Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses

"That is all, Your Honor," a voice reverberated through the wide walls of the hall, a silence so chilling it pressed down on everyone seated, witnessing the trial that had just taken place.

All evidence needed had been presented, witnesses shuffled through the boxes, and now the final decision came down to the man who held supreme power in this room. His gaze fixed firmly on the boy who stood at the center of the student court, ether chains weighing him down, his own gaze fixed on his feet—and so it had been throughout the entire trial.

"Given all evidence and witnesses presented before the court, Student Azalea is henceforth pronounced guilty of breaking code sections 45 and 54 of the Laws of Vermillion." The moment it was announced and the gavel smashed down, a ripple was sent through the room, every single person responding with almost the same reaction.

The expression of satisfaction.

It was true that most, if not everyone, in this room was well aware this outcome had been inevitable. Even the young man himself showed no change in posture or expression, just gazing down, his face hidden from all the judgmental stares cast upon him.

Why?

In that moment of solitude and silence, isolated from the world around him, at that very instant, all that came to Azalea's mind was that single word.

Why?

Why had it come to this once again? Why must his life always be so pathetic? WHY?! Why couldn't he just be like everyone else?

In that moment—that very moment—all that came to his mind was the look of those he had truly thought, even if it was for just a second, genuinely cared about him. Now they looked at him with nothing but disgust and scorn.

Even her.

Isabelle. The one he could have sworn, ten days ago, would defend him with her life if such a thing were to happen to him. His best friend, a friend he'd had since childhood, the only person who had ever truly cared, and the only person he might have ever truly cared about.

He couldn't get it off his mind.

Being dragged to the court, the way she had approached him, that slap! It had pained him more than all the torment he had been put through these past ten days.

It hurt so much.

She had gritted her teeth, her expression one of cold detachment—he had never, ever, seen that look directed at him from her before.

And it froze him.

She had denounced their friendship like it was nothing. She called him a monster!

WHY?! WHY?! JUST WHY?!

He had already endured so much from every single person, yet he had remained unshaken. He didn't let it get to him—he couldn't, because he knew the moment he did, it would break him.

But her? That was unexpected.

She was literally a person who had shared meals with him! Someone he had taken a blade for—not once, not twice, not thrice! Not even four times! She was someone who used to have his back.

But on this day, right before everyone's eyes, she had looked at him no different from his father on the day he was disowned. No different from all the rest.

And now he came to truly realize: from the very onset, from the moment he had opened his eyes in this world, he was alone.

There had been signs—it was all there, a fact waiting so patiently to be acknowledged, but he had shied away from the truth. He had lived a lie.

But... even if he held it all in, even if he convinced himself he had faced worse pain, even if he shielded it all behind walls and a mask of cold detachment—it hurt.

Oh, how much it hurt.

He had thought perhaps, even if those other bastards he called friends didn't believe him, even if they spat on his face in disgust and cursed his existence, that she—she would at least not turn her back on him when he needed her most.

When he was fucking breaking apart!

They knew him. They all did. They knew him too well. They knew what he was capable of. They knew he wasn't capable of such things. If he had done such a thing, it only meant there was no other choice. It only meant that was the only way. It only meant he was helpless!

Yet they never thought for a second—

'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' He felt like his heart was being ripped to shreds.

The Goddess was no more. The system had abandoned him. It was like ice water being splashed on him on a cold day—the bitter realization.

All the promises. They were all lies.

He had been used from the onset. The goddess knew he would deviate from his destined path; she knew it all too well, so she caged him. Caged him with a system and the false promise of a better life—that this was his final run, he would be set free, sent to a new world. Not a scripted world, not one where there was a hero and likewise a villain, where there were bound to be footnotes. A world where he would be truly free.

Peace. That was the greatest promise.

LIES! ALL LIES!

He was just used until the moment he outlived his usefulness. The system was no more. He was left to his fate.

The final mission. That was all that had led to this moment.

KILL AUSTON.

He knew it was impossible—he was, after all, just a talentless, unawakened Alchemist. All he could do was aid his combat-meant teammates.

But it persisted. It pressured him. Promised him. Threatened him.

Before he knew it, there he was, a sword in hand, right through the gut of the hero.

That was his only crime.

But now, just as it had happened in the Game, he had been condemned with countless allegations.

"Student Azalea, what say you?" the judge asked.

Azalea sighed, his eyes blank. He remembered that look on her face—the single tear down her left cheek.

He hated it. God, he hated her even beyond everyone else! Hypocrite.

"Just fucking get it over with," he said, his gaze on his feet, not bothering to spare the man a glance.

"So be it. From this moment on, Azalea Von Nevana shall henceforth be expelled from Vermillion, all rights as a student withdrawn, and forever prohibited from its premises. If ever found wanting, he would be detained for breaking the law that governs Vermillion." The judgment was passed.

Silence so thick he felt it like a lump in his throat permeated the environment, lingering a moment too long.

So it had come to this, he thought.

He sighed, his blank eyes staring at the ceiling as he was grabbed from behind and dragged out of the courtroom.

This was it. The end of the extra.

Azalea.