Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead

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I sat on the edge of a crooked tree stump, kicking my legs lightly as I felt the rough bark scratch against my thighs.

The wind tugged at my white hair, long strands that fell down my back like a waterfall, messy and wild no matter how many times I tried to tie them.

Ughhh

My skin, although not ghostly-pale, seemed pretty white, and my face was the same stupid chestnut shape people used to pinch when I was a baby.

Black eyes, thick thighs, and no damn powers.

That was me.

Pixie.

The tagalong Chaos Baby.

And right now, I could physically taste how pissed Vayu was.

He ran back and forth like a caged animal, his jaw clenching and unclenching, shoes smashing the dead leaves beneath us.

His fists were curled so tight I half-expected blood to drip from his palms as I flicked open my system screen again, wincing.

[System Ranking]

No 1) Team A = 790 Points

No 2) Team B = 390 Points

No 3) Team C = 340 Points (us)

No 4) Team D – 280 Points

Team B—Lucas' squad of smug bastards had just rocketed up in points like they had a cheat code and now we were sinking into third, looking like clowns.

Vayu cursed under his breath, his voice low and rasped. "How the hell are they moving so fast?"

Eren, our human brick wall, shifted his shield uncomfortably from one arm to the other.

He towered over everyone, built like he could bench-press a house, but his voice was surprisingly soft."Maybe…they found bigger monsters to fight?" he said, almost apologetically.

Kane was less polite. Smoke curled lazily from his fingertips, betraying his rising irritation.

He kicked a dead wolf carcass hard enough to send it flopping over. "Lucky assholes. All we get are Tier 1 scraps."

I shrugged. "Maybe we smell bad. Maybe the big ones just don't like us."

Kane cracked a grin at that, but it died instantly when Vayu turned that glare on me.

Even though I was the leader, due to having no real contribution in the fights, I shut my mouth real quick, knowing that I did not need them poking the fact out.

The silence stretched.

Long.

Awkward.

Suffocating.

Then, from the back, Lina, the sweet and shy girl did something strange.

She raised her hand.

Just…lifted it like we were in a classroom?

Vayu turned on her so fast it made the air shudder. "What?"

"I…have a suggestion," The tiny bodied girl said, voice so soft I had to lean forward to catch it.

"We don't have time for useless ideas," Vayu barked, almost too rudely.

The poor girl Lina flinched like he'd shot her.

She dropped her hand almost instantly as she stepped back behind Eren's massive frame like she was trying to disappear.

"Jesus, man. Chill." Even Kane muttered under his breath, annoyed at Vayu's attitude.

But Vayu wasn't in a listening mood.

Neither was the universe, apparently—because that was the exact moment the trees around us started shaking.

Low growls rolled through the clearing, vibrating the ground under my boots.

"More incoming," Eren grunted, lifting his shield up.

Seven wolves burst into view, they were sleek, grey-furred beasts, teeth bared along with their red eyes flashing with hunger.

"More Tier 1s," Kane snarled, actual smoke leaking from his mouth now. "I'm gonna lose my mind."

Vayu didn't respond.

He didn't curse.

He didn't even flinch.

The guy just disappeared from his place all of a sudden.

And holy hell, it was like watching a hurricane be born.

One second he was standing still.

The next, the wind exploded around him, screaming through the forest like a living monster.

The air shone with mana as Vayu gathered it, coiling tight around his arms, his legs, his very breath.

The wind thickened into something sharp as invisible blades flickered in and out of existence.

The first wolf lunged.

It didn't even make it halfway.

Vayu snapped his fingers.

A slicing gust of wind cut the beast clean across the chest, so sharp that the wolf's front half slid off its back before it even realized it was dead.

Another wolf tried to veer left, avoiding the obvious kill zone.

Too slow.

Vayu twisted his palm sharply, and the wind bent in response, chasing the wolf mid-air, slashing its throat with an almost surgical precision.

Blood sprayed across the ground in neat little arcs.

Not messy.

Not wild.

But efficient.

The rest of the pack hesitated, instincts screaming at them to run. Vayu didn't give them the chance.

He inhaled deeply, and then roared a wordless, furious sound and unleashed a wide, spinning crescent of wind that shot forward like a blade.

It hit the wolves like a truck made of razors.

Two more went down instantly, their bodies torn open.

The final three tried to scatter, smart enough to realize they were screwed.

Vayu lifted his hand above his head.

A moment of pure silence.

Then boom —A spiraling tornado of wind rose from the ground as it swallowed the bodies of the wolves whole, slamming them into the ground so hard the earth cracked.

Dead.

All of them.

Total time elapsed?

10 seconds, maybe?

The clearing reeked of blood as I blinked rapidly, trying to piece together what I'd just seen.

Even Eren, who had been bracing for a fight, just slowly lowered his shield, wide-eyed.

Kane let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "Dude... you're a fucking menace."

Vayu wiped a fleck of blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.

He didn't look proud.

He didn't look satisfied.

He just looked angry.

"We're camping here," he said, voice cold and sharp as a blade. "Ten minutes. No more. Plan properly. No more chasing garbage mobs."

I couldn't help but nod in agreement, it was certainly true that we could not win with just killing these low lifes no matter how many we killed.

Eren also nodded and started pulling dead branches together for barriers.

Kane grumbled but obeyed, thick clouds of smoke wrapping around the camp to mask our scent.

I just stood there a second longer, staring at the slaughtered wolves.

That speed.

That precision.

That absolute control over the battlefield.

Vayu Romero wasn't just strong.

He was the kind of terrifying strong that made you wonder if anyone else even mattered.

And for the first time today, I wasn't bored.

I was buzzing.

If we were about to go all-in to bridge the gap to first place?

I was so here for it.

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