Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain
Chapter 85: A Glimpse of the God’s Realm,

Chapter 85: A Glimpse of the God’s Realm,

Atherna didn’t respond to the young man’s greeting. Instead, she looked toward the sign beside the door. It was shaped like a clock, its hour hand pointing to the section labeled "Closed Hours." The young man also glanced at the sign.

She remained silent, her eyes narrowing with disdain as she looked at the handsome blond man. Then, without a word, she began to close the door.

But before it shut completely, a strong hand shot out and caught the doorframe, stopping her from closing it... just for a second.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgghhhhh!"

The young blond man screamed in pain as a sharp sensation tore through his hand. He quickly withdrew it from the door.

His hand now looked like it belonged to a hundred-year-old man... withered, desiccated, and mummified. Though he could still move his fingers, he could feel the weakness creeping in. Most of his strength had been drained.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, leaving Atherna’s visitor outside her castle. She hadn’t spoken a single word. For someone too stupid to read a sign, she saw no reason to waste her breath.

The handsome blond man gritted his teeth in frustration and anger, staring at his aged hand as it slowly began to recover.

As a god with an almost limitless lifespan, the injury was like a single cup of water drawn from an entire ocean. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it wasn’t something that could simply be brushed off either.

"HaHAHAHAHA!"

A raspy, middle-aged voice laughed from a distance. A figure approached, an old man with white hair, bat-like wings with feathers, and a yellow fungus growing from his left eye. His body was mottled with patches of green and purple moss.

"Look at you! I warned you not to annoy her, didn’t I?" said the man, his left eye overrun with fungi.

"Vorthan! This is not funny!" the blond man growled.

"Ohhh Ares... It is funny, and you know it. Watching someone who thought he could overreach come crashing down, now that’s.... satisfying," Vorthan said with brutal honesty.

Ares immediately unsheathed his sword, fury in his eyes. He was ready to cut down this aberration for his insult.

"Ohhh~ Scary!" Vorthan cooed mockingly. "Yes, Ares, as the God of War, you could cut me down... but you know..."

He paused, then reached up and clutched his own head, ripping it off in one swift motion.

His severed head smiled, showing no sign of pain. Then, from the arm holding the head, thick roots burst forth, piercing into it. The roots absorbed the nutrients until the head shriveled into dust and scattered in the wind.

In the blink of an eye, a new head grew from Vorthan’s neck, this one free of blemishes or fungi. It was the face of a young man with green hair.

"You know I’m hard to kill," Vorthan said, his voice now youthful. "Eventually, I’ll always grow back. And if you’re not careful... if my spores ever get inside you... maybe I’ll take over your body and use it as my own." He smirked.

"You’re already lucky, Ares. Lady Atherna has mellowed out over time. If it were her from several centuries ago, she would’ve killed you already," Vorthan said with a mocking smile.

"You appeared in front of me. What do you want?" Ares asked, huffing before sheathing his sword. He didn’t want to fight this grotesque abomination unprepared. Vorthan had a notorious reputation for never staying dead.

"I bring news... from one of my followers in the mortal realm. I think you’ll be very interested," Vorthan said, his smile cold and unsettling.

"What kind of news?" Ares asked, clearly intrigued.

"Ares... aren’t you looking for an avatar? Someone you can possess so you can descend into the mortal realm?" Vorthan asked, his expression turning sly.

The "that" he referred to was a particular mortal whom Atherna had recently taken an interest in. Since they were speaking directly in front of her castle, neither of them dared to mention it outright. Even combined, the two of them knew Atherna could crush them like ants.

It was no secret that Atherna had grown fixated on a human in the mortal realm, but no one knew who that human was. Anyone who tried to uncover the identity had been turned to dust, their lifespan and divine essence completely drained, their "time" stolen down to the final millisecond.

She guarded that mortal’s identity like a lioness guarding her cub.

The reason Ares had reached multiversal power in the first place was because Zeus, curious about that mortal’s identity, had tried to pry. Atherna had turned him to dust, leaving the throne of Olympus empty.

After several centuries-long war and the deaths of many Olympian gods, the throne finally fell to Ares, elevating him to a universal level within the divine hierarchy. In this universe, Ares now ruled over the singular concept of war.

And because of the rumors surrounding Atherna’s mysterious interest, Ares had dared to overreach, to try and get close to the goddess who was still far stronger than he could ever be.

He thought: ’If even a mortal could earn her interest, then what about me? A god? The god of war who just claimed dominion over the concept of war in this universe? Surely, she would be thrilled by me!’

That’s why Ares chose to appear in the form of a young man, a youthful god, believing that Atherna preferred younger, weaker partners who looked "cute."

But... contrary to his expectations, he hadn’t even earned a single word from her!

Now, he genuinely wanted to kill that mortal.

But the moment he let out a flicker of killing intent toward that unknown mortal, something strange happened, and an overwhelming sense of dread crept into his heart.

Ares glanced back at the castle, and a cold shiver ran down his spine.

"Let’s change the location. I want to know who that avatar is," said Ares before taking flight with Vorthan.

— Arkadia City-State - City Center —

Oblivious to what was happening in the realm of the gods, Maximilian was perched atop a high-rise building within the city center, hidden in a shadowy corner. He looked down at the crowd moving to and fro around the giant statue of Atlas.

Atlas was the number one Hero of this world, the man who ended the war between humans and aliens and the one who destroyed their mothership on the moon, making humanity the final victor.

He was also the founding father of the UEC, having gathered like-minded allies from all countries and cultures to form the United Earth Committee. While mutants still remained a threat to humanity, mankind continued to benefit from the technological advancements brought by alien tech.

The world had evolved into a society of heroes, where villains rose to challenge them. But in truth, many of these villains were simply people who used their newfound powers for personal gain. Some villains even worked for corporations, destroying their employers’ rivals under the guise of villainy.

Maximilian watched the square below, now packed with spectators witnessing a clash between a hero and a villain.

The Hero possessed the ability to turn his skin into steel. His hero alias was Talos. On the other hand, the villain could transform parts of his body into beast-like appendages, gaining enhanced strength and agility, much like the werewolves from old movies.

The battle dragged on. Talos couldn’t catch the agile villain, and the villain couldn’t penetrate the hero’s steel skin.

Eventually, however, the hero gained the upper hand with reinforcements from the local IHB branch. One of them was a speedster hero wielding a sword who quickly cut down the villain.

As a result, the villain was defeated and arrested.

Maximilian continued studying the heroes below, recording their fighting styles and weaknesses. He compared their performance to the data he had stolen from the IHB server, ensuring it wasn’t outdated.

And it was good that he had come to check in person. He noticed that some heroes had indeed corrected their prior weaknesses. Their response times and reflexes had improved compared to the records he possessed.

However, after comparing them carefully with his data, the differences weren’t too significant.

Most likely, this was due to Strauss pushing them to train harder in an attempt to make Maximilian’s stolen intel obsolete.

"Who are you?" a cold, feminine voice rang out.

Maximilian turned toward the direction of the voice and saw a female hero clad in black. She had a sword strapped to the back of her waist. Maximilian frowned beneath his mask. The hero was Onyx Blade.

She was among the top twenty heroes, ranked even higher than Photon Fury. Photon Fury held the 18th rank, while Onyx Blade was 15th. She primarily operated in Triune City, far to the south.

No one knew what Onyx Blade’s EF (Evolution Factor) was. Not even the data from the IHB local branch he had stolen contained any record of it.

Speaking of Triune City-State, Maximilian suddenly recalled the invitation from the Kingsley Group.

"I asked you... who are you? Are you not going to respond?" the female hero repeated, her tone growing even colder.

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