Villain: The Play of Destiny

For hours, Keith sat together with Qingyue, listening to Sylos Nemeron, the Patriarch of the Zurk Tribe of Nemeron, telling them everything he knew about his Tribe.

His two grandsons, both boys of thirteen, sat a little away from him, together with the elderly women of the Tribe, and they were also silently listening to everything.

"95 years ago, my son, Symon, then a Martial Tyrant, entered the Elysian Secret Realm of Flames with the other Nobles of his generation. The Emperor asked him to protect the Second Prince, Virkan Elysius, as he feared that the other Princes would take advantage of the opportunity and eliminate or harm him inside the Realm. They were all vying for the Spirit Flame in the Burning Wasteland, and Virkan was the most talented of all the Princes. And all his half-brothers hated and viewed him as a danger." The old man smiled in pain. "However, what the Emperor did not realise was that there was a reason why the other Princes hated the Second Prince. It was not because Virkan was more talented than them, but because the boy was evil. He was after the lives of his half-brothers. He wanted to see all of them dead so that he could take the throne for himself. And to realise his goal, he had made plans for all of them inside the Secret Realm, which he had been working on for years."

Sylos turned silent as anger flickered in his eyes.

"People call us, the Barbarians, savages and ruthless, but there's nothing a Zurk hates more than the act of Kinslaying. And my child was a true Zurk." He tightened his grip around his staff. "When he learned about the Second Prince's true nature, he ran away, and he informed the Eldest Prince about the trap they were headed towards. At first, the Eldest Prince refused to believe him, but after my son swore that he was telling the truth, he eventually gave in and contacted the other Princes. Together, all of them decided to turn the tables on their brother who wanted to kill them. However, what my foolish son did not realise at that time was that he was doing exactly what the Second Prince wanted. He had been played with."

When he stopped speaking, the old man let out a sorrowful sigh.

"A battle ensued in the Burning Wasteland, and when his end seemed inevitable, Virkan Elysius activated a Blood Refinement Formation, and suddenly, the flow of the battle shifted in his favour. He had been planning this for years, and he had already secretly poisoned his brothers. As soon as the Formation was activated, the dormant poison kicked in, and one by one, the Princes fell, losing their Mana and Aura. Symon suffered the same fate, and only then did he realise that he had been played with. Then, to everyone's horror, the Second Prince refined his brothers alive, extracting their blood and devouring it." There were clear signs of repulsion on the old man's face as he recounted these acts. "He did it all to improve his Bloodline and Talent, which were already better than his brothers." He angrily said.

"Did your son survive?" Qingyue, who was very invested in the story, asked, and Sylos nodded his head.

"Virkan planned on killing my son as well, but it was not his day yet. When the Second Prince was busy refining the blood, Symon, who was trying to contain the poison in his body, sensed the presence of the Spirit Flame. It was his only ray of hope, and he rushed towards it, even if it meant that the poison would reach his heart. His gamble worked and a miracle happened. The Spirit Flame chose him on its own accord and helped him get rid of the poison. And without wasting any time, he escaped the Realm."

"What?" She surprisingly looked at the old man. "Did he inform the Emperor about what happened in the Secret Realm?"

"Yes." The old man furrowed his brows.

"What happened next?"

"The Emperor asked my son to shut up. And he warned him against revealing what happened in the Burning Wasteland." Sylos disgustedly said. "If I had not been present there, and had there not been other Noble Heads, he would have surely killed my child to keep everything under wraps. And when Virkan came out of the Secret Realm, he simply spun his words and said that he had acted in self-defence. He even took an Oath, telling the truth, but not all of it, and even though no one present there believed him, the stern look from the Emperor kept us quiet."

"He just forgave Virkan?"

"Outwardly, no. Though things were kept under wraps, Virkan was confined in the Golden Prison, made to appear as its Warden, but in truth, he was living in a cell." He told them but his brows furrowed deeper. "Perhaps the Emperor did not want to kill his only remaining son who was an adult, so, he forgave him. No one was pleased to see him show this weakness, but we still kept quiet and did not say anything. A few decades passed, and things started to return to normalcy. Eventually, the houses who were displeased, including us, took a sigh of relief, when the Emperor's youngest son was born and declared the Crown Prince. Symon was never targeted, and he was even offered high positions in the Empire, all of which he respectfully declined. However, five years ago, a war broke out between the Elysius Royal Family and the Noble House of Fiaris. We were never told the reason, but just that they had targeted the life of the Crown Prince and were colluding with the enemies, the Dark Tower. Symon, who was now the confidant of the Crown Prince, was asked to lead the legion of the Nemeron Family that had been summoned by the Emperor..."

Qingyue furrowed her brows as she sensed the wavering emotions of the old man, and her mind ran wild.

"The battle was tough, Fiaris were hell-bent on dying but not giving in, and to deal with them for good, the Emperor released the Second Prince from the Golden Prison. The enemy was eradicated, and their women and children were taken in as slaves. However, in the battle, my son was killed, and no Zurk that accompanied him in his legion, returned alive. We were informed that they all died valiantly in the service of the Empire." He lowered his head.

"He was plotted against." The grey-eyed Demiliore frowned.

"Yes. The Fiaris were plotted against as well, and it was all done to steal their Family Treasure. As for my child, he was killed for the Spirit Flame that he possessed, and the Second Prince also wanted to finish what he had failed to do 95 years ago." Sylos stayed silent for a good few seconds and then continued. "We knew that our people could not die like that in a battle. We could tell that it was a plot against Symon, so, we silently cut off our ties with the Royal Family. We worked with our allies, trying to uncover the truth behind the extermination of the Fiaris Family and our legion, and we managed to find out the reasons why everything happened. The Emperor needed the Treasure that the Fiaris possessed so that he could retreat and enter the Second Desolation. And Virkan needed the Spirit Flame to become a Martial Emperor and to cultivate the Fire Seed."

"And so you decided to rebel against the Royal Family." Keith lightly smiled.

"Yes. We had to avenge our fallen." Sylos honestly nodded his head. "We and our allies spent a year getting ready for war, and just when we were going to take action, our allies were forced to stay put. Their children had been kidnapped and held hostage by the Royal Family a few days before we were meant to take action. Days later, the Emperor announced his retreat, and instead of passing the crown to the Crown Prince or leaving his Empress as the Regent, he declared Virkan the Emperor of Elysia. And the first thing the new Emperor did was call for the heads of all the Zurks in the empire, and also of any family that tries to help us."

"Do the Noble Houses still trust the Royal Family?" Qingyue asked, trying to make sense of the actions of the new Emperor.

"Most are on the side of the Royal Family, deeply connected to them through benefits or marriages, and then the lesser Noble Houses have all chosen to believe the Emperor's words. For them, it is an opportunity to replace the bigger Noble Houses, and they are already fighting over the territory we left behind." The Zurk Patriarch disgustedly said. "As for our allies, they will not all be eliminated. Perhaps all of them will be spared under certain conditions. Virkan is evil, but he is not stupid. He will not openly target another Noble House just after eliminating us. The Empire has already lost the House of Nemeron and the House of Fiaris. They cannot afford to lose another great Noble House."

"Not for a while, but he will eventually target them as well." Keith confidently said, and the old man sadly nodded his head, knowing that it was inevitable.

"Some have already betrayed us, and because of them, we have lost so many of our family." His voice grew cold. "They informed them of our location and our hideouts. Cowards!" He angrily cursed them. "They shall pay the blood debt that they owe us."

Zurks put honour above everything, and they were born warriors, who loved to settle all debts with their might.

Even now, after losing almost everyone, there was a fire of vengeance in their eyes, the flames flickering like the nearby campfire that cast long shadows across the campsite, and they would only rest after having avenged their blood.

"I hope you have not forgotten that you belong to me now. And each one of you owes their life to my family." Keith's sudden cold words made Sylos' body tremble, and Qingyue gave him a conflicted look.

However, she stayed silent and let him toy with their spirits.

"If you prove yourselves to be worthy servants, we will help you one day. But if you betray us and act willfully in a manner that harms us, then I will personally snatch away every life that is owed to me." He showed them a ray of hope and then warned them again.

"We are not ungrateful, my Lord. We honour our promises and remember the debts we owe and are owed." The old Patriarch spoke up, raised his head, and met Keith's eyes.

"We shall see if you can stay true to your words in the future." He smiled and then took out a scroll from his Space Ring. "Take this. It is a Recovery Art, but it has a lot of other benefits as well. One such benefit is the rejuvenation of the body. You need it."

Keith threw the scroll over to the old man, who deftly caught it, and then gave it a complicated look.

"As for the Nemerus Family, you cannot contact them for now. You will only put them in danger if you do it. The Elysian Empire is already targeting them."

Sylos frowned at his words and nodded his head in understanding.

"May I ask where we are right now?" He curiously inquired.

"Amaya," Keith answered but did not tell him exactly where they were right now.