Crown Of Blasphemy: Rise Of The Legendary Villain

«It is regrettable but to gain control, I must first relinquish all of it.»

The carriage was too warm.

That was the first thing Mr. Valen noticed when he first boarded—the oppressive heat within confined luxury.

He sat motionless, clad in rough-spun garb that scratched against his skin, a far cry from the pelts and armor of his captors. The fabric was clean, at least—a small mercy, but it seemed made from the worst kind of beast hide.

Across from him, the two women watched.

The younger one—golden hair spilling like liquid sunlight over her shoulders, green eyes bright with something between curiosity and pity—leaned forward, her lips parting to speak, but she stopped herself.

The other, the armored one, did not blink. Her blade rested across her knees, fingers curled around the hilt as if she expected him to lunge at any moment.

Perhaps she was right to, but at this point they'd been together for a few weeks at least.

'Her vigilance is commendable,' Mr. Valen thought in approval.

Apart from stopping to occasionally share rations and attend to other minor issues, the ride had not been eventful.

In this time, Mr. Valen had not spoken a single word, despite being able to understand the language.

"How are you?" the girl finally asked, her voice soft, and melodic.

She had been trying to spark a conversation for days now but after being greeted with silence she backed off.

As usual, Mr. Valen said nothing.

He understood her now, of course. The moment her hand had touched his back, the mark had seared knowledge into his flesh, grafting the knowledge of her tongue into his mind like a parasite.

But He allowed the silence to stretch, letting its weight press against the carriage walls.

The armored woman's grip tightened. "Insolent slave" she snapped, the words jagged. "Answer her."

«Further silence serves no purpose. The dynamic is clear—she has influence but lacks awareness, lacks cunning. A favorable imbalance. Emotional leverage would be the efficient approach, given my... current limitations. Forced dependence would require resources I lack and her allies outscale me. Sentiment, then?»

There was silence, it would seem that the yell of the short haired woman had no effect on the man before her.

Slowly, deliberately, Mr. Valen tilted his head. "High Scioness Sophia" he said, his voice a dry rasp, "forgive my silence, I was simply coming to terms with my current predicament."

A beat of stunned silence.

Sophia's breath hitched—not in fear, but in fascination. Her gloved hand lifted, stopping the armored woman from rising. "You speak our language?"

He was not just speaking it with the aid of magic, it would have been evident, there would be an inconsistency with the way his mouth moved and the words that came out of it.

And yet there was none, the man before them was truly speaking the language, but how?

It was a question that did deserve an answer, one that could be explained by Mr. Valen's remarkable mind.

He had been exposed to this language for a while now, with the cannibal tribe, Lay, the mercenaries and now the two women before them.

It would be an insult to his intelligence not to have learned it, but he could not say that.

Instead, Mr. Valen smiled but it did not reach his eyes. "I speak many things." He said turning to the short-haired woman before adding. "And I couldn't possibly do you any harm. I am bound by a world deal, am I not, Olga?"

"I never remembered telling you my name," Sophia intoned with a raised brow her form leaning slightly as she added, "eavesdropping would be considered rude to some people."

"I don't think that applies in this situation," Mr. Valen joked.

"We asked you a question, how do you know—" Olga began, but was stopped by a raised palm from Sophia.

"How much do you know of this world?" Sophia asked curiously before adding, "you appear to have been here for a long time, but you weren't in pain when I met you."

"I have a... Strong tolerance for pain," Mr. Valen mused before adding, "it has always been a trait of mine."

"A good trait for a slave," Olga cut in with a scoff, her voice dismissive as she spoke to Sophia. "We will cross the Unyielding battlefield by tomorrow—"

"Caw!" A loud screech interrupted her forcing her to look out the window, her eyes narrowed as she opened it.

"Whoosh!" A small—black bird flew in, landing straight on Olga's palm, a small chirp escaping its beak as it landed.

Tied to its feet was a small piece of rough paper deep brown in color, one that Olga removed with the care of a nursing mother.

Mr. Valen watched as she read this paper, her face souring slowly, "One of our Hellfire Overlord's is battling an Infernal Battlemage they're using their void bodies, we can't cross."

"Ohh my!" Sophia exclaimed her face growing pale as she asked, "did they set us up?"

"No, Wizards at that level are impossible to control," Olga grunted, her temples creasing as she leaned back. "But that doesn't mean those bastards from the Cigil clan won't take advantage of this."

"What's going on?" Mr. Valen asked with feigned curiosity, though he already grasped the situation's outline.

"It's none of your business, Alien," Olga growled then yelled. "Come, Cerberus."

«Is she?»

There was a small pause until—

"Yes Commander," a voice came from outside the carriage, the door opening with a creak, "you called," a man with a deep voice let himself in, sitting beside Mr. Valen.

"Greeting High Scioness," the man bowed before turning to Olga, listening attentively as she narrated the problem to him, unfortunately his face was obscured by his helmet which he seemed to have no intention of taking off.

"We have to strategize, come up with a plan, do you have your map," Olga stated with a frown.

The air grew heavy as Cerberus retrieved a rolled up piece of brown paper, unfurling it to reveal what appeared to be a map.

"We're here," Cerberus pointed to a spot in the map, his voice faint as he added, "a fight between Wizards of that level will last for at least a month-"

"We don't have a month," Olga muttered her tone grim as she breathed, "we barely have a day until we're massacred by the Cigil Clan."

"Why don't we just move forward, it's not like the Wizard's will pay any attention to small fries like us," Sophia suggested but Olga just shook her head.

"I'm not sure you know this since you haven't started your education, High Scioness, but even if we can survive the hell energy emited from beings at that level, the shockwaves alone would rip our skins from our bone, we wouldn't even be able to get close without our convoy being blown away and that's if non of their attacks stray, plus you don't want to walk into a void."

"But it says here that the Undying battlefield about 876 square miles that's rather large can't we just go around," Sophia questioned again.

"It's pointless, if they are really using void bodies we can't cross," Cerberus said gravely.

"There's nothing we can do," Olga sighed before asking, "let's turn back, renegotiate with the Cigil Clan."

"Commander, you of all people know what will happen," Cerberus began leaning closer to Olga, "You know why they agreed to this in the first place, we have no more leverage against them, and even if we somehow succeed the Archduke will have us executed for bowing our heads."

«I see.»

«And stop acting like you understand, you don't have a clue, ohh you do? Tell me your theories then... That's what I thought.»

Olga grew angered by Cerberus's words, her fingers digging into her temples as she exploded, "DO YOU THINK WE HAVE A—"

"Why don't we go around the battlefield, i can't read this but I'm pretty sure it depicts another path besides the Undying battlefield," Mr. Valen suddenly cut in calmly.

"No crossing this would take a month at least we have to get through in a day," Cerberus responded.

"It seems smaller than the Undying battlefield though, did you arrange for a faster method of transportation on your predestined path?" Mr. Valen asked.

"Yes," Cerberus answered, turning to Mr. Valen with a glint in his eyes, "we originally planned to meet up with Witches from the Royalian Empire and continue this journey on their aerial beasts, but-"

"What gives you the notion that you are part of this discussion, do you even understand what the situation is?" Olga grunted, frustration evident in her voice, if it wasn't for the High Scioness, she would have crushed this bug here and now.

And the bug seemed keenly aware of this, for he stared, his face expressionless, undeterred by her rants.

"I understand the situation," Mr. Valen responded to Olga, his breath light as he glanced at the High Scioness, locking hers with her, "You mentioned renegotiation, and the context of your discussions make it clear that you're not supposed to be here."

Mr. Valen then turned back to Olga, his head tilted slightly as he said, "It is clear that you came for something which normally could have been anything, but the fact that she is here, changes things," he said turning back to High Scioness Sophia.

"Me?" Sophia said, her expression one of worry at their situation and engagement at Mr. Valen's thought process, "why do I change things?"

"You fit, My Lady" Mr. Valen shrugged, "You seem unfamiliar with the environment, unfamiliar enough to make a mistake and get yourself abducted."

"From the conversation just now, I could tell that the expedition was ordered by the Archduke meaning you would have to be close to the Archduke say his daughter, which explains your nobility and his desire to rescue you."

Mr. Valen took a pause his words habouring the attention of everyone in the room, it wasn't just the words themselves but the elegant way in which he uttered them.

"What does all this have to do with anything," Olga shook her head, snapping out of her trance before saying to Cerberus. "Turn the convoy around we're going to re—"

"Don't you have a duty to the Empire, to the High Scioness? Is this how you protect her," Mr. Valen asked.

Olga looked shocked by his words, her expression darkening into anger. "You, Peasant—"

«I had thought it was just a one time thing, but she truly is impulsive by nature, is she really a high ranking military personal?»

"Stop Olga," Sophia intoned stopping Olga from drawing her blade before saying to Mr. Valen, "it would be best if you watched your mouth, do not take us for fools just because we saved you, know your place."

"I wouldn't dare My Lady," Mr. Valen said with a small bow, a venomous smile gracing his lips.

"I assume you have a plan," Sophia continued staring down at him.

«She's sharper than I thought,»

"Yes, My Lady," Mr. Valen responded before saying. "We cross the other path I pointed out before."

"Are you stupid, didn't I tell you that they'd find us, they know this land better than we do, you know what? Turn this carriage around Cerberus!" Olga grunted.

"But you said it yourself, Cerberus: we have a duty to the Archduke, to the Empire," Mr. Valen said watching as both Cerberus and Olga paused a bit.

He then slightly raised his voice, making it sound graver, "You both mentioned that the High Scioness could be killed if we turned back, wouldn't it be better to find another way.

Sophia flinched at his blunt words, her eyes shaking slightly, while Olga just groaned her eyes narrowing as she spat, "stop spouting nonsense, there is no other way."

"Not if we abandon the convoy, have them continue the original path as slowly as they can," Mr. Valen muttered.

"PREPOSTEROUS I SHOULD—"

"OLGA!" Sophia exclaimed.

"Can you hear what this servant is uttering, my Lady, he's proposing that I abandon my men," Olga growled.

"It still wouldn't work," Cerberus cut in, "they have their Scavengers following and watching us, trained masters of stealth, even Commander Olga wouldn't be able to—"

"Ohh, I know where they are," Mr. Valen cut in expressionlessly.