I Really Am A Villain

When Fire Chief heard Xu Zimo’s words, his brows furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean? What do you mean by saying it was the will of the Radiant Court?”

“Have you ever thought about why the Radiant Court allowed people like us to enter here?” Xu Zimo asked.

“This…” Fire Chief hesitated, uncertain.

“To tell the truth,” Xu Zimo continued, “the Ancestral Flame in this place is incomplete. You probably know that, don’t you?”

“You… how do you know?” Fire Chief froze.

At that moment, not only Fire Chief, but even Shangguan Xian and Xiao Anshan were shocked.

They were both of the Fire God Race, yet they had never heard such a thing.

“What is going on here?” they demanded.

“It seems you do know,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile. “That makes it easier to explain, saves me some breath. The fire’s incompleteness prevents all Fire God Race cultivators from reaching the final realm. Other than you, probably only the one from the Radiant Court knows this as well. He’s the only one among the Fire God Race qualified to step into that realm.”

“So, whether for the sake of the Fire God Race as a whole or for his own ascension, the fire must be made whole, correct?”

“To complete the Ancestral Flame, what does that have to do with you thieves who stole it?” Fire Chief snapped back.

Yet deep down, he was already beginning to believe Xu Zimo’s words, the man knew too much, even things he himself did not know.

“To restore the fire,” Xu Zimo went on, “certain key components are required. You’ve searched for years but never found them. So the Radiant Court devised other methods to repair the flame. Unfortunately, it’s always been missing something.”

He smiled faintly. “Let me guess the agreement between you and the Radiant Court. The Radiant Court promised to protect your Fire Keepers from extinction, but in return, you agreed that as long as the Radiant Court didn’t take away the Ancestral Flame, they could claim the Ancestral Lands. Because if the fire is taken away, the Ancestral Lands will collapse, and you will die with it.”

“The so-called Fire Keepers protect not only the flame itself, but the hope of the Fire God Race, and their own lives.”

“Furthermore,” Xu Zimo said, “the Radiant Court surely made a pact with the Fire Venom Beasts. They’d never wipe them out for you, because without natural enemies, you’d slip from their control. Watching you fight each other is the smartest move.”

Fire Chief felt a chill. Xu Zimo’s words matched reality perfectly, as if he had personally attended the ancient agreement.

“You…” he pointed at Xu Zimo, speechless for a long moment. Finally, he said, “You still haven’t told me, what is the Radiant Court’s true purpose?”

“There are three,” Xu Zimo said. “First, they want to use us as tools, to bring the Ancestral Flame out of this land without dirtying their hands or taking the blame, while they reap the benefit. As for this Ancestral Lands and your Fire Keepers, you’re relics of an old era. To complete the new fire, your sacrifice is inevitable. Second, they want to purge the Fire God Race of certain aberrations, those with hidden ambitions and divided loyalties. And third…” He smiled faintly. “Perhaps they just wanted to meet me.”

Xu Zimo looked at him calmly. “I will take the fire. You cannot stop me. Leave now, and at least enjoy the last moments of your lives. You’ve guarded the flame your entire existence, perhaps it’s time to do something else.”

Fire Chief and the Fire Keepers all gave a bitter laugh.

“I believe you,” Fire Chief said. “Everything you’ve said rings true. But we have guarded the flame all our lives. Even in the end, we will live and die with it.”

He raised his hand and roared, “Everyone, attack with me! Take back the fire!”

From all directions, dozens of Fire Keepers charged forward.

Xu Zimo shook his head slightly.

He actually admired such people, those who knew there was only death ahead, yet still walked their chosen path without hesitation.

“Very well,” he said quietly. “Then let me send you off.”

Xu Zimo pressed his palms together, gathering immense power within his hands.

“Aryan-Swastika God-Seal!”

Since stepping into the Saint Sovereign Realm, he had rarely used this technique.

Now, above his head, a colossal swastika-shaped seal spread across the heavens.

It shrouded the world, radiating overwhelming might.

Xu Zimo brought his hands down. The seal pulsed like a hellish inferno, its lines flowing with thick, blood-red light.

Some say the swastika was once an ancient sacred symbol, a mark of Buddhist origin.

But in Xu Zimo’s hands, reversed and perverted, it became something from the abyss, soaked in demonic, destructive power.

As it descended, the world trembled violently.

Heaven and earth spun; sun and moon lost their light.

The Fire Keepers below looked up and felt an irresistible force pressing down on them.

Those with weaker cultivation were instantly crushed into dust.

Even the two Saint Sovereigns, Fire Slayer and Huo Xie, screamed in agony as their bodies shattered under the pressure.

“You were born of the flame,” Xu Zimo said coldly. “And now you die by it. That is your fate, beginnings and endings, all within the same fire.”

With a deafening boom, the massive seal finally slammed down.

The ground split apart into a bottomless crater shaped like the swastika symbol, and in its center, all Fire Keepers had turned to ash.

Xiao Anshan let out a deep sigh.

After all, the Fire Keepers were part of their race. To see them all perish filled him with regret.

“Don’t mourn,” Xu Zimo said calmly. “We should leave here quickly.”

He pointed toward the distance.

Far away, the world itself had begun to collapse, truly collapse, in the sense of total annihilation.

Xu Zimo knew that within the Ancestral Lands there were six ancestral fires. The one they had just taken was of the water attribute, which meant that all regions aligned with water would now dissolve into nothingness.

If all six fires were taken, the entire Ancestral Lands would vanish completely.

The land before them was already disintegrating.

If they didn’t escape fast enough, they would be destroyed along with it.

The four of them braced themselves, not daring to relax for an instant.

“Which way should we run?” asked Realm Lord Bai.

“North,” Xu Zimo replied. “That should be the Domain of Thunder.”

They soared into the air, racing northward.

Behind them, the destruction of the world chased close, the earth collapsing, the sky shattering.

Rare natural disasters erupted all at once: tornadoes, earthquakes, landslides, every sign of an apocalypse.

“Faster! Go faster!” Xu Zimo shouted.

Halfway through, Realm Lord Bai was almost struck by a massive boulder flying from behind. The impact nearly dragged her into the collapsing void.

Luckily, Xu Zimo grabbed her and hurled her forward with all his strength.