I Was Mistaken for the Reincarnated Evil Overlord-Chapter 41: The Overlord Awakens (A Battle of Titans)

Darin’s world was gone.

No pain. No exhaustion. No struggling muscles or aching lungs.

Just darkness.

And then—

A chuckle. Low, smooth, brimming with malice.

"Ah… finally."

Darin felt something shift. His body—no, his very being, tilted. As if his own existence was being moved aside.

"You did well, little knight. But let me show you… how true power is wielded."

The darkness shattered.

And Darin was no longer the one standing.

The Battlefield Changes

The arena trembled.

The air became thick, suffocating.

A pulse of sheer force rippled outward from Darin’s body, sending waves of dust spiraling into the sky. The temperature dropped instantly, an unnatural chill washing over the battlefield.

The crowd, which had been roaring with excitement, fell deathly silent.

Something was wrong.

Darin, no, the Overlord—slowly lifted his head.

His wounds? Sealed.

His posture? Effortless.

His aura? Unfathomable.

His eyes, once filled with defiance and desperation, now glowed with eerie amusement. The flickering emotions of a man fighting for his life had been replaced by something ancient, something cold and calculating.

And then, he smirked.

"Ahhh… how long has it been since I’ve stretched my legs?"

His voice was different. Smoother, richer, dripping with pure arrogance.

Varian’s grip on his sword tightened. His aura, which had been overwhelming before, now felt like it was being crushed under something far worse.

The Overlord rolled his shoulders. A dark mist seeped from his form, curling like sentient shadows.

Then, he spoke, voice echoing with an otherworldly resonance.

"You’ve been playing with the boy long enough, little Varian." His gaze locked onto him. "Now you fight me."

A split second later—

The Overlord vanished.

BOOM.

Varian barely had time to react.

A fist wreathed in shadow and sheer force slammed into his midsection, sending him skidding back across the arena.

Varian caught himself, boots digging trenches into the earth. He coughed, the force of the blow sending shockwaves through his ribs.

He had fought monsters. He had battled legends.

But this?

This was something else.

The Overlord cracked his neck, rolling his wrist idly. "Oh? Still standing? Good. I was worried this would be boring."

Varian’s eyes narrowed. He adjusted his stance, aura flaring violently.

"You’re different," he muttered.

The Overlord smirked. "And you’re perceptive. I’m impressed."

Varian lunged.

His blade ignited with pure energy, arcs of raw power trailing behind him as he closed the distance in an instant.

A flash of silver—

A shockwave of destruction—

The Overlord tilted his head.

The massive sword strike barely missed his face.

And then—

"Tch. Too slow."

Before Varian could recover, the Overlord moved.

A backhand strike faster than sight.

Varian barely managed to block—

CRACK.

His sword bent inward from the force. His feet left the ground, his body hurled like a cannonball into the stone pillars at the edge of the arena.

The moment he crashed—

BOOM.

The entire left side of the arena collapsed.

Dust and debris exploded outward. The sheer impact sent waves of force through the coliseum.

The audience screamed.

Vincent, still sitting in the stands, whistled. "Well. That’s new."

The scribe, shaking, continued writing.

"The Overlord… moves like a force of nature. Unstoppable. Absolute. A being of pure destruction—"

Darin’s voice, smoother and dripping with amusement, interrupted him.

"If you write another dramatic title, I will personally remove your ability to hold a quill."

The scribe froze.

Then nodded rapidly, sweating.

From the rubble, Varian emerged.

His armor? Cracked.

His sword? Slightly bent.

His expression?

Furious.

"Fine," he growled, aura shaking the ground beneath him. "No more games."

He took a deep breath—

And then his aura exploded outward again.

The air shimmered. His muscles tensed, his speed tripled. The sheer heat of his presence ignited the ground beneath him.

The Overlord raised an eyebrow. "Ahhh… there it is." He grinned, baring his teeth. "Show me more, little duke."

Varian disappeared.

A fraction of a second later—

CLANG.

Their blades met.

A sound like shattering mountains echoed through the coliseum. The very air cracked from the impact.

The Overlord’s feet slid back slightly.

Varian’s eyes widened.

A wicked grin spread across his face. "There you are."

Varian twisted his blade—a feint!

The Overlord caught it mid-swing.

The force behind it could have sliced a castle in two.

But the Overlord held it still with one hand.

Varian’s mind screamed in disbelief.

The Overlord’s voice was a whisper in his ear.

"Is that all?"

And then—

A shockwave of force.

Varian was hurled backward, his feet carving trenches into the battlefield.

The Overlord cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders. "You’re stronger than I expected."

Varian spat blood. "I’m not done."

He lunged again.

And the battle resumed.

They moved faster than the eye could track.

Blades clashed.

Explosions erupted.

Each blow sent shockwaves through the air, destroying the arena with every impact.

Varian unleashed a wave of cutting energy.

The Overlord walked through it.

Varian tried to outmaneuver him.

The Overlord saw every move before it happened.

The battlefield was being destroyed around them.

Stone pillars collapsed.

The ground split apart.

The sheer force of their fight sent gusts of wind howling through the stands.

But neither yielded.

Varian, panting, glaring.

The Overlord, grinning.

"Yes… yes, this is what I’ve been waiting for."

Varian exhaled sharply, stance shifting.

The Overlord’s grin widened.

"Oh?"

Varian took a single step forward.

And the arena trembled.

His aura erupted much more—

Stronger. Faster. More lethal.

The heat of his presence melted the very ground beneath his feet.

He moved.

Faster than before.

The Overlord’s eyes widened slightly.

And then—

A single, precise strike.

The Overlord’s body froze.

A burning pain shot through him.

For the first time—

The Overlord staggered.

Varian’s blade, coated in raw energy, had landed true.

The Overlord looked down.

A thin, precise wound along his chest.

Then—

He laughed.

"Now this is getting fun."

Varian vanished again.

And the battle escalated once more.

Meanwhile…

The coliseum was in ruins.

What had started as a formal duel had turned into a battlefield of gods.

Entire sections of the arena were obliterated. Chunks of stone floated in midair, held there by the sheer force of energy rippling between the two combatants. The very sky above them twisted, the unnatural clash of power warping the air itself.

The audience?

Losing their minds.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE EVEN WATCHING?!" someone screamed.

"THIS ISN’T A DUEL—IT’S A NATURAL DISASTER!"

"SHOULD WE BE EVACUATING?!"

"NO! THIS IS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!"

Somewhere in the stands, a vendor was still selling snacks.

"GET YOUR ’DUEL OF THE CENTURY’ T-SHIRTS HERE! LIMITED EDITION!"

Greta, sitting comfortably with a basket of pastries, took a sip of tea. "Oh my, that’s quite the spectacle."

One of the villagers gawked. "He’s fighting like an actual demon!"

Another nodded sagely. "Told you our boy was special."

A third villager, holding a ’Dark Lord Darin’ banner, yelled, "ALL HAIL THE OVERLORD!"

The religious groups had lost all sense of control.

One side screamed, "THE PROPHECY HAS BEGUN!"

The other side roared back, "NO, HE’S CLEARLY THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!"

Another faction threw in, "HE IS A SIGN OF THE END TIMES! REPENT!"

The argument devolved into a full-blown screaming match.

The king, watching the destruction unfold, took a slow sip of his wine.

Then he leaned back and grinned. "Now this… this is entertainment."

One of the royal advisors, who looked ready to drop dead from stress, clutched his head. "Y-YOUR MAJESTY—THIS—THIS IS A DISASTER—"

The king waved him off. "Nonsense. This is the best duel I’ve ever seen."

"But—But the ARENA—"

"Can be rebuilt."

The advisor’s eye twitched violently. "You’re enjoying this my king?!"

The king smirked. "Of course I am. This is history in the making."

The advisor made a strangled noise.

Meanwhile the sorceress had been completely silent.

Her hands were clasped together, her expression unreadable.

Vincent, standing beside her, let out a long, slow whistle.

"Well… that escalated."

The sorceress inhaled sharply. "That’s not Darin."

Vincent blinked. "You sure? Because he’s still got that dumb, dramatic way of talking."

The sorceress shook her head, eyes locked on the battlefield.

"No. That’s not Darin." She exhaled sharply. "That’s something far worse."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Okay, yeah, but… I mean, he’s winning."

The sorceress didn’t look relieved.

"...That’s the problem."

Vincent frowned, watching as Darin, or whatever was inside him now, dodged another of Varian’s attacks with an effortless smirk.

"...Huh. Yeah. That’s unsettling."

Back to the Battlefield….

Varian lunged again.

His speed tripled. The ground cracked beneath him, his blade carving through the air like a meteor.

The Overlord smirked.

CLANG.

A single, effortless block.

Then—

A counterattack.

BOOM.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

A shockwave erupted, sending Varian skidding backward.

His boots left trenches in the stone.

The Overlord rolled his shoulders, tilting his head.

"Tired already?"

Varian growled, wiping blood from his lip. "You’re… not human."

The Overlord grinned. "Took you this long to notice?"

Varian adjusted his grip.

"I don’t know what you are…" He exhaled sharply. "But I’m ending this."

The Overlord’s smile widened.

"Oh, please do try."