Struggling as a Villain

[Sung Wu Kong]

[Attempt: 3]

It has been ten days since Richard started his training, and he got some results from the experiments he has been performing.

Apart from the combat training he does with Lilia he also gets tutored by his mother whenever she gets the time.

Yesterday, she was called to the Capital for some essential setups and necessary changes in the security system. It seems the entire council was getting replaced and new security systems were being installed under Bellarine's guidance.

Richard was just hoping that she wouldn't end up burning the whole palace...

Now, with three-way training—Lilia, mother and solo training—he thought he was finally prepared to at least land a blow on the Monkey King.

Inside the cage, he stood across the Stone Monkey with his beloved batons in his hands.

Richard has noted from the previous two confrontations that Wu Kong allows Richard to make the first move while the deity awaits silently.

Richard gathered his nerves, and after heaving a sigh, he began.

"Funnel!" Chanting the newly attained spell, he created a whirlwind of flames around the Monkey King that rose thirty feet high and circulated like a vortex, threatening to devour whatever rested at its centre.

Richard wasn't standing idly with some childish thoughts that his spell would be enough to take care of the Monkey King as he moved in an arc and waited for his opponent to extinguish the flames.

However, Wu Kong showed a different method, and he simply jumped out of the funnel, showing the immense strength he possesses in his limbs and setting his trajectory just where Richard was headed.

The redhead smirked before he threw away one of the batons and used his freed-up hand to cast a set of fireballs, which were summoned at an astonishing pace.

Wu Kong reflexively punched the baton away and began to fall back.

Mid-air it was impossible to change the direction of one's fall...unless the being in question possessed something like cloud summersault.

Kicking the air, Wu Kong meticulously dodged each fireball with precision and headed towards the chanter with his eyes adapting a sudden fierceness.

Richard stopped chanting fireballs, knowing the futility and unexpectedly threw his other baton up in the air as well.

The Monkey King was done with the subject as he did a flip just a few meters above the ground, intended to kick Richard with momentum and kill him with the strike.

However, in the next moment, at an astonishing pace, Richard disappeared.

**Crack**

A deep crater formed in the surface once the kick landed as the Monkey King turned to look at Richard's blurring figure.

Richard zapped towards the left, and in the next instance, he travelled at a speed which at his current level was impossible to possess, to reach just above Wu Kong—reuniting with his second baton.

Levitating above the Monkey King with both his batons in his hands and both of them completely charged up, Richard smirked, and finally, he launched the attack.

**BOOOOOOOOOOM**

A massive explosion, which could easily destroy half of the royal palace, erupted in the middle of the arena and at the epicentre of the destruction stood the target on which Richard desired to inflict the damage.

He kept both batons connected to his ether threads and after decreasing his weight by several folds, he used the baton as a spool and himself as a kite to gain such speed to dodge the previous attack from the Stone Monkey.

Then he used the same method to reunite with his other baton and created the explosion.

'Adding extra weight to the batons did the work...'

Slowly the cloud of smoke began to subdue as Richard waited to see the condition of the legendary deity.

Surely, even Wu Kong wouldn't be able to come out of that explosion unscathed. Even a light scratch would be enough to satisfy Richard, which explains why he was looking at the centre stage so eagerly...

...so eagerly that he never noticed that someone was standing beside him while resting his hand on Richard's shoulder...

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[Ding!]

[Attempt fourth: Failed ]

FML.

Sitting inside his room cross-legged, Richard cursed under his breath. He was already out of that realm given it only took a single second for Wu Kong to snap his neck and send Richard back to his consciousness.

Heaving a sigh, he read the suggestion,

[Ding!]

[A suggestion arrived!]

[Wu Kong: Not your enemy, but you, yourself, draw the line. When you consider that this must be enough or this is the end, you accept defeat. Never settle for anything less than complete victory over your enemy.]

The suggestion gave a clear message that Richard shouldn't have been so relaxed and should have been cautious even after the explosion. If only he had been careful, he might have noticed how Wu Kong escaped the destruction so smoothly.

Well, he got to know something vital today.

Continue to attack until your opponent perishes.

*Knock* *Knock*

Hearing the knock, Richard said, "Come in,"

From the outside, the blue-haired teenage girl who would be serving Richard once he left Duchy appeared.

She was holding a glass of iced tea, which Richard asked, since he knew, after the battle with the monkey, he would get thirsty.

Ah, the taste of defeat is salty.

Taking the glass, he gulped a mouthful before praising her, "Quite refreshing. Did you make it?" He asked before taking another gulp.

Violet, while retaining a blank look, nodded. Inwardly, she was jumping in delight at being praised, but outwardly, she maintained her demeanour in fear of being seen as a weirdo.

And also, she was not good at expressing her feelings.

Richard already knew about it so he pressed, "You actually don't react generally, no? I wonder what changed in these few years when I was away."

Violet stiffened hearing that and didn't reply. The hold on the tray became firm as she lowered her eyes.

Richard suddenly got up and urged her, "Here, drink the tea from the same glass." He specifically added the last part to make her conscious about what she was being asked to do.

Violet blinked rapidly looking at Richard and the glass, back and forth.

Richard stepped forward and asked again, "You won't deny your master's orders, right?"

Violet bit her lips as she saw the tip of the glass from where her master sipped the drink. Imagining herself putting her lips there....no! Too indecent!

Her face began to turn red as she pressed the tray against her chest and closed her eyes.

"You shouldn't tease her too much, my lord." Suddenly, her saviour arrived.

Lilia entered the room with a helpless smile on her face and paused to stand beside her lover.

Violet took the opportunity and gave me a crisp bow before taking her leave, "P-Please excuse me!"

She dashed away after saying that, making Lilia chuckle.

Turning her eyes toward her lord she heard him saying, "It's not like I feel great making her so troubled...but because of her parents' pressure to become a perfect maid...Violet has lost her smile."

With a sigh, Richard sat down on the bed and after placing the tea on the bedside table, he invited Lilia to sit on his lap, which the latter accepted instantly and heard him continuing,

"In the past, despite how much I bullied her, she always used to laugh and say that until I can be her friend she won't mind getting bullied for the rest of her life."

Lilia felt quite sad hearing that as she turned to look at the door from where Violet previously left. She somehow failed to notice the pain the silly girl hides behind that frosty look.

Richard shook his head and changed the topic, "Anyway, did you prepare everything for the journey?"

Deciding to talk with Violet later, Lilia responded, "Yes, everything is packed and we are ready to leave."

Richard hummed for a bit before asking, "When will the carriage arrive?"

"Probably early in the morning, the carriage would be ready to go. Since not many troops can be brought through teleportation we would be moving through carriage all the way."

Richard was already feeling tired of two days of travelling to that island where the academy was situated.

Thankfully, he was allowed to take his own carriage since the other students are brought by the transportation which the academy organises, given no one other than the students and academy staff can enter that island despite their social status. Well, Richard was the only exception.

Finally, it was happening. The main plot of this story would be beginning in a few days. A ton of drama and action awaits. The four heroines would reunite in the academy and get to spend their time with their beloved Ethan.

The numerous antagonists Ethan would have to face in order to rise to the height where he could erase the final boss from existence.

Truly a roller coaster ride was waiting for Ethan...and being the mid-rank villain, Richard had his role to play as well~

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A/N: End of the First Volumen. Thanks for reading.