Villain: The Play of Destiny

A tall young man with golden highlights in his hair, slowly exhaled as he opened his eyes. His slitted pupils contracted a little at the intake of light before they changed and turned to the common eyes of an Ashaya.

A little frown marred his face as he lost himself in some thoughts, and he felt a little disappointed that he had failed to reach the peak of the Spirit Profound Realm. He was now stuck in the Late Stage, just a step away from reaching the peak. And he was not sure how long it would take him before he would see an advancement in his Realm again.

His case was not simple and not a matter of time. He could only advance again by assimilating more of the Divine Dragon's Heart's Blood.

Nonetheless, the rise in his strength was exponential, at least in terms of the physical strength and the potency of his Aura, and he was very confident in his ability now.

If he had fought against Samrath with his current strength, he would have managed to win without getting injured at all. He would have not suffered as he did.

It was a sad thing that he only had an hour left before he would be kicked out of this place, only to be able to access it briefly and not for prolonged use for another day.

The restrictions irked him a lot, but he was too weak to finish the Trials and take full control of this Divine Treasure that would enable him to stay in this world for much longer even with his current Realm of Strength.

Yexuan knew that he was already lucky enough to have passed the Time's Trial and taken control of the Aspect of Time, otherwise, he would have never been able to come back in the Past.

Unfortunately, the Power of Time was exhausted once he arrived here, inside his younger body, and he was so weak and helpless that he could not help it recover anytime soon.

If he could use the Power of Time, things would have been much easier, and it would have helped him stay in this world for some more days.

He sighed as he slowly stood up, stretching his limbs, and walking towards the small yet beautiful cottage that he had built for himself in this place.

It was a striking contrast against the majestic and stunningly unreal Palace that could be seen from these grounds, but Yexuan could not enter that place without taking full control of the Steele of Time & Space, something he could not achieve right now.

And he knew that he would have to wait a long time before he could enter the Trial of Space, as one of its requirements was to possess the Space Dao, something he had not dabbled into in his last life.

Yexuan changed into some new sets of clothes, stretched his limbs some more, and then sat down on the grass to complete a quick Aura Circulation so that he would be at his best before he entered Gaia.

One thing he had not gotten used to yet was how short the time seemed to him. But it could not be blamed, after all, he was an Immortal once, and to Immortals, the passage of time was meaningless.

Now, there was this sense of urgency in everything, something he once thought he liked a lot and missed, but it was far from the truth. It was all just a hassle and he could not wait to become an Immortal again.

The clock was ticking in his mind as he sat there, completing a simple Aura Circulation, and it felt like a sword was hanging over his neck, ready to swing down.

Yexuan frowned at the sudden dark humour, feeling a little unwell, and as soon as he finished circulating the Aura, he opened his eyes and looked at the transparent screen.

It showed him what was happening outside this secret world.

The lake was still calm, life was as usual, and slowly, the light was getting brighter, telling him that a new dawn awaited him.

He quickly sorted out his thoughts and decided what he wanted to do next.

Staying in Magic City was out of the question, so, he needed to run away from this place and hide somewhere. But before that, he needed to make sure that Alana was fine.

There was this restlessness in his heart and he was scared that Keith had figured out that it was he who had attacked Samrath. The dying man might have given his name.

And he was afraid that the Evil God would harm Alana and use her as a hostage and bait to lure him out.

Yexuan knew the risks, yet he was stupid enough to go and check up on her. Some things just could not be helped, and she was special to him, his only Family in this Time. And his only Love that he had the chance of having.

He was about to leave the place when he frowned a little and stopped, looking at his study table.

It was a silly thought, but he still walked towards it and started penning down a letter to Amelia. In it, he urged her and informed her about Keith's truth and how evil and deceptive he was.

Maybe he would never need to send it out to her, and he really did not want to as it might backfire and the enemies might realise that he had come back in Time.

However, if he failed to save Alana and had to escape, he could leave it behind for her and hope that Amelia would realise that she did not belong with someone like Keith.

It might help her in escaping his Evil hands sooner rather than later.

The Heavens and the Light needed her on their side if they ever wished to hold themselves against the Darkness.

Yes, he had decided to trust her again.

Yexuan sighed as he looked at the letter and then quickly checked on the Runes he was wearing on his body.

The Shields were fine, and the Strength and Speed Runes were working fine as well.

It reminded him of the Time when he was rewarded with the knowledge of these special Runes by Amelia when he and his team had succeeded in a mission.

She truly was a generous Monarch and one that everyone wholeheartedly served and revered.

And when the Times turned dark, she even permitted them to pass down this knowledge to whomever they wished and saw fit.

It was only because of these Shields and Strength and Speed Runes that he had managed to get his hands on the Steele of Time and Space and the Divine Dragon's Heart's Blood. And it was only because of the Runes that their army still existed when he decided to return to the Past and sacrificed himself.

With fifteen minutes left, he entered Gaia, and stayed underwater, assessing the situation.

He slowly swam up to the surface of the water a few minutes later and stopped when he was a couple of metres from it, deciding to take a good look around.

His eyes changed as he used them to carefully scrutinise the surroundings, and his heart relaxed when he found everything was normal and peaceful and that there were no signs of any person.

Yexuan was immensely relieved and thanked his lucky stars that he had managed to teleport outside Keith's perceptive domain and managed to escape him.

He slowly ascended and then came out of the water, taking a deep breath. Once he stepped on the ground, he immediately used his Aura to dry his clothes and hair, and even if things seemed calm, he kept his guard up.

*Tsszz*

There was a sudden sizzling sound that his sharp ears picked up, and then it was soon mixed in with some crackling.

Yeuxan turned to look at the lake he had just come out of, and he watched it freeze right under his eyes in a matter of seconds, drastically dropping the temperature in the surroundings.

The world suddenly turned eerily silent, and his heart sank as a bad premonition gripped him.

"So the mouse has finally come out of its hole."

He heard a playful remark, a feminine voice that he was familiar with, and when he followed it, he found a gorgeous blonde girl materialise out of nothing.

And then he witnesses more and more figures materialise out of thin air.

Yexuan frantically looked around, and he found himself surrounded from all sides. And his heart dropped further when he saw Amelia present there as well, her eyes having adopted their Golden Shade, which only meant that she was ready for some serious business.

"How..." He was confused just as much as he was scared, and he soon received an answer when he watched another figure appear, who was crouching on the ground and picking up a disc from it. "A High-Grade Array?" He looked at the disc in disbelief as it was not something that was supposed to exist in this world.

"Yeah, and it's an expensive one as well." Keith sighed before he made the disc disappear. "But it was worth it." He suddenly smiled and met Yexuan's eyes.

Yeuxan knew why they were all there as each one of them was now covered in their Aura Armour, and the pressure he felt from them suffocated him.

Unbeknownst to him, his body started trembling a little in fear.

"You can't kill me... Alana..." He tried to reason, but the next words he heard froze him.

"Yes, she will be sad, and hopefully, she will understand." Rebecca smiled, but her eyes were not smiling. "But if she does not understand and proves herself unworthy of my Husband, I will kill her myself."

The coldness in her voice sent chills up his spine, and his heart nearly stopped.

His mind cleared up when he picked on the movement behind him, and he managed to erect the Runic Shield just in time to block Yingying's Sword, which shattered it. But he was saved from a mortal cut.

"I wonder how many of these you have on your body." He heard a whisper before he found himself unable to move, and to his dismay, a girl in black appeared out of his shadow and thrust the Flame Dragger that Samrath had wielded, right at his heart, taking out another one of his Runic Shields.

Both Yingying and Iseul immediately backed off when Yexuan body burst out in a yellow Aura, and soon a Dragon's enraged roar escaped his lungs.

"I Will kill you all!"

However, it failed to faze his enemies as he soon heard a chuckle.

"I would like to see you try," Keith said to him and then rushed at him, together with Kiara and Minami.