Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Chapter 226: Takeover

"No..." Lucius muttered as he averted his eyes to the right, avoiding Vanessa’s direct stare.

Her hand rested softly on his lap as the two of them lay together inside the tent.

She leaned in even closer, her crimson eyes half-lidded, brushing her cheek against his shoulder with a cheeky smile.

"Come on... you’re Lucius von Hohenberg, and a very shameless man. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the others finding out." Her voice was gentle but undeniably seductive, and her cheeks glowed pink with expectation.

Her hand slid a little higher along his thigh, making her intentions clearer.

Lucius sighed,

"I’m not afraid of anything," he said. "It just isn’t proper. Sure, I love doing it with you, but I’m not down to do it just anywhere. Infections exist within dungeons too."

Vanessa stared back with a dreamy expression, clearly appreciating the phrasing of love doing it with you more than anything else he had said.

Her lips parted slightly as if the words alone had melted a piece of her heart.

"... Fine, whatever," she murmured, pulling back with an embarrassed pout. "I’ll just kidnap you after we finish up this dungeon."

Before she left, she leaned down and pressed a slow kiss to his forehead. Her long hair brushed his cheek then, almost as if frightened of her own boldness, she scrambled out of the tent in a hurry.

Lucius inhaled deeply and let out a slow breath once she was gone.

"Damn," he whispered, rubbing his forehead where her lips had touched.

He reached for his phone and lay back down on the bedroll and placed one arm behind his head.

"I should most probably start researching what country we should take a vacation to..." he muttered.

The screen lit up, showing his search history, which was now filled with tabs about foreign nations, tourism visas, currency conversions, weather conditions, and hotel prices. He had been checking them before the thirty minutes stopped.

There were a lot of countries in the world... each one competing for status, recognition, military prestige, awakened rankings, and global influence.

It wasn’t so different from Earth’s nations, except that everything here was amplified by mana, dungeons, awakened power systems, and guild warfare.

He scrolled.

’Like the country I’m currently in... Aurelia,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’I don’t remember if this is like the United States of the world or something...’

The webpage showed mountains, gleaming silver cities, and long descriptions of military districts.

Aurelia currently had the most S-ranks in the world. That fact alone was responsible for seventy percent of its global authority. It was the only country that housed the Saintess and the only nation that could boast of about 25 S-ranks.

’But the whole country doesn’t want to lose their position as the number one nation,’ Lucius thought. ’So they’re openly cultivating people that will become S-ranks. Once you remove the awakened complications, it’s just marketing and propaganda.’

None of the politics interested him. He didn’t care for military pressure, alliances, or expectations. But a country with money and tourism opportunities? Now that he cared about.

He swiped right and clicked on Avalon.

Immediately, a vibrant set of images filled his screen... floating lakes, crystal bridges, golden forests, and cities that blended old stone architecture with flowing mana-lights.

Avalon was another one of the top five nations.

It was peaceful, clean and had high tourism value. A place practically built for taking pretty pictures, eating expensive food, and pretending to have a normal life.

"And their capital is New Avalon City..." he read. "I think Elliot went here later in the story. That settles it."

He bookmarked it and closed the screen.

’Once we clear this dungeon, I’ll take the girls on a trip to New Avalon. There’s a lot of scenery to see... and honestly, I need a break from all this dungeon nonsense.’

He stretched, rolled onto his side, then onto his back again, thinking about hotels, beaches, airships, and what kind of energy the city would have.

He hadn’t had a proper vacation in ages but now...

Now he could go anywhere.

He had the money... The power... The time... The girls...

"Boss."

Lucius sat up when Grimm’s voice came from outside the tent.

"We’ve completely tied up Supreme Man. Miss Ayela is looking for you as well."

Lucius blinked slowly.

"Since Supreme Man is down... does that mean I’ll have to be the one doing the shouting now?" He sighed. "It’s not looking good at all."

He pushed out of the tent and stepped outside. Grimm stood respectfully with a bow, and behind him, Supreme Man’s heavily restrained body lay slumped like a gigantic fallen beast.

The ropes wrapped around him were thick enough to bind a dragon and were glowing with holy mana.

"The cables have been enforced by the Saintess’s blessing," Grimm said. "They won’t break or tear no matter how much he flexes his muscles."

Lucius nodded his approval. "You guys did a great job."

He snapped his fingers.

The ropes constricted further, drawing a muffled grunt from Supreme Man.

"But regardless, that man is a criminal. It should be even tighter..." Lucius said. "Dump him in an extra tent and feed him some water."

"Yes, Boss!"

Grimm attempted to lift Supreme Man, failed entirely, then settled for dragging him with great strain.

Matthias and Raven joined in, and after some struggle, they pulled the giant toward another tent.

Lucius cracked his neck and placed his hands on his waist, glancing up at the sky.

"Ayela, you wanted something?" he asked without turning.

She descended slowly from the air, her wind aura glowing around her back. Her hair fell over her shoulders as she touched down gently, looking slightly nervous.

"Yes..." she said softly. "My contract is still active, so I’m still an official member of the Supreme Guild. And since Supreme Man is down, we need someone to take control of our—"

"You’re grown adults," Lucius interrupted. "You don’t need me. In fact, you go ahead and control your Guild members."

"They don’t listen to me..." Ayela admitted, flustered. "And the second-in-command was one of the wind mages that died. Supreme Man hasn’t given us permission to choose the next one. I can pay you. I still have some savings left. I just want everything to be calm."

Lucius rubbed his chin slowly.

’I already gained 100 billion from the council. Doing this won’t be too much work.’

"Sure," he said at last. "Lead the way."

Ayela’s eyes widened in surprise.

Her gaze drifted over his shirtless upper body before she caught herself. "You want to go like that?" she asked shyly.

Lucius looked down at himself... and admired his toned abs then back at her.

"Is it wrong for a man to show a little bit of skin?"

...

The rest of the Awakeners left in the Supreme Guild were packed into the largest tent the Guild owned, a sprawling structure Supreme Man had proudly named the "Strategy Tent."

It was meant to be the place where he gave orders, explained missions, and pretended he had some grand tactical genius guiding the guild’s future, they did a briefing every evening when he wasn’t talking to the Saintess.

Today, however, the tent strangely hollow without him sitting in the command seat.

Most of the Awakeners inside were whispering restlessly. Some sat with their hands gripping their knees, others paced, unable to hide their nerves.

’I can’t believe Supreme Man almost died today,’ one of the men thought as he sat with his back rigid and his hands clasped together.

Supreme Man was the reason most of them had joined... an S-rank Awakener, a household name, a man with influence, popularity, and a carefully manufactured reputation. People believed that following him meant safety, stability, and prestige.

Now they had no idea what they believed.

There were ten Awakeners inside... six women and four men. Most had been traveling with Supreme Man long enough to know his ego, but none of them had imagined they would see him defeated so brutally, let alone tied up like a criminal and tossed aside.

With no leader, they all knew what would happen: their ranking as a guild would plummet, their access to shared resources would drop, and other Guild Leaders would take advantage of them immediately.

They were very sure that once they got back to Earth, the Guild would be forced to disband because of the public. There were already polls on Stitch and other social media platforms as well.

"What... what are we going to do now?" one of the women asked with trembling hands.

She had slept with Supreme Man earlier that morning and now looked like she was visibly regretting every life decision that had led her here.

Another woman shook her head. "We can’t continue like this. Two other guilds are in this dungeon with us. If we show even a hint of weakness, they’ll force us to give up a portion of the resources we claim. Without a leader, we’re practically inviting them to push us around."

One of the men, arms crossed, nodded grimly. "Ayela... she’s a powerful one. She could act as our temporary leader."

A few murmurs of agreement followed, but they sounded hesitant.

"Yes, she’s strong," another man said, "but she can’t compete with the other Guild Heads. Even if she’s capable, she doesn’t have the authority. No matter how strong she is, she can’t command respect the same way Supreme Man could."

"That’s not even the biggest problem," one of the women added with an exhausted sigh. "Ayela can’t negotiate against the other Guild Leaders. They’ll steamroll her in an instant. We need someone stronger... someone the others will listen to without hesitation."

Another woman leaned forward, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Can’t Lucius take control of our Guild instead? He’s basically the reason we’re still alive right now... and besides, I wouldn’t mind the whole Guild being under Grimmaw if he looked this way."

The entire tent paused.

Then one woman scoffed loudly, throwing her hands up.

"Do you think this is a fucking dream? Lucius? Take control of our Guild? Are you hearing yourself? What, is he going to suddenly walk through that flap and say, ’I’m taking control of this whole Guild and all of you must obey me’? Is that what you’re expecting?"

The tent fell silent.

Even the ones who had been hopeful lowered their gazes. The idea felt impossible. Lucius was unpredictable, powerful, and from what they’d seen so far, very uninterested in babysitting people who couldn’t follow simple instructions.

No matter how amazing it sounded, they all knew the idea was fantasy.

The group collectively exhaled.

And then...

The flap of the large tent was pulled open.

A gust of cooler air slid inside, along with footsteps.

Lucius walked in.

His trousers hung low on his hips, still slightly dusty from the battle. His hair was loose, falling around his shoulders, and the muscles across his torso made the lantern light cling to him like gold.

Behind him, Ayela stepped in quietly, her eyes lowered and her cheeks faintly pink, as if she still couldn’t believe she had convinced him to come at all.

Lucius stopped a few steps away from the center of the room.

He scanned the group with a bored expression then he cleared his throat, folding his arms behind his back with the kind of casual confidence only a man who feared absolutely nothing could have.

"Good evening, everyone," he said.

Every Awakener in the tent froze. Half of them swallowed hard. One woman dropped her water flask. Someone else let out a squeak.

Lucius continued speaking as if none of that mattered.

"I’ll be taking control of this Guild," he announced. "And all of you must obey me."