33.26%, nice increase. Mon-hun gives good experience. Viers was doing a casual check about something inside him. Seeing the number steadily rising every time he checked was very gratifying.

“...Done,” Viers let go of the hand of a girl he had been holding for quite some time.

“Thanks,” Paina replied.

After the discussion with his fellow adventurers, Viers returned to his room in the inn and did some soul maintenance for the girls. He had just finished with Paina’s share after Farley and Clarissa.

“You look like you have something to say. Just lay it out, it's not like we’re strangers,” Viers calmly said, hoping to clear the heavy air between them.

“...Why are you so cruel to them? Not just them, but to the assassins from before too.” Paina meekly asked.

Ah, so it's about that.

The thought that his cruelty towards his enemies might be too much for the girls slipped through his mind.

Viers closed his eyes and started thinking. In this White Flowers Meadow, Clarissa and Farley were never far. The topic seemed to interest them also.

“...The time was just after the fight with the Cockatrice… ominously, someone crept out from the shadows. ‘Apologies, but that Cockatrice belongs to us,’ the man said.”

Viers told them the future he had foreseen and prevented.

“...and so the survivors returned. Stronger, wiser, more prepared for the challenges ahead… The End.”

He opened his eyes and saw the girls were giving him a dubious look.

“There’s another thing. We only know this later but turns out Wollter got a guardian devil, some gang leader named Ajoss. In the timeline where I didn’t ambush Wollter, he would die fighting us; me, Lena, and the gang. Somehow, Ajoss –who most likely will be at least Level 2– will get wind of it and I will have to deal with that shit.”

“You saw the length I go to and how extensively I erased signs of my presence at the scene of the crime right? That paid off. It's exactly to deal with situations like this. The case of Mr. Shit is an asshole so Mr. A killed him, but there’s Mr. Big Shit behind Mr. Shit and he sets out for revenge against Mr. A. The good Mr. A got inconvenienced, hurt, struggled, got saved by someone he helped in the past, yadda-yadda, but triumphed in the end… Guess what’s next after Mr. Big Shit?”

“Mr. Big Big Shit?” Clarissa with her peerless intellect answered.

“Thus,” Viers made a gesture as if he had just opened a hand of royal straight flush in poker. “I changed the future. Quite well, I might add.” Viers felt very pleased with how things unfolded.

“...Lord Viers, can you actually see the future?” Farley asked.

“Nope.”

“So it's a guess then,” Clarissa the lamia said.

“An educated guess,” he replied confidently.

“How can you be educated about it?” The lamia pressed further.

Those who read as many power fantasy and xianxia novels as I do also can make the same deduction as me. It's not a special ability or anything, just ‘education’.

“I read a lot of books,” Viers grinned.

The girls knew Viers well enough if he didn't want to answer then he won't.

“Fine, maybe that might happen but what meaning is there to brutalize their remains?” Paina asked the thing that disturbed her the most.

“What about it? They were already dead. It's not like they were still alive when I dismembered their body. I don’t do torture unless I’ve got a very good reason to. I get that the sight might be disturbing but that’s just it, in my opinion.”

When I soul searched, the souls still got hurt a lot… but I am getting better. The memories become clearer and they hurt less when I want it to. Therefore it’s not torture, it's practice. No need to feel bad, it is necessary… For Science!

Viers rationalized his take on human soul experiments.

“But still… It's too cruel,” Paina protested.

Sigh, another one with a bleeding heart. Among the three, Paina is the most normal. Is her opinion the general consensus of most people? Viers mused.

“...CLVR. B. It's a Fable about magic knights of the kingdom of Clover. C-238,” Viers stated a code, which was incomprehensible to the girls.

“What? What is that?” Clarissa said.

“The villain had the hero in his grasp. The bad guy was too strong for the young wind prince. Then the supposed to be great villain stabbed him in the chest and left his bone sword there before vanishing without a trace… Tell me, will the hero survive?”

“Err, no?” Paina answered.

“Yes?” Farley said.

“I think… yes,” Clarissa said.

“The answer… is yes. Fucking YES! That is a world of magic for god’s sake! There are healing magics and recovery items there, just like in this world! Imagine that, the villain is practically too inept to kill someone he just stabbed through the heart!”

The girls were surprised to see Viers speak in such a fiery and passionate manner. They had never seen Viers act like this before.

“What do you think would happen next? Well, the hero made a full recovery, got stronger in a VERY short time, then kicked the villain’s ass. THE END!”

Viers was huffing, the trio didn't know what to do except for letting him cool down on his own.

“...I’m not like that guy. I’m the Anti-Existence of villains like that! When I decide to kill someone, I kill them. Then to prevent their coming back in my Fable, I kill them in body and soul as thoroughly as possible. Now, tell me how do you revive a guy with his head stuffed inside his stomach and have his innards on the outside and his soul in my Soul Prison?”

“...”

The girls could only be silent.

“That’s what I thought. And that’s number 13 on the Evil Overlord List.”

“By the way, about that CLVR Fable, I don't intend to demean it. I even enjoy it. It's just I have something to say about that particular villain… It's like the glory of plot armor in full majesty,” he muttered the last sentence very softly.

“...Viers, I think you’re mad.” Clarissa frankly told that to his face.

“I don't deny it, call me mad if you wish. Sanity is overrated.” Viers smiled defiantly.

“It is crazy. Besides, why do you always talk as if death isn't a big deal? How can you talk of revival and resurrection like it's easy?” Paina exclaimed.

“Paina, look at our own situations at the moment. We are for all intents and purposes, dead. But we are still aware, able to think, have emotions, and can talk with each other. Yes we don't have a body but Lord Viers has given us a priceless boon. Do you think other dead people can experience what we have?” Farley tried to soothe her friend.

Farley’s words got Paina's thinking.

“Anyway, that’s why I destroy the corpse of the people I killed. Villains that failed to kill someone weaker than them have the mark of small fry on them.”

“Lord Viers, why are you so obsessed with the concept of heroes and villains?” Farley curiously asked.

“Good question Farley! Look at me and tell me what you see, villain or hero?” Viers opened his arms wide.

“Villain,” the three unanimously answered.

“Mm,” Viers nodded. “In the Fables, small fry villains get defeated then fade into obscurity.”

“I see. So Lord Viers strives to be the great ones amongst his peers, isn't it?” Farley got a flash of an idea.

“Heheheh… As for great villains, they ALSO got defeated! They just don't fade into obscurity like the small fries.” Viers let out a big har-har.

“...Uhhh, so you think you’ll get screwed no matter what in the future?” Paina was confused.

“Nay! There exists another classification… the Exalted Ones… above the greats, those who truly succeed in their Fable despite their villainous standing.”

“But people aren't split between heroes and villains.” Paina insisted.

“Indeed, but the ones who matter are the superhumans. And those superhumans easily fall into the category of either heroes or villains, with a minority residing in the grey area.”

Whether it was the marvelous universe and the D-C in the west, or the shonen mangas, xuanhuans, mahwas, and novels in the east, the focus is the superhumans! Heroes and Villains!

“Why don’t you become a hero instead? In the first place, why do you view good people so negatively?” Paina now became the angel on Viers’ shoulder.

“You see, I like heroes but I don't want to become a hero.”

“How come? What’s the reason?” Farley asked.

“MEEEEEAT!”

Viers screamed to the sky. Inviting another round of confused look.

“Now there’s a plate of meat in here, juicy and delicious and fulfilling.” Viers gestured as if he carried an imaginary plate of meat on his hands. “A hero will share the meat with others. I want to eat the meat for myself.”

Since they had been a resident in Viers’ mind, they had witnessed many of Viers’ antics. Sometimes, Viers descended into something that they eventually dubbed Insanity Episodes. This was one of those times.

“Hahaha, look at your faces. Hilarious,” Viers broke into a laugh.

“Would you take this seriously?” Paina was a little annoyed.

“Well, that’s just a part of it. The main reason is their ‘route’ to power. As Pathseekers, we walk the Path of Power. Whether you’re heroic or villainous, the farther you get, the stronger you are. Villain’s route has less restrictions… It has more freedom.”

“So that's what this is about… power.” Paina analyzed his motivation from every action and word she knew about Viers since they met. “That’s it? You seek power for power’s sake? Sounds like a petty and sad way to live.”

The mood took a 180-degree turn. The air turned heavy because of Paina’s armor-piercing question. Farley and Clarissa were looking worriedly, afraid this turned out to be a fight.

After some time of silence, Viers just smiled.

“I don't deny I seek power, but power for power’s sake? Come on, that’s so third rate villain. I seek life. Not just any life, a life of quality. For that, having power is a prerequisite for a lot of things.”

His tone was amiable, gentle even.

“Take your own situation for example. You got killed by some nobody because you didn't have the power to prevent it. Your very existence right now is because I have the power to hold your soul,” Viers said the harsh, undiluted truth.

Paina felt like her heart was cut in two.

“I’m not a good person Paina, but don't be so arrogant to sum my way of life in just one sentence.”

“I… but-” Paina looked distressed.

Viers turned his face above and stared at the perpetual starry sky for a while.

“I should go. Goodbye girls,” Viers’ body started to fade, leaving the girls on their own.

“...Paina, are you okay?” Farley put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine… I just want to be alone for a while.” Paina walked away.

Viers’ consciousness returned to the real world. In the quiet room he closed his eyes and contemplated the earlier discussion. He wasn't bitter about Paina, not one bit. He knew he was a deviant in most people’s eyes. Paina’s reaction and response were very normal, in his own opinion.

Exalted Ones...

Earlier, when he was looking at the ocean of stars, he imagined those lofty figures were looking at him from the high heavens. Three figures stood out in particular.

One was a Necromancer. The lord of death who has slain death, a Calamity of Yggdrasil. He ruled over Midgard after banishing the gods from his domain. He escaped Hel and imprisoned her in turn. The deathless snake god of Nastrod.

One was a Warlock. The sovereign of sins, greatest of Magus and Gods. With his super A.I. that had fused with his soul, the man walked the path of the bloodline. He broke free of his bloodline limits and became the patriarch of the Targaryens. Immortal, infinite, and eternal.

One was a Venerable. The one who refined the heavens, destroyer of Fate. Using time travel, hard work, wisdom, power, and cold-blooded ruthlessness he clawed his way to the top of the Five Regions and Two Heavens. Mortals couldn't defeat him, Immortals died at his hands, other Venerables unable to suppress him. A demonic human who sought eternal life.

What are the common things between these men, Viers thought.

They all sought immortality, pragmatic, ruthless to others and ruthless to themselves. Without saying, they all have their cheats… and they all are reincarnators.

What did they have that Viers didn't?

Viers thought of this and he had his answer: nothing! He opened his eyes and it glinted with burning ambition and unyielding resolve. Hotter than hellfire. Firmer than diamond.

I will become like them... Become the Apex in my Fable!