Reincarnated in a novel: I am the villain!-Chapter 320: Back to Elias

The hissing of steam faded, replaced by a silence so profound it felt heavy.

Theron Voss lay on the pristine floor of the Platinum Spire, staring at his own right arm.

For sixteen years, it had been a mangled, shifting nightmare of black chitin and Void corruption, a parasitic anchor that drained his life and sanity.

Now, the skin was raw, pink, and whole.

Under such pure crystallization of life, he was finally healed, a situation which he could barely imagine even after breaking through Demi-God level

Thinking of this, with excitement in his eyes, he slowly curled his fingers into a fist.

*Ba-thump.*

It started as a single, resonant heartbeat deep within his chest.

For over a decade and a half, Theron had forcefully suppressed his own mana, using his sheer, terrifying willpower to keep the Void Demon God’s curse from reaching his heart

He had built a dam to hold back an ocean.

Now, the dam was gone.

"Theron?" Elizabeth whispered, stepping back as the air around her husband began to visibly distort.

"Get back," Damien ordered, pulling his mother behind him and flaring his *[King’s Mantle]* to shield them.

*BA-THUMP!*

The second heartbeat echoed not just in the room, but across the entire 6th Layer of the Abyss.

Theron’s eyes snapped open. The dull, exhausted grey was instantly swallowed by a starry, pitch-black void.

**VWOOOOM.**

An ocean of unadulterated, pristine Midnight Shadow erupted from Theron’s body.

It didn’t destroy the room as the Platinum Prince’s throne room was forged from Demigod-tier materials but it completely drowned the light.

The pressure was astronomical.

It was the unfiltered, 9th-Order might of a man who had earned the title of the World’s Strongest before he had even reached the peak.

A pressure which would make ordinary ninth order flinch, unsure if they should challenge him

Theron slowly floated off the floor, his tattered coat turning into a swirling, majestic mantle of living shadows.

The oppressive weight of his true Demigod Domain settled over the room, an absolute, tyrannical darkness that commanded respect.

The King of Darkness had finally returned.

Theron lowered his feet to the ground. The swirling shadows retracted, sinking back into his skin, leaving him looking like the sharp, impossibly imposing patriarch he used to be.

He looked at his hands, a mixture of disbelief and profound relief washing over his face.

"I’m... finally healed," Theron murmured, his voice deep and resonant.

He looked up, his starry black eyes locking onto his son.

"Damien."

Theron crossed the distance in a single, fluid step, pulling Damien into a crushing embrace. A

moment later, Elizabeth threw her arms around both of them, burying her face in Damien’s shoulder as tears of pure, unadulterated joy streamed down her soot-stained cheeks.

Damien stiffened for a fraction of a second.

He was a rebel. He was ’Zero’, the terror of the Empire and was the Greedy King who manipulated economies and fought all that stood in his way.

But standing here, squeezed between the two people he had spent sixteen years trying to save, the cold, calculating mask cracked.

Damien slowly wrapped his arms around his parents, closing his eyes as a heavy, exhausting weight lifted from his soul.

"You’re squishing me, Old Man," Damien muttered, though he didn’t pull away.

For his father who he hadn’t seen in so long, he felt letting him hug him once or twice wasn’t such a bad thing

Sensing thi, Theron laughed, a rich, booming sound that held none of the madness that had plagued him for years.

He stepped back, keeping his hands on Damien’s shoulders, taking a good, long look at his son.

The more he looked at Damien, the more his pride rose saw the broad shoulders, the silver hair and the dual-colored twilight eyes with their terrifying cross-shaped pupils.

he even felt the dense, seamless fusion of the 8th-Order Eclipse Core humming in Damien’s chest.

"Sixteen years," Theron whispered, shaking his head in awe.

"It’s been that long since I left you and the family behind to protect you from my curse... and you crawled into the deepest pit of abyss just to rescue this old mant."

Theron looked past Damien to Isabelle, who was standing respectfully to the side, her 7th-Order Demonic Queen aura fully stabilized.

"Also isn’t this pretty girl Isabelle?," Theron chuckled, wiping his eyes. "Elizabeth, can you believe our boy let her come to abyss with him?"

"I wonder how far they’ve gone, after all a man and a woman wondering the abyss, something is about to happen’

"Heh~ if he’s half as dense as you are then I’m sure nothing has happened yet," Elizabeth smiled, cupping Damien’s cheek, her blue eyes shining with fierce maternal pride.

"My beautiful boy. You saved us."

"I had help," Damien said softly, the memory of the Ancestor’s sacrifice flashing in his mind.

The heavy, dormant seed of the Ancestor’s 9th-Order core still rested at the base of his soul.

"A touching reunion," a smooth, cultured voice interrupted.

The shadows in the room parted as the Platinum Prince stepped forward. The Demigod of Layer 6 clapped his pale hands slowly, his glowing white eyes curving in amusement.

Theron instantly stepped in front of his family, his 9th-Order aura flaring aggressively.

"Stand down, Dad," Damien said, placing a hand on his father’s arm. "He’s not an enemy. He’s a business partner."

"A business partner?" Elizabeth raised an elegant eyebrow, looking between her son and the terrifying Demigod.

"Indeed," the Platinum Prince smiled, stopping a few feet away.

"Your son is a marvel, Theron Voss. While you were fighting for your life in Layer 9, Zero here ave me the greatest entertainment I have experienced in five millennia. And he held the line against the vanguard of the stampede."

The Prince waved his hand. The platinum floor shimmered, revealing a transparent view of the Abyss below.

Layer 9 was gone, consumed by the singularity of the Ancestor’s Sarcophagus.

"The Heavenly Demon Lord’s projection is currently trapped for a while between layers, thanks to your Ancestor," the Prince explained objectively.

"It will take Azazel time to force his true body through the wreckage. Until then, the Abyss is in chaos."

"But don’t to worry, from what I hear Lucifer and Asmodeus are also making their moves so we should be safe for now"

The Demigod looked at Damien.

"You honored our contract, Zero. You provided novelty, and you defended my gates. Now, I shall honor mine."

The Platinum Prince raised both of his hands.

The air in the center of the throne room began to vibrate. It wasn’t the jagged, violent tearing of a Void Gate. It was a smooth, perfect folding of space, governed by the absolute Authority of a Demigod.

A shimmering, silver portal materialized, reflecting the image of a starry night sky and a snow-covered mountain range.

"A stable bridge to the Surface World," the Platinum Prince announced, clasping his hands behind his back.

"It will bypass the Divine Barriers of your Gods."

"Although using it quite the consumption, but a deal is a deal, as long as you aren’t abyss creatures the world will shouldn’t do anything to you"

Damien looked at the portal. The cool, crisp air of the surface blew through the rift, carrying the scent of pine trees and actual snow—not ash.

*DING.*

A sharp, digital chime echoed directly in Damien’s skull.

He opened his System interface.

His Dp still quite a lot, however if he wanted to change the future, then he still needed to acquire more, way more

As well as become stronger

.The plot of the original novel, the very events he had spent his entire life preparing for, had officially started today.

Not only had it started, but it had taken many turns different from the original story

To say he wasn’t scared going forward, that would be a lie

However what he felt more greater than any fear, was excitement

Excitement as he looked forward to stopping the end, as well as defeating all those who stood in his way

"It’s time," Damien whispered, a thrill of adrenaline replacing his exhaustion.

He turned to his parents.

"Mom. Dad. The world above isn’t the same one you left sixteen years ago," Damien said, his voice taking on the cold, Zero persona .

"Two major human Empire’s are out for me, The Twilight Association has infiltrated the highest ranks. And the Gods are preparing for a war."

Theron Voss grinned. It was a feral, terrifying expression that perfectly mirrored his son’s.

He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like gunshots.

"Is that so, it seems I won’t be too bored returning thent," Theron laughed, his 9th-Order shadows swirling violently around his boots.

"I have sixteen years of pent-up aggression to burn, Damien. If the Empire wants to call me a villain, I will gladly play the part."

Elizabeth stepped up beside her husband, her illusion magic weaving a pristine, aristocratic gown of blue silk over her battle-worn clothes.

"Lead the way, my son ," Elizabeth smiled at Damien.

"Let’s show the Surface World what happens when they cross our family."

Damien looked at Isabelle. The maid nodded, stepping perfectly into place behind his right shoulder.

He looked back at the Platinum Prince.

"Keep the casinos running, Your Highness. I’ll be back to collect my abyss cores."

"I look forward to it, Zero," the Demigod smirked.

Damien turned to the portal. He didn’t even look back.

He stepped through the silver light, crossing the boundary between hell and earth, returning to the world he was destined to conquer.