Hero Regresses with Villain System-Chapter 35: Red Fury

Varek had known murder for most of his life. Even as a toddler, he was taught how to hide from a bombing run before the word ’Mom’.

He had watched soldiers mow down his friends first hand, only surviving due to the Reapers stationed nearby. Even though he was only 7 at the time, he watched with nothing more than complete interest as the Reapers eviscerated those soldiers.

From the youngest age, boys like him that were caught in the center of the Great War learned very quickly what death was. This included how to kill.

...

Through a hole in the cupboard, Varek watched as 2 men questioned his mom. They were big, buff, and carried the insignia of the debirus.

His breath caught in his chest as she said something they apparently didn’t like. As he watched one of them slap her across the face and the other tackle her to the ground, an overwhelming rage encompassed the 8-year-old.

But the rage wasn’t only directed at the men. It was also directed at himself, at the coward unable to take any action even as they abused his mom.

More than anything, he wanted power. He wanted to be able to run out there and tear them apart, to have the strength of a reaper and completely destroy them. Yet he stayed in the cupboard, because he was a weak, scared boy and not some killing machine.

He stayed and watched as his mom cried, her face shoved into the ground. He watched as she made sure to never glance at the cupboard, to never give away his location.

And, as he realized that, Varek couldn’t stand back and watch anymore. It was like the last thing holding him back was finally gone, and he no longer cared about his own survival.

All he knew was that his mom was being killed right now. And since she was being killed by soldiers, they were going to do a lot of other things to her first. If she was willing to sacrifice all of that for him...

How could he just hide?

As sneakily as possible, Varek opened the cupboard door. Sliding down to the floor, he crouched and moved very slowly, never letting his eyes wander away from the debirus.

Ignoring the pain in his chest as he saw his mother cry even more, Varek made his way to the kitchen. To the knives, a weapon that even a weaker person could use to kill the strongest.

Glancing at his reflection in the knife, Varek cursed the stream of tears he saw forming in his eyes. Even though he was so young his only worry should be homework and chores, he knew that he wasn’t one of the lucky kids.

Every second of every day in his life, he would have to fight.

He would have to kill. Because he wasn’t born in some paradise across the sea, he was born in pretty much no man’s land.

Gripping the knife with steely hands, Varek made his way over to the men. For a second he wondered which one he should kill first, but then he picked the obvious one.

He was going to kill the one restraining his mom. After he did, the other would likely go after him since he had the weapon. That meant his mom would have a chance to escape.

Resolution clear in his face, Varek jumped up from his crouch, surprising both of the men. Giving them no time to react, he struck cleanly and precisely, severing the jugular of the man holding his mom.

Even though he was weaker, Varek killed the man in one slash. Because he was precise and decisive, he had won that battle.

However, just as he expected, his small win would end quickly.

Before he even knew what happened, he was on the ground with a person far stronger than him pinning him. Varek struggled for breath as his world turned black and his mouth filled with the taste of copper.

"Ge-get off him!"

"Ge-get—"

"Shut the fuck up bitch!!!"

The man screamed before raising his free arm. Through blurry vision, Varek could only watch as he squeezed her neck. He could only watch as the man smiled.

Because the pressure on his own neck was too great, Varek could only think his question.

’Why... why didn’t you run?’

For what felt like an eternity, the mother and son looked at each other, hoping their struggle would somehow let the other live.

Then a voice called out, "Hey, Kiko, let ’em go."

The voice that ’saved’ them, the voice that Varek would come to hate.

...

With every passing moment he relived these memories, pure rage engulfed Varek more and more. The desire to kill everything, to take out his anger and pain on everything...

Nothing deserved to live. Nothing deserved to live more than his mom and dad, who did everything to let him survive a war torn world.

Why the fuck did his family have to die? For some asshole to get some power?

What the fuck was the point of war? He never wanted any of it. He never had a chance to want for anything else, though.

Not when he was taught how to kill before he was taught how to read.

When he was given such a life simply because some men across seas he never knew wanted to fight, why the fuck did anyone else earn the right to live more than him?

What gave someone the right to live when his classmates had none?

Nothing...

Because life wasn’t some gift, privilege, or beautiful thing. It was a trophy that you had to fight for, kill for, every single day.

When killing was synonymous with life, he knew he was right.

Child...

I feel your pai—

’Child?’

Varek thought as he suddenly found himself back in the present, staring into the eyes of some beast. A beast he’d kill like all of the rest.

As his rage grew, he felt himself become weaker and weaker. But then...

His fighting spirit, his red fury returned all of his strength and then some. He became stronger.