room without knocking, scrolls spilling from his cloak.

"They weren't just soldiers," he gasped. "They're resurrected constructs — Zerath's building a second army… and he's using our dead."

Kael froze.

"Are you sure?"

Nilo unrolled a parchment, revealing diagrams drawn in blood and ash. "This sigil… I've seen it before. On the graves outside Hallowmere. The ones that were dug up after the siege."

Kael's eyes darkened.

He remembered that battlefield.He remembered who they buried.

And who they never found.

The Implication

"Zerath is using our fallen," Kael whispered.

"He's taking their bodies," Nilo added. "Maybe their souls. Maybe their minds."

"Can they be saved?"

Nilo hesitated.

"…I don't know."

Council Emergency Meeting

Kael called the council that night.

Serana arrived first. Duran second. Vaenira last, cloak still wet from a night patrol.

Kael didn't pace. He stood still, as if rooted in place.

"Zerath isn't just conquering," he said. "He's harvesting. And we may be next."

He turned to Serana. "I need a list of every fallen we buried under Ravengarde. Every soldier, scout, mage."

To Nilo: "Find a way to reverse it."

To Vaenira:

"…If I fall—"

Vaenira cut him off.

"I won't let them take you."

No smile. No softness.

Just a vow.

[Crisis Activated: Soul Harvest]Zerath has begun reclaiming the dead from past battles.Certain allies may return as enemies in future chapters.If captured alive, characters risk conversion.Rebellion Goal: Discover and destroy the Remnant Core.