I Am The Game's Villain
Chapter 614 614: Medusa

"Let's kill her," I nodded at her.

Roda gave me a quick nod before stepping up to the door. Without hesitation, she pressed the button next to it, then casually swiped a card—one she probably 'borrowed' without asking. A small beep sounded, followed by a soft green light flickering to life, and with a mechanical sound, the door slid open.

Roda moved in first carefully, and I followed close behind.

The place we entered was immediately different from the sterile, uniform rooms we'd seen before. It looked almost... lived-in. Like a personal suite smashed together with a high-tech lab. There were shelves lined with strange equipment, datapads scattered around, a small bed tucked away in one corner, and even a few clothes draped over a chair.

Most importantly, though, the place was empty—eerily so.

I summoned a sword from my ring with a thought. Holding it low but ready, I trailed behind Roda, who was also gripping a sword.

Somewhere deeper inside, the low, rhythmic sound of machinery working away filled the otherwise silent space.

We moved forward, weaving our way through the scattered mess, until we finally reached the lab section of the room.

Our footsteps echoed off the metallic floors as we entered and that's when I saw her.

Facing away from us, there was a woman sitting in front of a massive monitor, its screen flooded with lines of fast-scrolling data. Her wavy blonde hair tumbled down her back in lazy curls, and she lazily cradled a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, completely absorbed in whatever she was reading.

I flicked my eyes toward Roda, who gave me a slight, confirming nod. That was our target: Medusa.

Without a word, Roda and I split up, fanning out to approach her from both sides. I expected her to react the second we moved—hell, she had to have noticed us by now—but she didn't even twitch. It was like she was completely lost in whatever was flashing across her screen, oblivious to us or not.

Seconds dragged by.

Finally, with a lazy motion, Medusa set her coffee cup down on the desk with a soft clink.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," she muttered as she turned to face us.

Her eyes were the first thing that caught me—dark green irises, vertical slits cutting through them.

Dark rings framed her tired eyes, and faint greenish scales patterned her neck, creeping up along her jawline like ivy.

"If Sancta Vedelia had known about this little hideout," she drawled, her lips curling into a faint smirk, "they would've sent an entire army after me. But it's just the two of you?" She tilted her head slightly, as if genuinely curious. "So, tell me... which faction do you belong to?"

Roda didn't waste time playing along. She stepped forward.

"Two of us are more than enough to take you down," she said coldly.

"Such hostility in your eyes," Medusa tilted her head ever so slightly, looking at Roda with a glint of curiosity. "Have we met before?"

"Are you the one who created the Hybrids?" I cut her off without a second thought, not in the mood for her games.

That finally earned a reaction. Medusa's gaze shifted fully onto me, and for a moment, something flickered in her serpent-like eyes—a glint of recognition, a memory resurfacing. Her lips parted slightly in surprise.

"Amael Idea Olphean..." She muttered. "What a surprise."

Slowly, she took a step toward me, her body language almost casual, almost welcoming—but I wasn't about to let her get closer. I raised my sword, pointing it directly at her chest. She stopped immediately.

"Now I truly understand why the whole world is fighting over you," she said, staring at me intensely. "The most protected man alive... the Vessel of Samael himself."

My grip on the sword tightened. I glared at her.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Medusa's smile widened, but there was no humor in it—only a quiet, bitter sort of satisfaction.

"I admit, I doubted the decision to leave you untouched for so long," she said thoughtfully. "But now... now I see why. Killing you would've been such a tremendous waste."

"Shut up," I snapped. "I have nothing to do with you filth."

"Filth?" Medusa let out a soft chuckle. "Interesting choice of words, considering what you carry inside you."

She continued to scan me as if I was some fascinating object.

"You call us trash," she said, "but isn't it a little ironic? When you're the vessel of history's greatest murderer?"

I narrowed my eyes, my entire body tensing up at her words.

"Everyone remembers Lucifer," Medusa continued casually. "The enemy of Eden, the fallen angel. But before him, before all the myths and fairy tales... there was Samael. The original enemy. The one so dangerous they didn't just kill him—they erased him. Wiped every mention of him from history to make sure no one would even think of bringing him back. But it didn't work. Because here you are. Standing in front of me, carrying within you two of the Seven Sins of Samael."

At that, Roda shot me a quick, worried glance, but she stayed silent.

Medusa's eyes gleamed as she took a slow step closer, ignoring the blade I still had pointed at her.

"So tell me, Amael Idea Olphean... how does it feel?" She asked me. "How does it feel knowing your entire life was never yours? That every decision you thought you made was just another chain pulled by Eden's side—or by Samael's?"

"..."

"You were never free. You were born a pawn, a carefully crafted weapon, shaped by forces you can't even see."

I snapped.

Without thinking, I grabbed her by the front of her shirt, yanking her forward. My sword hovered dangerously close to her throat.

"You don't know a damn thing about me," I growled.

But Medusa didn't flinch. She only looked up at me with a calm smile.

"Oh, but I do," she whispered. "Everyone does.

"Ante Eden. Behemoth. Xenos Arvatra's Iris Project. Caishen. Edenis Raphiel. The Sovereigns and the leaders of every nation that still matters... they've all known exactly who you are since the day you were born."

She chuckled softly.

"The only reason you've been left alone until now was because of Waylen Falkrona's influence... and because we decided it was better to let you grow. Let you ripen, before we decide what to do with you."

"You don't get to decide what I'm going to do. No one does."

Medusa's smile dripped with amusement. "Unfortunately, you don't even have control over yourself. That's reality, Amael Olphean. The sooner you accept it, the easier it'll be when it finally crushes you."

Without thinking, I thrusted my sword straight at her throat to kill her. But just inches away from piercing her skin, the blade jerked to a sudden, brutal stop. Stone swallowed the metal, creeping from the ground like living earth, trapping it mid-air in a rough, petrified grip.

"Edward!" Roda lunged forward, landing a hard kick against Medusa's side.

Medusa barely flinched—her body floated back, landing lightly as if she'd merely been nudged by a breeze. She dusted off her sleeve with a faint, mocking smile.

I glanced down at my hand, a sick feeling twisting in my gut. The skin of my fingers was no longer skin — rough, cracked stone had already crept halfway up my wrist.

"I told you to be careful!" Roda snapped, marching up to me, her fists clenched. "Get it together, Edward!"

I grimaced, forcing myself to breathe deeply, grounding my rage before it turned me into a damn statue. "Right... Right."

Summoning the power of the Olphean Bloodline, I called Perseus into my hand. The new blade materialized with a gleam of deep amber light.

Medusa's smile widened—like she was genuinely impressed. She slowly raised a hand behind her, fingers splayed lazily—and immediately, the entire room lit up in violent red pulses. Alarms blared overhead. A massive countdown appeared on the wall, its numbers ticking down.

-4:59

-4:58

Roda's eyes widened. "What did you just do?"

"A little gift," Medusa said lightly. "In five minutes, this place is going to blow sky-high. I'd suggest you two run if you want to keep your limbs intact."

"You're gonna kill your people in here?" Roda blurted out in shock.

Medusa just laughed. "My people? Please. My allegiance has always been with the Iris Project. Always."

Roda's face twisted in disbelief. "So you infiltrated Behemoth... just to stab them in the back?"

"Backstab them?" Medusa sounded genuinely offended. "Absurd. I helped them. Truly. Out of respect. Deborah Dolphis was a genius, the kind you only see once every few thousand years. Studying her work was a privilege. I gave them my best. But..." She shrugged, pulling out a handful of glittering vials from her belt. "When survival calls, respect becomes a luxury."

"You're not walking out of here," I growled, every muscle tensed as I lunged toward her, Perseus flashing in my grip.

Medusa didn't even flinch. With a flick of her wrist, she smashed one of the vials against the floor. A thick, greenish smoke exploded outward, instantly filling the room with a heavy, noxious fog.

"Edward—don't breathe it in!" I heard Roda shout from behind me, voice strained with panic.

But I barely heard her. My focus was locked on Medusa's silhouette, already slipping through a hidden door in the far wall. A hidden damn escape route.

Over my dead body was she getting away.

No way in hell.

I am going to kill this bitch.