Villain: The Play of Destiny

Saturday, July 22nd, 2045

Demiliore Manor, Corsica, Italia

In a courtyard, the sharp clangs of metal could be heard along with a strange shattering sound every time the Aura-Laced weapons clashed against each other.

Yingying, Minami, Rebecca, Iseul, and Marianne were all using swords against Keith, whose defence was impregnable and no matter what they tried, his un-ordinarily long and two-handed scimitar was always there to block their attacks.

He had been training them in swords for the last few days, and even a veteran like Yingying found it hard to hold a candle against his Swordsmanship.

They were all quite excited at the start, but now, they were simply frustrated and were losing their composure.

"What kind of a sword is this?" Rebecca grumpily asked as he repelled her once again. Soo, all of them returned to their formation and surrounded him, searching for an opportunity to strike.

"You think it is the sword?" He smiled at her and then lowered his blade before throwing it towards her.

Rebecca understood his intentions and threw the Scimitar in her hand to him before happily catching the blade, but as soon as she caught the hilt, her arms sank and the tip of the blade easily sank into the ground. Almost as if it was sinking into butter.

She was surprised by how heavy this weapon was.

"505 Kgs?" She frowned as she guessed the weight and lifted the blade with both hands, drawing it and swinging it around to test it, but since she was not used to wielding such a heavy weapon, every swing unbalanced her and left her prone to attacks.

"Yes." Keith smiled at her.

"And the design?" She curiously asked as she observed and tested the blade.

It was a mixture between a Scimitar and Willow-Leaf Blade and was exactly five feet in length, including the hilt that had space to hold it with two hands. And then there was this unique whistling sound as it cut through the air every time you swung it.

Overall, it was quite an intriguing weapon, and Rebecca soon took a liking to it.

"The design is not from this world. It's called the Wicked Sword or the Rogue Sabre. And it is one of the toughest swords to master."

"Wicked Sword?"

"It's dangerous and is also generally associated with evil." He grinned. "And yes, this blade in your hand would be called the Wicked Sword. Had the blade been a little wider, it would have been called the Rogue Sabre, but people usually don't differentiate between them. Only those with the knowledge of swords and interest in them usully speak about the differences."

"The Sabre would be heavier." She frowned.

"Yes, but some might find it more balanced." He nodded to her.

"It is the toughest sword to master?"

"One of them." He nodded to her and smiled as he watched her grin.

"Do you have another?" She asked.

Keith nodded to her and she happily smiled.

"May I have it?"

"Sure." He shrugged and then bought another Wicked Sword from the System Shop.

The sword was made out of a reliable metal but not a very precious metal, and it only cost him 25,000 System Points.

Rebecca happily came over to him to hand him back his blade and take the new Wicked Sword, completely forgetting about her old Scimitar, but then again, it was only a few days old, and she wasn't really attached to it.

"It's not for aesthetics," Keith warned her as he watched her draw the blade out of the scabbard and giddily swing it around. "Since you have asked for it, you will have to master it."

"I know!" She nodded her head. "I will go and practice with it. You girls can continue." She told the rest as she walked to the other side of the courtyard to practice alone.

The girls watched his blonde wife seriously focusing on her practice and listened to the whistling sound that her sword was making.

"Ready?" Keith asked, catching their attention, and the four of them turned to look at him and drew their swords at him.

He smiled at them and then stored the Scimitar that Rebecca had abandoned in his storage ring before drawing his blade.

"Come." He lightly said, and was attacked from all sides by them.

Once again, the clanks of metals and the strange shattering sound resounded in the courtyard, and for the next three hours, the four of them gave their all to get past his sword but failed miserably.

He was just too fast for them.

By the time Keith called a stop to their training, Marianne was totally spent and was sprawled on the ground, panting heavily.

She was the weakest of the girls present here, but her strength would have been nothing to scoff at had she been present amongst some normal Aurors.

Rebecca pouted at him when she watched how hard Keith had pushed her Shadow. She had been asking him to sleep with Marianne so that the girl could keep up with everyone else in the Cultivation speed and also desired him, but he told her that she had to wait.

Though he did not tell her why he was keeping her Shadow waiting, she was sure that he had something in his mind for Marianne. That's how he was.

She stopped pouting and smiled when Keith walked over to her Shadow and helped her sit up to initiate the Two-Fold Heart Pulse Recovery Art.

Marianne was going to be meditating for, at least, an hour, so everyone let her be and walked into the Castle to freshen up.

By the time Marianne had recovered and freshened up, Minami had prepared lunch for everyone, and then the family sat at the dining table to have their meal and chat.

They had to leave tonight to attend the Ascension Ceremony of Abuzar, and then Rebecca planned on returning to Netheria to help Amelia prepare for Noxville's Opening Ceremony.

"You won't be returning with me?" Rebecca asked after Iseul informed him that she had arranged for their travel and could leave right after the ceremony.

"No." He shook his head. "I am going to Ireland."

"Why?" She curiously asked.

"Have to deal with something. I will be back before the Opening Ceremony."

"You have been staying away from home a lot lately." She lightly smiled and said, and giggled as she watched him sigh. "Amelia wouldn't mind, but Kiara and Qingyue do."

"I know." He nodded and poured himself a glass of white wine. "I plan on taking Kiara with me after the Opening Ceremony. You will have to take care of the Business."

Rebecca nodded to his words and then smiled at him.

"You would be leaving again." She playfully said.

"I will spend a few months with her, train her, and deal with a few things." He informed her.

"Are they necessary?" She asked.

"Yes."

It was enough of an answer for her and she nodded her head and did not raise the matter again. However, she did raise another matter that interested him.

"Alana is coming to Sameran tomorrow and will be staying at Manor until the end of August." She told him.

"Is that so?" He smiled as he sipped on his wine.

"I am curious about your intentions towards her."

"And your words have me curious." He looked at her and raised his brow.

"You have ruined her for any other man." She grinned.

Keith smiled and then chuckled before sipping more of the wine.

"Why do you say this?"

"Oh, come on!" She giggled. "You know exactly what I am trying to say." She mischievously looked at him. "She admires you, has a full-blown crush on you, and with all the care you show her, which she now realises because she now knows how much you shield her from the darkness of the showbiz industry, she's likely already in love with you. And now that she has tasted being treated as an absolute queen whom no one could touch, don't you think that she would never be satisfied without you?"

"Then why are you curious about my intentions towards her?" He smiled and asked.

"You have been very patient with her." She shrugged and said. "And then there's her adopted little brother, who looks at her with a longing that leaves little to doubt about his intentions."

"You have been keeping an eye on him." He smiled.

"Yes." She nodded. "Do you know that he killed a man back in March? And there is no evidence of it."

"I know." He nodded to her.

"That man had not wronged him in any way and was a total stranger." She curiously looked at him, and Keith smiled in his heart.

He knew that the man whom Yexuan had killed was not a stranger to him as he was familiar with that man in the Timeline he had come from.

The Immortal Sovereign had started dealing with the nuisances and exacting his 'vengeance' ahead of time, another anomaly that had occurred due to his actions.

"Maybe he wanted to test himself." He shrugged.

"Is that so?" She smiled, not believing his words. "A young boy killed a man and did it so meticulously that he left no evidence behind. Surely, it is normal behaviour of an Auror who wanted to get his first kill and test himself." She sarcastically said.

"I will tell you about him someday." He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Don't kill him." He warned.

"Fine." She shrugged and then continued with her meal. "If you want it, I can try to keep Alana away from him."

"There is no need for that." He shook his head.

"You are a little too confident in your charm, aren't you?" She smiled at him.

"What do you think?" He smiled back at her, and she giggled.

"Best of luck!"

"Thank you!" He chuckled and then engaged the others in light chit-chat.