I Really Am A Villain

“Our main task right now,” the Iron Gate said urgently, “isn’t to discuss ancient history, but to figure out how to save the Four Symbols Flame Crystals.” He looked at Xu Zimo pleadingly. “I’m afraid my power alone isn’t enough. I’ll need your help.”

“Why should I help you?” Xu Zimo replied flatly.

The Iron Gate was speechless. It turned its gaze toward Xiao Anshan, Shangguan Xian, and the others, Fire Maiden and her companions. “You’re all of the Fire God Race. Are you really going to ignore your elders’ legacy?”

“We came here with Young Master Xu,” Shangguan Xian said plainly. “He makes the decisions.”

Her meaning was clear, if Xu Zimo agreed, they would act; if not, they wouldn’t interfere.

“Yes, yes, we all listen to Young Master Xu,” Fire Maiden, Lun Wu, and the others echoed, nodding.

The Iron Gate could only sigh helplessly and look back at Xu Zimo. “All right then,” it said, “name your terms. What do you want in return?”

“You don’t have anything that interests me,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head.

The Iron Gate felt despair creeping in, until Xu Zimo added, “However…”

“However,” he continued, “I am interested in those Four Symbols Flame Crystals. How about this, I’ll help you destroy whoever’s stealing them, and afterward, you’ll give the crystals to me.”

“How are you any different from that thief!?” the Iron Gate shouted angrily.

“No difference,” Xu Zimo said with a shrug. “Except he’s stealing in secret, and I’m taking them openly, and even had the courtesy to tell you first.”

The Iron Gate was left speechless.

“You’ve had your eye on those crystals from the start, haven’t you?” it asked bitterly.

Xu Zimo only smiled. His gaze lingered on the Four Symbols Flame Crystals, their pulsing power gleaming like molten gems. The sheer energy flowing through them was enough to make anyone covetous.

He had already reached the Second Realm of Saint Sovereign, the Chaos Primordial. Deep down, he had a feeling, if he could absorb the power of those four Flame Crystals, he might be able to step into the Third Realm of Saint Sovereign, Eternal Overlord.

So yes, the crystals were his for the taking.

“I can’t stop you anyway,” the Iron Gate said at last, sounding resigned. “Do as you please.”

There was nothing it could do. The difference in strength was absolute.

Of course, if it had known Xu Zimo’s true identity, that he was the Infernal Lord who once tore the Heaven-Refining Fire Progenitor apart with his bare hands, it might have been too shocked to speak at all.

“Let’s deal with that thing first,” Xu Zimo said, turning toward the black tube-like structure. “I want to see what it really is.”

He approached the dark “pipe,” drawing his blade, Shadow Tyrant, in a single smooth motion. Power surged around him, distorting the air.

A burst of blade intent swept forth, cutting down with unstoppable force.

With a sharp crack, the tube split neatly in two.

Xu Zimo picked up one half, studying it carefully. After a moment, he realized it wasn’t a pipe at all, it was flesh. It looked disturbingly like the nostril of some enormous creature.

“Why isn’t there any reaction?” Xiao Anshan muttered.

The words had barely left his mouth when the other half of the “nose” suddenly retracted with incredible speed.

A deep, thunderous rumbling followed.

The ground began to quake violently, no, not just the ground. The very space they stood in was trembling, as though reality itself was shaking apart.

Everyone steadied themselves, eyes locked on the direction of the disturbance.

Then, in the sky, a blazing red vortex appeared.

From within it, a single hoof emerged first.

As the creature forced itself through the vortex, more of its grotesque body came into view.

“What… what is that?” Shangguan Xian’s voice trembled as her pupils shrank.

The creature’s full form was revealed, and it was horrifying.

It resembled an octopus in shape, but far more abominable. An octopus’s underside was made entirely of tentacles, yet this being’s lower body was a tangled mix of white tentacles and pale, boneless legs covered in small, grinning skulls.

In its hand, it had hands, it clutched a bloody, beating heart, as though freshly torn from a chest.

Its limbs, tentacles, legs, arms, and even a tail, hung loosely beneath it, dripping with black ichor. Its bloated belly was split open, forming a vast abyssal maw, from which a purple tongue slithered outward like a serpent.

Its head was small and bald, with only a few crooked teeth left. Two hands sprouted from its scalp, each gripping heavy iron chains.

When the monster finally emerged, the group was stunned into silence. None of them had ever seen such a thing. But after a closer look, they noticed something familiar.

“It looks… like a Fire Venom Beast,” Xiao Anshan said uncertainly. “A mutated one?”

“I’ve never seen a Fire Venom Beast that looks like this,” someone murmured.

“It’s not the same,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “This one has consciousness. Intelligence. We should’ve realized it sooner, this ancient ruin lies right beneath the Fire Venom Beasts’ nest. It must have been aware of us all along.”

The Fire Venom Beasts’ lair and the ancient site weren’t coincidentally connected, they had been deliberately linked.

“You… you’ve disturbed my sleep,” the monster rasped, voice sluggish and broken. “And my evolution… you must die… all of you… must die.”

It sounded groggy, as if it had just awakened from a long hibernation, half-asleep and dazed.

Then, with a guttural roar, it gazed down upon them all.

Dozens of its tentacles lashed out, each one radiating a suffocating aura of death.

“Run!” the Iron Gate screamed.

“Run where?” Xu Zimo snapped, seizing the Iron Gate in his grip.

He had already grown adept at wielding it. The Iron Gate wasn’t just a sentient artifact, it was a powerful weapon, infused with a unique power of sealing, the kind rarely seen even among divine relics.

Calling it a “Divine Gate” wasn’t an exaggeration.

As the monstrous tentacles swept toward them, Xu Zimo stepped into the air.

“Take care of yourselves,” he called back to the others.

“Seal!”

The sealing force surged outward, freezing the oncoming tentacles in midair.

Sensing that Xu Zimo was the greatest threat, the monster focused on him.

One of its massive legs lifted and came crashing down through the void.

Where it descended, the very space around it solidified.

Xu Zimo found himself momentarily unable to move, the fabric of reality binding him in place.

He raised the Iron Gate before him as the colossal limb struck.

The impact was deafening.

The blow smashed him downward, driving his body deep beneath the earth, while the monster’s leg stretched further and further, pressing him down as though it intended to crush him through the planet’s crust.

“Ah! That hurts!” the Iron Gate howled.

By the time the leg stopped extending, Xu Zimo had been driven several kilometers underground.

He exhaled slowly, feeling the pressure finally lessen.