I Am The Game's Villain

Chapter 521  [Event] [Elven Utopian War] [60] Celeste VS Kendel

"Alicia, don't get too close to him!" Celeste shouted as she nimbly dodged three twisting vines snapping toward her like whips. She leapt backward, landing lightly but keeping her blade ready.

Alicia nodded.

Her armor was in tatters, several sections shredded by Kendel's vines. Deep gashes marked her arms, legs, and sides, showing how narrowly she had escaped serious injuries. Her vampiric regeneration was working overtime, stitching flesh and sealing wounds with quite speed, but Alicia knew she couldn't afford a single mistake. One slip-up could be fatal.

Kendel, however, showed no mercy.

In an instant, he gripped his sword and vanished, reappearing directly in front of Celeste. Celeste reacted instinctively, raising her blade to block his attack.

-BOOM!

The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air. Celeste skidded backward, her boots digging furrows into the ground as she absorbed the brunt of the blow. She barely had time to recover before Kendel surged toward her again.

But before he could reach her, a blazing streak of fire roared toward his flank.

Kendel halted abruptly, pivoting to face the source: Alicia.

Alicia's crimson eyes gleamed, the vertical slits within them narrowing dangerously. She pricked her finger on the edge of her blade, letting a single droplet of blood fall onto its surface. The weapon seemed to come alive, glowing with a dark, ominous aura. Alicia took a single step forward—and disappeared.

Kendel's eyes widened in shock. She was faster than before.

He quickly scanned his surroundings, his instincts honed to perfection. To his right, a four-layered mana circle glowed an ominous crimson. Before he could react, Alicia released her spell.

A dozen birds, their bodies formed from burning crimson blood, materialized from the circle. Their shrill cries echoed like a haunting chorus as they fixed their eerie, glowing eyes on Kendel. Without hesitation, they launched themselves toward him.

Kendel's expression hardened. He tried to evade, but his body wouldn't move.

Looking down, he realized his legs were encased in shimmering ice, frozen solid by Celeste's magic.

Snarling, he raised his sword, summoning a dozen thick, writhing vines to form a protective barrier around him.

-BOOM!

The birds collided with the wall in a fiery explosion. Though most of the burning flock was intercepted, a few managed to slip through the gaps, striking Kendel directly. Flames licked at his armor, searing away sections of cloth and metal.

Growling, Kendel leapt clear of the destruction.

But Celeste wasn't about to let him catch his breath.

Standing a short distance away, her hand extended, she had already prepared another spell. A five-layered mana circle shimmered.

From the glowing mana circle, a swarm of icy birds shot out, each leaving a frosty trail in their wake. The glacial projectiles streaked through the air at blinding speed, aiming straight for Kendel. Suspended mid-air, he had no chance to dodge.

Instead, Kendel extended his hand, summoning a red mana circle. Though fire wasn't his strongest attribute, he knew it was the natural counter to ice. Flames erupted from his spell, forming a blazing wall to intercept the oncoming birds.

The ice creatures weren't easily subdued. Some broke through the fiery barrier, streaking toward him. Kendel narrowed his eyes and moved swiftly, his sword flashing in arcs. He only targeted those heading for critical points, allowing others to graze his arms and legs, drawing thin lines of blood.

"Raven Arts!"

Alicia's voice rang out from behind him. Kendel spun sharply, landing on the ground just in time to summon a mass of vines that erupted from the earth. The tendrils coiled around Alicia's legs and yanked her backward, flinging her through the air and disrupting whatever spell she was preparing.

Without hesitation, Kendel turned back to Celeste. She was already closing in, her blade slicing toward him in a swift strike.

-BOOM!

Kendel's weapon, crafted from the sacred Branches of Eden, held firm against Celeste's blade. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned another set of vines, these shooting straight for Celeste. One pierced her right leg brutally before she could even react.

"Agh!" Celeste cried out, pain radiating through her body. Her balance faltered.

It was all Kendel needed. He pivoted and drove his foot into her side with a powerful kick.

The force of the blow sent Celeste flying, but she managed to recover by stabbing her blade into the ground, halting her momentum.

"Ah… aaah…" Landing on her knees, Celeste gasped, clutching her injured leg. Blood trickled down her thigh as she fumbled to retrieve a vial. She quickly poured its contents over the wound, grimacing as the liquid hissed on contact. The bleeding stopped, but the pain lingered. She knew the injury would hinder her movements, but she had no choice.

"Surrender," Kendel spoke up coldly. "You can still save countless lives—both the Zestella Knights and the civilians. There's no need for more bloodshed."

Celeste gritted her teeth as she gripped her blade. Slowly, she forced herself to her feet, her injured leg trembling but holding. "We of Zestella would rather die than become slaves," she spat with a glare.

She didn't need to explain what fate awaited humans if they were defeated. She knew all too well the horrors that came next.

Kendel's gaze remained calm. "Death is a heavy price to pay for pride. Sometimes, survival is the better choice."

"Maybe for someone like you," Celeste shook her head. "But we humans are far more prideful than you'll ever understand. And someone who betrayed his own people could never comprehend that."

Kendel chuckled before he turned his gaze toward Amael.

He was fighting head on against Navas along Annabelle or more like he as doing the best to not get knocked out instantly. It was truly impressing how he was holding against Navas.

"You seem to trust him a lot but he is worse than me. In the Kingdom he was he is treated as an enemy, as renegade who killed the King's brother. He came at Sancta Vedelia for rehabilitation but since he came only misofturnes had befallen Sancta Vedelia." Kendel said.

Celeste glared at Kendel. "You don't know him."

"Do you? What am I doing is saving Sancta Vedelia and I won't kill any royals to do it. If you consider Amael as a trusted comrade then I am no different.

"Don't compare yourself with Amae! He is nothing the likes of you! He killed the king's brother becasue he was a traitor to the Kingdom and he killed his sister!" Celeste retorted anhgrily.

"He killed his sister? Then it's a mere vengeance?" Kendel laughed shakinghis head. "Then you have even less rights to judge me, all of you."

-BOOOOM!

Kendel's mana burst out.

"Because my dream for Sancta Vedelia is also born from vengeance!" "...!"

Celeste quickly raised her blade, bracing herself for the incoming attack.

-BAM!

Kendel's sword came down with force, meeting her blade in a powerful clash. The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, but Celeste held firm, releasing a surge of icy mana to reinforce her defense.

Kendel pressed harder but Celeste wasn't about to yield this easily. Drawing on her mana, she took the offensive. Her icy mana spread across the battlefield, freezing the ground beneath their feet and creeping toward Kendel.

His arm, exposed to the frigid mana, began to frost over. Acting quickly, he summoned a wave of vines to lash out at her. However, as the vines touched the icy aura enveloping her body, they too began to freeze as well.

Celeste's breathing grew labored. She couldn't maintain this for long.

Then, her vision flickered white. A sharp, ominous sensation pierced through her senses. Without hesitation, she leapt back.

-CRACK!

A massive thorned vine erupted from the ground where she'd stood moments before, the jagged tendrils tearing through the frozen earth.

Alicia arrived in that instant, her entire body aglow with crimson mana. Her rapier gleamed redas she lunged, aiming directly for Kendel's back.

Kendel sensed the attack and dodged, leaping away with remarkable agility. But Alicia continued. She leapt after him, thrusting her rapier.

Kendel tilted his head, dodging by the narrowest of margins, but Alicia was already prepared. With a swift motion, she drew a short sword from her side and thrust it forward.

-Spurt!

The blade pierced through Kendel's side. He groaned in pain, clutching the weapon as Alicia drove it deeper.

Groaning, Kendel quickly retaliated. His free hand swung his sword with great speed, aiming for Alicia's unprotected side.

Alicia raised her rapier instinctively, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to stop the strike. A deep wound seemed inevitable.

But then—

-CRACK!

A towering wall of ice erupted between them, shielding Alicia just as Kendel's blade struck. The ice absorbed the blow and coiled around Kendel's arm, twisting upward to entrap his weapon.

Now both of his hands were restrained—one pinned by Alicia's short sword and the other encased in ice.

Alicia exchanged a single glance with Celeste and immediately understood. She let go of her short sword and leapt back to safety.

-BOOOOM!

Before Kendel could react, Celeste's blade slammed into his back.

"Aghh!" Kendel grunted immediately feeling the icy sensation on his back.

The impact sent him flying, his body hurtling through the air.

His vines sprang to life instinctively, forming a protective barrier around him as he landed. The plants cushioned the blow, sparing him from what would have been much serious injury.

Even so, Kendel staggered, blood dripping from his wounds. "Wh–What…?" Kendel's voice was tinged with disbelief.

His body felt like it had been crushed under the weight of a speeding truck. Pain radiated from his back despite the protective vines he had summoned just in time.

Gritting his teeth, he forced his arm to move, shattering the remnants of ice that had bound him. Shards fell to the ground, glittering like broken glass. Among them, particles of fine white sand drifted lazily to the frozen earth.

Kendel's sharp eyes caught the unusual sight. "Sand?" His instincts screamed at him to stay alert.

Before he could fully comprehend, another wave of frost surged toward him. Ice encased the battlefield in a dome, trapping him inside a crystalline prison.

Tiny mana circles began to materialize within the dome, hovering ominously in the air. They glowed with an otherworldly hue—a divine white that seemed almost blinding.

The particles of sand reappeared, swirling and multiplying, creating a vortex that obscured Kendel's vision. The grains shimmered with a spectral light as they moved faster and faster, whipping around him.

"...!" A shiver ran down Kendel's spine. This wasn't ordinary sand.

He unleashed a torrent of mana and prana, ordering his vines to tear through the storm. But no matter how fiercely they lashed out, they crumbled upon contact with the swirling white sand. The air was saturated with an overwhelming concentration of mana.

Outside the ice dome, Celeste stood. Her snow-white hair, tied in a loose ponytail, whipped around her face. Her outstretched hand glowed faintly, her fingers trembling from the strain of channeling Fate.

Her expression was serene, and a bit void of emotion. Her pale complexion grew even lighter, almost translucent, as she tapped into something deep within her. For the first time, she willingly embraced Fate.

The ability felt eerily familiar, as though it was etched into her very soul.

"Ars Fatum," she said softly with a different tone than her usual one.

The ground trembled violently beneath her feet. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the ice dome, spreading outward.

And then—

–BOOOOM!

The dome shattered with an ear-splitting roar, releasing a tempest of blinding white sand. It surged upward like a tornado, roaring out.

At the eye of the storm was Kendel, his body battered and broken, completely engulfed by the sand's force. Blood seeped from countless wounds, trickling down his face and limbs. His eyes rolled back, and his limbs hung limply as the violent winds carried him.

The tornado vanished as abruptly as it had formed, leaving behind an eerie silence. Kendel's body plummeted from the sky, landing with a dull, lifeless thud on the frost-rimmed ground.