Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Chapter 225: Council Meeting

"I object!" The head of the Eisenstrahl Clan slammed his palm on the table, making several cups rattle. The man’s steel-grey beard shook with fury as he rose from his seat.

This was meant to be an important meeting of the Council... one that was supposed to address diplomatic threats, foreign surveillance, and the increasing number of foreign Awakeners trying to enter their country with a single objective: recruit Lucius, by any means necessary.

What Lucius didn’t know was simple:

With every stream, every fight, every clipped moment across social platforms worldwide... his fame was skyrocketing beyond imagination, and now guilds from other continents were already planning how to convince him or kidnap him.

The only reason he had been having peaceful days lately was because the Council had been secretly using elite detachments just to keep him safe from the shadows.

Yet the Eisenstrahl head looked ready to explode.

"If we don’t put that young man in place now," he barked, slamming the table again, "then it will be disastrous for the rest of us! Mandy Runenforscher is an old man and a highly respected member of this Council, yet see how that boy spoke to him! If we don’t condition him now, then—"

He suddenly stopped speaking when a heavy hand pressed against the table.

Everyone quieted immediately.

A tall black-haired man with a precisely trimmed beard rose from his seat.

His eyes were dark and cold enough to split stone. He wore the coat of the Himmelsturm Clan, a clan renowned for intelligence research and theoretical combat science.

"How," the man asked quietly while tapping his finger against the table, "do you plan to do it?"

The Eisenstrahl head bristled. "Oh? Want to hear my thoughts?"

The Himmelsturm patriarch didn’t react to the sarcasm. He leaned back, folding his arms.

"Do you even understand what Space is?" he asked calmly. "What Wood is? What they represent?"

"Space is invincibility," he continued before anyone else could speak. "It has no vulnerabilities. It cannot be countered. And Wood... Wood is life itself, creation itself. Wood is a power that lets him grow structures anywhere, even in places where no life exists. These two affinities shouldn’t exist in one being. Not in the old era, and not now either."

The Eisenstrahl head scoffed. "We already know he’s a one-in-a-billion calamity—"

"No," the Himmelsturm patriarch interrupted sharply. "You don’t understand. You truly do not. Lucius is not a calamity. Lucius is a god."

The whole table stiffened.

Even the President, sitting at the head of the chamber with his hands folded, looked unsettled.

The Himmelsturm patriarch pressed on.

"My clan has studied his Space extensively. His Infinity barrier has no counter. He can control the space around us and inside us. Do you think he cannot twist the space in your heart and make it detonate? Do you think your mana shields will protect you from him? All he would need is a thought."

He tapped his chest.

"We all contain a fraction of space within us, tied to the universe. Lucius can manipulate that. If he wishes to make us explode... what do you think will happen?"

A tense silence followed.

"And if he erects that barrier of his... Infinity, can any of us break it?" he demanded. "Be honest with yourselves. Could anyone here break it if he didn’t give permission or lower it himself?"

He shook his head.

"Even in the entire Awakened history, there has never been someone born with these two affinities. Never. And his abilities continue to evolve in real time. He even gained new eyes... which I will now call ’Dimension Eyes.’ His space no longer overloads. This means he no longer has weaknesses we can exploit."

He suddenly slammed both hands on the table.

Every single head in the room flinched.

"And then Wood... Wood allows him to create clones. Real clones, capable of using Space with the same precision. Supreme Man ripped him into two pieces and that corpse still turned to wood after looking convincingly real on the inside. He can create an army of himself, all capable of bending space. Hundreds of Luciuses. Thousands."

A chill spread through the council chamber.

"If Lucius wanted," he said in a low voice, "he could commit mass genocide in one afternoon."

Everyone sat in stunned silence.

"We have no choice in this matter..." The Himmelsturm patriarch sank back into his seat. "We obey. Because we cannot allow another country to get their hands on our superweapon."

The President rubbed his forehead wearily.

"The thirty minutes he gave us have passed..." one clan head muttered. "He will be attempting to kill Supreme Man right about now."

The President nodded stiffly.

"All in favor of saving Supreme Man?"

Several hands raised.

"Supreme Man is still the face of several corporations," someone argued. "His influence motivates citizens... Lucius cannot replace that image easily."

"Of course he can but he can’t uphold what Supreme Man upholds, he’s a figure that shows that even people without mana could become strong... until today."

"He generated ninety-five million royals for the country through ads and merchandise," another added. "We can’t dispose of him yet."

"But one hundred billion?" a third shouted. "Why is he demanding an obscene number like that?!"

Before anyone could respond, Alexia stepped forward.

"Council," she interrupted while tapping on her holo-tablet. A projection floated above the table... Lucius’s stream, still ongoing. Supreme Man was screaming while wood clones tore him apart even further.

Gasps filled the room.

"He wouldn’t dare!" the Eisenstrahl clan head shouted indignantly... but the glares of every other clan silenced him instantly.

"It seems," Alexia said quietly, "that Lucius is extremely serious about his conditions... and the vacation request."

The President sighed deeply.

"I will assign my daughter to accompany him on these trips. Better to have eyes close to him than let the world snatch him away."

"Council," the President declared at last, "I have reached a decision. We will pay Lucius the one hundred billion. We cannot risk losing the boy, nor can we risk this country being abandoned while other nations gain our greatest asset."

Every clan head nodded in tense agreement.

"This meeting is adjourned."

...

Back on the stream, the clones vanished as Lucius lifted his blood weapons with Space. He merged them into a massive spear the size of a car.

"I guess the council doesn’t care about you," Lucius said while Supreme Man dangled on the blood-stained cross and was barely conscious. "Not that I care either. But... well."

He aimed.

Supreme Man’s head slumped.

His eyes widened in resigned horror.

’...I’m so happy...’ he thought deliriously.

Lucius inhaled, preparing the kill...

DING.

A notification popped in front of his glasses.

The spear froze inches from Supreme Man’s skull.

"Oh?" Lucius blinked. "I got the money."

He turned toward the drone, smiling sharply.

"Thank you, Council, for understanding."

[Stream Ended]

...

He let Supreme Man go from the restraints and the man crumpled to the ground, barely conscious as the last traces of blood that formed the spear curled back into Vanessa’s hand like obedient threads.

Even in his pathetic state, he was still breathing. Lucius clicked his tongue at the sight.

"Ah... I can’t believe you’re as important to the Council as that," Lucius said, stretching his neck until it cracked lightly.

’Though doesn’t there have to be some sort of procedure for this...? Ah fuck it, it’s the President, whatever.’

He waved one hand lazily.

"Rita, help me heal this bastard completely."

Rita grimaced like someone had just handed her rotten meat, but she still knelt beside Supreme Man.

Golden light gathered at her palms, washing over his ruined body. Bones reformed. Muscles reknit. Skin sealed... except for the entire destroyed crotch area, which remained a mangled, charred ruin even after healing.

’I am not healing that.’ She thought.

Lucius didn’t care enough to comment on it.

"Boys," he said while turning away, "after the Saintess finishes, tie him up. Seems like awakening Mana gave him some mental issues, so we’ll keep him bound until further notice."

Grimm nodded immediately and slung a coil of rope over his shoulder.

Felix adjusted his glasses with a sigh as Cyrus yawned. Matthias cracked his knuckles like he was preparing to restrain a wild bull, and Raven simply grabbed one end of the rope.

Together, they surrounded Supreme Man with the energy of men assigned to babysit someone they absolutely hated.

Lucius stepped into his tent while pulling out his phone. He didn’t have more than three steps inside before the flap rustled and Vanessa slipped in after him like a shadow.

She stopped for a moment, taking in the scene: Lucius lying shirtless on the bed and the tension in his shoulders finally dropping now that the fighting was done. She moved quietly and sat beside him.

He handed her his phone without saying anything.

"Congratulations."

Vanessa blinked and lowered her gaze to the screen.

[YES... GRIMMAW GUILD LED BY "THE BLOOD REAPER" HAS BROKEN INTO THE COUNTRY’S TOP 5 RANKINGS.]

Her breath stopped. Her fingers trembled. A hot wave rushed from her chest straight into her throat and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

And then she didn’t hold back anymore... she suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Lucius, pressing her forehead into his shoulder like she was holding onto the last stable thing in her world.

"I... I... I didn’t check," she whispered, voice shaking as she clung harder. "If my brother was alive... he’d be so proud. He would have loved to see us reach this point. I’m just... I’m so happy we..."

Lucius placed a hand on her back, dragging his fingers slowly along her spine in a comforting motion.

"It’s fine," he murmured. "Just be happy."

She stayed there for a long moment, breathing him in, letting herself melt into the comfort she’d been wanting for days.

When she finally pulled away, her face was flushed a warm pink and her eyes were glossy in a way she didn’t even try to hide.

Her hand moved almost unconsciously, brushing along his arm, then resting against the side of his abdomen.

The little tremor running through her fingers betrayed everything she wasn’t saying.

"Uh..." she said softly, avoiding his eyes while her cheeks turned a deeper shade. "Should we... have victory sex?"