I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space

Chapter 516: The Second Reason

"Actually..."

"The reason your empire suddenly became surrounded by all those portals..."

He paused deliberately, allowing every eye in the hall to focus upon him once again.

"...was because of me."

"Well... part of it was because of me. Or more accurately... because of something I did."

Nerrisa’s expression immediately changed. The gentle amusement that had been resting on her face for most of the meeting disappeared slightly, replaced by a thin line of annoyance as she crossed her arms and leaned back against her majestic platinum throne. Her platinum eyes narrowed at him, sharp and bright, carrying the kind of quiet irritation that made the air around her feel colder despite her still remaining perfectly composed.

"Do explain in detail," she said, her tone calm but clearly less patient than before. It was obvious that even though she had successfully controlled the disaster and prevented her Empire from suffering the kind of destruction those fourteen Emperor-rank monsters could have caused, that did not mean she was pleased about any of it.

Countless gates had opened across her land. Her forces had been moved, alarms had been sounded, hidden defenses had been activated, and the strongest Empire in the world had nearly been forced into chaos. And now Razeal was calmly telling her that he was somehow connected to the reason behind it. Naturally, no one would be happy after hearing that. Around the table, several Regents silently looked between the two, some curious, some cautious, and some faintly amused at seeing Nerrisa’s irritation finally directed at someone who did not seem even slightly frightened by it.

"Well," Razeal began, leaning slightly against the dark armrest of his shadow throne as though he were explaining something troublesome but not especially surprising to him, "it started with me helping Nancy escape her fate." The moment he said Nancy’s name, Nerrisa’s eyes narrowed even more, and a strange coldness entered their depth, though she still did not interrupt him.

"But the Preserver tried to correct it," Razeal continued. "And Nancy, not being as careful as I told her to be, ended up getting herself into trouble." His voice carried a faint trace of annoyance now, as though remembering the whole matter still irritated him.

"Those portals... all those gates opening around the Empire... were just a distraction." He looked toward Nerrisa more directly.

"They were created to stop you all from focusing on her. As i guessed even for him, having the entire Empire searching for one person would have been troublesome. So he created something large enough that your Empire had no choice but to turn its attention elsewhere." He shrugged again, as if the whole thing was a simple chain of cause and effect.

"And doing that created all that mess." The hall remained deeply silent as every Regent processed his explanation.

Nerrisa listened without saying a word, but her eyes had become the sharpest among them all. The portal disaster, the sudden timing, the scale of the attack, and the moment when everything had happened piece by piece, all of it slowly connected with the memory inside her mind. When she had first received the alarm regarding Nancy and mobilized the Empire to search for her, the sudden appearance of the portals had indeed felt far too perfectly timed.

Back then, she had been suspicious. How could such a massive disaster occur at the exact moment she had begun focusing on one girl? Yet the thought had seemed too absurd even for her. Nancy was important, yes. She was the daughter of a Duchess and someone tied to powerful bloodlines and politics, but causing such a world-level disaster just to distract people from one girl? It sounded ridiculous. Too excessive. Almost impossible.

So Nerrisa had placed the suspicion at the back of her mind, not forgetting it completely, but not focusing on it either because the explanation had felt too unreasonable. Now, however, with Razeal’s words and the Preserver’s involvement, the impossible suddenly became disturbingly plausible.

"What was her fate?" Nerrisa asked after a few seconds, her voice quieter now but far more serious. There was no casual curiosity in the question. She wanted to go deeper. If the Preserver had created such an enormous distraction just to stop the Empire from finding Nancy, then Nancy’s fate had to be far more important than anyone had assumed. It could not have been an ordinary matter. It could not have simply been the fate of a noble girl, or even the fate of a Duchess’s daughter.

There had to be something hidden there, something large enough to make the Preserver move personally and use the portals as a weapon against the strongest Empire in existence. Nerrisa wanted to know what that fate was. She also wanted to understand how Razeal had helped Nancy escape it, because that part might be even more important. Around the table, the other Regents also became focused.

Even those who did not know Nancy personally could understand the weight behind the question. If one young girl’s fate had been important enough to trigger this disaster, then her destiny might be tied to the world in ways none of them had yet realized. But to Nerrisa’s surprise, Razeal did not answer. He simply shook his head.

"I can’t tell you that," he said plainly. His voice did not carry hesitation, guilt, or fear. It was a clean refusal. "That is Nancy’s personal matter. I won’t share it." He looked at Nerrisa calmly, completely unaffected by the sharpness of her gaze.

"If you want to know, ask her yourself." For a moment, several eyebrows around the table lifted. The answer surprised them more than they expected. Razeal had just spoken openly about his own destiny to destroy the world. He had revealed the Preserver’s avatar. He had admitted that fate itself wanted him to become the villain of this reality putting himself in redar of danger from all Regents. He had shared secrets that most people would rather die than expose.

Yet when the question turned toward Nancy’s fate, he refused without hesitation. It was strange, but at the same time, it made a certain kind of sense. Revealing his own secrets was his choice. Revealing someone else’s was not. That single refusal told the Regents something about him that even his long explanations had not. He might act cold, arrogant, careless, and deeply troublesome, but he had a line. A clear one. He could speak about his own fate with a tired smile as though it no longer mattered, but he would not casually expose another person’s pain or destiny just because the World Council wished to know.

The information might have been important. Perhaps even extremely important. But the firmness in his voice made it clear that pushing him would not change anything. Nerrisa remained silent for several seconds, her platinum eyes fixed upon him, as though weighing whether to press further. In the end, she did not. None of the other Regents did either. They all understood the meaning behind his tone. Razeal had drawn a boundary, and for now, even the World Regents chose not to cross it.

Well, not that Razeal needed to say it directly. There were already some people inside the Sovereign Hall who could guess the shape of the matter without him giving them the full answer. Nerrisa, both Dragon Queens, Nova, Selena, and Marcella... all of them were quite aware of the incident that had happened to Nancy, and all of them knew how Razeal had been the one to save her from it.

In fact, almost everyone in the Empire knew at least the surface of that matter by now, so when Razeal refused to speak about Nancy’s fate, the minds of those who knew naturally moved in the same direction. That disgusting incident... that horrifying thing that had nearly happened to her... perhaps that was the fate Razeal had helped her escape from. It seemed obvious enough, but no one said it aloud.

No one wanted to be the one to drag that matter into the center of the World Council, especially when Razeal himself had clearly refused to speak about it out of respect for Nancy. Yet even with that guess forming inside their minds, there was still something that did not make sense. Why would something like that matter so much? Why would the Preserver, one of the Three Supreme Gods, refuse to accept that change? Shouldnt that be good thing? A good cause? Why would he try to correct that fate? Why would he go so far as to create a disaster across the Empire, opening countless portals and allowing Emperor-rank monsters to appear, simply to distract everyone long enough to push that one fate back into place?

The more they thought about it, the more repulsive the feeling became. If their guess was right, then the Preserver had not merely allowed such a disgusting fate to exist. He had actively tried to make sure it happened again after Razeal had stopped it once. And that thought alone made the atmosphere inside several hearts turn cold. For those who still believed gods were pure, righteous, and merciful beings above mortal ugliness, this realization felt like having filth thrown upon something sacred.

So much that even for people like Nerrisa and the two Dragon Queens, who already understood better than most how vile, arrogant, and cruel gods could truly be, the thought still left a bitter and disgusting taste in their mouths. There were many kinds of cruelty in the world. There were wars, betrayals, sacrifices, and cold decisions made for survival.

But using a girl’s suffering as a necessary thread of fate and calling its correction important enough to shake an Empire... that sank to a level even they found difficult to calmly accept.

Still, Nerrisa did not comment on what she had guessed. She merely looked at Razeal for several silent seconds before giving a slow nod.

"Fine," she said, her voice controlled, though the depth of her platinum eyes had turned colder.

"We will not force you to speak about things you do not wish to reveal." She leaned back against her platinum throne, her fingers slowly tapping once against the armrest before becoming still.

"You may continue. But was that truly the only reason he did something so extreme?" Her gaze sharpened slightly. "It would also be helpful if you could tell us why that fate was so important. You do not need to say what the fate itself was, but there must have been some greater reason behind it... right? A reason strong enough for him to take such large steps?"

Razeal remained silent for a moment. He could see the meaning behind her question clearly, and he could also feel the attention of everyone else quietly pressing toward him. They wanted answers. Not out of simple curiosity anymore, but because every word was slowly revealing how twisted and dangerous the Preserver’s movements truly were.

Finally, Razeal spoke again, his voice calm but lower than before. "I cannot tell you what the Preserver wanted from completing her fate or why he wanted to bring it back onto the so-called right path. That would be wrong for me to say." He paused, his dark eyes shifting toward Nerrisa before slowly moving across the hall.

"But I can tell you what he said when she and I asked him." Another small silence fell. Then Razeal’s eyes darkened with a deep glint of disturbance, something old and unpleasant passing through them as he said, "He said it was for the greater good."

The words were simple, but the reaction they caused was not. A small, dangerous fury flickered almost instantly inside both Dragon Queens, inside Nerrisa, inside Nova, and even inside Selena, who sat stiffly upon the radiant papal throne. Those who had guessed even a little of what Nancy’s fate might have been felt that fury too, though all of them controlled it.

No one spoke immediately. No one slammed the table. No one released their aura. Yet the hall became colder in a way that had nothing to do with temperature. The phrase itself had carried too much filth. Greater good. Such clean words placed over something so rotten.

Such holy-sounding reasoning used to justify pushing a girl back into pain. Even Selena, who had always been taught to believe in sacrifice, mercy, and divine intention, felt something inside her twist violently at those words. Nova’s fingers dug quietly into the armrest of Merisa’s purple throne, her royal-purple eyes becoming frighteningly still. Nerrisa’s expression did not change much, but anyone who knew her would understand that the calmness on her face was not peace. It was restraint.

The silence continued until Vyrakthra, the Frost Dragon Queen, finally spoke. Her voice was quiet, but it carried a sharp coldness that seemed to freeze every word before releasing it into the hall.

"Greater good... haa?" She repeated the words slowly, almost tasting them, as though she wanted to remember exactly how disgusting they sounded. Her eyes held a chilling fury hidden beneath their surface, not wild or uncontrolled, but old, deep, and burning beneath ice. "I will remember those words."

Nerrisa and several other Regents turned their gazes toward her, but no one said anything for now. Those who knew the details understood why her reaction carried such weight. Those who did not know still began silently piecing things together from the fragments before them.

Most of the Regents were aware that Nancy was quite favored by the Ice Queen’s faction, even though her mother, Arabella, was closer to the other Dragon Queen, Vyrazelith, who herself did not share a very friendly relationship with Vyrakthra. That connection alone was enough for them to understand that whatever Nancy’s fate had been, it was not something light, and the Frost Dragon Queen clearly knew enough to be furious about it. Still, everyone chose to keep their thoughts to themselves. The World Regents were all old, sharp, and extremely observant people.

Even when they lacked the full truth, they could gather meaning from glances, silence, tones, and the way certain people reacted. Razeal had left many gaps in his explanation, but the hall was now full of people quietly filling those gaps on their own, each reaching darker conclusions than the last. No one pushed him. No one asked him to say Nancy’s secret aloud. They simply listened, silently understanding that the Preserver’s idea of the "greater good" might be far uglier than any of them had wanted to believe.

Still, even without knowing the full reason, every World Regent inside the Sovereign Hall understood one thing clearly. Whatever the Preserver had wanted from Nancy’s fate, changing it had clearly affected something enormous. It had mattered enough for a Supreme God to personally interfere, enough for him to create a distraction across the strongest Empire in the world, enough for fourteen Emperor-rank monsters to appear and for the entire situation to nearly become a catastrophe. That alone told them everything they needed to know.

Nancy was no longer just some noble girl tied to a painful incident. She had become a point of importance within the movements of fate itself, a person whose survival, choice, or altered path might be connected to the future of the world. One by one, the Regents silently reached the same conclusion.

They would have to keep an eye on her. Not to control her, not to use her or maybe if needed to be.. but definitely to make sure the Preserver did not try to force that fate upon her again. Perhaps even to protect her from it.

Because from everything Razeal had revealed so far, it seemed more and more likely that the Preserver was not trying to save their realm at all. In fact, his actions seemed to be leading directly toward its destruction, and that was something none of them could allow. Their personal interests, old grudges, factional rivalries, and hidden agendas all became secondary before this one matter. If the Preserver’s plan truly required Nancy to suffer that fate, then stopping that fate had become important to them as well.

And just like that, completely unaware of it, Nancy had suddenly gained some of the strongest protectors in the world, protectors who would not hesitate to defy even gods if that was what it took to keep her away from the path fate had prepared for her.

"As for your second question..." Razeal slowly turned his gaze back toward Nerrisa, his expression returning to that calm but faintly irritated look.

"No. That might not have been the only reason the Preserver did all that." He leaned slightly against the armrest of his shadow throne, his dark eyes narrowing as though even thinking about Riven annoyed him.

"Maybe he was trying to gain as much profit as possible from that one action. Maybe he had more than one goal hidden inside it. Actually..." he paused for a second before giving a low, humorless chuckle, "it is too difficult to guess what that bastard truly wants. He is a fucking liar, and an extremely tricky person to deal with." A clear trace of annoyance entered his voice as he looked toward Nerrisa and then toward the rest of the Regents who were all waiting for him to continue.

Razeal had already thought about that meeting with Nancy many times afterward. He had tried to understand what Riven might have been planning, what he might have gained, what he had already done, and what hidden layers might have existed beneath the obvious ones. But no matter how much he thought, he could only grasp what had been directly visible. Everything else remained uncertain. And the most irritating part was that Razeal was sure there were more motives. Many more. He could feel it.

Riven was not the type to take one action for only one reason. That smiling bastard would never waste effort like that. If he had opened those gates and dragged the Empire into chaos, then he must have been aiming for several things at once, perhaps things Razeal had missed even when they were right in front of him. That was what made dealing with him so disgusting. You could never be certain whether you had truly understood his move or whether he had simply allowed you to understand the part he wanted you to see.

"It is fine," Nerrisa said after watching him for a few moments. Her platinum eyes moved away from Razeal and slowly passed over every World Regent seated around the table. One after another, they understood her meaning and gave small nods of agreement. Only then did she look back toward Razeal.

"Tell us the reasons you know first. As for the others... we can help you uncover them." Her voice was calm, but the support behind it was clear.

"As much help as you need for that, you will have it." The statement made the hall feel slightly different. It was not just Nerrisa speaking as the Empress anymore. The silent nods from the other Regents meant the World Council itself was acknowledging the importance of this matter.

For a moment, even Razeal raised his eyebrows faintly. He had not exactly expected them to offer support so quickly or so directly, especially after he had just told them he was destined to destroy the world. But then again, they were not fools. If Riven was the one moving behind the disaster and the gates, then understanding him was no longer Razeal’s problem alone. It was everyone’s problem. After a short silence, Razeal merely shrugged, as though deciding not to think too deeply about their sudden cooperation.

Then a disgusted, bad-taste expression slowly appeared on his face, as if the next part of the story still irritated him more than he wished to admit. He looked around the table once, then finally said, "The second reason..." His voice became colder. "...was to give me his weapon of destruction."

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