The villainess shall be mine

Adam made a choice. Supposing that he rushed after Liu, or even if he just told her about the true nature of the tree fragments, things might have taken a different conclusion.

However, by not doing anything, Adam had managed to not fall into the Emperor's trap. There was no actual proof that he was being monitored but Adam, nevertheless, had chosen to make a sacrifice.

At least by doing so, he could create a future beyond the unavoidable future right ahead of him. Nonetheless, it can with heavy consequences.

It made one wonder if he didn't just do it out of fear when he was being pressured by the feeling of helplessness and despair. Maybe he just wanted a way out, a means to run away from his thoughts.

Maybe Adam had never thought that he would be burned with such a responsibility in exchange for obtaining his godly powers. He was still a human after all. There was no guarantee that his choice was the right one.

However, that was the reason why Adam had to make sure that no matter what happened, he would carry this plan to the end. He would become a God.

No one forced him to do anything. He could as well have stayed with his parents and due with them. At least his family would be close to him this time.

He could have gone with Liu and supported her. Maybe they would have developed feelings for each other before the very end.

He could have also decided to look for Blanca's sister, going on an adventure.

Nonetheless, Adam thought about the things that he could never accomplish in his previous life. Then he asked himself, was he be happy and fulfilled now that he had everything he wanted? Wealth, power, a handsome face…

If so, why was still scared of dying? Adam knew everything wouldn't last forever even in this new world.

However, this time, there was a possibility, an ever so little possibility that he could make things last forever.

How arrogant someone could be? However, the fear of losing everything again forced Adam to think.

'If everything would be gone anyway, then let's think of something more worthwhile! This is a second chance, after all, it's now or never!'

Nonetheless, theorizing about something and experiencing it were two different things.

Even if he reached the perfect answer in theory, even if the chances of succeeding were not small... his emotions were something he couldn't ignore.

*****

"Kuh!" Adam groaned. The guardians were more tenacious and troublesome than he thought. They didn't appear to have the attention to let him run away.

Adam didn't have a choice but to immediately put his theory about nothingness to the test as soon as he synchronized his memories.

There were two reasons for this. First, he was now sure that someone was observing him, and even capable of reading his mind. Second, if this person could read Adam's mind, they would never let Adam achieve his goal because even though found out about the nothingness, it was not like anyone had his power. Consequently, whoever was watching, would certainly not let him create a weapon that could kill them all.

Adam was even worried about the current situation. He had expected the appearance of a few powerful foes like the one who appeared during the Holy Academy's test but not even one of such coming to stop him.

Nevertheless, the guardians were also really annoying, and even though Adam needed to go where Liu was, they got in his way.

"…Why are you doing this?" Adam asked. Kaya used her power to restrain him as if invisible hands were stopping him from moving.

"An? What is blabbering about?" Kaya, who somehow looked angry, replied.

"… Do you even know what you are doing?" Adam continued. If possible, he wanted to conserve his energy. Trying to use the Destruction authority has already put us in a very bad position. He was not expecting anything, but he was also not losing anything by trying. "You should know that you are being controlled, right? Something bad is about to happen—"

"Shut up!" Kaya yelled and tightened the grip around Adam's neck. "How did that muscle head even lose to a brat like this."

Seeing that Adam wasn't moving, the guardians thought that Kaya managed to restrain him.

"Wait, Kaya. We should keep him alive," Marina suggested. "We need to try exacting information from him and use this chance to find out about what he was plotting. I don't believe that he was working alone."

"Huh? What are you talking about? This little shit just killed Derige I remind you," Kaya retorted.

"Are you saying that you are scared that he wouldn't be able to restrain him and he would kill us all, Kaya?" Marina asked challengingly.

"Wha—"

"We are the Guardians. Deeige's death was unfortunate but we should think about the interest of the empire first," Marina added, and she talked sternly. Even the other Guardians stayed quiet after hearing her taking this kind of tone.

Derige was the strongest, but that was only because Marina's power wasn't as destructive as the guardian's. Nonetheless, she was acting as representative of all of them for a reason.

"Tch… Whatever," Kaya seemed to have accepted Marina's words and given up trying to kill Adam. Well, it was unlikely that she could do so even if she tried, but this worked in Adam's favor. If he played his card right, he might even be able to turn things around, or so he thought.

Marina approached Adam, however, she didn't show any expression on her face. She just scrutinized Adam's face, and so did the other guardians.

However, she could see Farah who was with Nuiia sending death glares at him.

"Take him to the special prison," Marina said, "I will deal with him personally."

"Are okay with all of this? Innocent people are dying!" Adam talked suddenly. He was acting, of course, but he wasn't lying either.

"Are you trying to persuade me that you are innocent? You seem to be more stupid than I thought," Marina replied, glaring at Adam. It seemed like she also held grudge against Adam for killing Derige.

"Treason is treason. Unless eradicated until the last one, bad herbs will grow again, won't they?" Marina added.

Seeing this, Adam knew that it would be impossible to convince the guardians. Most of them were already involved with the dark side of the Empire after all. As for Marina, she was blinded by her sense of justice and responsibility.

Adam didn't know what was happening, but he knew that the Emperor, or at least someone powerful enough to force the Emperor to give out such an order had devised a trap for him.

The reason was certainly to corner him and obtain the tree fragments. As such, he had also deducted that they would come after Liu.

To think that they would involve the whole Raizel family, Adam knew that he was up against a formidable foe. Even if godlike beings didn't appear, that didn't make the situation any better.

"I don't have the choice," Adam muttered and Marina turned and looked at him.

"Kuh!" However, something that Adam didn't expect happened. Or more precisely, some of his memories were not coherent so he forgot. He was taken by surprise.

A dagger pierced his heart before he could even activate his power. Adam forgot that Marina's ability was related to time manipulation.

When she activated her ability, she could create a space in which the law of space and time didn't apply to her. In other words, she could make it that only she moved inside of this space where time was accelerated.

"Do you think we are stupid? Your life is not precious enough that I will risk losing someone else by keeping you alive," Marina said.

Blood ran down Adam's chest and he felt intense pain. However, he was not done yet.

"Kuh! I don't know if you are a good person deep inside, or if you are pretending…but what's sure is that you chose the wrong side!"

"What— Guh!"

Adam strangled Mariana and lifted her in the air. Then, black lightning surrounded his body and was directed to Marina who was directly in contact with him.

"Aaaaaaaa!" Marina screamed in pain.

However, they made a mistake by deciding to reduce the distance between Adam and them.

Apart from the nothingness, Adam also managed to analyze every elemental gift and was now able to use every elemental-based power. He didn't spend fifty years wandering the silver desert for nothing. The concept was simple. He just needed to feel the primordial particle of each element in his surroundings and used his astral body to converge them into something he could control. It was a new way to use dark matter.

"Kuugh! What is this?" Kaya groaned, trying to use her power to break free from the effect of Adam's power.

Adam also realized that all of the guardians had unleashed their power so he wouldn't be able to restrain them.

"Let's finish this quickly." As he said these words, Adam turned toward the direction he wanted to go.

He prepared himself for the worst. This was the result of his choice…