Reborn as the Fated Villain

The one who interrupted Damien's basement magic session was Fay. Apparently, it wasn't just one person but a whole group of people waiting outside for him. If not for his [Noble Aura], he would have been freaking out.

Under the guidance of Fay, Damien calmly left the safety of his house and emerged outside. A winter breeze carrying the damp smell of rain assaulted his nose. In the front garden of the mansion was a group of twenty elves, all with long silver hair tied up in ponytails. Damien recognized Beldroth at the forefront of the group from many previous playthroughs.

One of Queen Kaylessa's captains came here personally?

The short man radiated the aura of a seasoned veteran as he unfurled a parchment upon noticing his arrival.

"By royal decree, I am here to escort Sir Damien Karles and Miss Fay Karles to the princess, where a meeting shall be held between Sir Damien and the princess this afternoon. Failure to comply will result in the use of force and potential imprisonment," Beldroth read out in a neutral tone.

Damien was honestly scared shitless in front of such a force. While he had played this as a game many times, their scrutinizing gazes and the tint of their weapons in the sunlight held far more impact now that it was all real.

So, he did what he always did.

Let his body take control.

The edges of his lips curled up into a smirk as he took a few steps forward. The guards around Beldroth seemed apprehensive and nervous.

Now that I look a little closer, these are not elites at all.

He looked down at the tiny elf. He found it rather ridiculous how pompous he'd sounded reading out the decree, considering he had to look almost vertically up to meet Damien's gaze.

Beldroth was clad in magically enhanced metal armor that perfectly fit his tiny frame. A silvery-white–colored cape hung from his shoulders with a silver moon, the crest of House Silvermoon.

To his credit, the elf seemed utterly unaffected by Damien's intimidating gaze and glared back at him with the confidence befitting a captain of the Queen's royal guard. Beldroth had to confront many important people every day so he did not falter under the intimidation of a noble aura.

Damien grinned. "Royal Captain Beldroth, it would be a pleasure to be escorted by such a capable group of soldiers."

The elf seemed a little confused about how Damien knew his name but quickly shook it off.

"Sir Damien, please follow—"

"Captain!"

Beldroth scowled at the young elf soldier. "What?"

The poor elf soldier recoiled under his captain's gaze but stuttered out, "Elaith used Clairvoyance on the surroundings and found a Druid in the woods to the north."

Beldroth frowned. "Do we know his affiliation or motives?"

"Elaith concluded that the Druid's task involves watching Sir Damien's movements. He could be a forward scout for an ambush as well."

Beldroth nodded to the soldier in agreement.

"It seems you are rather popular around here, Sir Damien. It's not every day a rare class like a Druid is used to monitor someone ordinary."

Damien just let out a long sigh. "So, the sentinels of Oshal finally made their move, huh?" he muttered just loud enough for the captain to hear. Beldroth gave Damien an appraising look.

"Sir Damien, please enter the car. We will escort you to the capital as soon as possible."

Beldroth led Damien and Fay toward the vehicle. Fay seemed amazed, but Damien had seen these before, both in the game and back on Earth so he looked uninterested.

"This is the latest Magi tech from the Research Institute here in Kassinki. Unfortunately, there are only five that have been constructed so far, and the princess owns one of them," Beldroth explained with a hint of pride as the group stepped inside.

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Damien admired the exterior. I believe these cars move by high-powered water pushing against the grooves on the wheels, similar to how I moved my carriage with psychokinesis by applying some type of force to the top of the wheel to make it turn.

The rest of the car was like a saloon car back on Earth. It had four wheels and doors. The car's body was constructed from a black metal that Damien recognized as Dark Steel. It was a magically enhanced standard steel version that naturally repelled magic-based attacks, turning this car into this world's equivalent of a tank.

An elf wearing a butler uniform stepped out of the car and bowed to Damien and Fay.

"Young Master and Miss, I shall be your driver today."

Damien and Fay entered the car's back seat and sat down on the white-colored seats made from a Snow Bear's hide. Imryll also entered the vehicle but sat in the front seat, clutching a piece of parchment as if it were a treasure that would float away. The driver sat in the seat directly in front of Damien and placed his hand over two open pipes.

"ᚹᚨᛏᛖᚱ ᚲᚨᚾᚾᛟᚾ (Water Cannon)," the man muttered in runic language, and two powerful jets of water shot from his hands and down the pipes. The car lurched forward and began moving. The slow speed allowed the elves to walk alongside to protect the car from external threats.

Damien still found it weird hearing someone talk in the runic language. It was clearly English, but when it came out of his or anyone else's mouth, the world seemed to translate it into some weird ancient language that nobody was supposed to understand. Deciding to think about it more at a later date, he laid back and closed his eyes.

He knew the car could reach high speeds if the water mage driving it was powerful enough. Unfortunately, from Damien's estimates, this man was a C-grade in Water magic, as his Hydrokinesis skill was somewhat lacking.

Despite the ridiculous cost of creating one of these cars and the need to hire a dedicated water mage to drive it, Damien could appreciate the suspension and soundproofing of the car. Climate control made possible by mana-controlled heating stones was also a nice extra during these cold months.

Suddenly, the car came to a halt, so Damien lazily opened his eyes. Small glass windows reinforced with runes allowed him a view of the outside.

Oh shit.

They were surrounded by over a hundred people, all wearing similar black cloaks. They advanced toward the car with animated movements.

"Protect the car. Form a defensive line on me!" Captain Beldroth bellowed.

"Don't be afraid, Mr. and Miss Karles. This car is heavily enchanted, and the guards are well-trained. We will be fine," the driver commented.

Damien looked deeply at the mob surrounding the car. Something seemed off about them.

The encirclement slowly got tighter until they got within ten meters of the car. One of the black-cloaked figures suddenly lunged toward an elven knight. The knight quickly parried the attack with his sword, then calmly chanted a skill, "ᚠᛁᚱᛖ ᛋᚹᛟᚱᛞ (Fire Sword)," and his iron sword glowed red hot.

"Hmm, a C-tier sword art…should be rather effective," Damien mused as he watched the fight.

The elven knight swung his sword in a vertical arc and smashed into the black-cloaked person's head, sending the figure flying a few meters before crumpling on the floor.

"Huh?" Damien couldn't help but be confused. "Why didn't he protect his head? That swing was so obvious, yet the cloaked figure did nothing to stop it."

The elven knight also looked somewhat confused but quickly blocked an attack from another opponent. Surprisingly, this foe was also defeated relatively easily.

"See, Sir Damien? The royal guards of the princess are rather impressive," the water mage remarked while watching the fight from his seat.

"It seems so…" Damien absentmindedly agreed. They were rather impressive as the knights battered and smashed the figures away with their swords and skills, apart from the captain, who was utilizing B-grade Wind magic to enhance his speed, leaving a mere blur as he moved. His fast sword swings also knocked back his opponents over ten meters away. The rest of the knights used C-grade sword arts of varying affinities.

Although their skill grades were relatively low, their extensive sword training and decent teamwork quickly filled the gaps.

Within thirty minutes, the last of the black-cloaked figures fell to a brutal sword slash from a young elven soldier.

"It seems the battle is over," the butler commented.

Damien didn't answer but continued to observe. Something felt terribly wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The fight felt a little too easy for his liking.

The group of soldiers all crowded around a nearby corpse and peeled its black cloak from its face.

"Huh?" they all said in unison as a man with yellow and rotting skin was revealed.

"It's a ghoul, this is bad," Damien said, surprising everyone in the car. He tried to open the car door to warn the soldiers, but the car was locked.

"Please, remain seated, Sir Damien. It may still be dangerous outside," the water mage commented, not knowing the danger he was in. "Don't worry, these are elites. They can handle a ghoul."

"No, I need to—" Damien was interrupted by a scream from outside. The Psychic mage Elaith was lying on the ground with a dagger through his neck. He desperately gasped for air, but his windpipe was filled with blood, creating a weird gurgling noise.

A black-robed figure who was missing an arm stood over Elaith. Its lifeless eyes glanced over the group. A young elven soldier charged toward the ghoul, activating a skill as he ran.

"ᛖᚾᚺᚨᚾᚲᛖᛞ ᛋᛏᚱᛁᚴᛖ (Enhanced Strike)." Just as his sword was about to impact the ghoul's head, a nearby corpse moved and grabbed his leg, causing him to trip. Then another corpse rose and rammed a dagger into the fallen knight's head. The man's death occurred in mere seconds.

Then, much to the already exhausted elven guard's horror, all one hundred black-robed figures rose again. Some were missing limbs or even heads, yet they began their march toward the car once more.